Whitsunday, bloody sunday.

OK, so our trip to the Whitsundays got cancelled. The weather was disgusting so we got a full refund and decided to cheer ourselves up with a night out at Airlie beach. Luckily we bumped into a few guys who were with us on Fraser Island so it was a good laugh.

Left Airlie the next day with sore heads, but arrived in a sunny Townsville which cheered us up...Townsville is pretty sweet...loads of parks with BBQs etc, plus its has the ferry that crosses to magnetic island.

We spent the day laying in the sun, eating sausages off the barbie...it actually felt like we were in Australia for the first time in a little while. I decided to go for a little walk along the beach front...some blokes in orange jackets were stood pointing sticks at something...Ive seen weirder things, so i carried on..until one of them said; "careful mate, theres a snake there"...and sure enough, there was. But not just any old snake...it was a brown snake.

This is what Wikipedia says about the brown snake...

The Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis), often referred to as the Common Brown Snake, is an elapid snake native to Australia. This species is considered to be the second most venomous land snake in the world based on LD50 values in mice.^[1]

Brilliant.

Luckily, the snake didnt seem too fussed by our presence, and wriggled away. The guys in orange were trying to catch it though, as it couldve gone and killed someone if it fancied it. They didnt manage it.

I went back to tell Craig about it, and within minutes, some massive lizard thing strolled past. Mental.

So a bit later, we had another BBQ (shock, sausages.) and had some goon with 3 dutch girls who were camping next to us. Decided to go out...guess what..the nightlife was awful. plenty of bars, but all of them had about 3 people in... and they were staff. Ended up in an Irish bar, which I consider my worst nightmare. They had Karaoke...even worse. Had a Guinness though, which made a change from boxed wine, and had a "craic". Some guy went up to Chris, as we sat at the table, and groped him. Really strange bloke. Chris' face was hilarious, he just said "ive just been raped...ive actually just been raped by some bloke." in his Sheffield accent. It was funny for us.

Packed our bags in the morning and got the ferry to Magnetic Island, or Maggie as its known. The weather is awesome, and we are staying in a really nice little 3 bed bungalow. There are Wallabies hopping about the place as well which is decent.

Yesterday, we walked to a place called Arthur bay, one of many bays around the island...this one was completely deserted though so we spent a couple hours chilling in the sun and climbing the rocks. Got back to the hostel, and that evening we took part in the coconut bowling competition, where you bowl a coconut into some pins..believe it or not. If you got a strike, you won a jug of beer...I got a strike.

Today, we went to a waterfall for a little swim then did the Forts walk, where we saw some old guns, some spectacular views and a couple of Koalas up trees. Good stuff.

Its ladies night tonight at the hostel...so I imagine it will be full of meat.

Thats all for now, Ive deliberately kept it shorter, as the last blog was ridiculous..

Hope everyone is happy and well

Jay x

Fraser and more...

Hey guys,

And happy Mothers day,

So its been ages since the last blog, and a lots been happening...this is going to be a big one (thats what she said...yes, 'thats what she said' jokes have made it into the banter)

The last time, I was writing from Byron Bay and we were heading to Nimbin...

Nimbin, as described in lonely planet, is the result of an experimental festival in the 70's. By the looks of it, none of the people who live there left after the festival. This place is basically amsterdam but in the jungle. Everyone sits around smoking weed in cafe's, well half...the other half are selling the weed on the street - among other things such as mushies and acid. Within a minute of leaving the van, we were asked by several people if we wanted any drugs. Its actually quite a cool little place, with loads of cafes with good coffee and a load of herbal health places. We visited the museum which was an awesome little walk-through-time-line. It looked amazing and kooky, but it was really just going on about legalising hemp. After a lazy afternoon we headed back to Helen for some dinner...while were eating, a guy pulled up and told us the way to a place up the mountain that's really good to go and watch the sunset (and smoke a spliff, which he so nicely added on at the end.) So we drove up the mountain, and the few was incredible. You could see for miles, all jungle with only a couple of little buildings here and there. We wouldve stayed the night if it wasnt for the amount of insects buzzing around. Chris is the complete opposite of Bear Grylls...he hates any insects or any form of wildlife really. This is great for me as its an easy wind up.

Left Nimbin the following day to head for Tweed Heads, sunshine coast.

