Cambodia Part 4: Sihanoukville

Leanne, Mary Liz & Myself left Battambang for Sihanoukville via Phnom Penh on a local Cambodian bus, on which we were the only non Cambodians. The best bit about the whole 7 hour journey was the Cambodian Karaoke Videos they put on, and some dodgy french slap stick comedy which absolutely everyone found hilarious...

We arrived in Phnom Penh and found a travel agent to try and book us on a bus to Sihanoukville right away. While the travel agent was trying to find out if he could fit us on anywhere, Leanne found a leaflet for PMT airlines, which was a big source of amusement for about half an hour. We were making up conversations like "How was your flight" - "Oh, it was ok. The staff were really angry though, and every time I asked for something the stewardess just burst into tears!"

Amusing stuff!

We missed the last bus to Sihanoukville, so we left the following morning instead.

We managed to get booked on a next to empty aircon mini bus, which only took 4 hours, and only cost $5! The only issue was it dropped us off at this swanky new casino about 5k's out of town. When we ordered a tuk tuk to come and get us, the driver presumed we were customers of the casino, and tried to overcharge us....in the end it cost us $10 to go 5k's, when we had just traveled over 240k's for $5...! However, it was kind of worth because the tuk tuk driver was hysterical...he kept laughing at everything, he accidently smacked Mary Liz on the head while reaching for his hat, and when we were going down the terrible road to our guesthouse, he kept screaming and saying "ouch!" every time the tuk tuk hit a bump. Highly amusing stuff!

We checked into our guesthouse, which was called Coasters Beach Bungalow's, and only cost $7 a night each for a room to share. It was right on the beach as well, which was fantastic.

After we checked in, we decided to go and get some food on the beach. While walking along we came across this girl selling tickets to the full moon party on an island about 1 hours journey from the mainland. We decided to give it a go.

At 9pm, everyone crowded on the beach to jump on one of the 6 boats leaving for the island. What we failed to realise is that the boats don't come to close to the sand, so we had to walk to the boat, through water, absolutely saturating ourselves. Once we arrived at the island, we had to jump back in the water again, this time up to our waists!

The party was actually quite good. There were lots of people there and the drinks weren't overpriced, which you kind of expect at these things... At about 3am, I fell asleep in a chair for about 20 minutes....

Coming back to the mainland was interesting experience. Around 50 drunk people trying to pile into one boat that kept swaying from side to side. Clearly, a perfectly safe thing to do! We arrived back at the mainland at around 5.30am...then slept all day and spent the afternoon on the beach.

That almost sums up how we spent everyday in the end. The beaches were so pretty and the weather was so good that it was hard to do otherwise. We did go out to Bamboo Island for one day which was quite nice, it was just a quiet island about 50 minutes from the mainland where you can go snorkeling.

That night we went out for dinner at one of the seafood BBQs on the beach front. The food was fantastic. Once we had had enough, a young beggar boy came over asking us if he could have our food. We said yes, and he sat there for 5 minutes just smashing down absolutely everything left on our plates. I have never seen anything like it. It was as if he didn't breathe for 5 minutes, just ate. The three of us just sat there in astonishment the whole time. Once he had finished, he stood up, bowed and his best English said "Thank you", then walked off. It was the most amazing yet heartbreaking thing I have ever seen. And he isn't the only one, there would be at least 20 - 30 kids who don't sell things and just want to eat and drink water.

One thing that can either make or break your trip to Sihanoukville, is the children and adults selling things on the beach.

At first, the kids are quite sweet. Asking you where your from, how old you are, how long are you staying etc etc. Then before you know it you are surrounded by about6 or 7 of them, all trying to sell you the exact same thing. When you agree to buy they want you to buy more, if you refuse to buy they just sit there asking why until you do. One of there little tricks is they ask you what your favorite colors are, and they make you a "friendship" bracelet for free. However, that is pretty much then your contract to buy from them, and if you don't, or you try and refuse the bracelet...look out! At one point the three us had had quite enough of the kids hanging around us, so I tried, quite politely, to get them to go away. The response I received from one girl was "You can't talk to me, I'm Cambodian, this is my country" and I replied saying "yes I know, I love your country, but can you please just leave us alone?" She then replied with "Go back to Australia!!!" and stormed off!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I can handle being abused by a 10 year old kid, but its when the adults start having a go that I started to reach the end of my teather!

