Singapore and more...

As we waved goodbye to Malaysia we find ourselves preparing for our first taste of western civilisation for 5 months.

Off come the dirty vest tops and flip flops, and on with the trainers and designer tshirts.

Singapore is everything like we expected; clean,  efficient and expensive. The streets are free of graffiti,  litter and homeless people. A fat cry from what we have witnessed in South East Asia's poorest countries. But with this clean utophia comes high prices. With beers rivaling London prices and restaurants charging table service at 20% we knew we were in for an expensive few days.

We choose to dorm out in Little India and walked into town each day, saving a few quid on private room rates and the tube! Little india is a buzz of markets food courts and places of worship. A curry here only set us back $5 as we ate in the food courts with the  indian locals.

In town its completely different, sky scrapers clash with artificial greenery as hotels,  bars, restaurants and business all cram into the CBD. It makes Canary Warf look like the middle ages. Again completely immaculate although quite claustrophobic. 

There are a few quirky streets dotted around. The Arabic quarter has dimly lit streets littered with bars cafes and boutique fashion outlets. Looks very similar to the East London, but not quite as trendy.

The centre piece of the town is the marina. Built spectacularly with bridges, modern dome like structures and even a purpose built wildlife sanctuary. Here high end fashion brands and roof top bars tempt the expats out after work!

Due to the cost of the attractions we decided to pick one must do activity in Sinagpore. We were recommended to try out the nigh safari at the National Zoo.

The evening starts at 8pm as you board a night tram that drives you around the zoo. You can get on and off at various attractions to see the animals uncaged at night. There is so much more activity to look at as they sleep most of the day. They come to life at feeding times and tend to be more active at night.

Our favourite was seeing the Asian tiger rip up his dinner 3m from our feet.

In total we had scheduled to spend 3 days in Singapore before catching our flight to Bali...

However it was only a matter of time before one of our flights was cocked up! Our flight service provider had recently been taken over, and we had not recieved notification of the date change to our fligh! Only delayed by a day, but when we had already spent a night in Singapore Airport it started to take the biscuit.

With hotels being so expensive we decided to sleep rough another night; nice and comfy as you can imagine!

So we lost 2 days in Bali, but did explore the worlds best international aiport of 2014! Swings and round abouts!

Finally we take off for our final Asian country in Indonesia, time to relax on tje beach! Back soon.

The island of Koh Samui

I'm writing this as I leave the island on a boat to Krabi. We spent three days on the island, that is the largest and most  commercial of the three Gulf Islands. This has come at a price with it not being as pretty as the others.

That coupled with the fact it rained on the first two days causing the hotel power to be cut twice, meant this wasn't as good as our previous trips.

With the rain we couldn't really enjoy the beach. We stayed next to the Ark bar, right on the beach, famous for it's all day music and beach parties.

With the rain we decided to go to the cinema, saw a random film, was terrible. But theThai national anthem was great to witness before the film started. A complosory sing-a-long before each screening!

Food was great on the island though, we had some great bbq'd street food one night on the cheap! But one of the best dinners I've had on tour so far has to be a bbq on the beach. We shared a whole seabass with bbq'd corn on the cob, jacket potatoe and salad! The fish was something else literally melted in the mouth!

We had a few nights out in 'Green Mangos' and the pool bars. More buckets and dancing. Finally the sun did come out and we lazed on the beach and slept off the hangovers.

We are now heading to the west coast of Krabi town and the beautiful Phi Phi islands. We have around another 10 days in Thailand before we head south to Malaysia.

The Turtle Island

After a short boat ride we arrive in Koh Tao and headed to Sarrie beach, the heart of the diving island. We checked into our beach front hostel which is litterally 2m from the sea.

We were blessed with some scorching sun shine and spent our days on the beach and snorkerling in the bay. Food on the island is unreal as we ate on the beach front and feasted on the fresh fish.

We had a few nights out in the town, heading to a Lady Boy Show and watching the ladies perform a nunber of pop karaoke numbers in their skimpy dresses! Some very convincing, others not so.

On one of the days we rented a canoe and headed out of the bay and into some rock pools; here you could see the crabs running on the rocks and tropical fish swimming on the sea bed. We spent the afternoon snorkeling here.

However as there is little to do on the island, other than enjoy the stunning natural landacape, theres sadly not much else to report. Tan line has come along well over the last few days though!

Our next stop is the final Gulf island of Koh Samui.

