KL

We arrive back in KL and go straight to the bus ticket station. No buses for Melaka are available so we book ourselves on to an overnight bus to Singapore, dump our bags in the hostel we'd stayed in before and kill some time here til midnight, then our bus is an hour late arriving due to all the traffic with Chinese New Year. We get to Singapore with no hiccups though.

Taman Negara

Our bus to Taman Negara has loads of room for us to spread out and chill and drops us at Tembeling jetty for a boat ride which is beautiful, but longer than I expected (4 hours). It drops us at a floating resturant and we scramble up the muddy/sandy bank and find dorm beds complete with mosquito nets. We catch a boat across the river to flash our park permit and check out the tours the resort offers. We end up going on a night trek with one of the cheaper companies and its amazing! We see loads of animals. Stick insects, 3 types of deer (1 of those is the mouse deer and is tiny) 2 rare birds(1 of those is a kingfisher) , huntsman spider, hunting spider, malaysian tarantula, loads of ants (some of them really huge), termites (Mark and I wore sandals so we had to run), hear tree frogs singing like birds (and loads more but I'm writing this in Australia so I can't remember). No tigers though! We have a tough job on our hands that night trying to fit the mosquito nets, trying not to trap any of the huge beatles flying around screaming, crashing against everything trying to get at the light, urgh! And using the bathroom was a terrifying experience for the same reason. Note to self, go before sunset tomorrow.

We're up early the next day, cross to the resort to put our big bags in lockers, book a night in a hide and set off for the treetop walkway. Its Chinese New Year today so the park's busy with Malaysians too. Slightly disappointingly part of the walkway's blocked off so it might be the longest in the world, but we don't get to walk all of it. (Doesn't look like the "I'm a celebrity..." set either Innes) We go back to the resort for lunch which is a bit of a treat although 3pounds isn't a lot it is for Malasia......but it is scrummy and huge portions. Pasta too! Then set off for the hide with a packet of biscuits. Mark gets munched by leeches, and the path is fairly challenging (read muddy). We get to the hide around 4.30 just as its starting to get darker. (The rainforest is fairly dense). We're soon joined by a couple then wait for the animals. We see a few birds, including a woodpecker, and fireflies later on. The most impressive thing is the sound at night. As the dawn breaks and everything goes quiet you realise just how loud it was. (I have a lil vid on my camera, sounds really cool). I have a really good night's sleep despite the noise and wooden bunk (thats right no matress) oh and a lil mouse came to visit us in the room. Was v cute.

Around 9 mark and I set off back towards the resort for brunch, we're loads quicker going back, familiar path I suppose, and leech avoidance. We have to chill out for a bit reading as they're not serving lunch yet. We're both totally stinking too (yup same sweaty clothes as yesterday plus we slept in them too) and I'm a bit surprised they let us in (it is a bit posh) someone rushes in from outside and calls us to see a baby python while we're eating too, which was nice. We have a gentle stroll on familiar paths in the afternoon as we're both a bit knackered. Then check back into our dorm.

The next morning we're up ealy to catch a local bus to a nearby town- transport hub. We've been told we can get a bus or train from here to Melaka, which is a lot more direct than doing it from KL as we'd intended. We get to this town and eventually find the train station (tucked away, no signposts, locals don't speak much english) ask when the next train to Melaka is, not for 5 hours. So we walk back to the bus station, all buses to Melaka are sold out. So we go back to the train station (all of this with heavy bags) and ask for the train ticket. Sold out, when's the train after that? Midnight. I bag sit while Mark goes to quiz the bus ticket place about buses to KL, he comes back as its a no go. So I try to get tickets for the midnight train. Its full. "what about the next day? Is that full? The day after that?" They're all full for 4 days as its Chinese New Year. So we catch the same local bus back to Taman Negara and book ourselves on the boat/bus combo back to KL the next morning.

Kuala Lumpur

The bus to KL is fairly uneventful as I kip all the way. Some disorientation when we get off as all the street signs seem to be hiding, but we soon find our way towards chinatown/Petaling street and the hostel we're staying at. Mark and I are in the same dorm and Innes is in the room just off, our room is like a cave as there are no windows and someone's always sleeping so the light stays off. We head off towards the CBD to take in the Petronas twin towers, check out the shopping centre at the bottom, spend an eternity in a bookshop and get some more piccies in the dark.

Next day we visit the KL communications tower for a view over the city, walking through the park to get to it. We also go to the indoor market near Chinatown for some essential shopping. Eating at foodcourts where curries come on the bone- for the first time since we arrived in SE Asia. We spend some time in the afternoon in the Times Square Mall, the biggest in KL and go bowling! Yey! The market in Chinatown so Innes can do some shoe shopping and Mark can buy a rugby top. Then we're all toasting Innes' departure with a tiger beer.


