Blog Fail. Also, AUSTRALIA!

So I've been a slacker and not blogged for ages.


It's been a ride. We've been through several countries. On the one hand, we've had several kinds of lurgy, and my face got infected. On the other hand, we've eaten the most spectacular food and seen some amazing scenery.

There's a whole load of stuff I've not written about - Kuala Lumpur, Otres Beach, Koh Samed, Penang and the Cameron Highlands. to name a few.

Alice is much more efficient and has already blogged about most of the above. If you haven't checked out her blog already, check the links above for pic and ting. Yes... yes... cop out.



We're currently in Hervey Bay, having landed in Brisbane. We're living in a camper van and driving up Australia's east coast. Every few nights we're stopping in at a camp site and having a shower an filling up on water for our portable kitchen. The rest of the time, we're trying to stay in free rest stops. Australia is EXPENSIVE and apparently nothing is free. I'm facing up to the certainty that eating out will be a very rare occurrence. I'm loving cooking out of the back of a van though - we had homemade burgers on the edge of a field full of cattle last night. They didn't seem to mind.

Spending time in a country where the natives speak English is a great feeling, as is being able to drive around. When we picked up our camper van, we had to wait about an hour in the reception, so the staff threw in a free GPS unit. This has been a life saver and, combined with the sensible road system and signs, driving around Oz has been a breeze.
 
Because we're in the van, Internet access is hard to come by and I'm not sure that I'll be able to upload photos and catch up with all the old bloggage. In fact, just accessing AC power is something of a luxury. 




We're off to visit Frazer Island tomorrow and then to explore some more of Oz by road, before hitting Sydney some time between Christmas and New Year.

As soon as we've managed to charge Alice's camera we'll take loads of photos and do a big update, promise.

The Path to Enlightenment

Aloha and namaste.

So on the way to enlightenment there's this plane crash, right, and a bald bloke playing backgammon on the beach. There's a polar bear that nobody really, properly explains. We have to type this code in every 24 hours. Then, after a load of faffing about we're suddenly, inscrutably in the 70s and everyone loses interest.

Finally, after exhibiting superhuman endurance and sticking with it until the finale, we're punched in the eyes repeatedly and left to wonder what just happened.

Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

**We've been without fast Internet for a while and uploading photos has been slooow. I've got so much to catch up on. So I'm just going to crack on with the words and upload the pics later**

When we reach a new location, emerging blinking from a bus or train, there are two good rules of thumb. Walk or take public transport when you can - I always feel better orientated and get a much better sense of place, plus I don't have to bargain with local drivers from a position of ignorance. If walking's not possible it's best to approach a taxi driver rather than go with one who approaches you.

A Holiday In Cambodia

After just over a week lazing by the Mekong it was time to leave.
We booked transport across the border to Cambodia, less than an hour away, and onward to the first enclave of civilisation following, Kratie.

There were some shenanigans at the border. Some bribes were avoided by paying a little extra to have someone process our visas in advance. It would have worked out about the same either way. The actual border crossing was made on foot. As we shuffled uncertainty from Laos to Cambodia, between immigration roadblocks, a group of Western tourists passed us coming the other way. The scene was reminiscent of a 60s Cold War spy exchange.

Don Det

Vang Vieng to Don Det was a bit of a haul. We took an initial coach to Vientiane, caught an overnight connection to Pak Se, rested for an evening before jumping on a minibus and then a ferry to Si Phan Don, the Four Thousand Islands. All in all the journey was the best part of a thousand kilometres.

What can I say? We could have travelled twice as far in one stretch and it would have been worth it. Don Det is beautiful.

Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng: infamous Laos party town; home of tubing; site of numerous drunken tourist deaths every year.

I'd heard terrible things about Vang Vieng. I visualised an endless, bobbing procession of Western kids, smacked up on opiates and buckets of Lao Lao whisky, floating on inner tubes, vomiting into the Nam Khong. Last year 27 tourists died tubing, from drowning or leaping into the river from a great height and breaking their heads open on rocks.

Whether it was a low-season lull or the fact that most of the riverside bars had been closed due to tourist deaths a few weeks before, we saw very little evidence of Vang Vieng's seedier side.

We saw was a quiet, if very tourist-centric, town on the banks of the river, surrounded by beautiful countryside. We found a nice guest house on the Southern end of town, called Jammee, and ended up staying for about week.

We were keen to get out and soak up some of the natural beauty that Vang Vieng is also famous for. Just ouside of the town, across the river, extends green countryside and limestone mountains. A few days after we arrived, we rented a couple of shoddy beach cruisers and attempted to the Phou Kham caves, site of the locally famous "blue lagoon". Our bikes were awful, the sun was blazing, and the road was atrocious. I think we managed to get about 4km out of town before we had to admit defeat and turn back.

