The Slick City

The past 5 days in Singapore have been a breath of fresh air for us... literally. We can finally breathe without exhaust fumes and air conditioning! This city has definitely lived up to all our expectations, so efficient and unbelievably clean, and lovely people to top it :)

Needless to say, we have loved Singapore! We thought we might be bored spending 5 days here but in fact there are still things we wanted to do! We went to the Night Safari (very cool), explored Chinatown and Little India, watched a music show in the Esplanade (...actually a sound check!!), went to some galleries, and we've even been to the beach!

Remarkably we have managed to stick to our budget here, eating the delicious food from Food Centres, where there is an endless choice of yummy food for very little money and taking advantage of all the free attractions! It would be possible to spend A LOT of money here....maybe one day we will return and be able to do that!!

Weather has been great too, hot but not too sunny: which is pretty good considering it was forecast heavy rain for the entire week!

We also spent a day cycling around the island Palua Ubin which is a nature reserve just north of the main city island with very few inhabitants and lots of wildlife....most of the time it felt like we were the only ones there which was perfect after the craziness of the cities we have visited. Unfortunatly though our insect repellant seemed not to work that day and we got bitten all over! Luckily the Singaporean Tiger Balm has come in handy in relieving us from the scratching :)

We are now at Singapore Airport again, I think we would quite happily be delayed here - it's fantastic!

Next stop, Melbourne....we'll check back soon (most probably with how cold we are!!)

Same Same... but different

The past week has been pretty crazy moving from place to place quite quickly so there is a lot to update!!

Hoi An was just beautiful and we spent a lot of time wandering the tiny streets and lapping up the very chilled out atmosphere. Charlotte E got a dress tailor-made, but we didn't go too crazy (unlike some others in our group - one who will remain unnamed spent $400!!) We took a cooking course whilst we were there so we will be able to impress with our Vietnamese cookery skills when we return :)

We then drove the coastal mountain road to Hue by bus which was fantastic!! Charlotte D was asleep for most of it but Charlotte E made sure she took lots of pictures hanging out of the window of the bus to make up for it!!!! It was just like the Top Gear episode in Vietnam: stunning views.

Our 24 hours in Hue was pretty hot and sticky (the hottest weather we have had yet) but we managed to do quite a lot: visited the ancient citadel and Tombs which was really interesting. We then boarded our final overnight train for the 12 hour journey to Hanoi. We were prepared for the worst again but it was actually really nice...and we had a very impressive picnic which included homemade guacomole!!

Very early arrival into Hanoi on Monday morning (at 5am and in the rain) so decided to go straight to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum to see the embalmed body of the man himself and beat the queues! This was the most surreal experience, incredibly high security which banned any deemed disrespectful behaviour (Charlotte D got poked for having her hands behind her back!!) We then had a few more hours to kill before we could get into our hotel so we went to the main museums and indulged in a chocolate brownie (incredibly un-Vietnamese but totally worth it!).


On Tuesday we then went out to Halong Bay for our Junk boat trip around the limestone wonders! Unfortunately not the weather we had hoped for (drizzle and mist) but we had a lot of fun and were very well fed on some delicious seafood. Visiting a 'surprising' cave and climbing to the top of one of the islands was incredible and it was very exciting having a little cabin to sleep in on the boat (equipped with its own ensuite bathroom?!)

Back in Hanoi we have spent a few days shopping and visiting some more museums. Even though Hanoi is the capital city everything closes at around 10.30pm and it becomes a ghost town! It's actually quite eerie and we had an interesting night out at a bar lock-in including shisha, police and Charlotte D as the DJ!!

We said goodbye to our friends from our tour group yesterday which was really sad... we're going to need to get better at farewells because there's bound to be a fair few along the way!

And so our journey through this part of Asia is almost over and we are definitely sad to be leaving, I think we have really got used to the way of life here.... Having said that there are a few things we won't miss when we leave: having to take to toilet paper everywhere with us and the very difficult road crossings to name a few!!

On to Singapore in the morning so we are expecting a bit of a reverse culture shock and will probably feel rather grubby compared to the cleanliness it is famed for! Must go now to get things packed, luckily the whole process of fitting things into the backpack should be a little easier as we have sent a huge parcel home today 4kg full of things we have collected along the way!

Another day in paradise

Tuesday was our last day in Ho Chi and we went out to the Cu Chi tunnels on a musical bus! The tunnels were really interesting and we learnt about their uses during the Vietnam war. Went down in some of the tiny tunnels and Charlotte D fired an AK47!

In the evening we boarded our first ever sleeper train to Nha Trang, a lovely seaside town that is apparently popular with Vietnamese honeymooners. Charlotte E was ridiculously excited about the train journey [although prepared to be very disappointed]. However we were all pleasantly surprised: it was a new train so it was super clean and even had air conditioning! Got a good nights sleep but unfortunately the arrival alarm gave us less than 5 minutes warning to get off the train! So at 5am we were rushing around grabbing all our stuff and jumping off the train still in pyjamas and very bleary eyed...

