The wind down and wrap up!

Wow! can barely believe I've been away for 3 months - have done so much, experienced and seen so much and probably changed a bit too.  I'm really looking forward to my own bed (and home) and perhaps unbelievably (and maybe it wont' last long) to be able to do some cooking! (it will be fun to make the recipes I learned at my cooking courses in Chiang Mai and Hoi An!  


So as predicted in my last post the Bangkok experience was a total balls-up!  Basically, I booked my accommodation way ahead of time as usual through agoda (no probs before) - but was a bit worried as did not get an email back from either agoda or the hotel indicating they had my booking and pick up was going to happen. So of course when I got to the airport, there was no-one waiting with a sign - eventually (BKK airport staff are really unhelpful  - that's if you can find any) was told to just ask the posse of pick up people re my hotel - the guy didn't have his board up (der!!) - my name wasn't on his list - I showed my my e-voucher so he took me to the Plai Gardens hotel where the 12 year olds on the desk informed me that not only didn't they have a booking for me "agoda did not send us the voucher" was all I got - but that due to the flooding they were totally booked!!!!!!!!WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  In a nutshell they were really unhelpful (I dont' really want to relive it actually) and I eventually got the owner to drive me back to the airport with visions of getting an immediate flight, but instead being herded to his mate's hotel and quoted outrageous prices - she wanted $80 or something a night for what would have been a $25 night hotel - I ended up accepting for $50 knowing I was being stung - but as she informed me 'madam you have no choice' .... OMIGOD! What an horrendous way to end my trip! So I gets to this hotel and expressed my dissatisfaction with the cost especially when she said she only had a standard room... blah blah..so I was put in the housing commission standard room for $50 per night (with the karaoke bar outside and balcony light on all night etc) while I was allowed to use the pool and to have breakfast in the actual (nice) hotel adjacent to.... Anyway after spending a restless night I decided to confront the owner - I did (at reception where he tried to shush me) and got a refund making it $35 per night (the most I'd spent aside from Hoi An which was a plush hotel with jacuzzi in room etc) .. so I thought okay...I'm safe...got accommodation ...live with it.  So utterly could not wait to leave and spent my last day around the pool and watching TV ( I could not believe that 'teacher's TV' was on one ;channel!!)  I ate 3 bits of a chicken wingette and a cob of corn for the last 2 nights as there was no western food around that area - just thai local markets...  So overall a not great ending to the trip = but I'm trying to forget that quickly and focus on the good bits in the middle - in general it was a life-changing, mind-blowing trip that I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend others to do if your life needs a channel-change, BUT I am certainly glad it's over and it is so fabulous to now be home!!


Yep - utterly great to back in good old Oz. I am so appreciative of my life here and am blown away by how quiet and peaceful it is (and friendly!!) So I've come to the conclusion that I could not go and live overseas for  an extended period of time - a short visit is all I'd do in future - this is my home and where I want to live my life. So once I got to BKK aiport I was so happy, as I (in distinct opposition to the advice given at the airport "Help Desk") could use my Thai phonecard to call Stace for a 1/2 hour conversation! YAY!  Really enjoyed both flights and Changi airport was such a great stopover airport - I really loved it and felt at home there - the customer service is just second to none and I gave more compliments to staff there within 10 minutes than I'd experienced for the whole last 3 months!


So the wrap up is that I learned some valuable life-changing lessons on the trip and will change certain things in my lifestyle as a result of it.... I really enjoyed some places such as Mae Hong Son in northern Thailand (where I taught the monks/kids); Cambodia as a whole (but particularly Kep - never forget that place!); Hoi An in Vietnam - so beautiful; and Luang Prubang were all my favourites. I loved teaching the monks, won't easily forget the naughty Thai children, nor the Cambodian kids at Seametrey school and the other volunteers. The sad history of Cambodia (that is in the psyche of the people) and the legacy of the Khmer Rouge really got to me, but the resilience and good humour of the people will also stay with me. The food of Thailand will never be forgotten - the great shakes and noodles/curries etc - wow! I loved the cooking courses I did and can't wait to put them into action.  


