Los Estados Unidos

So America.... I was there for 5 weeks. After Los Angeles i got the bus up to San Francisco where I spent 5 days checking out the city and the golden Gate Bridge and, for a couple of days recovering from illness. San Francisco was vastly different and much better than Los Angeles, it wasn't intersected with freeways, it wasn't a sprawling mess and you could walk around the city quite happily. I did however enjoy Los angeles despite my little rant.

After San Francisco began, what can only be described as a legendary bus trip that over the course of 2 weeks took me (and 27 others) all the way from SF on the South Pacific Coast, to Boston on the North Atlantic Coast. That's a journey of roughly 5,500 miles, most of which was covered whilst we slept on the bus.

The bus we travelled on was an old Greyhound bus that had been retrofitted so that during the day it had 2 'sofas' for maybe... 8-10 people at the front than 2 tables each side (4 in total) in the middle with seats either side, and then the same set up in the back as at the front. However the back was usually left in night mode, so one big king size bed, which enable people to sleep top-to-tail.

Over the 2 weeks we saw a crazy amount of stuff, Valley of Fire NP, Las Vegas, Canyon de Chelley, Grand Canyon, Zion NP, Big Bend NP, White Sands, City of Rocks, Mexico (we swam the Rio Grande), Austin, New Orleans and Washington DC. The tempo was pretty mental, with the exception of 4 nights where we were able to camp out under the stars (this involved a ground sheet, cushions from the bus and out sleeping bags) we were driving every night for anything from 7 to 11 hours, during which we slept. I usually slept at the front of the bus which meant 7-8 people sleeping on an area the size of a king size bed, it was brilliant.

Although, the trip was perfect for what i wanted, we saw loads of cool places, most of which i wouldn't have been able to reach on my own, i got to travel with w massive group of awesome people, and had a superb time.

It finished in Boston where i spent 5 days and I then got the bus down to my final destination, New York. NY was a great place to finish my trip, it's a great city to walk around with loads of cool districts like Little Italy, Soho and Chinatown. It also has all the world famous landmarks, Time Square, Empire State building, Chrysler building, Statue of Liberty and many more. it was fantastic.

So almost exactly 10 months after leaving the UK i returned, having had a bloody good time!!

Los Angeles

I got the overnight flight from Rarotonga to Los Angeles on the 23rd May and was fortunate to be able to sleep for most of it. Immigration at LAX seemed to take longer than the flight. I got my first impressions of LA on the drive to the hotel, they love concrete, wide roads, big cars and fast food, so nothing i didn't already know already. I then had three pretty full on days exploring the city.

Day 1: walked from Playa del Rey to Venice, Venice Board walk and onto Santa Monica which it turns out is a fair old way!!!

Day 2: hollywood and downtown: was unimpressed with Hollywood but then i'm not really into the celebrity culture so most of it was lost on me.

Day 3: Universal studios: this was a lot of fun if uber-touristy!!

I've found it easy enough to get around to the main areas with out a car using public transport but its so easy to see why obesity and poor health are such problems here - the number of fast food joints is mind boggling (and cheap) meanwhile fruit and vegetables seem to be few and far between.

Rarotonga, Cook Islands

My Round-the-world ticket included a stop in Rarotonga in the Cook islands so i allowed myself 4 days to relax before i hit America. It was a very wise move as the Cook Islands are superb. Roughly 4 hours west of NZ and 9.5 hours east of LA by plane they are a small group of islands in the middle of no where, i stayed on the largest of the islands - Rarotonga. It was in a word paradise, the quintessential tropical island, small island surrounded by a reef so the water was still and turquoise, white sand, palm trees etc etc. I stayed in a really nice backpackers, the first 2 nights slightly further away from the beach up a hill where it was really quiet but moved down to the beachside section for the last night. Both places had swimming pools. and the beach was amazing. I spent most the time exploring the island on a scooter with some other people i met, snorkling (not a lot of coral but the fish were amazing), swimming, lying on the beach. On the last day i did the bush walk across the island which was a nice change from the beach and got me into the rainforest and up into the 'mountains' where the views were amazing. One of the evenings we went out to an 'island night' where a local dance group puts on a show of island dancing and music which was superb fun.
I didn't really have a chance to get out to any of the other islands but i didn't really need to as i had such a good time on Rarotonga.

100km Taupo walk, tongariro, Auckland, Taranaki, Tauranga

I joined up with Sue and Tony in Levin on 7 April and on the 8th we went up to Whanganui for the night. Then next day we continued up to Turangi near the Tongariro national park where we stayed for the week.



That weekend (10th/11th April) was the Oxfam 100km trampwhich i was doing in a team of 4, my cousin Peter, Michelle, Nick and myself. We started at 0700 on Saturday april 10 and finished at 1000 on Sunday april 11, after walking for 27 hours. The first 45km we completed in 9hr 30mins, and was really good fun, the weather was beautiful, it was an interesting track, spirits were high and we made really good time overtaking loads of other teams. Unfortunately at the 45km one of our team had to retire due to a knee injury. The next leg was nightmare as it was 20km, it was the first night strech and towards the end another member of the team became very ill so it took a long time to finish. So in contrast to the first half, the last 45 km were more of a slog in the dark, one foot in front of the other, cold, no scenery etc. The sun rose again at the last checkpoint which gave a good boost to morale and so the final 13km were a bit more enjoyable. We finally crossed the line at 1000 sunday morning after being out for 27 hours.
It was a great event and i definately enjoyed it, one more great experience to add to my trip.

