Kuala Lumpur. Second time around.

Twenty four hours later at 5am, after a boat, coach, two minivans and a taxi we arrived in Kuala Lumpur's China Town. To my surprise all the hostels were fully booked but one agreed we could wait in their lounge until two beds became available. We met a guy who had been attacked so badly by bed bugs it looked as though he had chicken pox all over his back. The hostel had given him a room for some respite from their feeding which he said he didn't need anymore so we exchanged him for some anti-histamine cream!

A few hours sleep later we were ready to take in the sights of KL. K had never been before and I was happy I now knew the way so we took in the National Mosque, Museum of Islamic Arts and the National Monument. K bought a bouncy ball and I bought some pineapple with sour powder. Yum.

On our way back we planned to stop off for a quick drink before showering and heading out for the evening. Although Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country we were shocked at how hard it was to find a bar in a city as cosmopolitan as KL. After an hour of wandering we settled on the Reggae Bar. It only took me five seconds to find the sign on the wall that said 'Free drinks for backpacker girls. 6pm-11pm.' I called over a waiter and checked out the logistics: 'How many free drinks? Do you have to be staying here to get them? Can I get them today?' We were good to go so grinning I turned to K and said 'I'll get the first round in then!'

We stayed at the Reggae Bar until 11pm chatting to an English/ French couple who had just got back from the Philippines so I racked their brains and came away with a napkin full of more precious travel advice than ten Lonely Planets.

For my final day in KL I wanted to check out the Batu Caves as I had missed it out last time round. We boarded a train and arrived at 4pm (late arrival due to nursing hangovers). We climbed the several hundred steps behind the huge golden deity to the entrance of the caves. The sign at the top promised us 'No more exercise'!

The tavern inside was full of mischievous monkeys and we watched as they persistently stole the Hindu religious garlands and dragged them up the cliff walls to have a good chew on them. They weren't deterred by a religious man throwing rocks at them; he invariably missed. Some music started to play and we were witness to a Hindu ceremony although I wasn't sure what it was for. For a few moments though, it felt as though we were in India.

We stopped off at a reptile centre and jumped on the train back to the city. K wanted to go to the part for sunset so we got off at a random stop hoping to find a taxi. Anytime you walk anywhere in Asia you are constantly shouted at; "Taxi, Taxi", "Tuk Tuk, Tuk Tuk", but the only time we actually needed a ride it was impossible to flag one down. We had a rough map with no scale (the maps are always wrong anyway) so decided to head on foot in the rough direction until we found a lift.

KL is a great city to get lost in. Many cultures and religions all live happily side by side (Muslim, Hindu and Chinese being the main ones) which brings an eye-catching variety to the streets. After an hour or so of walking we eventually managed to flag down a taxi who told us the park was just across the bridge we were stood on - map reading genius!  We had missed sunset but the view of KL rising out above the lake was breathtaking. The KL Towers and skyscrapers - their billowing lights stretching up into the warm hazy night sky.

We grabbed a burger and headed up to the Petronas Towers for a panoramic bird's eye view of the night city-scape. Through the binoculars you could peer at people on the streets, in gyms and going about their ant-like routines.



My flight to Manila was at 7am so I headed back to the hostel and tried to get a couple of hours sleep before the 3am airport shuttle bus. I can never sleep if I know I have to get up early but the excitement of going to the Philippines gave me enough energy to get to the airport and on the plane.

Koh Phangan

One of my favourite things about travelling is never knowing where you might end up tomorrow. As such, I tend to shy away from booking things in advance. Unfortunately this was New Year peak season so prices were inflated and accommodation was scarce so I opted to book three nights on Koh Phangan before I arrived. My only option was to book a double room so I hoped to bump into someone on the ferry who would be up for sharing. As luck happens I sat next to two worse for wear girls on the ferry - one of whom was asleep underneath the chairs. 

A and H were from Bournemouth and had been at a part the night before. At the ferry port, we boycotted the touts for a while as the girls had a number to call when they arrived on Koh Pangan. Their number yielded no response so we all decided to share the room. A shouted "Taxi, taxi" in the middle of the idling group of touts and we were on our way to Ham Salad (aka Haad Salad).