On our last day there, a lady came over asking me if I wanted to get my legs threaded. Having no idea what she was talking about, she proceeded to show me. What it is, is a new way to shave your legs with a peice of thread. Very very painful. The lady then asked me if I wanted it done, to which I replied no. She then said "Maybe later?" to again I replied "No thankyou". She then said "I'l come back later maybe you get it done then?" so I just kind of nooded and said goodbye. When she came back about 3 hours later I said to her "Look I'm sorry, but I really don't want it done". Well, that was is. She looks at me and says "Are you crazy?" to which Leanne replied "Yes she is, we are going to put her in an institution when she gets home!" and we both fell about laughing. The threading lady didn't like this, and started hurling abuse at me left right and center, calling me "stupid crazy bitch lady" etc etc!! Unfortunately, I do find most things amusing, so I couldn't help but laugh at her which just seem to make it worse. Plus Leanna and Mary Liz were laughing as well. Eventually she stormed off...but still walked past about half an hour later hurling more abuse at me....!!

Again, only in Cambodia!

One thing thats a bit scary about the kids is the way they just jump all over you. I mean, most of them are quite sweet if you buy something off of them or give them a drink or something. However they are just all over you. Touching your hair, your legs, your arms. They have no inhibitions and don't appear to be aware of would could happen if they came across the wrong person. The thought of someone taking advantage of these kids makes me sick to my stomach. There are signs everywhere about the importance of reporting Child abusers in Sihanoukville, so it obviously does happen. But I guess with no education for some or most of these kids, its hard for them to know the difference between whats right and wrong. Like I said, the thought makes me feel physically ill.

We ended up spending 5 full days in Sihanoukville. My original plan was to only spend 2 or 3, so I will now have to do a bit of a race up the coast of Vietnam to make my flight from Hanoi to Vientiane in Laos on the 8th of April. But thats ok, I probably had the funniest & most enjoyable week of my trip so far with Mary Liz and Leanne, and will probably continue to laugh about some of stuff we found amusing over the next couple of months!

I said goodbye to both of them in Phnom Penh on Thursday, and headed back to Vietnam.....

Cambodia Part 3: Battambang

Now, to explain the next part of my journey, you are all going to have to use your imaginations a little bit.

And if you think you can manage to imagine exactly what my journey to Battambang was like, then times the feeling by about 100 and you should be getting close....!

I bought my boat ticket from the Siem Reap hostel for $15, 2 days before I left. Prior to leaving melbourne I had done a little bit of reasearch about the Siem Reap to Battambang trip, as it is meant to be quite a pretty journey through lots of small villages on the river banks, as well as some floating villages aswell. However, in my research, I had discovered that not all the boats were making it all the way to Battambang, as the water levels were too low. Just before I left however, they were saying on the forums that the boats were making it all the way, it just about 9 hours instead of 7. So when I bought the ticket, I asked the seller if the boat would make it all the way to which he replied "Yes yes!" and then I asked how long does it take and he replied with "5 hours miss, very nice journey!".

Lesson one about transport in Cambodia: Never believe anyone when they tell you something only takes 5 hours!

I get in a minibus on the day of departure at 6.30am, which they pack in with about 5 people too many. We then head down that same horrible road to the boat dock, which seems alot worse in a bus than it did in a tuk tuk!

