Day 208 (Wed 31 Jan) - Krabi / Koh Lanta

Up early to sort our travel arrangements.

Met up with the woman at the Jolly Jumper who quickly sorted out a bus for us to Koh Lanta, leaving this afternoon, and a bus that would take us to Surat Thani train station and tickets to Hua Hin for our journey to Khao Sam Roi Yot. As the woman sorted out all of this her two cute pet poodles kept us entertained.

Had breakfast and then packed our gear and waited for our bus. The bus arrived 15 mins late and we settled in for the drive to Koh Lanta.

We seemed to drive around Krabi for ages, picking up boxes and local people, dropping off boxes and said people, before we actually seemed to set off for Koh Lanta.

Traveled for about an hour and then waited for 40 mins in a queue for a ferry. Crossed the river and then drove a little further to embark on another ferry. As we were crossing our driver told us, a Thai lady traveling on the bus interpreted, that he would be dropping us all off at the other side of this river and we were to walk up the road until his friend picked us up and took us on! As another passenger commented, if he hadn't spent so long doing his personal jobs he would have been able to take us as planned.

At any rate, we disembarked and trooped up the road in the sweltering hear. Soon we saw a large sort of station wagon that was going to be our ride. Not enough space in the main body of the vehicle so Sarb and a fellow Thai passenger ended up in the back with the bags.

Traveled on good roads for about half an hour lined by lush palm trees and dense vegetation.

Got to our lodgings the Miami Lanta Bungalows on Klong Nin Beach. Our internet booking assured us that we had a sea view. Technically this was correct although you had to stand on the porch of the bungalow to get a glimpse of the sea through the other bungalows!

The bungalow was very spacious and clean and had an enormous bathroom. Had a drink sitting at the attached restaurant on tables and chairs laid out on the beach. The sand was white, the sky and sea were blue and it's hot! Paradise.

Went for a walk up and down the mainly deserted beach. Development of the beach front is minimal so large tracts of the beach were fringed with huge palm trees and forests. The water was crystal clear!

Returned to our room where we freshened up and then watched an incredible sunset whilst having a drink ( [1], [2] ). It was then that we noticed that our lodgings were flying the Welsh flag for some unknown reason. Whilst relaxing the hotel cat pitched up. Very friendly little cat that would leap up onto the table, demanding to be stroked. We named him Buster. At about 9pm a fire show started, this was to be a regular evening entertainment, consisting of a man, and sometimes a woman, twirling fiercely burning brands of wood. Sitting under a starry sky, having a drink, on a beach, with the ocean murmuring beyond us and an occasional caressing warm breeze it seemed the most natural thing in the world watching people trying to get third degree burns. You just had to be there!

After the fire show Sarb started fiddling around with the larger of our cameras and managed, more by luck than judgment, taking a photograph of the night sky (here is the constellation of Orion). Jo sat transfixed (i.e. bored rigid) as Sarb then spent the next hour and a half experimenting with the camera, taking many photos, and lamenting the fact that he hadn't been able to figure this out when we were in Africa!

Had dinner on the beach and very nice it was too!

Day 207 (Tues 30 Jan) - Bangkok / Krabi

Up and had our gear packed by 7.30am.

As usual our bus arrived late to take us to the new Bangkok International Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). We sat at the front of the bus as it was crammed with people and endured a 50 minute hair raising journey! Our driver seemed intent to keep the distance between him and the car in front to about 2 feet, whilst driving at about 60 mph and whilst talking and texting on his mobile. We were very relieved to get out of the bus.

Got to the brand new airport and waited for our flight to be displayed to check in. The airport looks like Stanstead airport although much, much bigger.

Wandered round the shops, managing to bag a few chicken rolls as we walked.

Checked in and had a look at the small number of domestic airside shops. It appeared that there were many more shops on the international airside but unfortunately you are not allowed through.

Soon time to board so passed our hand luggage through the gate x-ray machine. When Sarb's bag was passed through the security guard asked Sarb if he was carrying a knife. Sarb responded no and then remembered that he had put his Swiss Army knife in his bag! He fished the knife out of the bag and the security guard calmly told him that he would have to keep hold of it, and on our return to Bangkok, it would be returned. Great idea in principle but seeing as we were not going to return to Bangkok unworkable.

Sarb briefly considered saying that he carried the knife for religous reasons but seeing as it was a Swiss Army knife and not a ceremonial dagger he didn't think this would work. Falling on the time honoured gambit of all folk that find themselves in this position Sarb pleaded his case citing sentimental reasons. The kindly guard suggested we contact Air Asia. The Air Asia rep was very helpful and said we could keep the knife as long as we put it in a bag that would be stored in the hold of the aircraft.

Sarb readily agreed to this course of action and went to fetch his rucksack that Jo was looking after some distance away, so that the knife could be stowed. It was at this point that Jo said that we should stow her rucksack as she'd just remembered that she had a cutlery set in her bag that had not been picked up by the guards! So bristling with knives and assorted forks, her rucksack was duly labeled and shoved on the plane.

The flight took about 1.5 hours. As we neared Krabi we flew over beautiful mangrove covered islands with rivers cutting snaking paths through them.

Got a taxi from the small airport into Krabi town. Found a room at the Grand Tower Hotel on the 4th floor, no lift! However we did get a great view of the surrounding karst islands out beyond the jetty.

Jo wasn't feeling too well so Sarb went off to the Internet cafe for a few hours burning CD's and giving the local mozzies a free feed.

Returned to the room and as Jo feeling a little better we wandered off to a few travel agents to see how we could get to Koh Lanta and to Khao Sam Roi Yot. The Grand Tower staff were particularly unhelpful as were the other agents we tried.

Luckily we tried a place called the Jolly Jumper where when we explained what we wanted to do to the kindly woman she advised us to come back in the morning and she would sort it all out!

Had dinner at a small pizza place over the road run by an Italian. Excellent food.

Day 206 (Mon 29 Jan) - Bangkok

Had breakfast and met up with Steve and Fiona for our last day of sightseeing in Bangkok.

Took a ferry from Tha Phra Athit to Tha Tien and walked the short distance to Wat Pho.

As we entered the temple complex we were somewhat distracted (ie. Jo) by a friendly black and white cat that wanted a little attention.

Pussy cat dealt with we proceeded into the complex itself. A number of temples are dotted round the complex, the most magnificent of which is the one that houses the Reclining Buddha. Just by this temple was a rather pretty water feature.

The Reclining Buddha is some 40 metres long, has gold leaf all over it and on the soles of the statue are depictions of Buddha charateristics in inlaid mother of pearl. Quite magnificent!

