Cambodia

Siem Reap - Battambang - Phonm Phen

It's about time I updated the blog with my Cambodia experience so far! 

My first stop after crossing the boarder at Laos was Siem Reap. We arrived late and checked into a pretty luxurious guesthouse, I had my own double bed and everything #flashpacker. Siem Reap was the first place that I had been in weeks that was actually buzzing in the evening, so much going on, the night market, pub street, harassing tuk tuk drivers... We got dinner and headed for bed. The next day I explored the city to get my bearings, was already in love with this place, it was not too big that you couldn't walk, but not too small as ther was so much going on. I got a really nice foot massage and purchased a few souvenirs. The city was only going to get busier as its was approaching Khmer New Year which is the time that the Cambodians celebrate new year. Everyone from all over the country gather in Siem Reap to visit the temples around this time. The following day was our first of three visits to Angkor Wat, an ancient collection of temples that are totally unique to Siem Reap. I had to get up at 4am as we decided to go for sunrise, a beautiful time to see the temples. I enjoyed getting some pictures of the temples, I thought I was tired of temples by this point but thee temples were so different that it was a new experience. By 9am it was too hot and I was too tired so we head back for a nap. I changed to another hostel that was one of my favourite hostels by far, a freezing cold pool, a cinema, yummy food and decent wifi, perfect! I spent a lot of time chilling whilst in Siem Reap, browsing th markets, escaping to cafes/restaurants with air con only. I had some delicious home-ey foods, like steak + gravy baguette, pastas, Burger King... All very healthy of course... The second day of temple visiting was quite good, but towards the end I was sure the tuk tuk driver was taking us to the same set of temples over and over again. By the third day of the temples it's fair to say I enjoyed the tuk tuk ride over the actual temple we saw which was over 45 minutes from the city. I had some really fun nights out around the new year, tradition is to squirt waters guns and throw baby powder everywhere in the street. It was rather fun. All the locals were loving life and it was lovely to see. I watched The Killing Fields film in the cinema in preparation for Phnom Phen which was a hard hitting one and crazy to think that this genocide happened just 30 odd years ago and in the country I'm in right now and it would have directly affected the local people that I have met. As my time in Siem Reap came to an end I experienced the classic backpacker issue, bed bugs. I woke up looking like I had a severe case of chicken pox and itching like hell. Of course only my skin would react in this way. The hostel were very efficient to be fair, closed down the room, washed all of our clothes and bags and everything that could be infested. Shame they could do anything about my poor skin but I was happy they did all they could. I was ready to move on after an enjoyable week and a half. Next stop was Battambang.

Battambang was certainly back to basics. We were treated from the bus from very excitable tuk tuk drivers if not slightly desperate to our custom. We went with a lovely young man who is learning English so he can one day be a tour guide which is his dream. That afternoon he took us to the bamboo train, which is a bit of wood with a motor that goes along a disused railway line, was pretty fun actually. We stopped at a 'station' to get a drink, and here you really see the poverty, no kids were in school, everyone in the village were desperate to sell you something, anything, for a dollar. We headed back to our tuk tuk driver and went out for dinner, there was a distinct lack of choice in terms of dinner, so fried rice it was! The next day we visited these caves, a number of them housed remains of bones from victims of the Khmer Rouge,, and one had a Buddhist temple built into it which was interesting. I did the most strenuous walking I've done since being in Asia that afternoon as we had to walk up steep inclines between caves. At the end we were able to witness a massive stream of bats flying out of one cave, they were heading to th marsh land to eat mosquitos. There was a line of bats come info out the cave for at least half an hour. I'm glad I saw Battambang but two days was enough so next stop the capital Phnom Phen. 

I didn't see a lot in my first few days in Phnom Phen as I was waiting to see the sights with the mother who was arriving into Phnom Phen a few days after me. It was a nice city to explore, great restaurants, interesting markets and a beautiful river front. I went to market that seemed to be solely aimed at local young women, clothes bags, shoes, make up and beauty salons were all that were available,e at this market and not and English speaking person in sight! I had some lovely, if not expensive, cocktails on a roof top bar by the Mekong river. I was generally getting excited to see my Mumma after all these months. I met Mum at the airport and enjoyed watching her first reactions of this country as we tuk tukked through the city. We arrived at our very luxurious hotel and enjoyed a swim and luncheon. The next day we went to The killing Fields and the s-21 prison, both where the most horrific acts of violence and torture were carried out by Cambodians on their own people under a crazy communist dictatorship. Very powerful places to visit. That afternoon we made the most of our luxury hotel and also had dinner at the posh hotel restaurant. Today we head to Sihanoukville, a beachy place, I don't think I've gone this long without seeing the sea in my life!

