Good Morning Vietnam

Crazy, chaotic and incredibly intriguing, this is my first impression of the wonderous country that is Vietnam. I flew from Bangkok to Hanoi very smoothly and got my visa on arrival with my letter of approval I had paid for online. I had booked a taxi pick up from the hostel which didnt show so I took a $2 shuttle bus directly to my hostel which worked out much better. It was on the bus that I meet Hugo from Portugal my first travel buddy in Vietnam. Im a bit behind on writing this so unfortunately I will have to skim through a few things but firsty the "Hanoi Central Backpackers Hostel" was excellent, $5 a night including breakfast and free beer for an hour each day, well you just cant beat it, it also had the best shower I had ever come accross in all my travels. Along with that the staff were freaking awesome too. So now, Hanoi itself, in my opinion is my favourite capital city out of all I've seen in asia, it was just completely diffrent to anything it is impossible for me to describe and of course, the traffic! Wow! Motobikes everywhere utter chaos with continuous sounds of honking horns, I was absolutely blown away. Me and Hugo spent 4 nights here meeting various other people and our time was spent walking the city visiting the various sites and museums and attractions, we also played badminton with some locals in a temple very randomly one afternoon. The best thing to do in this city though is people watching, you just cannot belive your eyes here. We rented bikes one day and you can only imagine what this was like, our mission was simply to stay alive. We succeeded just. We did have one encounter with a dodgey taxi driver with a very rigged meter but this was the only negative I can think of. I had read and heard vietnamese people are not as fredindly as their neighbours but I didnt find this at all, they perhaps dont smile as much as Thais but I found them just as pleasant as any other.

Following Hanoi our destination was Halong Bay, we had booked the cruise tour via our hostel as it had great reviews on trip adivisor. It was clear why, at $85 for the one night/two day cruise it was pretty pricey but it was worth it, the cabins where nice and clean with hot showers and all food (which was plentiful and delicious) was included,  drinks were not unfortunately.  We spent the first part visiting the suprising cave which was great although a bit crowded. We then got back on our boat to take a meander though the stunning islands of Hạ Long Bay before anchoring at our spot where we would stay for the night. Shortly after stopping a Vietnamese man from the small floating village towed over our kayaks in his small craft and we spent a good hour going around one of the islands, there is no place like this that I had ever been, it was phenomenal.  That evening was party night and another boat joined up with us to get involved, although there weren't that many people it got pretty messy, at one stage during the night a couple of us wondered in the kitchen to find all the staff munching away on 10KG of mussels which they were happy to share with us, although I thought I wouldnt like it I tried one and it was pretty good. The following morning we had breakfast and set off back to the mainland, mid morning we had a demonstration on how to make vietnamese style spring rolls, we each made one which was then sent to the kitchen to be fried and these were served as part of our lunch. They were tasty. Once we got back to the mainland we had to wait for our bus to take us the three hour or so journey back to Hanoi, it was here I haggled very hard with a vendor selling hammocks I got it for 45,000 dong (just over $2) when she was asking for 100,000. Just after we figured out a place to hang it at the bus stop I had a few minutes to sit in it and the bus came. The whole situation, mostly the haggling was worth it in itself. Very funny indeed. That night I took the night bus to Hue to await my next adventures.

Christmas and New Year Celebrations

I had a few days in Ayutthaya before Christmas where we were due to go to Bangkok to celebrate, in this time I didn't do much, mainly practised with my band for the NYE party and spent a few nights at the pub meeting various backpackers. On one day though we decided it would be a very festive thing to bring some ice cream to the kids at a local school/temple which was under funded and housed several orphans. We headed to the cash and carry and ended up spending around 3000 baht £60 between three of us on enough ice cream that ended up feeding a few hundred kids. I had met a woman the night before from Belgium whom I had told my plan and she was really keen to come along with us which was great. When we got there there were still in a lesson so we set up our stall, we had a huge box of ice keeping the ice cream cold so we had no problem with this melting anytime soon. There were also some other Thai people who had the same idea as us who had bought a load of snacks and drinks in for the kids so they really were in for a treat today. When the children entered each and everyone of them gave a 'wai' and had big smiles on their faces. They first ate their lunch and then lined up for their ice cream with a choice of chocolate of strawberry, I'm not sure exactly how many kids there were but it was well over a hundred and by the end of it we still had loads of ice cream left, we had a whole box of chocolate left and a box of chock chip cookie too. The Belgian lady had also bought a big huge tub of biscuits which we offered to the monk so we were thus blessed before we left. We weren't exactly sure what to do with the rest of the ice cream so we decided to go to another school where one of Fais mum and her friend work so give it to those kids, as before they were incredibly cheerful about this. It was money well spent.

