Crowded China

I left Hong Kong at 3pm on the train and stupidly decided to walk to the train station which made me sweat like mad with my giant backpack on my back in the humid heat.

I got on the train (24 hour journey to Beijing) and had booked the top bunk which is the cheapest in hardsleeper class . It was really hard to heave my bag upto the top and also not much head room on the top bunk. There were a few westerners on the train but not many. Your allowed to stand inbetween the carraiges to smoke so was chatting to a few blokes from Hong Kong for a bit who were also on there way to Beijing. I was sharing my tiny compartment with 5 chinese women who didnt speak much english and i thought at first they were giving my horrible looks.

I went to bed quite early at 10pm and slept quite well. Then i woke up in the morning and one of the chinese women was trying to explain to me i should get breakfast so i went and got some noodles and congee (a rice type soup thing) from the restaurant cart then the ladies in my comparment gave me some pickled vegtables to go with it and then some spicy meat which i didnt know what it was. I then came back and sat reading my book for a bit. Then one of the women sharing my compartment asked me if i was having lunch i said no im not hungry and she got some noodles out for me dont think she understood me. She gave me some spices to go with it and then gave me a roll with tuna in and then peanuts they wouldnt stop offering me food lol.

I arrived there and chatted to a english girl who recommended a hostel to stay at and took me to the tube station and showed me where to get off. I arrived at the hostel and had to stay in a single room on me own for the first night but went to the dorm the next day. That evening i went to the pekking duck restaurant on me own and was gonna have duck but only thing i could have was a whole duck or duck intestines or ducks feet and i was to hungry to try strang things right then lol so i had beijing spicy beef which was really nice and had a early night. The next day i got the tube to Tianamen square and met 2 girls from isrel and chatted to them and then went to the forbidden city which was really cool.

That night i got back to the hostel and chatted to some people from San fran sisco in america and went to the lake clubbing with them i got in at 5am and had to be up at 6am for the great wall of China tour. I felt like shit after my hours sleep and went on the trip and met a bloke from isrel and walked 7km up the great wall of china with him which was abosulutly massive and amazing and then got the tobogen down the hill and went to a restaurant for lunch with a turn table and lots of chinese dishes.

One day i went to the summer Palace which was really cool overlooking a lake and amazing buildings. Another day i went to Beijing Zoo which was horrible the animals were in such horrible conditions and i didnt like seeing it.

One night i met up with a bloke from Travbuddy and we went to a few clubs and ended up dancing with lots chinese people who were giving us lots of whiskey then got out the club at 7am and went to a food stall with lots of meat skewers frying in oil and i ate pigs ears haha.

Then another night went out with 3 dutch blokes and a couple german people and a swedish bloke and went to a meat bbq and then went out clubbing and got so drunk and i puked up after having a tequila shot haha then i went back to the hostel and slept all day the next day with the hang over.

I went to the silk market which was really cool and people on the stores grab hold of you and try and drag you in their shops. I found it easy to bargain for stuff i would choose a price and stick to it and they tried to charge 30 pounds for a hugo boss t-shirt and i got it for 6 pounds in the end. -You know when you have a bargain when the shop women chucks the t-shirt at you with a pissed off look on her face lol.

Then i had to fly to Shezen and get a bus over the boarder to Hong Kong because the trains were fully booked. I planned to travel more of China but due to flooding and fully booked trains i wasnt able to so just got to see Beijing and Hong Kong

Hong Kong

I arrived in Hong at 8pm and then got the train and bus to Kowloon where i planned to stay by the time i got there it was 10pm and a man came upto me and offered me accomodation and i just went and decided to stay there it was a shit room really dirty and small and it was expensive! I decided i will stay one night. The next day i got up and changed room to another really small room in a differnt building but it was clean and comfortable so was fine by me.

I then walked to Hung Hom station with my map which took me bout 20 mins and booked my train to beijing which was 50 pounds which is quite good for a sleeper (24 hour journey) Then i got the boat over victoria harbour the amound of sky scrapers was amazing and got a bus and then the tram upto victoria peak which looks over all of Hong Kong then i hung about up there for a bit and went back down. The next day walked around Kowloon park and did some shopping and the the day after that i decided i would walk upto victoria peak.... This was sooo hard it was so steep and hot and took me about 2 an half hour but once i arrived up the top i felt good but couldnt bear to walk back down so got the tram lol.