So I've been home for a day now and it was so great to see Stace at the airport and to get to my home - my shower is amazing and my bed is like sleeping in a cloud (pillows are like rocks in Asia!).  So have gone shopping (so much variety in food), eating dinner out (at a Thai restaurant) and gone to the gold class movies today - I like my life and really appreciate the lifestyle I can live in Australia. Australia IS an amazing place and I can understand when people like refugees and migrants come here and think they've found paradise. So it was a great life changing experience (but I dont' think I'd be in a hurry to do it again) and a really good thing to do with my long service leave. I feel refreshed and appreciative of my own life here, but who knows - I will very likely at least visit some of those places again - but only for a couple of weeks holidays!!!


Over and out - the end of transmission of my south east asian adventure and I hereby declare this blog closed!


Raeleigh :-)

Sunset over Mount Phou Si in Luang Prubang

Extended Laos!

So have been lolling around in Laos, Luang Prubang specifically for the past 8 days and (unbelievably) am really ready to go home.  I think the excitement of eating out and seeing all these spectacular things has worn off a little - I'm ready to go home for some 'normalcy' and can't wait to see Stace!  So the best activities of the past few days have been 1. another facial today and 2. the xuangsi waterfalls - they are more magnificent than the brochures/websites have depicted (see photo) .. the water was an incredible green/turquoise colour that I've never seen before.

at Xuangsi Waterfalls near Luang Prubang

Here's a piccie of me tutoring a Lao teenager at the Big Brother Mouse project - you just turn up between 9-11 on any day and kids will be there who want to practice their English with you - I also bought him a dictionary as he'd lost his - long story!

The librarian in LP who runs the book bag scheme for poor illiterate village children

Here's a great pic of a young monk bashing flowers out of a tree for the offerings I guess...

Anyhoo the computer is playing up so will finish this blog entry when I get to Bangkok tomorrow. I've booked my last 2 nights at a hotel right near the airport, and hopefully they are not under water - no response to my email so I could be sleeping on my luggage for the last 2 nights.  Au revoir!


(How prophetic that was - see next entry!)


So, time's up in Laos and I'm ready to go - cash running a bit low so not going on the Plain of Jars tour or doing too much else either - but LP is certainly lovely and I've had a relaxing time eating and drinking beer Lao!  On to BKK!!

Lovely Laos!!

Me giving alms to the monks on their early morning rounds!!

My lovely hotel room at Villa Laodeum!

Okay got here and shared a taxi to the hotel - so lovely - I got the quiet room I requested and it's really lovely if a little overpriced - but Luang Prubang accommodation seems expensive - the plus side being it keeps the backpacker rif raf away!


So loving Luang Prubang - you are not hounded like in Vietnam especially (and Cambodia and Thailand to some extent). There are some kids who harrass you a bit to buy bracelets etc - but no biggie. People are the loveliest here, besides the Thai people (hope they're going okay!) The people are gentle and friendly - it is so nice after Hanoi!


So I've been eating up a storm as usual and drinking the Beer Lao at an alarming rate! (even found they have a dark lager that is to my taste). Interestingly I asked to try the fish baked in banana leaves at a restaurant last night and was told that it wasn't really fish - but pork - I really don't think the kid knew what he was on about as I just saw several menus for other places showing the steamed FISH in banana leaves )which i will try tonight - yummo.


Okay so have been to the Wat with the gorgeous tree - gold and whatnot - W-O-W!  There are many places to eat on the riverfront around here and also lots of Wats to visit. I will go to the waterfalls in the next day or two but unsure about the Pak Ou caves (I'm a bit caved out) - although it is on the slow boat down the Mekong so I probably should! 


Have rebooked my flight to Bangkok considering the flood situation - I will now spend an extra 4 nights here and 2 at the airport hotel in Bangkok - if the Chatuchak markets are operating I'll find a means to get there, but at least the hotel will do a free shuttle to and from the airport for my flight home - can't believe a week to go now, so I  will enjoy Luang Prubang and have a little downtime over the next few days. Yesterday I hired a lovely little bike for 20 000 Kip (around $2.50) and toured around a bit - such fun, will hire it again in a few days for a bit more exploration.

Here is a lovely Luang Prubang waterfront shot

So I had lunch on the riverfront on my first day - so lovely - and with the superstrong Beer Lao, the rest of the day passed nicely (okay well some of it napping!)

Me advertising (and skolling!) Beer Lao! on the waterfront - there are one million of these little restaurants - so cool!