I spent the rest of the week in Turangi with Sue and Tony and got a few more tramps in with Sue, the Tongariro crossing was definately a highlight there.

Headed back up to Auckland on the Friday, on Sunday Chris took me on one of his customary adventures in the Waitakeres, which involved tramping, caving and swimming i the sea and the next day i explored the city and Devenport.

The rest of the week was broken up be a 2 day trip to levin for Josies funeral. The service was very good and the large number of people in attendence was a lovely tribute to Josie. It was also another opportunity to catch up with the family.

Last weekend ( 24th,25th) i went down to Mt taranaki with chris and a friend Phill for a 3 day, 2 night tramp up and around the mountain. We climbed to the summit on saturday, it was a tough climb - extremely steep with a long scree slope section as well as a bouldering/scrambling section exacerbated by heavy packs. 3/4's of the way up the cloud came in and the wind picked up obscuring the view and making the going more.... interesting. We wouldn't have made it to the top without the help of some crazy guy who in trying to break the record for the most climbs in a year was climbing it several times a week (4times that weekend), anyway he guided us to the top in minimal visibility, strong winds and a bit of rain. We had planned to go to a mountain hut the other side of the mountain but the weather forced us to lug all our gear back down the mountain and then around the mountain to another hut. The next day we checked out an impressive waterfall (and had a cold swim) and the backtracked to the summit path before heading further down the mountain to another hut very close to the car park, this meant the next day we had a quick walk out giving us time to visit new plymouth and drive back to Auckland. the tramp was fantastic and on the second day we got some superb views of the summit, it was my first experience of staying in the DOC huts and they were really nice as well.

I went back to Auckland for a few days and thanks to Peter got to go to a Vampire Weekend concert which was awesome.

I spent my last week and a half down in Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty where i managed to land a job in a kiwi fruit packing house stacking the boxes of kiwi fruit. The work was OK but it was quite sociable and had perks including free kiwi fruit and a free 55 hour a week gym session (the boxes were quite heavy!!) Tauranga was a nice town and a had time to climb Mt. Manganui which gave great 360 degree views of the coast and the land. I spent my last night at Chris's house and Peter came over for dinner, it was the perfect way to wind down my time in NZ after 5 months!!

Abel Tasman onwards

On the 16th i got the bus from Christchurch up to Marahau to spend a week with Michael, Gillian and Katherine. The Abel Tasman is a very nice part of the world. The weather was perfect and i passed the time kayaking, swimming in the turquoise water as well as hiking along the coast, not to mention relaxing at the campsite.

I then headed back to Blenheim in the hope of finding a job. I arrived at a bad time for work but managed to find a job fairly quickly. The work was on a vineyard and unfortunately the contractor was pretty dodgy so i got ripped off. I did however get 2 weeks work with a more reputable contractor and had a much better time of it. However that finished, so i found a job down in Cromwell, Central Otago starting mid-feb and headed down via Michael and Gillian who had very conveniently moved down to Christchurch!!

The job in Cromwell lasted 6 weeks and was on a vineyard again. The work was easy if tedious and Cromwell itself was a bit of a hole but i met some cool people and had a great time fending for myself.

After that job finished I decided that i'd exhausted the South Island and that i wanted to begin exploring the North Island so flew up to Wellington to stay with Prue, Allan, Rebecca and Callum for a week. I spent 2 days exploring the city, another on Sommes Island and on Easter Sunday we all went up to Levin to see Josie and Helen.

New Zealand

I've been in NZ over a month now but have done a phenomenal amount in the time.

I arrived in Auckland on the 20th december and spent a great week with Sue and Ant. The highlights were christmas eve and christmas day. On xmas eve my cousins chris and peter, myself and a friend of peters went canyoning - we spent a few hours walking down rivers, jumping of water falls, jumping off cliffs and jumping out of trees. It was pretty intense. After that we went to the beach for a bit of lazing in the sun and swimming in the sea. All in all awesome fun.

Christmas day we all went up to a house in Shakespear national park which was a superb location. We went down the beach early afternoon, had a superb christmas dinner cooked by my aunt Sue and then played sing star into the night. Great company, great food, great weather (hot and sunny)!!!

On the 27th the next stage began when me my cousin chris and his friend Michael flew down to Christchurch in the South Island to begin our 3 week odessy. We got a very early flight to CC where we picked up a rental car and after a brunch with Chris's aunt and uncle headed off into Authurs Pass. It was a pretty stunning introduction to the south Island with huge mountains and rivers. We stopped at a cave early on that you can walk through. You have to wade though icy water that sometimes reaches up to you waist though this amazing passage carved by the river. There was the odd waterfall you had to climb up as well. We stopped a few more times as we went for the odd walk and photo stop. Me and Chris went for a swim in one of the mountain streams as well but the water was so cold that it burnt. We finished off in Punakaiki on the West Coast. It was amazing to think that we'd started the day in Auckland and had finished on the West Coast after a full day of sight seeing.

