All Travel Blog Entries: August 20-December 16, 2005
New Website Up and Running 2005-08-20
Hi everyone,
Please note I haven`t had a chance to upload any of my photos yet, but you can look at some on Adrian`s photo site at, oh shoot I can`t remember it now I will post it later. Check back soon!
Well I finally have got a new website up and running! I should have really done this a long time ago, so you all could have seen my photos all the way along. Most of the photos will have to be from this point on, but I will have a few from before as well.
I am in Sydney right now, working as I usually am. I am working for a tapware company just in the sales department. Working in an office is kind of boring but I like answering the phone and stuff, and it pays well so I can`t complain.
I am still travelling with Adrian, as I have been for the last 9 months, but I am sad to say that he is leaving tommorrow for Perth. Adrian doesn`t have a proper working visa as he is in Australia illegally (he overstayed his 1 year visa) and has to go where ever he can get work. He is still doing the crap job I used to do working loads of hours and stuff.
So right now I don`t know when I will see Adrian again. He is meant to come out and meet me in Asia a few weeks after I arrive, but we will have to wait and see how much money he manages to save. But just so you all know- he is coming to Canada next April to visit so you can meet him then. Exciting eh??
I don`t really have much more of an update right now, but I will write again soon.
xoxo Rachel
Some photos up 2005-08-22
I have added about 12 photos to the site, but I will add a few more each day. The files are just really large so it takes forever, and i only have the patience to do a few each day. The site can only hold up to 40 photos as well so I will have to start deleting the oldest ones soon.
Had a normal day at work today, except for the fact that Adrian left today. It is going to be really weird to adjust. I have to go from sleeping in a double room and having some form of privacy, to being squished into a dorm room with 5 other people, where the only place for your clothes is under your bed.
It will take some getting used to. The fact of the matter is I never really planned to travel alone, and in a sense I never have been, I have always been with someone, whether it be Kala or Aaron or Fran or Adrian. But I guess this is what traveling is all about. Pushing my limits and getting comfortable outside of my comfort zone.
More photos 2005-08-24
Added some more photos for your viewing pleasure. There won`t be any more for the next few weeks, until I get to Tailand and buy myself a digital camera.
The countdown to leaving Australia is on. I have exactally 2 weeks left here. Can you believe I have been her for 11.5 months? (minus 6 days at home I guess) It has gone so fast, and has been such an incredible experience.
Not a whole lot more to say. Hope you guys are all good.
The Countdown 2005-08-31
Well, I have exactally one week left in Australia. 7 days of sun, sand and adventure. Well 5 I guess when you subtract the 2 days of work I have left.
I must say that so far my last two weeks in Oz have been the most boring. The hostel I live in is quite empty, I have to get up at 5am for work, Adrian is gone... it`s just plain ol boring.
I have been reading a lot of My Lonely Planet Asia, and it still isn`t helping my nerves much. I still don`t know of my itinerary... all I know is that I will be going to the full moon party on the island on the 18th of September. These full moon parties are famous within the backpacker world.
7 days, 7 days, 7 days. I still can`t believe it. One year of my life gone. At least it has been an eventful year. A very eventful year at that.
Bangkok- Day 1 2005-09-09
Hi!
Well I have just spent my first day in Bangkok, and it was tiring so say the least.
I arrived at the airport at about 9:30pm last night... and by the time I got through customs and found the shuttle bus I was looking for (it took ages!!) it was 10:30. The first thing that got to me was the humidity. You are constantly sweating. I had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus to Koh Sahn rd.... and then the bus took an hour! So here I am, 12 midnight in the middle of bangkok. There were people everywhere (mostly tourists), and stalls in the streets selling food and all sorts of clothes and stuff. So I started walking around trying to find a decently priced guest house. There were a few that were about 200baht (about 6bucks) but they were very dodgy. I saw a rat in one and the other one smelled like urine.
Then this guy comes up to me and asks if I am looking for a place to sleep. (no.... I just like walking around at 12:30 with a huge backpack on...) He gave me a card with a name on it of Thai Cozy Guesthouse. I remember Lou had reccomended that I stay there because that is where she stayed while she was here. So I went with the guy... but the rooms was too much. (650baht)- a lot in Thailand. So here I am, close to tears, in the street with a heavy bag sweating like a pig. I walked around a bit more... then i came to the place that Kala told me she stayed. So I went in. The room was 700baht for the night, but I didn`t care I just wanted to go to bed. It was 1:30am which is 4:30am in sydney and I was bagged. So I got kinda ripped off on my first night (well two cause I payed for two- i wanted to sleep in a didn`t want to have to check out early) I made it.
Today I wanted to sleep in but couldn`t sleep much, still had a lot of nerves from the night before I guess. I woke up and it was pouring rain. Not what I expected. Breakfast was included in the price of the room so I went down and had my breakfast and was on my way.
I am amazed at the stuff here. Everything is so so so cheap. Dresses for 150baht (3bucks). The only thing that sucks is that most of them are small... if only I hadn`t gained weight in Australia. I am hoping that by the time I leave Asia (ya know eating nothing but rice/noodles and vegetables- I`m not planning to eat meat as i don`t wanna get sick) I will be a good size to stock up on all the great deals. I can still buy stuff, but if I were smaller I would be buying a lot more.
The only thing that gets tiresome is the Thai people and the bargaining with them. Nothing has prices, and so you ask how much something is, then you have to bargain...urghh. It just gets tiresome. Even after one day I am tired of it! I also found a new guest house to move to tommorrow... full of westerners, looks nice and clean and the room wasn`t too bad. It was also about 500baht cheaper than the one I am in now.
I still haven`t met anyone yet, but it is still very early in my time here... I am sure I will meet loads of people. Gonna head out tonight as well so who knows what the night will bring. (don`t worry mom I will be carefull! there is a nice pub just around the corner)
My mobile number here is +6647591534. (011 goes where the + is in canada) I still haven`t figured out where (well, more like how) to buy an international phone card, but you guys can ring me (for once!!!) if you haven`t heard from me in a while. Or email.
From here I am heading south. not sure the exact destination yet, but Cedar gave me the name of the place that the beach was filmed and I would love to check that out. Will let you know my plans. I`ll figure that out tommorrow.
xo rachel
The Islands 2005-09-13
Well here I am on a tropical island in an internet cafe. I have been in Thailand almost a week now, and left bangkok after 4 nights. It was definatly enough!
I flew south to the island of Ko Samui, it was beautiful. I stayed in a little tiny beach hut with only a mattress on the floor and a mosquito net, but really that is all you need. It was litterally on the beach only 30feet away from the ocean. It cost me 6bucks a night to stay there,but it was meant to sleep two people. I spend two days there, just laying around on the beach. I got a massage (right on the beach as well!) for 1 hr and it cost me 6 bucks.
Today I came to the island of Ko Pang-nan. It is much more backpacker oriented, and I am staying in a lovely place, that is really more like a hostel than a guest house. It costs about $9 per night, (once again meant to be for two people- it kinda sucks i am on my own in some ways) but it is super super clean and a huge room with an ensuite bathroom.
I plan to stay here for a week, until the full moon party on sunday. These things are historic I am really excited.
Anyways that`s all for now! I am off to drink cocktails for about 50 cents!
Full Moon Party 2005-09-18
Hello hello!
Well here I am on Ko Phangan, have been here for the last week just about. It has been brilliant!
The weather isn`t always the greatest, it tends to rain in the afternoon (and do i ever mean rain- we`re talking pour!) but I have met some really great people and I am staying at the most lovely guest house.
Tonight is the full moon party. There are about 6000 of us crammed onto this island for the big event tonight. It starts off with a big buffet dinner at the guest house, drinks at their bar, then we allmake our way down to the beach later. I bought a new dress, and I am lookin sexy if I don`t say so myself!!!
Anyways yeah, I haven`t been doing much just laying on the beach chillin with everyone at home. Met two really nice english girls named Emily and Sarah, I am going to travel to Krabi with them on Tuesday.
Don`t really have much more to say right now just that I am having a brilliant time and getting an even more brilliant tan!
I`ll write again soon
xo rachel
Ko Phi Phi 2005-09-24
Things here are really good. I am on the island of koh phi phi right now, which is 1.5hrs by boat from Krabi- on the west coast of Thailand.
This place is lovely. The water is green, there are mountains made of limestone, the sand is silky and white. we are going on a snorkelling trip tommorrow which i am excited about, we get to go as well to the beach where they filmed the movie `the beach`
There is one down side of this island though, and it is that it was hit very hard by the tsunami. You can still see the destruction everywhere. i can only imagine how beautiful it would have been before the tsunami. We are stayin in a guest house about 200m from the beach. Only the top floor has rooms for rent because they are still renovating from the tsunami. The water was 10m high- went to the ceiling of the first floor. They clean the beach of this everyday- but if you go in the morning you can see it. Loads and loads of garbage gets washed in everyday. Sandles, clothes, bottles, lighters, you name it. You can see as well where buildings used to stand and a lot of places are still closed. It will be a couple years until this place is back to normal i think.
I am travelling with two lovely english girls at the moment- from manchester. There are good fun and we get on really well.
Gonna spend a week here probably and then down onto malaysia.
hope your all well
xxx rachel
Hat Yai 2005-09-28
Left the island of Ko Phi Phi today, and in a way i was sad to go. It was totally beautiful.
So first we got on the boat for 1.5 hours, and then a bus for 4 hours. It was a long journey especially when u have been out on the piss the night before.
We are only here for the night, as we head to malaysia tommorrow. A new country, new currency, and a new language to learn the basics for.
Hat Yai is pretty neat, loads of shopping, but I am finding the farther south i go, the less english the people speak. It`s kind of fun though trying to communicate.
Our room is absolutely disgusting. Standard squat toilet, floor and walls really dirty. I won`t be showering tonight that is for sure. It only cost me just under $2 for the night though.
I best be off, i`ll write again soon.
xo rachel
Summary 2005-09-30
Well I have been here for 3.5weeks now, so I decided to write a little summary.
Bangkok- Arrived sept 7th, spend 4 nights. Saw the grand temple and the emerald budda, rode the river ferry with all the locals, met an awesome couple named adele and sam, bought cheap clothes, got hassled by tuk tuk drivers and stall people (where you go?? you need tuk tuk?? buy something! buy something!!) was very overwealming.
