Hello, we have spent the last week in a campervan which has meant we haven't made a huge amount of friends but we haven't driven each other mad just yet and are having quite a nice time indeed. Due to financial restraints we aren't really going clubbing or partying or having a mad time, moreover we are having a sedate drive down Australia and you get the feeling that you grandparents would probably be quite enjoying themselves on our current holiday. We are seeing some amazing countryside though and often driving for an hour or so between tiny little towns which is pretty cool. We might have overshot how long it is going to take us to get to Sydney however so might be coming home a week or two early. This is mainly due to it not being so warm here so we can't go surfing as much as we would want to.
We picked up the campervan last thursday and it is pretty compact but i guess it has everything you need really, sink, fridge, bed, stove, engine etc. It is definately cosy but kind of nice for it. From Brisbane we headed north and camped in a lay by in the middle of nowhere (laybys are key as they are FREE!). Early nights are a major feature of this part of travelling due to the fact it gets dark around 6 and using the lights drain the battery. Next morning we drove north to Noosa and parked up by the river. Noosa was really pretty and I'm pretty sure really wealthy too. It was a bit like some of the nice sailing towns along the south coast, only on a summers day. We spent the afternoon reading by the river which was pretty pleasant (and free). In the evening we drove up to the lookout to watch the sunset which was amazing as you could see for miles over the river and islands and inland to the mountains. Next morning some livid council worker woke us up at half seven (on a Saturday) to tell us we weren't allowed to park overnight by the river. Went to Noosa National Park in the morning which was amazingly beautiful (think there are some pics on Facebook). Walked along the coast for 45minutes or so then back again. After that we drove north to Hervey Bay and paid to stay in a campsite (apparently more than 3nights without a shower is unacceptable to Beki???) which cost us $19. On the plus side it did mean we got to use their BBQ so had a huge dinner with BBQ'd burgers etc. Went and explored Hervey Bay the next morning which had a drive through liquor store, in a strange paradox Australians are massively lash keen yet you can't buy alcohol at the supermarket so you have to go to designated lash points such as this. Had chips by the beach and spent money we didn't have in a secondhand bookshop. The afternoon was mostly spent driving south towards Toowoomba which meant leaving the coast and heading inland which involved a dramatic change of scenery. It was on this drive that we also discovered the joys of triple J radio. This is basically the best radio station either of us have ever heard and if it were on the air in Britain it would be removed within half a day, its controversy relegating the Ross and Brand scandle to people's distant memory. This radio station basically only plays new amazing music, completely uncut (e.g. no Jo fucking Whiley talking over the first 30seconds of songs), doesn't just play the same playlist every show, every day and actually does things to promote new music. It is part funded by ABC, their BBC and the banter had by DJs is pretty savage. They also don't seem too bothered about offending their audience, the other day playing Nine Inch Nails 'Closer' which features the line'I want to fuck you like an animal' at half five on a weekday afternoon. Brilliant. We have also learned a load about Australian music which on the whole seems to be amazing with much more variety than new english music. They also only seem to like good english bands, the other day they played Does It Offend You, Yeah? and a song of the new Matisyahu album in the middle of the day which certainly wouldn't happen in England. Ok enough about triple J (though seriously its amazing). The drive to Toowoomba went inland and felt a bit like how I would imagine the American mid-west feels, only less flat. Every hour or two we would drive through a tiny little town which had been signposted for miles around and would generally consist of a couple of shops and a few houses, the schools all had 'Happy Holidays' boards out the front and you got the impression that everyone there would know everyone else, and their kids. We ended up sleeping in the middle of nowhere again then carrying on to Toowoomba the next morning. Toowoomba (Australian towns are full of oo's) wasn't much to see though did have pretty spectacular views over the surrounding cliffs and down the mountain. Drove down the mountain and throuhg a valley for a few hours before stopping in a picturesque little campsite which was free and had hot showers. These factors meant Beki was very keen to stay and extra night and with so much time on our hands and the spectucular surroundings I wasn't much likely to object. Didn't do much other than bum about reading around the campsite, save the occassional walk down the valley. Chatted a bit to the other campers who all seemed lovely, though mostly more of the retiree's age. I don't think this is how young people 'do' Australia, or maybe they just do it in summer. Yesterday morning we drove back towards Brisbane and went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (for pictures see facebook) Which is the biggest Koala place in the world and did have a lot of koala's who seemed cute though lazy. We also few some kangaroo's who were smaller than I'd expected and had the faces of dogs. There was also a brilliant gift shop which had photo's of Marilyn Manson and Slipknot (amoungst others including the Queen Mother and Pope John Paul II) all cuddling Koala's - brilliant! I genuinely down't know if there is a funnier visual image than that of an awkward looking Marilyn cuddling a Koala which looked thrilled to be around him. Drove back into Brisbane to try and move flights but got the world's most incompetent (+hungover) employee (STA are normally really good, would otherwise always recommend them) on the other side of the desk who basically did everything he could to sack us off. Drove south, went to the supermarket, fridge door had fallen off when we got back, drove back to Brisbane, fridge door re-attached, drove south again, slept in car park.
No flights changed as yet so probably still home on aug 6th though may be a week or two earlier if there are any useful STA employees willing to help us. lots of love xoxoxo
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Brisbane
Hello everyone, we are now in Australia and have been for the last three days. We love Brisbane, the weather is sunny but cool, we are wearing socks and shoes for the first time in months and months. It seems like such a cool city, with loads of really liberal little shops and we just have had a really nice time here.
We got here on Monday but were really tired after a severe lack of sleep on the overnight flight from Singapore so slept until about three in the afternoon. We are staying in the Chinatown area of Brisbane and we went out and had a walk round and looked in cool little shops. In the evening we went out for the cheapest Mexican food which was amazing. After that we made friends with some Irish people in our dorm and we sat up in the dorm sampling Australia's finest in boxed wine ($10) otherwise known as 'goon'.
The next day we walked into Brisbane town centre and visited all of the museums and art galleries which were all pretty much in the centre. We even visited an entire museum dedicated to wood which wasn't very good at all. All of this was free though which was pretty key and we just had a really nice day looking at art and learning things about Brisbane. In the evening we had $3 currry (GBP1.50) and spent the evening with loads of Irish people, which apparently Australia is full of, they even have their own newspaper for Irish people.
Yesterday we went up to Mt Coot - tha which is basically a huge mountain with amazing views overlooking the whole of Brisbane and out to sea. Didn't really appreciate how big Brisbane was until we went up here. Also seemed really green for a large city and was much nicer than looking out over London probably.
We got here on Monday but were really tired after a severe lack of sleep on the overnight flight from Singapore so slept until about three in the afternoon. We are staying in the Chinatown area of Brisbane and we went out and had a walk round and looked in cool little shops. In the evening we went out for the cheapest Mexican food which was amazing. After that we made friends with some Irish people in our dorm and we sat up in the dorm sampling Australia's finest in boxed wine ($10) otherwise known as 'goon'.
The next day we walked into Brisbane town centre and visited all of the museums and art galleries which were all pretty much in the centre. We even visited an entire museum dedicated to wood which wasn't very good at all. All of this was free though which was pretty key and we just had a really nice day looking at art and learning things about Brisbane. In the evening we had $3 currry (GBP1.50) and spent the evening with loads of Irish people, which apparently Australia is full of, they even have their own newspaper for Irish people.
Yesterday we went up to Mt Coot - tha which is basically a huge mountain with amazing views overlooking the whole of Brisbane and out to sea. Didn't really appreciate how big Brisbane was until we went up here. Also seemed really green for a large city and was much nicer than looking out over London probably.
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Malaysia and Singapore
Hello everyone, since I last wrote to you we have left Thailand done Malaysia (well Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown anyway) and are now in loving life in one of my favourite places on the entire trip, Singapore. Tommorow we leave Asia behind us and fly on to Brisbane, Australia for what is the penultimate leg of our trip, driving a campervan to Sydney. We get home in about five weeks and our minds have started to think about being back in Blighty but with so much still ahead of us it is hard to think about home for too long. Add to that the amount of free things Singapore offers visitors and we have had a fairly hectic (not to mention sweaty!) past week and a bit in which we have drunk nothing but bought plenty of ridiculously cheap clothes.
The evening after I last wrote we had a huge buffet dinner in Ao Nang for 250baht - less than a fiver! It was all you can eat and was absolutely amazing, haven't been that full in months! Brilliant ending to Thailand which we have had some of our best times in, probably had the most banter, definately made the most friends, and unfortunately spent some of the most money (diving in particular). We have left Thailand with a host of friends from across Europe who we will never forget. Thankyou to everyone in Thailand who made our time there immense - TEAM!
Left the land of Thai the next morning on a coach via Hat Yai down to Gerogetown in Malaysia. At the border had to have a swine flu check, apparently it's kind of a big deal, really not looking forward to American immigration as they are going to be beyond thorough. Got to Georgetown in the evening adn for a Saturday night in the centre of the backpacker area the atmosphere seemed really chilled. Found out why when we went out for dinner and saw that a beer was the price of a bed for two nights due to Malaysia being a Muslim country. Due to budgetary restrictions our entire Malaysia trip was a dry one. Our dorm room was the back corridor in an old colonial villa which had really high ceilings and was falling apart a bit with boarded up doors adding to the atmosphere, the fan worked though and was pretty cheap so can't really complain about it. Went out and ate from a little Chinese stall for next to nothing, Malaysia is possibly the cheapest country we have been to.
On Sunday we attempted to go to Fort Cornwallis after an immense Indian for breakfast, but they had new opening times which no longer included sundays so instead went and saw a bit of an Indian wedding then went to the Penang State Museum (Penang being the island off the west coast of Malaysia that Georgetown sits on) and learned about the history of the island. Basically the governor of the region was being attacked from all sides so offered the British the island in exchange for protection of the rest of his province. The British never replied to his offer but three months later turned up with a fleet headed by Francis Light and took the island, making Georgetown the principal base for trade. The museum was pretty good and documented the history of all the various peoples now based in Penang (Chinese, Indian, Malay, Burmese, Armenian, Arabic and a plethora of ethnicities). Sat in a cafe along the backpacker road for the best part of the afternoon resigned to the fact that all of the other tourist attractions were closed due to it being a sunday so read, wrote and failed to upload photos to Facebook. Had more delicious Chinese street food in the evening.
On Monday we went round all of the closed tourist attractions that were closed on the previous day's attempt starting with Fort Cornwallis. Fort Cornwallis was where Light landed when he came and stole the island from the Malay people and he built a big fort their. Wasn't the most interesting attraction we have been too, largely as it looks like a massively scaled down version of Dover Castle which is considerably nearer home. Went to a really good bookshop though and swapped a few of our read books for new ones. Walked through little India and bought various strange looking Indian snack food that were pretty good, being here has made us both really want to visit India. After that we got a trishaw across town, during which time it decided to piss it down as it inevitably does when we are in any open topped method of transport, to the Prangin Shopping Centre which was undoubtably the best shopping centre I have ever been to in my life both in terms of price and stuff that was there. Pairs of trainers were generally around 10RMB (1.70pounds) although sizes were mostly too small for us. We found ourselves limited more by the amount of stuff we could fit in our bags than by the price of it all. We spent so little and got so much cool stuff, wish people had told us how much cheaper Malaysia was going to be as we wouldn't have bought clothes in Vietnam and Thailand.
The next morning we got the bus to Kuala Lumpur after some wierd rice parcels for breakfast at the bus station which were covered in some sort of fish paste. The buses in Malaysia are amazing; huge seats with absolutely loads of legroom was worlds away from the cramped Vietnamese sleepers. Took us pretty much the whole day to get to KL; got in around five in the evening. Had dirty cheap noodle soup from across the road and had a wander round the Chinatown area that we were staying before meeting Alice, Hayley and Jen and sitting up and watching Planet Earth and Grey's Anatomy in our hostel with them. Also met some French guys who had been out for a year and a half and were flying home the next morning which got me thinking how wierd home is going to be for them as everyone will have changed so much. Going home is going to be very strange but starting to feel a bit excited about it, will be great to see everyone.
Got up at about half five the next morning and got the LRT over to the Petronas Towers where we queued for about an hour and a half for free tickets to go up to the skybridge. Before we could go up we had to sit through a propaganda film about how Petronas and oil companies in general were amazing and doing everything they could to save the world. Was very glad that we hadn't given them any money to go up their shiny towers. The lifts were disgustingly quick and took us up the forty odd floors to the skybridge in under 20seconds. Once up there we had a brilliant view out across the city as we were much higher than most of the surrounding buildings. Tried to walk back from the towers and got a bit lost and very hot and sweaty, KL is stupidly humid and after about a five minute walk you are covered in sweat even when it isn't that hot. Lay in bed and read for an hour or so then banted around the hostel with the girls watching TV and having general travel chat as they were doing pretty much the same trip as us in reverse we had plenty to talk about. In the evening went out and had another amazing Indian for dinner which has lead me to believe that I actually really like Indian food, just not a lot of the Indian food in England as it tastes totally different.
Sat on the rooftop bar and had breakfast with the girls, watching BBC News. I miss BBC it is just better than any other news organisation, one of the best things about Britain without a doubt, I love watching the news which is definately a bit sad. Walked to the Planetarium which was rubbish and didn't even have a theatre and was full of schoolkids and took ages to walk to. Bought a bus ticket and did some shopping at the market in Chinatown before sampling real local culture and having a McDonald's as they had some ridiculous deal which meant a meal was less than a pound at lunchtime. In the afternoon we went to the Central Market which was full of arts and craft-y things, loads of Indian scarves from Kashmir and that sort of thing which was all quite interesting. In the evening went and had one final wander round Chinatown market to spend the last of our Ringgit then had a standard cheap Chinese dinner from the street stalls. Spent the evening watching an awful girlie film with Beki, Hayley and Jen. Even they said it was bad.
On Friday we got up early, said bye to Jen and Hayley, trading a Thai SIM for and Oz one in the process then trekked with our bags to the bus station and spent the day travelling south to Singapore. Arrived about five in the evening at our hostel which is amazing. It is a bit more expensive than some of the other places we have stayed but it is beautiful and everything is included. It is in the old Arabic quarter of Singapore on a pedestrian street just down the road from a huge mosque which looks immense. All the dorms are set in an arabic style with curtains everywhere instead of walls and old arabic architecture. We had to go to the hospital to use an ATM (??) and on the way in had another swine flu check TO USE AN ATM MACHINE!!!! After that we went out and had amazing Moroccan food for dinner then headed down to the Asian Civilization Museum which unbeknown to us had a huge new exhibit on and so was rammed full of people, took us about an hour to get in although they then gave us free Mojito's and after the museum there was free jazz on the lawn which was all very grown up and pleasant. On the way home we heard loud rock music coming from another bar on the river and so we went and investigated and ended up at a free gig by a really good band called West Grand Boulevard. All in all a very good night out considering it was all free.
Today we went to the Esplanade Theatre which is a pretty incredible design and had a wander round and on the roof and looked in their pretty cool library. After that went to the largest fountain in the world which was pretty impressive then had the best Indian ever at a restaurant for lunch. This afternoon we went to the Singapore Art Gallery and looked at loads of wicked paintings by a man called Wu whose surname escapes me though I'm sure I have it written down somewhere.
Tomorrow afternoon we have a seven and a half hour flight to Brisbane which I am wierdly excited about. Asia has been the most amazing three months with so many places I will never forget and plenty I would love to come back to. xoxox
The evening after I last wrote we had a huge buffet dinner in Ao Nang for 250baht - less than a fiver! It was all you can eat and was absolutely amazing, haven't been that full in months! Brilliant ending to Thailand which we have had some of our best times in, probably had the most banter, definately made the most friends, and unfortunately spent some of the most money (diving in particular). We have left Thailand with a host of friends from across Europe who we will never forget. Thankyou to everyone in Thailand who made our time there immense - TEAM!
Left the land of Thai the next morning on a coach via Hat Yai down to Gerogetown in Malaysia. At the border had to have a swine flu check, apparently it's kind of a big deal, really not looking forward to American immigration as they are going to be beyond thorough. Got to Georgetown in the evening adn for a Saturday night in the centre of the backpacker area the atmosphere seemed really chilled. Found out why when we went out for dinner and saw that a beer was the price of a bed for two nights due to Malaysia being a Muslim country. Due to budgetary restrictions our entire Malaysia trip was a dry one. Our dorm room was the back corridor in an old colonial villa which had really high ceilings and was falling apart a bit with boarded up doors adding to the atmosphere, the fan worked though and was pretty cheap so can't really complain about it. Went out and ate from a little Chinese stall for next to nothing, Malaysia is possibly the cheapest country we have been to.
On Sunday we attempted to go to Fort Cornwallis after an immense Indian for breakfast, but they had new opening times which no longer included sundays so instead went and saw a bit of an Indian wedding then went to the Penang State Museum (Penang being the island off the west coast of Malaysia that Georgetown sits on) and learned about the history of the island. Basically the governor of the region was being attacked from all sides so offered the British the island in exchange for protection of the rest of his province. The British never replied to his offer but three months later turned up with a fleet headed by Francis Light and took the island, making Georgetown the principal base for trade. The museum was pretty good and documented the history of all the various peoples now based in Penang (Chinese, Indian, Malay, Burmese, Armenian, Arabic and a plethora of ethnicities). Sat in a cafe along the backpacker road for the best part of the afternoon resigned to the fact that all of the other tourist attractions were closed due to it being a sunday so read, wrote and failed to upload photos to Facebook. Had more delicious Chinese street food in the evening.
On Monday we went round all of the closed tourist attractions that were closed on the previous day's attempt starting with Fort Cornwallis. Fort Cornwallis was where Light landed when he came and stole the island from the Malay people and he built a big fort their. Wasn't the most interesting attraction we have been too, largely as it looks like a massively scaled down version of Dover Castle which is considerably nearer home. Went to a really good bookshop though and swapped a few of our read books for new ones. Walked through little India and bought various strange looking Indian snack food that were pretty good, being here has made us both really want to visit India. After that we got a trishaw across town, during which time it decided to piss it down as it inevitably does when we are in any open topped method of transport, to the Prangin Shopping Centre which was undoubtably the best shopping centre I have ever been to in my life both in terms of price and stuff that was there. Pairs of trainers were generally around 10RMB (1.70pounds) although sizes were mostly too small for us. We found ourselves limited more by the amount of stuff we could fit in our bags than by the price of it all. We spent so little and got so much cool stuff, wish people had told us how much cheaper Malaysia was going to be as we wouldn't have bought clothes in Vietnam and Thailand.
The next morning we got the bus to Kuala Lumpur after some wierd rice parcels for breakfast at the bus station which were covered in some sort of fish paste. The buses in Malaysia are amazing; huge seats with absolutely loads of legroom was worlds away from the cramped Vietnamese sleepers. Took us pretty much the whole day to get to KL; got in around five in the evening. Had dirty cheap noodle soup from across the road and had a wander round the Chinatown area that we were staying before meeting Alice, Hayley and Jen and sitting up and watching Planet Earth and Grey's Anatomy in our hostel with them. Also met some French guys who had been out for a year and a half and were flying home the next morning which got me thinking how wierd home is going to be for them as everyone will have changed so much. Going home is going to be very strange but starting to feel a bit excited about it, will be great to see everyone.
Got up at about half five the next morning and got the LRT over to the Petronas Towers where we queued for about an hour and a half for free tickets to go up to the skybridge. Before we could go up we had to sit through a propaganda film about how Petronas and oil companies in general were amazing and doing everything they could to save the world. Was very glad that we hadn't given them any money to go up their shiny towers. The lifts were disgustingly quick and took us up the forty odd floors to the skybridge in under 20seconds. Once up there we had a brilliant view out across the city as we were much higher than most of the surrounding buildings. Tried to walk back from the towers and got a bit lost and very hot and sweaty, KL is stupidly humid and after about a five minute walk you are covered in sweat even when it isn't that hot. Lay in bed and read for an hour or so then banted around the hostel with the girls watching TV and having general travel chat as they were doing pretty much the same trip as us in reverse we had plenty to talk about. In the evening went out and had another amazing Indian for dinner which has lead me to believe that I actually really like Indian food, just not a lot of the Indian food in England as it tastes totally different.