J x

13 days in Laos

The first thing I noticed about Laos was how underdeveloped it was and how poverty stricken it is. The people of Laos do not seem to be used to tourists and can cone across quite rude, I think this is partly due to cultural differences but I also think that some of those that work in the tourist industry don't do so because they enjoy it but because they need to put food on the table and with a lack of well paying jobs in Laos, they maybe have no choice but to interact with tourists taking over their towns and cities. 

Anyway my first stop which was Luang Prabang was a very small town, with your usual markets and street food. The best thing to do in Luang Prabang is visit this beautiful waterfall. The water was so blue and you can swim in it which is cool. Two days was enough in Luang Prabang, so next stop was backpacker central Vang Vieng. In Vang Vieng they have Friends cafes where they play episodes of Friends all day long which I very much enjoyed going to. Vang Vieng is pretty much all about the drinking and nightlife so had a couple of really fun nights out. I also did the tubing down the Mekong river, stopping of at two bars along the way (there used to be about ten bars open for this tubing activity but a lot of tourists actually died from drowning after drinking too much.) It was during this activity that my phone drowned (luckily it was the phone and not me!!) for some reason I decided to take my phone in the river i don't know why. This is explains the lack of pictures going up as I was using my phone as a camera so have a bit of a gap in pictures unfortunately. After a fun couple of days in Vang Vieng it was time to head to the capital city of Vientiane. To be honest I didn't do anything with my two days here, was feeling a bit ill and it wasn't a great place at all, not much to do and lots of things closed especially at the weekends. I had some nice dinners, some really tasty Indian food and on my second night Pizza 🍕 So Vientiane was just a stop over for me, to prepare myself for the sleeper bus down to the south of Laos. The sleeper bus was pretty much the most awful thing ever. You have to share a ridiculously uncomfortable single bed with a stranger for the entire journey. No option to sit up on a chair or anything. I couldn't sleep at all because I had about 50cm room and the roads were way too bumpy. Never again. I arrived into Pakse which was the town where you can travel to the 4000 islands from. Thank goodness I treated myself to a hotel in Pakse with amazing air con, my own room, bathroom, everything. Not much to do in Pakse but I had a good walk around and I also met up with my friend who I was travelling down to the islands with. The 4000 islands are scattered across the Mekong river, we went to don det island which caters for backpackers. Our accomodation was a little bungalow, which looked very nice but it was almost too hot to breath, we coped for two nights before having to move to a room with air con (and no cockroaches). Don det is by far the hottest place I've been to so for some reason we decided to do a bike ride in the midday heat. It's fair to say I nearly passed out but we made it down to a beach on a separate island for a nice swim. There is a little bit of nightlife on don det, mainly for Bob Marley wannabes...  But was still fun to head out to one of the three bars on the island. We also took a tour of the waterfalls and a boat trip to see the rare breed of dolphins that live on the Mekong. Our 'tuk tuk' was actually a motorbike with a tiny side car but we still managed to get the three of us on there, I was slightly scared for my life. Don det was fun for a few days but the heat was too much so we were very ready to get into Cambodia. We managed the boarder crossing on foot, after the hearing the horror stories we didn't know if we'd make it but it was ok, only had to pay an extra $2 on top of the visa which was defo going straight into the guards pocket. Feeling very happy to be in Cambodia, loving Siem Reap already! 

J x

My South East Asia adventure begins!

Bangkok + Chiang Mai

After a last minute panic at Auckland airport, where I had 3 minutes to book a flight out of Thailand before they would let me have my boarding pass (apparently you have to prove that you are leaving before you enter the country these days...) I made it to Bangkok! Bangkok is just as busy and manic as I had imagined. I had to walk down Koah San Road with all my luggage to get to my hostel. I spent my first fall day in Bangkok looking around the biggest market I've ever been to, selling everything including puppies and kittens. However tempted I was to pick up a few kittens I realised it wasn't practice. It took me a while to work out the food situation, unfortunately Bangkok has a rather unpleasant smell and the food looks kind of odd too but after tasting a few things i worked out that it actually tastes pretty amazing. That evening I headed out onto Koah San Road, had such a fun evening until my wallet got stolen from my bag :( :( Not good news at all as all my cards where in the wallet. So family to the rescue once again and I have been surviving on the good old western union money transfers ever since. After this incident I was pretty ready to leave Bangkok but made the best of it and visited some temples and sorted out my sleeper train for getting up to Chiang Mai. On my final day in Bangkok I was so ready to get out of there that I just chilled in the hostel and watched films. The sleeper train in the evening was really cool. Nice and spacious and really well air conditioned. Arriving into Chiang Mai I knew straight away that I was gunna love it. It was so relaxed, my hostel had a pool and the streets were less rammed. I actually enjoyed spending time walking around the city and seeing the temples without being harassed by tuk tuk drivers or people trying to sell you stuff. I had a couple of Thai massages in Chiang Mai, they were run by ex female prisoners as the result of an employment initiative set up by the government. The Thai massage feels like you back is being broken but it feels pretty good after. My highlight of Chiang Mai has got to be visiting the elephant sanctuary. It was such a beautiful experience, the elephants were so comfortable with humans and were treated so well by a family that live up in the mountains where the elephants live. We fed them and washed them which is how they should be treated, not this elephant riding which is not fair treatment of these precious animals. I also enjoyed a day trip to the north of Chiang Mai near the boarder where we sore a beautiful white temple with a super hero theme which was kind of random. We also visited a tribe where the woman stretch there necks with gold rings, I was a bit uncomfortable to see especially on the children and it's not actually clear why they do this but I guess they are just carrying on tradition. After a wonderful week in Chiang Mai it was time to head into Laos. So far I have spent two nights here in Laos after flying in on the smallest plane I've ever been on. You can definitely see the difference between Thailand and Laos, it's a little more basic and you can tell that the people are far less used to tourists here. I have already seen and swam in  beautiful waterfall with the bluest water I have ever seen. I also went to the only bar in the city and everything closes at 11 which is kind of unusual but I suppose it's just where Luang Prabang is such a quite town! Now onto back packer central Vang Vieng! 