Ko Samui- Escaped to Samui by plane. Spent two night on a relaxing beach, got a massage for 1 hour for $6. Slept in a bungalow 30 feet from the water for $6 a night. Read a lot, was kind of bored.
Ko PhanGan- Took 1hr boat to Ko Phangan. Hiked around in the blaring heat looking for somewhere to stay, had no money cause power was cut and ATMs didn`t worry. Very upset. Found lovely guest house that lets u pay when you leave. Loved it there. Spent 8 nights. Met Sarah and Emily and other good friends. Went to full moon party, danced the night away with thousands of other people until morning. Drank buckets of alcohol filled to the brim.
Krabi- Took 4hour boat back to mainland, and 4 hour bus to Krabi. Long day. Once in Krabi arranged to be taken to Railey beach, 40 mins away on the mainland but had to take boat because no roads. Had to walk through water in dark to with backpack on to get on and off boat, almost got soaked.
Railey Beach- Spent 2 nights on Railey, very quiet and very very beautifful. Went to ladies night at one of the bars, met awesome Thai guy who did fire twirling there. Offered us "smokey smokey" slept in bird house things that required climbing two flights of very steep steps that weren`t fit for climbing down with a backpack on.
Ko Phi Phi- Took 2 hour boat to Ko Phi Phi. Absolutely beautiful island. Still much destruction from the Tsunami, very sad to see. Crammed 3 people into tiny room like sardines. Everything was quite exspensive. Went snorkelling, saw really cool ffish. Hiked up to lookout. Stayed 4-5 nights, can`t remember.
Hat Yai- Took 2hr boat and 4 hr bus to Hat Yai. Rubbish place but lots of good shopping and cheap internet. Spend only one night in the grossest room i had ever seen. Met another english girl named Jemma who roomed with us.
Malaysia (penang)- Took 4 hour bus to Penang in Malaysia. Passed bored without a problem. (got another stamp- oh yeah) Dirty town, been here 1 night and have to spend another. Open sewers in the streets, saw sewer rats. Gross
Tommorrow night we get a 12hr night bus to the Perinthian islands, which are meant to be white sand a beautiful. I can`t wait!!! Been very interesting so far! After the islands we will head south through the jumgle, maybe do a trek, and then go to Kuala Lumpur, which is meant to be a very nice city. Hope everyone is great! Thanks for taking the time to check out my site!
xo rachel
Perhentian Islands 2005-10-06
Okay, now to tell you about the last 5 days.
First, we arrived in Penang on the west coast of Malaysia. It was okay.... kinda dirty. We met an scottish guy named Ian wo came with us to the islands. We spent two night in Penang and got the night bus across the peninsula to the other side. WHAT A NIGHTMARE. We left at 9pm from penang, on a ticket that was meant to go all the way to (I will call it town 1 because names mean nothing to you anyways). Anyways, we thought it went to town 1 which was where we were to get to boat from. But no, it went to town 2, 20 min drive from the pier. We got on the bus anyways cause there was nothing we could do.
So we drive along through the night, and at about 3am they shove us off the bus and tell us we are in Town 2. Well that`s just great!! We are stranded at a bus station at 3am amongst creepy people, we`ve had no sleep and we are hungry. Just GREAT!! We were very glad we had Ian with us then. We waited for about 2hrs then we managed to get on a bus to take us to town 1. The bus driver didn`t really understand us so we got the ride for free. It`s about 5;30am when we arrive in town 1, where we were taken to a travel place to sign our names in the book and wait, etc. We had pre paid tickets for the slow boat, which cost RM 20. Then we found out that if we wanted to take the 7am boat it would cost us another RM10 for the speed boat. If we waited for the slow boat it wouldn`t go until 10:30 and even then it only goes if there are enough people. So we had no choice. And then when we get to the pier there is this booth and to enter the island we have to pay RM 5 for a permit. So we are all tired and cranky and gettig ripped off.
We get to the island, but it stops about 30m from shore and they put us on another boat. Strange I thought, thinking that it was cause the other boat couldn`t go all the way to shore. But no!!! it`s a fucking taxi and we have to pay another RM 2 to get to shore!!!! fuckers!! the taxi driver started to freak out when we didn`t want to pay him and drove us farther out into the water and started smaking his head and stuff until we said we would pay him. We were all so tired and had no sleep we just needed a bed.
The days on the island were good. Relaxing. Walk around all day without shoes on and lay on the beach. Snorkel, play cards.
Tommorrow we have to get up and catch a 5am train to Taman Negara. It takes 11 hours through the jungle. I am really excitred about the jungle. It is 130 million years old and in the book it sounds absolutely INCREDIBLE. I am almost positive there will be no internet in the jungle, but we will only spend 2 nights at the most there. Then onto KL.
Taman Negara 2005-10-09
Well, this national park is the stuff of legends!!! (as Lonely planet says) We`re talking monkeys, panthers, elephants, weird looking bugs, everything.
We only ended up doing a day trip which was a bit dissapointing... i would have loved to do some serious trekking and spend the night out in the jungle. Leetches are really bad though when wet weather has been recent, so we didn`t go too far.
We first went to the Canopy walkways, which is a rope bridge 45m above the jungle floor, the highest in the world. (apparently anyways, but it seems that everything everywhere is the highest or the biggest or the best) It took us over 30mins to complete and was pretty scary, very wobblying, the only thing that kept me going was knowing that 1000s of people do it every month and i haven`t heard of anyone falling and dying.
After that we trekked back out again and caught a taxi boat across the huge brown river (all the rivers around here are brown it seems) back to our floating resteraunt/tour hedquarters. They were wankers though they wouldn`t sell us water cause we had no small change!!!
Next we took a tour to the Orang Asli Village, which means "original people". It was absolutely amazing. I can`t believe people still live like that. They didn`t look malaysian either, more african i`d say. The Orang Asli people move around every couple of months, and because monsoon season is comming most of the village had already migrated deeper into the jungle. There were still about 3 families there, including the village leader. (the village leader is decided by the eldest man) They only put clothes on when we come, there is a tour everyday at 3:30pm. None of them speak english and very few of them speak Malay. They lived in tiny little huts made of palm tree leaves, and one of the boys (about 17) that could speak malay to our guide showed us how they make fire, and also how they make the darts that they shoot through the blowpipe to kill animals in the jungle for their food. We all got a go at shooting the blowpipe too, it was really cool. A couple on the tour with us told us about how they were trekking deep in the jungle 2 days earlier and saw a bunch of naked orang asli people hunting, with their blowpipes and everything.
That night we caught the night train to Kuala Lumpur. So far it is a pretty nice city, much cleaner than the rest of Malaysia. I will stay here for a few days to do some shopping, etc, then head back to Thailand. Home sweet home Thailand. I miss it there!!
Write again soon
xo rachel
Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia 2005-10-12
Well I spent about 5 days in this city, and it was the nicest Asian city I had seen so far.
After arriving off of a night train first thing in the morning we made out way to china town where we heard there was a good hostel to stay in. Checked in and while the girls went out into the city i slept for most of the day... the trekking in the jungle took a lot out of me!
There are a lot of cool sights in KL, parks, towers and stuff, a colourful market, and the public transport is easy to navigate. And unlike many other Malaysian cities, it is not primarily muslim, so they don`t really look at you like you are a hooker because you are wearing a skirt and a tank top!
So I am off tonight on the night train back into southern Thailand, I can`t wait to be back in the land of smiles!!! Malaysia was alright, but compared to Thailand it was shit.
I have a few days to kill on the beach, then back to BKK to meet friends before heading north! Only about 7-8 weeks left in Asia i think... then off to the cold of the UK.
The Simple Things 2005-10-17
It takes a while to realize how Thailand differs from home and Australia... and really it just comes down to the simple things.
Like hot showers. Considered a luxury now. I have my first room with a hot shower in months and it is heaven!!
And a room that includes sheets on the bed and maybe even a blanket, or even better, a towel. I feel like I am staying at the ritz right now!
Ordering your food in resteraunts. Unless you are alone, the chances of getting all your food at the same time: none. The first person will get their food and will be finished by the time the second plate comes. Without a doubt. It can be frustrating but I have definatly gotten used to it.
There is more and i will add them when I am not so lazy and feel like typing.
So since the last time I wrote I have done a fair amount of travel. First, I left KL in Malaysia and had a 15hour train ride into a small border town in Thailand called Hat Yai. We had no problems at the border, they didn`t even check our bags. (by our I mean the cool canadian girl lindsay i met) Once in Hat Yai, we had a 3 hour wait, and then caught a bus to Surat Thani, which took 5 hours. And that`s not all! We had a 5 hour wait and then got an overnight boat to Koh Phangan (8 hours) where they have the full moon parties. Thankfully I was exhausted so I slept right through on that one.
I spend two nights on Koh Phangan, and then had the long journey back into BKK. 4 hour boat, 1 hr bus, and 15hour train. Finally arrived this morn.
Gonna sleep most of the next few days i am so tired... then when Adrian and Eddie arive we will head north! I can`t wait for a trek.
x rachel
Samsong Buckets 2005-10-21
Well, you know u are in thailand when you find yourself doing things that are in no way legal and no one seems to care.
Take last night for instance. The 3 of us (me eddie and adrian) decided to go out for a drink and play some cards. We randomly ran into Aine and Antony (two friends from oz) who also had two friends with them. So with the 7 of us, one drink turned into another and so on. (or in our case one bucket turned into another)
We were drinking at a bar on Ko Sahn Road, if you can call it that. First, you have to imagin Ko Sahn Road. Think Vegas, with loads of Neon lights and people walking around everwhere. It is closed to trafic at night, and stalls line the streets selling pirated CDs and DVDs, fake bags, shoes, watches, clothes, braclets, u name it it is there. Beggers walk around trying to get money off of people, and it is really sad because most of them are children sent out by their parents to try and sell roses or whatever, with signs saying they can`t go to school etc, but you know that any money you give them will go right to their parents.
Anyways, so we are walking down Ko Sahn Rd and decide to stop for a few drinks at this `bar`. It consists of a stall facing the street, and plastic stools for chairs and tables. Every now and then the police come by, so the people who run the stall yell at us to all stand up and start packing up the chairs and stuff. 2 mins later the police man is gone and we are all sat down again (just to do it all again in another 20mins)
So yeah, definatly had an interesting night last night. This is our last night in Bangkok and tommorrow night we get the sleeper train to Chang Mai, in the north of Thailand. It should be good, I am hoping things are a lot cheaper because I looked at my bank balance yesterday and it is NOT looking good. Especially for England.