Tom, a friend of my Dads lives near Tweed heads and he kindly offered for us to shower and eat at his house. We met him by the beach and followed him to Hope Island. Our van wouldnt fit in the garage so they put up beds in their children's play room for us to sleep. They were such a nice family; Tom, his wife Sarah and their three youngsters...They also had relatives there, which meant that there were a total of 7 adults and 5 children staying in the same place.

They took us over the road to a place called boardwalk, which is a lovely bar right on the marina. A few beers and a pizza later, we went back to play cards and a few more Tooheys (beer). This was all well and good, til the morning when we were woken by 5 kids screaming, with the adults trying to get them ready for school. It was mental. But obviously we didnt mind, as they were putting us up...but it did make me think twice about having kids.

Hit Surfers Paradise for the day, it was only 33 degrees. Surfers doesnt deserve too much written about it to be honest...not much to do during the day, and at night its meant to be trashy. The beach was awesome though.

Had a more relaxed evening back at Hope Island; After a swim we raided the kids board games and found the most amazing game that I played all the time when I was young...Frustration. I used to cry my eyes out playing this game back at home, I was young though...like 19. I actually won the game, to my surprise, as I was sure Id be reduced to tears. Sarah cooked us up a lovely meal, adults only and we had an earlier night after a few card games.


Mooloolaba was the next stop (and I didnt make that place up, its actually real.) Quite a cool little place, with beaches and rivers to chill out on. We had a voucher for a free paddle-board lesson so we did that down the river for an hour or so. This is kind of like surfing, only on a bigger board and you have an oar to paddle with. The guy was obviously bored so he decided he'd make it his mission to ensure we all fell off into the river. Mission accomplished.


Last stop before Fraser Island was Noosa Heads; a popular beach town. We stayed in a backpacker carpark, but for a few dollars each they let us use the facilities. As it was a Friday, and as one the more popular bars in Noosa was three yards away, we thought we'd have a few. Noosa has the weirdest nightlife ever. It felt like we were in a school disco, surrounded by knob-heads. So we moved on...This place was worse...so bad we took to playing dance-floor golf to keep occupied. Got back feeling a little annoyed at how terrible a night it was. The next day was roasting so we hit the beach. Found a lovely little cove off the main beach called "Little Cove" believe it or not. There was a wedding going on, which had a live band playing Jack Johnson...I was loving it more than the groom. Played football with Betty (our ball) and what not til the sun came down. Had an early night, ready for the Drive to Rainbow beach; the starting point for Fraser Island.

We had a free nights stay at Dingoes backpackers, before the 3 day trip to Fraser Island. This is how the trip works: You are briefed in a big group, and split into smaller groups of around 8 people. You are given a 4WD, camping equipment, food etc for the three days. The following day, you load up the van with everything and set off to the barge for the crossing to Fraser Island. Fraser is a massive sand Island with beautiful lakes, worth a google.

Out group consisted of three Germans, two of which were guys, an English couple and the three of us. The Germans were very reserved and efficient...they didnt say much the night before we left so we talked with the English couple. Guess where they come from...Royston. Really nice couple, full of banter. We had to get up at 6.45 to start setting the car up...when we got to the 4WD, the Germans already had their towels down on the best seats.

After all the hassle of getting everything into Gertrude (the name for our 4WD) we set off to the barge.

The three days on Fraser Island were immense...We visited awesome lakes and view points each day before setting up camp and cooking our delicious meals (Im not being sarcastic either, steak the first night, and chicked stir-fry the second)...Of course, after the meal, the inevitable happened. Out came the goon (boxed wine). We linked ipods to the vans speakers, and lit by reverse lights, we had a little party with all the other groups. After a while, we noticed that a lot of people had gone to bed, one girl had been sick and put to bed, some were monged out in the vans...It was ten to ten.

This happened both nights, and when you wake up in a tent next to two blokes, sweating with the worst hangover ever...you dont feel so hot. Especially as there are no showers for three days, and no sinks to clean teeth in. But everyone was in good spirits throughout which made not-showering more bearable. The Germans came out of their shell more and more throughout the three days, and we ended up having a great laugh with them. In the end, we were sure our group was the best one.