We arrive 15 minutes late, and I am expecting the boat to have left. I am looking down my ticket at a picture of the boat and trying to see one similar....there is none. As I begin to wonder how on earth I am going to get out of here to Battambang, I see the other people from the bus heading towards the water. Heading towards a boat with other western tourists on it. I look back down at my ticket with picture of the boat, and then look up at the boat than stands before us. The boat in the picture looks simlar to the one from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, this boat looks like something out of a water safety comercial with a big sign under saying "DO NOT BOARD AN UNSAFE BOAT". The wood is rotting away in different points, and its already completely overcrowded. The captain of the boat has lined up plastic chairs down the middle to accomodate those of us who don't have a seat. I manage to find a seat at the front next to the driver, and off we went.

The boat trip was actually quite pleasent, and the books don't lie. Going through the floating villages and having the kids yelling hello to you was awesome. Although just when I was starting to think how nice and polite the cambodian children are, one promptly picks up two peices of mud and starts hurling them at the boat, apprently hitting one lady....!

We stop for a quick break in a little village about 5 hours out of Siem Reap. I decide to move myself up onto the roof for the remaining part of the journey. I estimated in my mind that we would probably have another 2 hours to go.

Within an hour of setting back off again the boat starts to have a bit of trouble. I could see from the roof of the boat that it wasn't very deep, as there were children standing up in it and the water only reached their shoulders. For the next half an hour, the boat guys with two massive sticks proceeded to almost paddle us for the next couple of K's as we kept getting jammed in the mud.

Then we stopped.

The boat guys jumped off the boat and pushed it towards the bank, where we all grabbed our bags and jumped off. At this point, it must have been around 38 - 40 degrees C aswell.

We then walked for about 10 minutes, with our bags, where there were two beaten up Toyota Hilux Utes waiting. Only the boat guys couldn't find the keys, and spent the next 20 minutes crawling through the bush trying to find them....!

Keys in hand we started loading up the Utes.

Now would be a good time for me to point out that there were around 53 people on the boat, plus 5 boat guys, plus big backpack, plus small back packs. They loaded all our big bags in the ute, and put 5 people plus the driver inside the front of the car. Then 18 of us jumped in the tray, sitting on sides, in the middle, or standing up. I opted for the sides because I thought that would be more comfertable. It was here I met Leanne from the UK, who was sitting next to me.

We then started driving down the worst road in the world. I thought the Siem Reap boat dock road was bad? That was heaven in comparison to this! With us all sitting on top of each other, being belted by branches every 5 minutes (thanks to Leanne, I didn't end up with a concussion due to the tree's being overgrown!), the truck travelling at about 60k's an hour, and hitting pot holes the size of skateboarding halfpipes - there were actual moments where I thought "This could quite possibly be the last thing I ever do"!!

The worst part of the journey took about an hour and a half. After that we hit the village roads which were more dusty than dangerous, so I could breathe again once we hit them...

We were meant to arrive in Battambang at around 2pm. We arrived at 4.30pm, sunburnt, covered in dust and absolutely exhausted. I also arrived in hysterics, because the was quite possibly the funniest yet most dangerous thing I have done on this trip! I just couldn't stop laughing about it for days afterward....

I went out for dinner and a well deserved beer with Hana (i'm sorry I know I have spelt your name wrong!), Leanne & Mary Liz, who I met from the truck journey. We worked out that Leanne and Mary Liz were heading in the same direction as me after Battambang, so we decided to all go together.

The next day me and Hana hired two moto drivers who drove us around the countryside of Battambang for the day. They took us to a world vision school, The Killing Caves (yet another Khmer Rouge playground in the 70's), a temple and to Wat Banan where I paid a little boy $1 to fan me all the way up the giant steps to the top.

After that we headed to the Bamboo Train, which is a method of transport that the locals use on the Battambang to Phnom Penh train line. The best way to describe it is as a bamboo raft with an axle and motorcycle motor on the back. We loaded me and Hana, the two moto drivers and there motos and rode down the track for about 15 minutes. Everytime we came across someone coming in the other direction (its a one way track) they would have to get off, unassemble there train, let us go past then reassemble and be on there way. Its was the strangest contraption I have ever been on. But fun fun fun!!!