So after much contemplation I decided not to put comming home off. I was gonna stay out for a while longer, find some work and do some more travelling.... but i guess i will have to do that in another year or two.
I hope ur all good at home.... i`m dreading being back there already.
The Joys of Food Poisoning 2005-10-27
Never in my life have i had a bug that did to me what one bout of food poisoning did. Didn`t sleep a wink the entire night and prayed to the porcelin god every 15 minutes. My stomach must be shrivelled. It`s more than 24hours later and i still feel weak and can`t eat a thing.... oh well it`s good for the diet! At least i had someone lovely to look after me and put up with my constant whining.
I can`t pinpoint what did it to me.. I didn`t even eat any meat that day. Must have eaten something that was gone off none the less.
Oh Pai how lovely art thou! 2005-10-27
I am in Northern Thailand in the town of Pai, and it is absolutely lovely. My favorite place so far.
For one, it is nestled in the mountains, so not only is there beautiful scenery, but also a mild climate, not nearly as hot as down south! It is about the size of.... i dunno port alice maybe... about 2000 people. There is so much to do!
We hired motor bikes yesterday... i nearly killed myself but once i got used to it it was great. A lot of fun. Rode around and went to a waterfall. There are also hot springs here, and loads of other waterfalls. Lots of places to go mountain biking and treking and we are even gonna do an elephant ride!
We have been here for about 3 nights, and have no plans of leaving anytime soon. Maybe in about a week...
One ity bity bad thing about this place is the amount of drugs. You can`t walk far without a local (even a local child) offering you opium and ganja. Isn`t opium the active incredient in heroin??
Anyways i must go eddie is sat over my shoulder complaining he is hungry. Goodbye for now!
Goodbye Thailand Hello Laos! 2005-10-31
Happy halloween!!! Too bad halloween here means nothing! It`s like it doesn`t even exist over here. Makes me sad to know that everyone at home is dressing up and going on the piss.
We left the lovely town of Pai today after spending about a week in the hillside heaven. We were lucky enough to have to spend 8 hours on the bus to get to our next destination though. Something i forgot to mention before is how CRAZY, i meant absolutely INSANE the drivers are here. Overtaking everywhere, motorbikes everywhere, i am amazed more people don`t die every day. It is hard to describe, but it is absolute madness.
So here we are in Chiang Rai. We are in northern thailand, not far from the Thailand-Laos border, and will be heading there tommorrow. We are even luckier tommorrow with our travels!! A 3 hour bus ride, followed by going through customs and a 6 hour boat ride! I can`t wait!
There doesn`t seem to be much to Chaing Rai. There are no real attractions, it is a town of about 40 000 and it is pouring rain today so i don`t like it. :-( I hope it is sunny in Laos.
The Speed Boat 2005-11-02
Crossed the border form Thailand into Laos yesterday, was very simple, they didn`t even check our bags. Had to take a bus for 2 hours, then cross the river in a long tail baot, and voila, we are in Laos. Pay a little money, get a stamp, and there ya go!
It was shortly after 11am when we arrived, and wanted to make our way to the city of Luang Prabang, way down the Mekong River. We had two choices: 1 get the speed boat for 6 hours, or 2 take the slow boat for 2 days. We opted for the speed boat. Had we known what it would be like we just might not have!
We get taken to the boat pier, and are greeted with a boat that is 3 feet across and about 15 feet long. On this boat they intend to cram 7 adults, along with all their luggage. We ended up sitting in 3 rows of 2 with the driver in the back. Honestly u have about 1 foot of space and your knees are right in front of your face. Imagine being sat like that for 6 hours?? You can`t even move your feet to adjust yourself!
Then, once we were settled in they handed us motorcycle helmets, life jackets and ear plugs. Oh boy.
We arrived unharmed, but never again in my life do i hope i have to do another journey like that one. I am lucky too, there are 5 of us travelling together, i am the shortest and i still thought it was horrible! i can`t imagine what the others went through!
So we are in Luang Prabang, and there isn`t much to do here really. We are going to a water fall tommorrow, went to a palace today, and then will probably head south after that.
xxx
Laos so far... the land of smiling and waving children 2005-11-04
This place rocks!!
Even though it is really really hot here, and some of the places are dirty, it is absolutely an incredible country. Everything is cheap. Our room is $1.50 each per night. The people are friendly.
The last few days were spent in Luang Prabang. We didn`t do much, sat around some cafes in the city and went to a MASSIVE waterfall 29km from town. (the roads here are so bad the 29km took 1hr to drive) It had a whole bunch of different levels to it and you could hike up to them and everything. There are 5 of us but we had 2 other dutch guys come with us so we had a good laugh. Eddie and Adrian didn`t want to pay the park entry fee (of $1.50!!! cheap asses!) so they trekked up the stream and met us after. But hey payed in other ways! Both of them got leeches! GROSS!!
The drive to the waterfall was really neat. We drove past all these little villages, all the people here seem to live in litle wooden thatched buildings. There are children EVERYWHERE. It is sad in a lot of ways, because you know a lot of them should be in school, and some of them even serve you in the resteraunt and stuff.... it is such a shame that the parents need money here to get their children an education. The kids are so so cute though. They must see loads of westerners everyday, but they are all smiles and waves and chase after us, yelling Hello and stuff. I want a Laos baby!
Speaking of education, on the same drive there were hundreds (well maybe not hundreds but a lot) of school kids walking/biking home from school when we were on our way back from the waterfall. I tell you! The distance some of these kids walk! The school seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, some of those kids must have had to walk 10km. Once again the children were all smiles and waves, and oh so cute.
I find myself a lot more interested in the history and culture of Laos than of Thailand and Malaysia. Laos has a sad history, there was so much damage here during the Vietnam war, there are still hundreds of thousands of un-detinated bombs around. It is sad because people are so poor, and can`t even live off their land and farm it because it is ridden with bombs. Comming to Asia has made me hate America. Even more than i did. They are the ones who dropped the equivalent of 1 plane load of bombs every 8 minutes for 7 years (costing 2.2 million US per day) on a country their war wasn`t with!! Why aren`t hey cleaning up the mess? God knows they have the money! The nation and all americans should be ashamed.
Enough about politics. Today we took the journey from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. It is 130km and takes 7hours. That`s right!!! 7 hours. Crazy eh? It is a very dangerous strech of road there are many attacks on busses etc (the most recent killing 12 and injuring 26), and the prescence of an armed guard with 3 guns (including a semi-automatic rifle) made us realize just how dangerous it really might be. At least there is someone there to protect us....
Anyways, Vang Vieng is a big backpacker centre. Lots of weed and opium around, caving, tubing down the river, all that stuff. We are gonna stay here for a few days and then see how we go... probably back down south to the capital and then back into thailand for a week or so of sun and sand before i head to rainy england.
Floating Down The River 2005-11-05
What a great day!!
Here in Vang Vieng it is full of backpackers, and there is a lot to do. All of the Cafes play Friends DVDs all day, so the theme song can get pretty annoying, but it is really nice to laze about at breakfast and watch a few episodes of everyones favortie sitcom.
We all got up pretty late and at breakfast around 12, then decided to go tubing down the river, it is a big thing here. So we go rent innter tubes, and the taxi truck thing takes us up to where we set off. The river here is really calm, enough of a current but nothing like at home. You just chill floating down the river, drinking your beer, and stopping along the way. All of the locals have set up bars and stuff along the way, you buy a beer and you can go on the rope swings and the zip lines, there are loads of people around and everyone has a good laugh. The only thing that sucks is that you can`t really bring your camera unless you want it to be ruined by the water. Today was definatly one of the coolest experiences i have had so far. I just wish i could have taken some photos.
We will probably do it again tommorrow.
A few photos 2005-11-08
Hey guys,
Added a few more (15) new photos today, had to delete some old ones to make room. Enjoy! More to come soon!
xo rachel
The drama of getting to Vietnam 2005-11-12
Wow! what a journey it was to get here!! 26hours it took in all....
It started a night or two ago... we were meant to get a bus at 7pm. So this mini-van picks us up for the 1/2 hour ride to the bus staion, which is nice enough. Only on the way we stop at one place and pick up 7 more people. So here we are, there is seating for 8 people in the back, and we have 13 people along with all our luggage. It was not a comfortable ride.
We get to the bus station and there are people everywhere, but no one who seems to speak english. Our driver tells us to get on this bus that eveyone is getting on, but it is heading to Hanoi, northern vietnam, and we are going to Hue, in central vietnam. We had no other choice. We figured if we ended up in Hanoi.. then we did, no big deal. (it turns out we changed buses at the border)
So the bus ride... was air con for the first 20 minutes, but after that it wasn`t... we didn`t really understand why it got turned off it was so hot. And it sucked for adrian because his seat didn`t recline at all it was broken... (sucked for me too cause he made me take turns).
At about 3am we arrived at the border. But guess what! We have to wait for it to open until 8am! On a cramped bus! Adrian and I took my sleeping bag and went to lay outside beside the bus so we could actually lay down, but after sleeping for about 40mins it started to pour. Back on the bus we go.
Managed to sleep a little bit, and finally the border opened. What a mess!!!! There were about 4 bus loads of people and 2 counters open. The vietnamese people are sooooo pushy. No one lines up at all, they just shove and crowd, budge, it is unbelievable. Someone at home could not even imagine the chaos.
We were kind of skrewed. We had spent all our laos money, but it turned out u had to pay for ur stamps (both departure of laos stamp and entry to nam stamp) we were really lucky we had the sisters with us who had some cash left.
So we get out of laos, but what do u know we have to walk 1km to the vietnam side of the border in the pouring rain where we do it all over again. More shoving on the vietnam side, but this is where it got messy. The veitnamese don`t really like westerners, so they did all the vietnamese peoples ones first. Finally, we got through, only Eddie`s passport went through the wash so it was kind of damaged, and they wouldn`t take it!! They thought it was fake and told him he couldn`t enter nam with it!! At this point we are the last people there and the buses are about to leave. Eddie put on a sad face and "pretended" to cry cause he had no money to go back or nothing and the busses were leaving so they took it. Phew!! All this before 10am!