Wandered around the other temples and buildings in the complex. A particular temple had a highly elaborate buddha statue as its centrepiece. We were all particularly taken with the shrine to the massive tree, said to have grown from a cutting from an actual tree that Buddha rested under, that had a number of cats basking within its confines.

After the temple we got the ferry back to Pra Athit, pausing only to take a quick snap of the Wat opposite the ferry terminal, where we had a bite to eat.

Sarb was feeling a little templed out so whilst the others headed off to do some more exploring he headed back to the hotel to check up on our preparations for Koh Lanta.

Meanwhile Jo, Steve and Fiona visited a few more temples but it was too hot to do much more sightseeing.

Sarb met up again with them all back at Steve and Fiona's hotel and we all had a cup of tea. Sarb and Jo then pottered back to their hotel, stopping only to check up on Koh Lanta again. A waiting email for us resulted in out booking being confirmed!!

Had a rest then met up Steve and Fiona, who had walked over from their hotel, for a drink by the riverfront. Found a lovely little restaurant where we had cocktails. We were tempted by the food but the staff hadn't quite got the hang of vegetarian food. When told that two or our party did not eat meat they proffered dishes that included pork and another with shrimp. They seemed genuinely puzzled that vegetarians could not eat a dish with 'only a little' meat.

We left his place and had dinner at the Ranee's guest house.

Walked back through the Khao San road where we stopped at an open air bar for cocktails. Very relaxing as the band played jazz in the background.

An excellent day had by all!

Day 205 (Sun 28 Jan) - Bangkok

Had breakfast and met up with Steve and Fiona at our guesthouse. Walked the short distance to Phra Athit pier and waited for the ferry to take us down the river. The ferry took us along the busy river to Tha Ratchawong from where we walked into Chinatown. As we walked through the crowded markets we definitely experienced an 'assault on the senses'. Sarb particularly liked trying to guess what parts of the animal (and in a number of cases what animal) the various stall holders were selling. The large pink jelly like globules got him though.

Our senses weren't the only things that were being assaulted - those little thai women have sharp elbows and when they are on a mission there is no stopping them.
After surviving Chinatown, and a brief stop to take a breather and check the maps, we all felt we desrved a little refreshment in a posh hotel before tackling Little India. We walked through a covered market area that seemed to stretch for miles and was absolutely crowded. Although you were in fact shuffling along it felt at times that you were actually being moved by the closely pressed people all around you.

Keeping up with tradition Sarb wanted to find Sri Gurusingh Sabha, the local Sikh temple. We had no problem finding it - it was a massive building in the middle of Little India. The problem was actually getting near it as it was surrounded by a busy market with a maze of alleyways. Finally found the entrance and Sarb was able to have his photo taken outside it.

Headed back towards the river, hoping to find somewhere to stop off for lunch on the way. Unfortunately we couldn't find anywhere decent serving up vegetarian food. From Tha Tien pier we took a ferry back to Phra Athit pier where we stopped off at Roti-Mataba cafe a local eatery for curry and roti.

After a rest we met up again in the evening. We went to check out Ranee's Guesthouse, which was meant to sell good vegetarian food (BTW - if you haven't guessed Steve and Fiona are vegetarians). We found Ranee's guesthouse at the back of Khao San Road and had a great meal. An added bonus was that they served wine, Jo was happy and, with a little help from Fiona, polished off a carafe of wine.

Day 204 (Sat 27 Jan) - Bangkok

Got up early and had breakfast. Steve and Fiona met us at our guesthouse.

We walked along the river, through a busy market, to the Grand Palace. The whole palace complex sparkled - it was full of glittery stones and gold! There was bling everywhere, not only inside the temples but more impressive was the exterior of the buildings, temples and statutes ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7] ). The focal point of the complex was the Wat Phra Kaew which was home to the emerald buddha. Along the outside walls a colourful mural told the story of the Ramakian.

After we'd explored the stunning palace complex we left and headed to the National museum. Described by the guide book as a cultural hotchpotch it was certainly a challenge to find the exhibits. After a brief look around we stopped for some lunch before heading back towards Khao San Road.

Introduced Steve and Fiona to the delights of Khao San Road and the local markets before heading back to our respective places for a rest before dinner.

Later we all met up and went back to May Kaidee's restaurant for dinner.

Day 203 (Fri 26 Jan) - Bangkok

Despite Jo's resistance we were forced by the train staff to get up at 5.15am even though we didn't arrive into Bangkok until 6.15am. We hung around the train station for a hour wasting time before we took a taxi to Khao San Road to find somewhere to stay. We ended up going back to the New V. Merry Guesthouse as it had been cheap and convienent. Though unfortunately this time our room was on the 4th floor, as there is no lift, we had to sleepily clamber up the steep stairs with our heavy rucksacks to our room.

We spent the rest of the morning sleeping and make up for our terrible night's sleep.
Got up at lunchtime and played around on the internet for a few hours.

Jo's Dad and his wife (Steve and Fiona) were due to arrive in Bangkok later in the day and we'd agreed to go round to their hotel at 7pm. It was great to see them.

After exchanging news we popped over the road to May Kaidee's vegetarian restaurant. It was a tasty meal but unfortunately they didn't serve wine (only beer - lucky Sarb) so Jo and Sarb popped in the Wild Orchid guesthouse for a glass of wine on their way back to their hotel. Sadly no sign of the little pupster we'd met a few weeks ago!

Day 202 (Thu 25 Jan) - Chiang Mai

Had a lie in and then went across the road for breakfast.

Spent the rest of the monring in the internet cafe. Checked out of the hotel and went for a quick glass of beer / wine before heading off to the train station.

Train left prompt at 3.40pm. We found our carriage in our non-airconditioned sleeper which meant we travelled with the locals. It also meant that we could have the window wide open and hang out of it to take photos as we travelled through the stunning countryside.

Had a really tasty dinner and then went to bed but it was impossible to get any sleep. Had another frustrating night trying to get to sleep on Thai trains! This time it was just too noisy.

Day 201 (Wed 24 Jan) - Chiang Mai

Today we went on a little tour of the area around Chiang Mai.

Set off at 8am in a bus where we met a Swedish couple Marco and Ulrika. Good fun!

Went to see some beautiful waterfalls up in the hills. Our driver had to switch the air con off as the bus was struggling to make it up the hill and he needed every ounce of power to make it.

After the waterfalls we popped into a local hilltribe (Karen) village. A very small village full of villagers trying to sell their handicrafts, although none of them were pushy.

Had a nice lunch and then wandered off to a second waterfall. The waterfall was some way off and above us, cascading down a sheer wall. However the absolutely beautiful gardens made a perfect foreground. Pottered round the gardens, admiring the many and varied flowers.