The whole day took around 6 hours, and was quite possibly the best 6 hours of my trip. It was amazing to go through all these tiny villages, where the kids line up and give you a high 5 as you go past and the families wave at you enthusastically.

That one day in Battambang showed me the way the real Cambodian's live. I am so glad to have been fortunate enough to have seen it.

Cambodia Part 2: Siem Reap

I left Phnom Penh at 6.30am the following morning, and caught the boat to Siem Reap. When I bought the ticket for the boat, the guesthouse advised me that the boat was oversold and I would have to sit on the roof. It sounded like fun so I though I would give it a go....

I loaded my luggage on the boat and jumped up on the roof. I read in a few places to secure my day pack and anything lose so it would not going flying off the boat, so I did that, put some suncream on, and away we went.

Apprently, according to other passengers, the inside of the boat stunk like deisel, so within an hour there was probably about 35 of us on the roof. It was definitely the best way to travel. However, the belting sun did get a bit hard to manage after a little while. It was great to go through all the little floating villages on the way to Siem Reap. All the kids come out on there little porches and wave at you and scream "Hello!" at the top of their lungs.

After nearly 7 hours of traveling up the Tonle Sap river & Lake, we finally arrived to Siem Reap. Except our boat got bogged due to low water levels and a little boat had to pull us the rest of the way.

While we were waiting to the little boat to pull us away, a bunch of paddle boats with children selling drinks came up along aside us and jumped on the boat. I'm telling you, nothing spells "You are not in Australia" more than a 4 year old girl trying to sell you cans of Anchor Beer for $1!

When we arrive at the boat dock, it is like nothing I have ever seen. There would have been over 200 tuk tuk and moto drivers waiting to greet us, all waving big sign saying "$1 to ANY hotel!". After selecting a driver, I jumped in his Tuk Tuk, where he proceeded to tell me in his best English "Please put leg on bag, road bumpy" and made some strange bumpy movements with his arms. I nooded and put my legs on my bags. He then started pointing above my head, where there were some hand rails. "Hold hold tight tight" he said with the same crazed bumping expression. So, with my legs on my bags, and holding on to the handrails, I gave the driver a quick thumbs up and off we went.

Within about 10 seconds I had nearly fallen out sideways. This exscuse for a road was the WORST exscuse for a road I had ever seen in my life. The pot holes were so big and so frequent, it was as if it had been hit by bombs. As we continued down this road, we drover through some cambodian villages, where the houses were made of Bamboo. There didn't appear to be much of a sewage system either judging by the smell that kept hitting me just as hard as each and every bump. At one point I wasn't sure if I was going to be sick because of the ride, the smell or a combination of the two!

As sick as I felt, I still couldn't help but smiling. The thought that kept crossing my mind was "This is Cambodia, this is what I travelled to see". I then started laughing as I tried to picture people like my parents and some of my friends coping with this ride. I'm guessing most of them couldn't!

After the longest 20 minute journey of my life, we arrived at the "Siem Reap Hostel", which had been reccomended by a few travellers I had come accross in Saigon and Phnom Penh. At $10 a night for a dorm room, it was quite expensive. However, the place was brand new, and quite possibly the cleanest place I have ever stayed in. And, just for bonus points, it had a pool! Exactly what I needed after that Tuk Tuk ride....

The next day I met up with two other backpackers, John and Anika (I hope I spelt that right!), and we headed to the Angkor Temples. By 8.30am, it was already about 30 degrees, so we knew it was going to be a hard day walking around.

Our first temple was Angkor Thom, where we spent around 2 hours walking around that and temples around it. We climbed as many temples as we could, as the views were amazing. However, the steps to get up the temples were just as steep as the walls around it. As I got around half way up one, the only thing I could think of was "if I fall backwards now, I am going to crack my skull and die...". With that in mind, I stopped looking down or up and just clibed as quick as I could to flat ground again!

