Part 2 - Australia.

G'day, (would've been rude not to say that)

So, yes, I'm here in Sydney...Arrived yesterday morning from Bangkok...

Before I go into Australian escapades, best cover the last few days in Thailand...

The last blog was written 2 days into the Angkor Wat tour...The final day was quite a laugh actually...Our regular Tuk Tuk driver, Mr B was unavailable for the day, so he came and introduced us to his mate, Tiger Rob, who would be driving us around for the day. He looked a bit like Tiger Woods, but smaller...and more Cambodian (also, he confessed that he had a much smaller 'lingam' than Tiger Woods, one can only assume he meant his man-shaft). He was a right laugh.

Drove for over an hour to get to the temples...the first bit wasn't strictly a temple, its a river carving. You walk for 1.5km up through jungle 'til you reach a river (well, it was mainly river bed as its dry season)...and there a load of carvings of various Hindu gods on the river bed. We had a mooch about and I noticed a trail leading into the jungle on the other side of the river bed...I hopped over and walked up the track for a bit...Didnt lead to much so I kept going to see where it led...Walked for a quite a bit before giving up and turning round. I got lost. For a while. It was hot. I got more lost. I got caught up in the trees. I got really hot. I got annoyed. I decided I needed to find which direction I should walk in to get back to the river so I shouted "Hello!"... nothing...shouted again...nothing. Walked a bit more, got more lost, got more hot, got more tangled. Shouted again...this time I could hear a little "hello?" in the distance. But I could tell which direction it was coming from so hacked my way in that direction...Eventually I could hear voices getting nearer and nearer til I popped up back at the riverbed, just about 100 yards away from where I started. Craig was there, so we went down to the waterfall bit which is where you're actually meant to walk. Unfortunately it wasn't much of a waterfall due to the dry season.

Saw another temple a bit later, which was similar to the temples of previous days...It was impressive, but when compared to the others, it seemed pretty average. (I mean, it obviously wasn't average...but in comparison).

On the way back, the Tuk Tuk driver, Tiger, pulled up at a house on the side of the road. There were a few kids running about, and a woman cooking some stuff on a BBQ. He waved us over to a table they prepared for us; we sat and were given some shrimp-type-fried-flat-things and some palm wine. The palm wine is served in a big bamboo shoot and was actually pretty tasty. After a couple of these, Tiger was noticeably drunk so we headed off.

That night, Mr B came to meet us at our guesthouse to go out for a few drinks. We hit a few bars and played pool, usual stuff.

Back to Bangkok...Decided we'd make the most of our last couple nights in Thailand and planned a night out in Sukhumvit. It was mental there, huge club called shock 39...Sat in there and watched the Utd v Wigan match... the prices were sky high so we left there to get some drinks from another bar then head back...Walked into a quiet looking bar where we shown into a room....In this room, there were a few chairs all seated to face the same wall...The wall, wasn't a wall, but a massive window....Behind the window were rows of almost-naked women sat waving at you. Apparently you could chose which one you wanted. We walked straight out. Decided to get a cheap drink from a 7/11 then returned to the night club. Bumped into the French Embassy girls (remember them?), it was one of their birthdays so they were in Bangkok for a night out.

Next day was the usual recovery day; sleep, laundry, eat. Then back on the cheap 7/11 drinks and a few friendly games of poker with the travel-agent woman at the hotel. Now, when I say friendly games of poker...I mean games of poker that end in Craig calling the woman a 'Dick' several times.

Id already lost my money so was drinking and watching some football...they decided to play another hand, they disagreed over something trivial and it escalated to her saying he was a cheat and him calling her a dick repeatedly. It was quite funny from where I was sat.

Went to a couple bars and onto "The Club" Where I bumped into Nook...(remember her? met her in Koh Phi Phi)...it was one of her friends birthday so they were out in Bangkok. Deja-Vu.

After the club called the club had finished, we got some Pad - Thai and headed to Nooks apartment in Sukhumvit . Her apartment happens to be on the 37th floor, overlooking Bangkok. It was awesome, we drank red wine on the balcony then went to bed.

Next day was the usual rush back to the hotel before check-out. They let us have an extra hour so we could shower etc.

Headed to the airport and before we knew it, we landed in Sydney.

Met Chris in the airport (If you dont know who Chris is, read the little introduction bit on this website). He'd just got in from Tokyo. Checked into our mental hostel, which is a huge building with a bar, laundry, kitchen, internet cafe etc. Its expensive but compared to the places we've stayed in so far...its a 5 star.

Its expensive here. I wont say that again on this blog. OK once more, Its F***ing expensive.

We have booked a camper-van for next week...we will have this 4 berth bad-boy for 43 days, and will travel the entire East coast in it. Looking forward to hitting the road.

In the mean time, we are going to Campbell Town, about an hours train journey away from here...we are staying in a university house belonging to Margot...

Margot is a girl I met when lodging with Tashi back in Leeds...Tashi played Tchoukball with me and happens to be a bit of a bezzy...she introduced me to her Australian friend Margot, and she said we should visit...So we are...tomorrow...for a week. Should be awesome to go back to Uni life for a bit (already there to be honest, just ate a massive bowl of cheap pasta and sausages.)

So thats about all so far... one third of the way in...looking forward to the next part of the adventure...

Hope all are well,

Jay x