So we got on another bus towards Hue, it was 9:30am and we didn`t arrive here until 7pm, totally exhausted. Not only that, but the bus dropped us off 20km out of town!! Hello!! Butwhen i bought a ticket to hue i wanted to go there not 20km out of town!!
We finally got into our room at about8:30 and went for food. (forgot to say that our lunch stop on the bus they couldn`t speak english and served us this weird stuff that looked like dog or something, louise`s meat still had hair on it)
Anyways! We made it here and that is all that matters!
Vietnam sucks i miss thailand 2005-11-17
I am in a place called Nha Trang at the moment, it is close to the south of Vietnam. It has been raining for days because there is a big storm in the Phillipines. We are getting so sick of the rain! We are heading to the beach soon though. This place, Nha Trang, my friend Vicki is here, she has been working in a dive centre since March. I met her in Melbourne and we lived together for a while, she was good friends with Fran too. It will be good to see her.
We just left Hoi An last night, and had a 13hr bus ride here. Hoi An was really neat. Full of tailors. Hundreds of them. I got jeans and a jean jacket tailor made to fit for $25. I also got Khaki pants for $13. Adrian bought loads, because he neesd suits for work at home and they cost only about 10% here as opposed to in Ireland. He bought 3 cashmere suits for himself, 5 dress shirts, 1 suit for his bro and 2-3 piece suits for his sister. And 6 ties. All that tailor made to fit cost him only just over $500 US. (and then almost half that much to post it all!)According to him that is less than the cost of one suit of the same quality in Ireland.
The accomodation in Vietnam is so much nicer than Malaysia, Laos and Thailand. We have been staying in hotels with room service, cable TV, swimming pools, free internet, mini-bars, for $10US per night or less. The place we stayed in Hoi An was lovely, we even had a jacuzzi tub! It has made my standards go wayyyy up though which sucks.
We are gonna head south very quickly, because we are only after realizing i have only just over 2 weeks left in Asia :-( So to Cambodia within three days, and then back to Thailand to the Island of Ko Chang where I haven`t been yet. I can`t wait to get back in the sun! I never realized what a beach bum I have become!
Yup Vietnam definatly sucks 2005-11-20
I guess it`s not that bad... but in a way it is. I liked every other country I have been to a lot more than this.
We got an overnight bus again (10hrs) from Nha Trang to Saigon last night, and all in all Saigon is pretty nice. Busy and hot, but not too bad. I just don`t like the people much they are really pushy.
Adrian and I are on our own now, getting a couple weeks of alone time before meeting up with everyone else in Bangkok on December 3rd for his birthday. So far there will be about 12 friends there we all know from Oz so it should be a great night. Adrian will be twisted but i`ll let it slide cause it`s his bday.
Tommorrow we head to Phenom Phen (no idea how to spell it) in Cambodia. I hope it is better there than Vietnam! We won`t stay there long though, we are gonna head south to the beach area asap to do what we do best: relax on the beach. I never realized how much i love the beach until I came here. I can`t get enough of these tropical beaches!
Hope ur all good.
xo rachel
Cambodia it is 2005-11-21
Left Saigon this morning at 6:30am for another long and lovely day in the luxurious comfort of an over-crowded Asian bus. We crossed the border into Cambodia and it was a very long day.
We were meant to arrive in Phnem Phen at 12 but because it took a while at the border we didn`t get there until 1pm. (either that or we got skanked into thinking it took longer that it really did- we paid $8 extra for the "ëxpress" bus) Upon arrival in the Cambodian capital we could hardly get off the bus because of all the beggars and moto (motorcycle taxi) drivers crowding around the bus ready to get our money off us. It took us 30 seconds to say "lets get out of here!"
So we hopped on the 1:30 bus for the 4 hour ride to Sihanoukville which is the beach destination in Cambodia. We arrived when it was dark, but I can tell this place is gonna be good. 5 beaches, waterfalls, a market and cheap, nice rooms. What more could you ask for??
So we`re here indefinatly for some serious sun and sand.
Until next time
xo rachel
Beautiful Days 2005-11-25
The last 5 days we`ve spent in our own little beach paradise.
Renting a motorbike and riding around town, laying down the beach, drinking cocktails over the ocean at night, it`s all been really relaxing. We have a lovely room at a great price.
We still have another 6 nights here if we so please. We can`t decide if we want to head back to Thailand and go to an island called Ko Chang, or just stay here and relax until the inevitable days comes when Adrian and I part and we go back to our so-called "real" lives.
Wow, when i logged on to write in my diary i really thought i had a lot more to say than this....
i`ll leave you with:
I`m on the beach and you`re all stuck in the cold. Sucks to be all you!! xxxxxxxxxx :-)
Back To Thailand 2005-11-28
Well, we decided to leave Cambodia and head back into Thailand and go to the island of Ko Chang. What a journey! I know i say that every time we go anywhere, but Cambodia was not only the icing, but the cake itself as well.
Leaving Sihanoukville at 7am (goodbye lovely beach... sniff sniff) we got an mini "bus" to the Thai border. I wouldn`t call it a mini-bus at all. More like a run down death trap. There was seating for 12 and for half the journey we had 14. Adrian and I were lucky enough to nab the two seats in the front, and let me tell you i am so glad that we did! The road was dirt (their main highway!) and very bumpy. They have no bridges so at each of the 4 rivers we crossed we had to get boat ferries, which were more like two boats with a huge plank of wood over them that you drive onto. Pretty scary!
When we were nearing the end of the journey, it started to POUR rain and the road began to get very muddy and we were sliding around everywhere. With so many bodies in the car the windows were all steamed up and even in the front i couldn`t see a thing... at one point the driver stopped to wipe the windows and we got stuck in the mud for 10 minutes on a hill!
Anyways, eventually we made it to the thai border. Crossed through without a problem and then had to get yet another mini-bus to Trat, the next main city from the border. Only this time it was a proper mini-bus with air-con and we were in Thailand so the roads were actually roads. (it was funny-- when i first got to Thailand i thought it was really minging.. and then after going to Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam and cambodia, to go back to thailand was like going back to civilization)
So we arrive into Trat and get a ferry over to Ko Chang. And the fun don`t stop there! To get from the pier to the main beach, we needed a taxi. In thailand it is all swathides (something like that) which are like small pick-up trucks with canopy like things on them, with two benches along both sides of the box of the truck. After cramming 12 people into it we were on our way. Only Ko Chang is really mountainous, and we are on our way up this really windy steep hill the truck slows down, and then dies. It is getting dark now and we are stuck on this steep, windy hill, with other cars driving by in both directions. The driver then tells us he is out of gas. Brilliant.
Eventually another taxi truck came and picked us up and we made it to our guesthouse. We booked ourselves in for 5 nights. There isn`t a lot to do here other than be lazy on the beach and maybe go snorkelling and such, which is fine with me because these are my last 10 days in Thailand (sob!) and with Adrian.
From here we are gonna head to bangkok for adrians bday and then i leave for england on dec 6th. Then home on the 13th. Not sure if i should be happy or sad about that it is a strange feeling and it is really starting to sink in now. Less than a month. (another sob)
Until next time ladies and gents.
Shopping Crazy!!! 2005-12-05
We`ve been in Bangkok for the last few nights, and we have been going shopping crazy!!! (and it was Adrian`s birthday too we had a good night, went out on Khao San road and went to the red light district, it was a night complete with crazy singing taxi drivers, cockroaches in drinks, and ping pong shows, surely a night to be remembered. It`s not every day you turn 23 in bangkok now is it?)
So back to the shopping. We have been to the huge shopping centre called MBK for an hour or two for the last 2 days, but because I`m leaving tommorrow (and even though adrian has 2 weeks he doesn`t trust himself to buy decent clothes unless i help pick them) we had to get all our shopping done today. We got there at 12 noon and only got back to the guest house at 10pm. The centre is huge! 7 stories of shops, resteraunts, stalls, bowling alleys, a cinema, you name it it`s there.
So yeah, we bought loads! All our xmas gifts, and I swear adrian got a whole new wardrobe. 5 pairs of jeans/pants, 2 pairs shoes, about 10 tops, the works. I got 4 pairs of shoes myself! The only thing I found frustrating was the fact that asian sizes are so small. Not everyone (especially westerners) can fit into a size 30 jeans, or size 8 tops. Also the fact that there were almost no womens shoes that didn`t have a 2-3 inch heel on them, and even fewer that had closed toes. No wonder thai women have the reputation of being prostitutes.......
So tommorrow is my last day... gonna get a massage and a facial and a manacure and pedicure. Heheheh. Can`t wait. gotta take advantage of these cheap prices. It`s gonna be so sad though.... goodbye adrian, goodbye warm weather, i feel like it`s goodbye freedom hello confining world of home and university too.
England here I come...
Anywho... untill next time
"Home" 2005-12-12
Home eh? What really is home? Cause ya know what? After nearly 1.5 years away from "home" i don`t really feel like i have one. Home is not so much a place for me anymore, as it is people. (more particularly one person)
So today is my last day being a backpacker. From Manchester to London tommorrow, and then London to Vancouver after that. I don`t really know what I am going to do with myself.
I have all these ideas running around in my head, and although i am meant to start school again in January, don`t bet on it.... (also don`t tell my dad that either)
Yes, i think working and then taking off again is a much more inviting idea. I`ll keep ya`ll posted on that... so... until next time.
xxx
So This is It... plans for the future 2005-12-16
Here I am at home. I am actually sitting on the computer as my sisters right this second. Imagine that! I am on the internet for free! Somewhere I can go on the internet all the time! At any time I like! For free! And I don`t have to pay for food anymore! Nor do I have to pay for accomodation... it feels so strange.
So I think this is a record. I have been home all of 2 nights and not only do I have a mobile already (ring me on +1 250 756-5986) but a car as well! My father surprised me as an early xmas present. It`s nice enough too, a 1996 ford something or other. It`s purple that`s all that matters to me! I feel so spoilt! I swear it was never like this before! The only place I don`t have is a place to live or my own room. I will sort that out soon enough, but for now I will wander from sister, parents, friends and repeat in a random order. It kind of sucks though because it would be nice to not live out of a bag for once and get settled in somewhere.
So, after much deliberation (not to mention pressure from the parents) i have decided that I will give it a go and go back to Uni in January. Not that I want to, but it`s worth a try anyways, and the student loan will be nice. I plan to take a trip to ireland for spring break and then Adrian will be coming out for the summer. That`s the plan anyways.