Mark and I wake early to beat the crowds queing for tickets to Petronas, we buy some yummy fruit on the way and breakfast standing in line. As a result we're in the second party of the day to tour. Go us! Got some wicky pics from the skybridge then did a bit more shopping. Taking in a film that evening in Times Square "meet the spartans" which seemed heavily edited. We also visit the post office to send parcels home. Bit of a farce.

Cameron Highlands

The bus ride's not so great as the road's immensely winding as it climbs the mountains/hills? Lush scenery though. We stumble off and head for some lunch while looking for a hostel. Indian, which I'm not completely in the mood for after the stomach churning bus ride. I opt for the mushroom soup, which though out of place on the menu, is welcome.....Until it arrives and tastes like dishwater. Yuk! My fault for trying to eat western though.

We get a 4 bed dorm room at the Cameronian Inn all to ourselves, which is very nice. Guided walks daily too. We head out to explore the town and get some internet time, it starts pouring with rain and our waterproofs are very much required. The next day we head out for a half-day landrover tour. Taking in the tea plantation, Boh tea making factory, mountaintop viewpoint, ancient (5?million years old?) moss forest and butterfly/insect deathtrap. Mark gets to hold a beatle (I think it was Ringo) and Innes gets a scorpion. Totally loved the tea plantation and even enjoyed the cup of tea (how posh were we with those little sieves) and the moss forest was amazing. We head to a really cute lil cafe and treat ourselves to scones!

When we get back to the hostel after our evening meal the couple we met yesterday Tom and Charlotte are watching Casper in the tv room. We join them and after a bit of a chat agree to go on the guided walk the next day with Charlotte while Tom was more adventurous. It wasn't to be though and the guide sneakily gave us the slip and we didn't catch him before he disappeared into the trees. We returned to the hostel, had a bit of a moan about him, picked up some maps and headed out on our own. It must've been the steepest trail on the maps, felt like I was about to collapse for most of it, and it was a relief when it started to rain. We made it to the top though and going down was easy, and fast. We helped ourselves to a sample from the strawberry farm the path ran through and fully deserved the scrummy strawberry freeze pops when we were back in the town. Lunch in the same cute cafe (or pud in my case as I'd already scoffed crisps on the top of the mountain mm cheesecake). More internet and Innes gets a haircut.

Penang (Georgetown), Malaysia

We arrive at Penang fairly late (don't we always) and are lucky to get a room straight off at the Olive Spring hotel (although a few eyebrows are raised at me sharing with the boys as its a Muslim area) a dubious dinner at the cafe across the road followed. The next day we do a bit of a walking tour from afar- where we're too hot to actually go in anywhere but content ourselves to walk past. Mark's feeling unwell with a cold so heads back for a nap while Innes and I explore the streets of Chinatown, then get a few cold drinks in cafes, the delights of "jolly shandy" being sampled for the first time. We head for an Indian meal that night which is nice although not as cheap as the guidebook suggests. We stroll the streets, past the clubs and posh hotels and call in for a drink at Soho, which is like being back in a pub in Britain when you step through the doors, I even have a Guinness. The next day we catch a bus to Penang Hill, then a furnicular railway to the top. We're all squashed in, as many people as they can fit. At the top a (possibly Russian) male tourist tries to tease a monkey with a rolled up piece of paper but the monkey's not falling for that one and goes for him- never seen anyone move so fast! We grab some lunch then go for a little walk, passing an old British post box til we get to the treetop walkway, which is good fun apart from the point when I realised what I was actually walking on was old ladders with mdf on top (and a net) some of which were a bit rusty Argh! We meander back towards the railway and stop to read our books for a while. That night we eat the best tandoori chicken/naan/curry sauces in the world ever (have to use your fingers). The next morning we ask the overnight guy at our hostel to book us a taxi to the main bus station, he tells us we can get to it on a bus and points the way, pushes us out the door, and locks it after us. We speak to the first driver of the first bus that comes along and he says we need the next bus stop down, busses aren't that frequent and we're quickly running out of time to get to the bus when Innes spots a stray taxi and manages to flag it down. Phew!

Koh Phi Phi (pronounced peepee!)