My only real mission for this year was to get a Roast Dinner on Christmas Day, unlike last year where sadly I never got one. I had looked online at various 'British' pubs in Bangkok and ended up choosing 'The Robin Hood' they had three courses for 995 baht (just under £20) when bearing in mind I pay 200 baht a night for accommodation this is tremendously expensive but this is what I was expecting to pay if not more on Christmas Day. Fai and I decided to stay near Khao San road, I have a love hate relationship with that place but it can always guarantee some entertainment. We stayed a short walk/tuk tuk away in Boonsiri Place Hotel, which was OK but in my opinion over priced for what it was, the reason we picked it was because it said they had parking, really what they meant was they had a place to park outside on the road assuming it wasn't already taken, luckily though we did find a space. We arrived on Christmas Eve and were to stay here until Boxing Day. On Christmas Eve we started our night by having an absolutely delicious stone oven pizza at a really nice pizzeria we completely stuffed ourselves by going all out on the sides too. We then had a little walk over to the Grand Palace before heading to Khao San road where we spent a good few hours consuming buckets on the street just people watching, we got a bit nerved at one point when a Thai guy decided to kick some chairs around, but somebody finally had a word to him and he calmed down. We continued on with the buckets when at some stage around 11PM the police had a 'sweep' of the road shutting down the various vendors who obviously wern't paying a big enough bribe so we moved our chairs off the street itself and sat outside the macdonalds where we ended up talking to three guys who had been in the country mearly a few hours, it bought me back to my first day in Thailand on the very same road. They seemed like cool guys and picked my brains for a few tips and tricks about travelling. We then headed off together into a really cool bar (I dont know the name) where we carried on until the early hours of Christmas Day itself after we left the bar we had a little wonder on the street again which is when the police came back (around 3ish I think) to shut everything down.

The following morning it was safe to say I was a little worse for wear but fully exited about my roast, I made the reservation for 2PM it was a half hour or so ride on the BTS Skytrain and we made it just in time, thats Thai time, we were a little late and I was worried they might have given up our seat but all was fine. At first glance I was impressed with the Robin Hood Pub, we even had crackers on the table, something I had not even thought of. Fai had absolutely no idea what they were so it was great fun for her, we pulled them together to retrieve our hat, shit joke and terrible toy. Thats when it sunk in that it was Christmas Day. The meal itself really lived up to my expectation, I started with a spicy pumpkin soup while Fai had the prawn cocktail, we then had our turkey with all the trimmings (minus yorkshire puddings though) the main meal was a big portion and filled me right up, I also splashed out on a bottle of prosecco and made up some bucks fizz. For desert I took the vanilla creme brulee and Fai, the christmas pudding, I'm not a huge fan of dessert but gave it go and it was pretty good. Following our meal we headed to Siam Discovery to do some shopping, I had mentioned to Fai I wanted a new wallet for Christmas but I wanted to pick one out, we headed to the top floor where there was an extensive collection to look through, I ended up settling on a nice brown leather one from polo world, I was very happy indeed. We then wondered around for a while and had a look at the Christmas tree and lighting outside before heading back to the hotel. In the evening we met up with a friend of Fais and headed to Khao San road again, much like before we consumed buckets on the street until the police came to close it. The following morning we checked out, and found out our car had been clamped by police with a 500 baht (£10) fee to have it released, we told the the hotel and the called the police who ended up unlocking it for free luckily, not sure how but they did. We then grabbed a bite to eat before heading back to Ayutthaya. My Christmas celebrations in Thailand this year were great, the roast dinner making all the difference.

