Since we got to China we seem to have noticed that our blog doesn't work, much to our dismay, and although I have tried to get onto it, I think my brother is right when he said that perhaps it is blocked in China. So I have asked my parents kindly to relay this through an email and my login to the Vox page that you are hopefully still patiently watching. That in itself does not bode well for experience here, and we have later discovered other evidence of state control such as that on every single TV channel, at 7 o'clock they show one state controlled news show, scary stuff! However, do not be disheartened for China is both great fun and a great challenge! The first most noticeable thing when we got into China (via a city called Gungzhao I think, just north of Hong Kong - get out your atlas') is the incredible language barrier, we've come to the point that the phrasebook is best used for pointing at characters. This is also not helped by the fact that Taxi drivers have no idea where they're going, they're really terrible! So yes, but we've got around so far alright. Speaking of getting around I shall tell you now of our plans to go on. Firstly we're leaving tomorrow afternoon and getting a train Xi'an (home of the terracotta warriors) we shall spend the 5th and 6th there then get a train on the 7th to Chengdu (all these trains are overnight/18-24 hours) we shall spend the 8th and 9th in Chengdu then get a train to Beijing on the 10th arriving on the 11th, spending the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th in Beijing and getting our flight back to England on the morning of the 15th. I'm sure the parents know this but we'll be arriving at about 3:30pm your time! So yes, that’s all groovy and we're looking forward to the remainder of the trip, we're all being very nostalgic at the moment but I think that we're also almost ready to come home.
Anyways, Shanghai is lovely if busy and sort of cold (as is
China in general) but it is very much a city and very tiring in that respect but
Hungzhou (where we were yesterday, just outside Shanghai) on the shores of the
west lake is absolutely lovely so that was a nice relax. Apart from that
there's not a lot to say other than I shall try to get my parents to post on
the site via me from Beijing,
since internet will be a little more scarce in-land. Ok!
So much love to all
and talk very soon
-Dave (and everyone) out
Saigon....damn...we're still only in Saigon....
We're not really, thats just a line from Apocalypse Now which I thought of in India and have been wanting to use for like 2 months! (If you don't knwo Apocalypse Now or what i'm talking about, either go watch it or enjoy normality)
Anyways! We're in Hong Kong! Hoorah! Well actually we're on an island in the Hong Kong group of Islands called Lantau which is...amazing, in that it's very scenic, beautiful English weather (low 20's and breezy with an overcast sky) and it looks, and smells, like Torquay or Devon or Mumbles (Wales!). There is the faint aroma of salty brine and fish and chips with the generally freezing water and long quite sandy beaches, even some Indian people here playing cricket, it's all pretty surreal really.
We did however step into regular Hong Kong yesterday, or rather we went to Kowloon which is the bay conecting Hong Kong Island to the rest of "Hong Kong" (you might need a map by this point). But needless to say we are happy and loving the change in temperature and amazingly have yet to have chinese food! Hong Kong is expensive but not too expensive, if you know where to look. Although our first two nights are booked ina lovely hotel, we ourselves can't afford any longer so we'll be moving to a hostel at the base of Lantau peak which has a temple and a massive Buddha. Also on Lantau Island is Disneyland Hong Kong!!!!! Lots of Mickey Mouses on sign posts. So far everything in Hong Kong is in English so we're getting along famously and happily!