We then travelled further up into the hills to the King and Queen's Pagodas celebrating their birthdays. They are absolutely stunning and set in landscaped gardens overlooking a deep valley. Although the King's pagoda is slightly larger, the Queen's pagoda cost more to build, incorporating, as it does, various exotic materials including Italian marble.

From the pagodas we donned appropriate high altitude gear and headed for the highest point in Thailand. It was a terrible struggle but we made it. Unfortunately, the top of the mountain is thick with trees so very difficult to get a good view of the surrounding lands.

Headed back to Chiang Mai where we had a little rest from our labours. Feeling suitably refreshed we headed out to Ratana's kitchen for a drink. From there we headed off to the bustling Night Bazaar in search of various pressies, pausing only to pick up Sarbs Boddie, now complete with loads of badges.

The Night Bazaar although really busy is one of the few markets where you can really enjoy pottering round; no hassle from the stall holders and a real party feel to the whole place. Even Sarb, who normally tires within 10minutes of shopping, was quite happy tooling around.

Headed back to Ratana's for dinner.

Day 200 (Tues 23 Jan) - Chiang Mai

Today we had signed up to a Thai Cookery Course. Funny really, neither of us have cooked since we have been away so we were both looking forwad to getting back into the kitchen.

A friendly lady from Somphet Thai Cookery School(www.sompetthaicooking.com) picked us up from our hotel and took us out of the city to their school which was overlooking the river.

There was only four of us in the class. In no time we were all ready in our cooking gear and learning about the key ingredients used in Thai cooking. Here Sarb is trying to outsmart a piece of ginger.

The first thing we had to make was Phad Thai (thai-style noodles). Luckily this was quite easy to make. It simply involved scrambling an egg and then adding the fresh noodles and other ingredients into a hot wok and madly mixing them all up. Of course then we had to eat it!

After that the hard work began. We were each given a large pestle and mortar and started added ingredients to make a curry paste. Jo was going to make a green thai curry whilst Sarb had decided to make the slightly more spicey Panang (red) curry. For the next 15 minutes we were hard at work grinding our ingredients into a curry paste. It was pretty physically demanding!

Once our paste had passed our teacher's critical examination we moved over to the chopping boards and began to prepare the chicken and vegetables for our curries. It was great fun seeing it all coming together especially as we'd slaved over pestles and mortars. Unfortunately we had to wait until we had made a few more dishes before we could eat it.

We put our curries to one side and then continued to chop up more vegetables, fish and chicken for our Hot and Sour prawn soup and Chicken in Coconut soup which we quickly made. As Jo was busy taking photos, and not cooking, Sarb decided to have a bit of a Gordon Ramsey moment.

Finally we made a quick chicken and cashnew nut dish and a tofu dip. We were then allowed to enjoy the results of our efforts. Very nice. What a feast, we were stuffed!

Afterwards our teacher showed us how to create sculptures out of vegetables. Sarb obviously has been hiding this particular talent, as he was quite a little expert. When we get home don't be surprised to see a carrot butterfly on your dinner plate if you come round to visit us.

To end, we watched the teacher make a simple Papaya salad (which of course we tested) and a Black Sticky Rice with coconut milk pudding (which was nice but a bit sweet).

We were then driven back to our hotel where we needed to have a serious lie down to let all the food digest. It had been a great day.

Later we wandered down to the local markets. It was great to see the local produce but as we were still stuffed we weren't tempted to try the various fried insects on sale. Sarb popped into a tailors and arranged for them to sew on his many flags onto his Boddie.

Bought some sweet fizzy wine and crisps for supper and headed back to our hotel. Still too stuffed to eat anything else!

Day 199 (Mon 22 Jan) - Chiang Mai

We both had an awful nights sleep. We'd both slept on the top bunks and the head of Thai railways must be scared of the dark because they kept the lights on all night!! You just couldn't sleep as it was too bright. To make matters worse Jo's bunk was at the end of the carriage and the door kept opening and closing all night. Shame really as the beds were really comfortable.

Arrived in Chiang Mai at 7.30am. Were greeted by the normal welcoming party of tuk-tuk drivers all keen to take us to their hotel. Found a driver who would just drop us in town. Stopped off at the Corner restaurant for breakfast before heading off in search of somewhere to stay. Stumbled into Roong Ruang hotel, checked in and had a well needed sleep.

Got up at lunchtime and went to explore the delights of Chiang Mai. Before starting off stopped off at Ratana's kitchen for a bit of lunch. Carried on down Th Tha Phae passing three impressive Wats (temples). The detailing on the Wats is frankly breathtaking. Walked along the river and through a colourful flower market.

Passed the Namdhari Sikh temple and Sarb posed for his usual photo(we have photos of Sarb outside nearly every Sikh temple in SE Asia!). Continued along Th Chiang Moi and popped into Wat Ou Sai Kham where a friendly monk directed us to see the four jade buddhas. Wandered into a few more Wats - Chiang Mai is full of them - before heading to Wat Phra Singh which is supposedly the most visited Wat in the city.

Headed back towards our hotel stopping off at Anusawari Sam Kasat (Three Kings Monument) on the way.

Later we walked around the busy night bazaar, stopping off for a beer / cider at the Red Lion Pub and a sneaky MacDonalds before heading back to our hotel.

Day 198 (Sun 21 Jan) - Kanchanaburi / Bangkok

After breakfast had a lazy morning chilling in the garden.

A minibus picked up at 1.30pm to take us back to Bangkok. The journey was only meant to take 2 hours, so plenty of time to get there for our train to Chiang Mai at 6pm, or so we thought. How wrong we were!

We finally arrived in Khoa San Road (Bangkok) at 5.20pm after an awful journey. It had been like being back on the M25. The traffic was horrendous and the driving was scary. When we arrived in Bangkok we needed to get to the train station on the other side of town. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we were just not going to make the train as Bangkok is reknowned for it's mad traffic jams.

We jumped into a waiting Tuk-Tuk and asked him to take us to the train station! He knew we were in a hurry and he did his best to get us to the station in time for our train. He was on a mission and he was loving it. In true James Bond style, he swerved through the traffic, dodged pedestrians and flew down back alleys. It was quite scary at times and any moment we thought he'd welcome the opportunity to master an Evil Knievel dare devil stunt!

Anyway we arrived at the station just in time to catch our train. Found our seats and we were finally able to relax. The train seemed really comfortable. After a tasty dinner, a friendly chap came round and made up our beds. It looked like we were going to have a very comfortable night's sleep.

Day 197 (Sat 20 Jan) - Kanchanaburi

Up about 10ish, had brekky and just pottered around the grounds of the hotel.