There were just a few days left now before the Countdown Party at the Streetlamp in Ayutthaya so we had some last minute practise to do with the band. The line up was: Mr Phillipe, an older French guy who had been coming to Ayutthaya for many years, our band 'Spring Low Band' and Zerum band who are a fantastic heavy rock band. The morning/afternoon of the 31st was spent setting everything up taking basically everything from inside outside onto the street where the stage would be set up, then there was a lot of sound checking all afternoon to get everything just so. I spent my last new years eve here and the set up was the same, we offered a free buffet from 6.30PM and the entertainment was also free. My pay for performing, like any other night I perform in the pub was free whiskey and plenty of it was consumed. The night ran smoothly as far as I can remember, up until just after the countdown when the police and army decided to parade themselves down the street to shut everyone down. I was furious by this to say the least, there was no explanation for it either, other than the orders had come from high up. Technically establishments are to shut at midnight, and the Streetlamp always abides by this, the other bars on the street don't and normally get away with it assuming the place looks closed (the shutters can be down but if people are still drinking the police ignore it) but tonight of all nights they came in full force with no exceptions. Once everything had been bought inside they left and we could continue drinking but without the music. I literally cannot comprehend why they would do this on NYE when already tourist figures are plummeting in Thailand due to political unrest and various attacks on foreigners making headline news. Silly move!

So another year over and now we are onto 2015, my plans and goals for this year are clear and simple, I will obtain my TEFL certificate in March, and get myself a job in May as a full time foreign English teacher where I will officially no longer be a backpacker but a functioning person in Thai society. Bring it on, I cant wait!!

Khao Yai National Park

After arriving back in Thailand Fai had surprised me by booking a couple of nights in a luxury cottage near the Khao Yai National Park, she had mentioned about going but I didn't know she had booked it so I was happy. Her friends family own 'Khao Yai Cottage' so we got a slightly cheaper rate. Khao Yai is around 3 hours drive from Ayutthaya so not far at all, I was impressed with the very big room in a delightful garden setting.

We had arrived in the late afternoon so set off off right away on the very short drive to the National Park. Now as any of you who have been to Thailand know there are two tiers of pricing when it comes to any type of entrance fee, one for Thais and one for Farang (foreigners) and Khao Yai National Parks had to be the most brazen attempt I had ever seen. The price for Thai's was 40 baht (80p) and the price for farang cost a 1000%, yes, that's one thousand percent more at 400 baht (£8). Now I don't normally mind this, after all westerners do have more money than (most) Thais but this was the biggest difference I had come across before. In any case we were warned of this before by the lady at reception and she told me if I produced something to say I was either a student or working here I might be able to blag it, I ended up print screening a confirmation email from my TEFL course (which he couldn't read) to say I would be studying here and showed him a student rail card from Bangkok, (which was Fai's) and it worked so I was very chuffed, this was especially good because we would be needing to pay the entrance fee twice as we were visiting over two days.

Khao Yai National park is huge, so there is significant driving around to get to the various places. Within 10 minutes of driving we encountered monkeys on the road which was pretty cool, they were different to the monkeys I had seen elsewhere in Thailand, a different species but I'm not sure of the name. Our first stop was at a great view point where we again encountered many monkeys roaming. We then just went for a drive in a random direction where we arrived at 'Pa Deo-Die Cliffs' which was breathtaking! After taking this in, we headed up a little further to the end of the way, there was military guarding a gate which led I believe to some sort of Air Force base, what we did find though was a small place selling beer, we were sure this was for the benefit of the soldiers as alcohol is not sold anywhere else in the park. we took two cans of Leo and took a seat but it was absolutely freezing, there was also a breeze coming through which amplified the cold. The only times I had ever been cold in Thailand was when riding a motorbike in the cool season, so this was a first for me to be cold just sat there. It was kind of nice as it gave me a Christmassy feeling.

After our cold beverage stop it was starting to get dark, so we headed off (albeit the wrong way) to find the place that offer a night safari tour, after we realised the direction we finally found it and managed to get there just in time to share one of the pick ups with a small group of Thai's, the cost for the whole car was 500 baht and Fai and I offered them 100 each and off we went. What I was really hoping to see was some Elephants, all the Elephants I have seen have been in captivity so it would have been amazing to see them in the wild but unfortunately there wernt any around, we did see a number of deer though which was great. When the truck returned to the base the other Thai people said a phrase which is heavily embedded into Thai culture and that is 'mai pen lai' (basically translates to never mind) about paying them for our share of the safari so this was another result. We were feeling pretty hungry now so headed to a restaurant before heading back to the cottage.

The following morning/early afternoon we set off again to the National Park, I once again got the local price to enter so of course was happy about that. We didn't have a real plan of where to go so picked one of the waterfalls "Haew Suwat" and set off for that. I normally like to swim if I ever visit a waterfall but there were signs strictly forbidding it. The weather was pretty chilly too and the water was absolutely freezing so I wasn't so inclined this time. After the waterfall we drove around for a bit in search of some cool wildlife where we came across the campsite areas. Now when I come back to Khao Yai National I will for sure be camping, in the campsite there are again monkeys roaming and deer grazing right next to tents, at night who knows what else may wonder by. It would be better with a big group to do the camping, so when I return (not sure when but I will) my plan is to round some people up and do it. It was damn cheap too at just 30 baht (60p) and the tents are already pitched for you.