Resolving to try again with better gear, we settled for Xang caves - a small set of caves extending into one of the surrounding mountains - just down the road from our guest house.

The climb up

The interior - best I could get with my camera phone

After a lengthy climb, the caves themselves were blessedly cool if a little small and underwhelming. A quick three minute walk from the entrance brought you out into the open air again.

The view from the top

At the base of the mountain, a river flowed out of the cave system on its way to the Nam Khong. The water was wonderfully cold. Shoals of fish nibbled at my toes.

My cave lust not quite sated, the next day we saddled up on some proper mountain bikes and made for Phou Kham once again. It was raining heavily most of the way there but the improved gear and temperature made all the difference and, after about an hour's ride past several places purporting to be Phou Kham, we found the real deal.

Unlike Xang there were no stairs and no lights in the caves. We rented head torches at the bottom and hoisted ourselves up a cliff face to the entrance.

The cave itself was very dark but large - no hand rails, no walkways as in Xang, just dripping limestone. It was excellent. My camera phone was woefully inadequate at taking photos in the dark but this video might give you an idea...

The Blue Lagoon

No... upper.. body... strength...

On the way back, the weather was lovely and I managed to take a few pics, along with a video. Feel free to mute before playing it.

Journey to Vang Vieng

Our guesthouse offers private minibus transport to Vang Vieng for 120,000 kip. This is marginally cheaper than the public coach, or VIP bus, from the coach station across town and leaves at a more sociable hour in the morning. We've found that tourist minibuses in SE Asia tend to be a bit more cramped than the coaches but where you can find them at a good price, compensate for the lack of space by picking you up and having fewer stops en route.

As we clamber into our transport at just after nine in the morning, we see a smattering of other backpacker types already seated. There are three Dutch girls, one English and two Aussies blokes, with a Japanese couple in the back. I'm pretty sure I'm the oldest in the vehicle by at least five years.

Our driver slides the side door shut, swings into the front seat. He wears enormous sunglasses, a CK tshirt and has his hair slicked back. We start our journey to Vang Viene. I'm pretty comfy. Alice and I are kitted out with cake purchased from the Luang Prabang night market the previous evening, egg and bacon sarnies from our guest house, and bottles of water. I settle into the seat and begin to read as we leave the town behind us.

Kuang Si

An hour's drive outside Luang Prabang is Kuang Si falls. At the very entrance is the usual cluster of souvenir shops and restaurants that I'm now accustomed to seeing at every tourist attraction we come across. However, the few touts hanging around are very laid back and there's a generally relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. There are also a lot of locals around, on their way up to to the falls - always a good sign.

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is a relaxed town at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. Much of it seems to exist to support the throughput of Europeans and Japanese, so the extent to which the town itself exhibits true Laos culture is questionable. Nevertheless it has it's own sleepy charm, rather than being tourist-hell and we stick around for about a week, eating noodle soup and exploring.

The Mekong

The next two days where to be spent on the slow boat along the Mekong to Luang Prabang. Wikitravel suggested that the going rate for thr trip was about 250,000kip (£20). Our guest house offered a slow boat ticket, transport to the dock and a sandwich to eat on the journey for the same price. It's been our experience that buying tickets direct from the point of departure can save you a lot of money, with agents adding on massive commission but this seemed like a pretty good deal.

The next morning, we took a ride to the dock and waited for the guy from our guest house to sort our tickets. There were a few other backpackers with us, who had all apparently crossed the border that morning. Some had bought a package deal in Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang. Our guide handed out the tickets and set about giving us some advice on what to expect from the trip.

Border Crossing to Laos

In both Thailand and Laos there's a form of public transport called a songthaew, which literally means "two rows". It's a covered vehicle with two benches in the back, usually either a large pickup or small minivan type vehicle. They operate like a cross between a bus and a taxi - you can flag them down from anywhere along the road, share them with other passengers and the driver will take what he considers to be the best route that links all the desired stops. They tend to be cheaper than taxis or tuk tuks, the price varying depending on the number of passengers and the distance to your stop.

The songthaew we took to the Chiang Mai bus station took a rather circuituous route. We intended to take a bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong, site of the main border crossing between Northern Thailand and Laos. By the time we reached the bus station the coach we wanted was full. Rather than wait four hours for the next one, we elected to take a coach to Chiang Rai and get a local bus further on to Chiang Khong.