Saigon! I should probably talk about that as well! We really liked Saigon, we all agreed, and (although I'm not a big fan of soup noodles I've come to discover) the guys really liked their Pho Bo (or vegetarian pho in Morty and Elf's case) which is a Vietnamese speciality (thanks mum for that one). Saigon is like a mini Bangkok but with so much more of a rich history. For Vietnam War enthusiasts (if thats the right word) it's amazing. We went to a museum, which was until recently called "The Museum of Chinese and American War Attrocities", and saw some horrific displays on the affects of Agent Orange, Napalm and other chemical weapons. Very hard hitting stuff. Although I think the trip that defined Vietnam for us was our visit to the Cu Chi tunnels which was a series of tunnels used by the Vietcong against the americans. These tunnels were...amazing! Number one, the tunnel entrances we couldn't see even when we were standing on top of them, and they were so small that only the vietnamese could fit through them. The tunnels themselves we went through for about 5 - 10 minutes and it was incredible. The tunnels we used were largened for tourists, but even then you could only walk, slightly crouched and hunched over double. We went through about 4 metres of original sized tunnel which we could only go through on our hands and knees and pretty much flat. Also at this place I took up the oppurtunity (the guys didn't want to) to fire some Vietnam era weapons which has got to be one of the most poignant experiences of my life. If you're curious I fired a Colt.45 (the standard issue american pistol) and an Ak-47, the infamous russian assault rifle.
Cambodia! Been a while, but yes, when in Cambodia we went to Angkor Wat, which was beautiful, I have at least 100 pictures of it and then we went to Phnom Penh which has the Killing fields which were also quite horrific and just such an amazing look into the destructive capabilities of the Pol Pot regime, as Elf pointed out, the genocide can almost seem worse than the Nazi's just because of the intimate ways in which they were killed, in that every person was individually shot but later stabbed or clubbed to death (to save money on ammunition). There is a tree also which used to have a loud speaker hanging from it, playing music to hide the moans of the dying. Very morbid, morbid stuff.
Needless to say, Cambodia and Vietnam, the latter especially, is the hottest we have ever been! Just sitting in your room had sweat pouring off of us and the 5 minutes in the tunnels, we sweated out about 4 days worth of food!
Anyways! We have quite alot left to do in Hong Kong, we're going to see this Buddha statue but also they have the worlds largest escalator here apparently but also definitely, the worlds largest Aquarium, so we're definitely going to see that. We are making a point though of going to a Panda reserve in China (where if it's the right season you can hold baby Pandas!) so that will be good but there is a small free zoo here we may go visit. We also want to give Macau a visit, but not on the weekend, to see this crazy mixture of Portugal, China and Las Vegas with a number of Casinos almost matching Vegas' revenue, apparently it's worth a look.
So yes, thats all for now, we're safe, sound and happy I shall speak to ye all soon
lots of love to all
-Dave
Right, I'll make this one shorter because there's not a lot else to say. The National park was very nice indeed and similar to Koh Chang, the waterfall that was the "main attraction" was also very impressive. The guys swam in it but i decided against it for some reason ro another!
We've definitely enjoyed our time in Thailand, it's a very easy place to get around and live. Everything is relatively cheap and everyone speaks a degree of english, in fact better English than in India most of the time, due to the very good education system I shouldn't wonder. It's been nice to catch up with technology as well so yeah it's all good.
I think we're all really looking forward to China. Cambodia and Vietnam also but we're only there for a short time and we've already planned what we're doing quite well, but China I persnally am looking forward to for the language barrier. I've got a couple of phrase books and have started to learn some Mandarin, I should learn a couple of bits of cantonese but they only speak it in Hong Kong and Macau and apparently there is a lot of English there anyways. Elf's also got a phrasebook for Mandarin and he's generally better at this sort of thing than I am so hopefully between us we'll make some barely passable attempt at not eating something we'll regret (i've already memorized "do you have vegetarian food" on behalf of Elf and Morty)
From the people we've spoken to China sounds really really safe (espcially since the Olympics are there, they're enforcing tourist safety more and more) and apparently we're going at the nicest time of year!
But enough of the future, for now we're going to enjoy our last night in Thailand and I shall try to persuade someone to do a post on here now or soon about Thailand so until then, so long Thailand!
Lots of love to all
-Dave out
Aha! Back once again, this time right int he heart of backpacker Bangkok, the Kao Sat road! I've grown to like Bangkok but only in short dosages. Koh Chang on the other hand was quite quite amazing. We stayed at a place secluded in the jungle where we stayed in a variety of wooden shacks, tents and hammocks.