The following day we went to see the pancake rocks, an interesting rock formation, and continued all the way down the west coast stopping to do some short walks, take in the views finishing at Fox Glacier. The next day we did a day walk on the glacier which involved donning crampons and pointed sticks and marching as far as we could up the ice and then down again. We saw loads of cool crevices and a few very small caves. In the early afternoon it became very overcast and started raining and became very cold. In the evening we did a glow worm walk which was stunning, hundreds of glow worms in the ferns and tree roots.

On the 30th of jan we left Fox Glacier and continued South to Wanaka. The first glimpse of the lake takes your breath away (so much of NZ does though) the vast deep blue lake surrounded by the mountains, it reminded me of the lake district. We met up with Jason, a friend of Chris's who took us to a gorge where there were a couple of really good cliff jumps into a mountain river - yes a bit chilly - his dad the took us on his boat which is a fantastic way to see the lake and the surrounding mountains. On the way down to Queenstown we had some food and a pint at the hotel Cadrona. The drive into Queenstown is spectacular with Lake Wakatipu and the mountains.

The 31st of January was a big day, obviously it was New Years Eve, but it was also the day me and Chris were doing the 134m Nevis Bungee jump and the equally impressive arc swing (the biggest in the world). It was a fair drive to where the bungee and arc swing were, in a valley outside of Queenstown. The bungee jump is done from a platform hanging from cables suspended across the valley. After getting harnessed up you take a cable car to the platform where you can watch the people in front of you jumping thanks to though the glass panels in the floor while listening to Kings of Leon and other good music pumping away. Then your name is called and you get strapped and bungeed up in full view of the drop, when your done your have to hop to the edge (your ankles are tied together) where you wait with the 150meter drop below you. Then the supervisor commences the countdown ...3.......2........1...... and then you jump (get pushed out). For a split second i though what am i doing then all you feels is freedom and the wind rushing past your ears and then then before you know it your slowing down and being pulled up. It was an awesome experience albeit far less intense than i thought it would be. I can barely remember jumping to be honest.

The arc swing was good fun, i did it with Chris, upside down. Once your in position your suspended, just hanging and waiting for the guy to press the button. Then woooosh a 70 m free fall then you swing for 400meters. Again it was good fun but over far to quickly. And as if that wasn't enough excitement for one day we went to a huge cliff jump just outside the town called 'little thailand'. I will point that thanks to a bitterly cold wind and inadequate clothing i was frozen to the bone, but that didn't stop me stripping down putting on my togs and running of a cliff to fall a long way (12 odd meters) into a nippy lake Wakatipu. It took me quite a while -and a hot tub session- to warm up again.

That evening we headed back into Queenstown for the New Years festivities. There were two stages by the lake, one with a really good live band and another with some good dance music so we spent the evening flicking between the two (raving was a very good way to warm up) There was a fire works display at midnight and we hit a bar after that. The next day we went north up to Glenorky to have an explore, amazing scenery as per usual but a very strong wind.

On the 2nd we drove down to Te Anu and on to Lake Manapourie where we camped. We planned to go on a kayaking adventure but couldn't because of the weather so we did a lot of tramping instead. We did a good chunk of the Kepler track as well as another.

A few days later me and Chris headed further into Fiordland with a rugged camp by lake Gunn (very cold very wet) and did a cruise on Milford Sound. I had been told by everyone that Milford Sound was spectacular and we weren't disappointed heavy rain the previous day, night and all that morning simply meant that there were even more water falls and they were all far bigger. We left very early so there were no other cars around and it was like the lost world driving though this valley in the cloud with sheer cliffs either side and thousands of waterfalls everywhere. The boat we were on to tour the sound wasn't too busy so it didn't feel too touristy and after 2 hours cruising around the only word i can use to describe it is stunning.

After another night in Manapourie we drove down to Invercargill which is definitely NOT my favorite place in NZ and i don't really have anything to say about it. It was however our jump off place to Stewart island.

The Stewart island trip stared of quite stressfully, we had originally planned to tramp across for Oban on the East side to Mason's bay on the West in order to see the Kiwi's. This would have been hard work given our limited time. Severe rain meant that the track was very muddy, waist deep in places according to the DOC wardens which would have made the going even tougher. So instead we decided to do the Rakiura track in 2 days and then spent another day on the Ulva island bird sanctuary. The Rakiura track was good, the weather was temperamental, it rained for the first few hours and then began a patten of rain, hail sun, rain, hail, sun until mid afternoon when the cloud disappeared and the sun came put for the rest of the day. We had the most amazing campsite, right by a perfect beach in a large bay where we had a swim. It was dry, warm and sunny........perfect. It was a very cold night and the following day was a muddy, wet, cold slog but i would be lying if i said i didn't enjoy it.

We returned to Invercargill for just one night before driving along the coast to Dunedin. We went to the most southern point in NZ and all the way though the Catlins but like the last 2 weeks it was cold wet and windy. We stopped at nugget point and got drenched walking to the light house but it was worth it to see the impossible rugged coast line. Dunedin itself was probably the nicest city in the South Island and the sun cam out while we were there which always cheers you up.