Returning to Rainbow beach was a mixture of sadness from leaving the island, and excitement over having a hot shower. It was the best shower ive had. That night we had a party with our favourite people from the trip, obviously all the guys in Gertrude, plus a few from the other groups. So much banter flying about, especially to a guy on the trip who looked like Justin Bieber. He was from Holland or something and did not like being called Beebs, but he looked about 12 so we werent scared or anything. Actually, at one point on the island, during a goon session, he came into the van. All of us immediately started singing "BABY BABY BABY, OOOOOH" in ernest. He left.

Enough about Fraser, you get the jist, it was awesome.

The next big trip after Fraser is Whitsunday Islands which are situated just off Airlie Beach. Its a long drive so we stopped over in Rockhampton. There are loads of live music venues so we headed out for the night. Started off so well: a guy befriended us and bought us drinks, the band were good, managed to get free entry to a club by charming the girl on the door, then walked in past the bouncers to another club by showing our arms, as if we had stamps. Couldnt believe our luck. But it ran out, the clubs were awful again. Full of knob-heads, and the worst music imagineable. All the guys hated us, especially when we were chatting to girls. Theyd keep coming over and tapping the girls shoulder til they got their attention....like little kids. We got fed up and left, walked over a kilometre just to get a big mac meal. We got their and only the drive-thru was open...so we pretended to be in a car. I was the driver, Craig in the passenger seat and Chris in the back...we slowly pulled up the the speaker thing, making car noises...I wound down my window and tried to order. They ignored us...which is rude considering the effort we went to. Luckily a car pulled up behind us so we jumped in and ordered with them.

So that was Rockhampton.

We are now at Airlie beach, and its pissing down. Fingers crossed the weather picks up for a 2 day 2 night sailing trip around the Whitsundays tomorrow.

Ill blog again with how the trip went.

Cheers,

Jay x

East coast

Hey,

so a few days since Ive managed to get on the internet, so ill try and give a good idea of whats happened...

After a nights sleep in toms house, (well...i say a nights sleep, but i mean being woken up by a girl going "WHO THE FUCK ARE THEY?" to Tom when she got in from a night out...she was goin mental at him for letting us sleep there, awkward.) We loaded the van with boards and hit the beach...the conditions were terrible but we had a go anyway...we were worse than the conditions.

Drove on back to Melbourne where Toms parents had offered us a night's stay...nice people, actually really nice people...sat and had a beer with the whole family.

Dave, who I was at uni with, now lives in Melbourne so I went and met him later than night in the city centre...which is beautiful at night. We hit the casino, as we used to do in leeds on the regs...I won 50 dollars. Dave is working in a box factory, basically packing boxes for 6 hours a day...getting paid 20 dollars an hour...unbelievable.

Next day we set off on the looooong journey back to Sydney, roughly 900km. I had a couple of Monster energy drinks and did a 6 hour stint til 1.30 am...needless to say, it took ages to sleep as I was pretty much shaking.

So after hours of endless driving, we managed to get past Sydney, on through Newcastle and stopped at Coffs harbour (Ive now been to Newcastle in both South Africa and Australia before Ive even set foot in the real one.) Coffs was nice enough, few beaches and a big pier which I jumped off into the sea...The weather was getting a bit minging so we moved on. Then the weather went really bad and a massive storm hit...we were right into the eye, could hardly see as it was now dark and the rain was smashing into the windscreen. It was an awesome storm though.

Crashed in a little park that had BBQ's, had some burgers and a beer for dinner then hit the hay...a couple of hours later, a load of 'bogans' (chavs) parked up, wacked their headlights on, got out of the car and had a big discotheque. Loudest thing ever, and the worst music imaginable...it didnt help that they played the same shite song a thousand times either.

We finally made it to Byron Bay, which is where I am now...It was sunny so we went up to the lighthouse on Cape Byron, to see the views and the Dolphins, really beautiful stuff.

Booked a surf lesson, which seemed wise after our performance in Melbs...Had that yesterday and it was awesome, stood up nearly every wave, and even pulled off a little trick...cant wait to get back on the board.

As it was Saturday last night, we hit the town...had a few drinks with people in the campsite and got a taxi in to the centre. Wasnt the best night in the world...full of 18 year old gap yar students...not ideal. Still better than Ballare.

And thats abooout it...just chilling off the hangover today, heading to Nimbin tomorrow which is meant to be pretty good.

Hope everyone is well, and Ill blog again when I next get on the internet

Cheers x

Like a Gypsy

Hey everyone,

This is going to be quite a big blog...