But leaving the highlight of the trip til last - my lovely hotel guy (Siphone - kop jai lee lay!!) arranged to get me some sticky rice and 'candy' to give to the monks when they came on their alms rounds at 6am the morning after I arrived. Here's some shots of me and the nice Hong Kongian woman all suited up and giving to the monks. Their baskets are really big and there is a ton of rice in there, some had 2 minute noodles given, and I know they were pretty happy about getting the wafers Siphone arranged for us to give them (one young monk in fact skipped straight past me when he realised I only had rice left - not happy Jan!).  WOW - what an amazing experience and a total highlight on this trip!! I'm so happy about that experience - I honestly feel so blessed to be able to have done it!

We look like train wrecks at 5.50 am but WOW what a special experience! The Hong Kong lady and I really enjoyed this special experience!

So visited some lovely temples - the main one being at the top of Mount Phou Si - so I went up at sunset like everyone else in LP - but I could have missed it really - anyway good to do! My favourite however was the Wat Xieng, with the utterly gorgeous mosaics and paintings on the temple buildings:

Me at the lovely Wat Xieng and my little offering that I bartered down to 5000 Kip!

Okay this has taken around hours of jerking around with this computer, but this will do for now.  Off for another shake (may do mango this arvo) for less than $1!  Will think about going to the museum dancing show tonight or the Lao culture and dinner experience. Also going to the waterfalls in the next few days!  Off now for mango and relaxation.


Oh got the best facial the other day - check this - (cost 60 000KIP which is around $8!)

The masseuse could not stop laughing hence the shot!

Horrid Hanoi

So the Sinh Tourist bus (very nice) dropped me off just near the Hue airport, but since it was raining I decided to pay the rip off moto rider $2 to drive me and my bags up there (500 m max.) - the cab driver with him wanted $5 - I immediately told him to go away - but yet again I experienced the Vietnamese inhospitality (a couple of other tourists told me they'd experienced this too) - they laughed heartily (not in a nice way) at me for paying this exhorbitant price. Rude!

Hotel Charming 'executive room'

Anyhoo after interminable hours in the not so delightful Hue airport, I had a nice flight (again lacking in hospitality - althought the flight was only an hour long and the plane was nice the stewardesses were quite unfriendly and you got a bottle of water only - even little Nokair in Thailand gave you a bag of nuts for your short flight) then landed in Hanoi. The guy picking me up from the "Charming Hotel" was a young dude whose first comment was "i've been waiting for 2 hours' making me think it was my fault when I did tell them I'd be there at the time I was there (not overly with it really in Vietnam I found). Anyhoo after we picked up his brother, he made the hour trip with the radio going and Vietnamese pop playing loudly on his phone as well...delightful - NOT!  So the Charming Hotel was okay - the receptionist thought she was doing me a great favour by putting me in the 'executive suite' (about the same standard as my $15 a night in Dalat) for "the first 2 nights" which I didn't think was great as I was hesitant to unpack - just having to pack it all again etc..(ended up staying in that room - good point - on top floor so quiet, but the in room computer would not work at all - also people kept saying they would come and help with things and never did - so not quite as charming as internet reviews would have you believe). Anyway, Hanoi was shite - I did not like it at all and couldn't wait for the 4 days to be over. The people were not friendly and in fact on my last day, a guy who'd harrassed me several times that day to take up his offer of polishing thongs or some such, told me to 'fuck off then' when he pointed at my (new) shoes and his glue indicating he could just quickly fix it - I wouldn't be in it - and that's what I got - so it makes sense to me that research shows that people go to Vietnam once but rarely return - hear, hear.  (Although I may go back to Nha Trang and Hoi An someday).


Okay so there were a couple of good things - I visited that holiest of holy places "The Temple of Literature" dedicated to Confucius and scholarship and higher learning in general - very special (again tourists being idiots and hopping on ancient carvings for photos - brainless!)  Also did the Halong Bay thing and can't believe how unexcited I was about it - I guess because I'd been taught to expect disappointment in Vietnam and yep - my hotel offered me trips on junks ranging from $18 -$35 - so thinking I'd get the Christina - a 'deluxe' junk as told, I was suckered in and the junk I of course got was (IMHO) not really even seaworthy (see pic).  Anyhoo met some nice Aussies on there, and also had to tolerate the most embarrassing displays by a Polish lad who thought his english so competent that he'd joke around with the poor guide - anyway he was extremely rude and unfortunately he was on my little day trip. To illustrate, when we were getting off to tour a cave, the guide said 'take your valuables your cash and your diamonds' to which he replied (and I happened to be just passing him in the opposite direction at the time) while looking at his crotch, "yep I've got my 2 diamonds right here!!" well I of course did not know where to look! (creep!)