We catch a bus/boat combo to Phi Phi, then catch a taxiboat straight to a different (nicer) beach. We have big problems with accommodation though, all the nice budget options have already gone and we're faced with a choice of 2 shabby bamboo huts for 1400baht or a jumbo kingsize bed in a huge a/c room for 2000. Mark and I are swayed by the luxury option, especially as its just 1 night, we've decided to head to Penang the next day, as we're simply outpriced. Scouring the beach to find this out means Innes and I have lost half our weight by sweating. We sling our bags in the room and spend the rest of the day sweating on the beach/cooling off in the sea. Our beach is packed with like-minded people and has a nice view of its sister island, the place where the film "the beach" was shot. The sea is so warm its like a bath. When we venture out to enquire about tickets to Penang, half the relevant staff aren't on hand so we have to get up super early the next day, unsure we can get an afternoon bus from Krabi. Lucky we did as we can't, we gobble our free breakfast and head for the boat. Its chaos on the jetty in the main port, boats going to all sorts of places are moored next to each other, there's no organisation either so a massive crowd of backpackers and 2 weekers with their huge wheelie suitcases are surging forwards towards the boats, not helped by the fact they're boarding "Krabi only" but there's too many people &cases in the way to get through. We do board eventually and are lucky enough not to have to sit on the floor. Our bus to Penang is actually a minibus, and our driver a mentallist, overtaking everything he sees and forever gunning the engine. We screech to a halt in Hat Yai outside a travel agents which is having the pavement re-concreted and our driver shouts "Get out now" we scramble to do as he says and 5 minutes later are being shoved into a second minibus which takes us over the border into Malaysia, bizzarely cabbages and colour photocopiers are not allowed over the border.

Krabi

Urgh, just about back to normal after the full moon we set off for Krabi. A songathew comes to pick us up but theres no way we're able to squash in with all the people and bags already in there. The driver sees this straight away fortunately and tells us to wait for 10 minutes, another will be along in a bit. We think our luck's in when an airconditioned minibus arrives. The journey back to the port is not made any better by being able to see where we're going though, possibly worse if anything. We pass a truck that's overturned on a steep hill, the cabin is completely crushed. The boat takes us across to the mainland then there's a couple of hours to wait before the bus picks us up to take us to Krabi. When it does arrive the bus station is out of town and its late evening, touts press accomodation on you and too weary to trudge the streets we settle on a place called Hollywood, because its cheap. Obviously a Thai architect, there's no sinks in the shared bathroom and we have to brush our teeth using water from the shower. The lady who owns the place is very helpful though, eager for us to book trips. We just head out for dinner straight off though, and everything is shut up when we get back. We set our alarms super early to try and get on a kayaking trip the next day. No luck though, although the staff did try for us so instead we spend the day exploring Krabi, checking out second hand book shops and the internet. Eating our evening meal in the night market, which was very nice. There was some sort of ceremony going on nearby. We think either a wedding or wake. There was lots of music, burning things, flying a kite and firecrackers. The next day is our kayaking day trip. They try to pick us up 20 minutes early, cue some frantic knocking on our door, but they've no chance so they come back for us. We arrive at our starting point and are handed dry bags and a paddle. We're in tandem sea kayaks so I'm with a random guy who seems a bit annoyed to have me with him. We set off around a sandbank for a sea gypsy burial site where several bones are passed around, then we paddle through a canyon (the 3rd longest/tallest in the world??) and into a lagoon, we have a bit of a fruit party, paddle a bit further then are descended on by a pack of monkeys. They ignore us apart from sitting on our boats and paddles and climbling over us to get to the leftover pieces of fruit. Obviously they're fed every day but it makes a nice picture opportunity. We paddle out of the lagoon and back towards our starting point, as we get out of our boats we see Rach who is doing the halfday trip, Emma has headed for Singapore. We have some lunch with the rest of our group then most of then go for an elephant ride while we and the strange man who paddled with me go swimming. Our guide comes with us too and gets chatting to the guys about British football. The river's lovely and cool, I'm freaked out by the fish trying to eat me (specifically my peeling skin after getting a touch sunburned) so have to keep moving to scare them off. This is followed by a nice cool coconut while drying off. I can't get over my surprise at what a coconut actually looks like when its just come off the tree, and how nice the juice inside tastes when its fresh. Here was me thinking they always look like they do in Tesco. That evening we bump into Rach at the night market and all go off for a sneaky drink and to watch football after.