Sat on the rooftop bar and had breakfast with the girls, watching BBC News. I miss BBC it is just better than any other news organisation, one of the best things about Britain without a doubt, I love watching the news which is definately a bit sad. Walked to the Planetarium which was rubbish and didn't even have a theatre and was full of schoolkids and took ages to walk to. Bought a bus ticket and did some shopping at the market in Chinatown before sampling real local culture and having a McDonald's as they had some ridiculous deal which meant a meal was less than a pound at lunchtime. In the afternoon we went to the Central Market which was full of arts and craft-y things, loads of Indian scarves from Kashmir and that sort of thing which was all quite interesting. In the evening went and had one final wander round Chinatown market to spend the last of our Ringgit then had a standard cheap Chinese dinner from the street stalls. Spent the evening watching an awful girlie film with Beki, Hayley and Jen. Even they said it was bad.
On Friday we got up early, said bye to Jen and Hayley, trading a Thai SIM for and Oz one in the process then trekked with our bags to the bus station and spent the day travelling south to Singapore. Arrived about five in the evening at our hostel which is amazing. It is a bit more expensive than some of the other places we have stayed but it is beautiful and everything is included. It is in the old Arabic quarter of Singapore on a pedestrian street just down the road from a huge mosque which looks immense. All the dorms are set in an arabic style with curtains everywhere instead of walls and old arabic architecture. We had to go to the hospital to use an ATM (??) and on the way in had another swine flu check TO USE AN ATM MACHINE!!!! After that we went out and had amazing Moroccan food for dinner then headed down to the Asian Civilization Museum which unbeknown to us had a huge new exhibit on and so was rammed full of people, took us about an hour to get in although they then gave us free Mojito's and after the museum there was free jazz on the lawn which was all very grown up and pleasant. On the way home we heard loud rock music coming from another bar on the river and so we went and investigated and ended up at a free gig by a really good band called West Grand Boulevard. All in all a very good night out considering it was all free.
Today we went to the Esplanade Theatre which is a pretty incredible design and had a wander round and on the roof and looked in their pretty cool library. After that went to the largest fountain in the world which was pretty impressive then had the best Indian ever at a restaurant for lunch. This afternoon we went to the Singapore Art Gallery and looked at loads of wicked paintings by a man called Wu whose surname escapes me though I'm sure I have it written down somewhere.
Tomorrow afternoon we have a seven and a half hour flight to Brisbane which I am wierdly excited about. Asia has been the most amazing three months with so many places I will never forget and plenty I would love to come back to. xoxox
Friday, 19 June 2009
Pha Ngan - Phuket - Phi Phi - Railey - Ton Sai - Ao Nang (the end of Thailand)
Wow internet is really expensive on these litle remote Thai islands, who would have thought that eh? Apologies again for the lack of blogging over the last month but there is a fair amount of banter to share with everyone.
We stayed on Koh Pha Ngan for another four days after I last wrote on here which was really chilled during the day and having a party in the evening. Made really good friends with some leds which was nice after three weeks of travelling with girls. The night before Full Moon was amazing and we stayed up and watched the sun rise on the beach and had the most amazing night. Probably meant we werent masively in the mood to party on the night of full moon but it wasn't really our crowd anyway, mostly posh private school 18 year olds who were very excitable and the night itself wasn't that different to the other beach parties just more people. Beki described it perfectly as "a rave for kids whose parents never let them go to raves". The week itself was still really cool though hanging out with really nice people.
After that we needed some time out so headed to a really quiet beach called Nai Yang on Phuket island which had huge waves and we stayed in cottages in a gorgeous national park with Nina, Liva and Jada and just chilled out and definately didn't drink for a couple of nights just chilled out on the porch playing cards - really quality relaxing couple of days.
Next up we went to Koh Phi Phi which is one of the most beautiful places we have visited on the entire trip. A really small island with no motorised transport it had a much nicer feel than Koh Pha Ngan. With enough nightlife to keep you going but not feeling like you have to drink to an excess we had some really good nights out here (the fire throwers are the best we had seen in Thailand) especially with Nina's friend Joe and his two American friends Derry and Suze. The best thing we did during the daytime was a day trip round some of the surrounding islands which included swimming in clear turquoise bays, cliff jumping off a cliff over 20m high and watching the sun set on the beach where 'The Beach" was filmed. Was really sad on the last day as we said bye to Nina, Livia and Jada who we had been travelling with for between three and five weeks. Still, friends come and go but good times will always be there as that very evening as I was walking down the main beach I bumped into two of our really good mates from Vietnam, Ashley and Lee who we hadn't seen since we left them after a drunken night out in Saigon. Ended up going out with them and having a quality night.
The next afternoon we got a boat over to another beach, Railey. Connected to the mainland but only accesible by boat as it is surrounded by huge limestone cliffs, making it the climbing capital of Thailand. We had three days here and it started pissing it down with rain which meant the beach wasn't that fun. We were staying in a bungalow next to our friend Will and the first two nights we just chilled with a couple of beers/ Thai rum. It was on the Thai rum night that it was firmly decided it would be a good idea to get some Taking Back Sunday lyrics tattooed in Thai on my foot (more on this later) For three days Will became a major conversation factor in travelling but due to the embarressing nature of the story for my travelling companion I feel it might be better left up to her to explain the nature of our friendship with Will if she chooses to on her blog: http://bexstravels.blogspot.com - click here for more Will related news. Anyhow on the third day we went through Taking Back Sunday and Brand New's lyrics for things we could turn into Thai to make cool tattoo's. I decided I am going to get "We're just protecting ourselves from ourselves" from Taking Back Sunday's One Eighty by Summer and Beki is going to get "We sleep inside of this machine" from Brand New's Jesus Christ (more on this later). On the third night Ashley and Lee and Ross turned up and I sepnt the night out with the lads drinking beers, being shown magic tricks and almost winning the pool competition. Generally good night though Railey is a bit quiet due to it being low season.
Next up we went to Ton Sai which Kate had raved about the entire time on Koh Pha Ngan. She stayed here for two weeks, getting herself a Thai boyfriend in the process. On our first day we had to go visit him to drop off a letter in Thai from Kate. He seemed really nice and the bar he worked at was exactly what you expect it to be given that he went out with Kate - chilled out stoner bar with hammocks. We stayed the afternoon having a beer with the staff and a couple of American Medical Students who were really cool as well as some old traveller guy who was nuts. Had a problem when they told us there was nowhere on Ton Sai to get tattoo's done and a bit confused as it seemed like a really chilled hippy little village by the beach but just was a bit to small. On the second day we got our phrases translated into Thai by the nicest Thai travel agent lady in the world, who also let Beki play with a squirrel(?) and she informed us that Ao Nang, where we had to get the bus to Malaysia from anyway had tattoo parlours. We booked our ticket there and then. Second very chilled night in Ton Sai - didn't really go out drinking as it seemed a waste as there were so few people about.
This morning we got a longtail boat across from Ton Sai to Ao Nang and after the best pizza in the world got our tattoo's done as a fitting way to say goodbye to Thailand. They look absolutely wicked, hopefully Beki can get some photo's up on facebook as I may have lost my camera lead. Malaysia next - quite looking forward to doing some cultural stuff now as lying around on beaches has most definately been done. Crazy to think in six weeks we will be home, but I am looking forward to seeing so many people you can't imagine. Hope you are all well I mis everyone lots and lots. xoxoxo
We stayed on Koh Pha Ngan for another four days after I last wrote on here which was really chilled during the day and having a party in the evening. Made really good friends with some leds which was nice after three weeks of travelling with girls. The night before Full Moon was amazing and we stayed up and watched the sun rise on the beach and had the most amazing night. Probably meant we werent masively in the mood to party on the night of full moon but it wasn't really our crowd anyway, mostly posh private school 18 year olds who were very excitable and the night itself wasn't that different to the other beach parties just more people. Beki described it perfectly as "a rave for kids whose parents never let them go to raves". The week itself was still really cool though hanging out with really nice people.
After that we needed some time out so headed to a really quiet beach called Nai Yang on Phuket island which had huge waves and we stayed in cottages in a gorgeous national park with Nina, Liva and Jada and just chilled out and definately didn't drink for a couple of nights just chilled out on the porch playing cards - really quality relaxing couple of days.
Next up we went to Koh Phi Phi which is one of the most beautiful places we have visited on the entire trip. A really small island with no motorised transport it had a much nicer feel than Koh Pha Ngan. With enough nightlife to keep you going but not feeling like you have to drink to an excess we had some really good nights out here (the fire throwers are the best we had seen in Thailand) especially with Nina's friend Joe and his two American friends Derry and Suze. The best thing we did during the daytime was a day trip round some of the surrounding islands which included swimming in clear turquoise bays, cliff jumping off a cliff over 20m high and watching the sun set on the beach where 'The Beach" was filmed. Was really sad on the last day as we said bye to Nina, Livia and Jada who we had been travelling with for between three and five weeks. Still, friends come and go but good times will always be there as that very evening as I was walking down the main beach I bumped into two of our really good mates from Vietnam, Ashley and Lee who we hadn't seen since we left them after a drunken night out in Saigon. Ended up going out with them and having a quality night.
The next afternoon we got a boat over to another beach, Railey. Connected to the mainland but only accesible by boat as it is surrounded by huge limestone cliffs, making it the climbing capital of Thailand. We had three days here and it started pissing it down with rain which meant the beach wasn't that fun. We were staying in a bungalow next to our friend Will and the first two nights we just chilled with a couple of beers/ Thai rum. It was on the Thai rum night that it was firmly decided it would be a good idea to get some Taking Back Sunday lyrics tattooed in Thai on my foot (more on this later) For three days Will became a major conversation factor in travelling but due to the embarressing nature of the story for my travelling companion I feel it might be better left up to her to explain the nature of our friendship with Will if she chooses to on her blog: http://bexstravels.blogspot.com - click here for more Will related news. Anyhow on the third day we went through Taking Back Sunday and Brand New's lyrics for things we could turn into Thai to make cool tattoo's. I decided I am going to get "We're just protecting ourselves from ourselves" from Taking Back Sunday's One Eighty by Summer and Beki is going to get "We sleep inside of this machine" from Brand New's Jesus Christ (more on this later). On the third night Ashley and Lee and Ross turned up and I sepnt the night out with the lads drinking beers, being shown magic tricks and almost winning the pool competition. Generally good night though Railey is a bit quiet due to it being low season.
Next up we went to Ton Sai which Kate had raved about the entire time on Koh Pha Ngan. She stayed here for two weeks, getting herself a Thai boyfriend in the process. On our first day we had to go visit him to drop off a letter in Thai from Kate. He seemed really nice and the bar he worked at was exactly what you expect it to be given that he went out with Kate - chilled out stoner bar with hammocks. We stayed the afternoon having a beer with the staff and a couple of American Medical Students who were really cool as well as some old traveller guy who was nuts. Had a problem when they told us there was nowhere on Ton Sai to get tattoo's done and a bit confused as it seemed like a really chilled hippy little village by the beach but just was a bit to small. On the second day we got our phrases translated into Thai by the nicest Thai travel agent lady in the world, who also let Beki play with a squirrel(?) and she informed us that Ao Nang, where we had to get the bus to Malaysia from anyway had tattoo parlours. We booked our ticket there and then. Second very chilled night in Ton Sai - didn't really go out drinking as it seemed a waste as there were so few people about.
This morning we got a longtail boat across from Ton Sai to Ao Nang and after the best pizza in the world got our tattoo's done as a fitting way to say goodbye to Thailand. They look absolutely wicked, hopefully Beki can get some photo's up on facebook as I may have lost my camera lead. Malaysia next - quite looking forward to doing some cultural stuff now as lying around on beaches has most definately been done. Crazy to think in six weeks we will be home, but I am looking forward to seeing so many people you can't imagine. Hope you are all well I mis everyone lots and lots. xoxoxo
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
This month in Thailand
Hello, sorry for not posting more regularly but the internet has either been inaccesible or ridiculously expensive so haven't been able to write. Here is a much shorter version than normal of the month's events.
On the weekend after I last posted we went up north to Chiang Mai with our friends Nina, Bella, Rachel and Lucy. We had an amazing weekend - Thai trains are ridiculously luxurious; on the sunday we spent the day white water rafting through some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen which was one of the best days of travelling so far. Went back to Singburi on the Monday morning. Spent the first half of the next week learning about Buddhism and stayed overnight in a Buddhist monastry which was quite cool. The second half of the week was a bit dull as there weren't really that many activities to do on the project.
The next week I spent trekking through Suphanburi national park. This was the first week since travelling began without Beki and it was strange to not be around her all the time. The park was amazingt and we camped in the hills above the cloud level. The trekking was good fun and we saw loads of caves and waterfalls. We had a huge party on the last night of the week and I might have pulled our Thai co-ordinator (for those who didn't already know me and Beki have been doing the trip as friends as otherwise I think we might have driven each other mental) which was fairly humourous, mainly as she turned out to be gay.
The next week we headed south to Koh Tao with Bella, Nina and Livia after a night in Bangkok where I was savagely ill. Did manage to make it as far as Patpong night market but couldn't face going out in the evening with the girls as my body absolutely shut down. On the bus down to Koh Tao we were sat near some absolute knobheads who went to Eton and were just everything that makes you ashamed to be British and talked all night so no one got any sleep. We spent the first four days in Koh Tao diving which was an amazing experience, the highlight being when we saw a whal shark which must have been 3m or so long swim really close by us. We went 18m underwater and it was a really surreal feeling to be surrounded by that much water. There was masses of coral and huge shoals of tropical fish. Really really good fun. In the evenings there were parties on the beach as we were on Sairee which was the main beach on Koh Tao. On the Friday morning we moved to the other side of the island to a really quiet resort in the most beaufitul bay. There was little to do here but sit on the beach and appreciate how amazing the place was. One day we hired snorkels and looked at more coral and fish. Really lovely chilled couple of days.
Since then we have moved on to Koh Pha Ngan and are staying in Haad Rin where the famous full moon parties are held. Went to a half moon party in the jungle with Kate on our first night which was a really good night out. Think there are a couple more beach parties this week then the full moon party itself on sunday. Haad Rin is not really that nice and everyone is very english and touristy. It is a bit depressing as the place only seems to exist for people to get fucked in. Our bungalows are in the most beautiful location though about ten minutes away past a really quiet secluded beach and over a private walkway on some rocks. They look out over the rocks to sea, not back for two pound fifty a night. Sorry this blog wasn't proper I don't have my journal or enough time on my hands to fill in all the gaps in the last month. I hope everyone at home is ok, miss you all lots xoxox
On the weekend after I last posted we went up north to Chiang Mai with our friends Nina, Bella, Rachel and Lucy. We had an amazing weekend - Thai trains are ridiculously luxurious; on the sunday we spent the day white water rafting through some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen which was one of the best days of travelling so far. Went back to Singburi on the Monday morning. Spent the first half of the next week learning about Buddhism and stayed overnight in a Buddhist monastry which was quite cool. The second half of the week was a bit dull as there weren't really that many activities to do on the project.
The next week I spent trekking through Suphanburi national park. This was the first week since travelling began without Beki and it was strange to not be around her all the time. The park was amazingt and we camped in the hills above the cloud level. The trekking was good fun and we saw loads of caves and waterfalls. We had a huge party on the last night of the week and I might have pulled our Thai co-ordinator (for those who didn't already know me and Beki have been doing the trip as friends as otherwise I think we might have driven each other mental) which was fairly humourous, mainly as she turned out to be gay.
The next week we headed south to Koh Tao with Bella, Nina and Livia after a night in Bangkok where I was savagely ill. Did manage to make it as far as Patpong night market but couldn't face going out in the evening with the girls as my body absolutely shut down. On the bus down to Koh Tao we were sat near some absolute knobheads who went to Eton and were just everything that makes you ashamed to be British and talked all night so no one got any sleep. We spent the first four days in Koh Tao diving which was an amazing experience, the highlight being when we saw a whal shark which must have been 3m or so long swim really close by us. We went 18m underwater and it was a really surreal feeling to be surrounded by that much water. There was masses of coral and huge shoals of tropical fish. Really really good fun. In the evenings there were parties on the beach as we were on Sairee which was the main beach on Koh Tao. On the Friday morning we moved to the other side of the island to a really quiet resort in the most beaufitul bay. There was little to do here but sit on the beach and appreciate how amazing the place was. One day we hired snorkels and looked at more coral and fish. Really lovely chilled couple of days.
Since then we have moved on to Koh Pha Ngan and are staying in Haad Rin where the famous full moon parties are held. Went to a half moon party in the jungle with Kate on our first night which was a really good night out. Think there are a couple more beach parties this week then the full moon party itself on sunday. Haad Rin is not really that nice and everyone is very english and touristy. It is a bit depressing as the place only seems to exist for people to get fucked in. Our bungalows are in the most beautiful location though about ten minutes away past a really quiet secluded beach and over a private walkway on some rocks. They look out over the rocks to sea, not back for two pound fifty a night. Sorry this blog wasn't proper I don't have my journal or enough time on my hands to fill in all the gaps in the last month. I hope everyone at home is ok, miss you all lots xoxox
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Siem Reap - Bangkok - Singburi
Hello everyone, this is my first blog from Thailand where things are more than a little different. Since leaving Cambodia we have begun a month long project with RealGap which is certainly a different experience of travelling. We are basically in a huge group with a tour guide and whilst we certainly are getting to see some interesting stuff it definately feels as though the sense of adventure has been lost. We have also found out that most of the cool stuff on the project could have been booked much cheaper out here but oh well I guess we weren't to know. On the upside we have made some really good friends in Rachel, Nina, Bella and Lucy even if some of the other people in our group are a little excitable and annoying. I haven't written one of this since Siem Reap so I am well aware it is going to be a long write.
Last Tuesday we were in Siem Reap and we woke up around half four to go to the temples of Angkor at sunrise. The sunrise over Angkor Wat was absolutely immense although loads of people just sat outside to watch the backdrop against the sky. We thought better of this and went inside to discover that no one else was in it. We had one of the seven wonders of the world all to ourselves, illuminated by the sun of a new day, it couldn't have looked more incredible. The only way to describe the temples of angkor is to think of the old Tomb Raider games as they look exactly like the tropical temples in those (lots of the film was filmed here). After that we went to the Bayon which has loads of huge pillars each with faces on four sides. Next we went to a huge Buddha, terrace of the elephants which was like a big walkway for parades back in the day and a really steep temple where the kings 230 concubines lived. Had some overpriced breakfast then went on a ride on the back of an elephant which wasn't as fun as it sounds as the small Cambodian man poked it pretty hard in the back of the head with a nail on the end of a stick and the elephant had quite a lot of blood coming out of its head which was just really unpleasant and we felt really bad for having given them money. We also felt a mild sense of betrayal towards Lonely Planet (our bible) which had recommended the trip. Next we drove to a really steep temple on which Beki got vertigo but was quite a climb, then went to the temple where the filmed Tomb Raider which was all overgrowing with trees. One more smaller temple and we were completely templed out by around one in the afternoon having done all the temples we thought were particularly interesting. Retreated to hammocks in the Siem Reap Hostel for the afternoon reading. The Siem Reap hostel has so much cool stuff to do and yet there never seemed to be anyone about. After dinner watched a film in one of the several empty DVD rooms.
We decided to have a much more laid back day the following day so we spent the morning binning ourselves on $1 all you can east buffet breakfast and playing playing inflatable games in the pool (empty) after that we went to the old market which was nice enough then mid afternoon had a huge happy herb pizza. Spent the day feeling lovely and chilled and watched pirated DVD's from Vietnam of South Park and Friends in hammocks. Felt very lazy but also that we had earnt it after our culture-fest the day before. Had western dinner - western food in Cambodia seems much better than the Khmer food which from our experience is just really bland and average.