Nha Trang soon woke us up as we were greeted with the most gorgeous sunrise over the sea and since our hotel was right on the front we had a quick shower before boarding the 'funky monkey' boat! By 9am we were cruising the sparkling South China Sea :)

It was brilliant fun on the boat, Charlotte E did lots of swimming in the clear blue, warm sea and Dunkley sang 'Eternal Flame' with the on-board band!! We stopped off at a beach, played games on the roof of the boat and indulged ourselves in the huge feast of traditional Vietnamese cusine that the crew put on for us. Unfortunatley Evans got rather burnt but Dunkley was the only one of the group who escaped without any signs of the sun (to the bemusement of everyone in our group!)

The following day Evans recovered from the sunburn by spending the day on the beach under a huge parasol and catching up with some much-needed journal writing (the days go by far too quickly and we always seem to be behind). Meanwhile Dunkley went to the local mudbaths and had a great time smothering herself with the nourishing mud, natural spring water and getting some swimming lessons!

Today (Friday) we arrived in the very quaint town of Hoi An. We arrived very early again by sleeper train, this time we were far more prepared to get off! But the journey itself was by no means as luxurious as our first experience! All I will say is, we had a mouse in our sleeper cabin and saw cockroaches in the toilets!! - certainly an experience...
Hoi An is exactly the Vietnam we expected to see and we are lapping up the traditional culture, squeezing in a bit of (tailor-made) shopping and tomorrow we are going to do a cooking course - hopefully we can share our skills when we return home!

The weather is beautiful, it has obviously been really hot but being by the sea has meant that there's a really nice breeze so it's very pleasant, and I think it is getting slightly cooler as we travel north?

Mekong Delta

As much as we really like Ho Chi Minh city, we were very excited to be getting out for a one night homestay in the Mekong Delta on Sunday night. And we were right to be excited, it is safe to say that these two days have been the best of the trip so far (if not two of my favourite days ever!)

We left HCMC early on Sunday and arrived at Vinh Long around midday. We were met by a boat which was to be our water vehicle around the Delta since the island we were to be staying on was only accessible by boat.

We had lunch at the house of a local family. They were so accommodating and put on a huge meal consisting of beautifully presented sea food, noodle soup and rice dishes. We all ate until we almost exploded and luckily had a choice of hammocks to laze in after lunch!

After sailing some more in the boat, we arrived at Mr Ba Hung's, which would be our home for the night. I think we were all expecting a small hut consisting of bunk beds with no running water or toilets. But what we were greeted with was quite different. Our beds were on high stilts over water in an open-air room. So simple but so beautiful.

There were bikes there so as soon as we dropped our bags we headed off on a bike ride around the island before sunset. The sky and the water were stunning and as we rode around all of the locals came out to say hello. This felt slightly ridiculous since we're nobody special but it was still a very nice welcoming to their village.

Dinner was once again amazing (I think we both feel as though all we are doing is eating at the moment), we watched and music show and then headed off to bed in the darkness. Must also mention that before dinner we found a humongous tarantula right by our beds (which had then disappeared before we settled down to sleep)....Surprisingly though we both slept very soundly on our stretcher-like beds, thankfully covered by mosquito nets!!

Also on the weekend, Dunkley held a huge python around her neck, we tried some unusual fruit (milk apple, which makes your lips stick together, and dragons eye) and enjoyed a peaceful boat ride along the beautiful river adorned in traditional Vietnamese hats whilst drinking fresh coconut milk (what tourists?!)

We're back in Ho Chi Minh now which is a really fantastic place. So much to do and see, we have been to the war museum which completely opened our eyes to Vietnam's history and tomorrow we are going to the Cu Chi tunnels just outside of the city. We are living on noodles (pretty much breakfast, lunch and dinner) but no complaints about that, they're delicious! And tomorrow evening we board our first overnight sleeper train which will take us further north, to Nha Trang. Dunkley is already planning the games we can play all night long!!

Hello everybody its Dunkley :) we are now in Vietnam and its really nice but again a little crazy! There are so many motorbikes here you have to be soooooo careful when you cross the road otherwise you probably will get killed! Our accommodation again is really nice - not what we were expecting from the tour, we have free internet access and a free breakfast buffet (always good). Anyway before we got here we obviously left Cambodia! After travelling from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh we arrived to be greeted by loads of tuk tuk drivers it was literally mental! After settling into our accomodation, we all went out our first night for pre drinks in a nice bar called FCC and then to a restaurant called 'Friends' which was a charity restuarant to help street children. The food was lovely and my strawberry and passionfruit Daquiri was amazing! Charlotte had some banana and chocolate springrolls with icecream which were very yummy.

The next day in Phnom Penh was a early start as we headed to the Killing Field and the Prison. It was definatley an experience we will not forget as it was not what we were expecting. However we learnt alot about Cambodian history and Pol Pots Regime - I think both of us want to read some books to get a better understanding as I am still a little confused. After, we headed back to the hotel we had a little rest which turned into a well needed nap! When we woke up we headed to the shop to fill out bellies! When we returned we discovered that Star Dust was on tele so we made out dinner which consisted of brown sesame bread with laughing cow cheese topped with pizza favour pringles :) it was honestly delicious! We also brought cheese and yogurt for breakie!

