Angkor Wat

Siem Reap is awesome!!! Its only a little town but there are so may markets got some good bargains
Im now travelling with 8 other people 3 girls and 5 guys its really cool.. except they r all pommys haha i kid i kid
Went to Angkor Wat yesterday which was unreal.. They are the biggest temples in the world and tomb raider was set there.. We woke up for sunrise.. i knew i shouldnt have gone out the night before it was the hardest thing iv ever had to do lol but it was def worth it.. the sun rises behind angkor wat and it is seriously the prettiest thing I've ever seen!! I'm not usually into temples but these were incredible I can see why they are the best in the world. There are heaps of different ones one has a million faces on it so there is always creepy eyes looking at you.. another has massive trees growing over the temples, which is the 1 tomb raider was set in.. watch the movie again ul understand!
But wait theres more.. when we were at the face temple i met... RICKY MARTIN.. so i never really liked the guy but he gave me a hug yewwww and we got pics.. he's actually a really nice guy..
Im back in phnom Penh for another night im not sure what my next move is yet ill let you know when i decide
x

Cambodia keeps getting better its a massive partay everynight!!! The backpacker section is actual dodgeville but its so much fun.. Havnt done anything all that exciting just been going out.. I got robbed by little kids haha they were the cutest kids iv ever seen im going to steal one and send it home.. i was mucking around with some little boys and they stole $10 off me cheeky little buggers.. i 4give them tho cos they were adorable
We met up with Jayme and Evs mates they were pretty cool partay hard!! I drove a tuc tuc the other night.. well so iv been told haha.. with 6 of the boys in the back of it yewwww no crashed this time tho im pro
Im flying solo again needed to meet different people so caught a bus to siem reap gonna volunteer in the next few days im so excited
there isnt much more to report
Tina i dnt no how to comment u back.. but it would be great if u could pick me up from the airport.. thanku. im not sure of the date yet because i am changing my flight so i can spend a bit longer here i will let u no asap
x

Cambodia

My last nite in Vietnam was the absolute worst.. one last scam before we left!! We paid $30 to cross into camboida on the Mekong River which was good but most of the first day was spent on a bus and they dropped us in BUG TOWN to spend our last nite in the muggiest, bug infested, seedy hotel.. the hotel didn't have enough room for Anna and Dean so they got sent to a hotel 4 blocks away with noway of getting inbetween hotels for food!! And they wouldn't let 3 of us share so i was stuck in a room with a 40 year old Korean guy and for some reason the 2 single beds were next 2 each other ahhhhhh.. i took Hoa's advise (the coolest vietnamese guy) and "just relaxed man" until..... i woke up an hour later with him rolled over asleep pretty much on top of me.. it took me a while to analyse my next move.. 40yo Korean... Jayme... 40yo Korean.. Jayme haha yep Jayme won.. JUST. So i went upstairs knocked on the boys door and stole Jayme's bed.. Vietnam was good but i do not recommend it the places are really nice but the people ruin it!!!
Im in Cambodia now and it is so much fun.. im so confused tho because how is this country so much more developed and civilised than vietnam?? we just went to a supermarket??? SUPERMARKET!!!! with tim tams, chocolate, coco pops.. nutella everything iv ever dreamed of haha
We are staying in a hostel whih is so good its an actual hostel with common rooms so you can socialise with people its wicked!!
We went out last night to dodge town, which is where the hostel is and as soon as we walked out we were swamped with people trying to sell us drugs and there were prostitutes everywhere and they do not try and hide it!!!
Today we went to the killing fields and museums and it is grusome.. The killing fields sent shivers down my spine thousands of people were killed and chucked into holes in the ground.. there was a display of skulls in a massive temple and just walking around the fields there are still teeth scattered everywhere.. We also saw the buildings the people were kept in and wlked thro the prison and it displays how the people were treated it is really hard to believe it was less than 40 years ago!
On a happier note im about to go out so gotta get ready
p.s. danni if ur reading this.. not happy jan