Next day had another smaller session at the breakfast buffet then jumped on a bus to Bangkok. We had heard horror stories about this leg of the trip and judging by the internet pictures we had seen the road was only completed in 2007 and still floods during the wet season which were only just into so we figured we would be fine. All things considered the journey was a breeze save the hour or so wait at the Thai border and a change into a small uncomfortable bus meant we got to Bangkok before dark. We got a room above some restaurant for 350baht which was barely bigger than the double bed in it but right near Khao San Road. Went down Khao San and stopped off in a few bars having beers which were decidedly more expensive than they were in Vietnam. Dinner was pad thai bought of the street which was really cheap and pretty tasty. Met a few people on a bar and got chatting aand most of them seemed cool though some knob endlessly told us about he was going to be signed to EMI. We feared that there might be a lot more dickheads in Thailand.
Friday checked out of our hostel and in to luxery. Today we started out RealGap Thailand Experience which had cost us quite a bit of money but was all inclusive. The hotel was absolutely amazing, far nicer than any of the places we had been staying in and we immediately saw where our money had been going. Spent the afternoon shopping on Khao San buying lots of ludicrously cheap t-shirts as all our old ones were getting really dirty. In the evening we met up with the rest of our RealGap group and ended up getting very drunk on cocktail buckets with some of them and going out clubbing on Khao San. We at one point at deep fried crickets which I remember as being delicious though I was fairly innebriated.
Slept off mild hangovers on Saturday morning and spent the afternoon by the pool (POOL?!?!) with the RealGap group. In the evening went back out to Khao San and bought some hiking boots as I feared the trek would make mincemeat of my Converse. Had some dinner and a pancake where the seller ran off down the road afraid of the police. Met up with some of the girls from the group and went out for a more sedate drinking session. During the evening we were walking down Khao San and who should I see walking the other way but Melon. Was so strange coming to the other side of the world and seeing someone you know so well without meaning to. Me, Melon, Nina and Joe sat at a bar casually drinking until gone four in the morning having copious amounts of banter and catching up on how all the boys from uni are doing. Sucks that we can't spend more time together due to the RealGap project but had a lovely evening.
Sunday went to the pool for a couple of hours in the morning then at 12 we got the coach to our eco-houses in Singburi. The eco-houses are also lovely and look a little bit like a spa, it was a really new feeling not being in a big city and out in the countryside. We haven't not been in a city the entire time we have been in Asia and it was so quiet with only the sounds of nature and a distant wedding in the background. Feels a bit like Wli Falls Lodge though not quite that nice. Had a big introductory meeting where our guide Hong (it took us ages to work out is she was male or female) took us through our itinery. It is also very organised and a bit too safe and looked after.
On our first day we visited the local market, had a gorgeous lakeside lunch then in the afternoon went to a bead making place. We were really worried by this point that the whole month was going to be a bit shitty and a waste of money whilst simultaneously being overly organised. In the evening we had a traditional dance from some local children which was actually not as bad as it sounds. The friends we made during the day were our consolation for the lack of activities.
Tuesday was so much better thankfully. Firstly it was our second day of all you can eat meals which are absolutely amazing and in general all the food here is so so good. In the morning we went to Aruntthaya which is the old capital of Thailand. In the morning went to a museum and watched a hilarious video of the old capital. After that we went and watched an elephant show which was even more brutal than the ride we had in Cambodia we watched for about a minute then went and sat back on the bus, it was just really nasty to watch and I guess all you can do is not. Animal rights have some way to go in Asia. After this we had another amazing lunch at a proper restaurant where you could just keep ordering more food. After that me and Nina rented bikes and rode around some of the temples and around a park with big bridges which was loads of fun. Then we went back on the bus and saw a few more temples and a huge sitting golden Buddha. More temples, one with a reclining buddha. In the evening we had dinner on a boat with gorgeous views which was only a little bit spoiled afterwards by karaoke in which a few British and all of the Europeans partook. I think there is somethine distinctly un-British about karaoke, it just isn't self depreciating enough. Our group of friends sat in the corner feeling a bit wierd and embarressed, especially as no one was drunk. In the evening we went back to the eco-houses and sat up writing and having a beer with Nina, Lucy and Rachel and chatted long into the night about music which was a thoroughly pleasant way to spend the evening.
On Wednesday morning we had a Thai lesson which was lengthy but due to the fact I will be here for two months it seems a pretty poor effort to not learn at least the basics. Some aspects such as a lack of gender, tenses or plurals should make it very easy but the pronounciation is so very tricky with so many sounds our alphabet can't cover. After lunch we went to the hero monument where the people of Singburi defeated Burmese armies on 8 occasions the museum was pretty sparse with odd bits of pottery lying around, it confirmed our suspicion that this wasn't a major turning point in Thai history. After that we went to another temple with a really out of proportion reclining Buddha. In late afternoon we spent an hour or two at the pool in Singburi. In the evening we had a barbeque on our tables in the restaurant which again we could keep asking for more meat. The food is amazing, though not sur eit is quite worth all the money. We are looking forward to a bit more adventure and have planned our own trip with Bella, Lucy, Nina and Rachel to Chang Mai in the north this weekend. Hope everyone back home is well, miss you all lots xoxoxo
Last Tuesday we were in Siem Reap and we woke up around half four to go to the temples of Angkor at sunrise. The sunrise over Angkor Wat was absolutely immense although loads of people just sat outside to watch the backdrop against the sky. We thought better of this and went inside to discover that no one else was in it. We had one of the seven wonders of the world all to ourselves, illuminated by the sun of a new day, it couldn't have looked more incredible. The only way to describe the temples of angkor is to think of the old Tomb Raider games as they look exactly like the tropical temples in those (lots of the film was filmed here). After that we went to the Bayon which has loads of huge pillars each with faces on four sides. Next we went to a huge Buddha, terrace of the elephants which was like a big walkway for parades back in the day and a really steep temple where the kings 230 concubines lived. Had some overpriced breakfast then went on a ride on the back of an elephant which wasn't as fun as it sounds as the small Cambodian man poked it pretty hard in the back of the head with a nail on the end of a stick and the elephant had quite a lot of blood coming out of its head which was just really unpleasant and we felt really bad for having given them money. We also felt a mild sense of betrayal towards Lonely Planet (our bible) which had recommended the trip. Next we drove to a really steep temple on which Beki got vertigo but was quite a climb, then went to the temple where the filmed Tomb Raider which was all overgrowing with trees. One more smaller temple and we were completely templed out by around one in the afternoon having done all the temples we thought were particularly interesting. Retreated to hammocks in the Siem Reap Hostel for the afternoon reading. The Siem Reap hostel has so much cool stuff to do and yet there never seemed to be anyone about. After dinner watched a film in one of the several empty DVD rooms.
We decided to have a much more laid back day the following day so we spent the morning binning ourselves on $1 all you can east buffet breakfast and playing playing inflatable games in the pool (empty) after that we went to the old market which was nice enough then mid afternoon had a huge happy herb pizza. Spent the day feeling lovely and chilled and watched pirated DVD's from Vietnam of South Park and Friends in hammocks. Felt very lazy but also that we had earnt it after our culture-fest the day before. Had western dinner - western food in Cambodia seems much better than the Khmer food which from our experience is just really bland and average.
Next day had another smaller session at the breakfast buffet then jumped on a bus to Bangkok. We had heard horror stories about this leg of the trip and judging by the internet pictures we had seen the road was only completed in 2007 and still floods during the wet season which were only just into so we figured we would be fine. All things considered the journey was a breeze save the hour or so wait at the Thai border and a change into a small uncomfortable bus meant we got to Bangkok before dark. We got a room above some restaurant for 350baht which was barely bigger than the double bed in it but right near Khao San Road. Went down Khao San and stopped off in a few bars having beers which were decidedly more expensive than they were in Vietnam. Dinner was pad thai bought of the street which was really cheap and pretty tasty. Met a few people on a bar and got chatting aand most of them seemed cool though some knob endlessly told us about he was going to be signed to EMI. We feared that there might be a lot more dickheads in Thailand.
Friday checked out of our hostel and in to luxery. Today we started out RealGap Thailand Experience which had cost us quite a bit of money but was all inclusive. The hotel was absolutely amazing, far nicer than any of the places we had been staying in and we immediately saw where our money had been going. Spent the afternoon shopping on Khao San buying lots of ludicrously cheap t-shirts as all our old ones were getting really dirty. In the evening we met up with the rest of our RealGap group and ended up getting very drunk on cocktail buckets with some of them and going out clubbing on Khao San. We at one point at deep fried crickets which I remember as being delicious though I was fairly innebriated.
Slept off mild hangovers on Saturday morning and spent the afternoon by the pool (POOL?!?!) with the RealGap group. In the evening went back out to Khao San and bought some hiking boots as I feared the trek would make mincemeat of my Converse. Had some dinner and a pancake where the seller ran off down the road afraid of the police. Met up with some of the girls from the group and went out for a more sedate drinking session. During the evening we were walking down Khao San and who should I see walking the other way but Melon. Was so strange coming to the other side of the world and seeing someone you know so well without meaning to. Me, Melon, Nina and Joe sat at a bar casually drinking until gone four in the morning having copious amounts of banter and catching up on how all the boys from uni are doing. Sucks that we can't spend more time together due to the RealGap project but had a lovely evening.
Sunday went to the pool for a couple of hours in the morning then at 12 we got the coach to our eco-houses in Singburi. The eco-houses are also lovely and look a little bit like a spa, it was a really new feeling not being in a big city and out in the countryside. We haven't not been in a city the entire time we have been in Asia and it was so quiet with only the sounds of nature and a distant wedding in the background. Feels a bit like Wli Falls Lodge though not quite that nice. Had a big introductory meeting where our guide Hong (it took us ages to work out is she was male or female) took us through our itinery. It is also very organised and a bit too safe and looked after.
On our first day we visited the local market, had a gorgeous lakeside lunch then in the afternoon went to a bead making place. We were really worried by this point that the whole month was going to be a bit shitty and a waste of money whilst simultaneously being overly organised. In the evening we had a traditional dance from some local children which was actually not as bad as it sounds. The friends we made during the day were our consolation for the lack of activities.
Tuesday was so much better thankfully. Firstly it was our second day of all you can eat meals which are absolutely amazing and in general all the food here is so so good. In the morning we went to Aruntthaya which is the old capital of Thailand. In the morning went to a museum and watched a hilarious video of the old capital. After that we went and watched an elephant show which was even more brutal than the ride we had in Cambodia we watched for about a minute then went and sat back on the bus, it was just really nasty to watch and I guess all you can do is not. Animal rights have some way to go in Asia. After this we had another amazing lunch at a proper restaurant where you could just keep ordering more food. After that me and Nina rented bikes and rode around some of the temples and around a park with big bridges which was loads of fun. Then we went back on the bus and saw a few more temples and a huge sitting golden Buddha. More temples, one with a reclining buddha. In the evening we had dinner on a boat with gorgeous views which was only a little bit spoiled afterwards by karaoke in which a few British and all of the Europeans partook. I think there is somethine distinctly un-British about karaoke, it just isn't self depreciating enough. Our group of friends sat in the corner feeling a bit wierd and embarressed, especially as no one was drunk. In the evening we went back to the eco-houses and sat up writing and having a beer with Nina, Lucy and Rachel and chatted long into the night about music which was a thoroughly pleasant way to spend the evening.
On Wednesday morning we had a Thai lesson which was lengthy but due to the fact I will be here for two months it seems a pretty poor effort to not learn at least the basics. Some aspects such as a lack of gender, tenses or plurals should make it very easy but the pronounciation is so very tricky with so many sounds our alphabet can't cover. After lunch we went to the hero monument where the people of Singburi defeated Burmese armies on 8 occasions the museum was pretty sparse with odd bits of pottery lying around, it confirmed our suspicion that this wasn't a major turning point in Thai history. After that we went to another temple with a really out of proportion reclining Buddha. In late afternoon we spent an hour or two at the pool in Singburi. In the evening we had a barbeque on our tables in the restaurant which again we could keep asking for more meat. The food is amazing, though not sur eit is quite worth all the money. We are looking forward to a bit more adventure and have planned our own trip with Bella, Lucy, Nina and Rachel to Chang Mai in the north this weekend. Hope everyone back home is well, miss you all lots xoxoxo
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Last day in Nha Trang - Saigon - Phomn Penh - Siem Reap
Hello again, sorry about ending the last post so abruptly but we realised we actually didn't have nearly as much time as we thought we had until the bus came and had to have lunch first.
Last tuesday was our last day in Nha Trang, we got up reltively early and well to a well posh hotel where they did all you can eat breakfast for about two pound fifty and absolutely binned ourselves. Beki felt well sick after, was definately worth it. After that we hired motorbikes again and drove up to Cham towers which were pretty cool to look around and had an immense view overlooking the beach and bridges in Nha Trang. After that we went to another beach then came back and lay on the beach all afternoon as it was far too hot to do anything that resembled exercise. After that we went to a bar with air con and paid over the odds for chips and water but used the free pool table all afternoon. Had a dirt cheap dinner at Same Same but Different cafe in a vein attempt to try and quell the spending of the day before. Got the bus to Saigon at around 8 and based on the Ben and Ed's advice took a couple of valium's which had the intended result of a much better nights sleep, I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City feeling remarkably perky.
As a result of the valium induced sleep we ended up getting a lot done on our first day in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Lonely Planet had advised that the best starting point was the Independence Palace, which was where, when the communist tanks of the Viet Cong crashed through in 1975 the civil/American war ended. According to Lonely Planet (our bible) it had been left exactly as it had looked on that day which seemed unlikely given that it was full of Ho Chi Minh (the leader of the north)'s portrait. What was left was a series of distinctly unimpressive conference rooms. If you are in Saigon and thinking of doing it would definately give it a miss. Far more interesting and informative was the war remnants museum which had various sections detailing the attrocities of the american war. Our favourite section was on all the journalists killed in the war and collections of their photo's accompnaying stories of how they were killed, as told by those who were with them. Other parts were a bit biased liked Ho Lao prison but was still really horrific to see some of the things that the Americans did to the Vietnamese, in particular the use of agent orange and other chemicals to caused permanent disfiguration to generations of Vietnamese citizens. Had Pho from Pho24 which was average and overpriced (buy it on the street instead). Sat in a nearby bar drinking, reading and writing after a pretty tiring morning. In the evening we went out and had bia hoi, met an Aussie called Tom and a German called Niko who were working in an orphanage nearby and had general orphanage bant. Had dinner at a place called cafe Lam where the prices were cheap, the portions western sized and the food amazing. One of the best places we had eaten in 'Nam.
Got up early the next morning and headed out for the first of our two day trips outside of Ho Chi Minh City, in the morning we went to Cau Dai temple. The Cau Dai religion attempts to fuse together branches of Taoism, Buddhism and Confusionism (with parts of Christianity, Islam and other monotheisms thrown in for bant) which makes for a pretty confusing mass of religions and a temple which looks like it's been designed by Elton John, camp as anything. Absolutely huge and looked like a cross between a French Renaissance church, a Chinese temple, and a Mosque. We went inside to watch one of the six daily masses, all the people inside were wearing either white robes (Cao Dai - true fusion of the religions), Blue (Taoism), Yellow (Buddhism) or Red (indicating either Confusionism, Christianity or Islam). The mass was conducted in lines with chanting, bells and kneeling throughout, after certain bells everyone would drop to the floor in unison. It was a surreal experience watching all these people with so many different religious beliefes coming together to pray together, and a scene I can't too easily imagine being reconstructed in the west. After a quick (and surprisingly cheap) lunch with two Australian couples (who lived near the Big Prawn, if you've read Bill Bryson Down Under you will know what I'm talking about) we headed off to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels were a thorn in the side of the Americans throughout the war and a lifeline for the Viet Cong army. Stretching over 200km underground from the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) near Hue Southward, the tunnels were a supplyline of food, troops and weapons for the Viet Cong based below the DMZ line. People slept, ate and often lived for years at a time in the tunnels as a means to avoid the American bombings from above. We were shown various trap techniques that the Viet Cong used very efffectively to stop the Americans and the government of the south. We also got to go through a section of the tunnels which were incredibly small and cramped and were struck by how dedicated the Viet Cong soldiers must have been in fighting to defend their country from what they saw as an imperialist invasion. Additionally they were incredibly inventive with their methods of keeping themselves unnoticed by the Americans with smoke filters on the rooms used for kitchens meaning that any smoke produced from cooking would exit the tunnels several hundred metres away and flood prevention systems preventing the Americans flushing them out. We were surrounded by craters from B52 bombers. After this we got back on the bus and were treated to a goodbye song from our guide, Taung (Tom) who was absolutely brilliant, and blatently loved the karaoke. We moved hotel in the evening to a slightly cheaper dorm room and had some pretty banterous new room-mates who we went out drinking bia hoi with and ended up having dinner with. After a while we met up with Ashley and Lee, some English guys we had been out with a few times who were travelling down Vietnam at the same time as us, some girls from Milton Keynes, and two Irish girls. The fact that there were Irish people with them tells you all you need to know about the activity they had planned for the evening - drinking. We ended up playing drinking games on the roof of the GO2 bar until about 3 in the morning and it was generally accepted that the girls from Milton Keynes lost. And that their roundabout system of town planning was both confusing and time consuming.
Friday; after a couple of hours sleep we were up again and on another tour - this time our destination was the Mekong Delta. Nursing hangovers and lacking sleep we slept them off in air conditioned bliss on the two hour ride there, which thankfully wasn't filled with information about Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City. (Note: almost every tour guide from Vietnam has exactly the same information about the country and city you are in and usually tells this to you loudly and excitedly at a time in the morning when you are utterly unable and unwilling to listen to this otherwise very useful knowledge. Due to the said tour guide's overwhelming desire to please the bus however you spend the entire time pretending to look interested and nodding encouragingly as they check their near perfect English with you, I couldn't have been more pleased as this bus ride passed in near silence.) We arrived at the Mekong Delta feeling much better and ready to face wha quite frankly ended up being a day of being waited on and pootling about on a boat - ended up being one of the most relaxing days of travelling yet though was admitadely very touristy. We were taken around lots of 'traditional' craft stalls and saw all of the following: honey making, coconut candy, fishing village, traditional music being played, we held a snake, went of a horse and cart in Vietnamese hats and had a traditional canoe ride back down the Mekong. Lovely. The guide wasn't as good as old Taung though and didn't even give us a goodbye song at the end. In the evening we got mugged off at a dollar exchange place so went back to Lam cafe to be guarenteed a good dinner, obviously we weren't disappointed. Early night as bus to Phnom Penh left at six the next morning.
Had a trouble free morning on the bus and ended up getting into Phnom Penh around 2ish. Went to a guest house that we had been recommended by a German girl in our dorm in Ho Chi Minh City and for $7 a night we couldn't have asked for more. Got a tuk-tuk their with a young Austrailian couple Sarah and Paul. In the afternoon we went to the Royal Palace, which at $7 each was a bit pricey though very nice to look at. Had a cheap lunch for $2 each to try and recouperate some of these costs. On our way back we found a silk shop with a bar attached that would have looked more at home in Amsterdam, covered in silk cusions and generally very chilled out and comfy. Went back for dinner with Paul and Sarah drank beer, laying on hammocks and watched Borat.
Sunday; went to Toul Slend Genocide museum in the morning; a former school turned torture camp at the start of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. We watched a film about the genocide that was carried out in the name of Socialism. As Pol Pot came to power he wiped out all of the 'new people' the town dwelling intellectual class who he perceived as ruining the country. They were either killed or sent into forced labour camps in the countryside where millions died of starvation. His plan was to radically transform the face of Cambodia into a state where art, literature and music were banned and for the people to return to a simpler country life. We took a guided tour (our guide had lost her mother, two brothers and a sister to the Khmer ROude regime, she had fled to Vietnam) round the school turned prison which became known as S-21; of the 20,000 people that passed through the gates here only seven survived, escaping at the killing fields. After that we visited the Killing Fields, one of over 20 centres of mass extermination. 'Enemies of the revolution' were hoarded onto trucks, told they were going to work in the countryside then made to kneel by a ditch and were beaten over the back of the had with an iron bar as means to save bullets. After what was the most morbid of mornings on the trip we drove back to Phomn Penh through torrential rains, went to the Russian market where DVDs weren't as cheap as in Vietnam then walked back and had a couple hours sleep in the afternoon. We still didn't feel like doing much in the evening so just went out and had dinner then bed.