Vang Vieng Tubing

After yet another 8 hour bus journey across the winding rural landscape of Laos we arrive at our second destination, Vang Vieng. Famously known for its adventure tubing and party scene.

We arrived in the afternoon and got to know our bearings in this small town they call a city. We decided to go tubing tomorrow so we could rest from the days journey.

Our trip tubing starts with a tuk tuk ride up the river to the first bar and cast off point. Here we meet up with a few friends from Laung Probang and the beers begin to flow with beer pong, free whisky shots and a dj blasting out the tunes. Its just gone 13:00 pm...

After a few hours here and many beers later we finally get into our tubes and set off down the river to the next bar. There is about 60 of us taking the trip this afternoon. Our next bar is a short drift down the river as you gaze at the fjord landscape and try your best to fight the rainy season current.

I am chucked a plastic bottle on a piece of string as the locals rein me in on a make shift fishing line. Safe to say I've already lost another set of flip flops at this point!  The second bar is busy with more beer pong and a game of boules. We play basket ball and volley ball in the afternoon sun, with the sound of beer "shotguns" and free shots ringing in our ears.

A few hours pass and we're heading to our final bar, back in the tubes we float "gracefully" down the river. For those who dont know; tubing was banned in Laos as too many tourists were injured or died. It started up last year with limited bars, but the dangers were always in the back of my mind especially as the sun had started to set and as we left for our final stop at the end of the town.

The sun sets very quickly in SE Asia so a mad panic was on to get the tubes back and out of the river before dark. We managed this just  before it got pitch black. There was a bit of panic as the strong currents tried to sweep you beyond the port and local attempts to fish you out the river. We arrived at around 18:30 pm.

Battered and bruised (literally) we had finished our tubing. Safe to say a bit of a nervy experience but accomplished none the less. I was so tired after the afternoons antics that I crashed after dinner and slept through till morning!

You will be pleased to hear our second day was much more chilled. We rented a motorbike and headed out to the numerous lagoons and caves that surround the town. We found ourselves at the blue lagoon for most of the day. Here we chilled in the natural lagoon pools and explored a cave. The sun was shinning and we met up with a few friends from tubing to compare bruses and stories.

Finally we took the motorbike for a ride around the town and the local villages. We watched the sun set over the mountains as it brought our hectic time in Vang Vieng to an end.

Im finishing this post on a bus to the capital Vientien. We are here for a few days before we head back into Thailand for the beaches and gulf islands.

Luang Prabang, Laos

So after leaving our rural days in Chang Mai we embarked on our two day trip to Laos. This trip was an experience in itself. Lasting two days and using three different modes of transport we took to the mountainous landscape that seperates the Thai and Laos borders. Our first day was in the mini bus as we took on the long winding roads that delivered us through some breath taking views of the rocky landscape and rice fields. We spent most of the day riding through the clouds at altitude with our driver speedily taking the corners of these shear drop cliff edges.

After 8 hours in the bus we finally make it to a sleepy border village. Here we are granted our visas for Laos and check into our old school accommodation on the Laos border. Here I got eaten alive by bed bugs and still have the hideous scars on my leg as I write this, almost a week later.

The second day we start off early again and head to the port. Here we jump on a long boat and head down the Mekong river to Luang Probang. The journey is amazing as we cut through the mountainous landscape passing small rural villages and fishing communities. The ride is very slow and takes well over 8hours. But the views keep you entertained, for a bit...

Finally we arrive at our first destinantion in Laos. The riverside city of Luang Probang is a world heritage town. Its architecture and charm suit the French influence and laid back vibe that Laos is famous for.

On our first day we explore our new home. We take in all the sites this small city has to offer. Here we took on the museum, local temples (all five of them) markets and views. We spoke to local buddahs and chilled at bars overlooking the Mekong river. We also took full advantage of the all you can eat night market and local delicacies, such as goats hoof!

Once we had exhaused the city we headed for the renowned countryside. The city is locked in by two rivers and a mountainous landscape littered with waterfalls, local villages and tribes. On our second day we rented a motorbike and headed to the mountains. Our first search was of some local villages.  We did find a few, however did mange to get lost on the dirt roads up in the hills. The views here were stunning as we went deeper in to rural Laos life, where English was less and less spoken.

Our next stop was one of the many local waterfalls nestled in the hilly backdrop. Here we climbed the waterfall, swimming in the lakes and soaking up the sun. I lost a flip flop straigh away, and now find myself on my third pair, in as many months.