Ho Chi Minh Citayyyy

My last night in Muine absolutely sucked.. i do not know whose smart idea it was to catch the bus to Ho Chi Minh at 1.30am but it was the worst!!! We sat on the side of the road with all backpacks.. locked out of everything.. in a tiny little beach town.. eaten by mossy's.. sitting on concrete.. buses kept driving past us.. then finally at 2.30am the bus arrived and we had 4 hours sleep before arriving in Ho Chi Minh. The city is so much nicer than Hanoi its full on tho.. once again i can not believe what these people put on their motos there r whole families, 2 adults and 2 kids on 1 moto.. some guy was carrying a washing machine today who needs a car??? haha
Yesterday we went to the War museum which was really sad.. their were pictures of the war.. explanations of the after affect and deformed babies in jars affected by agent orange.. seriously the saddest thing i've ever seen.. last night was awesome went to a massive club which was pumping... first time ive heard good music yewwww.. only down side the whole placed was packed out with old seedy men with young, little asian girls.. do they not understand that its wrong???
This morning was the worst!!! We all got up so hungover and spent 4 hours on a crappy mini bus to see a temple.. why i do not know???? It was a good temple but who needs and hour and a half to see a building??? Then we went to the Cu Chi tunnels which was awesome!!! We climbed thro the tunnels the vietnamese built during the war and they r not the most spacious of tunnels... it was sketchy in 1 of them cos we could seriously see nothing!!! I was first in line and some animal started making noices.. yep iv never moved so quickly in my whole entire life
The jeep idea didn't happen we r getting a boat dwon the mekong tomorrow morning and arrive in Cambodia in 2days
Happy easter everybody
p.s. i found some cadbury chocolate... the most exciting news everrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang

Sorry its been a while since i've updated, been too busy soaking up the sun, playing beach volleyball, and getting drunk.. its a hard life!! Went to Hue hated it, it was so boring i did a boat tour to some tombs thats about it. Ditched Omer.. thank god and now we've got out own possi.. me, 2canadians (Jayme & Evan) and an aussie couple (Dean & Anna). We all met up in Hoi An and went to stayed at a really really nice hotel called Grasslands, which we eventually got kicked out of... well pretty much it was leave or they would steal our stuff haha.. Me, Evan and Jayme hired motos 1 day it was insane jst rode for the whole day and saw the best views vietnam is such a pretty place.. beautiful beaches.. we saw so many ruins.. we bombed this place very very well everything down south is still getting rebuilt.. roads, houses, land, everything and the war was over 40 years ago. So we moved on and went to Hoe's place which absolutely rocked!! He is the coolest vietnamese guy ever all he said was 'jesus christ just relax man' umm Hoe we r sitting on the beach with a beer haha.. we ended up there 4 2 nights it was right on the beach so we played volleyball.. Aussies kicked canadian's ass yewww.. some German guy started playing with us with his budgie smugglers on he was terrible and put us all off our game.. We went into Danang 1 night and got kicked out of a bar cos we didnt buy any drinks.. then went to some weird cowboy bar and drank and danced with the sweatiest guy ever.. no point to this story really
umm we then moved onto Natrang for my 19th bday it was the best birthday ever!! Ate a kilo of lobster and a kilo of squid for $20.. then we went to an irish pub and had double shot vodkas with red bull for 10,000dong.. which is about 80cents the pub was pumping the manager gave me free drinks all night.. well day cos i was in bed by 10pm hahaha and i was an absolute mess threw up in some restuarant.. the vietnamese have these push bikes with seats on the front and they ride u around.. well me and Jayme stole one haha i was riding it and was riding it very well considering the state i was in.. and Jayme was like "shana ur too drunk let me drive".. literally 10m down the road we crashed and r now both covered in scratches.. it was such a good night from what iv heard lol.. wish my grandparents weren't reading this..
we r now in MuiNe which is a little beach town.. got a massage on the beach for $4 im starting to feel bad about how little these people earn $4 an hour?? Anywho we r going to Saigon 2moro night to rent a jeep and cruise around the south of vietnam for a few days then off to cambodia.. update u all soon