Got the bus to Siem Reap the next day around midday and arrived there pretty lae in part due to a brake failure on the minibus. Checked straight into the Siem Riem Hostel, which seems very ncie though at $8 each for a dorm room is a little more than some of the other hotels around here. Today we went to the Temples of Angkor but that will take ages to write about it all and this post has already been far too long and taken a long time to write so I will start my next post, most probably from Thailand with them. Hope everyone at home is well, miss you all lots, am loving all the little messages and wall posts on facebook please keep them all up. xoxox
Last tuesday was our last day in Nha Trang, we got up reltively early and well to a well posh hotel where they did all you can eat breakfast for about two pound fifty and absolutely binned ourselves. Beki felt well sick after, was definately worth it. After that we hired motorbikes again and drove up to Cham towers which were pretty cool to look around and had an immense view overlooking the beach and bridges in Nha Trang. After that we went to another beach then came back and lay on the beach all afternoon as it was far too hot to do anything that resembled exercise. After that we went to a bar with air con and paid over the odds for chips and water but used the free pool table all afternoon. Had a dirt cheap dinner at Same Same but Different cafe in a vein attempt to try and quell the spending of the day before. Got the bus to Saigon at around 8 and based on the Ben and Ed's advice took a couple of valium's which had the intended result of a much better nights sleep, I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City feeling remarkably perky.
As a result of the valium induced sleep we ended up getting a lot done on our first day in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Lonely Planet had advised that the best starting point was the Independence Palace, which was where, when the communist tanks of the Viet Cong crashed through in 1975 the civil/American war ended. According to Lonely Planet (our bible) it had been left exactly as it had looked on that day which seemed unlikely given that it was full of Ho Chi Minh (the leader of the north)'s portrait. What was left was a series of distinctly unimpressive conference rooms. If you are in Saigon and thinking of doing it would definately give it a miss. Far more interesting and informative was the war remnants museum which had various sections detailing the attrocities of the american war. Our favourite section was on all the journalists killed in the war and collections of their photo's accompnaying stories of how they were killed, as told by those who were with them. Other parts were a bit biased liked Ho Lao prison but was still really horrific to see some of the things that the Americans did to the Vietnamese, in particular the use of agent orange and other chemicals to caused permanent disfiguration to generations of Vietnamese citizens. Had Pho from Pho24 which was average and overpriced (buy it on the street instead). Sat in a nearby bar drinking, reading and writing after a pretty tiring morning. In the evening we went out and had bia hoi, met an Aussie called Tom and a German called Niko who were working in an orphanage nearby and had general orphanage bant. Had dinner at a place called cafe Lam where the prices were cheap, the portions western sized and the food amazing. One of the best places we had eaten in 'Nam.
Got up early the next morning and headed out for the first of our two day trips outside of Ho Chi Minh City, in the morning we went to Cau Dai temple. The Cau Dai religion attempts to fuse together branches of Taoism, Buddhism and Confusionism (with parts of Christianity, Islam and other monotheisms thrown in for bant) which makes for a pretty confusing mass of religions and a temple which looks like it's been designed by Elton John, camp as anything. Absolutely huge and looked like a cross between a French Renaissance church, a Chinese temple, and a Mosque. We went inside to watch one of the six daily masses, all the people inside were wearing either white robes (Cao Dai - true fusion of the religions), Blue (Taoism), Yellow (Buddhism) or Red (indicating either Confusionism, Christianity or Islam). The mass was conducted in lines with chanting, bells and kneeling throughout, after certain bells everyone would drop to the floor in unison. It was a surreal experience watching all these people with so many different religious beliefes coming together to pray together, and a scene I can't too easily imagine being reconstructed in the west. After a quick (and surprisingly cheap) lunch with two Australian couples (who lived near the Big Prawn, if you've read Bill Bryson Down Under you will know what I'm talking about) we headed off to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels were a thorn in the side of the Americans throughout the war and a lifeline for the Viet Cong army. Stretching over 200km underground from the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) near Hue Southward, the tunnels were a supplyline of food, troops and weapons for the Viet Cong based below the DMZ line. People slept, ate and often lived for years at a time in the tunnels as a means to avoid the American bombings from above. We were shown various trap techniques that the Viet Cong used very efffectively to stop the Americans and the government of the south. We also got to go through a section of the tunnels which were incredibly small and cramped and were struck by how dedicated the Viet Cong soldiers must have been in fighting to defend their country from what they saw as an imperialist invasion. Additionally they were incredibly inventive with their methods of keeping themselves unnoticed by the Americans with smoke filters on the rooms used for kitchens meaning that any smoke produced from cooking would exit the tunnels several hundred metres away and flood prevention systems preventing the Americans flushing them out. We were surrounded by craters from B52 bombers. After this we got back on the bus and were treated to a goodbye song from our guide, Taung (Tom) who was absolutely brilliant, and blatently loved the karaoke. We moved hotel in the evening to a slightly cheaper dorm room and had some pretty banterous new room-mates who we went out drinking bia hoi with and ended up having dinner with. After a while we met up with Ashley and Lee, some English guys we had been out with a few times who were travelling down Vietnam at the same time as us, some girls from Milton Keynes, and two Irish girls. The fact that there were Irish people with them tells you all you need to know about the activity they had planned for the evening - drinking. We ended up playing drinking games on the roof of the GO2 bar until about 3 in the morning and it was generally accepted that the girls from Milton Keynes lost. And that their roundabout system of town planning was both confusing and time consuming.
Friday; after a couple of hours sleep we were up again and on another tour - this time our destination was the Mekong Delta. Nursing hangovers and lacking sleep we slept them off in air conditioned bliss on the two hour ride there, which thankfully wasn't filled with information about Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City. (Note: almost every tour guide from Vietnam has exactly the same information about the country and city you are in and usually tells this to you loudly and excitedly at a time in the morning when you are utterly unable and unwilling to listen to this otherwise very useful knowledge. Due to the said tour guide's overwhelming desire to please the bus however you spend the entire time pretending to look interested and nodding encouragingly as they check their near perfect English with you, I couldn't have been more pleased as this bus ride passed in near silence.) We arrived at the Mekong Delta feeling much better and ready to face wha quite frankly ended up being a day of being waited on and pootling about on a boat - ended up being one of the most relaxing days of travelling yet though was admitadely very touristy. We were taken around lots of 'traditional' craft stalls and saw all of the following: honey making, coconut candy, fishing village, traditional music being played, we held a snake, went of a horse and cart in Vietnamese hats and had a traditional canoe ride back down the Mekong. Lovely. The guide wasn't as good as old Taung though and didn't even give us a goodbye song at the end. In the evening we got mugged off at a dollar exchange place so went back to Lam cafe to be guarenteed a good dinner, obviously we weren't disappointed. Early night as bus to Phnom Penh left at six the next morning.
Had a trouble free morning on the bus and ended up getting into Phnom Penh around 2ish. Went to a guest house that we had been recommended by a German girl in our dorm in Ho Chi Minh City and for $7 a night we couldn't have asked for more. Got a tuk-tuk their with a young Austrailian couple Sarah and Paul. In the afternoon we went to the Royal Palace, which at $7 each was a bit pricey though very nice to look at. Had a cheap lunch for $2 each to try and recouperate some of these costs. On our way back we found a silk shop with a bar attached that would have looked more at home in Amsterdam, covered in silk cusions and generally very chilled out and comfy. Went back for dinner with Paul and Sarah drank beer, laying on hammocks and watched Borat.
Sunday; went to Toul Slend Genocide museum in the morning; a former school turned torture camp at the start of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. We watched a film about the genocide that was carried out in the name of Socialism. As Pol Pot came to power he wiped out all of the 'new people' the town dwelling intellectual class who he perceived as ruining the country. They were either killed or sent into forced labour camps in the countryside where millions died of starvation. His plan was to radically transform the face of Cambodia into a state where art, literature and music were banned and for the people to return to a simpler country life. We took a guided tour (our guide had lost her mother, two brothers and a sister to the Khmer ROude regime, she had fled to Vietnam) round the school turned prison which became known as S-21; of the 20,000 people that passed through the gates here only seven survived, escaping at the killing fields. After that we visited the Killing Fields, one of over 20 centres of mass extermination. 'Enemies of the revolution' were hoarded onto trucks, told they were going to work in the countryside then made to kneel by a ditch and were beaten over the back of the had with an iron bar as means to save bullets. After what was the most morbid of mornings on the trip we drove back to Phomn Penh through torrential rains, went to the Russian market where DVDs weren't as cheap as in Vietnam then walked back and had a couple hours sleep in the afternoon. We still didn't feel like doing much in the evening so just went out and had dinner then bed.
Got the bus to Siem Reap the next day around midday and arrived there pretty lae in part due to a brake failure on the minibus. Checked straight into the Siem Riem Hostel, which seems very ncie though at $8 each for a dorm room is a little more than some of the other hotels around here. Today we went to the Temples of Angkor but that will take ages to write about it all and this post has already been far too long and taken a long time to write so I will start my next post, most probably from Thailand with them. Hope everyone at home is well, miss you all lots, am loving all the little messages and wall posts on facebook please keep them all up. xoxox
Monday, 27 April 2009
Nha Trang, Saigon - Vietnam, Phnom Penh - Cambodia
Hello again! Since I last wrote our adventure has taken us into Cambodia, currently in Phnom Penh and getting a bus to Siem Riep later today. We miss Vietnam already and are a bit worried that nowhere is going to beat it as it was absolutely mint. Cambodia seems lovely though Phnom Penh is huge and there is a lot more poverty than in Vientnam for obvious reasons. Had a pretty bleak day yesterday learning all about the genocide but was really interesting.
Nha Trang, last Saturday woke up late after getting the overnight bus into Nha Trang at about 6 in the morning. Had a well cheap lunch at Cali Pho which was 35,000dong for three courses, would definately recommend it if you are hungry and poor. After that we spent the afternoon on the beach in the baking heat feeling a bit lazy and drinking beer. Had lunch at Lantern's where they give you free beer on tap so we ate very slowly to make full use of this. Had a bit of pre lash in the hotel room before heading out to the beach part. Think we might have got there way too early at around 10 as it wasn't really a mental rave as we had expected but looked more like Butlin's holiday camp. Decided pretty quick to sack it off for a few hours so went to a bar and cocktails from jars. Met up with Ken and various other people we had met travelling down Vietnam including a bunch of private school lads who were very posh but very nice and a pretty good laugh and were hanging out with the Danish girls. Also with them was a guy who was really really right wing and wouldn't stop trying to talk to me about the importance of being British all evening. You know how much I love to chat about politics but even I got bored and he didn't get my hints at trying to end the conversation and kept picking it up again every half hour or so. He was well dry and a bit racist. Managed to eventually get rid of him and went skinny dipping in the sea with Ben, Ed, Will and the other boys and the Danish girls. Much more fun. Got in about 4, pretty good night apart from the racism.
Had a really lazy day on the Sunday getting up late, sitting on the beach and generally chilling out seemd the best way to get rid of the hangover. Had Mexican for dinner which was a massive treat.
Monday: did loads to make up for our lazy Sunday. Got up early then caught a taxi down to the harbour where we got a cable car across to the nearest island where there is Vin Pearland; a huge theme park/water park/aquarium. The whole thing cost 300,000dong and was definately worth it as we got a full day of fun for our money. The water park was definately my highlight although we were pretty much the only people in the theme park and they hadn't cottened on to the British way of charging for arcade games so we played literally every one as they were free. Beki bummed the aquarium too, especially the huge underwater glass tunnel. In the evening we met up with Alex and Eoghan, the boys who had bought motorbikes in Hanoi and set off the day before us. We thought we would never see them again and it was great to know they had made it safely down the country, they said the bikes had broken down about 50 times between them but they were hoping to make a profit on them as they were Russian Minsk's and so much rarer in the south than the north. We had loads of bia hoi with them then had a well nice dinner at a place that bbq'ed fish infront of the street, after that went to Red Apple Club for a few more beers with them and Lee and Ashley.
I don't have time to carry on and tell you up to here as we have to get the bus and have some lunch, will update further in Siem Riep. Hope everyone is well x
Nha Trang, last Saturday woke up late after getting the overnight bus into Nha Trang at about 6 in the morning. Had a well cheap lunch at Cali Pho which was 35,000dong for three courses, would definately recommend it if you are hungry and poor. After that we spent the afternoon on the beach in the baking heat feeling a bit lazy and drinking beer. Had lunch at Lantern's where they give you free beer on tap so we ate very slowly to make full use of this. Had a bit of pre lash in the hotel room before heading out to the beach part. Think we might have got there way too early at around 10 as it wasn't really a mental rave as we had expected but looked more like Butlin's holiday camp. Decided pretty quick to sack it off for a few hours so went to a bar and cocktails from jars. Met up with Ken and various other people we had met travelling down Vietnam including a bunch of private school lads who were very posh but very nice and a pretty good laugh and were hanging out with the Danish girls. Also with them was a guy who was really really right wing and wouldn't stop trying to talk to me about the importance of being British all evening. You know how much I love to chat about politics but even I got bored and he didn't get my hints at trying to end the conversation and kept picking it up again every half hour or so. He was well dry and a bit racist. Managed to eventually get rid of him and went skinny dipping in the sea with Ben, Ed, Will and the other boys and the Danish girls. Much more fun. Got in about 4, pretty good night apart from the racism.
Had a really lazy day on the Sunday getting up late, sitting on the beach and generally chilling out seemd the best way to get rid of the hangover. Had Mexican for dinner which was a massive treat.
Monday: did loads to make up for our lazy Sunday. Got up early then caught a taxi down to the harbour where we got a cable car across to the nearest island where there is Vin Pearland; a huge theme park/water park/aquarium. The whole thing cost 300,000dong and was definately worth it as we got a full day of fun for our money. The water park was definately my highlight although we were pretty much the only people in the theme park and they hadn't cottened on to the British way of charging for arcade games so we played literally every one as they were free. Beki bummed the aquarium too, especially the huge underwater glass tunnel. In the evening we met up with Alex and Eoghan, the boys who had bought motorbikes in Hanoi and set off the day before us. We thought we would never see them again and it was great to know they had made it safely down the country, they said the bikes had broken down about 50 times between them but they were hoping to make a profit on them as they were Russian Minsk's and so much rarer in the south than the north. We had loads of bia hoi with them then had a well nice dinner at a place that bbq'ed fish infront of the street, after that went to Red Apple Club for a few more beers with them and Lee and Ashley.
I don't have time to carry on and tell you up to here as we have to get the bus and have some lunch, will update further in Siem Riep. Hope everyone is well x
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Hoi An, Vietnam
Hello again everyone! Hope all is well back home though is sounds as though everyone in Exeter is working their arses off. Conversely we have hit Vietnam's beach area and are lazying around doing not very much with ourselves other than riding motorbikes and buying shitloads of clothes. Hoi An proved expensive in the extreme but also a hell of a lot of fun.
Spent the first night in Hoi An at a western bar drinking copious amounts of Saigon beers as happy 'hour' ran from 4:30-9pm at meant beer was about 35p a pop. Met up with Kenneth, the Irish guy we originally made friends with in Hanoi and he introduced us to all sorts of new people whose names mostly passed me by in a slightly drunken haze. All seemed very nice and remember at one point having a pretty in depth discussion with a middle aged couple about the Austrailian voting system, which as voting systems go is pretty funny.
Spent most of Tuesday at tailors. Hoi An is pretty famous for its incredibly cheap, quick and largely brilliant tailors. Taking advantage of this we spent the day going round and having a shitload of clothes made. To anyone who is going to Hoi An and going to have clothing made I would hugely recommend Bao Khanh Silk (101 Trun Hung Dao) who made my suit, Beki's dress, several shirts and a coat for Beki's mum and who were absolutely brilliant, everything they made was really good quality and so reasonable. Suit was $55 shirt $15. In the evening went out and had the best spring rolls we have had yet at Cafe 96 which is down by the waterfront. Sweet and sour pork was average though. Ended up going out drinking with a bunch of American's who were leaving tomorrow and bought us all red bull's (filled with amphetamine's -banter).
Wednesday was an absolutely immense day as me and Ken hired motorbikes and spent the morning biking around paddy fields and generally thinking Vietnam was beautiful. At one point I ran out of fuel as the petrol gauge was fucked, within a minute of being stranded at the side of the road miles out of town a little old woman on a bike pulled up, asked "what's the problem?"; when I told her I was out of fuel she said "wait here" then was off. She returned five minutes later with a bottle full of petrol and said it had cost her 7000d, when we tried to give her 10000d she wouldn't take the extra saying it was too much. I bloody love Vietnam. In the afternoon went to the beach with Bex and generally cruised around on the bike feeling manly. Got it up to about 110kph along the beach road which was immense. Even more brilliant was the drive home as the sun was setting across pady fields, easily one of the most beauftiful sights I have seen, probably enhanced by the fact we were driving through it on a motorbike. In the evening went out for dinner with Rory, Beth and Ken then carried on to a place which had cracking Bia Hoi. After this we were pretty up for a night out so ended up at King Kong bar. If you go to this bar in Hoi An you will get battered. Free rum and coke's for an hour and a half (mostly bolted after games of rock paper scissors) ensured this and I'm pretty sure me and Rory were dominating the pool table dance floor before we had even paid for a drink. All of what happens after this is a bit of a blur but I definately remember Beth being sick, dancing with Danish girls on the pool table and singing for most of the way home. Lovely.
As a result of the night before's endevour's we didn't get a huge amount done on Thursday. Did mange a suit fitting around 2ish followed by some Cau Lao. Cau Lao is a Hoi An speciality dish which involves flat rice noodles in a soup with pork, lettuce and topped with croutons. It was an odd mixture that tasted neither great nor awful. As far as local dishes go Hoi An seems immense for wanton's and spring rolls but didn't think much of the white rose. Swam in the pool and had a lazy afternoon before meeting Beth and Rory out for drinks at Treats (standard western bar) where we played pool over a few beers. As we were heading out for dinner we met some English, Dutch and Swedish lads who joined us for dinner and who seemed pretty quality, largely as they were football keen and have massively been missing having people to talk to about football. Headed out to a couple of bars, including the incredibly 'edgy' Before and Now bar which I would recommend everyone go and enjoy the artwork in.
On Friday we posted all our clothes back to England which cost nearly as much as the clothes had in the first place. Had a fat english breakfast then hired a motorbike again. This time we went to Marble Mountain which was just plain wierd. Basically a series of caves inside a mountain it starts off all very nice with Buddha's and water flowing through the caves. Theres a series of really steep steps up the inside of the cave which are surrounded by Buddha's and its all very nice. After this the caves head downward into the ground and the mood follows. Nice Buddha's and pictures are replaced with horrific models of devil's torturing people in pretty horrific ways. We had got there quite early as to avoid the rush so the caves were eriely silent but for the squeaking of bats above. With no tour guide we were left to draw our own conclusions about what the caves were once used for, or they could have just been a tourist attraction. After this we drove down to the beach and spent the early afternoon enjoying our first time at the beach on the trip. Bought a pair of 'Billabong' board shorts for just over 3quid. Some of the best bargains in Hoi An are to be had at the beach on the beachware. Hoi An beach is definately worth going the 5km out of town for, especially if you hire your own motorbike, absolutely beautiful and so quiet save the odd jet ski. In the evening got the bus to Nha Trang which arrived here at 6 this morning, pretty much set for three days of enjoying the beach before heading on to Saigon. Hope all is well at home xoxoxo
Spent the first night in Hoi An at a western bar drinking copious amounts of Saigon beers as happy 'hour' ran from 4:30-9pm at meant beer was about 35p a pop. Met up with Kenneth, the Irish guy we originally made friends with in Hanoi and he introduced us to all sorts of new people whose names mostly passed me by in a slightly drunken haze. All seemed very nice and remember at one point having a pretty in depth discussion with a middle aged couple about the Austrailian voting system, which as voting systems go is pretty funny.