It was fairly late in the afternoon when we came across a nature trail, the information sign at the start stated it would take around 45 minutes and we had just under an hour we thought before the sun would be gone, we decided to do it anyway only thinking  after that with the dark brings all sorts of animals, namely snakes, king cobras in fact, that we for sure did not want to be coming across. About 10 minutes in we decided to turn back, it was a shame that we didn't get there earlier as there had clearly been elephants close by due to droppings on the path and that many trees and bushes had been cleared which was unmistakeably the work of elephants. Once darkness had set we headed off in search of a good steak restaurant, we picked one at random and I ordered the Australian Filet Mignon which was the most expensive meal I had ever ordered in Thailand at 650 baht (£13) when it came out it was tiny but still absolutely delicious. Fai and I then grabbed a bottle of Hong Thong and headed back to guesthouse where I played some guitar in the garden with the company of not only Fai but two adorable dogs which belonged to the cottage.

We checked out the following morning and had planned on visiting one of the many adventure activity centres that are in abundance in Khao Yai, a lot of the resorts in Khao Yai offer many activities on site ranging from ATV to zorbs. We checked online for one which wasnt too expensive and decided on the Fountain Tree Resort. We spent a good hour or two here and ended up doing: ATV'ing, go karts, archery, paintball (not a team game just shooting at a target) and zorbing. the price ranged from 100 baht (£2) to 250 baht (£5) per person per activity. The most expensive was the zorb and Fai went first (I was feeling a little hungover to attempt it) it was funny to watch that was for sure. What was also good is that the guy didn't take her ticket from her so I did it in the end as we essentially had a free ticket. It wasn't a huge hill like some of them can be but it was still definitely fun, I had never done it before. After trying everything we wanted to do we then headed back to Ayutthaya, where I planned to just chill until Christmas.

My Journey Back To Thailand

After an emotional goodbye on Koh Rong I was now due to start my journey back to Thailand as I wanted to spend Christmas and New Year with Fai. My initial plan was to take the boat to Sihanoukville and jump on the first available bus to Phnom Pehn, stay one night then head to the Poipet border the following morning. I hadn't really thought through it that much and realised that if I was to take a bus to Phnom Pehn it would arrive near midnight which wasn't feasible or desirable. I changed my tentative plan and stayed one night at the Monkey Republic in Sihanoukville with two Swedish guys (Richard and William) I had met at the Elephant and who I took the boat back with. We shared a triple room which was fairly pricey at $24 but it was a delightful luxury from the previous three weeks, and the bed wasn't covered in sand; result!

I was feeling absolutely shattered as it was a pretty heavy last night on Koh Rong and all I felt like doing was sleeping, I played a few games of pool with a random German guy, had a couple of beers then went for a power nap until around 8.30PM when we headed off out. Our first stop was 'The Big Easy' next door, we met up with a lot of other people who had stayed at the Elephant too which was nice so we had a good group of us. They had an open mic night that night at the Big Easy and the resident Filipino who was playing was excellent, after a couple of Long Islands I was ready to perform and I think I surprised many people, I received a lot of praise from a lot of people after my short set. After an hour or so there we headed to Utopia which was much busier than the few weeks earlier when we went, they had a drum and bass DJ on but we only stayed for about half an hour before moving on to the Dolphin on the beach, again this was significantly busier than before, we also wondered to some of the other bars on the beach, got some free shots and played beer pong. It was actually a pretty decent night.