Okay spent a mountain of cash on nice Vietnamese silk garments (have spent a small fortune in general on this trip - but the stuff is right up my street and I don't think I've been too extravagant - let's just say there was some furniture that I would have loved to have taken back home and I controlled myself there - so how good am I?) and shoes.


So left Hanoi around 6 am for the flight to Laos! Yeh! Good evening Vietnam! 

Me at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi

On the junky Junk in Halong Bay

Nha Trang and Hoi An - sweet as!

Me looking glam on the sleeper bus (in the daytime) from Dalat to Nha Trang

Wow! Totally impressed by both places - especially (super touristy) Hoi An.  Glad I stopped in at Nha Trang, I'd heard it wasn't worth a stopover, but I really liked it.  Nice restaurants, although I paid $35 for a lobster with "fries and vegetables" (and waited over 1/2 hour for it although I was the only one in the restaurant) that was pretty average. However the highlight of Nha Trang was going to the ab fab Thap Ba mud springs. For $10 I was picked up and dropped back to my hotel in a nice van and went through a mud bath, hot mineral showers, superjet mineral spray thing, waterfall thing, and hot pool/ cool pool experience - it was really awesome.

Thap Ba Hot Mud Springs at Nha Trang - brilliant!!

The $35 dollar lobster

view to Nha Trang beach from my hotel rooftop breakfast/pool area

Okay so only one night there, then got picked up next day by super crazy bus driver of utterly shit company (the chick in Saigon ripped me off and put me on a different (the worst company ever) bus company than what I asked for - the first bus was PT but after that the shit brothers..I mean TM Brothers... they are utterly horrendous ... avoid at all costs. So the overnight bus trip to Hoi An had around 40 stops - collecting their friends, parcels, stopping for the shit driver to drink tea etc - I lasted the whole trip (13 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!) without barfing, but did so on arriving at my hotel. There are more shit details, but let's leave it at that, because Hoi An is amazingly beautiful, as is my hotel room. 

utter luxury for $35 per night!

My Jacuzzi!!!!!! Oh Yeah!

Okay so have had 4 lovely nights in Hoi An, wandering around, eating food, and soaking up the atmosphere. So touristy and westernized but I love it! Here are some more pics. I also did a cooking course today, which was utterly marvellous...

typical Hoi An streetscape - so pretty but filled with westerners!!

bikin' around Hoi An

Check the silk duds!

Me at Morning Glory cooking school - all for $25 - what a bargain!

So that's all the excitement for now... except determined to NOT have to catch the shit -maniac brothers bus - so eventually got the receptionists here (could they learn just a little english???) to tell me how to book Sinh Tourist bus instead - the girls at Sinh Cafe were angels honestly - so I can burn the shit ticket - I paid $8 for the Sinh bus (the best - don't ever bother going by any other carrier as Lonely Planet, Travelfish and TripAdvisor all say) and they wrote on my ticket in Vietnamese to drop me off near the Hue airport - rather than having to get a cab from downtown Hue!! (customer service is not really a specialty of the Vietnamese as far as I can gather - so extremely comforting to get some!)

So taxiing to Sinh Tourist stop at 7am and then flight from Hue to arrive in Hanoi for airport pick up by the "Charming Hotel" (could I be that lucky??)..  Must go eat and have a jacuzzi now...seee

Good Morning Vietnam!

Okay, since was originally coming to Vietnam and not to either of Thailand nor Cambodia, thought I'd hoof it over here since the ticket from PP only cost me $11 in the bus. The border crossing at Moi Bac (I think that's it) was a bit 'interesting' ie no english speaking bus conductor to tell me what was going on  - so hopping on and off bus and had to haul the luggage up and down etc - I wouldn't really do it that way again - but no biggie I suppose. Okay - in general - I really liked the look of Saigon (HCMC) on arrival, and the hotel was fantanstic - not quite as great as the glowing reviews as seen on TripAdvisor but still very good value for $21 per night including breakie. So took the trip to Cu Chi Tunnels (cost around $7) and the Vietnamese guide raved into the mic for the entire 2 hour trip there (and most of the way back) - I did get down the tunnel but backed out as there were several asian girls in front of me stopping and starting and I got a bit of a claustro attack - but I got the gist.