Return to Thailand

I got to Bangkok and then went and checked into the really small room in Soi Ramburtri at the wild Ochid which was the first place i had stayed in when i was travelling but this time was in the budget room.

I went out a few nights in Bangkok and one night went out and got really drunk because i met some people. Then got in at 4am and was picking Josh up the same day from the airport. I woke up at 8am and Josh was landing at 7:30am i ran outside and got a taxi still felt drunk and got to the airport to pick him up luckley he only waited 40 mins. We then went out for a few drinks on Khao San road. The next day we went to the Grand palace which i had already seen but wanted to show josh what it was like.

We flew to Surat Thani then got the bus and ferry over to Koh Phgnan. We spend a few days in Haad Rin at Sarikantang and one night went to the beach party where we had lots of buckets. I ended up blowing fire in a compitition seeing if u can light the pole on fire i didnt and burnt my chest a bit lol. Then i played the baloon game where u have to pop other peoples baloons. Then Josh was too drunk and cant remember anything so i had to drag him back.

We then got a taxi to the northan part of the Island Thong Nai Pan which was really relaxing for a couple of days in Dreamland resort which is amazing however a bit quiet on a night time.

We then got a boat over to Khao Samui and on that night we watched the drag show which id seen before when i was there. We stay in a place called Chanweng beach resort which i recently discovered is in the book The beach they stay there just before they swim to the beach.

I actually enjoyed Koh Samui a lot more this time than i did before we spent most the time on the beach swimming in the sea etc.

We then flew back to Bangkok and Josh flew home. I then went out one night with Mimi who i met of a travel website there was about 8 of us go out and we went to a club called route 66 and drunk lots of whiskey and got very drunk it was a really good night.

Then i flew to Hong Kong

Cambodian blip

My time in cambodia was short only spent 5 days there. We arrive and stayed one night in Phnom Pehn which i didnt really like that much We got a bus to Cambodia from Vietnam and arrived there in the afternoon and went straight to the killing fields once we were in our room.

The killing fields were quite depressing because hundreds of people were killed in horrible ways (Kinda of like the concentration camps in world war 2) and wasnt long ago either only 1979. When you walk in they have a display glass case about 2 stories high full of skulls of the people who died.


Walking through the street food stores there was rubbish all in the road it was the most disgusting smell i had ever smelt and there were rats everywhere.


We went to a bar and end up with these investment bankers buying drinks and then walking back Hannah got a brick chucked at here head!!

The next morning i got up at 6am and was off on me own for the first time since i been travelling to Siem Reap and the girls i had been travelling with were heading south. I got the bus to Siem Reap which took 6 hours and i was the only westerner on there and it was a bit smelly and i got a chicken curry which was basically chicken bones at one of the stops. I arrived in Siem Reap at 3pm and got a tuk tuk which was one dollar to the Siem Reap backpackers hostel which was really good (AND HAD A SWIMMING POOL :D) I then agreed a price with my tuk tuk driver to take me to all the temples over 3 days which was 12 dollars a day.

I went to Akhor Wat that evening and watch the sunset, then went back and went out for something to eat. I had Khmer curry which is amazing. Then it rained so heavy for about 3 hours i just sat and drank beer haha. The next day i spent 6 hours looking at temples my favourte was the ones with the giant trees growing over it. I was then templed out lol. I then went out with some people from the hostel on the night to a mexican and then to a club and got very drunk! I got up the next morning and told my tuk tuk driver i was to hung over to look at temples haha and lazed about all day.

The next day i did 3 hours of temples then found out the girls i was travelling with before were in Siem Reap so went with them to get a massage and the women kept tickling my feet and saying she can make me cry haha so wasnt to relaxing then we went on a big night out to say farewell to each other.

I got the bus the next day to Phnom Pehn because had to fly to Bangkok the next day. I stayed in the worst room ever dirt everywhere and i had a squat toilet in the room with the shower over it.

Crazy Vietnam

We got a bus from Vang Vieng in Laos to Hanoi in Vietnam it took 33 hours!!
The people on the bus didnt speak any English and wasn't very nice to us.