The following morning we checked out, Richard and William had a bus booked to Saigon, and I had a bus booked to Phnom Penh, it was a pretty easy ride and I even had the seat next to me unoccupied, I arrived in the early evening and grabbed a tuk tuk to Sunday Guesthouse where I booked a bus to Poipet for the following day. I wasn't really up for doing much whilst on my own in Phnom Penh but I did fancy an Indian curry, so I jumped in a tuk tuk to the riverside to a restaurant I already knew. I filled myself up, had a little walk along the river and jumped in a tuk tuk back to the guesthouse. Now I had stupidly forgot to grab one of the business cards for the guesthouse for the address so it took way longer to get back than it should have, I was very clear and asked him many times before we set off as to whether he knew where my guesthouse and he said "yes yes yes, I know, $3 ok" this was the same price I had paid any other driver so I thought he did know where he was going but oh no he did not. I knew basically it was in a certain general direction and he was going the opposite way, the journey depending on traffic should have been 10-15 minutes but this took closer to an hour, he stopped asking many other drivers where it was and none of them knew. I wondered if he was just scamming me to extend the journey for some more dollars but we agreed on a price and I wasn't paying more, to be honest though I don't think this was what he was doing, he just didn't have a clue. I was getting a little worried after a while as I wasn't sure if we would find it at all but I figured we would in the end, I also got to see more of Phnom Penh I hadn't seen but this reminded me even more about how serious poverty is in this country so left me feeling a bit sad. Finally we found the guesthouse, I voluntarily paid him a dollar more as it used a lot more of his gas, even though it was his fault a dollar to him is worth way more than a dollar to me.

The following morning I took to the Russian Market and Central Market as I had wanted to pick up some more shorts. I was specifically looking for the same pair of cotton Levi shorts that I had bought nearly a year before which were still going strong, I found the same stall (I cant believe I remembered the exact place) but unfortunately they no longer stocked this exact pair so I settled on a different pair of 'Levis' costing $6, I also picked up a couple of polos and a t shirt and headed back to guesthouse to catch my bus. The bus journey was again hassle free, the route was going through Battambang and I hadn't been this route before so it was good to travel on a new road, I think the journey took just under 8 hours in total which wasn't too bad. The bus was full mostly with Cambodians but there were about half a dozen foreigners who were heading to Battambang, it was here that almost everyone got off and then it was just me and 5 Cambodians left going to the border. They had a TV on the bus which for most of the journey was playing Khmer karaoke shows but for the final stint they played a movie which was in English with Khmer subtitles and vice versa in places. What I hadn't realised until the end of it was that it was actually an informative movie for Cambodians to explain the rights they have when working overseas. The movie was about a girl of 17 who faked an ID (as she had to be 21) to go and work in Malaysia as a house keeper where she was treated abysmally, she fled and ended up contacting the Embassy who safely returned her home. The agency who the girl worked for were acting illegally but the girls family had no idea their rights and what they could do, at the movie credits there was a very detailed explanation about what to know before working overseas and that you should not use false documents and if they knew anyone planning on doing this they should warn them about the possible dangers, it emphasised that they can always contact their embassy at any time if they were not safe. This was a good last impression of Cambodia, I had not expected this at all.

Upon arrival to the border I was hoping that it would be an easy cross and this it was, the easiest and quickest crossing in fact into any country I had ever done. I was the only person crossing the border as it was late and I stamped straight out of Cambodia and headed over to the Thai immigration where I was stamped straight into Thailand, the officer did make a comment that I looked nothing like my picture from when I was 16 with a big quiff (think Reece from Malcolm in the middle) my appearance to him now was of a grade 2 buzz cut and a beard, I just said sorry I cut my hair and that was sufficient. It was now just a short walk past the customs officer who was pretty much asleep in his chair then to the 7/11 where I would be greeted by Fai who came to pick me up. I was now back in Thailand, YAY!

My Family of Koh Rong

After an average time in Sihanoukville we were now bound for Koh Rong. We took the speed boat for $18 ($2 discount from $20) which was pretty reasonable as it is an open return, in February the cost of this boat was $30. The sea was very rough so the journey was interesting to say the least. At least half a dozen people got really sea sick and some even threw up, but in just under an hour we were there. Upon arrival our first mission was finding a room, I had wanted to stay at Koh Lanta the pizza place I was before but it turns out he is no longer renting rooms. We ended staying for the first night in a dorm at 'Bunnas Place' which fine for $5 but it was way too loud as Bunnas is one of the main party bars on the island. We checked in the following day at the Elephant Guesthouse I got my own room shared bathroom for $10 an incredible price for the location. It was here that I would discover my Cambodian family, and little did I know at this point how much I would really get to love this island even more than I already did.