It wasn't a problem convincing the frond desk that there were only two of us staying in the room and our other friend was just 'dropping off her bag'. We checked out the local reggae bar, took a swim and piled into the double bed for a nap.

J and A were already on Koh Phangan and informed me that the Black Moon Party (Experience After Party) was that night and the line-up was going to be good! All we needed now was transportation. Although it is commonplace to see three plus people on a moped in Asia, they wouldn't allow it in the rental shop. It was going to work out cheaper for us to rent a jeep between three for 24 hours than to get a taxi to the party and back so we bought some refreshments and clamboured in. I was more than happy to be the designated driver. A bottle of Samson, several toilet breaks and an hour later we were outside the party. The only thing left between us and dancing all night was how we were going to avoid paying the 500 baht entrance fee. We parked up and scouted around but breaking in wasn't looking likely. A few people were leaving the party so we took their wristbands for 200 baht and were in!

It turned out to be another amazing party. I bumped into some people I had met on Koh Tao and it was a perfect way to end my New Year on the islands before getting back to doing some proper travelling! After a safe journey back - including some of my legendary dodgey parking - we all settled into a deep sleep.

The next day I had arranged to meet K (a friend I had bumped into at both parties) in Haad Rin to book tickets to travel to Kuala Lumpur together as he was flying back to Slovenia and had a flight to the Philippines. It was raining on the island anyway, so no fun for touring the islands beaches as we had originally planned. The evening ran smoothly, no crashes, tickets booked, a few drinks and a movie in a bar. Although we did get majorly lost on the way back and ended up in the wrong part of the island but luckily our late arrival was overlooked. We are obviously better navigators after a night of partying.

The next morning at 5am I was travelling again! The journey from Koh Phangan to Kuala Lumpur was a killer 24 hour mission! The worst part of the journey was the minivan from Surathani to Penang. Cramped into the back it was too bumpy to read and there was no chance of sleeping. K gave me some Slovenian wordsearches to do and was very patient in responding to my questions of what every word meant in English while he battled on with his 'Very Taxing' sudoku.



Koh Tao

A little worse for wear from our journey, we avoided the mass of touts at the port and set up camp in a bar to take stock of the situation over an ice coffee. A had already booked accommodation on Koh Tao for her and her friend, J, for the duration of the festival. As J wasn't arriving until the next day I agreed to share accommodation with her for the first night. An open-backed jeep ride across the island's dirt tracker later, i was glad of a decent shower, meal and a bed to sleep in.

In the morning I made my way to the festival site to get a good camping spot while A went to meet J. This was it. Four days of dancing to ceaseless psychedelic rhythms amongst a crowd of amazing people welcoming in the New Year on an island paradise. It certainly couldn't get any better. The location was perfect, the decor stunning, and the music really reached a peak on 1st January 2011.

The festival finished on the 4th and I checked into a hotel in town to recover. Team America was on the movie channel; ideal post festival viewing. I learned that three girls I had travelled Laos with had just arrived on the other side of the island and had persuaded the hotel to throw in a mattress in their room for me at 100 baht a night (about two pounds). It was amazing seeing them again and I felt as though I was catching up with old friends. We chilled on the beach together, went window shopping, danced to the cheesiest music and messed around for a couple of days.

My visa for Thailand was running out and on the recommendation of several friends (plus the rumour of a festival after party) I decided to head for Koh Phangan.

Bangkok, second time around.

Second time in Bangkok and it's still not my favourite place in the world. We found a great little Israeli guest house tucked around the corned from the noise of Khao San Road; Secret Garden Guest House. Although it wasn't the cheapest, we decided it was okay considering we only spend $1 on the previous two nights accommodation. We spend the following evening pottering around Khao San; N buying T-shirts while I chatted to a guy who made bamboo saxophones and (selflessly, of course,) helping him with quality control.

The next day's agenda consisted of buying a tent for a festival I was headed to, which proved more difficult than it should in such as huge city. We took a local bus to another part of Bangkok where we were advised there was a market where I could purchase one. After hunting around for a while and receiving numerous opinions we ended up at Tesco (ahem)! 270 baht, job done. We jumped in a tuk tuk back to Kao San Road as I had a girl to meet who would be joining me on the night bus. The rush hour traffic was heaving with cars headed in a chaotic and directionless cloud of smog. We made it back to Kao San just in time for me to grab my rucksack and head to the bus stop where N and I, after a month of travelling together, parted company.