We arrived in Hanoi and it was pouring down with rain, and lots of taxi drivers were shouting at us.
Also out bag stunk due to some type of lizard juice, that was in the luggage compartment on the bus which had spill on it.
Me and Kerry got a taxi with the 2 girls we had met Hannah and Jess on the bus and stayed at a place on the main street.
Went to a nice french restaurant and then went to go out however there is curfews in Hanoi and all places have to close at 11pm.
So we asked a taxi driver to take us to a club which was on a boat! It was mostly Vietnamese people and was kind of funny but we went back early and the next day went to a market to explore.

We decided the backpackers place would know where to go and party so we tagged along with them went to and irish bar which was kind of lame and then to hair of the dog which had a lock in and danced there untill 3am.

The next day we went to Halong Bay which we had a 3 day 2 night trip booked.

We were on the boat lots of rock formations and the scenery was so amazing like nothing i have seen before. We went to a massive cave and climbed up to a view point which had an amazing view of the bay. Then we Kayaked around the bay which was really good and i enjoyed a lot. Then had to go back on the boat and went to somewhere in the middle of the bay where we would sleep on the boat overnight.

Just as the sun was setting, we were jumping of the boat into the sea which was brilliant and then lay there for a while under the stars and saw some shooting stars before going below deck to sleep.

The next day we did a hike up to a view point over the jungle which was amazing then went to stay on Cat Bay Island. Right we all drank before we went out and then when we finally got out we had a bit of a disaster happen which resulted in me being bit by a dog.

The next day we went back to Hanoi and i went to the hospital and had some rabies jabs and paid lots of money for just the consultation! Then we all went and watched sex in the city 2 at the cinema.

The next day we flew to Danang and then got a taxi to Hoi An spent a few days here sun bathing on the wonderful beach and also got a tailor made suit.

Then we got a 12 hour bus to Nha Trang and went to check into my first hostel i would stay in! It was really nice and clean with air-con :). Then we met lots of really good people in the hostel.

One day in Nha trang we went to the waterfalls on the motor bikes i went on the back of Robs who drove very fast and i felt like i was gonna die lol. The waterfalls was really cool and some of the people were jumping into it from really high up.

Another day in Nha trang we went to the mud baths which was quite weird lol.

Altogether we stayed in Nha Trang for 6 nights it had an amazing beach we went on a few times and really good night life went to a couple of beach partys and also got very drunk a few times in Why Not Bar. Also met some really good people who we really got on with.

Then we went to Mui Ne spent a couple of days here. I actually drove a motor bike and we went to the sand dunes where we got hassled by loads of little kids to rent a sheet of plastic to slide down and it was to much they were charging. And it wasnt ever that good sliding down them just ended up with lots of sand all over you lol.

Then we went to Saigon (Hoi Chi Minh city) which was really busy and we went out to a really good club. Then the next next because we had to leave early we went to the cinema to watch Prince of Persia.

Right thats Vietnam updated im so behind this was in June i was there for 3 weeks just got, Cambodia,Thailand ,Hong Kong and China to update and in a week i will have Australia too lol.

Laid back Laos

I haven't been that good with updating this blog!!

Laos was amazing we got a bus upto the boarder crossing and then stayed in these huts overnight before crossing the boarder the next day. At the huts we met a really good group of people and all got drunk at this time curfew was in and we had to be back at 9pm so had to run to a 7/11 shop and grab some drink.

Then the next day we crossed the boarder which was quite simple and got on the slow boat down the Mekong river. The boat journey took about 7 hours to Prabang. The scenery was stunning never seen anything like it and just sat chatting to people and had some beers so didnt really mind being sat on a wooden bench for 7 hours lol. Then at Prabang we stayed there for the night. Went in the river swimming just as the sun was setting which was amazing swimming about in the Mekong with all the stunning scenery about!

The next day we got back on the slow boat early and this time wasn't as many seats so had to sit on the floor at the back of the boat by the engine! I used this time to read my book then sat on the edge of the boat for a bit and then played some cards.

The boat journey took about 7 hours again and then we arrive at Luang Prabang. Went out drinking that night and ended up at a place called the club which was mostley Laos people and a few western tourist it was a really good night out. The next day we went to the waterfalls which were so amazing ended up trekking right up to the top and had to climb up waterfalls to find the hidden pool to swim in. They also had a swing which swings out into the pool at the bottom but i didn't do it!