Our last day in Campbell town was spent visiting the Blue mountains (they are called blue mountains because the Eucalyptus gives off a blue haze) Was a nice little day and some pics are on facebook.

So we picked up the Camper (which we named Helen...Hell for short.) After being briefly shown how the appliances worked by a distracted Hungarian, we set off to the supermarket to fill her up.

Entering the supermarket car park, we had to drive up the ramp and round the corner. I was driving. I managed to scrape Helen along the wall. Helen was hurt. She now has a massive scrape on the left hand side, dread to think how much that'll cost.

We stocked up on noodles, beans, bread and rice. Decided to sit and make lunch in the car park, beans on toast...well, I say toast, but I mean fried bread...as we have no toaster. We looked like a right group of Gypo's sat on folding chairs eating beans on fried bread on our laps...all topless. People were driving past looking at us. I was wondering how Id react if I was pulling up at Tesco car-park and saw three topless lads sat by a camper van eating from their laps.

We left the supermarket car park...but not before bumping the roof on a low hanging sign...onto Melbourne, which is over 1000km from Sydney, so itl take a few days with some stop-overs.

Hit the beach in Wollongong for an hour or so...Craig and I went into the sea to body surf, while Chris had a lay down. We got absolutely battered in the sea, the waves were mental.

Headed to Jervis Bay, which was a beautiful place...lovely white sandy beaches, along with shower and toilet facilities. Seemed like it was free as well, so that was a bonus.

It only took us about 45 minutes to work out how to set the beds up. When we finally managed it, we realised that there really isn't much room in Helen. Two have to sleep next to each other, with one sleeping in the roof bit. Im so glad I'm not Claustrophobic.

Day 2

Woke up to find a ticket on our windscreen saying we needed to pay 30 dollars camping fee...lovely.

Sorted that out and had a walk on Murray beach before setting off to Pebble beach.

Craig had absolutely no money, plus he hadnt loaded money onto his cash card as he was waiting for a cheque to clear. Chris and I had been lending him money but we'd run out. We needed internet.

We pulled over at a motel to ask if we could use the internet for five minutes...the woman said that she couldnt get on the internet as it was password protected, but she was heading home and would let us use her internet...unbelievable...I couldn't see that happening in England. Imagine a woman inviting three strange men into her home to use the internet...wouldnt happen.

Her name was Phillipa and she had a pet Pirana.

Got to Pebble beach, which has loads of Kangaroos that go on the sand and sometimes into the sea a little bit. Was an awesome place, and had free BBQ's...we wacked some snags on (sausages, remember) and had hot-dogs with whiskey. The woman who ran the site cam over and was going on about paying, so we headed off.

That night we stayed at a magnificent 4 star motel, called the Comfort Inn...The facilities were second to none, with room service, laundry and a swimming pool...we were in the carpark.

Day 3

After the worst nights sleep ever, we realised it was raining, and it didnt look like it was going to get better. The decision was made to go for a massive drive so that the following day it would only take an hour or so to get to Melbourne.

Drove most of the day before getting to a place called Lake Entrance for dinner. We cooked up some rice and veal and sat on a park bench with a beer. Just as we're tucking in we hear 'hey' coming from behind us..we turned around and I responded "Hey, hows it going?"... he replied with "How do you know me?...why did you just say hey Doug?"

This man clearly had special needs of some sort, possibly Autism, but Im not sure.

This is how the conversation went:

"I like to look cool"

"Ah ok"

"I bought some new shoes, they're velcro"

"ah thats cool"

"I want to be a builder"

"thats a good job"

"I like the uniforms"

"ok"

"Do you wear uniforms?"

"No I dont work at the moment, we're ju-"

"catch you later"

And Big Doug was gone.

Luckily, Craig and Chris just sat trying not to laugh, which meant I had to keep up the sort-of-conversation on my own. Cheers lads.

Drove on til nightfall...Found a little rest type place that had a few caravans in...It was free and had toilets so we decided thats where we'd sleep for the night. The toilet block was disgusting. As you walked into the mens side, a big spray painted piece of graffiti read: "REAL MEN EAT COCK" ... do they?

There was also a needle bin. Whenever there is a bin specifically designed to stored used needles, you know there are, or have been heroin addicts popping about. fantastic.