At 2pm we were off to the Tiger Temple. The temple was started by a kindly monk that was brought a bedraggled tiger cub by some local villagers. The monk took pity on the little blighter and took him under his care. As time progressed more and more tigers were brought to him and the tiger temple started. It is the only place where monks wearing saffron robes can be seen walking with these tigers. Sarb had seen a documentary about the temple a few years ago and was keen to see how they were progressing with the redevelopment of the site.

A bit of a disappointment. Quite expensive to get in and although walking round the dozing tigers (some say drugged, others not) was an amazing experience there is little else to do. A large area was cleared and a deep 'moat' had been excavated around it, so the beginnings of the new sanctuary could be seen. Considering that Sarb had seen a documentary detailing the plans of the new sanctuary some 5 years ago, and taking into account the fact that the admission price is high and there were a large number of paying punters, a big hole in the ground is precious little progress!

Anyway, we hope that the intentions of the temple are still honourable and have not changed to include a champagne lifestyle for the monks!

Back to the tigers! When you enter the grounds you are led to a flat area that seems to have been carved out of the surrounding high rocks. On this area lounged a number of tigers and seemingly two helpers per tiger. Quite a slick Disney operation as you queue up, a helper takes your camera and then leading you by the hand, walks you round the tigers taking your piccy as you go.

Has to be said that stroking these magnificent beasts was pretty amazing. We were both astounded as to how big these cats are close up! Surprisingly their fur is quite soft. ( [1], [2], [3] )

Of course there is always a naughty tiger. Sarb had to wrestle this one before it calmed down and had it's picture taken.

After the photo session we wandered round for a bit. Spotted some peacocks and some wild pigs. At night the tigers are led to small looking cages as opposed to running around at night. And so as we waited by the cages the tigers, on chain leads, were walked by two handlers to their cages. They seemed quite placid enough although one or two of the tigers had to be physically restrained as a small litter of piglets decided to have a run around about 30 yards away from them. The tigers eyes lit up and they took up a stance that suggested that though the chief monk had said that all animals should live together in harmony, he was not actually here and who would miss a little piggy anyway? Luckily a nearby monk had realised the danger and shooed the piglets away from the tigers.

After the temple we got our lift back to the hotel where we watched the sun go down over the river. Beautiful!

As Sarb was missing a pie we had a pie and chips dinner over the road. And very nice it was too!

Day 196 (Fri 19 Jan) - Kanchanburi

What a hangover!!!!!

As Tom and Claire were leaving Kranchanburi today we'd arranged to met up for breakfast. Jo struggled out of bed at 11.15am to meet them but Sarb was still comotosed. Not surprisingly they didn't turn up so Jo happily headed back to bed.

Jo resurfaced at 4pm and headed to the restaurant for a well needed hamburger. Still Sarb didn't stir.

Jo spent the rest of the afternoon in the garden being entertained by the tuneless karaoke boats chugging along the river.

Sarb finally emerged at 7pm!!! We only managed to walk down the road to stock up on crisps and pop before heading back to bed.

What a hard day - we must be getting old!

Day 195 (Thu 18 Jan) - Kanchanaburi

Up early this morning for a days sightseeing.

Piled into a bus that first took us to some waterfalls. Quite pretty. We would have liked to stay longer but unfortunately we were on a mission.

After the waterfalls we went to the Hellfire Pass museum. This museum is dedicated to the POW's and labourers that died whilst building the Burma railway under the Japanese. We watched a short film about the working conditions, the inhumane treatment and also the immense sense of fighting spirit displayed by many of the POW's. This extended to subtly sabotaging the railway by placing termite nests near to the wooden supports of bridges.

We walked a short distance along the Pass. It was absolutely baking!

We boarded our bus again and wandered off to a local restaurant for lunch.

Then we headed off to the elephant camp. Here we clambered up a wooden structure built against a tree to a platform ready to board our elephants. We boarded our elephant called Cat; really disconcerting to see how high we were from the ground!

As we plodded along in single file, the elephants would seemingly take turns to misbehave. Cat seemed to have a liking for veering off the path and trying to eat any vegetation within reach of a powerful trunk. When she behaved the elephant in front decided that he needed to make room by depositing a few Jumbo poos. Whilst this was going on the elephants were quietly rumbling. Almost inaudible but you could actually FEEL the rumbling from below. Weird.

We walked through a shallow stream that the elephants seemed to really enjoy and up and across a bank into some shady forest. Great fun although you had to be careful to pull your legs in as the elephants would brush very close to the trees.

Great fun. Said goodbye to the elephants and boarded a bamboo raft. Sarb decided to steer at the front ( [1], [2] ). Didn't do too bad, although there were a couple of large impacts.
Had a great time floating down a shallow river, watching the butterflies and other insects flitter past.

After the rafting we boarded the bus and headed off to the bridge over the river Kwai ( [1], [2] ).

Got back to Kanchanaburi and met up with a pair of travellers, Claire and Tom a fun couple from down Devon way, that we had met on the elephant ride. Turns out that they had also spent a few months in India! Decided to go for an Indian (what else?) at a place called Ali Bongo's on the main street of Kanchanaburi.

Had a great meal, although we well and truly over ordered.

Then decided to go for a drink. And what a drink!!! We got back to our beds at about 5.30am in the morning absolutely well and truly trollied.

Day 194 (Wed 17 Jan) - Kanchanaburi

Up about 7ish for brekky with Pete and to wait for our bus to Kanchanaburi.

Bus pitched up at 8.30am and we said a fond farewell to Pete. The bus was quite a small affair and busy so we were squeezed up at the front.

Sarb was feeling a little queasy as he had taken two malarial tablets (he'd missed one the day before).

We travelled to the train station where we dropped off a few people. Since there was a little more room we decided to sit in the main body of the bus.

The journey to Kanchanaburi was quite quick, only about 3 hours. We were dropped off at the Jolly Frog inn that looked quite good. It has a good bar and restaurant area and the gardens out the back, lining the river were really good. Decided to bag a room.

After a bite to eat we decided that we should look for an opticians as Sarb had managed to break his specs. Really hot as we walked round trying in vain to find an opticians. Just as we were about to give up we came across a set of opticians all clustered together!

Chose one at random that was staffed by two friendly late middle aged women. Sarb explained his predicament and handed over his sorry looking glasses to an assistant. This sparked a flurry of activity; she bounded about the place looking for the perfect specs. We had thought that we would have to buy a complete set of specs but the kindly woman managed to find a pair of frames that almost matched Sarb's original pair. The second woman came into it at this point and taking Sarb's lenses began to grind them into the correct shape to fit the new specs.

Whilst all this grinding was going on we had a hilarious impromptu Thai lesson with the assistant. Soon all was done and Sarb was the proud owner of a new pair of bins. Can't remember the last time we had so much fun at an opticians!