The final part of our day trip saw us explore the edges of the city on the bike, taking in the sunset over the Mekong river and city backdrop.

As our time is short in Loas we are moving every 2 to 3 days. Our third day will be on a bus to Vang Vieng. We did however get up early to to watch the morning alms take place. Here monks will walk through the town blessing the local people in exchange for food.

Next stop is the renound tubing town of Vang Vieng.

A history lesson and the new Lara Croft in Cambodia

Jum-reap soo-a (Khmer),

This is Sam. 

In cambodia, i have received a very educating history lesson. It has been the most interesting and cultured country i have ever visited. 

The people here are so calm and generous, they seem to love westerners but i got the feeling they are still emotionally damaged from their past. The aesthetics of the country has wiped away the past and phom penh looks modern, cambodia has roads, night clubs, shopping malls and luxury resorts and even beer, which apparently is quite a recent change. Although Cambodia's population is very young, its still very common to bump into someone who was alive in the khmer rouge period, but you don't know what role they played. Many peasants from the past, soldiers from the khmer rouge and prison victims are walking about. Most people were just children though. It's difficult to ask the khmer people openly about that time as they find it very emotional and hard to talk about it. Its  

actually quite strange, the country shares their story very well, in it's rawest form, they haven't sugar coated their past for us tourists and there is something from the khmer rouge in every place we visited. whether it was a killing field, museum, remembrance place, prison or just the people, it was very openly seen in every place we visited but talking about that past is something nobody did. cambodia actually felt quite eerie and emotional overall. 

We started in pnom penh, the evening we arrived we bumped into our dutch friend from vietnam. He asked us to join him on the tour the next day as its cheaper to have a group of 4 people in a tuk tuk. So, without really seeing any of Cambodia yet, our first day was a tour to the palace, the killing fields, S21 prison and then the russian market. Our history lesson started right away. 

The killing fields is a really sad place. The mass graves, skulls and the killing tree were horrible to see. But It was visiting the S21 prison that really sent shivers down my spine. I couldnt physically bring myself to walk into and see the prison cells and the torture rooms. It was as if there was a pull of some force that wouldnt allow me to enter. My teeth felt itchy and my stomach actually felt quite sick whilst being in the prison. There was still blood stains everywhere, nail scratch marks on the walls and it was strangely very easy to imagine the helpless prisoners in the very place i was standing. This was probably because you could relate the graphic pictures of the torture to the rooms and areas we could see. 

After pnom penh we went south to Silhouville. A small beach town that has a tacky commercial part and a nice quiet part. We decided to stay in a place called mushroom point on the nice beach, it looked nice and had straw bungalows. Instead we ended up at the tacky side called serendipity beach due to our tuk tuk driver conning us $5 and dropping us off at the nearest beach. In the end this wasnt too bad as it rained the whole time so we wanted to keep these few days cheap as we couldnt really get the most out of the beach anyway, so instead we stayed in a dirt cheap hostel and i was the unlucky one who was next to the snorer.

Next was Kampot, i loved it here as we stayed in a hippy hostel called bodhi villa. It was cool straw huts on the river. Full of mozzy's so i got bitten to bits but experiencing accommodation with the wild lofe was cool. We shared Our bathroom with a giant snail (size of a tennins ball). We went to a make shift cinema in the town and watched 'the killing fields' which was interesting. We did a tour to Bokor mountain and sunset river boat. On top of The mountain was creepy ruins of an old casino and a church from the war with Vietnam and a brand new huge casino, it was bazar considering this is a national park.

We then got a 3 hour bus to kampong cham, a more rural place that didnt see many tourists. Our hotel was pretty empty amd the place  shuts everywhere by 11pm. This place wasnt that built up as there were no street lamps, bars and the hotels were very basic. It was here where we celebrated our 1 year and rented a moped. We visited the french tower, man an and woman hill temple where there were monkeys everywhere. The moped was fun and Cj did pretty good driving it for his first time.

Siem reap was next. A big city full of backpackers. Our hotel was good value as it was cheap and nice. I really liked Siem reap, it was a fun place. Our hotel was close to pub street so it was a good location. We went to loads of markets and 1 night out which was good. I challenged one of the cambodian locals dancing on pub street with a trick/dance off and i actually won by doing the moon walk and getting my cheer scorp out. 