The next day again was a early start as we head off to cross the border to reach Vietnam. Crossing the border which was relatively easy compared to enterting Cambodia - we just had to hand our passports in and let the bus company do the work :) After a 6 hour journey watching Rush hour and Fantastic Four we fianlly arrived in Ho Chi Minh City.

Anywho better be off this has taken about an hour to write! lots of love byyyeee xxxx

Welcome to the Kingdom of Cambodia

On Sunday Charlotte (Dunkley) and I travelled 5hours from Bangkok to the Thailand/Cambodian border of Poi Pet, took ages to get out/in of the countries but we were met by a bus which took us the 4 hour journey to Siem Reap. It was a long but extremely exciting day!

Monday was another early start, got up at 4am to see sunrise at Angkor Wat.....so so beautiful. We obviously arrived in the pitch dark so we cautiously walked over a lake and through temple buildings with just a torch to guide us. And even more strangely was that for a while we were sat in front of one of the most awesome buildings in the world without even knowing it! [Dunkley then proceeded to take 83 pictures of the sunrise alone] After the sunrise we had a tour of the huge complex of temples, it was an astounding place: I don't think it has actually sunk in yet that we are where we are in the world and what we have seen (but I'm sure Charlotte's 83 pictures will help us to remember!!)

Whilst also in Siem Reap we saw traditional Khmer, Apsara dancing; left our mark in a very cool grafitti covered bar; seen crocodiles and a 6 year old girl with 3 pet pythons (at Tonle Sap floating village); had a communal Khmer massage (with 3 of our tour members....obviously a hilarious experience); and had a feet eaten by dead skin-eating fish!!

We are constantly in fits of giggles so are very happy and have already made some great friends on our tour (we are continually so glad we decided to do a tour, it is making everything a lot easier!)

We have just got to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, this afternoon. Reluctantly left Siem Reap early this morning and took the 'Limousine bus' (which actually brought round snacks, just like being on an aeroplane! and also had Cambodian karaoke and Mr.Bean's Christmas episode - very random). We stopped in a small town called Asara for snacks, these being fried crickets and cockroaches!! - we had a cricket but couldn' quite stomach the cockroaches!

We will hopefully we able to get some pictures on here soon. Otherwise there are some on facebook so anyone who wants to see, just add me as a friend :)

Leaving Thailand

Charlotte Evans now!....

So we have had four days in Thailand and tonight is our last night before we leave for Cambodia tomorrow. We are actually quite sad to be leaving because there is so much of the city we still haven't explored! After a busy day exploring yesterday we had a more relaxed day today, exploring side streets and markets and doing our first lot of washing in the sink - quite an achievement!

Still no suntan which I am quite happy about (although Charlotte isn't so much!) And we have been eating lots of lovely Thai food

We begin our tour of Cambodia and Vietnam at 6.15 am tomorrow! We have met the people we will be travelling with and they are all lovely :) So we are very excited to get started even though we have been told to expect a journey up to 14 hours long!! It's all part of the experience though and we will keep you updated as soon as we get a chance :)

Must go now to get some sleep before the apparently epic journey of tomorrow...

Check in again soon,

Charlottes x

Tuk Tuks and Temples

Hello everyone.....we have spent the past three days in Bangkok - which is a crazy crazy place! At first we were like 'o god' but now we have grown to love it! On our first full day of exploring, we met the nicest man who informed us it was national Buddha day which meant everything was at discounted prices or free! So we got our first tuk tuk around the city for only 10 bhat (20p) each compared to 500 baht which it would be normally - and our tuk tuk driver was sooo nice! We went to see some buddhist temples including the lucky temple which brings you luck :) and the massive Buddha. We also went to the grand palace and the emerald buddha temple. Also part of the tuk tuk adventure we had to visit thia clothes stores so that the tuk tuk driver could get free fuel vouchers. It was here that we met MIKE....he was so nice....and found it hilarious that we were both called charlotte! His english name was mike and he asked us what it meant in english - so for a joke dunkley told him it meant lazy (thinking about a certain brother) forgetting his name was mike lol.....but anywho he found it really funny and wasnt offended :)

We also spent the night listening to a thia jazz band who were amazing and then ate in this really querky resturant - the Joy Luck club.

Bye for now (internet time running out!!)

Landed in Singapore

We're in Changi airport (Singapore) after 12.40 hour flight, and came across some free internet booths so are taking advantage of a free 15 minute session! I can't believe how straightforward everything has been so far, the flight was brilliant, very quiet so we had lots of space and got some rest as well as eating constantly and watching movies! So we are ready for our onward flight to Bangkok, I'm sure it will be much less of a relaxing place than Singapore but I think we are prepared and at least we know exactly where we are going so that's good. We flew low over the islands surrounding Malaysia and Singapore and it was just like the pictures we see in books, the sea is like no colour I have seen anywhere else and can't wait to actually get outside to see everything! Must go now because we will go and find our next gate.

p.s. we ate loads of yummy food on the plane: not just exaggerating but it was actually delicious (very impressed with Singapore airlines)

Byeeeee xxx