We looked at a few other temples, one that was completely in ruins which was quite interesting. You will have to forgive me but I can't remember any of the other temples names!

Finally we got to the big one - Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the most preserved out of all the temples, and took around an hour to walk around what were allowed to see. I was looking forward to climbing the inside tower, but it was closed for some reason. (We later found out that the previous week a french lady had got to the top, lost her balance and fell down the stairs, smashing her head open. No one actually knows if she survived or not....but thats why we weren't allowed!)

On our way out we were accosted by kids selling bracelets. After saying a repeated no, one girl turned around and said "Hey, you Australia!" and I nodded. She then took a deep breath and said "Australia has population of 22 million, Sydney 5 million, Melbourne 4 million. Capital City is Canberra and the Prime Ministers name is Kevin Rudd......but he's new the old one was John Howard"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so shell shocked that I just handed her a dollar and bought ten braclets off of her. These kids must get taught in school exactly how to win an Aussie tourist over!

The next day I spent in the Pool just about all day, until a whole group us decided to celebrate St Patricks day. I find it amusing that no matter what corner of the globe you are in, you can always find a group of Irish lads to celebrate St Pats with - and thats exactly what we did....until about 3am! Suffice to say, the following day was pretty similar to the previous. I sat by the pool all day.....

I did head out in the afternoon for a walk through the town. Siem Reap is a tiny city in comparison to what I had already seen. Very laid back, not to many people trying to sell you stuff in the streets, and its safe.

Between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, I would probably pick Siem Reap anyday. However, I do believe you have to experience both to get a bettwe understanding of Cambodia.

Cambodia Part 1: Phnom Penh

After being stuck at the border crossing between Vietnam & Cambodia for over 1 hour, having to surrender my passport and then drive away without it and then having my first taste of cambodian food, I saw my first Motorcycle accident. It wasn't pretty. A lady on a bike was hit by a van travelling in front of the bus I was on. We didn't hang around to see if she was ok. From what I could see she clearly wasn't.

We arrived in Phnom Penh around 3 hours later in 36 degree heat. The first thing that struck me about Phnom Penh was how different it was to Saigon. There were motorbikes, thousands of them, but no where near that of Vietnam. The second thing that struck me as different was how friendly the people were to me. Everyone from the bus driver to the guy who worked at the tourist office to my first Tuk Tuk Driver. Everyone wants to practise their english and love to hear about where you come from.

Phnom Penh was my first city where I had booked no accomodation. My first mistake was telling my Tuk Tuk driver that prior to telling him where I actually wanted to stay. He proceeded to ferry me around to 2 different guesthouses prior to taking me to where I wanted to go. After a very stern "Please just just me to the Number 9 Guesthouse!" he finally understood and took me strait there.

The Number 9 guesthouse had everything you would want out of a backpacker hangout; a Retaurant, a Bar with cheap beer, a TV showing movies & a great view. The one thing it didn't have was nice rooms. I mean, they were ok, they just weren't wonderful. However for $5 a night I wasn't about to complain. Plus the bar and the view made up for it!

It wasn't until I went to have a shower that I realised the bathroom situation. I had a bathroom, with a proper toilet etc etc. However the shower was simply a cold water hose and a bucket.

I guess this kind of stuff is character building at the end of the day!

I met one the guesthouses tuk tuk drivers at the bar that night, who offered to take me around town the next day. The next morning I met up with him, and decided to go to the S21 Toul Sleng Prison & The Killing Fields. There was more to see but I didn't want to cram to much into one day.

The Toul Sleng Genocide Museum was a pretty confronting place to walk around. It used to be a school until the Khmer Rouge came into power in the 1970's, where it was converted into a torture prison for people not part of Pol Pots "Ideal Race". The museum has wall to wall pictures of nearly every prisoner who was kept there and killed. In other rooms it has testimonies written by the families of some of the victims. Some which didn't know there bothers, fathers and sons had died until either seeing their picture on those walls, or hearing from someone else who had seen their pictures.