Spent most of Tuesday at tailors. Hoi An is pretty famous for its incredibly cheap, quick and largely brilliant tailors. Taking advantage of this we spent the day going round and having a shitload of clothes made. To anyone who is going to Hoi An and going to have clothing made I would hugely recommend Bao Khanh Silk (101 Trun Hung Dao) who made my suit, Beki's dress, several shirts and a coat for Beki's mum and who were absolutely brilliant, everything they made was really good quality and so reasonable. Suit was $55 shirt $15. In the evening went out and had the best spring rolls we have had yet at Cafe 96 which is down by the waterfront. Sweet and sour pork was average though. Ended up going out drinking with a bunch of American's who were leaving tomorrow and bought us all red bull's (filled with amphetamine's -banter).
Wednesday was an absolutely immense day as me and Ken hired motorbikes and spent the morning biking around paddy fields and generally thinking Vietnam was beautiful. At one point I ran out of fuel as the petrol gauge was fucked, within a minute of being stranded at the side of the road miles out of town a little old woman on a bike pulled up, asked "what's the problem?"; when I told her I was out of fuel she said "wait here" then was off. She returned five minutes later with a bottle full of petrol and said it had cost her 7000d, when we tried to give her 10000d she wouldn't take the extra saying it was too much. I bloody love Vietnam. In the afternoon went to the beach with Bex and generally cruised around on the bike feeling manly. Got it up to about 110kph along the beach road which was immense. Even more brilliant was the drive home as the sun was setting across pady fields, easily one of the most beauftiful sights I have seen, probably enhanced by the fact we were driving through it on a motorbike. In the evening went out for dinner with Rory, Beth and Ken then carried on to a place which had cracking Bia Hoi. After this we were pretty up for a night out so ended up at King Kong bar. If you go to this bar in Hoi An you will get battered. Free rum and coke's for an hour and a half (mostly bolted after games of rock paper scissors) ensured this and I'm pretty sure me and Rory were dominating the pool table dance floor before we had even paid for a drink. All of what happens after this is a bit of a blur but I definately remember Beth being sick, dancing with Danish girls on the pool table and singing for most of the way home. Lovely.
As a result of the night before's endevour's we didn't get a huge amount done on Thursday. Did mange a suit fitting around 2ish followed by some Cau Lao. Cau Lao is a Hoi An speciality dish which involves flat rice noodles in a soup with pork, lettuce and topped with croutons. It was an odd mixture that tasted neither great nor awful. As far as local dishes go Hoi An seems immense for wanton's and spring rolls but didn't think much of the white rose. Swam in the pool and had a lazy afternoon before meeting Beth and Rory out for drinks at Treats (standard western bar) where we played pool over a few beers. As we were heading out for dinner we met some English, Dutch and Swedish lads who joined us for dinner and who seemed pretty quality, largely as they were football keen and have massively been missing having people to talk to about football. Headed out to a couple of bars, including the incredibly 'edgy' Before and Now bar which I would recommend everyone go and enjoy the artwork in.
On Friday we posted all our clothes back to England which cost nearly as much as the clothes had in the first place. Had a fat english breakfast then hired a motorbike again. This time we went to Marble Mountain which was just plain wierd. Basically a series of caves inside a mountain it starts off all very nice with Buddha's and water flowing through the caves. Theres a series of really steep steps up the inside of the cave which are surrounded by Buddha's and its all very nice. After this the caves head downward into the ground and the mood follows. Nice Buddha's and pictures are replaced with horrific models of devil's torturing people in pretty horrific ways. We had got there quite early as to avoid the rush so the caves were eriely silent but for the squeaking of bats above. With no tour guide we were left to draw our own conclusions about what the caves were once used for, or they could have just been a tourist attraction. After this we drove down to the beach and spent the early afternoon enjoying our first time at the beach on the trip. Bought a pair of 'Billabong' board shorts for just over 3quid. Some of the best bargains in Hoi An are to be had at the beach on the beachware. Hoi An beach is definately worth going the 5km out of town for, especially if you hire your own motorbike, absolutely beautiful and so quiet save the odd jet ski. In the evening got the bus to Nha Trang which arrived here at 6 this morning, pretty much set for three days of enjoying the beach before heading on to Saigon. Hope all is well at home xoxoxo
Monday, 13 April 2009
Hanoi - Hoi An, Vietnam
Hello again, it is so lovely having access to the internet all the time, and internet that works at a decent speed too. Sorry Ghana but if each country is going to have negatives yours was most definately internet capability.
Didn't end up going to the snake farm and eating snake and drinking blood as the trip got cancelled which we were pretty disappointed about as had been quite looking forward to it. Ended up going out and having a lovely dinner with our new friends Rory and Beth, before going out to Bia Hoi square and having lots of 3000dong (13p) beer on kids chairs in the road. Cracking bant.
On our last day in Hanoi we went to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum which was closed so went round his house instead. mWasn't that interesting, was pretty much just two houses though was the headquarters of planning for the American War which is pretty cool. Got a motorbike across town to see these which was pretty fun, definately would recommend doing it once. On the way back we found a Sumsung shop and I bought a new camera as my old one had mysteriously decided to not turn on any more, probably caused by plugging it into the shared computer's at the hostel as my memory stick was playing up a bit too. New camera cost 2,500,000dong which is nearly 100quid and has put me some way over my previously quite well stuck to budget.
Went out and had western food (burgers and chips) for a the first time in Vietnam, was good though concluded the Vietnamese is usually better. After that went round the DVD shops and bought more cheap copies. Spent the rest of the afternoon going round Hoa Lo prison which was an interesting experience for multiple reasons. The museum is divided into two section; the first larger section is dedicated to the time when the prison was run by the French and Vietnamese POWs were kept there. It was full of graphic descriptions and pictures of the awful conditions that the Vietnamese prisoners faced whilst there and praised the noble revolutionary spirit that never wore out during this time. The second smaller part of the prison was about its use during the American War where it was used to hold captured Amercian soldiers. This part was filled with pictures of US soliders smiling and playing basketball in the prison with lots of pictures of their release and propaganda about how well they had been treated. Also had a picture of John McCain visiting the prison, and had the 'actual' suit he wore when the captured him. He obviously looked the future-senator and presidential candidate-type even back then so they kept his suit. In the evening had a few beers with Rory and Beth who were going to the snake farm that evening before leaving Hanoi by bus at around half seven. The bus was Veitnamese sized (I am too tall for this continent) and played movies with lots of gunfighting in loudly and long into the night but surprisingly didn't sleep that badly.
Woke up to blarring traditional Chinese music around half six, quite what anyone was getting out of having traditional Chinese music played at this volume remains unbeknown to me. It definately lost some of its traquil calming appeal. Arrived in Hue (pronounced hway) around half eight and got a free taxi to a hotel. The room was $5 a night each and was huge with a double and a single bed, fan, ensuite and air con. We realised things were going to be much cheaper here than they had been in Hanoi. This rule didn't extend to the tourist attractions however as we found out when we went and visited the old citadel and forbidden purple kingdom. Hue was the old capital of Vietnam and this is where all of the old emporer's used to live. Was pretty interesting and a nice walk with no real paths you could pretty much wander around as you pleased which was nice. Had a cheap lunch (food is so cheap in Hue) before going on a tour of the old emperor's tombs, this was alright though only ended up going to one tomb (Ming Mang) due to entrance fees being more than dinner! Also went to a conical hat (everyone in Vietnam wears one of these) making village and incense stick making village, got a boat cruise back down the Perfume River included in the $5 (89,000dong) ticket price which was pretty reasonable. Meandered back through Hue's streets checking out restaurants which were so much more affordable than Hanoi. Ended up eating at an amazing traditional Hue restaurant and had all sorts of exotic foods for not very much money and had lots of 5000dong beers with it. After that went to bar Why Not? played pool with more beer and watched Man United-Sunderland.
On Sunday got up reasonably early and went to Dong Ba market whilst Bex was lazy and stayed in bed reading her book. The market was pretty cool lots of very small asian women with very big knives hammering down on huge slabs of pork and no other Westerners in sight (possibly as it was half 9 in the morning). Huge array of foods and it all looked so nice that I thought I would back myself with a Vietnamese market breakfast. Was thrilled when she said it would only be 10,000dong and even more pleased when she kept bringing me out more and more plates though quickly realised it was going to be more than 10,000d. When it came to the end I had been handed seven or eight plates of varying size, appeal and recognisability and she asked for 100,000dong. Eventually managed to calm her down to 70,000d (GBP2.50) quite a bit but probably worth it for the experience especially the wierd exploding green balls they eminated goo when you bit into them. Went back and Bex laughed at me for getting mugged off, had a nap then went outfor lunch. Had a fat bacon baguette then spent all afternoon in the cafe as they had free internet, cheap beer and there was a huge storm outside. Went for dinner at Mandarin Cafe which made it into the lonely planet which was very cheap but tasted it too, though had lovely photo's taken by the owner inside it. Ended up being a pretty cheap day (despite the breakfast)which I will need a few more of to cover the camera cost.
This morning we headed further south on the bus to Hoi An, arrived around one in the afternoon. The town is so picturesque though filled with middle aged tourists. We went down to the waterfront to have lunch and were immediately struck by the rise in price. Things here are about the same price as in Hanoi presumably because of the huge amount of tourists. The town itself is lovely filled with tailor's, art gallery's and restaurants. On the way back we found a shop that sold communist propaganda posters which I might have to get one of. All is well here, we absolutely love Vietnam and it is so much hotter in the centre than in Hanoi, will take a bit of getting used to. Hope everyone at home is well, miss you all lots x
Didn't end up going to the snake farm and eating snake and drinking blood as the trip got cancelled which we were pretty disappointed about as had been quite looking forward to it. Ended up going out and having a lovely dinner with our new friends Rory and Beth, before going out to Bia Hoi square and having lots of 3000dong (13p) beer on kids chairs in the road. Cracking bant.
On our last day in Hanoi we went to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum which was closed so went round his house instead. mWasn't that interesting, was pretty much just two houses though was the headquarters of planning for the American War which is pretty cool. Got a motorbike across town to see these which was pretty fun, definately would recommend doing it once. On the way back we found a Sumsung shop and I bought a new camera as my old one had mysteriously decided to not turn on any more, probably caused by plugging it into the shared computer's at the hostel as my memory stick was playing up a bit too. New camera cost 2,500,000dong which is nearly 100quid and has put me some way over my previously quite well stuck to budget.
Went out and had western food (burgers and chips) for a the first time in Vietnam, was good though concluded the Vietnamese is usually better. After that went round the DVD shops and bought more cheap copies. Spent the rest of the afternoon going round Hoa Lo prison which was an interesting experience for multiple reasons. The museum is divided into two section; the first larger section is dedicated to the time when the prison was run by the French and Vietnamese POWs were kept there. It was full of graphic descriptions and pictures of the awful conditions that the Vietnamese prisoners faced whilst there and praised the noble revolutionary spirit that never wore out during this time. The second smaller part of the prison was about its use during the American War where it was used to hold captured Amercian soldiers. This part was filled with pictures of US soliders smiling and playing basketball in the prison with lots of pictures of their release and propaganda about how well they had been treated. Also had a picture of John McCain visiting the prison, and had the 'actual' suit he wore when the captured him. He obviously looked the future-senator and presidential candidate-type even back then so they kept his suit. In the evening had a few beers with Rory and Beth who were going to the snake farm that evening before leaving Hanoi by bus at around half seven. The bus was Veitnamese sized (I am too tall for this continent) and played movies with lots of gunfighting in loudly and long into the night but surprisingly didn't sleep that badly.
Woke up to blarring traditional Chinese music around half six, quite what anyone was getting out of having traditional Chinese music played at this volume remains unbeknown to me. It definately lost some of its traquil calming appeal. Arrived in Hue (pronounced hway) around half eight and got a free taxi to a hotel. The room was $5 a night each and was huge with a double and a single bed, fan, ensuite and air con. We realised things were going to be much cheaper here than they had been in Hanoi. This rule didn't extend to the tourist attractions however as we found out when we went and visited the old citadel and forbidden purple kingdom. Hue was the old capital of Vietnam and this is where all of the old emporer's used to live. Was pretty interesting and a nice walk with no real paths you could pretty much wander around as you pleased which was nice. Had a cheap lunch (food is so cheap in Hue) before going on a tour of the old emperor's tombs, this was alright though only ended up going to one tomb (Ming Mang) due to entrance fees being more than dinner! Also went to a conical hat (everyone in Vietnam wears one of these) making village and incense stick making village, got a boat cruise back down the Perfume River included in the $5 (89,000dong) ticket price which was pretty reasonable. Meandered back through Hue's streets checking out restaurants which were so much more affordable than Hanoi. Ended up eating at an amazing traditional Hue restaurant and had all sorts of exotic foods for not very much money and had lots of 5000dong beers with it. After that went to bar Why Not? played pool with more beer and watched Man United-Sunderland.
On Sunday got up reasonably early and went to Dong Ba market whilst Bex was lazy and stayed in bed reading her book. The market was pretty cool lots of very small asian women with very big knives hammering down on huge slabs of pork and no other Westerners in sight (possibly as it was half 9 in the morning). Huge array of foods and it all looked so nice that I thought I would back myself with a Vietnamese market breakfast. Was thrilled when she said it would only be 10,000dong and even more pleased when she kept bringing me out more and more plates though quickly realised it was going to be more than 10,000d. When it came to the end I had been handed seven or eight plates of varying size, appeal and recognisability and she asked for 100,000dong. Eventually managed to calm her down to 70,000d (GBP2.50) quite a bit but probably worth it for the experience especially the wierd exploding green balls they eminated goo when you bit into them. Went back and Bex laughed at me for getting mugged off, had a nap then went outfor lunch. Had a fat bacon baguette then spent all afternoon in the cafe as they had free internet, cheap beer and there was a huge storm outside. Went for dinner at Mandarin Cafe which made it into the lonely planet which was very cheap but tasted it too, though had lovely photo's taken by the owner inside it. Ended up being a pretty cheap day (despite the breakfast)which I will need a few more of to cover the camera cost.
This morning we headed further south on the bus to Hoi An, arrived around one in the afternoon. The town is so picturesque though filled with middle aged tourists. We went down to the waterfront to have lunch and were immediately struck by the rise in price. Things here are about the same price as in Hanoi presumably because of the huge amount of tourists. The town itself is lovely filled with tailor's, art gallery's and restaurants. On the way back we found a shop that sold communist propaganda posters which I might have to get one of. All is well here, we absolutely love Vietnam and it is so much hotter in the centre than in Hanoi, will take a bit of getting used to. Hope everyone at home is well, miss you all lots x
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
The Hanoi Backpackers couldn't have welcomed us in a better way than with the offer of free beer and the promise of happy hour until 6. They had everything we could have wanted under one roof. If you are going to Hanoi, especially if it your first stop in Vietnam as it was ours stay here. They will set you up with everything you need, tours to Ha Long or Sapa, buses south, visas, train tickets, anything. All the staff speak impeccable English and it is a great place to meet people. Pretty good rooftop bar too. Well worth the $7.50 a night.
We feel as though we have now arrived on 'the travellers route' all of a sudden we are surrounded by white people and whilst it may get irritating later in the journey right now the organised nature and ease of everything is hugely relaxing. Went up and had a few beers on the rooftop bar on the first night where we got chatting to a few guys from all over (Ireland, Australia, Germany) who took us out to a local pizza place. Carried on drinking through and after in the hotel bar though ended up going to bed not long after ten as we were still knackered after our long journey from China.
Got up around 9ish and headed to the Thai Embassy to sort out visas but was closed due to it being some national holiday. The guy told us they could do them in 24hours though so we hoped it wouldn't be too much of a problem. Went across to the Confucian Temple of Literature which was a nice bunch of gardens but wasn't really a patch on Nan Lian in Hong Kong but had far more gift shops and was packed with tourists. Booked a trip to Ha Long Bay for the next day then had a delicious lunch before walking round Hoan Kiem Lake 'Lake of the Returned Sword' (there's a cracking legend involving tortoises and swords which should be checked out if you have the effort, I'm sure if you Google it will come up) which is pretty much the centre of Hanoi and the whole area is very French and nice. In the evening ate some poor street food on account of it being cold.
Spent the next two days at Ha Long Bay on a fairly lash keen tour of what is undoubtably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. Its basically a collection of 3,000 rocks sticking out of the water to form a series of bays and islands. We went on a tour called Rock Long Rock Hard and it was really good, especially the food. Spent the first afternoon doing a kayak around some of the area which was one of the best things I have ever done, even Beki ended up enjoying it. Saw some beautiful caves and an amazing sunset on the paddle home. Got back to the boat and jumped off the roof and had a swim. After that had a few beers before a delicious dinner. Ended up getting quite drunk though others were far more lashed, especially the Finnish tour guide who had pretty much been partying for the last 6weeks it seemed. The next day was far more chilled as we chugged about on the boat and read and chatted before lunch. The food here is so good. Vietnamese food is so much better than Chinese. Not that I want to berate China any further. Got back in the evening and had amazing food at a place that really should be in Lonely Planet called Gecko Cafe and was the nicest Sweet and Sour Pork I have ever eaten, I had some of Beki's seafood platter which was amazing, and I hate seafood. Bought a Vietnam football shirt for 50,00d on the way home.
Today we went to Thai embassy to sort out visa, shopped a great deal at markets and shops, got some CD's for 10,000d (35p) as well as various souvenirs and ate some more good Vietnamese food. Tonight we are going to a snake village where we get a snake feast for dinner and get to drink a shot of vodka and snake blood with a snake heart in it. Again organised by Hanoi Backpackers Hostel. Best hostel ever. Having a really great time and love Vietnam so so so much more than China it is untrue. Hope everyone is safe back home, miss you all lots xoxoxo
We feel as though we have now arrived on 'the travellers route' all of a sudden we are surrounded by white people and whilst it may get irritating later in the journey right now the organised nature and ease of everything is hugely relaxing. Went up and had a few beers on the rooftop bar on the first night where we got chatting to a few guys from all over (Ireland, Australia, Germany) who took us out to a local pizza place. Carried on drinking through and after in the hotel bar though ended up going to bed not long after ten as we were still knackered after our long journey from China.
Got up around 9ish and headed to the Thai Embassy to sort out visas but was closed due to it being some national holiday. The guy told us they could do them in 24hours though so we hoped it wouldn't be too much of a problem. Went across to the Confucian Temple of Literature which was a nice bunch of gardens but wasn't really a patch on Nan Lian in Hong Kong but had far more gift shops and was packed with tourists. Booked a trip to Ha Long Bay for the next day then had a delicious lunch before walking round Hoan Kiem Lake 'Lake of the Returned Sword' (there's a cracking legend involving tortoises and swords which should be checked out if you have the effort, I'm sure if you Google it will come up) which is pretty much the centre of Hanoi and the whole area is very French and nice. In the evening ate some poor street food on account of it being cold.
Spent the next two days at Ha Long Bay on a fairly lash keen tour of what is undoubtably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. Its basically a collection of 3,000 rocks sticking out of the water to form a series of bays and islands. We went on a tour called Rock Long Rock Hard and it was really good, especially the food. Spent the first afternoon doing a kayak around some of the area which was one of the best things I have ever done, even Beki ended up enjoying it. Saw some beautiful caves and an amazing sunset on the paddle home. Got back to the boat and jumped off the roof and had a swim. After that had a few beers before a delicious dinner. Ended up getting quite drunk though others were far more lashed, especially the Finnish tour guide who had pretty much been partying for the last 6weeks it seemed. The next day was far more chilled as we chugged about on the boat and read and chatted before lunch. The food here is so good. Vietnamese food is so much better than Chinese. Not that I want to berate China any further. Got back in the evening and had amazing food at a place that really should be in Lonely Planet called Gecko Cafe and was the nicest Sweet and Sour Pork I have ever eaten, I had some of Beki's seafood platter which was amazing, and I hate seafood. Bought a Vietnam football shirt for 50,00d on the way home.