We stayed in Luang Prabang for 5 nights went to the waterfalls twice and Hazel and I went to the club every night! Some nights from the club we would bring lots people back to our hotel area and sit in the kitchen area drinking lots more. On the last night we went to a really nice restaurant overlooking the Mekong river and had a Laos style BBQ where u cook your own meat in the middle. Then just as we were about to leave the Laos waiter asked us to drink with them so we sat and had some beers with them and then they wanted to go to the club. So Kerry went back and me and Hazel went on the back of their motorbikes and went to the club with them.

The next day (feeling hanging from the night before) we got the bus to Vang Vieng the which was a horrible 7 hour journey feeling cramped in a little mini bus. We booked into a hotel called pans place. The next day it was tubing time got to the river at about 12pm and me and Hazel decided that we didnt need tubes and Kerry and Phillip did get tubes. Went to the first bar had a few vodka and cokes while watching people swing of the big swing into the river i was too scared to do it at this point.

Later on i did the smaller swing which was really fun then got really drunk and tried to swim down the river and cut my knees open then got in Kerrys ring with her.

We were in Vang Vieng for 9 days one day we relaxed by the pool another day we went on a bike ride through all these Laos villages to the blue lagoon which was really good.

I also got pink eye while i was in Laos and had really swollen eyes for like 3 days which wasnt good.

Then we got a bus to Vientiane the capital to get our bus to Hanoi in Vietnam.

Will let everyone know what i got upto in Vietnam and Cambodia soon when i have time to write it hopefully wont forget too much lol.

Luke

What an amazing 3 weeks got so much too tell don't know where to start! Went to Koh Samui from Koh Phangan it was a bit too touristy for my liking just relaxed on the beach there and went out to a drag show one night which was good couldn't tell some of them were men!

Then from there went to Krabi town which was a 6 hour journey from Koh Samui it wasnt very touristy there and was really quiet and we stayed in really shitty accommodation then got the boat to Koh Phi Phi the next day which is and Island on the western side of Thailand. Phi Phi is on of my favorite islands in Thailand really good night life went to a bar called the reggae bar where they had a boxing ring in the middle and people just jump in to fight to win a free bucket. Then we would go to the beach party where they have skipping ropes of fire and fire dancers.

On Phi Phi me and Kerry went on a trip where we did snorkeling and then cliff jumping which was very scary and then went to Maya beach where they filmed the film The Beach! We stayed on Maya beach overnight with a group of 20 people and swam in the sea at night and when u move the fish glow so it was like a disco in the sea lol. Then we just slept on the beach with nothing but a sleeping bag only had about 2 hours sleep before the sun rose then got a boat back to Koh Phi Phi.

Then we went to Koh Sok national park when we got there we trekked 3 KM through the jungle and there were wild monkeys jumping through the trees above us the waterfall didn't have much water as there hadn't been much rain. Then the next day we did a lake tour was on a long boat for 1 and half hours and went to a floating village for lunch and swam in the lake then we trekked through the jungle for 2 hours to a cave which took an hour to go through and at some point had to pull self through on rocks because the water was so deep! Then when we got out found out it was the last time they were doing the tour this year because the rainy season was starting and 8 people died in there 2 years ago if it starts rain it only takes the cave 20 minutes to flood! Then trekked back and got the boat back!

Then we went and stayed in Phuket town for the night because had to fly to Chiang Mai the next day. This is really sad but they had MCdonalds in Phuket and i was so excited to have a burger and chips haha!

The next day flew to Chiang Mai which took about 2 hours and when we arrived went to stay at a place called Julies guest house. The next day we went on a trek where we started by riding an elephant it was better than Koh Phangan however still didn't enjoy it as much! Then we trekked 3 hours all up hill through the jungle which was sooooo hard to do! Then we stayed overnight with the Lahu hill tribe and all had dinner by the fire and then the Lahu children sung us a song. Then the next day we trekked back and did white water rafting and then bamboo rafting it was good but the water was too shallow!

Thats the end of Thailand next is Laos and ive been here for a couple weeks i think but i will update that in a few days on the next blog! Miss everyone!! xx