After Dunedin we continued up the East Coast to Timaru where we had a fantastic dinner with Chris's aunt and uncle, Lyn and Nigel. Before heading to their equally fantastic batch on the edge of Lake tekapo. It was the kind of place where i could easily have spent a week. Only one other house near by (no one there) lake Tekapo on the doorstep and mountains all around. We did some clay pigeon shooting and target shooting with rifles, we swam in the lake, ate a lot and just enjoyed the last few days of our trip. It was a superb location to end out 3 week odyssey around the South Island.

Chris and Michael (the other travel companion) then flew back to Auckland whilst i stayed in Christchurch and caught a bus the next day up to Nelson and then onto Marahau in the Abel Tasman where i camped with Michael and Gillian.

Australia

The next stage of my trip was Australia where i spent just 3 weeks. I wasn't so sure if Australia would be as good as Asia but it defintately was. Stepping off the plane in Perth the first thing i noticed was, 'hmmmmmm it's not horribly sticky and sweaty'. Although I had got used to the humidity it was amazing to leave it behind. I spent just under 10 days in Perth staying with my cousins and had a fantastic time, mostly just resting after 3 month of travelling. My first few days there involved sleeping, eating, swimming and errrrrr sleeping some more on Cottesloe beach (White Sand and clean water). On top of that i went to a Casino and doubled my holiday budget!!, watched a football (soccer) match, explored the city. I also visited Rotnest island which was a 30 minute ferry ride from Perth which was an a really good day trip. Because there are so few cars on the island everyone cycles and there are maybe a hundred or more pristene, yet deserted, beaches with crystal clear water and place to Snorkel all of which you can easily cycle to.

My next stop was Melbourne which was a really fun city with plenty to see and do. I stayed in Williamstown with Carol, Roger, William, Rebecca and Sarah who were very friendly and left me well placed to explore the city. I had a break from Melbourne to venture about 270km inland to the Grampian National Park and stayed in a place called Halls Gap from which I went bush walking, biked up mountains and saw lots of Kangeroos. While i was there the temperature was in the mid 30 degrees and was nearly 40 degrees when i left. (I was only 70km away from the Australian Horsham as well which was funny).

After returning to Melbourne i took the overnight bus to Sydney and spent the day walking arounf the city in the pouring rain. I stayed with Sue and Steve who, on the following day, very kindly took me on a tiki tour of the Coast line south of the city center and had a swim on Bondi Beach.

From Sydney i flew to New Zealand.

Malaysia, Singapore

I didn't have as much time as i would have liked to visit Malaysia so I decided to only do the West side. My first stop, Penang, was really nice. I only visited the main town, Georgetown, which was a really nice old colonial city with lots of old buildings and excellent food. The main difference i found between Malaysia and everywhere else i visited was that Malaysia was much more ethnically diverse - 90% of the population is Chinese, Indian or Malay. So i could have a nice curry in Little India and then wonder over to Chinatown for some noodles.
After Penang i went inland to the Cameron Highlands, it was considerably colder up there which was a nice relief. I spent 3 days there and spent half of each day trekking in the jungle and the other half watching films or reading which was pretty cool. I also found a lady who cooked the best curry dishes i've had. so i had indian food 3 breakfast lunch and dinner all 3 days.
I then headed off to the Capital of Malaysia, Kualar Lumpar - Basically a big Asian city. The most spectacular things there by a long way were the Petronas towers which were simply incredible. Next was Melaka which was like Penang just more touristy.

Overall i really enjoyed Malaysia (especially the food as always) but didn't have enough time to see it all. I then spent 3 days in Singapore exploring the city before heading off to Perth in Australia.

17/11 Bangkok, Koh Phangan

Well i have a lot to catch up on so i'm going to be brief with some bits.

After Siem Reap I returned to Bangkok for 2 days. This time however i ventured out of the backpacker area and spent a lot of time getting lost in several local markets, as well as china town, eating lots of different food and looking at all the weird and wonderful things for sale. I also ventured into the rich areas and took full advantage of the air-conditioning in the posh shopping malls. I took a ride on the sky train which was a great way to avoid all the traffic in Air Conditioned comfort.

I then headed down to Koh Phangan for the half-moon festival. It involved another disjointed journey with an unpleasant over night bus and then a boat to the island. I spent the first night in my own bungalow on a quiet private beach on the west of the island. It would have been perfect, the beach was beautiful the water warm however it was raining and beside from the beach there was nothing to do. Having rained the day we arrived, all night and the following morning me and a few others decided to go do Haad rin on the east of the island where we thought there would be stuff to do even in the wet weather. Haad Rin was not as nice by any streach of the imagination, a touristy built up resort with an average beach.

The first night there we went to a pool party at one of the resorts which was fun. The following day was gorgeous so we went for a short walk to a beach a little way from Haad rin with a white sandy beach and warm clear water where we spent the rest of the day. That evening was the main event however, the half-moon festival, a big party in the jungle with loads of D+B and Trance. It was awesome although being the monsoon month not so many people, stayed there until sunrise.