We did some more elephant riding with the girls and even got to bathe with the big asian beasts (the elephants obviously before anyone makes any obviously hilarious jokes...i'm looking at you dad!) This elephant ridin was better since we got lots of pictures but also it was a sanctuary in league with the asian elephant charity, they're very well taken care of and live to a ripe old age, the oldest we saw was 55! They're very cool animals and we loved that alot. The guys and I also went on a day long trek through the jungle which was so amazing, just a really nice walkt past waterfalls and odd trees, including the trees that camouflage was originally based on, looks just like it but makes the tree stick out like a sore thumb.
In answer to the Mortimers question, yes we did get a boat to Koh Chang but it was only a short one hour journey but we did go kayaking in some magrove streams which was amazing but alas no photos for me since the camera would have got very very wet and very very deaded! But jack has a waterproof disposable so you'll see those with us in all our conical hat glory!
We're off next to Khao Yai national park which'll be nice, we'll leave tomorrow afternoon and spend only 2 nights there then come back to Bangkok for a day and head for Cambodia on the next day, so yes, lots of busy fun. We like being on the road and keeping ourselves busy, it really is much more exciting!
Anyways, not much else to say other than that we're all hunky dory and the route plan has yet to change so i'll post again when we're about to leave Thailand and I'm sure Elf will grace us with another fine literary piece and hopefully the others may find time to chip in a bit too
Much Love
-Dave out!
So, here we are, or rather, here we have been for some time I just have been savouring the post for a while. Bangkok...it's an odd place, sort of like Singapore but with all the Chaos of India. Most of the pavements are both on the ground and high rised and you can't move for shops and shopping malls. All at relatively similar prices to England (apart from the knock off stuff) but generally it's quite cheap, but expensive for Thailand, being the capital and all. For us Bangkok has been a weird sort of place. We came here to meet with Amy, Amy, Sophie and Connie and hoped our meetings would coincide, which they have, or will tomorrow as we arranged. But we got here slightly early and as such have spent some time here, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It has allowed us all to catch up with reading and restock on books! Elf has been quite happy going through everyone elses books as we finish them and Jack has done similar although he bought a book called Terrorist the other day and appears to be enjoying that. Morty at many recommendations (all from me) found a copy of the first terry pratchett discworld novel in a hostel in Singapore so has taken the oppurtunity to buy the next couple in the series and Catch 22 (he might have got another but the name escapes me right now) I having exhausted all but one of my books, which I am saving for a while, I have got Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (which I finished yesterday) The book of Dave by Will Self and The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon which should be good. I also got, on the same lines as Alice, the Grimm Fairy Tales. Books here are relatively cheap and quite easy to find so yes, thats been occupying our interests a bit.
Growing quite tired of the city we shall be moving on in 2 days to Ko Chang, a largeish island in the south east which has elephant trekking, rainforests, waterfalls and the like, so that should be fun. Then we shall return briefly to Bangkok to come out again to got a national park with a very big waterfall and lush jungle etc. then back again to Bangkok and finally out to Cambodia on the 12th of March. We'll be in Siem Reap on the 12th, spend the 13th in Angkor Wat. Take a ferry on the 14th down Cambodia to Pnomh Penh. Spend a day there then take a 6 hour bus journey across the border to Vietnam and Ho-Chi-Min City on the 17th spending a couple of days in south vietnam before our flight on the 20th to Hong-Kong. This is quite a rough plan but we're pretty sure we're going to keep to it, after two long stays in Ko Phan-Nagn and Bangkok it'll be nice to be on the road again as it were!
For those of you who are not aware Jack has been properly accepted to Brisbane uni, so thats good news and a weight of his shoulders. For others who may or may not be aware Morty, a while ago now, got an offer to Portsmouth so he'll be going there he's pretty sure!
Not quite sure what else to say other than that Bangkok is very much like most other cities, it's very large, very busy and in some cases badly and well organised. We've enjoyed our time here but will be glad to see some more of Thailand. Really the time we've had here has been such a short visit, mostly because we spent a lot of it it two different places but you still get a feel for Thailand not matter where you are. No doubt we'll get more of a feel for the nature on our upcoming trips.
