http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Ant and Allee/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Ant and Allee en-us Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:30:24 UTC Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:30:24 UTC After leaving Uncle Tan's we headed for Semporna Waddya wanna watch I wanna Semporna. The sole purpose for going there was for some of us to have a go at diving but when we got there we fund that there was also a regatta on that weekend. The harbour was full of decorated sea gypsy boats and there were stalls and plenty of people. One young boy took a shining to Mam and walked around the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Semporna/blog-270425.html Having met up with Mam Dad Susan and Martin we had a few hours in SIngapore before heading to Kuala Lumpur. One thing about having them come over and meet us is that we start to notice things again that we had started to take for granted or have just ignored. One thing is people staring or watching us. We don't really notice it anymore unless someone points it out to us. Once in Kuala Lu http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Sandakan/blog-268011.html We flew to Indonesia with lots of preconceptions of what the country would be like. These were based on government warnings about travel to Indonesia on the FCO website which had us fearing that all Indonesians would be terrorists intent on kidnapping us or blowing us up and western media portrayal of what 'muslim countries' are like. It turned out to be completely different to what we expe http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Java/Yogyakarta/blog-264304.html Chiang Mai reminded us a lot of Luang Prabang mainly because of the sheer number of temples there. Allee claims it must have the most temples per square kilometre in the world something we are now spreading as fact. And so as we walked tryihng to find particular temples we would also have a look at a few others which were not in the guidebook and were pleasantly empty. We also had a look at http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Chiang-Mai-Province/Chiang-Mai/blog-263154.html To get to Phonsavan we wound through the mountains once again passing through lots of bamboo villages where apart from the odd TV aerial it is easy to imagine that life has barely changed over the last 100 years. Everyone in these areas must work to survive and we passed young girls who would still be in primary school in the UK carrying large baskets of wood on their backs as they walked t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-258544.html When it comes to capital cities Hanoi and Vientiane and like chalk and cheese. After the constant noise of Vietnam we were suprised to find Vientiane very quiet. So quiet in fact that by 2000 in the evening we could have laid down in the middle of a main road with no fear of being run over. By 2200 everywhere is closed and the residents are presumably in bed. We spent our first day there http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-256348.html The first part of our journey on the Reunification Express from Hoi An to Hanoi took us through some very nice coastal scenery which we couldn't get any pics of because the windows like the cabin were filthy. The further north we got the less interesting the views became until we got bored and thoughts turned to what we are missing from home. Sorry to disappoint people but it was mainly food http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/blog-255110.html After Kon Tum we climbed aboard another minibus this time only for a five hour drive to Hoi An. Sharing the bus with us were a drunk who almost intoxicated us with his breath two soldiers and a dog which was wandering around the floor of the bus. The scenery was once again spectacular as we wound our way along the Ho Chi Minh trail through the mountains. There were waterfalls and the hills http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-252585.html We are now in the Central Highlands and have made our way from Saigon to Da Lat to Kon Tum.The bus journey from Saigon to Da Lat took us through some wonderful scenery which gradually changed from jungle covered mountains to coffee and tea plantations. Not even these winding mountain roads with their sheer drops and blind bends can stop Vietnamese bus drivers from overtaking with a honk of the ho http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Vietnam/Central-Highlands/Kontum/blog-250140.html First of all I'm in trouble for forgetting to mention our haircut on the last entry. In Phnom Penh we both decided to go to the barbers. I had the basic shaved head shaved face while Allee had her hair washed cut and straightened a head massage a manicure and nails painted. At one point there were three women pampering her at the same time. Anyways this was a real dent to the budget com http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-248193.html As we had some time to spend in Cambodia before our Vietnam visas started we decided to head to Sihanoukville on the coast for a while. It's like Cambodia's beach resort so we thought we'd spend some time at the beach as well as at the nearby Ream National Park. Our visit to Ream involved taking a boat down the mangrovefringed river to an island where a walk through the jungle brought us to a b http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/South/Sihanoukville/blog-246820.html On our first day in Phnom Penh we went to the National Museum. Allee really enjoyed the museum which was full of carvings and statues mainly from Angkor but I wasn't feeling too good and so stomped through the exhibits. The highlight of the museum for me was walking around the edge of a pond with lots of big fish following me expecting to be fed. I've felt ill at some point every day for the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-244665.html Since we last updated the blog we have arrived in Cambodia. On our last day on Koh Phayam we got up early to do some snorkelling before breakfast. It was going really well until Allee spotted a sea snake winding it's way between the fish. After a 2 hour boat ride and a total of 13 hours on the bus we got to the border where every con artist and his dog surrounded us trying to get us to arrang http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-243012.html We are now in Koh Phayam also spelt Ko Payam in the South of Thailand.On our last day in Kanchanaburi Friday we relaxed popping into a couple of book shops to partexchange the ones we've finished and I went for a shave. This was at a barbers where the chair was laid back dentist style and the cutthroat razor whipped out. It was a bit nervy at first but then I nearly fell asleep a few time http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Andaman-Coast/Ko-Phayam/blog-240566.html On Wednesday morning we got up at 0500 to try and get the 6 o'clock train along the Death Railway to Nam Tok. This is the furthest that it is now possible to go as the line between Nam Tok and Burma was torn up after the war. Arriving at the station we were told that the train was delayed. We sat and watched the sun rise had a breakfast of water and chewing gum from the only open stall read http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Kanchanaburi/blog-239247.html We spent our final day in Bangkok relaxing and then yesterday morning caught the bus to Kanchanaburi site of the famous Bridge over the River Kwai. There are many guesthouses and bars here many with suspiciously English sounding names and serving things like cheddar cheese sandwiches. It's a nice place though. Yesterday afternoon we went on a trip to the Tiger Temple in the hope of stroking http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Kanchanaburi/blog-238326.html On Friday we got up fairly early the plan being too visit the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. Wanting to get there by boat we took the long way around to get a river boat up towards the palace. There are lots of boats on the Chao Phraya river the river ferries we took longboats cross river ferries and smaller individual boats. Many of Bangkok's sights can be seen as you cruise up the river as http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Bangkok/blog-237564.html Hello allWe are now in Bangkok and it's the first time we've had time to get onto a computer.On the 12 hour flight to Hong Kong we were lucky enough to have a row of 4 seats between the two of us so we managed to get a few hours sleep which was nice. The only problem was that because we were sat in the middle of the plane the only way to see out was to lean against the exit door. This was a b http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Bangkok/blog-236754.html