We managed to survive the night, despite our growing fears of being raped, murdered or both. Also, the threat of accidentally standing on a used needle was high. Luckily nothing bad happened.

Day 4

We hadnt showered for over 24 hours, nor had we charged our phones.

The aim was to find a proper camp site and use all their facilities, before speeding off without paying any fees. Managed to find a caravan site/golf course. Hooked up the camper to the electricity supply and got the phones charged. I wandered over to the golf club and found a big changing room with toilets and hot showers...jackpot, ding ding.

While packing the camper, ready to hit the road, a guy came over. We thought, 'oh here we go' . I took the lead and immediately started a conversation about the weather and how it was perfect for a round of golf. This got him going. He never mentioned paying any fee's, but he did break the news about Japan. Its the first we'd heard of it. Chris had just come from there, so it was a bit weird.

I think so far, there's been over 3 big natural disasters since I left England. Not to mention all the floods.

We finally made it to Melbourne, but we had literally no idea where to go, or where to keep the camper. Drove around for a while and found a little car park by an Aussie Rules pitch. There were no toilets, or showers or anything.

It was a Saturday, so we thought it would be rude not to go out.

After drinking a few beers and whiskeys in the camper we headed into town on the tram. Went into one place for a drink then attempted to get into a place called rats. We were denied. The old rule of 'not being allowed in if you have a penis' is in place here.

After another rejection, we ended up in a place called "Sorry Grandma", it was only 20 dollars to get in, and 8 dollars a beer...so...value.

Day 5

When you wake up with a massive headache, and you need a wee like never before, and when you've just slept for 4 hours in a hot, cramped van with two other men, you dont feel so pretty.

Thankfully, Tom, who we met while tubing in Laos lives by a beach near Melbourne. He invited us to stay over.

So thats where we are now, lounging around in his living room, watching step brothers on the TV...They have a games room with a ping pong table. This house is basically a blokes paradise.

We're having a beach day tomorrow, so hopefully the surf will be up.

Well this has taken a long time to write...and im still hanging from last night so its time to get off the net.

Will write again soon x

Campbell Town

Hey everyone, been a while but had a pretty busy few days here in sunny Australia.

So, staying here in Campbell Town, about an hours train ride away from Sydney. The place we are staying at is "on res" as they say here, which is basically uni halls. Margot has been amazing host, sorted us out with beds etc and introduced us to the gang.

When we arrived, we hit the supermarket straight away, bought a load of pasta and sausages (a.k.a snags)...Then we went to the big alcohol shop to get some boxed wine (a.k.a Goon) as this is the cheapest way to drink in Aus. Its about 8/9 dollars for a 4 litre box of wine. When compared to the 40 dollars for a crate of beer, thats pretty good.

That night there was a special offer on at the "Tav" which is where all the uni people eat, so we tagged along...Chicken Schnitzel with chips for 6 dollars, and washed it down with a "Scooner" (no idea if thats spelt correctly) of beer. A scooner is basically a glass that is between a half-pint and a pint. All the guys here are really friendly...obviously we've been on the end of some banter as we are the only "poms" about.

Incase you havent noticed, everything has a nick-name in Aus.

Friday was BBQ day, so wacked the snags on the barbie and the Goon out of the fridge...was awesome just sat there all afternoon in the sun drinking and eating...not to mention playing ping-pong and pool. That night was the "Chill-out western" themed evening at the common room. This was basically a cowboy type do, where people dressed up, drank, and had a go on the mechanical bull outside. I had a go. I was rubbish. Good job I havent any plans on riding a real bull.

Was a great night.....eventful too...a highlight of which would be Chris getting into a very loud argument with a girls whose name escapes me....at 3am. It was something to do with American naivety...Either way it ended up in Chris getting very very red and angry. It was hilarious.

I slept on the sofa with a blow-up doll with Tashi's face stuck to the head. The picture is on facebook...brilliant.

(just to clear that up, I was fully dressed thank you very much.)

Saturday was Mardi-Gras in Sydney...a massive gay-parade for gays. Its quite gay. We were all going to go down and watch the gayness but it rained...The hour journey there and back didnt seem too worth it if we were going to get rained on (that is NOT a euphemism). So we stayed in and watched dvds etc.

Sunday was spent at one of Margot's friends uni houses...It has a swimming pool so we had a load of Goon and snags...Also played Killer which went down a storm yet again.