I was meeting a girl, A (a friend of a friend of a friend on Facebook), and we were travelling to Ko Tao together for a four day psytrance event: The Experience Festival. But as the traffic in Bangkok was so bad, A was nowhere to be seen. After pleading with the travel agent and a phone call between her and the bus driver, it was established that she was only 5km away; but who knew how long that would take. This is Thailand though, nothing ever leaves on time, so I didn't doubt that she would make it. 15 minutes later I received a call from an unknown Thai number: both our phones had run out of credit but A had been lucky and found someone who had lent her their phone. The travel agent again conversed with a guy at the end of the phone and gave him the name of a bar nearby. Through the language barrier I wasn't sure what was going on so 10 minutes later after no A and much pressure from the bus company, I left my backpack and headed there on the off-chance. Armed with the memory of Asia's Facebook profile picture and limitless optimism I got to the bar and said her name very loudly. As luck would have it, a girl matching her description turned around and we were on our way. That is, after a 30 minute wait for the bus to show up!

A and I got along really well and swapped travel stories as the bus headed south. After the final dinner stop everyone started to snooze so I headed to the bathroom to freshen up. Pulling the door aside, there were too Welsh boys in there drinking and smoking: great. I went back and grabbed A and we joined in the toilet party! The morning bought another bus journey and then a boat ride via Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and finally to Koh Tao.

Cambodia

We breezed through Cambodia faster than you can say Phnom Penh: our first destination. Teaming up with a couple of German girls we swam our way through the entourage of tuk tuk touts targeting us at the bus station and collectively regained our bearings. Eventually we decided on accommodation and shared a tuk tuk.

As my travel companion at the time, N, and I were both pushed for time we decided to get straight out and see Phnom Penh. Although neither of us were big museum fans, we both wanted to visit S-21 and Choeung Ek Killing Fields. The girls decided to join us too. 

S-21 is where the Cambodian captives were detained and a (false) confession extracted from them before they were moved to Choeung Ek. The prison was an ex-school, the classrooms had been turned into torture chambers and cells barely big enough for one person. It was a hollowing experience walking inside these spaces knowing what had happened there only thirty years previously. Portrait photographs of the victims lined the walls. It took a while afterwards for us to catch our breaths and regain our sense of humour.

That evening we wondered to Phnom Penh night market and stared at the vast array of delights. As I knew my travel companion cum time keeper and I would soon be going our separate ways I decided it was time to break the bank and shell out for a $1 watch.

Christmas Day! 

According to our tight schedules - N and I were leaving Phnom Penh at 2pm for Siem Reap so we were to visit Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre first thing. We arrived there before 9am while the air was still cool and quiet before the crowds descended. We accepted the offer of a 'by donation' guide at the ticket gate. Our guide was born in '56, the same year as my Dad. As such he was mid 20's when Pol Pot wrecked disaster on the Cambodian people and could give us a first hand account of the tragedies that took place. 

The shallow graves included the remnants of bones and teeth and we were shown the razor sharp leaves growing on the surrounding trees which were used to end the lives of thousands of innocent people. Emotions bubbled to the surface set to the soundtrack of young children laughing and playing in the school only twenty meters away.

Leaving Choeung Ek we had time before our bus so we joined the German couple to visit the Russian Market; although there was actually nothing Russian about it barring the name. N and I split up from the girls and arranged to meet at the entrance an hour later. After ten minutes we bumped into two pale, vegetarian faces that informed us t hey had just found the food course. I made a B-line straight for it but was dissapointed to find no crickets or edible creepy crawlies to gawp at. 

N and I bought $1 Christmas hats (everything in Cambodia costs $1) and stocked up on festive beers for the bus journey. In light of this we had paid extra for a bus with a toilet: which of course, was out of order!