Wandered back to the hotel where Jo slept for a bit whilst Sarb went off to an internet cafe.

Sarb got back about 5ish, so went for a walk down the main street. Played a little pool and then went for dinner.

Day 193 (Tue 16 Jan) - Bangkok

Had another lazy start but we were determined to do jobs. After breakfast we set off in search of the train station. The plan was to walk to the station but half way there we were persuaded by a tout to take a tuk-tuk (which just happened to appear) to a government office to buy our train tickets. We were bundled into the tuk-tuk before it raced off into the traffic. As we were speeding along we realised we had been done and we weren't being taken to a government office but a dodgey private agent. When we arrived at the office we calmly paid the driver 20 baht and walked away. The driver and agent shouted after us but we just ignored them. We were annoyed that we had been souped but at least we only lost about 35 pence and a bit of time.

After a breather we caught a taxi to the train station where we easily bought the train tickets we needed. Headed back to the guesthouse where Sarb did some more blogging whilst Jo prepared a parcel to send home.

Met up with Pete in the evening and as Jo wasn't up for it Pete and Sarb wandered off to their pool place.

Day 192 (Mon 15 Jan) - Bangkok

Had a lazy start to the day. Had breakfast and wandered down the road to the tourist office. Went to find where Jo's dad (Steve) and his wife (Fiona) will be staying when they come to Bangkok later in the month. Walked around Khao San Road, stopping off for a drink and a cheeky chicken kebab.

Headed back to the guesthouse and did some blogging and burnt some CDs before meeting up with Pete in the evening. Had a few beers and found a really cheap and tasty local place for dinner. To Pete and Sarb's delight we found a friendly bar with a pool table. They spent the rest of the night trying to steal a game off the locals, whilst Jo slurped cocktails.

On the way back to our guesthouse we stopped off at the Wild Orchard Guesthouse for a drink. After our drinks Sarb went to the reception desk to find out how much the rooms were for when we were back in Bangkok. As he talked to the receptionist a small brown and white pupster hurtled out from nowhere and wrestled with Sarb's foot. Having won he sat on his foot with both paws wrapped round his ankle and proceeded to lick him furiously. Sarb picked him up and had a cuddle with the ball of fluff - sweet!

Day 191 (Sun 14 Jan) - Siem Reap / Bangkok

Up early, Jo packed the bags as Sarb still wasn't feeling too well.

Waited for the minibus to pick us up and take us to Bangkok. At 7.20am two mopeds arrived and asked whether we were going to Bangkok; reluctantly we said we were and before we knew it they had put our rather large rucksacks between their legs and we were clambering on the back with our smaller ones.

Fortunately they only drove us a couple of hundred metres before the deposited us by a clapped out minibus. This, we later learnt, would take us on the six hour grueling journey to the Cambodia / Thailand border. What a journey - it was a bit rough to say the least. The road reminded us of Kenya! We were grateful to stop at 11.30am for lunch. As we were waiting for our lunch we were surprised to see Pete stagger into the restaurant. He was also on his way to Bangkok after spending a few days in Siem Reap.

Arrived at the border at about 1.30pm where we were transferred to another bus that took as about 50 metres to immigration point. Got off the bus and stood around in the blazing heat waiting to go through the departure gates. After the Cambodians had done their stuff we were a bit lost as there were no signs where to go so we wandered in what we thought was the vague direction of Thailand. Walked in a daze and finally arrived at Thai immigration and were directed to wait for another bus which would take us to Bangkok. Quite painless really but a bit hot and sweaty.
Whilst we waited for our bus we spotted Pete again and were pleased when we all ended up on the same bus.

Before we knew it we were in Bangkok and deposited at the end of the Khao San Road (infamous backpackers stomping grounds). On the journey we had got talking to a dutch guy called Klauss who had stayed in Bangkok before so knew where not to stay. He directed us to the "quieter" area. After taking it in turns to be rejected from every hotel and guesthouse in the area we finally found a cheapie guesthouse called New V. Merry Guesthouse. The rooms were cheap and clean so we all checked in. Later the four of us (Klauss, Pete, Sarb and Jo) met up and we went to explore Bangkok. Bustling place, full of hippie travelers chilling out.

Found a busy street restaurant called Popiang and had our first tasty thai meal. It was great and they even gave us our rice in the shape of a teddybear. Later we wandered down the Khao San Road, stopping off for a bucket or two of cocktails.
By 12.30 Sarb and Jo were knackered and wandered back to the guest house, leaving Klauss and Pete to try out a few more cocktails.

Day 190 (Sat 13 Jan) - Siem Reap

Up early for brekky.

Sarb still not feeling great so just had a coffee.

Met Majid and we pottered off to Angkor Wat. Although early there were hordes of people about including what seemed about 10 wedding parties.

Walked round the bas-reliefs consulting our guide book as we went. Very interesting indeed.

After Angkor we headed off to Angkor Thom. We sat at one of the cafes and had a drink and chatted with Majid. After cooling down for a bit we went walking round Angkor Thom. As we walked through the temple we sometimes got a creepy, eerie sort of a feeling. Very odd.

After Angkor Thom Majid drove us back to the hotel for a snooze and to avoid the glaring sun.

At 4pm Majid picked us up again and we headed off to a temple to see sunset. He'd also managed to get our bus tickets to Bangkok we'd asked him for earlier.

Went to a smaller temple where Majid assured us there wouldn't be too many people. Some of the more popular temples can have literally several hundred people clambering over each other to get a view. As it was there were about 50 odd people there. We climbed up and tried to get the best view we could. Unfortunately peeps were so keen to get an unobstructed view they were hanging on to bits of stone with their fingertips. Decided to keep away from the scrum and just take in the moment ( [1], [2], [3]).

Day 189 (Fri 12 Jan) - Siem Reap

Up at 9am to meet Majid.

Today we went to the temples located in the North West of Angkor. Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon and Preah Khan.

All very impressive although the temple that should have been surrounded by four tanks of water was a trifle disappointing as the tanks were dry. ( [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] )

At about 2ish we stopped for lunch and as Sarb was feeling a little under the very hot weather we repaired back to the hotel.

Done some blogging and rested.

At about 3 ish we wandered off to the Butterfly garden restaurant. Cool place! Basically a garden, complete with gurgling water features, that was surrounded by fine netting. As we sat and had a soft drink it was great to watch the many butterflies flitting about.

Back to the room for a lie down where we watched a happy crappy film called Happy Gilmore.

Went to Ecstatic for dinner and Jo stopped off at the market on the way back.

Day 188 (Thu 11 Jan) - Siem Reap

Up at 9am raring to go.

Met Majid and we soon set off in his tuk-tuk to Angkor only about 15 minutes away.