The current challenge however is to start learning basic chinese so that we can vaguely do more than point and talk loudly to what we want, trying to find vegetarian food should be fun, it's quite easy in Thailand but then again, it's a very easy going place.
Chat again soon
Lots of love to all
-Dave out
Ko Phanagn! (pronounced Ko-pa-nan)
Well, here we are! We arrived on this island last night and found an awesome place called dreamland which is a load of Bungalows on a smallish beach on the north-east side of the island, so not right on the party beach but only 40 minutes away from it as well so yeah! After some brief financial hiccups which only the parents are divulged in the details we are fine and dandy and enjoying ourselves as always. An odd thing that occured to us when working out some finances is that next week will be the half way point, we've all been thinking we've only just done a 3rd but we've travelled so far and much longer than most of the other travellers we meet. We also seem to be the only ones in Walking boots, but i wouldn't want to walk through india in Flip-Flops, so there we go!
Now before you throw any full bacardi bottles at your pc screens i'm updating the photos as we speak, so thats nice, i've also almost run out of room on my memory card so i'll have to blank it soon, the last 2 weeks of india up to now have taken up 1000 photos so thats cool. As for them themselves i bought a USB flash drive in Singapore so i'm going to put all the ones i've got so far and send them home!
Anyways, Thailand, it is pretty much a paradise. Lovely wearther, beautiful beaches, cheap food everything is fine and dandy, can see why it's so popula bu the Island we're on, although being very popular is not too touristed yet and as such is really quite quiet (apart from the monthly 10,000 strong raves). So yes, more on Thailandsoon but we just saw how expensive the internet is so i'm gonna get these pictures done, plus it seems a waste of good sunchsine doing it now so this be me, signing off for now.
lots of love to one and all
-Dave out
Hello Hello Hello.
This will, unfortuntley be a short post. Firstly, sorry yet again for no pictures, it's getting slightly annoying. The only excuse I can give you is that our hostel doesn't allow uploading and when I was going to do it this morning the internet cafe was closed, and we've been so busy the last view days just doing things! Today we went to Sentosa Island and the aquarium and we saw lots of fish (including clown fish - Nemo!) and a display of some pink dolphins, pretty crazy. We're getting a train in a couple of hours to Kuala Lumpar where we will spend tomorrow before our train tomorrow night to Thailand, we get to Hat Yai Thailand at 10 in the morn and then get a bus to Surat Thani, should be there by lunch time, have a quick lunch then grab a ferry over to Ko Phahnagn where we should have accomadation booked (waiting for an email) but we may spend some time in Kuala lumpar scouring the Lonely Planet guide for some good ccomadation and make some calls!
As for Stu's barnett, which I'm sure must be the talk of croydon by now, it looks pretty much the same, is quite a lot shorter and he waxes it to give him the mod-tastic height he deserves!
But yes, we're all happy nd healthy and in love with Singapore, the tube system is amazing, and you can't walk a metre without hitting a shop (today, in addition to others, we found Ted Baker and Zara in a shopping centre in an underground station) and we're all looking forward to Thailand. I think we would all really like to come back here but it's very expensive and there's not a whole lot to do unless you're on holiday. I think it would be better (if you can afford to) to live here, in my opinion it's got to be one of the greatest cities on earth a rival of London or New York (but probably not as good :)
Anyways, must be off
Love to all and promise pictures soon
-Dave out
Singapore, my first view was coming off two plane journey's on which i was sick, got no sleep and had to watch Mr Magoriums Wonder Emporium....a deadly mix! However, Singapore instantly makes you feel better. It's..obsessivly clean to such an extent that the passport official had sweets on his desk, and right next to this was a bin, specifically for the sweets, I found it interesting but writing it down now seems weird. Anyways! Singapore is truly jaw dropping, there's so little traffic, everyone is very friendly, dressed well, absolutely no litter (or cows) it's such a pleasant difference from the chaos of India. We took a walk down Orchard Road (the oxford street and park avanue combined of Singapore) and the amount of shops is just amazing, we found everything from BK to KFC to 711 to Marks and Spencers to even Topman and Topshop (and Zara, to Morty's delight). Another thing is that we really don't feel out of place here, everyone doesn't really mind, the multi-cultrualism is quite amazing but you really can't get across how clean and quiet and well organised it all is, quite incredible.