Having caught up on some sleep i decided to walk to the next cove to see if it would be a nice place to stay. My Lonely Planet described it as a 1 hr rough walk. 1hr 45 minuted into the walk i was a little lost and had realised that flip flops were not a great idea for what turned out to be quite the Jungle Trek. Fortunately, a guy in a pick up drove past and i jumped in and got a 4x4 adventure up and down 15% - 25% dirt pot hold slopes on one of the worst roads ever. Having got to the beach i decided to try and climb round the coast back to Haad Rin, that turned into some serious bouldering (still in flip flops) and ended up in me giving up returning to the beach wet, with broken flip flops, watch and me very cut up. I then had to wait for 2 hours in the dark for a taxi boat to come so i could get back. All in all a pretty stupid afternoon. I did however discover a little peace of paradise where i would later go.

The next day me and a German guy rented a motobike to go around the island. The road to Haadrin however is more of a roller coaster with numerous 10%, 15% and 20+% inclines (fortunately they were well tarmaced) so it was a little hairy. We also went a wrong way and ended up having an accident on a steep down hill slope when the bike slipped from under us. I was thrown down a hill but stayed on my feet and we wer both unharmed. The bike had a few scrateches that we had to pay dearly for when we returned the bike. We did however find some beautiful quiet beaches on the north of the island and i had a nice afternoon nap in a hammock right on the beach.

We then went off to the beach i had previously explored, and ended up at a spa/resort called the Sanctuary which offered lot's of yoga, meditation, chakra readings and things involving healing, and energy and other abstract things. It was also full of people in colourful, baggy clothing. Basically a bit of a hippy commune which was fun . It also had a beautiful beach with clear clean water and a fair bit of coral you could easily swim to from the shore. This was my 'holiday away from holiday' so i just dozed, swam, ate and chilled out. Basically it was a little peace of paradise and was very difficult to leave stupid Visa.

I'm now in Penang in Malasia which is a beautiful mix of cultures but have only 2 weeks left in asia..

Siem Reap - Ankor Wat

I've already done two days of Angkor Wat and i can safely say the temples are awesome. On the first day i woke up at 6.15 and rented bikes with a French guy and spent about 9 hours at the temples. We did the 'mini tour' which involved all the main ones, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon as well as a number of smaller but just as interesting ones. Angkor Wat was certainly the most spectacular in terms of scale but became less amazing as you got closer and you couldn't do as much up close compared to other temples. Next was Bayon which i enjoyed more as there was more to explore and better carvings. We did loads of other temples as well but the best ones were hidden away in the jungle away from the main drag and less touristy. At all the big temples there were bus loads of tour groups constantly arriving and leaving meanwhile the more remote ones were far more peaceful. It was hard work though, the sun was scorching and it was so hot making cycling and walking around the temples hard work. To add to that is the endless line of children and adults trying to sell you trinkets and books and clothes although i've figured out how to deal with them after 2 months in Asia. It's still annoying being constantly mobbed, stalked and shouted at by Cambodians. The other issue is the people selling cold drinks and food, as soon as you acome within 70 meters of them they scream "Miiseter, Misster you wan cold drink'' , "no ok when you come back you buy''. One way of avoiding them is by hiding behind far wealthier and older looking tourists. It kind of disturbs the peace of the temples.

The next day i did the same shift but did the 'grand tour'. I enjoyed this route more as there were fewer tourists, and the temples were just as impressive and more fun to explore as there were more rooms and passages, and the jungle had encroached into many of them so you can woander into the jungle to find more ruins hidden there. I did it all on a bike again and because of the size of the grand route and the detours i made i probably cycled for 40 km and when i got back to the guest house i was destroyed. So today i'm giving myself a day off to recover before doing my last day at the temples tomorrow. To be honest 3 days isn't enough as there's still a lot to see.

Saigon, Mekong Delta, Phom Penh

On my first day in Saigon i explored the city, the re-unification palace, war remnants museum, various parks and pagodas. The War Remnants museum was a superb if graphic and depressing. Outside were some planes, vehicles, tanks and equipment used in the war. Inside there were loads of displays of photos from the war with written explanations as well. I spent 2 hours looking at photos after photo of Americans G.I.'s committing war crimes, of casualties and corpses, of victims of bombs, napalm and agent orange, of the horrendous conditions of the war and generally of death, destruction and suffering. It also reinforced to me how pointless the war was. To top it off next door was a mock of of the Vietnamese prison and interrogation facility that existed on the Phu Quoc island. That had vivid explanations of the torture techniques used on the Vietcong there, as well as more photo's of victems (of living and the dead). I continued the war theme with a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, this was one of the main things i wanted to see while i was out there. The complex of tunnels spread over 250 km and are now a big tourist attraction. I learned about there history and structure which was interesting. We were shown the air holes and secret enterances to the tunnels whioch we would have missed if we weren't shown them as they were very well camoflagued. We were then allowed into a loop of the tunnels which was about 100 meters long and only involved the top tier of the tunnels. We were told they had stopped sending people to the lower levels as the lack of air and the tough going meant that a few peopl ehad died of heart attacks down there. They are also filled with poisonus snakes that the Americans put there to kill the vietcong in the tunnels. The strech of tunnel we were allowed in had been 'made more confortable' for tourists (for example there were regular emergency exits) but was still very small and hard going, far more so then the Vin Moc. I either had to squat walk which was painful or crawl - which was painful - and i was happy to get out. A large proportion of the tunnel is still in tact but there are still loads of booby traps so obviously you wouldn't have wanted to go down there!!!. The trip finished off at the firing range where people could shoot AK's, M 16,s and a range of other rifles and machine guns.