We bought our three day passes at the main entrance gate for 40 US dollars each and were soon off.

As you pass into Angkor you notice the wide avenue like roads and the beautiful trees. As yet you can't see any temples but soon enough there were more temples than you could shake a stick at.

Of particular note were the Terrace of the Elephants, Bayon, Angkor Wat ( [1], [2], [3] ) and Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is where scenes of Tomb Raider and the Two Brothers were filmed. It really has a lost civilisation feel to it with the trees twining themselves around and through the stone buildings. Amazing.

Hard to describe the temples as they are all so amazing. The sense of history as you walk round the place is almost palpable. Apparently the space between the temples would have been taken up with wooden buildings that have not stood the test of time. Would have been quite a sight to see Angkor in all its former glory.

We have got a list of the temples we visited and the times that we visited them. However it would be real pain to list them here with their associated photos, will have to wait until we get home to do that. So have listed the times at which the photos were taken. Enjoy! ( dscf6109 9.39am, dscf6113 9.50am, dscf6117 9.53am, dscf6131 11.35am, dscf6135 11.43am, dscf6146 11.49am, dscf6157 12.26pm, dscf6165 12.43pm, dscf6169 1.01pm, dscf6179 1.34pm, dscf6185 1.42pm, dscf6201 2.09pm )

The temples are quite spaced out so the times spent in the back of the tuk-tuk travelling to and fro with the cooling wind in our faces was like having air con!

Sarb felt a trifle energetic in the stifling heat so went off to a climb a particularly steep temple. Good views from the top but on the way down he managed to twinge a muscle in his knee. Quite painful.

Really, really hot day and we were absolutely exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel at 6pm.

Couldn't be bothered to go out for dinner so hopped over the road and bought some cheese, wine and crackers. Soon settled infront of the tv munching away.

Went to sleep feeling very battered and with the strong smell of tiger balm in the room as Sarb had liberally applied it to his knee.

Day 187 (Wed 10 Jan) - Phnom Penh / Siem Reap

Sarb felt very rough this morning so instead of trying to make the 10.30am bus Jo managed to change it to the 12.30pm bus instead!

Sarb just about managed breakfast and went back to the room for a lie down whilst Jo chatted to Pete out by the lake.

At 12.30 we piled into some tuk-tuks that took us to a bus station. From there we were bundled onto a larger bus and were on our way to Siem Reap. Not a bad journey as pulled into Siem Reap about 6.30ish.

As the bus pulled into the bus station an absolute mad scrum of tuk tuk drivers and hoteliers descended on it. Getting off the bus was literally a case of stage diving into the throng of people below.

Grabbed our bags and then thought about where to stay. Fobbed off most of the drivers and hoteliers and managed to engage the services of Majid. Seemed like a nice guy and so we piled into his tuk tuk and tried to find some rooms. After our stay in Phnom Penh we definitely wanted hot water! (By the way Majid's tuk tuk is basically like a trailer fitted to the back of a motor bike).

Spent ages trying to find rooms. All fully booked or outrageously expensive. Finally we ended up in the Andkor Wat Sydney for 20 US dollars a night. Quite steep, but good room and hot water!

Majid seems like a really nice chap so we decided to engage his services for our travels into Angkor Wat.

Dumped the bags then went for a walk in the mainly unlit streets. Although very dark in places we didn't feel intimidated at all.

Siem Reap has the Siem Reap river running down the centre that is crossed by many small bridges. Quite a romantic feel to it, especially since someone has gone mad with the fairy lights. We wandered over a bridge and soon found ourselves in a cosy pizza place, Ecstatic.

Wandered through the closing market on the way back to our hotel

Day 186 (Tue 9 Jan) - Phnom Penh

Had brekky then met up with Pete and Rachel got in a tuk-tuk to the Russian market.

Apparently this is the place to buy knocked off clothing.

The covered market is massive. It seemed to sell everything from clothes, trinkets, rugs, jewelry, car and motorbike spares, plumbing equipment etc.

We bought a couple of pairs of trousers.

Got a tuk-tuk back to the palace and had a wander round. Unfortunately we were tight wads and didn't pay to take photos inside the grounds however take it from us, it was beautiful.

The well kept gardens were dotted with impressive Wats the interiors of which were even more spectacular than the outsides. Sarb was particularly taken with a solid gold buddha that was adorned with some 200 diamonds the largest of which came in at 25 carats!

At the entrance to the Silver Pagoda we saw a 15m square model of Angkor Wat. It was absolutely amazing!

Whizzed back to the hotel in the late afternoon to settle ourselves by the edge of the lake and watch the sun go down ( [1], [2] ). Were soon joined by Pete and Rachel.

Later we all met up with John and Mike for more beers and general jollying about ( [1], [2] ).

Day 185 (Mon 8 Jan) - Phnom Penh

Lazy start this morning.

Had brekky (where Sarb's ankle was slobbered over by the pupster) and wandered off to Wat Phnom.

Met Rachel wandering round the gardens and sat and had a chat. Decided to have a closer look at the Wat
.

Had to pay to get to the very summit
; seeing as the summit was a miserly 30 odd metres high it didn't seem quite worth it.

Said goodbye to Rachel as she was off to have a massage and wandered off down the riverfront, stopping off for a pop en route. Walked past very French looking buildings. Past the palace, a monument that depicted Vietnam and Cambodia as friends, to the Independence monument. Quite impressive.



Decided to walk to S21. Quite a long walk passing a merchant selling cute pupsters at the side of the road.

Had a tasty lunch of soup and noodles at a local cafe and wandered on up to S21.

S21 is very disturbing. It is housed in an innocent looking building; it was in fact a school before Pol Pot decided he could use it to 'house' prisoners. Walking round the exhibits, including the cells where prisoners were tortured, and reading about what went on in there cast the drab buildings in a whole new light.

Got back to the hotel and met up with Pete and Rachel. Had a good Indian dinner next door.

Had a few drinks in the bar where Sarb played Esteban at pool whilst Jo watched the telly.

Day 184 (Sun 7 Jan) - En route to Cambodia

Up early and had breakfast with Pete.

Got on the bus that took us to a jetty where we boarded small rowing boats. It was bedlam getting onto them as they were all jostling one another.

We rowed ( [1], [2] ) through a floating village. Really good to see how the locals lived on their floating houses. Looked quite a sleepy, peaceful sort of place ( [1], [2] ).

We stopped at a small muslim village. The little kids were really cute as they brazenly tried to sell you snacks. Jo decided to dish out some coloured pens that her mum had given to her whilst in Goa. Within a flash Jo was surrounded by kids, who were all soon brandishing coloured pens and grins.

After walking round the village we transferred onto a larger boat that would take us to the border.