Koh Pha Ngan, full moon party

After arriving & walking down the jetty we manage to locate a songathew going to the beach we want to stay at (somewhere far enough away from Hat Rin to not be broken into on the night of the full moon by people looking for beds) We climb in next to a couple of families & I desparately attempt sleep on the attrocious, windy, unpaved roads. It takes quite a long time too. We pile out and I babysit the bags while Innes & Mark set off in opposite directions down the beach. Mark soon comes back with promising news and we trundle along to starlight bungalows. The room is nice although that first night I see a solitary cockroach coming out of the bathroom, it didn't come back or bring any friends though, so we'll let it off. A couple of days spent chilling on the beach to prepare us for the full moon then follow. The easiest way to get to Hat Rin is by boat, so we book a taxi boat which picks us and a few other partygoers up at 7. We're soon a bit damp from the spray being thrown up and are given a tarpolin to hide under, this soon proves to have been pointless when we arrive at Hat Rin as the beach is steeper so the boat can't get as close. We stop just where the surf is breaking and are told to get off. The boys jump off first and are soaked to their waist, I decide to take my dress off and wrap it around my neck (I'm wearing a bikini underneath) but fall over 3 times while doing this and making my way to the front of the boat as the waves crash against it. We all eventually stumble to the beach and the first people we see, sipping buckets of booze, are Rach & Emma. Who sensibly got land based taxis. We wander off to locate some chairs, buckets of our own and bbq beach food. Innes tanks a couple of buckets fairly quickly and wanders off pursuing some Thai lady, he's pretty spaced out when we locate him later. An easy drunk to look after though, and he's hardly sick at all...when he comes back to reality at about 4 am I run off into the sea (probably for a pee, the loos were disgusting). Losing the guys and finding some French friends instead. At 8.30 after a couple of laps of the beach looking for the guys and my flip flops amongst all the bottles I decide to meet them back at the guesthouse. I have to pay an extortionate 1000baht (around 15 quid) for the (land based) taxi back but have no other choice but to pay it. Arriving back on the beach at the same time as the guys, luckily. They'd walked part of the way then got a taxi for 300baht each. We snaffled another room, only a/c left, then slept for the rest of the day, waking to force down some mushroom soup with my hangover at 8.

Koh Tao

We're recruited into Big Blue Diving school as we get off the boat, with the bonus of free accommodation as we want to do our PADI Open Water course. We're told they have a mosquito problem (actually bed bugs! urgh!) and are given a concrete apartment a 2 minute walk away rather than a beachside bungalow. Fine by us. After dumping our bags we head back to the bar for our induction and meet up with Rach & Emma, they're staying at the same place & doing the same course! Yey! The sixth member of our group is a Swedish girl called Ida. The next morning we start our theory work and in the afternoon head out into the water with the gear on to do some skills. One of the first is breathing underwater without the mask & i just can't do it, the bubbles against my shut eyes are freaking me out, so we move on for now and do some other skills, which I'm fine with apart from completely filling the mask then clearing it. As we're all getting cold we finish off and I'm to try again tomorrow. Not such a late night as we've homework to do and the same pattern is repeated, theory in the morning then practical. It quickly becomes clear while Ally, our instructor and I, have started ahead of the rest of the group, that I'm not going to be able to complete the skill. So we decide I'm to give up and stick to snorkeling. I was pretty annoyed with myself and very disappointed, I'm not going to be able to see the great barrier reef in the same detail as the boys. From then on my days were taken up with reading on the beach, and going for little swims to cool off. Drinking beer to make the boys jealous in the evenings (not advised with diving). On the last day, after 2 dives and their graduation we all went out for a few drinks on a beachside pub crawl. The vodka & redbulls ensured I didn't have much sleep and I was still drunk & chatty eating breakfast, soon passed out on the boat later that afternoon on our way to Koh Phan Ngan for the full moon party. Quote of the last night in Koh Tao goes to Innes who after being snogged/pounced on by a good-looking Scandinavian bloke says "sorry mate- I'm not your man!" Good job Rachel was there to fill us in on that, damn memory loss.

Ko Samui

We spend 21 hours in Bangkok and a large proportion is on the internet (updating blog!) We go for the cheapest overnight bus option and are fortunate that its only an hour late and its a VIP bus, DVD player, a loo & super posh reclining seats. At 5am we're kicked off and told we have to wait for another bus, we're herded inside the travel agents and another DVD is put on. The bus arrives at 7 & we're taken to the boat, its a super fast one. We're being spoilt. We arrive by 11 as promised and catch a songathew to Lamai beach. The next couple of hours is a hell of lugging our bags in the sweltering heat, looking for something in our price range. The afternoon spent on the gorgeous beach and swimming in the sea is ample compensation though. Its Innes' birthday so we head out for a nice meal and a few drinks, its UK prices though as theres so many non backpacker tourists around, still we manage to squeeze in a 2 litre tower of chang, and feel a lil fuzzy the next morning. After a hearty English breakfast at Sir Winston Churchill's (yes its that touristy) we head out to look for the grandmother and grandfather rocks, which are rude shapes. Then lounge on the beach til the sun goes in. Tomorrow we set sail for Ko Tao.