So, here I am back at home. It feels strange as ever.
Hi everyone,
Please note I haven`t had a chance to upload any of my photos yet, but you can look at some on Adrian`s photo site at, oh shoot I can`t remember it now I will post it later. Check back soon!
Well I finally have got a new website up and running! I should have really done this a long time ago, so you all could have seen my photos all the way along. Most of the photos will have to be from this point on, but I will have a few from before as well.
I am in Sydney right now, working as I usually am. I am working for a tapware company just in the sales department. Working in an office is kind of boring but I like answering the phone and stuff, and it pays well so I can`t complain.
I am still travelling with Adrian, as I have been for the last 9 months, but I am sad to say that he is leaving tommorrow for Perth. Adrian doesn`t have a proper working visa as he is in Australia illegally (he overstayed his 1 year visa) and has to go where ever he can get work. He is still doing the crap job I used to do working loads of hours and stuff.
So right now I don`t know when I will see Adrian again. He is meant to come out and meet me in Asia a few weeks after I arrive, but we will have to wait and see how much money he manages to save. But just so you all know- he is coming to Canada next April to visit so you can meet him then. Exciting eh??
I don`t really have much more of an update right now, but I will write again soon.
xoxo Rachel
Some photos up 2005-08-22
I have added about 12 photos to the site, but I will add a few more each day. The files are just really large so it takes forever, and i only have the patience to do a few each day. The site can only hold up to 40 photos as well so I will have to start deleting the oldest ones soon.
Had a normal day at work today, except for the fact that Adrian left today. It is going to be really weird to adjust. I have to go from sleeping in a double room and having some form of privacy, to being squished into a dorm room with 5 other people, where the only place for your clothes is under your bed.
It will take some getting used to. The fact of the matter is I never really planned to travel alone, and in a sense I never have been, I have always been with someone, whether it be Kala or Aaron or Fran or Adrian. But I guess this is what traveling is all about. Pushing my limits and getting comfortable outside of my comfort zone.
More photos 2005-08-24
Added some more photos for your viewing pleasure. There won`t be any more for the next few weeks, until I get to Tailand and buy myself a digital camera.
The countdown to leaving Australia is on. I have exactally 2 weeks left here. Can you believe I have been her for 11.5 months? (minus 6 days at home I guess) It has gone so fast, and has been such an incredible experience.
Not a whole lot more to say. Hope you guys are all good.
The Countdown 2005-08-31
Well, I have exactally one week left in Australia. 7 days of sun, sand and adventure. Well 5 I guess when you subtract the 2 days of work I have left.
I must say that so far my last two weeks in Oz have been the most boring. The hostel I live in is quite empty, I have to get up at 5am for work, Adrian is gone... it`s just plain ol boring.
I have been reading a lot of My Lonely Planet Asia, and it still isn`t helping my nerves much. I still don`t know of my itinerary... all I know is that I will be going to the full moon party on the island on the 18th of September. These full moon parties are famous within the backpacker world.
7 days, 7 days, 7 days. I still can`t believe it. One year of my life gone. At least it has been an eventful year. A very eventful year at that.
Bangkok- Day 1 2005-09-09
Hi!
Well I have just spent my first day in Bangkok, and it was tiring so say the least.
I arrived at the airport at about 9:30pm last night... and by the time I got through customs and found the shuttle bus I was looking for (it took ages!!) it was 10:30. The first thing that got to me was the humidity. You are constantly sweating. I had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus to Koh Sahn rd.... and then the bus took an hour! So here I am, 12 midnight in the middle of bangkok. There were people everywhere (mostly tourists), and stalls in the streets selling food and all sorts of clothes and stuff. So I started walking around trying to find a decently priced guest house. There were a few that were about 200baht (about 6bucks) but they were very dodgy. I saw a rat in one and the other one smelled like urine.
Then this guy comes up to me and asks if I am looking for a place to sleep. (no.... I just like walking around at 12:30 with a huge backpack on...) He gave me a card with a name on it of Thai Cozy Guesthouse. I remember Lou had reccomended that I stay there because that is where she stayed while she was here. So I went with the guy... but the rooms was too much. (650baht)- a lot in Thailand. So here I am, close to tears, in the street with a heavy bag sweating like a pig. I walked around a bit more... then i came to the place that Kala told me she stayed. So I went in. The room was 700baht for the night, but I didn`t care I just wanted to go to bed. It was 1:30am which is 4:30am in sydney and I was bagged. So I got kinda ripped off on my first night (well two cause I payed for two- i wanted to sleep in a didn`t want to have to check out early) I made it.
Today I wanted to sleep in but couldn`t sleep much, still had a lot of nerves from the night before I guess. I woke up and it was pouring rain. Not what I expected. Breakfast was included in the price of the room so I went down and had my breakfast and was on my way.
I am amazed at the stuff here. Everything is so so so cheap. Dresses for 150baht (3bucks). The only thing that sucks is that most of them are small... if only I hadn`t gained weight in Australia. I am hoping that by the time I leave Asia (ya know eating nothing but rice/noodles and vegetables- I`m not planning to eat meat as i don`t wanna get sick) I will be a good size to stock up on all the great deals. I can still buy stuff, but if I were smaller I would be buying a lot more.
The only thing that gets tiresome is the Thai people and the bargaining with them. Nothing has prices, and so you ask how much something is, then you have to bargain...urghh. It just gets tiresome. Even after one day I am tired of it! I also found a new guest house to move to tommorrow... full of westerners, looks nice and clean and the room wasn`t too bad. It was also about 500baht cheaper than the one I am in now.
I still haven`t met anyone yet, but it is still very early in my time here... I am sure I will meet loads of people. Gonna head out tonight as well so who knows what the night will bring. (don`t worry mom I will be carefull! there is a nice pub just around the corner)
My mobile number here is +6647591534. (011 goes where the + is in canada) I still haven`t figured out where (well, more like how) to buy an international phone card, but you guys can ring me (for once!!!) if you haven`t heard from me in a while. Or email.
From here I am heading south. not sure the exact destination yet, but Cedar gave me the name of the place that the beach was filmed and I would love to check that out. Will let you know my plans. I`ll figure that out tommorrow.
xo rachel
The Islands 2005-09-13
Well here I am on a tropical island in an internet cafe. I have been in Thailand almost a week now, and left bangkok after 4 nights. It was definatly enough!
I flew south to the island of Ko Samui, it was beautiful. I stayed in a little tiny beach hut with only a mattress on the floor and a mosquito net, but really that is all you need. It was litterally on the beach only 30feet away from the ocean. It cost me 6bucks a night to stay there,but it was meant to sleep two people. I spend two days there, just laying around on the beach. I got a massage (right on the beach as well!) for 1 hr and it cost me 6 bucks.
Today I came to the island of Ko Pang-nan. It is much more backpacker oriented, and I am staying in a lovely place, that is really more like a hostel than a guest house. It costs about $9 per night, (once again meant to be for two people- it kinda sucks i am on my own in some ways) but it is super super clean and a huge room with an ensuite bathroom.
I plan to stay here for a week, until the full moon party on sunday. These things are historic I am really excited.
Anyways that`s all for now! I am off to drink cocktails for about 50 cents!
Full Moon Party 2005-09-18
Hello hello!
Well here I am on Ko Phangan, have been here for the last week just about. It has been brilliant!
The weather isn`t always the greatest, it tends to rain in the afternoon (and do i ever mean rain- we`re talking pour!) but I have met some really great people and I am staying at the most lovely guest house.
Tonight is the full moon party. There are about 6000 of us crammed onto this island for the big event tonight. It starts off with a big buffet dinner at the guest house, drinks at their bar, then we allmake our way down to the beach later. I bought a new dress, and I am lookin sexy if I don`t say so myself!!!
Anyways yeah, I haven`t been doing much just laying on the beach chillin with everyone at home. Met two really nice english girls named Emily and Sarah, I am going to travel to Krabi with them on Tuesday.
Don`t really have much more to say right now just that I am having a brilliant time and getting an even more brilliant tan!
I`ll write again soon
xo rachel
Ko Phi Phi 2005-09-24
Things here are really good. I am on the island of koh phi phi right now, which is 1.5hrs by boat from Krabi- on the west coast of Thailand.
This place is lovely. The water is green, there are mountains made of limestone, the sand is silky and white. we are going on a snorkelling trip tommorrow which i am excited about, we get to go as well to the beach where they filmed the movie `the beach`
There is one down side of this island though, and it is that it was hit very hard by the tsunami. You can still see the destruction everywhere. i can only imagine how beautiful it would have been before the tsunami. We are stayin in a guest house about 200m from the beach. Only the top floor has rooms for rent because they are still renovating from the tsunami. The water was 10m high- went to the ceiling of the first floor. They clean the beach of this everyday- but if you go in the morning you can see it. Loads and loads of garbage gets washed in everyday. Sandles, clothes, bottles, lighters, you name it. You can see as well where buildings used to stand and a lot of places are still closed. It will be a couple years until this place is back to normal i think.
I am travelling with two lovely english girls at the moment- from manchester. There are good fun and we get on really well.
Gonna spend a week here probably and then down onto malaysia.
hope your all well
xxx rachel
Hat Yai 2005-09-28
Left the island of Ko Phi Phi today, and in a way i was sad to go. It was totally beautiful.
So first we got on the boat for 1.5 hours, and then a bus for 4 hours. It was a long journey especially when u have been out on the piss the night before.
We are only here for the night, as we head to malaysia tommorrow. A new country, new currency, and a new language to learn the basics for.
Hat Yai is pretty neat, loads of shopping, but I am finding the farther south i go, the less english the people speak. It`s kind of fun though trying to communicate.
Our room is absolutely disgusting. Standard squat toilet, floor and walls really dirty. I won`t be showering tonight that is for sure. It only cost me just under $2 for the night though.
I best be off, i`ll write again soon.
xo rachel
Summary 2005-09-30
Well I have been here for 3.5weeks now, so I decided to write a little summary.
Bangkok- Arrived sept 7th, spend 4 nights. Saw the grand temple and the emerald budda, rode the river ferry with all the locals, met an awesome couple named adele and sam, bought cheap clothes, got hassled by tuk tuk drivers and stall people (where you go?? you need tuk tuk?? buy something! buy something!!) was very overwealming.
Ko Samui- Escaped to Samui by plane. Spent two night on a relaxing beach, got a massage for 1 hour for $6. Slept in a bungalow 30 feet from the water for $6 a night. Read a lot, was kind of bored.