The next day i left HCMC for a 3 day trip of the Mekong Delta. It was as i expected, strictly regimented with not a lot of time to linger but we got to see coconut candy workshops, noodle makers, rice makers, crocdile farms, and had a few boat rided up the tributaries so I saw a lot more than i would have if I had tried to do the delta on my own. Instead of going back to HCMC at the end i got the boat to Phom Penh. It was a long journey battling up the Mekong but it was a nice change from the bus.

I've spent 3 days in Phom Penh. On the first day i went to Tuol Sleng prison (S-21) which was once a secondary school (much like Forest!!) before the Kymer Rouge turned it into a interrogation center/ prison where thousands were either torutured to death or sent away to be executed. When it was finally liberated there were only 7 survivors out of the orignal 20,000 inmates. AS you can imagine it was not a cheery place but was not as bad as i thought. there were displays, photo's and other information that showed what went on there and more generally about the Kymer rouge. I spent the next day walking round the city visiting the main attractions, wat's, the palace etc. Today I rented a bike and cycled out to the killing fields which oddly enough wasn't a water park. IT was where the inmated of S-21 and other areas were taken to be executed. They were blind folded, made to kneel down then a guard would hit them on the back of the neck with a hoe or another blunt instrument, then their throats were slit and they were thown into mass graves. They exhumed just under 9,000 bodies and the area now just looks like it's covered in bomb craters. Tomorrow i'm off to Siem Reap to do Ankor wat - no prisons!!!

Hoi An, Nha Trang, Dalat

So after Hue i headed off to Hoi An, a quiet town made famous by it's tailoring. Here you can pick up a tailor made suit for less than $100. You can get anything made, shoes, dresses and jackets and proved to be too much for some female travellers, one girl i met spent over 200 euros buying 5 pairs of shoes and several dresses!! My highlight of Hoi An was the variety and cheapness of the food and the dirt cheap beer. From sleepy Hoi An i headed to the coastal resort of Nha Trang. Did a boat trip on what turned out to be a 'party boat'. We did some trips to local islands, did a bit of snorkeling/jumping of the boat, enjoyed the happy hour on the floating bar (floating in a rubber ring knocking back pretty foul rice wine). Also met a group of pro-Aussi footballers which was sweet so was out with them and the rest of the tour group that night. The trip also included a superb buffet lunch which i made the most of!! There were some good bars and clubs in Nha Trang as well so i went was out till late most of the nights i was there. Then went to the mountain town of Dalat, not a long journey distance wise but due to the terrible roads it was a long journey and felt more like an off-road adventure than a bus ride. Dalat was a nice change to the rest of Vietnam being much cooler. There were some terrific bakeries selling bread, cake and pastries for nothing. Got a bike out one day and cycled around but nothing to do in the evening so only spent 2 nights there. I'm now in HCMC (Saigon) which is very similar to Hanoi in terms of traffic noise and pollution. Been gone 8 weeks now!!

Hue

After the Ha Long bay tour i went back to Hanoi for 2 days. But after having been with loads of people for the last week i got a bit bored. I bought an open-bus ticket to get me to Saigon stopping at Hue, Hoi An and Nha Trang. Although i bought a seated ticket i some how ended up on the much more expensive sleeper bus for the 13 hour journey from Hanoi to Hue (for no extra cost) which was pretty cool. On first day in Hue i got a motorbike tour of the city and beyond. It was fun and i saw lot's of stuff but it was hard work making sure he didn't rip me off. Today i did a tour of the Demilitarized Zone which involved some army bases, monuments, bridges and a lot of time in the bus. However the main reason i did the tour was to visit the Vinh Moc tunnels. Basically during the Vietnam War the Americans launched a 24/7 bombing campaign of The Ho Chi Minh trail and laos to prevent the liberation army (vietcong) moving troops and supplies though the country by bombing the crap out of them. This bombing campaign lasted several years and I think cost the Americans $2 million a day. So to escape the bombs the Vietnamese built a vast tunnel network under ground that included meeting rooms, living quarters, hospitals and bomb shelters. The tunnels are very small and some go down to over 20 meters but they were pretty cool. Unfortunately, the tour there was fairly brief so we only got 20 minutes inside the tunnels. It was more than enough for some other people though!!!