Siem Reap & Angkor

Tuk Tuk drivers are clamouring for our business as the bus pulls up at the station. They're hammering on the windows calling "madame", holding up cards with the names of guesthouses, telling you they speak good english. They wait at the entrance to the bus, pulling at you, trying to help you with your bag, trying to get your business. We hurry as quickly as we can to the minibus provided by the travel company, to take us to their suggested hotel. One tuk tuk driver is particularly irate, telling me its a scam, asking if I know what that means. We're not that naive, but it turns out he was right- the hotel is not in the location we wanted, the only triple room they have in our price range is across the road in a slightly skankier building, its a shared bathroom, the beds haven't been made, and its still a bit pricey. We hop in a tuk tuk to our preferred location, he gets his opinion in and takes us to a hotel he recommends. The room they offer smells of the sewers and we move on, the next place is way too expensive. We part with our driver, agreeing to meet him in an hour for our sunset from Angkor Wat. Shoulder our bags towards the European Guesthouse, the room is really lovely, clean with an en-suite and only $7. Cold shower though. We gobble some food, find our driver and buy 3 day tickets for the archaeological site, the pass starts tomorrow but we can start using it this evening.

The ladies running our guesthouse arrange a guide and tuk tuk driver for us the next day. We start with sunrise at Phnom Bakheng. Climbing the steep steps with our torches we sit at the top looking at the stars, we're the first there. Before sunrise we're joined by more people but not more than 15 in total. Once we've got our sunrise shots we move on to the huge Angkor Thom, crossing a stone causeway lined with gods and demons churning the ocean of milk, lots of them were beheaded by the Khmer Rouge in the 70's. In the middle of the walled city is the Bayon temple, we can explore all 3 levels, getting quite close to the 4 faces adorning each tower. We walk the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King and the boys climb the Phimeanakas. I don't fancy that as it looks a bit sheer for flip flops- Didn't realise there were proper wooden stairs the other side! We then head for Ta Phrom, which has been cleared a little to allow access but still has trees growing through it, looking like its only just been rediscovered, cue some impressive piccies. We then go to Banteay Kdei which is a 12th century Buddhist temple with some carvings still visible inside the enclosures. The day is getting a lot hotter, we're getting slower and more lethargic so we break for lunch and meet up again at 2, spending a lot of time examining bas reliefs depicting battle scenes and religious stories in Angkor Wat, we then head back to Phnon Bakheng for sunset, its absolutely rammed with tourists, all vying for a good spot for a photo. At the end of the day we're absolutely knackered and have a very early night.

We arrange for the same driver to pick us up the next day at 6 and head 30km ish towards Banteay Srei, going early to avoid the crowds. It takes about an hour and a half and until the sun is properly up is freezing. We have to keep stopping for our driver to fill the water bottle that's connected to the engine somehow. Charming scenes of typical Cambodian life follow the road, its really dusty and bumpy for most of the way, but I still manage to sleep for some of it. Banteay Srei is a wonderfully well preserved 10th century temple whose carvings were particularly deep and detailed. Its really small compared to the other temples, and wouldn't take many tourists to appear crowded, the sandstone here is a pinkish colour. Our driver then takes us to a waterfall with Angkor carvings in the river bed above and below the falls, its a bit of a trek to get there but well worth it. We then head to Neak Pean. We finish the day off at Preah Khan, where piles of stone push against remaining walls, the encroaching forrest crushing the building, v impressive. We head for dinner to a place recommended in the book, all ordering Amoks which are served in a coconut. Yum!

The next day our driver picks us up at 5.15 and we head to Angkor Wat for sunrise. The sky turns some very pretty colours but we're doubtful the sun itself will rise behind the temple so start heading back to the tuk tuk. As we're crossing the causeway we spot the sun to the right of the site and get a few nice shots. We pop back to the guesthouse for our bags and head to the bus station which turns out to be a travel agents. We're in plenty of time for our 8 o'clock bus as it doesn't set off til 9. Every single seat is taken, our bags fill the back window, are squished under the seats and fill the aisle, 4 people sit in the aisle at the front on plastic chairs. The air con is sparodic and the people sat at the back are slowly being poisoned with fumes from the engine but are banned from opening the window by the driver, every time they do he turns the air con off and the bus roasts. The roads are really dusty and bumpy dirt tracks, every time we approach a bridge under construction there's a sharp detour around it. A 4 hour trip turns into 7.

Sihanoukville

Our bus drops us at the bus station and we're immediately bombarded with offers of motos. We're not too sure where we are on the map though so we walk off for a bit, get talking to an English chap who's promoting his guesthouse, he's not pushy though so we grab a tuk tuk to check it out. Its full though so we stay next door at Mick& Craig's. 5 minutes walk and you're on the beach, you have to walk past an awful lot of rubbish to get there though. Not having landfill all the rubbish ends up on the street or in the sea. This does spoil sections of the beach, but parts of it are really lovely and the sea is gorgeous. The bars are pretty good too and loads of places served english breakfasts, sating Mark's desire for Heinz beans. Heaven! 2 days of R&R.