I spent just over 3 weeks on Koh Rong, the first 6 nights I paid, but from there on I paid for nothing at Elephant. The family recognised me from the last time I was on Koh Rong and I was initially asked if I would help them come up with a cocktail menu, something every other place had but they hadn't quite grasped. To give you a little bit of background to this family, as far as I could make out, 'Mr Elephant' the main elder and a couple of the others had lived on Koh Rong for just over 20 years (originally from Phnom Penh) and foreigners have only been coming to Koh Rong just over 4 years. I imagine they used to live in a small hut, with the sea being their source of food, they now have one of the biggest guesthouses on the island and one of the busiest, so a huge transformation has taken place and running a business, especially one taking in so much money is still very much a concept they haven't mastered. Overall, in the whole family of 20 or so only around 5 could speak English and only 2 or 3 of them to a good enough degree to communicate properly, it was actually the 16 year old girl (Nat) who spoke it best so it was kind of a curse for her in a way as she was expected to do almost all of the talking to the customers. My job description was very vague and I was given almost no real instruction other than to help make a cocktail menu, help fill the rooms, help sell their boat trip and help take out the furniture at night for the BBQ. In exchange for this I would get my room free, food free, and beer, well that was free too. I think what they mainly wanted was somebody who could speak English so they could learn from me just by me being there. In fact after a few days they actually told me I had to do less and I didn't have to help them until the evening which was of course fine by me. In the evenings I would also help 'Mod' with his homework, and any of the other family who wanted to sit in on it, Mod is a kid who stuck in my mind from last time, a very happy boy who always attended school and was very clever indeed, he spoke reasonable English and I dubbed him my little Cambodian bong (brother)

So, the whole cocktail menu thing, well this was going to be difficult for them, trust me on that. All they really needed was some spirit mixer drinks as not all girls like beer (this is all they had) I told them to just make up simple things like vodka & orange, Malibu & pineapple, gin & tonic etc. He got some gin in (they already had cans of tonic) and made up a strong mix for me to try, I told him it was good, just add a slice of lime and it would be perfect. It was then that he asked me if he should add beer to it, then it really kicked in that he had absolutely no idea! I gave him a list of things to order for the basic mixer drinks but after the 3 weeks this never transpired. What I was probably best at here was selling the boat trips and I went on three altogether, the price was $10 with possibility of a discount for bigger groups, we would first go snorkeling to the small island which had outstanding aquatic life and coral, we would then go fishing and whatever was caught would be cooked on the boat and we would eat it at 'Long Beach' the final stop on the trip, it was here we would stay until the sunset and then head back, part of the trip included swimming with the plankton but I would just tell people it can be seen anywhere in the water when it is dark and that they should head to the dark part of the beach when the power shut off (Koh Rong has no mains power and the generators normally shut off around 2AM) other trips would stop on the way back from Long Beach but would be charging more and its not really worth the extra money as it can be seen anywhere. The plankton I must say is pretty surreal, I had never encountered this before Koh Rong. My favourite thing of all was going on this trip, it would always be a fantastic day.

 

Apart from helping the Elephant family out, I also on occasion would help the 'Friends of Koh Rong' a group of people dedicated to helping the local community. This included the teachers at the school and some other people interested in giving back. At the school they are currently building a wall out of the old spirit bottles to show the Cambodian people that they can recycle things rather than just throw it on the floor or into the sea, if you have ever been to Cambodia you will know exactly what I'm talking about. They have no concept nor perhaps the means of properly disposing of rubbish so it is simply dumped anywhere and everywhere. One of the days I gave a few hours of my time to help mix the cement up for the wall, it was roasting hot and I very much enjoyed my beer after that. On another day I helped round up some kids to clean the beach, this is something they do every Saturday, afterwards we all went for a swim was was incredible fun, lots of chicken fights and back-flips off of my shoulders left me exhausted but it really was a great afternoon.