Our typically slow bus ride landed us in Siem Reap about 10pm and we headed for the $1 a night dorm rooms outlined in the Yellow Bible (aka, the Lonely Planet). These consisted of a raised wooden platform with a mattresses under mosquito nets; perfect! As we only had time for one day at Angkor Wat we arranged a tuk tuk driver would pick us up at 4:30am for sunrise over the grand temple. By the time we had made Christmas phone calls back to family we only had three hours left to sleep and the music from the festivities kept us awake long after that. 

After a quick shower we clamboured in the back of the tuk tuk, dozing and dreaming of coffee. We got to Angkor Wat well before sunrise and readied ourselves for the infamous view. Even the Chinese guy next to us hawking up phlegm and rock concert decibels couldn't put a dampener on it. The sunrise was magnificent. 

We spent a few hours exploring the Tomb Raider temples. After the legendary Angkor Wat, my favourite was the tree temple:

Admittedly we did get a bit 'templed-out' and started to mess around stalking Japanese tourists! After lunch it was decided we were definitely long overdue a break so we had a nap by the lake and waited for the midday sun to pass. The rest of the afternoon was spent climbing to the top of every temple we could see and chatting to our driver. Then we drove to the final temple of the day for sunset. 

We teamed up with another Japanese tourist called Yoshi - a fashion designer from Tokyo - and his guide who showed us the back way up to the top of the temple. It was of course, full of tourists (not that we were contributing to this!) but we managed to find our own ledge by sliding down one of the temple walls; the grazes were worth it! Sunset was spectacular and after the last red glow faded beneath the Earth's horizon everyone applauded and cheered a standing ovation to the Universe. It was absolutely magical. Sun rise and set at Angkor Wat is a must see for every keen traveler.

In a bid to economise and save time we booked the night bus to Bangkok for 1am the same night. Exhausted from an epic day and a fraction of sleep, we bumbled around Siem Reap night market, had some food and waited around the hostel longing for the bus so we could sleep. I went down to take a shower but ended up talking to a veteran traveler - every hostel has one! - picking up the most interesting stories and travel tips until it was time for the bus. 

A reclining seat and a couple of Valium* later we were at the Thai Border.

* A prescription is not required for Valium in most parts of South East Asia!

Vietnam

Halong Bay is said to be the must see in Vietnam. A group of us booked ourselves on a two day, one night tour there that included meals and a night sleeping on a boat. There are many petitions for Halong Bay to become the eigth wonder of the world, from the pictures you can see why:

There are thousands of vast islands and cave systems that really are amazing. Unfortunately it was really overcast and cloudy on the day we went there so sunbathing wasn't an option.

Next we went to Nimh Binh which is a really run down town but we managed to hire push bikes and get outselves out into the countryside which was really amazing. We climbed up a hill and the views were immense. It was probably the first time I have heard quiet in Asia. This is the view from the hill we climbed:

Next we stopped off in Hoi An which is a gorgous little town. We'd had a battering at this point by awful bus companies, overnight bussess and people generally being rude to us so we sought some refuge in a fairly nice hotel and spent most of the day sat by the pool. In the evening though we wanted around this gorgous little town and meandered through the markets.

 After Hoi An it was time for another overnight bus which I really wasn't looking forward to. We got lucky though and the seats were okay (albeit designed for tiny Asian people). We were really looking forward to Na Trang as the weather had been overcast and often rained throughout Vietnam and we heard the people were friendlier in the South. The weather didn't improve much in Nha Trang but we booked an amazing little tour for five dollars and went round some islands. This tour was the highlight of my time in Vietnam, the men on the boats were really funny and set up a little band and sang us 'Jingle Bells' and other songs Vietnamese style!

I am currently in Mui Ne. The weather is amazing, the sea is blue, the sand is golden and we have found a place with nice people (which we are sticking to)! Later on this afternoon we are going to check out the famous sand dunes and surf down them.

Tomorrow we are off to the massive Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) which is going to be mental. Luckily we have perfected are Vietnamese road crossing skills: don't look, just walk slowly so should be alright. Will only stay there for one night then it's on to Cambodia.