Watched 2 entire series of The Inbetweeners last night with the Aussies...They were lovin it. We were about to hit the hay when Me Myself and Irene started...we stayed up to watch it and went to bed afterwards, woke up at gone midday and have done pretty much nothing besides playing mario-kart and doing laundry...Oh Ive missed Uni life.

Tomorrow we are going to get off our arses and hit the blue mountains for a bit of a bush walk, meant to be very scenic...could do with the fresh air and exercise.

I apologise for the brief descriptions of events in this blog, but Im writing this on a MacBook and Im obviously not cool enough to work these properly yet.

We have the camper all booked up and ready to pick up on wednesday...43 days on the road...in a camper...with 3 other men...in the heat. NOT gay.

Anyway, I hope everyone is OK and Ill blog again when I can

See ya later poms

Jay

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

Cambodia

Hey everyone,

Quite a lot to write about...luckily no robberies though.


Journey to Ho Chi Minh

A much better designed and smoother running sleeper bus took us to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). Was meant to be a 10 hour journey...no surprises, it took much longer.

I wasnt placed next to two girls id never met like last time...shame.


War museum

Despite how massive Ho Chi Minh is, there didnt seem like a lot to do at all...Plus I was getting fed up with Vietnam. I needed some peace and quiet so when we turned up and all we could hear was "beeep beeep beeep beeep beeeeep beeeep f***ing beep"I couldnt believe my luck.

Checked into our hostel...our room was on the fifth floor...there was no lift...luckily, after lugging our bags all the way up the boiling hot stairs, we were greeted with a warm room in which the air-con didnt work properly and there was no fan. Sweat box. Luckily there were showers in the room which helped...It took all of five minutes to have a fresh sweat on after a cold shower though.

We had a few beers to knock us out for the night as we'd planned on getting as much done as possible the following day. Got up nice and early and was pleasantly surprised that id lost about 3 stone overnight. Put it all back on at breakfast which was a couple of baguettes, tea and scrambled eggs (all free).

Went to various unexciting places such as the palace and a roundabout (yep, that was a highlight) before reaching the museum. It basically tells "the story of the Vietnam war from "the other side...turns out the Americans were rather naughty indeed, breaking all sorts of international laws. There were some horrible images of the Vietnamese people (and some American) who had been affected by Dioxin, a chemical used by American troops. They were awful images. Enough said.

Cu chi Tunnels

The next day we planned a half day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels with which the Viet-Cong used in the war. It was a great little trip... educational...so.

Our guide was self-named "Mr Bean" He got a few chuckled early on, but he loved to talk. After 2 hours of non stop talking about the war, I noticed that pretty much everyone on the bus was a sleep...The only person really paying attention was this French guy whose seat was right in front of the Mr Bean. He had no choice but to listen as the guide kept saying "Understand?" after every sentence while looking straight at the French guy. The guise was always shortening the word "understand" to "'stand?" and then to "stan?" Unless the French guys name was Stan...

We stopped at a handcraft by the handicapped place. All the artwork etc was done by people with disabilities. You walked through the workshop before entering the shop...It was weird, loads of people watching the handicapped people work, and taking pictures. Imagine that happening while you were working. They'd made way too much stuff...massive shop full of various ornaments, art etc. Pretty amazing stuff, but really expensive...an ornamental tiger cost 3 grand.

We got to the place and had to watch the most boring video ever made about anything ever...could hardly hear it either.

showed us some interesting things, mainly the booby-traps left by the Viet-Cong. Some were pretty horrific, but ingenious.

We got to fire real guns at one point as well, I chose the M1 Garand rifle.

Then we were shown into the little underground tunnels to walk through them...I say walk, but in no way could you actually walk. I could barely kneel in these dark, hot tunnels. So we shuffled through over a 100m of this, fighting a little claustrophobia. Came out drenched in sweat but smiles on our faces...Dont know how the Viet Cong managed that every day, with bombs going off all over the place.


Cambodia

Was glad to leave Vietnam...Cambodia was the next stop, more specifically; Pnom Penh (capital). I instantly felt more at home in Cambodia...its nothing like home...but you get a feeling about a place very quickly - and it was a positive one. The bus journey was rubbish - took over 5 hours longer than the original 6 and included stops in massive unused lorry-parks where the toilet (as guided to by our driver) was a lovely barbed-wire fence.