Apart from working at Elephant and helping the Friends of Koh Rong I of course did a whole lot of other things with my time here. One day, Dave, Chelsea and I took Kayaks to the small island and then continued to 4K beach where we had a nice chilled day at this near deserted spot, I also got to ride a water buffalo again (I managed to do this last time too simply by asking) another day we hiked to Long Beach, I did this in flip flops (the only time in 3 weeks that I actually needed to wear anything on my feet) shoes would have been more advisable though (mine were in Thailand), the last stint of it requires an abseil down some rocks which was actually pretty dam cool. Although it only took just over 45 mins to get there I must have sweated 2 litres, the cool refreshing clear water was pure bliss on arrival. One of the night there was a full moon party at 'Police Beach' which was nothing like Koh Pangan, this was a much more chilled environment with most people sitting around watching the fire shows. Most of our evenings we would go to Bunnas Place which was good but they did play the same music every single night, although I liked it. Other nights I would just spend with the family drinking whiskey, although I didn't understand much (in fact I didn't understand really anything) it was interesting, I tried some very odd food they offered which was very nice (some of it). The rest of my time I would spend relaxing on the balcony, in a hammock. I read a book (something I hadn't done in far too long) and done a whole lot of swimming in the sea which was just steps away from my room. I also helped try to fix one of the guitars at the school but unfortunately without success, I tried to salvage some old strings but it didn't work, when I return that will be something on my list to bring as well as some more pens, paper etc for the kids. I was on one day also mistaken for being a doctor as I rushed to aid an extremely intoxicated person who was being carried by two others on the beach, this was in the middle of the day and it appeared to be a mix of alcohol, Valium and sun stroke, his friends took him to bed and kept an eye on him and he was all ok in the end. The Elephant family from there on though now had a lot of questions about their health for me assuming I could help them. I felt the worst for Srue, the boat trip driver as he complained of having constant pain in his kidneys, he needs a real doctor who knows what he is doing and not so many of these exist in Cambodia, a visit to the doctors is also expensive for them. I hope this problem is not serious as he is one of my favourites in the family.

All in all it is safe to say Koh Rong is my favourite island of all those that I have been to, its not perhaps as beautiful as some of the Thai islands but it is simply down to the locals here that made my time complete, there is no hassle from anyone here. What was strange though about Koh Rong this time was the amount of Police carrying heavy machine guns, I had not seen police here before, I was told they were looking for western staff to extract 'fines' from them but I wasn't approached once by police, turns out the Elephant family had that covered and I needn't worry. I wondered why there were so many though and why the guns and I was told by the family that they couldn't tell me but everything was ok. They told me any problem I had was a problem of theirs and I was part of their family, that made me feel very warm indeed. When I finally had to leave I ended up getting all soppy and crying as I really did feel at home here. I would like to take this time to thank all of the Elephant family for showing me such kind heart, and wish you all the very best. I will see you again, that is certain!

Back To Cambodia

February 13th saw me head once again to the Kingdom of Cambodia, my main purpose was of course to head to my favourite island, Koh Rong. My journey started with a plane straight into Phnom Penh, there was a cheap enough flight for about 2000 baht and I worked out that it wouldn't he that much more for saving a huge amount of time and effort and more so that I could cut out the Poipet land crossing and quickly get my visa on arrival at the airport. There was no real scam here other than how I watched him short change many people, a lot came back complaining and were instantly reimbursed as he knew what he was doing. In any case after he tried it with me I abruptly asked for my $5 and I was off in a tuk tuk to the guesthouse I had once stayed in the city.

I had just one night in Phnom Penh before heading to Sihanoukville, at the guest house I met up with Dave and Chelsey who had arrived there from Siem Reap where they had visited Angkor Wat, something I had already done. We decided to head to the riverside for something to eat and drink and it turned out to be a good night. After eating we went for a walk along the main riverfront to have some beers sold by the vendors there, it was here we came across a local man clearly off of his head on meth, he was running around screaming and chasing people and to be honest it was a little worrying, some people around completely ignored him and they were fine but we kept our distance until he finally disappeared not before he tore a huge branch off a tree though, I mean guy was seriously high. Following that ordeal we stayed put at the river front and spent all night talking to the vendor selling us beer, he was a very friendly guy who told us he was from a local provenance and any money he made was all sent back to his family, at one point he ran out of beers having only soft drinks left so he trusted us to watch over his cooler while he popped back to his apartment to grab some more. What a guy.

The following morning we took a minivan to Sihanoukville Cambodia's seaside destination where we spent three nights. My opinion on Sihanoukville this time round was that it is, in a nut shell, pretty dire. The first time I visited perhaps I was a little naive about the kid vendors selling bracelets but they are nothing but rude and obnoxious so and so's, just minutes after sitting down we were inundated by them and when we declined their offer for a bracelet they then told us to 'f off' and one kid of about 10 then asked Dave if he wanted a fight. We had a fairly good time in some of the places at night but it was pretty dead everywhere, I guess this was due to it being the low season. We had an incident on one night at our guesthouse with a couple of Russians staying two doors down, one of them had knocked on the door of the room in between where a couple were staying, the girl had opened the door while her boyfriend was in the bathroom, he then tried pushing his way in to touch up his girlfriend, the boyfriend came out and pushed him out the door and locked it, afterwards he alerted security to what had happened, we know this because when we arrived back the guy gave us a heads up on what had happened, he was not happy! We also had a problem with the same Russian in that he owed a tuk tuk driver some money and pretended to be Daves friend (as Dave is 6ft 8in) we explicitly told the driver we had no idea who he was and he was lying to which the driver believed us, I hate to say it but I hope he got a beating. I have encountered a number of Russians whilst travelling and they are the worst of the worst, I know I cant judge all based on the few I have seen but you ask any other traveller their opinion and it is always the same. They are not 'Putin' in any effort to give their country a better name. (sorry I had to use that Pun, I actually partially stole it from Dave)