The boat moored up on the Vietnamese border where we waited whilst our guide sorted out the formalities.

After about an hour of hanging round we then walked across no mans land into Cambodia where our passports and visas were checked again.

Boarded another boat that would take us to Nek Long near Phnom Penh.

Got to Nek Long where we transferred to a bus that would take us all the way to P.P.

This bus was full of other people so a bit of a squeeze. Soon met two American guys, John and Mike. Soon us, Rachel, Pete and John and Mike were having a good old chat at the back of the bus. Both John and Mike sported quite extravagant mustaches. Turns out that they'd been traveling for a while and, probably after one too many beers, decided that they should see who could grow the best mustache.

Despite both looking like 70's pornstars, Mike suffered the added notoriety of having more than a passing resemblance to Borat. Judge for yourself!

Got to P.P. where we were dumped outside a guesthouse. John and Mike were headed off towards the lake area of P.P. and despite being knackered we all decided to go with them, as the guesthouse proffered was no good.

Soon we were all checked into the Happy Guest House. Never have we been in a place so aptly named.

Only 3 dollars a night so the room was lacking several basic amenities like a jacuzzi, a tv and a mini-bar. However, it did have a bed and an en suite toilet that you had to flush by pouring water down it.

The Happy has a very curious floor plan. You walk into it via the road and then seem to pass an internet cafe, through an alley that has rooms, through a corridor with small rooms leading off it and then into a wide open plan area littered with comfy chairs, hammocks, a big tv where peeps could watch whatever dvd they wanted, a bar and most importantly a pool table.

Soon we were all having a beer at one of the tables overlooking the lake. Our number had swelled by 1 as Estaban, an Argentinean traveler, had joined us.

We all went for a meal over the road where much quaffing of cocktails was done. For afters we retired to the lounge where we played pool and drank loads of beer and wine ( Borat, Sarb and Esteban, Sarb, Pete and Esteban ).

During this revelry the Happy little white puppy got in on the act. Not being able to drink beer and act foolish it decided to go on its own way and dig up one of the large potted plants. Each time the determined mutt was extricated from the pit it was digging it would have a play with whoever was around for a few seconds and then take a running leap back into the pot. Clearly a mutt that liked to finish what it had started and equally clearly young enough not to know that it was setting itself up for a bit of discipline training in the morning!

Day 183 (Sat 6 Jan) - Saigon / En route to Cambodia

Up at 7.30 to start our jolly to Cambodia.

Got on our small bus and headed off to Cai Be. At Cai Be we transferred to a long boat and traveled through some floating markets. The sellers advertise what they are selling by hoisting an example of the wares up on a long pole.

Stopped at a local craft shop where we sampled toffee made from coconuts. Very nice.

Hopped back on the boat and traveled onto another village. At this village we hopped onto some bikes and rode for about 15/20 minutes on quiet roads to a small restaurant.

Had a good lunch where we shared a table with Rachel (making her way home to Melbourne from London) and Pete (from Tamworth). Good bunch.

After lunch we were back on the bikes to the boat. Traveled for awhile then transferred to a bus that was thankfully loaded up with our main rucksacks to Vinh Long City and the ferry.

Off this bus with our main rucksacks on and walked to the ferry terminal where we crossed the river. At the other side we walked a short while further before transferring to another bus that took us onto Long Xuyen.

At Long Xuyen we transferred onto another boat that took us all the way to Chau Doc.

It was getting quite dark as we boarded the last boat. Chatted to Pete and Rachel for most of the journey.

At Chau Doc we were bussed to our hotel where we thankfully checked in and feeling a little peckish arranged to meet Pete and Rachel out front to go find food.

Spotted a local restaurant over the road and we settled down for a beer. Unfortunately they didn't have any wine, that Jo was gasping for, and furthermore the menu sounded like it had been thrown together with any animal that came to mind. We all decided that fried field mice, stir fried goats udders and mangoed mash with cat (Sarb made the last one up) didn't sound as though it would hit the spot. Especially as Rachel was a veggie.

Lapped our beers and found two friendly cyclo drivers that offered to take us the couple of kms into town. We paired off and were soon sitting behind our drivers as they slowly cycled through the dark streets.

Found a couple of places to eat although we had real trouble explaining what veggies ate to the friendly locals, despite Sarb's best efforts at reading a whole sentence from the phrase book, in what he thought was a passable imitation of Vietnamese. It was clear that what he intended to say ie. 'My friend here is a vegetarian. This means she does not eat meat including dogs and cats' did not translate too well.

With a collective sigh we hoisted the white flag and turned into the nearest local eatery just behind us.

As we settled down a girl nearby popped up and started to help us with the menu. Very friendly. Turns out she was a student, and not wanting to waste an opportunity chatting to a bunch of westerners got stuck in to ordering us grub.

Very good it was too washed down with a few beers!

(Note: Jo has found a new drink, lager shandy. In the true spirit of marriage Sarb even donates some of his lager to Jo without being asked!)

After dinner and having thanked our new friend we boarded our cyclos, as the drivers had kindly offered to wait for us.

We creaked through the night back to our hotel. A trifle worn out to put it mildly!

Day 182 (Fri 5 Jan) - Saigon

Spent most of the day blogging, as we are some way behind!

Had lunch and dinner at Cafe Chi's.

After dinner went for a bit of a wander to various small bars.

Changed our books at a bookstore that had a shaggy dog splayed out on the floor. Clearly a guard dog (not). As you walked round him to peruse a shelf his big brown eyes swivelled round to follow you.

Sarb couldn't resist it any longer and had to give the poor mutt a bashing round the head; what Sarb calls stroking.

Back to the room to try and get some sleep as we have a long journey ahead of us to Cambodia.

Day 181 (Thu 4 Jan) - Saigon

Up at 7.30am to go to the Chu Chi tunnel complex, north west of Saigon.

Got to the main entrance a few hours later and were soon ushered into a small room where we watched a film about the tunnels.

The film was basically propaganda. It made out that before the US war that the area surrounding the Chu Chi tunnels was filled with people that loved one another, that the water and fruit was 'sweet' and that all was well in this particular corner of Eden. Of course when the wicked US turned up the local villagers had to fight to preserve their way of life against the war mongerers and did so, it has to be said, with some skill. Disturbing that throughout the film a number of 'patriots' were earmarked for special mention most notably for killing US soldiers.

After the film we followed our guide through the light forest on well marked dirt paths.

The ingenuity of the village people was breathtaking. Trapdoors that you could stand right next to and not know they were there, improvised booby traps, including pits lined with spikes, spikes that crashed down when a door to a hut was opened etc.

The walk went past some exhibits that showed how the South Vietnamese people would have lived and fought.