Ha long bay, Cat Ba

Spent 2 nights in Hanoi seeing the sights and went out both nights as well which was good fun. A crazy city but i'm enjoying it so far. However i just got back from a 3 day 2 night tour of Ha long bay which was awesome. So on the 4th i got a bus down to Ha long Bay and then boarded my junk. It had 3 levels, the lower one was the rooms, the middle was the dining room and the upper was the sun deck. So we set off and a nice lunch with lot's of seafood and went straight to a cave. I was dissapointed with this bit as it had been very built up for tourists, there were loud speakers telling you to be careful, through your rubbish in the bin etc., the paths were all concrete, there were tourists stalls and women trying to sell you water. The cave was pretty big but was filled with blue, yellow and green lighting, those penguin bins you used to see in leisure centers and they's even added a few artificial fountains..... no idea why. Also the traffic was just as bad as in hanoi with loads of junks trying to get a space in the pier. It was uphill from then on though. We left the masses and slowly cruised through the bay which for those who don't know consists of thousands of huge limestone 'islands' that tower out of the water like submerged mountains and cover nearly 1,500 square km. The weather was stunning so we could just lie on the loungers on the top of the junk and just admire them as we slowly cruised along. It was pretty sweet. We then went to a floating village and got some kayaks and paddled around. Myself and 3 others paddled to a huge cave and went deep inside climbed to a high rock and just watched the sun light far away. We then went back to the boat left the harbour and spent 3o mins jumping of it into the water and having a little swim. Fortunately, there was a really cool group of people on the boat so we spent the evening drinking, doinG a bit of amateur kareoke, looking at the stars, the other boats and the silohuettes of the cliffs.

The next day we went to Cat Ba island, the only inhabited island in the whole bay, and climbed a large hill in the national park though the jungle to the top. At the top was a 20 meter high tower (very rusted) that we could climb which offered spectacular views of the island. we spent the afternoon on a very nice beach, swam out to another island, and otherwise just chilled out. We went out againg in the evening and ended up going back to the beach for a swim at about 1.30 in the morning.

Today was spent getting back to Hanoi. Overall the trip was another highlight of my travels beautiful sights, cool people, well priced, great weather and i didn't have to look at my lonely planet guide once which was a welcome change of pace.

Hanoi

well i've been travelling for a month now which is pretty neat - seems to have gone very quickly. Hit a low the other day when i went into a (rubbish) internet cafe to sort out my photo's and ended up losing all of them.... except for the few on facebook. Especially gutted about the tubing photo's. I lèft Vientiane yesterday, and undetered by the typhoon, headed for Vietnam. The bús journey was a bit of a mission. From leaving my guest house in vientiane to arriving in the hotel in vietnam took roughly twenty-six hours. however true Lao P.D.R. style (Please Don't Rush) it involved a lot of waiting around. The worst bit was when we stopped for no apparetn reason at a small deserted cafe between one-thirty and 6 in the morning which annoyed me bit. The border crossing was a nightmare, firstly because on the laos side it was chaos to get the passport stamps to leave, secondly beacuse the communist vietnamese have excessive bureacracy and wanted extra money for stamps and things on top of the visa fee everyone got in advance, thirdly because we were close to the typhoon it was lashing it down with rain and so we got very wet running from the bus to the offices and fourthly because they checked our passports a million times. For the first few hours in vietnam all we could see was the aftermath of the typhoon - lots of flooding - fortunately the roads were not affected. I'm, now in Hanoi which is a million miles away from compartively sleepy laos. unfortunately by the time we arrived in hanoi it was dark and because of a massive festival on at the moment the old quater where the hotels are was packed with stalls people and motorbikes. Fortunately, a woman met as at the bus station to advertise her hotel and took us there. We got quite a good deal as well. Traffic in hanoi is ridiculous, bikes, cars and buses not to mention pedestrians do what they want when they want and love the horn. the result is a very crowded, very noisy and very poluted city. very lively though. I', probably going to do a boat trip of Ha long bay and then head south.

Vang Vieng baby!!

I only stayed in luang probang for a few days in the end before heading down to Vang Vieng home of the infamous tubing. I went on our first day there and it was mental. Basically tubing involves renting a tube, getting a tuk tuk to the river and then floating down the river, stopping off at the dozen bars along the way having a drink (or 2) having a go on the rope swings, zip wires, slides and other activities and the floating on to the next bar. This is one of the most dangerous activities i've ever undertaken, as the water is deep and fast flowing, the rope swings and slides are pretty big but if you let go at the wrong time you may end up on the rocks and a lot of the time the 'tubers' float underneath you as your swings along. Oh yea there's lots of cheap booze some people get drunk as do stupid things. Unsurprisingly there have been a fair few fatalites on the route. So dangerous but great fun. The firstt time i did it i started at 12.30 but didn't complete the course as it was dark before we left the last bar so we ended up getting out on a stoney beach and then clawed our way into a construction site before a tuk tuk came and picked us up. It was an interesting experience. I then found a job helping to promote a bar, i got free accomodation and free food which was cool but it wasn't as fun as i thought it was going to be so i left after 4 days. It gave me another opportunity to go tubing though and this time i finished the course. I'm now in Vientiane for a few days and am going to get the 22 hour bus to Hanoi.

Chiang Saen, Chiang Khong, Luang Probang

i continued my tour of northern thailand. Left chiang Rai on the 16th and went to chiang saen. Got dropped off at a random bus station so took me a while to find out where i was and somewhere to stay. It was a very quiet place and i was one of the only tourists there but fantastic views of the mekong river. Left next day (17th) to go to Chiang Khong. No busses so had to go in a pick-up truck with benches down either side to sit on. Driver managed to squeeze 15 people in which was unbearable but fortunately people got off quiet quickly. It was a two stage journey so i was droped off halfway in a small town. i had no idea what was going on, no one spoke english and there were no other tourists but i managed to sort myself out and get to chiang khong. Amazing views on the journey up and down the mountains and along the Mekong. Chiang Khong was pretty poor as well. I found a cheap room to stay in but unfortunately didn't take in the state of the room until much later. Did nothing all day but went to a bar in evening and watched 'hot fuzz' and 'the spirit'. Any way my room was a state, Dirty walls, floors, cobwebs everywhere, no one had bothered to empty the bin either so i came back from a bar later to find an army of ants coming though the window and cockroaches in the bin so i had interesting dreams that night. On the 18th i went to Laos. I complicated my visa application by trying to use my NZ passport to save me $5 US, that didn't go down to well and i ended up wasting a lot of time and using my British passport.