Anyway, arrived at Encounters hostel in Pnom Penh...nice little place with Martin, an English guy running the place. He gave us loads of advice on what to do...

S-21 and killing fields

Pol Pot was a bad man - he started a massive revolution in the late 20th century and anyone he considered to be an enemy was killed.

We went to a high school that Pol Pot converted into a prison. It has been left in more-or-less the same state as they found it...and they dont hold back: displaying photos of the dead in each of the 14 cells that were occupied at the end of Pots reign. It was an experience similar to Auschwitz in Poland - so difficult to comprehend the voilence that happened in the same place as you are standing...lots of people were continuously tortured there before being loaded into a truck with 59 other blind-folded prisoners...they werent told where they were going...

Killing fields

This is where they were taken...about 15km away from the prison. The truck would pull up and the prisoners taken into holding cells before taken to the field, executed (sometimes beheaded) and thrown into a mass grave. There was a tree which the Khmer Rouge used to smash babies heads against. Its unbelievable to think that this happened only 30/40 years ago.

As you can imagine, its an eerie place.

Chill at the pool

The following day, we decided to go to a pool to chill out for the day. Managed to find a little restaurant/bar that had a pool and sunbeds...all we had to do was spend over 5 dollars on our tab each and we could use the facilities for free - had a full English breakfast - read - swam - read. It was absolutely baking.


Market


Went to the market in the evening. Purchased some Abercrombie shorts (defo real) and a Hai Dong...Which is basically a big shuttle cock shaped thing with a feather coming out of a spring. Difficult to explain but all the locals love these things. They stand in groups and do kick ups with it. So when we got back to the hostel we played with it outside the front.

Gradually people became interested and a few lads joined in (locals) they were pretty good, and after a while they invited us to play soccer with them...

The ball was this strange woven thing made of thin wood...flip-flops for goalposts. Had a great little game with them, they were pretty awesome as well, some of them were only 8 years old.

Siem Reap

Arrived at our hostel in Siem Reap (Which means "Thailand - Defeat") From when the Cambodians defeated Thailand.



Siem Reap is home to Angkor Wat - The largest religious temple in the world. It takes about 3 days to fully take it all in, so we hired our very own Tuk-Tuk driver for the time we are hear. Hes a ledge, gave us a discount cos I got him a beer...During the day we'll get him the odd can of coke, or pay for his lunch...In return he will take us anywhere at night for free. So he came and picked us up after the first day to go out...more of that later...

Angkor Wat is incredible. Its like a massive area of jungle where the Angkors built their empire. A huge centre-piece temple looks spectacular and has lots of religious symbolism. There are many other temples surrounding the centre-piece...Including pyramid based temples, one with lots of faces, and one now dominated by trees. This was my favourite part - as massive trees wrap their routs around the temples, They are so huge that it looks more like an Alton Towers ride. This temple was where the Tomb Raider movie was filmed.

So the night out then...We arrived at "Mr Hang's" (tuk tuk driver) recommended night spot. It looked OK, a little quiet but they had a big screen with the football on. We decided to go flash and buy a bottle of Jack Daniels for the table, with a loads of cokes, an ice bucket and some lime. The manager came over and introduced himself, he drank with us for a while, talking about football and the like...the like being that the rules of the club were that you pay 3 dollars to actually enter the inside of the club...can pick a girl and she will dance with you for 3 dollars ("This include kissing, touching, dancing") and you can take them back to the hotel, all night for 50 dollars. That was good to know. We drank and played cards...I banged out a couple of magic tricks that they buzzed off (Cheers Segger-pot). They said we were now VIP so we could go into the club for free, we took up his offer and went in. Was actually an awesome club..music was ledge as well. Neither of us used the services...

Went to another club to play pool and carry on drinking...crashed in bed around 4.30am.

Pick up at 9.30am...ouch.

The next day, was today...We were picked up at 5am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat...Bit cloudy so wasnt really worth it...But went on a different circuit to some other highlights.

Just got back now...Tomorrow we visit some waterfalls and more temples (All the temples are just like Indiana Jones)

If its a comfort to anyone, its too hot here.

OK blog done, Im knackered... will blog again soon...either back in Bangkok or in Sydney, our new destination.

Jay x
Angkor Wat