Next stop was the firing range. Sarb decided that he wanted to fire a rifle whilst Jo volunteered to take photos. The guns are actually mounted so that you do not get the full force of the recoil; the advantage is of course that nutters can't go on the rampage with rifles that could take the front end off a bus.

There were a variety of weapons to choose from room including heavy machine guns. Seeing as it cost 200 rhials per round Sarb elected to fire an M16 assault rifle with 5 rounds.

Even with ear protectors the report of the rifle was LOUD! Sarb was trying to aim at the barrels at the back of the range but admits he has no idea if he hit one or not. Still he seemed to have had a good time.

After the firing range we wandered off to see the tunnels at close range. We went through one of the tunnels. They are incredibly small and hot not to mention claustrophobia inducing. Jo decided to get out after traveling for about 20 odd metres. Sarb decided he liked being scared and went on through other tunnels for another 40 odd metres. How people managed to live in these conditions for anything longer than a day let alone all night or even for weeks was totally beyond us.

By the time Sarb got out he was absolutely drenched in sweat. A sobering thought that these tunnels have been widened so that Western butts can squeeze through; the ones the Vietnamese used would have been far, far smaller!

After cooling off for a while we had a spot of tea and then boarded the bus back to Saigon.

Back at the hotel we relaxed for abit before wandering round town. Passed loads of fruit stalls and sat by a fountain near the Hotel de Ville.

Had dinner at Chi's cafe; Sarb had another pie!

Day 180 (Wed 3 Jan) - Saigon

Up fairly early to walk around Saigon.

Past the busy markets to the old Hotel dé Ville ( [1], [2] ). Quite hot as we walked around the the faintly Parisian streets.

Had a look at the large and modern looking Notre Dame Cathedral.

Stopped off for a coke at a roadside cafe and planned the next stage of our walk. The museums would all now be closed so decided to walk to the gardens to kill a little time. Unfortunately had to pay to get in and deciding that it wouldn't be worth the entrance fee plodded on.

By now the museums had opened so went to the Reunification Palace and War Museum. The palace is a modern 70's building but steeped in history. The replicas of the tanks that smashed through the gates and the F5E fighter, that was used to bomb the palace, in the grounds bear witness to this.

The palace is still used and as such certain sections within it are roped off. However, you still get a feel to the place especially the basement areas that still have the apparatus used by the South Vietnamese during the war.

As we walked to the War Museum we stopped off, goggle eyed, at some street vendors that were selling really cute puppies. Felt sorry for the poor little mites as they did not seem to be treated with a great deal of affection.

Onto the War Museum that was jam packed with captured American military hardware. Went to an incredible photographic exhibition, based on photos taken by journalists, on the American war that really did give you an idea of how awful it was; from both the American and Vietnamese sides.

A second exhibition focused on the atrocities committed by the US forces during the war. In particular the use of defoliants and a number of massacres. One sided, of course, but disturbing all the same.

A third exhibition displayed exhibits from around the world that called for an end to the American war. Placards and flags from Argentina, messages from Poland, America etc. They even had some letters written from ex servicemen, together with their military medals, asking for forgiveness.

Wandered back through the town to our hotel. Changed and went for dinner at a small cafe, on a backstreet, called Chi's.

Really cosy little place that also served pies! Sarb was happy!

Both had a restless nights sleep as the bed cover is too small for both of us!

Day 179 (Tue 2 Jan) - Mui Ne / Saigon

Up early for brekky and packed our bags.

Sat on the beach for about an hour, sat on our verandah for a bit and then checked out at 12pm.

Our bus to Saigon was scheduled to arrive at 1.30pm but did not arrive until 3pm. Not too happy with that!

Got on the small, crowded bus and trundled off to Saigon. Because our Vietnam book is a knocked off copy and hence the large scale map is practically useless, we didn't have a clue where we were. Just that we were south of Mui Ne and north of Saigon. Quite a liberating feeling.

Got to Saigon about 7ish. Walked round Pham Nhu Lao, the backpacker district, until we found a reasonable place to stay. Checked into the Peace hotel. Cheap and cheerful room, although a little noisy. Dumped the bags and then went to Kim's cafe next door for a bite to eat.

Walked round the busy streets for a while before turning in.

Day 178 (Mon 1 Jan) - Mui Ne

Up quite late (but no hangovers, which is unusual for the first day of the year) and had breakfast.

Wandered down to the travel shop were we confirmed our bus for Saigon t'row. Also booked a whistle stop tour of the dunes at 2pm this afternoon.

Done a little blogging and then had lunch at a small restaurant where the waitress frankly cocked up our order.

Wandered back to the hotel, changed gear and waited for our jeep to pick us up at 2pm.

Bang on two the jeep arrived and we drove off to pick up another couple, Michael and Han. Australian, but of Vietnamese origin, they had not been back to Vietnam since their early childhood. Really nice couple that had recently sold their house in Australia and decided to go travel for 2 years!! Good on them.

Off the main road running through Mui Ne, we walked up Fariy Stream, a shallow river looking at the red sandstone rocks around us ( [1], [2] ). Quite tricky walking as in some places the river became deeper without warning. As we walked local children tagged along and at one point we each seemed to have a child holding our hands.

After the river, we travelled towards the white sand dunes passing the immense fishing village on the way. Really, really busy and colourful.

Went to the dunes, nestled by a lake (very odd) ( [1], [2] ), we tried our hands at sand surfing. Sarb managed to ingest about a half pound of the desert's finest and ended up just rolling down the hill. Jo was made of stronger stuff and managed a fine surf. We were absolutely covered in sand!

The little boys (aged about 6/7) that were handing out the bits of plastic (ie surf boards) and our guide then engaged in a very heated discussion as to how much we should be charged. Clearly the marketing director of the outfit felt that 10 Dong should suffice, clearly with an eye to expanding the business slowly, whilst the Finance and Managing directors, paid up members of the 'smash and grab' school of thought, wanted 15 each.

In the end we gave them 10 Dong from each of us, so the marketing director won the day. However things were not all rosy in the boardroom and this was made violently apparent. Our friend from the marketing department was cheerfully walking along with us back to the van when the brooding MD appeared and thwacked the younger boy squarely on the kisser. Naturally this sort of behaviour cannot be condoned (even when working in London) as our guide forcefully pointed out to the young go-getter.

We left the fledgling organisation to settle its issues and wandered off to see a stunning canyon of red rock formations. Later we headed back towards Mui Ne stopping off at another set of dunes (the Golden Sand Dunes) where we would watch the sun set. Unfortunately it was very cloudy so didn't get to see a great sunset although the views out to sea were excellent.

Got back and had an excellent supper at an Italian place called Luna d'autunno.