Phom Penh, Cambodia

We stay at the hotel we're dropped at, after the long journey we've had. $11 for a room with 5 beds (although they're only charging 3 bed rate), we head out for some food and book a trip for the next day, the city tour taking in the killing fields, Russian market, Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (s21), Wat Phnom, The Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda and the National Museum. Leaving the hotel proves difficult. We stop on our way our and ask to access our parcel we deposited in the safe last night (due to advice in book- wouldn't want to lose passport in a mugging) we're after some dollars from our moneybelts. There's a lot of confused Cambodian conversation between the guy at the desk and his Dad, eventually a woman goes into the room next door and comes back very quickly with our parcel, its probably been bunged on a shelf overnight. While this is going on the guy is trying to sell us tour tickets, which we've already bought from a different company, and dragging out the time so we'll miss our bus, his Dad thinks we're trying to check out without paying (and without our luggage?!?) and he's also asking what's in the parcel in the "safe". We decide it'll be safer to take our moneybelts with us and hurry off.

The tour is excellent, our guide speaks very good english and its quite a small group. The killing fields for Phnom Penh were a Chinese cemetary, these graves were desecrated to dig mass graves for the thousands of men, women and children killed here, lots of the graves have been opened by the Cambodian people and scraps of clothes can still be seen half buried, their skulls, some of their other bones and some clothes make up the memorial in the centre. The men and women were first tortured for up to 2 months in S21 before being brought here and were beaten to death rather than being shot as bullets were scarce, children were grabbed by their ankles, their heads slammed into a certain tree, or thrown into the air and stabbed by bayonets. One of the graves contained Khymer Rouge soldiers who tried to defect. The Genocide Museum is pretty harrowing too, an ex secondary school converted into prison cells, each cell containing a bed and shackles. The walls are painted sunshine yellow and the ceilings are splattered with blood. There are photos of some of the victims on display, Pol Pot's soldiers destroyed others as the Vietnamese were liberating Cambodia. Also 14 people were found dead, shackled to beds and a photo of how they were found hangs on the wall of the room they were in, they're buried in the yard outside.

The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda are nice, it takes us ages to work out the Silver Pagoda is so named because the floor is made from sheets of silver. The National Museum has some of the more precious Khymer statues (so they're not stolen from Ankor) also some pre-Ankor statues, the guide is difficult to follow as she speaks really quickly and its the end of the day. As we're there lots of people start milling around in traditional dress and there's a TV crewe outside, some Khymer artefacts in American possesion are being returned tonight. We buy our bus tickets to Sihanoukville for the next day from the same company as our tour- Capitol, and check out Phenom Penh's nightlife. The security check to get in to the heart of darkness is like an airport pat-down! Predictably our man on reception is reluctant for us to leave the next day as we've not bought our tickets from him, he's helpless to stop us as I had him the correct money and we shout "thank you, bye" as we head for the door.

Mekong Delta

Early the next morning we're sitting in STA waiting for our bus with our cheese baguettes on our laps. When the bus does pick us up theres a lot of phaff about whether we're on the 2 day or 3 day trip and whether we're staying on the boat overnight. The whole busload seems to be on the same wavelength but the guides are clueless. Again it takes forever to pick everyone up, trudging through roads packed with mopeds. Eventually we're off, we get to the river and the boat takes us to a little island for our lunch, we get to try some Vietnamese lychees. We hop back on the boat and head up the river visiting the vestiges of the floating market- not much left at this time of day, and passing cargo boats loaded with sand to use for building. The boat drops us in Can Tho and the bus takes us to our hotel. We head out and explore the city as far as a nice restaurant, then play bananagrams and drink beer in our room. A mini-bus takes us to the ferry port where we have to carry our bags on to the boat and get on a different minibus on the other side. The logistics of getting enough small boats for us all and our bags seems to baffle our guides. We actually have to get on and off ours a couple of times while they decide which end to load our bags into. We're taken to a fish farm then a local tribe's village, our boat lands us in Chau Doc where we get our Cambodian Visas and cross the border on foot, getting on a bigger boat with deckchairs on the deck for a while, getting off to get our entry stamp a little further up river, changing boat again, before getting on a bus which takes us to Phnom Penh. This option felt a little rushed and I'd recommend anyone to go for the 3 day option or just get the bus across the border.

Saigon

Or Ho Chi Minh City, same same but different. The locals use both, Saigon usually refers to the central part. We have some difficulty finding a room as all the hotels are full, the Vietnamese head to Saigon for New Year too. We meet the girls who arrived the day before and are looking for a new place as they are currently in dorms run by a relgious cult! We're eventually rescued by a lady who hears us asking for a triple room, she has one room left to rent in her guesthouse- its a triple. We twist and turn down some narrow back alleys in a v central location and quickly arrive at her house. The stairs are unbelievable, they might as well be a ladder they're so steep. The room is nice though big and clean with an en-suite. We explore a little and end the night in a bia hoi, it tastes a little odd though not a patch on Hanoi bia hoi. The locals are really friendly and quickly strike up conversations, recommending places to visit and trips to go on, in exchange for editing their CV's!