Quick Update - No Internetz

Sabaidee boys and girls. We're in Laos right now, in a guest house on the banks of the Mekong. We're in Don Det, which is a tiny island of Si Phan Don: the four thousand islands.

It's our third week in Laos and loads has happened. I've got several blog posts typed and a ton of pictures and videos, but the upload speed here is painfully slow and I've not been able to get any media up.

So as soon as it's possible, I'll show you some photos. It's beautiful here.

Laters xx

Chiang Mai

More pictures after the jump.

Check Alice's post here.

Sukhothai

After a load of waffly posts I'll not bore you with words for a while. Sukhothai is an old capitol of Thailand and a UNESCO world heritage site. We bombed round it on bikes. Check the pictures.

Bangkok

We fly from the Andamans to Kolkata, where we while away about 8 hours before our connection to Bangkok. Again my body clock is screwed: it's light when it shouldn't be; I'm eating when I should be sleeping. I bumble through the whole thing in a haze.

I'm snapped awake by Bangkok airport. After living in a hut on a tropical island, landing in Bangkok is like traveling to the future. Everything is impossibly high tech - enormous glass windows and moving metal walkways. It's spotless and impeccably organised. The BTS Skytrain connects directly with the airport. I'm so excited to get on that I nearly wee: the doors are automatic; it has LCD screens; diagrams on the walls depict the line you're on and update as you travel along; a nice robot lady tells you over a speaker which station you're arriving at. Come on, it's a train, IN THE SKY!

Havelock Island - Part 2

Havelock is beautiful: white sand, endless sky and brilliant blue water.

As we leave the docks, an auto driver offers to take us up to village 5 for 10rs, as long as we take a look round a couple of resorts. He's up front about getting a kickback if we end up staying at one of the places he takes us to. This seems like a good deal - our rickshaw ends up costing less than the local bus.

Havelock Island - Part 1

I'm sitting in Venom, which is not a shit club in Newbury with giant fibreglass snakes on the dance floor. It is, in fact, a first floor bar - part of a resort across the road from our accommodation at Havelock 5. Some of the villages on the island have names but all of them are conveniently numbered. Some really are villages where locals live and work. Others, like 5, are little more than a line of resorts, restaurants and scuba clubs along a stretch of beach.

Despite the incongruous dance music that strains from a tortured speaker behind the bar and its unfortunate name, Venom is actually quite a nice place. It's all stained wood and wicker furniture, open on three sides. The barmen are really nice and remember what Alice and I like to drink from our first visit. They serve awesome homemade fish fingers.

Tonight I'm here by myself. Alice is back at our resort indulging in some Wimbledon. I've escaped to catch up on some long-overdue journalling and reflect on the last few days

Port Blair

We're in the Andamans!

Port Blair feels very much like another Indian town. Alice says she's looking for something different now and whilst I understand why, I'm feeling like I'm starting to "get" India, or maybe even this whole travelling thing. I feel relaxed and optimistic.

After a bit of an explore of the Abardeen Bazaar area in which we're situated, it becomes apparent that there aren't really that many places to eat or hang out. There are lots of shops though.

Earlier, during a power cut, we wandered into a dingy underground bar, looking for somewhere to get a drink. I had flashbacks to the episode in the Alleppey booze queue but we managed not to get killed. There were no women in the place. I tried to get a vodka and lemonade for Alice and met with some initial confusion. There was no issue getting a Kingfisher strong. It looked like most of the clientele had experienced similar ease, several times.

We've found some information about the other Islands and Havelock looks to be the place to go. There is a tourist information office about twenty minutes walk away, which was full of helpful people. Nobody tried to sell us anything. We can go down to Phoenix ("phonics") jetty tomorrow and, it being low season, shouldn't have any problems buying a ticket there and getting on the ferry.

Chennai

I'm in Zama Longe. It's 6pm and dark and outside. The hammering of heavy rain has replaced the hammering of construction work from earlier.

We arrived here last night at about midnight, after a 15 hour train journey. It was dark and raining then too. Our taxi pulled up outside our residence and everything was locked up. A couple of guys were hanging around outside and shouted to us when I tried to open the gates. One of them pressed the buzzer for us and got an electric shock from the exposed wires. Our taxi driver called for us on his mobile and an old man in a grubby vest came down to let us in.

Alleppey

I'm sitting in the train station in Alleppey with Alice. It's 08:10 and our train has just been delayed until 08:45. The station is probably the most pleasant I've experienced in India. Usually, they are a seething mass of bodies and, I'm sorry to say, smell of toilet. Sometimes, the edge of the platform is being used as a toilet.
Here, the air is fresh and there are few people. I can hear birds singing.