J x

Goodbye New Zealand

My time on the kiwi bus came to an end in Queenstown after a really fun time, the Nevis swing was so much fun and I had such a good time on the wine tour with my kiwi bus buddies Jess & Jade. Sadly I began to feel a bit under the weather so the best plan for me was to end my Kiwi experience on a high and get back to Auckland to stay with my family friends Jon, Liz and Harriet. I have spent my time recovering and getting better, ready for Asia. My backpack saw its last legs here in NZ so I picked up a new backpack in Auckland along with other essentials for my Asia leg of the trip. I had a delicious meal at the Orbit in the sky tower, it's a revolving restaurant so you get 360 degree views of the city. I've had an amazing time in New Zealnd and thank you to everyone who made it so wonderful. Bring on Thialand!!

Kiwi experience bus - South Island!

After a fab time in Wellington I hopped back on the big green bus to cross over to the south island on the ferry. Truth be told i didn't even look out of the window on this ferry, we were so knackered from the big night out before that we set up camp in the corner of the cafe a slept the whole way. Our first stop in the south was a little beach town called Kaiteriteri, this was a really relaxed stop, i sunbathed on the beach during the day and we had beach parties in the evening. I was only scheduled 2 nights here but i added on an extra night last minute because the weather and scenery was so beautiful. Next stop was Westport where I did a horse trek through the native bushes and through a number of stunning rivers too. I didn't get to the chance to see the town unfortunately but we had a beach bonfire which was pretty fun, we then had a 30 minute stumble back to the hostel ready for an early start in the morning. Our next destination was Lake Mahinapua which was essentially a pub in the middle of nowhere, the purpose of this stop was the infamous kiwi experience fancy dress party. Our theme was "i'm glad i'm not..." so naturally me and my friends Jade, Jess and Bex dressed up as these lads from our bus, they are farmers from Devon so our costume consisted of an "i love Devon" t shirt and farmer props such as a sheep and a pitch fork. Our costume came 3rd place and we won one bar crawl between the four of us...Franz Joseph was our next stop, famous for its glacier on the mountains.We managed to get ourselves a "flashpacker" room which had a bathroom, kettle and sky tv wooo. Franz Joseph town was lovely, some great restaurants and bakery's. Definitely the beast hostel we stayed at, great bar and a hot tub that could fit 20 people in! I did a few little walks of my own free will on my free day in Franz Joseph, didn't make it to the glacier though but could view it from afar. After potentially the longest and most horrific bus journey from Franz Joseph we arrived in Wanaka.Wanaka had a beautiful lake front and was surrounded by mountains.As a town it is the definitely the place the reminded me of Shoreham, small but still had stuff going on. It was the first time in a long time that we actually saw local people here, had a great evening out and by this point i was ready to get to Queenstown.On the way to Queenstown we stopped of to watch some bungy jumpers which was quite entertaining.I've got some exciting activities lined up for Queenstown including the Nevis swing which is the world biggest swing, you are suspended 160 meters from the canyon floor and then dropped.. My friends Jade, Jess and I have also treated ourselves to a wine tour, visiting a number of different vineyards and wineries.The next few days should be pretty sweet as.

J x        

Kiwi Experience bus -The North Island!

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been. So busy and hectic, it's going so quick already but it also seems like ages ago that I first stepped on the big green bus.

First stop on the trip was heading north out of Auckland for a night in the beautiful bay of islands. The township we stayed on was essentially a little touristy seaside town. Lovely hostel with a bar and a pool and after just a few hours I had already met some fabulous people. Weather wasent amazing so made the most of the afternoon by doing a viewpoint walk and relaxing on the beach with an ice cream! This is where my first unforgettable moment happened... We sore a killer whale jump out of the ocean only 10 meters from the shore.. It was rather special.