Halong Bay

Since Sapa has been a massive adventure so much has happened.. where do i start?? Well I went to Hanoi its crazy people and motos everywhere.. I visited the Ho Chi Minh in the flesh and I mean flesh.. they have preserved him so u can visit him in the mousoleum very strange.. I went to some museums did the touristy thing.. then got robbed!!! Its funny now but wasn't at the time the moto rider that took me to all these places said it would be $5.. near the end of the ride he ran out of petrol and looked at me and said 800,000Dong which is about $50.. I was like no no no u sadi $5 we started arguing he said he was angry and his eyes started tearing up then opened a compartment on his bike and yep.. U guessed it a massive knife.. and i mean massive.. Here take ur $50!!!! So I was stranded as well as jst been robbed turns out i wasn't far from my Hotel so all worked out ok.. Just another story of the beautiful tropical Vietnam haha
It has been alot better since then i really like this country now.. I did a 2night 3 day trip to Halong bay which was the best time of my life.. the whole trip was incredible! The first night we jst relaxed on the top deck of the junk (the boat) looking at the limestone islands, visited a cave, which was good but the vietnamese know how to ruin anything natural they had colourful lights everywhere I felt like I was in a nightclub and there were random penguin bins everywhere, fake trees and random wooden things everywhere. And their sailing skills are no different from their driving skills.. the aim is to be as pushy as u can be and get there first!! We spent the first night on the junk stayed up playing UNO with some canadian guys all night. The next day was the highlight.. We went on a trek on Cat Ba Island to the top of a mountain.. then Kayaked to Monkey Bay Island.. The name explains it all there were monkeys everywhere.. It was really sad tho because their were some chinese tourists throwing lollies at them.. They could have at least taken the wrapper off.. and they were stirring them up trying to make the monkeys angry it was really sad I had to walk away.. but then we kayaked through the caves which was insane it opens up into a hidden island was so pretty I felt like I was in a movie.. then we went through a veitnamese fishing village.. which is a village on the water, people spend their whole lives there the kids row the boat to school, villages go to the land to collect supplies.. they even have dogs!
We spend the night at a hotel on the island and went to the nightclub there absolutely smashed it!! Only spent $6 all night yewww.. The night club was classic it was packed.. vietnamese guys hitting on me buying me drinks haha it was hilarious!!! The club closed at 1am and i was not ready to go home so we spent the next three hours on the side of the road with some vietnamese guys selling chickens.. they shouted us rice wine.. and I smoked tobacco thro some massive pipe it was definately a highlight! Oh and I can not forget to mention this.. We were at a restuarant having lunch and Ty (one of the canadians) ordered an iced tea... and thats literally what he got... a hot tea with ice in it hahahaha it was seriously the funniest thing in the whole wide world.. gotta love the vietnamese!!
Im now in Hue, got here this morning so im going to explore update soon x