Today we went to Thai embassy to sort out visa, shopped a great deal at markets and shops, got some CD's for 10,000d (35p) as well as various souvenirs and ate some more good Vietnamese food. Tonight we are going to a snake village where we get a snake feast for dinner and get to drink a shot of vodka and snake blood with a snake heart in it. Again organised by Hanoi Backpackers Hostel. Best hostel ever. Having a really great time and love Vietnam so so so much more than China it is untrue. Hope everyone is safe back home, miss you all lots xoxoxo
Gaungzhou, China - Hanoi, Vietnam
Actually found a nice food place in Guangzhou on our way to the train station, where someone spoke English! Couldn't believe our luck. Got to the train station about an hour before our train left and pushed our way through the typical Chinese crowds who generally bundled us about up and down stairs in a manner that suggested that the death count for people dying in train station's in China probably is somewhere in the hundreds. Its just not a good combination; people who seem incapable of moving in any large group=most populous country in the world. It was worse than leaving camp at the end of Reading. Eventually got to our waiting room only to find it rammed full. Why several hundred Chinese people all thought it necessary to turn up to the station over an hour before their train was due to leave in the middle of a Saturday afternoon remains unknown to me, as does much about this country. We got on our train 45minutes later to find that we had beds at the opposite ends of the carriage so we spent most of the 10journey not being terribly sociable. Luckily it was largely a night train so after a hearty dinner of Chinese pot noodle, they need to get trading standards as the external packaging clearly showed lumps of meat, what was inside can generously be described as goo.
Woke up after a reasonable bit of sleep at around 5 and got off at Nanning pretty much bang on time at 5:45, getting the train to Pingxiang was pretty easy and only cost us RMB30 (£3 - wow this keyboard has a pound sign!) Boarded the train a couple of hours later and ate some Chinese bread which tasted uncooked. The train to Pingxiang took about three and a half hours and when we sat down the Chinese people pointed and laughed at us. Rudest people ever. Later in the journey they took my Vietnam book to look at as I tried to explain what we were doing in their country which they didn't really understand. Not sure if I explained it so badly that they thought we were famous but after my explanation they got out their camera and had photos taken with us while the whole carriage crowded around. I don't know what they thought was going on but it was definately a bit wierd. Also on Chinese trains official train workers sell all kinds of crap; toothbrushes, socks. and these wierd twisty toys for kids. I can't imagine South Eastern Rail taking up the idea. For a communist country China fucking loves selling stuff.
Got off the train at Pingxiang and were acosted with two offers for taxis to the border itself. One for 2RMB the other for 20RMB immediately took the 20 offer as the other guy spoke no English and was pointing at signs. When we did this he started holding up a sign saying "He/She is a crook" the woman offered no help when we questioned her about this and we had no choice but to go with it. Once we started moving in the taxi the fare immediately doubled to 20RMB each. By this point we didn't care as we simply wanted to leave this country.
Through writing on China I have been fairly scathing of the country and the people even more so. I am sure not all of China is like this but I can only write about the things I have actually seen, felt and the circumstances I have found myself in. I am fully aware that if we had been able to get a train ticket to Guilin when we arrived in China we would have had a completely different experience that might have left me feeling a love or even a liking for the country. As it was this didn't happen and from the experiences I had in China the place isn't particularly nice, although I don't feel I have seen very much of this due to an inability to do so. This was largely caused by an inability to communicate with anyone, for which I feel the responsibility is entirely mine, if I go to a country it is my job to try and talk to people in their language no matter how difficult that language is. The second reason why I have found China impossible is the overt rudeness of a large amount of the people in the place, not just to us as outsiders but, it appeared to each other too. I'm sure different cultures have different definitions of rude and polite but I found this aspect of China completely unendearing and has put me off ever wanting to return.
We got through the border to Vietnam without problem and paid the 2RMB tax to leave, though quite what admin this is supposed to cover I am unsure as there appeared to be just a building, not even a customs check which was lucky as I had over three times the amount of Vietnamese Dong you are allowed to bring into the country tax free in my pocket. Got out and there was only one bloke offering us a taxi to Lang Son from where we could get a bus on to Hanoi. Had no real option but to take it and where pretty worried for about twenty minutes when he drove out to the middle of nowhere and stopped outside what looked like a shady businessman's club which had about 20 blokes in, some of whom were pretty big. Eventually two of the said businessmen joined us in our trip to Lang Son and we were back on our way without being even a little bit mugged or beaten up. Lovely. Got into Lang Son but rather than the bus station he dropped us at a friends minibus firm. In the a sleepy border town in the middle of a sunday afternoon with no map or way of communicating with the locals we had no real choice but to pay the extortionate $15 fare each to take us to Hanoi. Had a fairly uncomfortable and frightening first experience of notoriously dangerous Vietnamese roads, with some overtaking on hairpin bends. Eventually we got to Hanoi and were dropped at a friends guest house, not willing to fall for the same trick twice and this time armed with a map we sacked this off early doors and walked to the gorgeous Hanoi Backpackers Hostel...
Woke up after a reasonable bit of sleep at around 5 and got off at Nanning pretty much bang on time at 5:45, getting the train to Pingxiang was pretty easy and only cost us RMB30 (£3 - wow this keyboard has a pound sign!) Boarded the train a couple of hours later and ate some Chinese bread which tasted uncooked. The train to Pingxiang took about three and a half hours and when we sat down the Chinese people pointed and laughed at us. Rudest people ever. Later in the journey they took my Vietnam book to look at as I tried to explain what we were doing in their country which they didn't really understand. Not sure if I explained it so badly that they thought we were famous but after my explanation they got out their camera and had photos taken with us while the whole carriage crowded around. I don't know what they thought was going on but it was definately a bit wierd. Also on Chinese trains official train workers sell all kinds of crap; toothbrushes, socks. and these wierd twisty toys for kids. I can't imagine South Eastern Rail taking up the idea. For a communist country China fucking loves selling stuff.
Got off the train at Pingxiang and were acosted with two offers for taxis to the border itself. One for 2RMB the other for 20RMB immediately took the 20 offer as the other guy spoke no English and was pointing at signs. When we did this he started holding up a sign saying "He/She is a crook" the woman offered no help when we questioned her about this and we had no choice but to go with it. Once we started moving in the taxi the fare immediately doubled to 20RMB each. By this point we didn't care as we simply wanted to leave this country.
Through writing on China I have been fairly scathing of the country and the people even more so. I am sure not all of China is like this but I can only write about the things I have actually seen, felt and the circumstances I have found myself in. I am fully aware that if we had been able to get a train ticket to Guilin when we arrived in China we would have had a completely different experience that might have left me feeling a love or even a liking for the country. As it was this didn't happen and from the experiences I had in China the place isn't particularly nice, although I don't feel I have seen very much of this due to an inability to do so. This was largely caused by an inability to communicate with anyone, for which I feel the responsibility is entirely mine, if I go to a country it is my job to try and talk to people in their language no matter how difficult that language is. The second reason why I have found China impossible is the overt rudeness of a large amount of the people in the place, not just to us as outsiders but, it appeared to each other too. I'm sure different cultures have different definitions of rude and polite but I found this aspect of China completely unendearing and has put me off ever wanting to return.
We got through the border to Vietnam without problem and paid the 2RMB tax to leave, though quite what admin this is supposed to cover I am unsure as there appeared to be just a building, not even a customs check which was lucky as I had over three times the amount of Vietnamese Dong you are allowed to bring into the country tax free in my pocket. Got out and there was only one bloke offering us a taxi to Lang Son from where we could get a bus on to Hanoi. Had no real option but to take it and where pretty worried for about twenty minutes when he drove out to the middle of nowhere and stopped outside what looked like a shady businessman's club which had about 20 blokes in, some of whom were pretty big. Eventually two of the said businessmen joined us in our trip to Lang Son and we were back on our way without being even a little bit mugged or beaten up. Lovely. Got into Lang Son but rather than the bus station he dropped us at a friends minibus firm. In the a sleepy border town in the middle of a sunday afternoon with no map or way of communicating with the locals we had no real choice but to pay the extortionate $15 fare each to take us to Hanoi. Had a fairly uncomfortable and frightening first experience of notoriously dangerous Vietnamese roads, with some overtaking on hairpin bends. Eventually we got to Hanoi and were dropped at a friends guest house, not willing to fall for the same trick twice and this time armed with a map we sacked this off early doors and walked to the gorgeous Hanoi Backpackers Hostel...
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Chinese Trials
As soon as we crossed into China life became a massive chore. All the people in Shenzhen kept walking into each other and into us which was really wierd. Apparently Chinese people have no concept of personal space. Tried to get a train to Guilin where we had booked a hostel but there were no hard sleepers left and they wanted to charge us RMB814 each for soft sleepers so we sacked that off early doors. Instead went to Guangzhou which took us an hour on the train, during which we nursed hangovers with water dry bread and crisps which were ridiculously cheap.
When we got off the train in GZ things got worse. We tried to get a taxi to one of the hostels we had written down the addresses for but none of the taxi drivers understood us at all. Not a word, not even the addresses we had written down. We were outside Guangzhou train station and thinking we were totally fucked for at least an hour though it felt like more. Eventually we stumbled across a hotel totally by chance and it was only RMB155 a night (15quid) for a twin room. We jumped at the offer and fell straight asleep.
Yesterday we got up really late spent about an hour looking for an internet cafe to sort out our new route to Nanning. Eventually sorted it out and went to the train station and bought a ticket with surprisingly little hassle. We leave this afternoon on an overnight train to Nanning. Hopefully we won't have too many problems getting to Hanoi from there but I'm not counting on anything. Had some Chinese fast food for dinner as it was something we could point at. Went to bed early as going anywhere and seeing anything is virtually impossible. All is ok as we know how to leave though :)
Still here now and are going to get a train to Nanning near the border which takes 10hours later today.
When we got off the train in GZ things got worse. We tried to get a taxi to one of the hostels we had written down the addresses for but none of the taxi drivers understood us at all. Not a word, not even the addresses we had written down. We were outside Guangzhou train station and thinking we were totally fucked for at least an hour though it felt like more. Eventually we stumbled across a hotel totally by chance and it was only RMB155 a night (15quid) for a twin room. We jumped at the offer and fell straight asleep.
Yesterday we got up really late spent about an hour looking for an internet cafe to sort out our new route to Nanning. Eventually sorted it out and went to the train station and bought a ticket with surprisingly little hassle. We leave this afternoon on an overnight train to Nanning. Hopefully we won't have too many problems getting to Hanoi from there but I'm not counting on anything. Had some Chinese fast food for dinner as it was something we could point at. Went to bed early as going anywhere and seeing anything is virtually impossible. All is ok as we know how to leave though :)
Still here now and are going to get a train to Nanning near the border which takes 10hours later today.
Hong Kong!
So much has happened since I last wrote! For one we are in another continent, currently in Gaungzhou (GZ) in southern China. We have spent a few days in Hong Kong which was just amazing, so easy to get around and everything worked perfectly. We have also flown about halfway around the world, all on Emirates airline which is mint.
On Sunday we got up early and got a taxi to the tro station in Ho, a three hour ride to the Ghanaian capital (in the tro station always repeated without gaps between the repitition "Accraccraccraccra") with all the usual comforts of a tro (i.e. none) awaited us but was relatively easy and a short taxi ride after we were at Accra airport. Our flight was due to leave at half five in the evening but obviously this was Ghana-time so we took off at 6:45. Got to Dubai airport the next morning, waited around for a few hours then got another plane to Hong Kong. We arrived about half nine in the evening 36hours after leaving Ho. As we drove through Hong Kong it looked pretty spectacular and the polar opposite to Ghana. After nearly two months without seeing a two building we were suddenly surrounded by huge skyscrapers. Our dorm was on the 13th floor of a huge building in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Kowloon (the mainland as opposed to Hong Kong island). We arrived late and jetlagged but chatted briefly to the three English girls sharing our dorm; Jenny, Sophia and Hannah.
The next morning we got the Star Ferry across to the island then got a bus up to the peak, the highest point on Hong Kong island which looks out over the main part of the city. Views were pretty amazing even though it was a bit misty. On the bus up an American lady recommended a good Dim Sum restaurant which we checked out in the afternoon which was overpriced and not very nice. Went back to the hostel and met up with the girls, spent the evening with them at Temple Street night market which was alright though we had more bad food, although this time it was at least cheap.
Wednesday was the busiest and one of the best days of travelling so far. We got up early and went to the Sik SikYuen Wong Tai Sin Temple which was full of people burning incense and chanting and had lovely buildings and gardens. After that we went to Nan Lian gardens which are a Tang Dynasty garden with a Buddhist monastry in them. Definately our favourite thing in Hong Kong, was just so relaxed in the middle of a city was surreal and so pleasant. Next we got the MTR back to Central and posted a bunch of stuff from Ghana back to England. Then we went around the Hong Kong History Museum (free on Wednesdays!!) which was so well done and felt like we learnt loads about HK. Had to head back and have an hour or so of sleep then went and saw 'A Symphony of Lights' which is a light shown on all the skyscrapers on the island with music. Was a bit surreal and definately bad for global warming, not sure why its necessary every night but was still nice to see. After that we finally found some decent food which was really cheap and just around the corner from our dorm. Bought some beer and wine for pre lash then went out to meet the girls at a club about half ten. The club was full of people who were English and lived in Hong Kong and was a bit like Timepiece wednesdays (especially as it was wednesday), as a result didn't bother too hard trying to make new friends tho did befriend an Icelandic guy named Val. Spent most of the night with the girls and Beki and due to the fact all drinks were free once the entry fee had been paid ended up getting quite drunk. We got in some time after four in the morning.
Woke up at 10 to cherck out feeling terrible. Copious amounts of puking followed by falling back asleep on the floor of the internet cafe for another hour or so. Trudged to the MTR station, puked again inside it. Got on the train to LoWu, Beki puked on the train. Definately very hungover. Got to LoWu in the end and Chinese border was far easier than we had anticipated.
On Sunday we got up early and got a taxi to the tro station in Ho, a three hour ride to the Ghanaian capital (in the tro station always repeated without gaps between the repitition "Accraccraccraccra") with all the usual comforts of a tro (i.e. none) awaited us but was relatively easy and a short taxi ride after we were at Accra airport. Our flight was due to leave at half five in the evening but obviously this was Ghana-time so we took off at 6:45. Got to Dubai airport the next morning, waited around for a few hours then got another plane to Hong Kong. We arrived about half nine in the evening 36hours after leaving Ho. As we drove through Hong Kong it looked pretty spectacular and the polar opposite to Ghana. After nearly two months without seeing a two building we were suddenly surrounded by huge skyscrapers. Our dorm was on the 13th floor of a huge building in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Kowloon (the mainland as opposed to Hong Kong island). We arrived late and jetlagged but chatted briefly to the three English girls sharing our dorm; Jenny, Sophia and Hannah.
The next morning we got the Star Ferry across to the island then got a bus up to the peak, the highest point on Hong Kong island which looks out over the main part of the city. Views were pretty amazing even though it was a bit misty. On the bus up an American lady recommended a good Dim Sum restaurant which we checked out in the afternoon which was overpriced and not very nice. Went back to the hostel and met up with the girls, spent the evening with them at Temple Street night market which was alright though we had more bad food, although this time it was at least cheap.
Wednesday was the busiest and one of the best days of travelling so far. We got up early and went to the Sik SikYuen Wong Tai Sin Temple which was full of people burning incense and chanting and had lovely buildings and gardens. After that we went to Nan Lian gardens which are a Tang Dynasty garden with a Buddhist monastry in them. Definately our favourite thing in Hong Kong, was just so relaxed in the middle of a city was surreal and so pleasant. Next we got the MTR back to Central and posted a bunch of stuff from Ghana back to England. Then we went around the Hong Kong History Museum (free on Wednesdays!!) which was so well done and felt like we learnt loads about HK. Had to head back and have an hour or so of sleep then went and saw 'A Symphony of Lights' which is a light shown on all the skyscrapers on the island with music. Was a bit surreal and definately bad for global warming, not sure why its necessary every night but was still nice to see. After that we finally found some decent food which was really cheap and just around the corner from our dorm. Bought some beer and wine for pre lash then went out to meet the girls at a club about half ten. The club was full of people who were English and lived in Hong Kong and was a bit like Timepiece wednesdays (especially as it was wednesday), as a result didn't bother too hard trying to make new friends tho did befriend an Icelandic guy named Val. Spent most of the night with the girls and Beki and due to the fact all drinks were free once the entry fee had been paid ended up getting quite drunk. We got in some time after four in the morning.
Woke up at 10 to cherck out feeling terrible. Copious amounts of puking followed by falling back asleep on the floor of the internet cafe for another hour or so. Trudged to the MTR station, puked again inside it. Got on the train to LoWu, Beki puked on the train. Definately very hungover. Got to LoWu in the end and Chinese border was far easier than we had anticipated.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Last week in Ho (and Ghana)
Tomorrow we leave sunny Ghana and fly to the far east, landing in Hong Kong some 18hours later local time. We taught our last day at God's Divine Academy yesterday and it was really sad to leave for such different reasons for when we left Volta Home. We haven't got nearly as close to the kids in Ho but have so much more respect and admiration for the people running the school. We are both so glad we decided to come to Ho as it has totally changed our view of Ghanaian education and we feel that we have actually seen some of the country and found out how normal people in Ghana live. I think we both wish we had a bit more money and could have travelled around a bit more but are so glad we came to Ho.
Teaching this week has been nice though hard work as the school is much more organised than in Volta. We have been expected to teach proper lessons and hopefully by doing so have helped the kids. During the week we also got uniforms made for us with the God's Divine Academy logo all over them. They are immense and hopefully we will get some pictures up with us wearing them as soon as we get to Asia. Wednesday was a brilliant day as we went to a posh hotel's swimming pool with Alex, Megan, Wanda and Sophie who are all people we have made friends with since being in Ho. Since being here we have also met some guys from 'the association' who are all Togolese and very cool and make an African art called batik which look ace.
Its strange knowing we will be leaving here tomorrow as we have gotten so used to life here and all the way things work, nothing really surprises us any more and we know our way around Ho really well. Yesterday we were trying to think of all of the small things that we have just got used to and think of normal but will be quite funny back in England; shop names - these are fantastic and almost always religious our favourite is "People do not know, but who will tell them, Oh father please forgive them meat shop" or "God bless coffins" I jest you not. Last Saturday we went around Ho taking photos of our favourites and will hopefully get a whole album of this up on facebook. Also there are very strong religious messages on the back window of cars sometimes just "Repent" others longer "All the days of the week are not equal". Drinking water comes in plastic bags. Oh ok Beki is doing this and doesn't seem much point us both writing the same funny things so for the rest of them see her blog http://bexstravels.blogspot.com.
I can't think what else to write about as I don't have my journal to hand so I think I'm gonna leave it there. Hope everyone in England is well, miss you all. If you haven't already seen there are a bunch of photos on Facebook. Lovely x
Teaching this week has been nice though hard work as the school is much more organised than in Volta. We have been expected to teach proper lessons and hopefully by doing so have helped the kids. During the week we also got uniforms made for us with the God's Divine Academy logo all over them. They are immense and hopefully we will get some pictures up with us wearing them as soon as we get to Asia. Wednesday was a brilliant day as we went to a posh hotel's swimming pool with Alex, Megan, Wanda and Sophie who are all people we have made friends with since being in Ho. Since being here we have also met some guys from 'the association' who are all Togolese and very cool and make an African art called batik which look ace.
Its strange knowing we will be leaving here tomorrow as we have gotten so used to life here and all the way things work, nothing really surprises us any more and we know our way around Ho really well. Yesterday we were trying to think of all of the small things that we have just got used to and think of normal but will be quite funny back in England; shop names - these are fantastic and almost always religious our favourite is "People do not know, but who will tell them, Oh father please forgive them meat shop" or "God bless coffins" I jest you not. Last Saturday we went around Ho taking photos of our favourites and will hopefully get a whole album of this up on facebook. Also there are very strong religious messages on the back window of cars sometimes just "Repent" others longer "All the days of the week are not equal". Drinking water comes in plastic bags. Oh ok Beki is doing this and doesn't seem much point us both writing the same funny things so for the rest of them see her blog http://bexstravels.blogspot.com.