We only managed 1 night out here because the 2 full on days we spent in Angkor wat (UNESCO world heritage site) were knackering. So much walking and climbing and we hired a tuk tuk tour guide for the 2 days, we were thinking to cycle and i am so glad we didn't. The temples are huge and the dotted around the acres of land everywhere. On the first day we got up at 4:30 am to see the sunrise which was actually really amazing. Then the 2nd day we saw the sunset. After Cambodia, i am definitely 'templed out' we must have visited about 10 temples including the one from tomb raider. 

Now, i am sitting in our hostel in our new destination Chiang Mai.

Scooters in Kampot Cham

We arrived in the afternoon at our next town along the Mekong river. Kampot Cham is the third largest city in Cambodia. However I wouldn't class this as a city. The area is off the tourist route and so has little to offer In terms of infrastructure. We loved this. It felt like a proper Cambodian town with cows roaming the streets and local markets and shops selling to the locals. It was definately cheaper here, as we found out when  buying fruit and petrol off the locals.

On our first day we arrived and we're starving. After checking into our hotel on the rivers edge, which has a huge balcony overlooking the river and sun set, we hit up one of the only restaurants open on the river front.

Here we met some of the nicest Cambodian people on our trip so far. They told us all the local places to go and how to get around including a hand written map. They even offered to rent us a scooter at a discounted rate. We spent £3 renting the scooter for the day. The owner even showed me how to ride it. With map in hand a my scooter skills being better than expected, we headed out into the Cambodian countryside.

The road rules are a little different here than what I'm used to. For a start everything is on the opposite side of the road. Always need to remember to have the road on my right and side! However this isn't always the case as the locals will drive on the left if it is quicker for them to do so! The general rule is to give way to bigger vehicles.  With buses ruling the roads. There arn't many cars to worry about and the scooters allow for easy movement between other traffic. The saving grace here is that the speed limits are so slow that you struggle to get over 25kph. Traffic is fun as it comes to a standstill when multiple people are heading in different directions, so roundabouts and cross roads are done at a snails pace with no indicators! I go with the local
rule that I'm heading in this direction and others will move around me. Suprisingly this organised chaos works very well, and we have yet to see any road incidents in Asia.

Once out of the city we head out to the countryside to see some mountains, temples and killing fields. Our first stop is an old watch tower looking over the city. Situated on the rivers edge it looks across the city and stands tall over the hand built houses below. Inside the tower is a near vertical staircase that takes you to the top. With only one bannister I was starting to get a bit of vertigo having only gone up the first set of stairs. Safe to say we didn't make it to the top, especially when the see through gaps in the stairs got bigger!

After taking a few photos we hit up a few temples in between two mountains, locally named man and women hill. The temple hosted loads of monkeys that were scrapping over food and causing mischief.  We could see the mountains on either side which hosted the killing fields for the local area. Covered in deep forest and mines we decided not to treck through.

We still had the scooter for the rest of the afternoon so drove along the rivers edge and out into the countryside. The houses got smaller and looked more rustic in the way they were built with local materials. We passed a few local schools and temples. The locals were very friendly as we drove through their villages, they waved and smiled and asked where we were from.

As the afternoon came to an end the petrol tank drained empty and the rain came down. We decided to head back and hand the scooter into our restaurant where we grabbed some dinner. We are packing our bags tonight as we heading on to our final stretch and destinantion in Cambodia. We are getting a bus to Siam Reap tomorrow and will be spending two days in the famous Angkor Wat temples.

Along the Mekong in Kampot

After a short 2 hour bus journey we found ourselves in the quaint river town of Kampot. We decided to do something different with our accommodation here and instead of the usual hostels we hit up a hippy set of bungalows on the rivers edge.

We had a garden bungalow that consisted of a bed, a thatched roof and a huge mosquito net. Our bed was above a pond and set amongst plants and trees. The bar and common area was afloat on the river and was super chilled all day and into the evening. There was a much older crowd here, with a lot of people having a mid life crisis as apposed to my quarter. The drugs on use here was pretty visible with everyone taking chilling out to the max! I even felt a bit over dressed with my western brands so changed into my hippy vest tops and embraced the growing of my beard over the next few days.

With time being so short in Cambodia we are having to cram a lot into two weeks. We had one and a half days to explore the town and local area. In the first afternoon we hit up the small town centre. Not a lot going on here other than fishing on the river. A lady at our hostel told us to hit up a cinema that shows Cambodian films and documentaries on its tragic past.  We booked ourself in to see the killing fields film, based on the true stories of two journalists, its worth a watch.