Sapa

"You go to Sapa? I have van I take u to Sapa" After being followed to the ATM and told it would cost me 25,000dong i agreed.. I only had 200,000dong notes and was worried about not getting the correct change.. 2 notes were taken from me and i was given 150,000 in return i knew id been massively ripped off but i was in shock.. he added another '0' to the price... WELCOME TO VIETNAM!
Sapa is a beautiful place on top of a mountain surrounded by constant mist and vietnamese hill tribes! I stayed for 3 days and 2 nights and loved it.. only downside is it is so cold!!!
I have visited many hill tribes Kat Kat was my first.. a vietnamese lady walked with me the whole way and showed me around was really cool.. then more joined and i had a little group, at the end of it the first lady gave me a friendship bracelet it was the cutest thing ever! There is so much poverty here people r always asking for money or 'you buy from me' I have been followed around the town so many times.. children carrying children on their backs, people laying in the streets begging for money.
On my last day I payed to go on a day tour.. I was contemplating an overnight stay in a village but it was too cold 4 me and im now sick ahhh.. the tour was very worth it!! It was just me Omar (my new, lawyer/israel/NY/travel guide friend) and the little Vietnamese hill tribe lady.. Its amazing how many people speak English here, I learnt so much.. the clothes they wear are made out of tobacco plants the vietnamese use their resources for all their worth.. tobacco - smoke it or wear it.. dog - a mans best friend or food (seriously there was a chopped up dog in the market)
There is a beautiful stream running through al of the villages with waterfalls, children playing, men fishing and ladies cleaning clothes. Our tour guide had alot of tribal jewellery on but what I found interesting was the Canadian clock, Israelic travel prayer and other gadgets attached to her necklace; gifts from previous travellers. I thought it was really sweet how much they meant to her! I also learnt alot about their customs, which isn't all that different from greek traditions etc. The males parents buy the female from her family to marry their son, the grooms parents pay for the wedding, there is a big celebration with lots and lots of food. The girls are usually 16 when they have their first child and 18-20 when they get married. All of the different tribes have different clothing customs and languages believe it or not.. what ever happened to simple vietnamese?? It really is an interesting place, If you're ever in Vietnam I highly recommend it!
I also worked on my bargaining skills I got a pure silk sleeping bag layer for $4.. only $60 in Oz bargain!! The key is.. if they dnt chase you You're price was way too low.. its really quite fun.
I have just arrived in Hanoi after a 9 hour train ride, which really was comfortable to sleep on.. and warm!!! And a squishy motorbike ride.. Its 6am Im using Omar's laptop while he's sleeping on the chairs waiting for the hostel to open.. true backpacking style.
I wil update you on Hanoi and Halong bay soon x

China

Continuing on from Hong Kong i saw the light show it was really pretty. All of the buildings star in a light show as funny as that sounds and put on a display. The night market was really cool brought a few things for my travels i tried bargaining the price but no1 would jump haha not happy. I got a 12 hour bus ride to Nanning, China. The buses dnt have seats thy are overnight bunkers and u have ur own little bed to sleep on cool idea.
China has been an experience!!
When I arrived to Nanning i Had no idea where to go next I wanted to gt to Laos but no one knew where that was. China is alot different to Hong Kong. Barely anyone speaks english here and there is no english written anywhere like there is in HK. So I found a guy that spoke english and he wrote down a town in china and said to go there. All i knew was that it was going to be a 17 hour bus ride and it was near Laos, no idea what it was called only in Chinese. So I brought the ticket and was on my way. What started out being a 17 hour bus ride... ended up being a 36 hour bus ride!!!!! it was quite an experience. Although it was tough I am glad because I got to see how the traditional chinese live. There are little villages in the middle of no where exactly what u see in the movies. Chinese ladies and children just able to walk carrying baskets on there backs collecting vegetables. Males and women walking animals along the roads and harvesting land. Children playing and every1 staring at me as if they had never seen a foreigner before. There is no electricity and people live off what they grow. The roads are tiny and packed with trucks and overnight bunker buses. The drivers are crazy!!! Their favourite object is the horn. Beeping at everything in sight to get out of the way. The Chinese law is to drive on the right side of the road bu the drivers law is to drive where ever the hell you want and do it as fast as you can (even if that place is on a mountain cliff).
36 hours after departure I arrived at my destination.. where ever that was??? At 1am. I was surrounded by chinese people trying to talk to me I had no idea what i was going to do. I was so weak because I had not eaten all day and just wanted to lie down somewhere.. anywhere!
A lady finally gould speak a little english and asked where I was going she could not understand and aid she would take me to a cheap hotel. So we bargained on a price and she took me to a hotel, which suprisingly ended up being a hostel yay! I had my own room, hot water, an electri blanket.. and breakfast included in the morning. And the best part is I was in Kunming the city I wanted to be in all along. Its amazing how things just work out! Everything was exactly how I wanted it to be!
So it is now the next morning and I have booked a bus to Hekou, which is the border of China and Vietnam and I will arrive in the morning 12 hours later. Then off to Sapa and Hanoi, then down the coast of Vietnam. First thing I am doing is getting a massage I can not wait. I am skipping Laos for now as my visa for Vietnam is for the 3/3 so maybe I'll go there later in my trip.
I will update you all on Vietnam when I can. x