Loi Kratong, Chiang Mai

After the incident at the train station with Geng, I had a couple more days to kill before before Fai and I headed up on the sleeper train to meet up with Dave and Chelsea in Chiang Mai, our purpose here this time was to celebrate Halloween and more importantly the Loi Kratong/Festival of Lights. Unfortunately we left buying the tickets a little too late and could only get an upper berth fan carriage, it was steaming hot all the way as nobody on the lower berth (where the windows were) had them open. In any case I took a sleeping tablet which helped a bit and around 14 hours later we were there.

We arrived on the 30th and stayed until the 8th, in this time we did many a thing indeed. Our first big night out was Halloween where we headed to our favourite 'Yellow Bar' this I think is one of the best nights out in Chiang Mai as it is open fairly late and is in an area with many other surrounding bars that all kind of connect to each other. It was fairly early when we arrived so we played some pool in another nearby bar before heading to 7/11 for a couple more pre drinks on the street, we were quite lucky to be handed a bottle of fake blood by a random farang outside giving us instant costumes (before we had nothing but flashing devil horns) the night was very crazy and it is certain that I drank one too many buckets (sorry Fai)

I cant remember the order of things here exactly but between Halloween and the Loi Kratong festival we had a few days to go and explore, most of which were done on, you guessed it, motorbikes (its the only way for me) our first excursion was to a place I had not been before, we stopped by the tiger kingdom so Chelsea could see some tigers then headed off again, our destination was 'Mon Jam' a place at the top of a mountain where locals were growing huge organic strawberry farms, the view at the top was great although it was drizzling rain this did stop and it was an awesome trip. The following day we took to our bikes again, our first stop was the 'X-Center' so I could do their 50M bungee jump. I had done a bungee once before when I was 13/14 off the Auckland Harbour Bridge in New Zealand but this one here was slightly higher and an insane rush! it cost 1900 baht so wasn't bad I don't think. We got some GoPro footage of me doing it and man did I scream. Following the jump we set off for a much longer ride round the Samoeng Loop, I had done this same route before and it is a spectacular ride, if you ever come to Chiang Mai it is a must! That evening we went to a Muay Thai night although I wasn't so impressed with this as I once was before, there wasn't much of a good fight and we know for sure it is rigged as they basically told us. It is still a good laugh though as its not that expensive if you barter a discount on the tickets.

The Loi Kratong festival was upon us now, it was sods law though that the sweet whether we'd been having had suddenly decided to stop and it rained (what I would call British rain) for 3 days, in Thailand it normally buckets down for an hour or two then stops but this just drizzled for days, it really did suck as one of the main attractions of Loi Kratong in Chiang Mai is the Yi Peng (sky lanterns) which of course dont mix well with rain. On the first night of the festival we saw a carnival parade with some very beautiful costumes and floats, we were armed with ponchos so the rain didn't bother us too much. The following day was the actual Loi Kratong day, we bought some Kratongs from our guesthouse and headed to the river to float them away. I was also armed with some pretty big fireworks which we let off too. The final day of the celebration the rain had stopped by the evening and there were thousands of people out on the streets, it was the busiest day of the three, we bought another Kratong, one for the four of us, and another sky lantern which we set off together upon making a wish, I had also been to to fireworks market again and had a selection of small bangers, we went to the night bazaar where we had some fun letting them off with some of the kids. On our last day before getting the train we drove up Doi Suthep to see the most famous temple in Chiang Mai

Now as some of you may know I will be doing a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) course in Chiang Mai in March and part of my other reasoning for coming up here was to pay for my course and go and visit the school I would be studying in, I was very impressed with the set up, I also looked at the hotel I would be staying in for that month and I am more than happy with that too. My third time in Chiang Mai had now come to and end, I had now set the wheels in motion for securing a life in Thailand.