The museum still has the torture chambers set up with their instruments on the floor. Sitting above that on the wall are pictures of the victims who fell to those instruments.

One thing that was probably the most interesting part for me was in one room they have pictures of members of Khmer Rouge who still have not been prosecuted. On these pictures of the Khmer Rouge senior officers, there is all kinds of graffitti written over there faces in cambodian. I can only imagine what it might say.

There is an ongoing argument in Cambodia as to wether there should be a trail or not, due to the cost involved. Some believe that money should be invested back into the rebuilding of Cambodia.

My Tuk Tuk driver then took me out to the Killing Fields, which is where most of the 17,000 detainees from Toul Sleng (s-21) where taken to and killed. In the middle of the field is a massive glass tower, holding over 8000 skulls that were found in the fields. The shallow graves them selves have never been filled in, and just sit open for the public to see. There are signs at certain sights that read "x amount of women and childrens bodies were found here" ect etc. It was all very moving stuff.

However, you can't help but fell angry as you walk through these places. Angry that a genocide like this could have happened, and angry that nothing was done sooner to stop it.

The next day was a bit more light hearted!

My same driver picked me up again and took me to the Central Market, the National Museum and the Royal Palaces.

The Central Market was absolute mahem. Think of anything you have ever wanted in your whole life and you could buy it there. There were people everywhere!

The National Museum was nothing overly exciting. Some interesting looking artifacts, but it took no more than about 20 minutes to walk around.

The Royal Palace was only a 10 minute walk from the museum, so I told my Tuk Tuk driver I would meet him out the front of the palaces at around 3.30pm.

As I walked along the outer walls of the Palace, a young cambodian girl came up to me trying to sell me water. After explaining I wasn't interested she proceeded to bombard me with questions about where I was from, laughing hysterically at every answer I gave her. When I told her I was from Australia, she just about near wet her self and started screaming "G'Day Mate! G'Day Mate!" at the top of lungs....! I had quite a long conversation with her while I waited for the palace to open and learned that the cambodian kids that go to school go from around 7.30am to 11.30am, then come back at 4pm for the rest of their classes. I also got an introduction into the famous Cambodian humour when the girl asked me if I spoke cambodian. When I said no she said (in between fits of laughter) "Thats just strange, because I am Cambodian in Cambodia and speak english, you Australian in Cambodia but don't speak Cambodian!!". In between feeling stupid and embarrassed, I did manage to have a laugh with her about that one!

Once inside the gates of the Royal Palaces, it was amazing. There was around 5 different temples and palace that you could only see the outside of. It was a fantastic area to walk around and like nothing I had ever seen before.

The next day I left for Siem Reap. My overall opinion of Phnom Penh at that time was that I loved it. However, it wasn't until I left there and started to see more of the "real" Cambodian cities, that I began to have a bigger appreciation for the country as a whole.

Pictures from Ho Chi Minh City & The Mekong Delta

This is the view from a balcony at the Yellow House Hostel, Ho Chi Minh


Crazy Moto's driving around the streets



My new favorite food - Pho`






Me at the top of the Reunification Palace, Ho Chi Minh City

On the boat at the Mekong Delta

Me & Mr Lee my Ho Chi Minh and Mekong Delta tour guide (aka crazy Cyclo & Moto Driver!)







Me being me....





The side of the stream just off of the Mekong River


Don't be fooled, I am definitely NOT pleased to be holding this 40kg Python...that look on my face is sheer panic!!!

Traffic Jam....



Me just hanging out on a hammock!

3 days in Saigon

So I'm here! Finally!

Arrived Saturday evening about half an hour earlier than expected. To say it was raining on arrival would be the biggest understatement of the trip so far.....it was BUCKETTING down with rain!!

I walked out of the arrival hall of Ho Chi Minh City airport to be met by almost 200 taxi drivers fighting for my business. Lucky for me I has organised a taxi prior with my Hostel - after a 9 hour flight your really don't have it in you to bargain with a driver on how much a $10US trip should really cost...