Anyways, Morty's off at the moment getting his hari-cut (it's 12 noon here) then we'll get some lunch and we're going to head off to the zoo which has over 4000 animals! So that'll be cool!
Our travel plans (which i've just booked) are to get a train on Monday night over-night to Kuala Lumpar (Malaysia), spend the day there then get a train from their overnight to Hat Yai (Thailand) and then spend that day travelling to a small Island off Thailand home of and in time for the Full Moon Festival (Jack's giddy as a school girl) So yeah, i'll post again soon and pictures as well!
Much love
-Dave Out
Ah, previous jewel of the British Empire and number one exporter of the worlds supply of Tea and Whisky! Well, it's our last day in India. Part of us is obviously welled up with tears and emotion and another part is quite looking forward to a change of scenery.
India is odd, very odd, it's full of people, obviously, most of whom are trying to make money out of you in any way, shape or form and those that aren't are this sort of "yuppie middle class" as Elf rightly puts it that seem to be living off whatever fortune their parents made in the 80's. India's filled with poverty, it's very obvious at every corner, it's very depressing and sadly we've become so de-sensitized to it that it either frustrates us (well me) or we make a joke of it. In our defence (at this trial, apparently) it seems to be the only way to get through it well, it's becoming more and more apparent how little we can do about it.
This is not to say that we don't like India, we've loved it, as Stu says "the time of his life" and I think that matches our sentiments exactly. One of the oddest things to come over us, to be fair at the end of our 38 hour train journey yesterday, was a real appreciation for England and the sort of basic luxuries we enjoy there. I know everyone always saying but you never really notice it until you're wearing 5 layers to bed and there is no running water, which, even if there was, would be ice cold and undrinkable. It's different and although that scenario sounds bad it was definitely my favourite place in India, Darjeeling.
Anyways, for the first time ever i'm gonna hand over the mic to my main man Elf!
Awesome
-Dave out
Thank you, thank you! This is a great honour and a privilage (sniff)! I've worked so hard to get onto this blog! So hard! I've done things you wouldn't believe to get to this position...
Now that i'm here however, i'm finding it a little hard to come up with anything to say. There's little point in summing up what we've done or where we've been. Dave's done such a good job after all, and i think everyone can back me up on that. I could give some lengthy, pretentious piece of traveller drivel you've all heard a thousand times about how the experience makes us better than normal people ('The Beach' anyone?). Instead im going to go ahead and list, using the magic of bullet points, some of the things that make India India.
- India is waking up at 3am to watch the orange sun rise above a sea of clouds to paint the peak of Mount Kanchenjunga fiery pink.
- India is walking through the cremation site on the banks of the river ganges, the thick smell of burning wood and flesh clinging to your hair and clothes for days afterwards.
- India is Morty being constantly disappointed with the low spice level of his curries.
- India is taking a camel ride through the Rajastahni desert to watch the sun set over the dunes.
- India is beggers sleeping outside high rise skyscrapers in Mumbai.
- India is drinking Chai by the potload in roadside hovels.
- India is sitting around a campfire in Goa, Kingfisher in hand, watching the moon move accross the most star filled sky you've ever seen to the plunking of guitar strings and the 'thump thump, boinggg!' of tablas.
- India is seeing ancient temples and forts beseiged by touts and tat merchants in the thousands.
- India is being stopped and searched by policemen, only to find 200 rupees missing from your pocket.
- India is seeing Tigers for the first time... enough said.
India is all these things and more, and if i had the time this list could go on and on. Anywho, we've got a date with some food and we simply cant miss it. Love to all,
Duncan