I can't think what else to write about as I don't have my journal to hand so I think I'm gonna leave it there. Hope everyone in England is well, miss you all. If you haven't already seen there are a bunch of photos on Facebook. Lovely x
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Ho - God's Divine Academy
Last time I wrote the computers we were using were ridiculously crap and so we were getting really stressed whilst blogging. Re-reading that last post I sound really miserable and grumpy so sorry if anyone felt that, I'm all happy and good here in Ho which I was going to write about the other day but the computer's were too bad.
On Saturday we left Volta Home in the afternoon following a morning spent taking replacement photos. We got a tro tro through the mountains south to the city of Ho. We had a bit of culture shock stepping out into Ho bus station. In late Saturday afternoon it was swarming with people and given that we had just spent a month in the middle of nowhere it hit us pretty hard. We were fine and met up with Prince (our Dream Africa Volunteers co-ordinator). Who took us to our new accomodation, a compound in the city centre. Our room had electricity and a fan which were both pretty exciting. Found out that Liverpool had hammered United 4-1 at Old Trafford earlier in the day which was pretty cool, more the fact we found out information from home on the day of it happening rather than a week later.
Our new school is amazing. They aren't allowed to beat the children (a rule the teachers actually follow). The children stay in the classroom for the entire lesson and actually have pens and paper so when you ask them to get these out they can and then can get on with the lesson you had planned! It is lovely, and called 'God's Divine Academy' nothing here isn't name after something christian. We wish we had brought some of the equipment here as it would get so much more use than in Volta.
We work with an American from Oregon called Alyssa who is lovely. Chelsea, from Connecticut has been here most of the week too. We have largely been having culture slagging matches with the two of them. American's think jumpers are some sort of pinifore??? Chelsea left today and we will massively miss her British impressions of the both of us. It has been so nice just spending the last few evenings sitting in bars having a beer rather than going to bed at nine because of no electricity. Bought some lovely batik (an arty tie dye wall hanging) off Frank and Francois, two Togan guys who are teaching Alyssa eve (the local language and tribe). They were nice but only spoke eve and French which made bant difficult.
I have been teaching three classes generally the same lesson each day and we largely have the afternoon's to do what we want. It is so much nicer having the time divided up into times when we are working and free rather than just constantly sort of trying to help.
All here is well. We feel as though we have really good friends and are enjoying doing normal things like sitting in bars. The school is so wonderful and the headmaster couldn't be a greater contrast to grandpa. It has made me see such a more positive side to Ghanain education and I am so glad we decided to come here. Hope everyone back home is well. I see that Fritzl cunt got life (it's lovely knowing what is happening in the world again). x
On Saturday we left Volta Home in the afternoon following a morning spent taking replacement photos. We got a tro tro through the mountains south to the city of Ho. We had a bit of culture shock stepping out into Ho bus station. In late Saturday afternoon it was swarming with people and given that we had just spent a month in the middle of nowhere it hit us pretty hard. We were fine and met up with Prince (our Dream Africa Volunteers co-ordinator). Who took us to our new accomodation, a compound in the city centre. Our room had electricity and a fan which were both pretty exciting. Found out that Liverpool had hammered United 4-1 at Old Trafford earlier in the day which was pretty cool, more the fact we found out information from home on the day of it happening rather than a week later.
Our new school is amazing. They aren't allowed to beat the children (a rule the teachers actually follow). The children stay in the classroom for the entire lesson and actually have pens and paper so when you ask them to get these out they can and then can get on with the lesson you had planned! It is lovely, and called 'God's Divine Academy' nothing here isn't name after something christian. We wish we had brought some of the equipment here as it would get so much more use than in Volta.
We work with an American from Oregon called Alyssa who is lovely. Chelsea, from Connecticut has been here most of the week too. We have largely been having culture slagging matches with the two of them. American's think jumpers are some sort of pinifore??? Chelsea left today and we will massively miss her British impressions of the both of us. It has been so nice just spending the last few evenings sitting in bars having a beer rather than going to bed at nine because of no electricity. Bought some lovely batik (an arty tie dye wall hanging) off Frank and Francois, two Togan guys who are teaching Alyssa eve (the local language and tribe). They were nice but only spoke eve and French which made bant difficult.
I have been teaching three classes generally the same lesson each day and we largely have the afternoon's to do what we want. It is so much nicer having the time divided up into times when we are working and free rather than just constantly sort of trying to help.
All here is well. We feel as though we have really good friends and are enjoying doing normal things like sitting in bars. The school is so wonderful and the headmaster couldn't be a greater contrast to grandpa. It has made me see such a more positive side to Ghanain education and I am so glad we decided to come here. Hope everyone back home is well. I see that Fritzl cunt got life (it's lovely knowing what is happening in the world again). x
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Lasty week in Volta
Since our last post we have had one final week in the Volta home and are now in a nearby city Ho, about an hour and a half south. We had an eventful and last week in Volta which ended up being our most enjoyable and we found ourselves genuinely sad to leave the place. It was all a bit christian and mental though and we are glad to be away from a lot of the aspects of it.
Sophia left last sunday and loads of the kids cried again. Also something wierd happened in the night which we only found out a couple of days later that one of the older boys Pesebu had to leave the home. We don't know anything about what happened or why he had to leave, just another example of things going on here without us knowing and no one bothering to keep us informed. Its stuff like that which made me really dislike Volta home, the adults always keeping things from you and playing mind games. We got to move into a bigger room as Jonas and his girlfriend Rebecca were coming back and had previously been in our room. We went to church for the last time, thankfully. Grandpa told us that lesbians and abortion clinics caused Hurricane Katrina, Joseph was a second Jesus and England was written about at length in the bible and was called Tassie. He is without doubt one of the strangest people I have met and I hope to never have to see him again. It rained all afternoon so no electricity so couldn't watch Ghana in the final of whatever wierd tournament that Congo can get to the final of, i'm pretty sure they have more pressing concerns at the moment.
Monday-kids didnt have school due to some extra holiday that the teachers made up in the morning. The school here is a joke.
Tuesday - taught lots of English lessons about verbs and adverbs with varying degrees of success. Josephine was brilliant as per usual, it would be impossible to teach her class if she wasn't in it as she basically has to translate everything into Eve for the other kids as their English is so bad. Played with Elikplim and James in the afternoon. Had a couple of beers with Kris in Ve Deme which was nice then the Dutch builder from down the road gave us a bottle of champagne.
Taught a lot more lessons Wednesday and Thursday. Grandpa told us that trees dance and some other nonsense. Three more baby goats were born. These were really nice days and we really felt sad to be leaving the kids. Also met some led who was working for the UN and had set up an HIV orphanage who was really sound and talked to us about loads of the work he was doing. I wished I had worked for him for a month rather than in Volta as he was really positive about the potential of all the kids. All the adults here ever do is tell them how useless they are and beat them. In the evening even devotion was good as the usual christian durge's were replaced with African songs accompanied by drums. I realised it wasn't the bleak lyrics of the christian songs that bored me but more the fact that they were sang as if they were being forced. The african songs were refreshing and lovely.
Friday - our english lesson was cancelled in favour of a rant from grandpa to the kids followed by a film about a school which descended into drug dealing. It wasn't suitable for the kids at all. In the evening we had a lovely banku dinner outside with spicy green salsa. Beki leant her camera to Isaac and John who managed to delete all her 400 photos which was absolutely gutting and just made us feel like shit really.
Sophia left last sunday and loads of the kids cried again. Also something wierd happened in the night which we only found out a couple of days later that one of the older boys Pesebu had to leave the home. We don't know anything about what happened or why he had to leave, just another example of things going on here without us knowing and no one bothering to keep us informed. Its stuff like that which made me really dislike Volta home, the adults always keeping things from you and playing mind games. We got to move into a bigger room as Jonas and his girlfriend Rebecca were coming back and had previously been in our room. We went to church for the last time, thankfully. Grandpa told us that lesbians and abortion clinics caused Hurricane Katrina, Joseph was a second Jesus and England was written about at length in the bible and was called Tassie. He is without doubt one of the strangest people I have met and I hope to never have to see him again. It rained all afternoon so no electricity so couldn't watch Ghana in the final of whatever wierd tournament that Congo can get to the final of, i'm pretty sure they have more pressing concerns at the moment.
Monday-kids didnt have school due to some extra holiday that the teachers made up in the morning. The school here is a joke.
Tuesday - taught lots of English lessons about verbs and adverbs with varying degrees of success. Josephine was brilliant as per usual, it would be impossible to teach her class if she wasn't in it as she basically has to translate everything into Eve for the other kids as their English is so bad. Played with Elikplim and James in the afternoon. Had a couple of beers with Kris in Ve Deme which was nice then the Dutch builder from down the road gave us a bottle of champagne.
Taught a lot more lessons Wednesday and Thursday. Grandpa told us that trees dance and some other nonsense. Three more baby goats were born. These were really nice days and we really felt sad to be leaving the kids. Also met some led who was working for the UN and had set up an HIV orphanage who was really sound and talked to us about loads of the work he was doing. I wished I had worked for him for a month rather than in Volta as he was really positive about the potential of all the kids. All the adults here ever do is tell them how useless they are and beat them. In the evening even devotion was good as the usual christian durge's were replaced with African songs accompanied by drums. I realised it wasn't the bleak lyrics of the christian songs that bored me but more the fact that they were sang as if they were being forced. The african songs were refreshing and lovely.
Friday - our english lesson was cancelled in favour of a rant from grandpa to the kids followed by a film about a school which descended into drug dealing. It wasn't suitable for the kids at all. In the evening we had a lovely banku dinner outside with spicy green salsa. Beki leant her camera to Isaac and John who managed to delete all her 400 photos which was absolutely gutting and just made us feel like shit really.
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Week 3 in Volta
Hopefully today the internet will work and I will be able to upload last week's entry too. The internet here is appalling and it normally takes 15 minutes to load up each page. I am missing knowing what is going on in the world.
Last Friday was pretty frustrating due to lack of internet and not being able to get all the things done that we needed to. To make up for this however Saturday was immense. We went to the Wli falls, about an hour away by Tro Tro, with some of the older boys, John, Moses and Peter. After a 45minute walk through lush undergrowth we emerged at the foot of a huge and impressive waterfall. After weeks with only a bucket for showering the feeling of being submerged in chilly water was sensational and was without doubt the cleanest I have felt since being here. Under the falls themselves it was hard to breathe as the water pulled all the oxygen into it, causing a strong wind. After a while spent in the water we sat back on the bank and enjoyed the view. Close to the peak of Ghana's highest mountain, Mount Afadjato, the Wli Falls is set in a horseshoes of breathtaking hills which change colour with proximity to the falls. Two sets of bare faced cliffs, dry and barren make up the ends of the horseshoe whilst in the middle where the water falls it is surrounded by lush greenery. Trees sit upon craggy rocks that would be impossible to live were it not for the near perfect climatic conditions. As we sat gazing at this extraordinary feat of nature we were treated to another visual feast as part of the gigantic colony of bats that inhabit the upper reaches of the outcrop near the top of the falls left their rocky abode. Swirling in the air around the falls must have been thousands upon thousands of bats; a minute proportion of the colony but still an awesome sight. Apparently when the entire colony circles, it looks like a huge black cloud that can not be seen through.
After the walk back down we stayed the night at the Wli Falls Hotel, and we couldn't have been gladder too. Run by an old German couple the hotel was paradise. Surrounded on three sides by stunning mountain views including that of the falls the hotel was so peaceful and quiet. In well kept ground with a comfy summerhouse, the place was an absolute paradise. We sat out in the summerhouse for the rest of the afternoon talking, reading and listening to music with cold beers. It was perfect. In the evening I had the most delicious dinner of burgers and mashed potatoes - the first red meat in weeks. In the evening we used the shower which was a huge treat and we had a breakfast of fried eggs and toast. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
For the start of the week I had some savage diahorrhea which was for about half a day bright green, which definitely wasn't banter. That pretty much wrote off Monday and Tuesday. We made a few timetables for the kids but not that much else. On Wednesday Prince came and told us he had a placement for our final two weeks in Ho if we wanted it. We jumped at the chance of being back in civilisation and around people our own age. Also because of our dislike for the people who run the home and their methods. It feels a bit like being a free person in a totalitarian state - not wanting to give the powers that be a nod of approval but ultimately aware that for our duration we must accept the way things are done here even though we dispise them. Change is a progressive notion and open questioning should be celebrated and promoted in equal measure. The regime here could not go more against these notions and it is a difficult place even as a witness. Simultaneously it hit me that I will only have another week and a half with the children, many of whom I have grown very fond of.
On Wednesday evening Ghana played Senegal in the semi final of the African Nations which was an entertaining game, made more so by the crowd watching. Ghana edged the game out 7-6 on penalties after an entertaining 1-1 draw setting up a final on Sunday which should be more fun. Later in the evening Grandpa shouted at the children and generally had a good old rant which made a nice change, he can normally be heard losing it daily and its getting proper boring.
On Thursday the children continued to practice their independence day march (they haven't had any lessons for two weeks due to marching, clearly more important than getting an education). Read and played with some of the smaller children who didn't have to march. Very lazy day.
March 6th is Ghana's Independence day where they celebrate the end of British colonial rule in 1952. To mark this occasion we accompanied the children to a local school to see several schools perform a traditional march and, as the only whites or Yevo in attendance where quickly placed among the guests of honour. The march was a pretty dull affair involving each school going round a large field. African marching involves swinging arms horizontally in front and behind you and shuffling your feet forward at a painfully slow rate. Interspersed with this were long speeches in Eve. We left early as the whole thing went on for hours and hours. I'm sure somewhere there were people getting drunk and having a party, oh well maybe next Ghanian independence.
Last Friday was pretty frustrating due to lack of internet and not being able to get all the things done that we needed to. To make up for this however Saturday was immense. We went to the Wli falls, about an hour away by Tro Tro, with some of the older boys, John, Moses and Peter. After a 45minute walk through lush undergrowth we emerged at the foot of a huge and impressive waterfall. After weeks with only a bucket for showering the feeling of being submerged in chilly water was sensational and was without doubt the cleanest I have felt since being here. Under the falls themselves it was hard to breathe as the water pulled all the oxygen into it, causing a strong wind. After a while spent in the water we sat back on the bank and enjoyed the view. Close to the peak of Ghana's highest mountain, Mount Afadjato, the Wli Falls is set in a horseshoes of breathtaking hills which change colour with proximity to the falls. Two sets of bare faced cliffs, dry and barren make up the ends of the horseshoe whilst in the middle where the water falls it is surrounded by lush greenery. Trees sit upon craggy rocks that would be impossible to live were it not for the near perfect climatic conditions. As we sat gazing at this extraordinary feat of nature we were treated to another visual feast as part of the gigantic colony of bats that inhabit the upper reaches of the outcrop near the top of the falls left their rocky abode. Swirling in the air around the falls must have been thousands upon thousands of bats; a minute proportion of the colony but still an awesome sight. Apparently when the entire colony circles, it looks like a huge black cloud that can not be seen through.
After the walk back down we stayed the night at the Wli Falls Hotel, and we couldn't have been gladder too. Run by an old German couple the hotel was paradise. Surrounded on three sides by stunning mountain views including that of the falls the hotel was so peaceful and quiet. In well kept ground with a comfy summerhouse, the place was an absolute paradise. We sat out in the summerhouse for the rest of the afternoon talking, reading and listening to music with cold beers. It was perfect. In the evening I had the most delicious dinner of burgers and mashed potatoes - the first red meat in weeks. In the evening we used the shower which was a huge treat and we had a breakfast of fried eggs and toast. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
For the start of the week I had some savage diahorrhea which was for about half a day bright green, which definitely wasn't banter. That pretty much wrote off Monday and Tuesday. We made a few timetables for the kids but not that much else. On Wednesday Prince came and told us he had a placement for our final two weeks in Ho if we wanted it. We jumped at the chance of being back in civilisation and around people our own age. Also because of our dislike for the people who run the home and their methods. It feels a bit like being a free person in a totalitarian state - not wanting to give the powers that be a nod of approval but ultimately aware that for our duration we must accept the way things are done here even though we dispise them. Change is a progressive notion and open questioning should be celebrated and promoted in equal measure. The regime here could not go more against these notions and it is a difficult place even as a witness. Simultaneously it hit me that I will only have another week and a half with the children, many of whom I have grown very fond of.
On Wednesday evening Ghana played Senegal in the semi final of the African Nations which was an entertaining game, made more so by the crowd watching. Ghana edged the game out 7-6 on penalties after an entertaining 1-1 draw setting up a final on Sunday which should be more fun. Later in the evening Grandpa shouted at the children and generally had a good old rant which made a nice change, he can normally be heard losing it daily and its getting proper boring.
On Thursday the children continued to practice their independence day march (they haven't had any lessons for two weeks due to marching, clearly more important than getting an education). Read and played with some of the smaller children who didn't have to march. Very lazy day.
March 6th is Ghana's Independence day where they celebrate the end of British colonial rule in 1952. To mark this occasion we accompanied the children to a local school to see several schools perform a traditional march and, as the only whites or Yevo in attendance where quickly placed among the guests of honour. The march was a pretty dull affair involving each school going round a large field. African marching involves swinging arms horizontally in front and behind you and shuffling your feet forward at a painfully slow rate. Interspersed with this were long speeches in Eve. We left early as the whole thing went on for hours and hours. I'm sure somewhere there were people getting drunk and having a party, oh well maybe next Ghanian independence.
Week 2 in Volta
We have now been at the orphanage for 10 days and have settled into the rhythm of things quite well. Aside from having toilet facilities which make Reading Festival look amazing and a shower which consists of a bucket with Dettol in (not using Dettol would result in worms getting into our bodies) life here is good. A very relaxed pace would be the best way to describe it here with few stresses or strains, we usually have no idea even what the time is.
We teach lessons about once a day and then it is largely dependent on whether a class shows up or not. it can be a little frustrating but as everyone keeps telling us "this is Africa" and we have learned to just go with it. We have made good friends in the other volunteers and feel as though we really know quite a few of the kids really well now.
We generally get up around half seven, eat breakfast with the other volunteers which is inevitably sweet bread and yellow tea.In the mornings we usually teach a lesson though the kids are on inter-semester break for the long weekend so there are no lessons until Tuesday. Lunch is usually bananas which I have gotten unbelievably bored of within a week and a half. Afternoons are usually spent reading outside and chatting to the older boys and the other volunteers interspersed with playing a lot of volleyball and football. It gets over 30 degrees every day though we aren't really getting tanned as the air is so close and muggy.
The children here do almost all of the work while the adults spend most of the day lounging around in chairs, seldom seen doing anything other than yelling at children to do things. 'Grandpa' the pastor who runs the orphanage seems to have no affection for any of the children and is almost permanently in a bad mood with them shouting at them and calling them lazy. He believes in the literal word of the old testament and beats the children regularly for fear that otherwise God will punish both them and him. He believes that evolutionists are sent by the devil and he originally started the orphanage so that he would be by God's side in the afterlife, though one would have thought an omnipotent God would see this plan as self interested? On the other hand the pastor has saved countless lives by setting up the orphanage and pumped a large amount of his own money into it, losing the trust of two of his sons in the process who believed the money to be their rightful inheritance. Maybe I should not be so harsh on him, especially seeing as his perceived reward will never be received.It took me a while to decide on my views of the pastor but after attending his church service last Sunday and the service for the children on Wednesday I can not do anything but dislike the man. The anger with which he delivers his message is the only weapon he has to make the children believe what he is saying, it really is quite scary and mental.
Our friend Chelsea from America came to the orphanage for a week before having to go back to Ho, the nearest town to have her foot seen to by a doctor. I am pretty scared of getting ringworm as lots of people seem to have it in their feet and most of the children's legs are covered in scars, definitely not banter. It also seems like their are some weird back room politics going on at the orphanage which are a bit weird and uncomfortable but we are fine and getting on well. Hope everyone at home is well, miss you all lots and it's nice hearing from you all.