Ko PhanGan- Took 1hr boat to Ko Phangan. Hiked around in the blaring heat looking for somewhere to stay, had no money cause power was cut and ATMs didn`t worry. Very upset. Found lovely guest house that lets u pay when you leave. Loved it there. Spent 8 nights. Met Sarah and Emily and other good friends. Went to full moon party, danced the night away with thousands of other people until morning. Drank buckets of alcohol filled to the brim.
Krabi- Took 4hour boat back to mainland, and 4 hour bus to Krabi. Long day. Once in Krabi arranged to be taken to Railey beach, 40 mins away on the mainland but had to take boat because no roads. Had to walk through water in dark to with backpack on to get on and off boat, almost got soaked.
Railey Beach- Spent 2 nights on Railey, very quiet and very very beautifful. Went to ladies night at one of the bars, met awesome Thai guy who did fire twirling there. Offered us "smokey smokey" slept in bird house things that required climbing two flights of very steep steps that weren`t fit for climbing down with a backpack on.
Ko Phi Phi- Took 2 hour boat to Ko Phi Phi. Absolutely beautiful island. Still much destruction from the Tsunami, very sad to see. Crammed 3 people into tiny room like sardines. Everything was quite exspensive. Went snorkelling, saw really cool ffish. Hiked up to lookout. Stayed 4-5 nights, can`t remember.
Hat Yai- Took 2hr boat and 4 hr bus to Hat Yai. Rubbish place but lots of good shopping and cheap internet. Spend only one night in the grossest room i had ever seen. Met another english girl named Jemma who roomed with us.
Malaysia (penang)- Took 4 hour bus to Penang in Malaysia. Passed bored without a problem. (got another stamp- oh yeah) Dirty town, been here 1 night and have to spend another. Open sewers in the streets, saw sewer rats. Gross
Tommorrow night we get a 12hr night bus to the Perinthian islands, which are meant to be white sand a beautiful. I can`t wait!!! Been very interesting so far! After the islands we will head south through the jumgle, maybe do a trek, and then go to Kuala Lumpur, which is meant to be a very nice city. Hope everyone is great! Thanks for taking the time to check out my site!
xo rachel
Perhentian Islands 2005-10-06
Okay, now to tell you about the last 5 days.
First, we arrived in Penang on the west coast of Malaysia. It was okay.... kinda dirty. We met an scottish guy named Ian wo came with us to the islands. We spent two night in Penang and got the night bus across the peninsula to the other side. WHAT A NIGHTMARE. We left at 9pm from penang, on a ticket that was meant to go all the way to (I will call it town 1 because names mean nothing to you anyways). Anyways, we thought it went to town 1 which was where we were to get to boat from. But no, it went to town 2, 20 min drive from the pier. We got on the bus anyways cause there was nothing we could do.
So we drive along through the night, and at about 3am they shove us off the bus and tell us we are in Town 2. Well that`s just great!! We are stranded at a bus station at 3am amongst creepy people, we`ve had no sleep and we are hungry. Just GREAT!! We were very glad we had Ian with us then. We waited for about 2hrs then we managed to get on a bus to take us to town 1. The bus driver didn`t really understand us so we got the ride for free. It`s about 5;30am when we arrive in town 1, where we were taken to a travel place to sign our names in the book and wait, etc. We had pre paid tickets for the slow boat, which cost RM 20. Then we found out that if we wanted to take the 7am boat it would cost us another RM10 for the speed boat. If we waited for the slow boat it wouldn`t go until 10:30 and even then it only goes if there are enough people. So we had no choice. And then when we get to the pier there is this booth and to enter the island we have to pay RM 5 for a permit. So we are all tired and cranky and gettig ripped off.
We get to the island, but it stops about 30m from shore and they put us on another boat. Strange I thought, thinking that it was cause the other boat couldn`t go all the way to shore. But no!!! it`s a fucking taxi and we have to pay another RM 2 to get to shore!!!! fuckers!! the taxi driver started to freak out when we didn`t want to pay him and drove us farther out into the water and started smaking his head and stuff until we said we would pay him. We were all so tired and had no sleep we just needed a bed.
The days on the island were good. Relaxing. Walk around all day without shoes on and lay on the beach. Snorkel, play cards.
Tommorrow we have to get up and catch a 5am train to Taman Negara. It takes 11 hours through the jungle. I am really excitred about the jungle. It is 130 million years old and in the book it sounds absolutely INCREDIBLE. I am almost positive there will be no internet in the jungle, but we will only spend 2 nights at the most there. Then onto KL.
Taman Negara 2005-10-09
Well, this national park is the stuff of legends!!! (as Lonely planet says) We`re talking monkeys, panthers, elephants, weird looking bugs, everything.
We only ended up doing a day trip which was a bit dissapointing... i would have loved to do some serious trekking and spend the night out in the jungle. Leetches are really bad though when wet weather has been recent, so we didn`t go too far.
We first went to the Canopy walkways, which is a rope bridge 45m above the jungle floor, the highest in the world. (apparently anyways, but it seems that everything everywhere is the highest or the biggest or the best) It took us over 30mins to complete and was pretty scary, very wobblying, the only thing that kept me going was knowing that 1000s of people do it every month and i haven`t heard of anyone falling and dying.
After that we trekked back out again and caught a taxi boat across the huge brown river (all the rivers around here are brown it seems) back to our floating resteraunt/tour hedquarters. They were wankers though they wouldn`t sell us water cause we had no small change!!!
Next we took a tour to the Orang Asli Village, which means "original people". It was absolutely amazing. I can`t believe people still live like that. They didn`t look malaysian either, more african i`d say. The Orang Asli people move around every couple of months, and because monsoon season is comming most of the village had already migrated deeper into the jungle. There were still about 3 families there, including the village leader. (the village leader is decided by the eldest man) They only put clothes on when we come, there is a tour everyday at 3:30pm. None of them speak english and very few of them speak Malay. They lived in tiny little huts made of palm tree leaves, and one of the boys (about 17) that could speak malay to our guide showed us how they make fire, and also how they make the darts that they shoot through the blowpipe to kill animals in the jungle for their food. We all got a go at shooting the blowpipe too, it was really cool. A couple on the tour with us told us about how they were trekking deep in the jungle 2 days earlier and saw a bunch of naked orang asli people hunting, with their blowpipes and everything.
That night we caught the night train to Kuala Lumpur. So far it is a pretty nice city, much cleaner than the rest of Malaysia. I will stay here for a few days to do some shopping, etc, then head back to Thailand. Home sweet home Thailand. I miss it there!!
Write again soon
xo rachel
Kuala Lumpur- Malaysia 2005-10-12
Well I spent about 5 days in this city, and it was the nicest Asian city I had seen so far.
After arriving off of a night train first thing in the morning we made out way to china town where we heard there was a good hostel to stay in. Checked in and while the girls went out into the city i slept for most of the day... the trekking in the jungle took a lot out of me!
There are a lot of cool sights in KL, parks, towers and stuff, a colourful market, and the public transport is easy to navigate. And unlike many other Malaysian cities, it is not primarily muslim, so they don`t really look at you like you are a hooker because you are wearing a skirt and a tank top!
So I am off tonight on the night train back into southern Thailand, I can`t wait to be back in the land of smiles!!! Malaysia was alright, but compared to Thailand it was shit.
I have a few days to kill on the beach, then back to BKK to meet friends before heading north! Only about 7-8 weeks left in Asia i think... then off to the cold of the UK.
The Simple Things 2005-10-17
It takes a while to realize how Thailand differs from home and Australia... and really it just comes down to the simple things.
Like hot showers. Considered a luxury now. I have my first room with a hot shower in months and it is heaven!!
And a room that includes sheets on the bed and maybe even a blanket, or even better, a towel. I feel like I am staying at the ritz right now!
Ordering your food in resteraunts. Unless you are alone, the chances of getting all your food at the same time: none. The first person will get their food and will be finished by the time the second plate comes. Without a doubt. It can be frustrating but I have definatly gotten used to it.
There is more and i will add them when I am not so lazy and feel like typing.
So since the last time I wrote I have done a fair amount of travel. First, I left KL in Malaysia and had a 15hour train ride into a small border town in Thailand called Hat Yai. We had no problems at the border, they didn`t even check our bags. (by our I mean the cool canadian girl lindsay i met) Once in Hat Yai, we had a 3 hour wait, and then caught a bus to Surat Thani, which took 5 hours. And that`s not all! We had a 5 hour wait and then got an overnight boat to Koh Phangan (8 hours) where they have the full moon parties. Thankfully I was exhausted so I slept right through on that one.
I spend two nights on Koh Phangan, and then had the long journey back into BKK. 4 hour boat, 1 hr bus, and 15hour train. Finally arrived this morn.
Gonna sleep most of the next few days i am so tired... then when Adrian and Eddie arive we will head north! I can`t wait for a trek.
x rachel
Samsong Buckets 2005-10-21
Well, you know u are in thailand when you find yourself doing things that are in no way legal and no one seems to care.
Take last night for instance. The 3 of us (me eddie and adrian) decided to go out for a drink and play some cards. We randomly ran into Aine and Antony (two friends from oz) who also had two friends with them. So with the 7 of us, one drink turned into another and so on. (or in our case one bucket turned into another)
We were drinking at a bar on Ko Sahn Road, if you can call it that. First, you have to imagin Ko Sahn Road. Think Vegas, with loads of Neon lights and people walking around everwhere. It is closed to trafic at night, and stalls line the streets selling pirated CDs and DVDs, fake bags, shoes, watches, clothes, braclets, u name it it is there. Beggers walk around trying to get money off of people, and it is really sad because most of them are children sent out by their parents to try and sell roses or whatever, with signs saying they can`t go to school etc, but you know that any money you give them will go right to their parents.
Anyways, so we are walking down Ko Sahn Rd and decide to stop for a few drinks at this `bar`. It consists of a stall facing the street, and plastic stools for chairs and tables. Every now and then the police come by, so the people who run the stall yell at us to all stand up and start packing up the chairs and stuff. 2 mins later the police man is gone and we are all sat down again (just to do it all again in another 20mins)
So yeah, definatly had an interesting night last night. This is our last night in Bangkok and tommorrow night we get the sleeper train to Chang Mai, in the north of Thailand. It should be good, I am hoping things are a lot cheaper because I looked at my bank balance yesterday and it is NOT looking good. Especially for England.