Viang Veng

Got a minivan from Luang Prabang to Viang Veng over windy mountain roads. One passanger was sick, but I managed to stomach it. We stopped at a service station and they had a massive jar full of Lao Lao (whisky) with a baby bear inside it. Got chatting to a man about it and he says if you drink it, according to Chinese medicine, you become strong like the bear. I was up for it but didn't end up trying any. Bus journey took about five hours and was really uncomfortable as I was on a little fold out seat with no seat belt so was sliding all over the place! Was great getting to Viang Veng and we managed to find a lovely and cheap guesthouse without too much effort. We went out for a couple of drinks in the evening for my birthday but I wasn't really feeling it so got an early night and was rested for tubing the next day!

Viang Veng is really crazy... it's surrounded by beautiful mountains and very poor Laos but the small town is full of foreigners getting drunk and going tubing. It felt really weird and I was very conscious of this while we were tubing but after a few drinks kind of forgot about it. Tubing is just one big party; the bars line the river and you float from one to the other on giant rubber rings. The bars give you free shots and play loud music; it felt a little bit like I could have been in Magaluf. Heard so many horror stories about people having accidents tubing; copius amounts of alcohol combined with swing off ropes and shooting down slides into the river aren't a very safe mix but I was with a group of eight people and we all looked out for each other. Tubing was great fun but the exact opposite of why I went traveling so the next day I took myself off to the Organic Farm.

Staying on the farm (http://www.laofarm.org/) has been the highlight of my trip so far. I arrived at about  three in the afternoon and got straight to work doing some raking and then helped feed the baby goats some milk. In the evening I went for dinner with a Swiss girl and we got along really well. The farm is right next to the first drop off point for tubing and in the evening I got to hear the real story of how it impacts the local community from the founder of the farm.

The music from the bars is really loud and can be heard from the farm all day; plus all the drunk Westerners wandering around doesn't provide a great influence for the local children. He referred to what he called 'The Tubing Mafia' in that a few companies run a monopoly on the tubing business and don't do anything to help out the local community. I was really saddened to hear this. At night time we also heard a digger, really loud which was taking the stones out of the river to make it deeper for people tubing. He told us this was totally illegal but there was nothing he could do about it.

The next day we chilled out in the morning by the river before the tubers arrived and had a swim. Then after lunch we went to work in the farm collecting banana leaves for the goats. Then we went and collected some other leaves for the goats - they eat so much! Mr Pai climbed a tree like a monkey and was cutting down branches while we collected them. I'm not sure what type of trees they were but the sap was blood red. He found a bee's nest in one of the trees so we ate some honey.

In the evening a group of us went to the local school and helped teach the kids English. The kids were so lovely and it was such an amazing experience. I had a group of girls congregate around me and was only sorry that I didn't know any Justin Beiber songs to help them learn! I was really sad to leave after this and have looked into similar projects in Vietnam but can only find the ones that charge you 300 dollars a week! I will try and find something locally to get involved in. That evening I sad and shared papaya and a few beers with the family.

The next day I got a lift on a scooter back to the town and found the people I was traveling with. This was the mentalist bus journey ever and we were on it for over 26 hours. We had booked a normal bus rather than a sleeper because it was half the price but luckily we got an upgrade (not sure why) to a sleeper. This could not have worked out better because I don't think I would have been able to cope on a normal bus.

The sleeper pulled over somewhere at 1am and I got off to have a smoke and ended up sharing some food and drinks with the bus drivers that had pulled up. My glass kept getting refilled and refilled so felt absolutely awful when we got to the Vietnamese border at 7am. Everyone I was traveling with had also made the same mistake as me (never, ever, again!) of not having any Vietnamese currency - Dong - so we were starving by the time we arrived into Hanoi at about 8pm.

We found taxi and they agreed to drop us off at ATMs so we could get some money out to pay them. It being Sunday, every ATM in town was either down for maintenance or had run out of money. In the end we got dropped off at the hostel who pointed us in the direction of a HSBC!! Then we all ran out for some food and ended up in, what I would describe as a Vietnamese version of a Phoenix Nights hooker bar. I ate some food and pretty much went straight to bed!

Today I wandered around Hanoi with Holly, a girl from Manchester and we had fun getting lost in the city. This city is so random; there's always something to have a good stare at. I have booked a trip to Halong Bay tomorrow (apparently it is a must-see) and have also secured myself an open bus ticket to Ho Chi Minh City so can travel through Vietnam at my leisure. Looking forward to getting out the city again and seeing some more of Vietnam!