The next day we're on a tour to see the Cu Chi tunnels, the bus takes forever to get there, it doesn't help that we drive past our pick up point 4 times, gradually adding more passengers, in Saigon's rush hour. Our guide is called Buli, his mother was Vietnamese and his father was a Philipino diplomat in America. During the war in Vietnam he was an officer for the Americans working as a coastguard on the river (think Apocalypse Now), when America pulled out of Vietnam he stayed behind to look after his mother and spent 4 years imprisoned, clearing mines and being re-educated as a communist. We see new foliage which is only just starting to recover after chemicals such as agent orange blanketed the land, mock-ups of classrooms and work rooms making weapons. Innes climbs down a sniper hole and we all crawl through a section of tunnel 100m long, which had been widened for tourists but was still really claustrophobic, we climbed down to the third level and came out at the hospital at the far end. There's actually lights down there now but the tunnels twist and turn and are so narrow most of it is almost complete darkness, the best way to get through it is to keep crawling. The boys head for the firing range as I head for an ice-cream, and jump out of my skin every time a shot is fired. Innes, the bugger, buys 10 rounds and goes for a semi-automatic option, I almost dropped my ice-cream! The rest of the afternoon is spent sight-seeing in the city. We visit the War Remnants Museum which has lots of photographs of napalm victims, and the effects on their children. There are even some tiny malformed foetuses pickled in jars. It also has an extensive section on photojournalists who lost their lives documenting the war, their most moving pictures and the last shots they took.

New Year's Eve and we spend quite a long time filling in forms to send parcels home, hopefully the boat won't sink! A bit more sightseeing at the Reunification Palace which was built as Diem's presidential palace and has remained pretty much unchanged. Huge 60's and 70's style rooms and kitsch office space with world maps on the walls and lots of phones. It feels like you've walked on to a James Bond set and might bump into the evil genius at any moment, or his fluffy kitty. We hook up with Rachel, the 2 Emmas and Neil for the evening celebrations, meeting up at the bar on the corner with bottles of rum and coke in my bag. As it gets towards midnight we head out on to the street where a stage has been set up. There's loads of Vietnamese bands with dancers playing pop music, some of it familiar. We dance to what we recognise and get singled out by the singers, obviously the locals aren't dancing. Our watches are saying its gone midnight, but we haven't heard a countdown, cue a minute of confusion before we hear "5,4,3..." Happy New Year! We pop our bags of confetti, watch a bit of the strange catwalk show going on then head back to the bar. Cheekily buying beer from the shop across the road. Mark heads to bed a little before Innes and I who decide food is needed. As its so late we have to go to lotteria (Korean maccy d's) our first fast food joint of the trip, oh the shame. It tastes good though. I drink my coke for breakfast (although its more mid afternoon when we wake up), not sure how I didn't spill any of it on the way up those stairs! The 1st is a bleary haze of hungoverness and junk food, mostly for me.

Mui Ne

We snaffle a "beach bungalow" where the bus dumps us in Mui Ne. Not as glamourous as it sounds but affordable. The town is basically one long road which stretches for miles parallel to the beach, all the hotels are on the beach side and restaurants and shops on the other. We decide to explore this shortly after arriving on foot, judging by the number of offers of "moto" we got the locals obviously thought we were bonkers, they'd be right as it did take a long time. We walked til the shops ran out then turned back, stopped for an ice-cream & a drink then carried on til an internet cafe. Mark and I leave Innes there (he was sneaky enough to bring USB cables etc without telling us) and we head back to get our stuff. We think we're about halfway back when we realise Innes has the room key, we carry on in the hope that we'll be let in with the spare key/ we'll give up and drink some beers. Unfortunately our guesthouse is set back from the road and in the twilight must've looked a lot different- we walk straight past it and walk for ages in the other direction, coming right out of the built up area, up a small hill with a view of a different beach. We have another problem which is neither of us can remember the name, so we can't even hail a moto! With the help of a map in the reception of a posh hotel we narrow our choices to 2 that sound familiar and eventually arrive back an hour after Innes, with really tired feet.