So after much contemplation I decided not to put comming home off. I was gonna stay out for a while longer, find some work and do some more travelling.... but i guess i will have to do that in another year or two.
I hope ur all good at home.... i`m dreading being back there already.
The Joys of Food Poisoning 2005-10-27
Never in my life have i had a bug that did to me what one bout of food poisoning did. Didn`t sleep a wink the entire night and prayed to the porcelin god every 15 minutes. My stomach must be shrivelled. It`s more than 24hours later and i still feel weak and can`t eat a thing.... oh well it`s good for the diet! At least i had someone lovely to look after me and put up with my constant whining.
I can`t pinpoint what did it to me.. I didn`t even eat any meat that day. Must have eaten something that was gone off none the less.
Oh Pai how lovely art thou! 2005-10-27
I am in Northern Thailand in the town of Pai, and it is absolutely lovely. My favorite place so far.
For one, it is nestled in the mountains, so not only is there beautiful scenery, but also a mild climate, not nearly as hot as down south! It is about the size of.... i dunno port alice maybe... about 2000 people. There is so much to do!
We hired motor bikes yesterday... i nearly killed myself but once i got used to it it was great. A lot of fun. Rode around and went to a waterfall. There are also hot springs here, and loads of other waterfalls. Lots of places to go mountain biking and treking and we are even gonna do an elephant ride!
We have been here for about 3 nights, and have no plans of leaving anytime soon. Maybe in about a week...
One ity bity bad thing about this place is the amount of drugs. You can`t walk far without a local (even a local child) offering you opium and ganja. Isn`t opium the active incredient in heroin??
Anyways i must go eddie is sat over my shoulder complaining he is hungry. Goodbye for now!
Goodbye Thailand Hello Laos! 2005-10-31
Happy halloween!!! Too bad halloween here means nothing! It`s like it doesn`t even exist over here. Makes me sad to know that everyone at home is dressing up and going on the piss.
We left the lovely town of Pai today after spending about a week in the hillside heaven. We were lucky enough to have to spend 8 hours on the bus to get to our next destination though. Something i forgot to mention before is how CRAZY, i meant absolutely INSANE the drivers are here. Overtaking everywhere, motorbikes everywhere, i am amazed more people don`t die every day. It is hard to describe, but it is absolute madness.
So here we are in Chiang Rai. We are in northern thailand, not far from the Thailand-Laos border, and will be heading there tommorrow. We are even luckier tommorrow with our travels!! A 3 hour bus ride, followed by going through customs and a 6 hour boat ride! I can`t wait!
There doesn`t seem to be much to Chaing Rai. There are no real attractions, it is a town of about 40 000 and it is pouring rain today so i don`t like it. :-( I hope it is sunny in Laos.
The Speed Boat 2005-11-02
Crossed the border form Thailand into Laos yesterday, was very simple, they didn`t even check our bags. Had to take a bus for 2 hours, then cross the river in a long tail baot, and voila, we are in Laos. Pay a little money, get a stamp, and there ya go!
It was shortly after 11am when we arrived, and wanted to make our way to the city of Luang Prabang, way down the Mekong River. We had two choices: 1 get the speed boat for 6 hours, or 2 take the slow boat for 2 days. We opted for the speed boat. Had we known what it would be like we just might not have!
We get taken to the boat pier, and are greeted with a boat that is 3 feet across and about 15 feet long. On this boat they intend to cram 7 adults, along with all their luggage. We ended up sitting in 3 rows of 2 with the driver in the back. Honestly u have about 1 foot of space and your knees are right in front of your face. Imagine being sat like that for 6 hours?? You can`t even move your feet to adjust yourself!
Then, once we were settled in they handed us motorcycle helmets, life jackets and ear plugs. Oh boy.
We arrived unharmed, but never again in my life do i hope i have to do another journey like that one. I am lucky too, there are 5 of us travelling together, i am the shortest and i still thought it was horrible! i can`t imagine what the others went through!
So we are in Luang Prabang, and there isn`t much to do here really. We are going to a water fall tommorrow, went to a palace today, and then will probably head south after that.
xxx
Laos so far... the land of smiling and waving children 2005-11-04
This place rocks!!
Even though it is really really hot here, and some of the places are dirty, it is absolutely an incredible country. Everything is cheap. Our room is $1.50 each per night. The people are friendly.
The last few days were spent in Luang Prabang. We didn`t do much, sat around some cafes in the city and went to a MASSIVE waterfall 29km from town. (the roads here are so bad the 29km took 1hr to drive) It had a whole bunch of different levels to it and you could hike up to them and everything. There are 5 of us but we had 2 other dutch guys come with us so we had a good laugh. Eddie and Adrian didn`t want to pay the park entry fee (of $1.50!!! cheap asses!) so they trekked up the stream and met us after. But hey payed in other ways! Both of them got leeches! GROSS!!
The drive to the waterfall was really neat. We drove past all these little villages, all the people here seem to live in litle wooden thatched buildings. There are children EVERYWHERE. It is sad in a lot of ways, because you know a lot of them should be in school, and some of them even serve you in the resteraunt and stuff.... it is such a shame that the parents need money here to get their children an education. The kids are so so cute though. They must see loads of westerners everyday, but they are all smiles and waves and chase after us, yelling Hello and stuff. I want a Laos baby!
Speaking of education, on the same drive there were hundreds (well maybe not hundreds but a lot) of school kids walking/biking home from school when we were on our way back from the waterfall. I tell you! The distance some of these kids walk! The school seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, some of those kids must have had to walk 10km. Once again the children were all smiles and waves, and oh so cute.
I find myself a lot more interested in the history and culture of Laos than of Thailand and Malaysia. Laos has a sad history, there was so much damage here during the Vietnam war, there are still hundreds of thousands of un-detinated bombs around. It is sad because people are so poor, and can`t even live off their land and farm it because it is ridden with bombs. Comming to Asia has made me hate America. Even more than i did. They are the ones who dropped the equivalent of 1 plane load of bombs every 8 minutes for 7 years (costing 2.2 million US per day) on a country their war wasn`t with!! Why aren`t hey cleaning up the mess? God knows they have the money! The nation and all americans should be ashamed.
Enough about politics. Today we took the journey from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. It is 130km and takes 7hours. That`s right!!! 7 hours. Crazy eh? It is a very dangerous strech of road there are many attacks on busses etc (the most recent killing 12 and injuring 26), and the prescence of an armed guard with 3 guns (including a semi-automatic rifle) made us realize just how dangerous it really might be. At least there is someone there to protect us....
Anyways, Vang Vieng is a big backpacker centre. Lots of weed and opium around, caving, tubing down the river, all that stuff. We are gonna stay here for a few days and then see how we go... probably back down south to the capital and then back into thailand for a week or so of sun and sand before i head to rainy england.
Floating Down The River 2005-11-05
What a great day!!
Here in Vang Vieng it is full of backpackers, and there is a lot to do. All of the Cafes play Friends DVDs all day, so the theme song can get pretty annoying, but it is really nice to laze about at breakfast and watch a few episodes of everyones favortie sitcom.
We all got up pretty late and at breakfast around 12, then decided to go tubing down the river, it is a big thing here. So we go rent innter tubes, and the taxi truck thing takes us up to where we set off. The river here is really calm, enough of a current but nothing like at home. You just chill floating down the river, drinking your beer, and stopping along the way. All of the locals have set up bars and stuff along the way, you buy a beer and you can go on the rope swings and the zip lines, there are loads of people around and everyone has a good laugh. The only thing that sucks is that you can`t really bring your camera unless you want it to be ruined by the water. Today was definatly one of the coolest experiences i have had so far. I just wish i could have taken some photos.
We will probably do it again tommorrow.
A few photos 2005-11-08
Hey guys,
Added a few more (15) new photos today, had to delete some old ones to make room. Enjoy! More to come soon!
xo rachel
The drama of getting to Vietnam 2005-11-12
Wow! what a journey it was to get here!! 26hours it took in all....
It started a night or two ago... we were meant to get a bus at 7pm. So this mini-van picks us up for the 1/2 hour ride to the bus staion, which is nice enough. Only on the way we stop at one place and pick up 7 more people. So here we are, there is seating for 8 people in the back, and we have 13 people along with all our luggage. It was not a comfortable ride.
We get to the bus station and there are people everywhere, but no one who seems to speak english. Our driver tells us to get on this bus that eveyone is getting on, but it is heading to Hanoi, northern vietnam, and we are going to Hue, in central vietnam. We had no other choice. We figured if we ended up in Hanoi.. then we did, no big deal. (it turns out we changed buses at the border)
So the bus ride... was air con for the first 20 minutes, but after that it wasn`t... we didn`t really understand why it got turned off it was so hot. And it sucked for adrian because his seat didn`t recline at all it was broken... (sucked for me too cause he made me take turns).
At about 3am we arrived at the border. But guess what! We have to wait for it to open until 8am! On a cramped bus! Adrian and I took my sleeping bag and went to lay outside beside the bus so we could actually lay down, but after sleeping for about 40mins it started to pour. Back on the bus we go.
Managed to sleep a little bit, and finally the border opened. What a mess!!!! There were about 4 bus loads of people and 2 counters open. The vietnamese people are sooooo pushy. No one lines up at all, they just shove and crowd, budge, it is unbelievable. Someone at home could not even imagine the chaos.
We were kind of skrewed. We had spent all our laos money, but it turned out u had to pay for ur stamps (both departure of laos stamp and entry to nam stamp) we were really lucky we had the sisters with us who had some cash left.
So we get out of laos, but what do u know we have to walk 1km to the vietnam side of the border in the pouring rain where we do it all over again. More shoving on the vietnam side, but this is where it got messy. The veitnamese don`t really like westerners, so they did all the vietnamese peoples ones first. Finally, we got through, only Eddie`s passport went through the wash so it was kind of damaged, and they wouldn`t take it!! They thought it was fake and told him he couldn`t enter nam with it!! At this point we are the last people there and the buses are about to leave. Eddie put on a sad face and "pretended" to cry cause he had no money to go back or nothing and the busses were leaving so they took it. Phew!! All this before 10am!
So we got on another bus towards Hue, it was 9:30am and we didn`t arrive here until 7pm, totally exhausted. Not only that, but the bus dropped us off 20km out of town!! Hello!! Butwhen i bought a ticket to hue i wanted to go there not 20km out of town!!