Me looking suitably serious at the Cu Chi Tunnels - "I'm goin in boys"

Okay next day did a great all day Mekong Delta tour - included sampling the coconut candy and having fruit and tea while some locals cracked out the aoi dai's for a sing a long (then cracked out the donation basket pretty quickly after it). I met some nice people, Jay from Ayudhaya and a spanish/italian couple who live in France (go figure).

I'm in the Mekong Delta

Okay then braved the Ben Thanh markets on Sunday.  I'm really a bit over the harrassment actually and am starting to almost not want to go to markets - the bartering can get heated and I had a run in with one rude Vietnamese girl who said "why did you ask me the price?" when I walked away from her (saying "no thanks") - my quick retort with an evil full on stare was "because I wanted to know how much it cost". (that shut her up)  Anyway bought a couple of nice silk shirts and some comfy p.j's and lovely laquerware bowls, most of which I posted back to Aus for $35 (much more expensive here than Thailand)... 



So bought my $43 AUD open bus ticket which means I can hop on and off any where around Vietnam really - have done the first leg and am now in Dalat - I agree with the other Aussie I met here this morning that it's not quite as nice as made out and certainly not a place you can 'walk around in a few minutes' - this morning I hired an Easy Rider (actually he was a dirty old man who kept making filty inuendoes and one of his parting phrases was 'may things be good for you in the bedroom' AND he was a close talker - God I couldn't get away quick enough) - but the motorbike tour to the monastery (to which I caught a cable car) and the Datalia waterfalls (down to which I rode a sort of cable toboggan thing - so much fun!) were pretty nice.  The only other vaguely interesting thing is that I was 1/10000000th of a second away from being mowed down by a really super crazy motorcyclist on crossing the road this morning - my first experience of that in the whole of SEA!  Anyway, I live to tell the tale.  More later - off to Nha Trang tomorrow than a few nights luxuriating in Hoi An.

Me at the waterfall in Dalat

This is the toboggan thingo at the Waterfalls - so much fun!

Goodbye Cambodia (for now!) - Joom reap lear!



Me getting blessed by a Buddhist Nun at Angkor Wat (then donating)

 Well folks - it is here - the end of the Montessori adventure and the utterly stinking hot PP weather!  However, somewhere in that month I grew attached to the place and would like to return someday. So back from Siem Reap for 2 days and a dinner out with all the volunteers was fun on my last night. Then back to Kep for a few days staying in a glorious little lodge - a relative of the Kimly restaurant runs it and serves the same menu (the crab wasn't quite as good though). Stayed in the lovely bungalow for the first night and moved to the cheaper and still lovely guesthouse for the second. The owner loaned me her pushie so I rode down to the crab market and had kampot pepper crab again and the requisite black panther - delish!  Also had a meal at another over the water shack - the sailing club - attached to an upmarket resort but utterly delightful and on the way back home up the dirt track an old man (security!) shone his spottie for me and we dot into a conversation about what a sad life I have - having no son and no husband just about made his eyes pop out of his head! Anyway, won't forget that little man quickly - so funny! 


 Okay so took off to (what later turned out to be a bit of shithole) Kampot - was booked on a tour to see the pepper plantation, Rabbit Island and some other stuff - but cancelled due to weather -  so I biked around the town (took 3 minutes) then settled in for some DVD watching at the guesthouse.


 Back to PP and the lovely guesthouse owner at Kampot helped me organise all this - got the bus straight to Saigon - so bussed it for around 11 hours on Wednesday!  There was a bit of crapping around at the border and I'm quite sure Osama Bin Laden could (in his day) have walked through as their processes weren't what I would call thorough.  Anyway here are some pics - will jib on about Saigon (I love it and didn't think I would!) later!  Joom reap lear!




Lovely traditional band (all mine survivors) on way to Ta Prohm






My farewell dinner with the other fab volunteers: L to R: Adrien, Matt, me, Mary, Mary's friend Alin, Liddy, Stacey