We teach lessons about once a day and then it is largely dependent on whether a class shows up or not. it can be a little frustrating but as everyone keeps telling us "this is Africa" and we have learned to just go with it. We have made good friends in the other volunteers and feel as though we really know quite a few of the kids really well now.
We generally get up around half seven, eat breakfast with the other volunteers which is inevitably sweet bread and yellow tea.In the mornings we usually teach a lesson though the kids are on inter-semester break for the long weekend so there are no lessons until Tuesday. Lunch is usually bananas which I have gotten unbelievably bored of within a week and a half. Afternoons are usually spent reading outside and chatting to the older boys and the other volunteers interspersed with playing a lot of volleyball and football. It gets over 30 degrees every day though we aren't really getting tanned as the air is so close and muggy.
The children here do almost all of the work while the adults spend most of the day lounging around in chairs, seldom seen doing anything other than yelling at children to do things. 'Grandpa' the pastor who runs the orphanage seems to have no affection for any of the children and is almost permanently in a bad mood with them shouting at them and calling them lazy. He believes in the literal word of the old testament and beats the children regularly for fear that otherwise God will punish both them and him. He believes that evolutionists are sent by the devil and he originally started the orphanage so that he would be by God's side in the afterlife, though one would have thought an omnipotent God would see this plan as self interested? On the other hand the pastor has saved countless lives by setting up the orphanage and pumped a large amount of his own money into it, losing the trust of two of his sons in the process who believed the money to be their rightful inheritance. Maybe I should not be so harsh on him, especially seeing as his perceived reward will never be received.It took me a while to decide on my views of the pastor but after attending his church service last Sunday and the service for the children on Wednesday I can not do anything but dislike the man. The anger with which he delivers his message is the only weapon he has to make the children believe what he is saying, it really is quite scary and mental.
Our friend Chelsea from America came to the orphanage for a week before having to go back to Ho, the nearest town to have her foot seen to by a doctor. I am pretty scared of getting ringworm as lots of people seem to have it in their feet and most of the children's legs are covered in scars, definitely not banter. It also seems like their are some weird back room politics going on at the orphanage which are a bit weird and uncomfortable but we are fine and getting on well. Hope everyone at home is well, miss you all lots and it's nice hearing from you all.
Friday, 20 February 2009
First Days at the Orphanage
When we arrived at the home it was more like an open village, with chickens and goats free to roam amongst the buildings. Our bedroom has no door, just a curtain and the 'living room' where all meals are eaten by volunteers is a table surrounded by plastic chairs. We met the other volunteers: Sophia, Kris, Carolyn (all German) and Carla (Portuguese). The Germans had been here for five months, though the facilities are less than premium; with no running water (showers are buckets of river water) or toilet (Reading Festival isn't a patch on the pits we currently use). We watched in on a French lesson by Sophia and found the Ghanaian school day beyond relaxed. The children have chores to do which take priority over schoolwork and results in constant comings and goings of pupils which proves beyond disruptive for a classroom environment. Halfway through a group of students supposed to be in an English lesson stopped the lesson entirely with the interest in new white faces.
Once the schoolchildren had left we were left with just the orphans and began to get to know names and faces of some of them. They were so eager to talk to us and get to know our names and we were quickly being called 'brother Mike' and 'sister Beki' from all angles. They are so keen to hold, touch and be hugged by white people. After this I played some football with the older boys but only last about 20 minutes due to the heat and general exhaustion. In the evening we what was to be the first of many delicious home cooked meals.
Later we went outside and listened to the children sing hymns which wasn't nearly as amazing as the girls had told us, maybe my religious cynicism spoilt it but I found it an uninspiring time instead finding it far more magical helping the children read English books each night. Thankfully the hymns only last about 20minutes then the smallest children went to bed. When I went to have a shower a child of no more than 8 insisted he carried the water for me, it felt a bit weird and colonial but he genuinely enjoyed doing it.
Wednesday started with a music lesson whereby I got roped into playing the guitar to the children. Beki and I taught them 'Let it Be' by the Beatles and by the end of the lesson 40 or so children were singing along to the chorus. I felt like a walking cliche. The last few days have all been spent in the orphanage which is a remarkably relaxing pace of life. We teach one or two lessons a day, have ample time to play with the children or to relax amongst ourselves; reading, writing and debating orphanage life. I am running short of time now so I will embellish on these aspects next week. I am safe, well and happy although very very hot. We had our first storm the other day which was quite incredible. I hope everyone at home is well, it still feels as though I am in another world.
Once the schoolchildren had left we were left with just the orphans and began to get to know names and faces of some of them. They were so eager to talk to us and get to know our names and we were quickly being called 'brother Mike' and 'sister Beki' from all angles. They are so keen to hold, touch and be hugged by white people. After this I played some football with the older boys but only last about 20 minutes due to the heat and general exhaustion. In the evening we what was to be the first of many delicious home cooked meals.
Later we went outside and listened to the children sing hymns which wasn't nearly as amazing as the girls had told us, maybe my religious cynicism spoilt it but I found it an uninspiring time instead finding it far more magical helping the children read English books each night. Thankfully the hymns only last about 20minutes then the smallest children went to bed. When I went to have a shower a child of no more than 8 insisted he carried the water for me, it felt a bit weird and colonial but he genuinely enjoyed doing it.
Wednesday started with a music lesson whereby I got roped into playing the guitar to the children. Beki and I taught them 'Let it Be' by the Beatles and by the end of the lesson 40 or so children were singing along to the chorus. I felt like a walking cliche. The last few days have all been spent in the orphanage which is a remarkably relaxing pace of life. We teach one or two lessons a day, have ample time to play with the children or to relax amongst ourselves; reading, writing and debating orphanage life. I am running short of time now so I will embellish on these aspects next week. I am safe, well and happy although very very hot. We had our first storm the other day which was quite incredible. I hope everyone at home is well, it still feels as though I am in another world.
Arriving in Ghana
As we stepped off the plane in Accra we were hit by a wall of heat. At the same lattitude as Addis but at a far lower altitude (Addis is the 3rd highest capital in the world, Lima in Peru is highest, I have no idea where second is). Accra was in the middle of the dry season. The stewardess said it was 30c but the muggy, close air and complete cloud cover made it feel much higher. On leaving the airport some bloke made us pay him USD$5 to phone the people to come pick us up. They promised they would be there in ten minutes.
Twenty minutes later they arrived, we would later learn that time keeping wasn't a Ghanian strong point "this is Africa...just go with it" seemed to be the reply if we ever asked a time for anything. As we got in the taxi our guides managed to start a fight between two locals over a tip. People did actually follow lanes and traffic signals unlike Addis but at every junction and in the middle of the road were hundreds of people selling things out of baskets on their heads. Mainly basic things like water and bread but almost anything, including superglue it seemed could be purchased from these vendors.
We drove past the magnificant president's house. There were signs everywhere congratulation John Atta Mills on his presidential victory in November. We wondered who paid for these billboards and how badly the same thing would go down in Britain.
We soon reached the minibus depot which doubled up as a marketplace after passing many large western style buildings and advertisments. After a wait for the minibus to fill we headed north for the mountains. The three hour ride proved simultaneously excrutiating and breathtaking. Due to the huge amount of luggage we still had (largely equipment for the orphanage) I could only half fit onto the end of the seat meaning that every bump sent a metal bar smashing into my lower back. The scenery more than made up for this as we climbed up an impressive landscape which turned more lush and green the higher we ventured. the views of the huge lake Volta were magnificant.
Since we had arrived in Ghana we had seen a much more open, in your face Christianity than Addis had shown us. Many cars bore slogans across the back windscreen of "The finger of God" and "Keep Praying". Along the bus route we also noticed almost everything was named after something Christian; particular favourites included 'God Bless Coffins and Furniture' and 'Jesus Beauty Salon' Also along the route many cars had Ghanaian flags and large posters celebrated Ghana's 50 years of independence in 2007. I found it a strange paradox that a population could be so emphatic about its rejection of its colonial masters yet so fixated by the religion they had been given by them.
We arrived at Ho as it was getting dark having spent the entire day crossing the continent. We ate a hearty meal, showered, then retreated to bed ready for the orphanage tomorrow. And getting rid of these huge bags.
My notes from my journal are a bit all over the place at the end this next day and filled with superlatives. I will do my best to try and explain the day and use less emotive language. We got picked up by Albert and were taken to the Dream Africa Volunteers (DAVs) office in Ho where we met Chelsea, a lovely American from Connecticut who had been in Washington on Obama's election night and on hearing the news ran down to the White House. In the taxi ride we discussed politics and US and British views of each other as a people. The taxi drove us further into the mountains towards the Volta Home for Children (www.voltahome.org).
Twenty minutes later they arrived, we would later learn that time keeping wasn't a Ghanian strong point "this is Africa...just go with it" seemed to be the reply if we ever asked a time for anything. As we got in the taxi our guides managed to start a fight between two locals over a tip. People did actually follow lanes and traffic signals unlike Addis but at every junction and in the middle of the road were hundreds of people selling things out of baskets on their heads. Mainly basic things like water and bread but almost anything, including superglue it seemed could be purchased from these vendors.
We drove past the magnificant president's house. There were signs everywhere congratulation John Atta Mills on his presidential victory in November. We wondered who paid for these billboards and how badly the same thing would go down in Britain.
We soon reached the minibus depot which doubled up as a marketplace after passing many large western style buildings and advertisments. After a wait for the minibus to fill we headed north for the mountains. The three hour ride proved simultaneously excrutiating and breathtaking. Due to the huge amount of luggage we still had (largely equipment for the orphanage) I could only half fit onto the end of the seat meaning that every bump sent a metal bar smashing into my lower back. The scenery more than made up for this as we climbed up an impressive landscape which turned more lush and green the higher we ventured. the views of the huge lake Volta were magnificant.
Since we had arrived in Ghana we had seen a much more open, in your face Christianity than Addis had shown us. Many cars bore slogans across the back windscreen of "The finger of God" and "Keep Praying". Along the bus route we also noticed almost everything was named after something Christian; particular favourites included 'God Bless Coffins and Furniture' and 'Jesus Beauty Salon' Also along the route many cars had Ghanaian flags and large posters celebrated Ghana's 50 years of independence in 2007. I found it a strange paradox that a population could be so emphatic about its rejection of its colonial masters yet so fixated by the religion they had been given by them.
We arrived at Ho as it was getting dark having spent the entire day crossing the continent. We ate a hearty meal, showered, then retreated to bed ready for the orphanage tomorrow. And getting rid of these huge bags.
My notes from my journal are a bit all over the place at the end this next day and filled with superlatives. I will do my best to try and explain the day and use less emotive language. We got picked up by Albert and were taken to the Dream Africa Volunteers (DAVs) office in Ho where we met Chelsea, a lovely American from Connecticut who had been in Washington on Obama's election night and on hearing the news ran down to the White House. In the taxi ride we discussed politics and US and British views of each other as a people. The taxi drove us further into the mountains towards the Volta Home for Children (www.voltahome.org).
Birr for Beer
After an all night flight from Heathrow we arrived at Addis early in the morning tired, slightly jet lagged but incredibly well fed after a dinner at one followed by breakfast at four in the morning. It appeared the jokey comments of British friends of "You're going to Ethiopia? Bring some food." were some way off the mark.
On leaving the airport we were met by our driver Bacci (great name, great chat). On leaving the compound we had to brake almost immediately to avoid hitting two donkeys laden down with good who were being chased by their owners. The driving was erratic with lanes and traffic lights seemingly meaningless and pedestrians putting their lives in drivers hands every time they attempted to cross the road. By the end of day one I had already seen a small child hit by a minibus and get up again relatively unfazed. As Bacci drove he talked about Addis and the problems of mass migration from the countryside and the huge unemployment with over 50% of the population being under 20. We drove past (as Beki put it "fairly unimpressive") house of the president adn learned that before the revolution in the early 90s walking on the same side of the road as the house would get you shot. To this day it is an offence to photograph the house which at the time I was unaware of. International laws broken totalled one by the end of the first day.
We arrived at the hostel which was surrounded by metal gates and entered a well kept garden and smiling hosts. As it was so early our room was still being made so we slept in the families house and used their shower. When we awoke it was around midday, warm but not too hot due to the altitude and were shown to our room. We left the compound with one of the hostel workers, who had just finished a degree in Electronic Engineering! Jobs are so scarce that graduates struggle to find a basic wage. We traveled to the Hilton by the distinct blue minivan taxi (these are everywhere), the trip cost us 1 birr (about 8p). On arriving at the Hilton we entered a different world of air conditioning, fountains and other whites. You got the distinct impression that for most of these westerners this was the only part of Addis they saw a self contained safe city with shops, bars and restaurants encircled with guards and protective fencing.
We got a lift with our guides' friend and then took another minibus to the mercato, the third largest market in Africa. Every shopkeeper's face lit up when they saw our stand out white faces and our presumed bulging wallet. We were pleasantly surprised by the politeness of all we met with a smile and shake of the head being enough to dissuade even the most eager merchants.
We left our guide and took the minibus back to the hostel for an early night. After only five hours in the city we were completely worn out by the pace of the place and fell straight to sleep. It was without doubt the most hectic and chaotic place I had ever visited. We didn't see another white face after we left the Hilton, it was a strange sensation standing out so much.
On the second day we woke late yet were still given a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and bread (African bread is made with sugar and is much sweeter and more filling than its European counterpart). We browsed a guide to the country as we ate and worked out how to get to the museum. The museum was another of the few places white faces could be found and the entrance for foreigners was five times the price of locals (still an incredibly cheap 80p). We saw 'Lucy', a fossilised skeleton of the earliest mammal to walk on two legs - seen by most as the first 'human'. It also contained many random pieces of Ethiopian art with no real theme or connection.
We next walked to the Silat Kilo and saw some lions in cages looking pretty fed up. This time we paid ten times the local price but we felt much better paying an agreed western price rather than a random tourist charge as some of the taxis tried to do. After this we went to a restaurant the guide book had recommended and found higher prices, guards on the door and many other westerners. We felt like a bit like we had in the Hilton, fully aware the was not the real Addis.
On our way back to the guest house we bumped into a guy who was from London and visiting his cousin in Addis. They took us to an underground bar which was like a ghetto version of the cavern with pool tables where we had a few drinks and had general bant. They were both musicians/DJs trying to make it in a music scene they described as non existent, there company was much appreciated as was the location which gave us a small glimpse into Ethiopian nightlife. In the morning we got up early for our flight had another delicious breakfast and left Ethiopia knowing we would probably never return.
On leaving the airport we were met by our driver Bacci (great name, great chat). On leaving the compound we had to brake almost immediately to avoid hitting two donkeys laden down with good who were being chased by their owners. The driving was erratic with lanes and traffic lights seemingly meaningless and pedestrians putting their lives in drivers hands every time they attempted to cross the road. By the end of day one I had already seen a small child hit by a minibus and get up again relatively unfazed. As Bacci drove he talked about Addis and the problems of mass migration from the countryside and the huge unemployment with over 50% of the population being under 20. We drove past (as Beki put it "fairly unimpressive") house of the president adn learned that before the revolution in the early 90s walking on the same side of the road as the house would get you shot. To this day it is an offence to photograph the house which at the time I was unaware of. International laws broken totalled one by the end of the first day.
We arrived at the hostel which was surrounded by metal gates and entered a well kept garden and smiling hosts. As it was so early our room was still being made so we slept in the families house and used their shower. When we awoke it was around midday, warm but not too hot due to the altitude and were shown to our room. We left the compound with one of the hostel workers, who had just finished a degree in Electronic Engineering! Jobs are so scarce that graduates struggle to find a basic wage. We traveled to the Hilton by the distinct blue minivan taxi (these are everywhere), the trip cost us 1 birr (about 8p). On arriving at the Hilton we entered a different world of air conditioning, fountains and other whites. You got the distinct impression that for most of these westerners this was the only part of Addis they saw a self contained safe city with shops, bars and restaurants encircled with guards and protective fencing.
We got a lift with our guides' friend and then took another minibus to the mercato, the third largest market in Africa. Every shopkeeper's face lit up when they saw our stand out white faces and our presumed bulging wallet. We were pleasantly surprised by the politeness of all we met with a smile and shake of the head being enough to dissuade even the most eager merchants.
We left our guide and took the minibus back to the hostel for an early night. After only five hours in the city we were completely worn out by the pace of the place and fell straight to sleep. It was without doubt the most hectic and chaotic place I had ever visited. We didn't see another white face after we left the Hilton, it was a strange sensation standing out so much.
On the second day we woke late yet were still given a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and bread (African bread is made with sugar and is much sweeter and more filling than its European counterpart). We browsed a guide to the country as we ate and worked out how to get to the museum. The museum was another of the few places white faces could be found and the entrance for foreigners was five times the price of locals (still an incredibly cheap 80p). We saw 'Lucy', a fossilised skeleton of the earliest mammal to walk on two legs - seen by most as the first 'human'. It also contained many random pieces of Ethiopian art with no real theme or connection.
We next walked to the Silat Kilo and saw some lions in cages looking pretty fed up. This time we paid ten times the local price but we felt much better paying an agreed western price rather than a random tourist charge as some of the taxis tried to do. After this we went to a restaurant the guide book had recommended and found higher prices, guards on the door and many other westerners. We felt like a bit like we had in the Hilton, fully aware the was not the real Addis.
On our way back to the guest house we bumped into a guy who was from London and visiting his cousin in Addis. They took us to an underground bar which was like a ghetto version of the cavern with pool tables where we had a few drinks and had general bant. They were both musicians/DJs trying to make it in a music scene they described as non existent, there company was much appreciated as was the location which gave us a small glimpse into Ethiopian nightlife. In the morning we got up early for our flight had another delicious breakfast and left Ethiopia knowing we would probably never return.
Friday, 6 February 2009
One Week To Go
This time next week we will be on our way to Heathrow airport for our flight to Ethiopia. As I write I have never spent more than one continuous week outside of England and have never been further afield than Magaluf; hardly a rounded view of the world.
My feelings are all over the place; up then down, excited and scared, sad and overjoyed. Having spent over a year planning the adventure it's difficult to imagine that in a week's time we will be living it. Still at work, it feels strange to imagine that after Wednesday I won't have to be getting up early to spend the day sitting at a desk. I am hugely looking forward to being more active in my days yet after six months with barely a day off I am simultaneously anticipating a more relaxed lifestyle. The last six months have not been the unbearable stress filled time I anticipated, yet I cannot deny feeling creatively stunted and largely robbed of any free time and resources with which to pursue my own interests. I am so looking forward to not having to watch every penny of outgoings and to feel as though I am allowed to spend money again.
That is not to say I will not miss home. I anticipate most missing all of the people I hold so close to me and who's company has made me person I am today, I promise to write frequently on here and on Facebook. You may even get postcards. I am sure there will be minute details of Englishness which at present I take for granted as I cannot imagine life without these essentials; as to what these will be I can only imagine, although potatoes spring to mind - strange I know.
As I conclude I am left feeling a strange mixture of desperation to be gone and of anxiety of all I will leave behind. This post will be the first of many.
My feelings are all over the place; up then down, excited and scared, sad and overjoyed. Having spent over a year planning the adventure it's difficult to imagine that in a week's time we will be living it. Still at work, it feels strange to imagine that after Wednesday I won't have to be getting up early to spend the day sitting at a desk. I am hugely looking forward to being more active in my days yet after six months with barely a day off I am simultaneously anticipating a more relaxed lifestyle. The last six months have not been the unbearable stress filled time I anticipated, yet I cannot deny feeling creatively stunted and largely robbed of any free time and resources with which to pursue my own interests. I am so looking forward to not having to watch every penny of outgoings and to feel as though I am allowed to spend money again.
That is not to say I will not miss home. I anticipate most missing all of the people I hold so close to me and who's company has made me person I am today, I promise to write frequently on here and on Facebook. You may even get postcards. I am sure there will be minute details of Englishness which at present I take for granted as I cannot imagine life without these essentials; as to what these will be I can only imagine, although potatoes spring to mind - strange I know.
As I conclude I am left feeling a strange mixture of desperation to be gone and of anxiety of all I will leave behind. This post will be the first of many.
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