We finally got into our room at about8:30 and went for food. (forgot to say that our lunch stop on the bus they couldn`t speak english and served us this weird stuff that looked like dog or something, louise`s meat still had hair on it)
Anyways! We made it here and that is all that matters!
Vietnam sucks i miss thailand 2005-11-17
I am in a place called Nha Trang at the moment, it is close to the south of Vietnam. It has been raining for days because there is a big storm in the Phillipines. We are getting so sick of the rain! We are heading to the beach soon though. This place, Nha Trang, my friend Vicki is here, she has been working in a dive centre since March. I met her in Melbourne and we lived together for a while, she was good friends with Fran too. It will be good to see her.
We just left Hoi An last night, and had a 13hr bus ride here. Hoi An was really neat. Full of tailors. Hundreds of them. I got jeans and a jean jacket tailor made to fit for $25. I also got Khaki pants for $13. Adrian bought loads, because he neesd suits for work at home and they cost only about 10% here as opposed to in Ireland. He bought 3 cashmere suits for himself, 5 dress shirts, 1 suit for his bro and 2-3 piece suits for his sister. And 6 ties. All that tailor made to fit cost him only just over $500 US. (and then almost half that much to post it all!)According to him that is less than the cost of one suit of the same quality in Ireland.
The accomodation in Vietnam is so much nicer than Malaysia, Laos and Thailand. We have been staying in hotels with room service, cable TV, swimming pools, free internet, mini-bars, for $10US per night or less. The place we stayed in Hoi An was lovely, we even had a jacuzzi tub! It has made my standards go wayyyy up though which sucks.
We are gonna head south very quickly, because we are only after realizing i have only just over 2 weeks left in Asia :-( So to Cambodia within three days, and then back to Thailand to the Island of Ko Chang where I haven`t been yet. I can`t wait to get back in the sun! I never realized what a beach bum I have become!
Yup Vietnam definatly sucks 2005-11-20
I guess it`s not that bad... but in a way it is. I liked every other country I have been to a lot more than this.
We got an overnight bus again (10hrs) from Nha Trang to Saigon last night, and all in all Saigon is pretty nice. Busy and hot, but not too bad. I just don`t like the people much they are really pushy.
Adrian and I are on our own now, getting a couple weeks of alone time before meeting up with everyone else in Bangkok on December 3rd for his birthday. So far there will be about 12 friends there we all know from Oz so it should be a great night. Adrian will be twisted but i`ll let it slide cause it`s his bday.
Tommorrow we head to Phenom Phen (no idea how to spell it) in Cambodia. I hope it is better there than Vietnam! We won`t stay there long though, we are gonna head south to the beach area asap to do what we do best: relax on the beach. I never realized how much i love the beach until I came here. I can`t get enough of these tropical beaches!
Hope ur all good.
xo rachel
Cambodia it is 2005-11-21
Left Saigon this morning at 6:30am for another long and lovely day in the luxurious comfort of an over-crowded Asian bus. We crossed the border into Cambodia and it was a very long day.
We were meant to arrive in Phnem Phen at 12 but because it took a while at the border we didn`t get there until 1pm. (either that or we got skanked into thinking it took longer that it really did- we paid $8 extra for the "ëxpress" bus) Upon arrival in the Cambodian capital we could hardly get off the bus because of all the beggars and moto (motorcycle taxi) drivers crowding around the bus ready to get our money off us. It took us 30 seconds to say "lets get out of here!"
So we hopped on the 1:30 bus for the 4 hour ride to Sihanoukville which is the beach destination in Cambodia. We arrived when it was dark, but I can tell this place is gonna be good. 5 beaches, waterfalls, a market and cheap, nice rooms. What more could you ask for??
So we`re here indefinatly for some serious sun and sand.
Until next time
xo rachel
Beautiful Days 2005-11-25
The last 5 days we`ve spent in our own little beach paradise.
Renting a motorbike and riding around town, laying down the beach, drinking cocktails over the ocean at night, it`s all been really relaxing. We have a lovely room at a great price.
We still have another 6 nights here if we so please. We can`t decide if we want to head back to Thailand and go to an island called Ko Chang, or just stay here and relax until the inevitable days comes when Adrian and I part and we go back to our so-called "real" lives.
Wow, when i logged on to write in my diary i really thought i had a lot more to say than this....
i`ll leave you with:
I`m on the beach and you`re all stuck in the cold. Sucks to be all you!! xxxxxxxxxx :-)
Back To Thailand 2005-11-28
Well, we decided to leave Cambodia and head back into Thailand and go to the island of Ko Chang. What a journey! I know i say that every time we go anywhere, but Cambodia was not only the icing, but the cake itself as well.
Leaving Sihanoukville at 7am (goodbye lovely beach... sniff sniff) we got an mini "bus" to the Thai border. I wouldn`t call it a mini-bus at all. More like a run down death trap. There was seating for 12 and for half the journey we had 14. Adrian and I were lucky enough to nab the two seats in the front, and let me tell you i am so glad that we did! The road was dirt (their main highway!) and very bumpy. They have no bridges so at each of the 4 rivers we crossed we had to get boat ferries, which were more like two boats with a huge plank of wood over them that you drive onto. Pretty scary!
When we were nearing the end of the journey, it started to POUR rain and the road began to get very muddy and we were sliding around everywhere. With so many bodies in the car the windows were all steamed up and even in the front i couldn`t see a thing... at one point the driver stopped to wipe the windows and we got stuck in the mud for 10 minutes on a hill!
Anyways, eventually we made it to the thai border. Crossed through without a problem and then had to get yet another mini-bus to Trat, the next main city from the border. Only this time it was a proper mini-bus with air-con and we were in Thailand so the roads were actually roads. (it was funny-- when i first got to Thailand i thought it was really minging.. and then after going to Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam and cambodia, to go back to thailand was like going back to civilization)
So we arrive into Trat and get a ferry over to Ko Chang. And the fun don`t stop there! To get from the pier to the main beach, we needed a taxi. In thailand it is all swathides (something like that) which are like small pick-up trucks with canopy like things on them, with two benches along both sides of the box of the truck. After cramming 12 people into it we were on our way. Only Ko Chang is really mountainous, and we are on our way up this really windy steep hill the truck slows down, and then dies. It is getting dark now and we are stuck on this steep, windy hill, with other cars driving by in both directions. The driver then tells us he is out of gas. Brilliant.
Eventually another taxi truck came and picked us up and we made it to our guesthouse. We booked ourselves in for 5 nights. There isn`t a lot to do here other than be lazy on the beach and maybe go snorkelling and such, which is fine with me because these are my last 10 days in Thailand (sob!) and with Adrian.
From here we are gonna head to bangkok for adrians bday and then i leave for england on dec 6th. Then home on the 13th. Not sure if i should be happy or sad about that it is a strange feeling and it is really starting to sink in now. Less than a month. (another sob)
Until next time ladies and gents.
Shopping Crazy!!! 2005-12-05
We`ve been in Bangkok for the last few nights, and we have been going shopping crazy!!! (and it was Adrian`s birthday too we had a good night, went out on Khao San road and went to the red light district, it was a night complete with crazy singing taxi drivers, cockroaches in drinks, and ping pong shows, surely a night to be remembered. It`s not every day you turn 23 in bangkok now is it?)
So back to the shopping. We have been to the huge shopping centre called MBK for an hour or two for the last 2 days, but because I`m leaving tommorrow (and even though adrian has 2 weeks he doesn`t trust himself to buy decent clothes unless i help pick them) we had to get all our shopping done today. We got there at 12 noon and only got back to the guest house at 10pm. The centre is huge! 7 stories of shops, resteraunts, stalls, bowling alleys, a cinema, you name it it`s there.
So yeah, we bought loads! All our xmas gifts, and I swear adrian got a whole new wardrobe. 5 pairs of jeans/pants, 2 pairs shoes, about 10 tops, the works. I got 4 pairs of shoes myself! The only thing I found frustrating was the fact that asian sizes are so small. Not everyone (especially westerners) can fit into a size 30 jeans, or size 8 tops. Also the fact that there were almost no womens shoes that didn`t have a 2-3 inch heel on them, and even fewer that had closed toes. No wonder thai women have the reputation of being prostitutes.......
So tommorrow is my last day... gonna get a massage and a facial and a manacure and pedicure. Heheheh. Can`t wait. gotta take advantage of these cheap prices. It`s gonna be so sad though.... goodbye adrian, goodbye warm weather, i feel like it`s goodbye freedom hello confining world of home and university too.
England here I come...
Anywho... untill next time
"Home" 2005-12-12
Home eh? What really is home? Cause ya know what? After nearly 1.5 years away from "home" i don`t really feel like i have one. Home is not so much a place for me anymore, as it is people. (more particularly one person)
So today is my last day being a backpacker. From Manchester to London tommorrow, and then London to Vancouver after that. I don`t really know what I am going to do with myself.
I have all these ideas running around in my head, and although i am meant to start school again in January, don`t bet on it.... (also don`t tell my dad that either)
Yes, i think working and then taking off again is a much more inviting idea. I`ll keep ya`ll posted on that... so... until next time.
xxx
So This is It... plans for the future 2005-12-16
Here I am at home. I am actually sitting on the computer as my sisters right this second. Imagine that! I am on the internet for free! Somewhere I can go on the internet all the time! At any time I like! For free! And I don`t have to pay for food anymore! Nor do I have to pay for accomodation... it feels so strange.
So I think this is a record. I have been home all of 2 nights and not only do I have a mobile already (ring me on +1 250 756-5986) but a car as well! My father surprised me as an early xmas present. It`s nice enough too, a 1996 ford something or other. It`s purple that`s all that matters to me! I feel so spoilt! I swear it was never like this before! The only place I don`t have is a place to live or my own room. I will sort that out soon enough, but for now I will wander from sister, parents, friends and repeat in a random order. It kind of sucks though because it would be nice to not live out of a bag for once and get settled in somewhere.
So, after much deliberation (not to mention pressure from the parents) i have decided that I will give it a go and go back to Uni in January. Not that I want to, but it`s worth a try anyways, and the student loan will be nice. I plan to take a trip to ireland for spring break and then Adrian will be coming out for the summer. That`s the plan anyways.
So, here I am back at home. It feels strange as ever.