The next day we wake at 4.30 (argh!) and creep into our jeep to watch the sun rise over the white sand dunes, the peacefulness is soon shattered when he starts the engine and his radio kicks in- we're like a mobile rave. Our driver drops us in a dark car park, points towards some trees and says "that way" then says "sunset over there" we get our torches out and follow the little path through the forrest, picking up some little kids on our way. I settle on the top of the first big dune we climb and the boys head to the second, its a while before I notice the sky behind me is pretty colours as I'm looking in the opposite direction to the "sunset" waiting for sunrise! opps! After that we get a bit of sand sledging done- lying on the plastic mats the little boys hand us and waiting for them to push us off the top. Next our driver takes us to the red dunes, we pass on the sledging here as the dunes aren't as steep (& I'm a bit knackered) then head to the fishing village. Women are sorting shellfish on the beach and men & boys are steering coracles out to sea, small children wander over to try and sell us postcards and bracelets but don't pester us too much, they ask where we're from and are very curious about my freckles- they don't like them! (Everybody wants pale skin out here, women especially are very covered up, skin whiteners can be bought in shops and the lowest factor suncream is 40) Next we're dropped off at the fairy stream. We leave our flipflops with our driver and climb into the shallow stream, its like a path made from sand with a thin film of water on top. We soon acquire a child guide although the way is pretty obvious, where the water gets deep we climb out and walk along the bank until we see the waterfall. Walking back we see loads of tourists coming the other way, good timing. Our driver has gone and left our flipflops behind, another driver loads us into his jeep and bombs it back to our guesthouse. We spend the rest of the day chilling on loungers on the beach, the sea is very close and loud as it crashes on the sand.

Nha Trang

As the bus arrives in Nha Trang the sun is rising over the sea. What a welcome! We stop to view rooms in a hotel the bus stops at, feel sure we can get somewhere better, pick up our bags and head off around town. Guys on bikes keep showing us leaflets of guesthouses/ hotels that they're pushing. Each look the same with photoshopped views. Eventually we settle at the Nice hotel, a dorm room at $2 a night each. Its the poshest dorm I've ever been in with its own cable TV and as there's only 4 beds we have it to ourselves. Shared bathroom with the rest of the floor though and the not-very-frosted glass panel in the door means there's not much left to the imagination when the light's on. We head to the beach for the rest of the day. The sand is coarser than it was in Hoi An. That night we head out for some "research" before Christmas day. Ending up in Bar Why Not? several bucketfuls of cocktail later we stagger home via a roadside restaurant that did an amazing steak and egg sandwich for 60p and its fun sitting on tiny plastic stools. Tinsy bit hungover the next day. The beach and bars formula is repeated the next day which is Christmas Eve, its a big day for Jasper as Christmas Eve is the biggest celebration in Denmark. We meet up with the gang and hit the Sailing Club, as its full moon so should be spent on a beach. Jasper starts feeling worse for wear & when he starts falling asleep Mark & I decide to take him back. Slight problem is he can't walk so we have to carry him across the dancefloor & out the front, dumping him in a strategically placed cyclo, perfect vehicle for drunk people. The hotel staff move very quickly when we arrive, throwing our key over the reception desk as we carry him up the stairs. Mark wins the prize for Jasper not losing his flip flops that night. We dump him on his bed & he throws up. A lot. Yuk! There's obviously no justice as the next morning he wolfs down some breakfast and opens a can of beer as soon as we arrive on the boat for our "booze cruise". Mama Lyn's crewe take us to 3 islands for some swimming, snorkling, sitting in rubber rings drinking free shot glasses of wine, sunbathing & parasailing. For the latter I tandem with Neil & they dunk our legs in the water twice, before speeding off and giving us more height. Bit scarry as I didn't realise they did that (you can't see it from the beach) and a few people before us the couple ended up being rescued by jetski and the sail being dried on the beach. The view was amazing, but it was over way too quickly. Mark & Innes lived out their topgun volleyball fantasy with half the people on the beach. We also had a seafood lunch on the boat, a fruit party (?!?) and some musical entertainment from the enthusiastic crewe, normal guitars and bass but a v improvised drum-kit- various plastic containers and an old symbol, it had a good sound though! They played a few songs, including we wish you a merry christmas, of course! Then they started asking where people were from, calling them up on stage and getting them to sing along to a song of their nationality. Neil was first, then Jasper with another Danish guy, then me. They ask where I'm from I say "Wales", they say "Ah sex bomb!" but when I get up there start playing yellow submarine! Mark & Innes escaped this embarressment as there were too many English people on the boat- not interesting enough. Back on dry land we all meet up after some dinner for a few drinks in the Why Not? Bar. Neil's up for a bender but we're really tired so head back around 1, missing out the club. Boxing day is spent in a mud spa, as recommended by Rach. Its 2 quid and we're there for around 4 hours, there's various stages of washing after the mud bath and a huge pool, all is heated geothermally. The next day us 3 musketeers catch an early morning bus to Mui Ne, leaving Jasper to start a diving course in Nha Trang.