Our second day started early with breakfast on the river. We then caught a tour around the local Bankor mountain. We visited some old buildings up in the mountain where fighting took place between the Khemer Rouge and the Vietnamese.  Up in the mountainous building's clouds would roll in and cover the land so you couldn't see more than 30 ft in front of you. 

Once the clouds disappeared you are left with a fantastic view of the town and sorounding forest area, where gorilla fighting and mine plantation took place up until 1998.

That evening we took a sun set cruise up the Mekong river. We saw the local fishing boats come in as the sun disappeared behind the mountainous landscape. With another early start tomorrow we chilled by the river with a few beers as the communal air thickened with the taste of green smoke.

Coastal life in Cambodia

After leaving the capital early this morning we have arrived at the southern coastal town of Sihanoukville  bus only took 5 hours with only a few hair raising moments with local traffic. All part of the experience I guess.

Unfortunately we seemed to have hit a monsoon today, as it has not stopped raining since we awoke in the capital. As you can imagen the beach isn't the best place to be in the rain. The waves were choppy but we still ventured in to take a wave battering from the sea.

Along with the rain, our journey from the bus station to our beach resulted in us being dropped off at the wrong place. With no hostel and reluctant to get another tuk tuk we picked a local dorm near to where we dropped off. It's a shame as we had decided to stay on Otres beach, which is the nicer of those on offer. Still our accommodation was cheap and only a short walk to the bars and restaurants on the beach front.

In the evening the rain stopped so we had dinner and drinks on the beach as we watched locals and tourists set off fireworks and lanterns into the sea and nights sky.

The next day, not being deterred by yesterday's failure to get to the beach, we rented bikes and cycled a few miles down the road to Otres beach. After getting lost and doing a complete circle in the mangrove swamps we managed to find the beach. Here it is less crowded with no fireworks and hardly any people trying to flog sun glasses and braclets. The sun showed it's face in between showers so it made the day worthwhile as we enjoyed a few beers in the sun.

The evening consisted of dinner and drinks on the beach as we packed to head off to our third destination in 5 days.

Welcome to Cambodia

As our bus crossed the border we touched down in Cambodia. The landscape looks the same with broken roads and lush green fields as far as the eye could see. However as our journey continued we began to see that Cambodia was considerably poorer than its neighbour Vietnam. Dirt roads and abandoned half built buildings cut across the farming landscape.

As we approched the capital Phon Phem things started to look better. Tarmac on the roads and multi storey buildings became the norm. Our journey had begun as we checked into our hostel Mad Monkeys.

For those unaware of Cambodias past, it is an unforgiving mixture of mass genocide, deadily and unrealistic societical views wrapped up in a war torn region with wide spread poverty and political instability. 

To find out about Cambodias tragic past we visited a number of chilling museums. Our first stop was the killing fields. As we drove a tuk tuk out of the capital the roads became bumpy and the dust cloud grew stronger. As we emerged we could see the gates and entrance to the mass genocide ground. This was the final resting spot to thousands of Cambodia people. The leader at the time was killing off anyone who imposed his regime, had western influences, or simply lived in a city.

As we walked around the killing fields we were presented with mass graves where the rags, teeth and bones of men, women and children were left after their execution at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.

The audio guide told of the terrible ways in which innocent people were killed using farming instruments or even just battered against trees. In total 3 million died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. That's 1 in 4 of the population at the time...

As we left left the fields in silence we headed over to the notorious S21 prison.  This used to be a school but had been turned into a prison and torture chamber. As we walked through the school gates the prison is how it was left 30 or so years ago. Barb wire and blood on the walls and floor. The prison showcased very graphic photos of the torture that went on within these walls. In the individual cells you could see the blood stains on the walls and floor. You could sense the torture and pain that went on in these rooms. Only 7 people survived the torment that went on inside S21.

An emotional day to say the least. And to know this only happened a few decades ago makes it all the more real. With anyone over 30 in Cambodia having some direct involvement in the tragic yars under the Khmer Rouge rule. 

Despite the tragic past Cambodia has grown stronger and built itself up from its knees. With this we visited the Kings Palace, pogoda and markets to see how life was being rebuilt. The streets are busy and there is a definate city buzz as tuk tuks and scooters zig zag you across the city. The city is dirty and polluted, however the people and culture make this place an interesting and great place to stay. Down on the river by the night markets we ate with Cambodia families sampling some of their home cooked cuisine. 

Safe to say it's been an eye opener, but has only enthralled my desire to learn more about the past and explore this great country. Our next stop is by bus to the coastal town of Sihanoukville.