After a stop over night back in Auckland I said goodbye to the bay of island bunch and got on the bus that I would be sticking with for a good few days. We stopped at a little holiday park next to hot water beach. we couldn't go digging for the hot pools in the sand until the evening so headed down after dinner and drinks. Luckily some holes had already been dug for us, I couldn't be bothered with that effort lol. Starting with a midnight swim in the sea, the hot water in the sand was beautiful. We had then stumble back in the dark to the holiday park ready for an early start the next morning. The next day was Waitomo, famous for their spectacular caves. So I reluctantly signed up for the black water rafting which is basically going through the caves on a rubber ring. It was a pretty fun activity, it including jumping backwards of waterfalls, in the caves, on your rubber ring!! Back at the hostel I made a meal together with people from my dorm, it was delish. The next day was Rotorua, I was really looking nice forward to this little city plus I had two nights here which meant actually being able to spend a full day somewhere woohoo. When I arrived I went to the Polynesian spa, which is where you can sit in an array of naturally occurring hot springs. The hot springs are caused by sulphur so the whole smells of eggs but the hot water was cool. That evening was the Maori experience, possible my highlight so far. We were taken to this Maori "village" and we're taught about Maori culture and traditions and the people that worked there were brilliant. All were Maoris and you could see how much they loved their job. They did an awesome haka performance and a few Maori songs. We then got to the best bit, an all you can eat buffet of ground cooked meats and potatoes and vegetables, heaven. I had two puddings. The next day was the best weather we had had so far so me and a couple of girls I had met (shout out to Jade and Lois if you're reading :P) had a chilled day sunbathing by the lake and also by the pool at the hostel. I had a really fun night out in the evening, and it was a Sunday so we made the best of it and went to only bar that was open in the whole city. The next day we were up and out to Taupo. Taupo was a great place, nice for a seaside holiday I would say. I imagined that Mum and Dad would enjoy it there also. I opted out of the 19km steep incline walk up to mount doom from Lord of the Rings. Instead I chilled by the lake and even went to the cinema with the girls because the weather wasn't good. After a relaxing couple of days in Taupo it was on to River Valley for the night, this was the most secluded stop, 45 minutes from the nearest village. It was a really cool little place, surrounded by horses and a tiny river for swimming in. It was a wooden lodge that we stayed in and we managed to get a six bed dorm for the six of us girls who I'd been hanging out with to stay in which was really nice. There wasn't much to do there so we just had some drinks and played games and stuff, they had giant jenga which we put a twist on lol. It was a fun night :)

Now I'm in the final stop on the North Island, the capital city Wellington. We had a great night out last night, and spent the day exploring the city, went to a museum where you could feel what it's like in an earth quake. We have a long day tomorrow starting at 6am to travel to the South Island. So naturally we are choosing to go out late again tonight :)

Congratulations if you have read all of that haha, I hope I can get another post up in a week of so, we had limited time and wifi here!!

J x

Auckland with Jon, Liz & Harriet

I spent a lovely first week in New Zealand, staying in Auckland with Jon and Liz. Giving me a chance to relax and get my bearings. I was met at the airport (well I arrived first but Jon, Liz and Harriet a close second ;) ) which was great and drove to One Tree Hill which is a great spot to look over the whole city. On my first full day we visited the island of Waiheke, it's so remote it doesn't even have a McDonald's on it!! I also had my first sea swim of the year and it was lovely and warm not like Shoreham beach at all. The following day I had the chance to go into the city centre and do a bit of shopping, I was having frozen Coke withdrawal since Sydney so had to venture into maccy d's, If you ever go to NZ go to Cotton On clothes store it's fab, I'd go as far as to say it's like topshop with primark prices. I spent time during the week chilling and prepping for the journey ahead. I had a fun night out with this group that I didn't know before but they were so much fun, ended up belting out a Kelly Clarkson Classic at a kareoke bar. This weekend I spent some more time with Jon, Liz and Harriet at the weekend, we went to marine reserve beach and did a bit of snorkelling, the best snorkelling I've ever done although apparently there was a lot less fish then there usually is. We visited another beautiful beach as well. I've never been anywhere with some many different beaches that are all so beautiful. On Sunday we went up the Auckland sky tower, awesome views! I then got the chance to watch Harriet play flipper ball, which is like water polo, even though Harriet's team lost it was still a fun game to watch. That afternoon we visited another stunning beach with a good surf in Piha. The black sand was a killer but had a great swim and sunbathe. I had a great week, relaxing and hanging out with Harriet, Jon and Liz. Now onwards I go for the Kiwi Experience bus tour.