The border crossing was a town called Huay Xay the other side of the mekong to chiang khong and from there i had booked a 2 day slow boat trip along the mekong to Luang Probang. This involved 6 hours of sitting on a wooden bench folwed by an over night stay in pak beng and the another 6 hours. A large group behind me turned it into a booze cruise and got wasted but i was content reading my book and watching the scenery which was just rain forest, mountains and hill villages. It was an uncomfortable journy but was definately worth it. Spent the day yesterday in luang probang. Rented some bikes with some other people and spent the day cylcing around to temples and waterfalls which was nice. Unfortunately, the river downstream also doubled as a car wash with people driving their vans, trucks, cars, tuk tuks and bikes in to be washed. It pained me to think of the damage that was doing to the river with all the diesil, oil and chemicals going into it.

I'm, now in vang vieng and off to do some tubing this afternoon.

Chiang Mai, Pai, Chiang Rai

on the 11th i went with a group to tiger kingdom which is a zoo where you can touch touch the tigers. i wasn't planning to go as i had heard they were drugged but thought i would go an investigate. Apparently they weren't so i decided to pay and go in (wasn't cheap). Bit of an anti climax as all the tigers did was lie and sleep in the boiling heat so i got bored after 5 minutes so that was a waste of time. Went to the night market in the evening which isn't as spectacular as the sunday one but still pretty good. There were so many temptations, watches, clothes and food which i avoided. Fortunately the guy i was with was on a spending spree so it gave me an opportunity to hone by bartering skills. Then went to a bar to watch the thai boxing which was apparantly staged but still good.

On the 12th i decided to go to Pai to do some more trekking, didn't want to pay for a tuk tuk so walked for over an hour in the heat with my bag to get to the bus station. Got a local bus there whcih was good fun as it was like a bouncy castle and could barely make it up some of the mountains. Got a good glimpse of the jungle as well. Met a group of French guys so shared a room for the two nights in Pai which saved me some money. I got very frustrated by my level of French though.

13th - went to sort out another trek but because it's low season there are no other tourists so the costs of the treks are way more expensive and i'd either be on my own or in a tiny group which would be a bit dull so i abandoned that plan. Didn't take long to explore the town so i just chilled out for the day. Went out in the evening again with the French people but as it's low season most of the bars were empty.

Decided to leave Pai yesterday and head to Chiang Rai which unfortunately meant i had to go back to Chaing Mai which is like doing twon sides of a triangle. Wnet on a cheap ordinary bus to chaing mai but had to get a more expensive a/c bus to chiang rai as there didn't seem to be anything else. However it turned out that the long distance bus station in Chiang Rai was 7km out of town (a fact overlooked bu my lonely planet guide) so it was a bit of a mission to get out of town. I've managed to get my own tiny room for the same price as a dorm room so i've got my own space which is nice.

Today i went to look for another trek but it's the same story as Pai, there nore expensive as there are fewer tourists. As a result there's very little to do and few tourists to meet so i won't be staying here long. Probably going to head to laos soon and get the slow boat to Luang Prabang.

10/9 continued

included in the price so i could have a full on binge with out worrying about my money which was a welcome relief from my tight budgeting. The rain forest was incredible so i plan to head further north and hopefully do something similar. 

Chiang Mai (trek)

ok been gone 3 days in the jungle now but saw some thai boxing before i went, wasn't great as it was mostly just kids fighting. started the trip 3 days ago, went to a butterfly and orchids farm in the morning then did am hour elephant 'safari' which was hot slow and quite uncomfortable. also apparantly the elephants are beaten badly when they are young to make the, obey which took the shine off things. After lunch we started our trek in the monsoon rain which is heavy to say the least. The stream we had to cross over several times became knee deep so my trainers got soaked and being waterproof kept the water. So i decided to continue in flip flops and later bare feet. The path was all up hill but i found it pretty easy. Really enjoyed being in the rain forest away from the traffic and doing a bit of exercise. Spent the night in a hill tribe at the top of the mountain, acommodation was basic but fine, nice watching the sun set over the rainforest and mountains. The second day was all trekking mixed in with a few water falls where we could swim, again the trail was awesome and scenery superb. We spent the night in a bamboo shed facing the river (no wall just a veranda). The first event happened early on on the 3rd day when some nut job old frenchman decided to go for a swim in the river and got caught in the current and taken down some fairly beasty rapids, he survived with a few bumps and bruises. Next was the white water rafting which was short but good fun with some pretty cool rapids. So all in all a good trip, one of the best bits had to be the food which was superb and best of plentiful so as it was