The drive to my hostel was nothing short of eye opening. Those of you who have been here before will understand where I am coming from. There are lines on the road but no one uses them, There are traffic lights but no one pays attention to them, and the motor cycles on the road would out number the cars at least 250:1. It is mind boggoling. Plus they all drive with hand on the horn so its noisy as hell! I got to my hostel around 8pm and just crashed out.

The next day I woke up bright and early and grabbed some breakfast at a cafe near my hostel. Had my first experience of eating Pho', which is a Vietnamese dish you can eat any time of the day. It's a soup with Beef, Noodles and veggies in. Really nice but huge...! While eating I was approached by a Cyclo driver trying to get my buisness for the day. He introduced himself as Mr Lee and showed my a piece of paper listing all the sites he could take me too on his cyclo (for those of you that don't know, a cyclo is a bike with a seat in the front). The guy was nice enough and spoke reasonable english so I thought I would give it a go.

Best thing I ever did!!!

This guy cycled me around to all the main Saigon sights, aswell as a few off the beaten path. He ferried me around for 5 hours only stopping when I wanted to take a picture or have a look at something. The guy was a machine! He took me to the War museum, the Reunification Palace, Notre Dam Cathedral & Cholon Market. I saw people selling anything you can imagine on the side of the roads. Probably the most disturbing were the dogs and turtles....!!!

After he dropped me back at around 3pm, we agreed to meet again the next day where he would take me to the Mekong Delta region for the day.

At 9am on the dot he met me at my hostel with his bright green motorbike and a bright pink helmet for me to wear. We set off shortly after for a 2.5 hour motorbike trip through some of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Being on a motorbike in central Saigon was like being on the biggest adrenaline rush of your life! Remember what I said about 250:1 bikes to car ratio? Well when your in the thick of it - it feels like a hell of a lot more...!

After leaving central Saigon, we drove though heaps of towns and villages where you would see people selling stuff on the side of the highway. Lots of new developments coming up in different areas, but then you would see quite a few towns that looked as if they were falling apart. One thing is for sure though - there are people absolutely everywhere on the road..! Even out of the main city. Plus the roads aren't to great to drive on so my bum is a bit sore at the moment!

We then met up with a boat driver who took me and Mr Lee out to 3 of the Islands of the Mekong Delta Region. In one part, we had to get off the boat and go on a canoe where these two Vietnamese guys paddled for about 20 minutes through this Jungle like canal...the two guys looked like they were about 100 years old.

We had lunch at one of the islands, where I ordered prawns with noodles & vegetables. The guy asked how many prawns I wanted, and I wasn't that hungry so I said four. Well, that was a mistake. The prawns that came out where about the same size as my foot (but tasted a hell of a lot better!). The man who took my order came and sat down with me and made me fresh spring rolls with the noodles, vegies and prawns. It tasted amazing!!! The guy spoke really good english as well which was great. I was expecting the meal to cost me a fortune - but it only ended up being $30US!

We left the mekong delta region at about 3pm, and travelled back in the middle of their peak hour traffic. Peak hour was much worse to travel in, you are constantly squashed up with 500 other motorbikes at the traffic intersections....scary scary. We were back in Saigon by about 5pm, safe and sound.

Although the Motorbike and the Cyclo's are a little scary, in my opinion they are the best way to see Saigon. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do", well, when in Saigon - do as the crazy Vietnamese do - Grab a bike, a driver and get the hell out of the city for the day!

I'm spending the day just chilling out today as I am quite severley sunburnt from yesterday. I am catching the Bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia tomorrow morning at 8am.

My opinion of Vietnam so far? I love it! It has an almost intoxication atmosphere about it, although it can be a bit stifling sometimes. The people are friendly and everything is so cheap!!!
Just watch out for the street sellers trying to shine your shoes or sell you books/sunglasses/purses. They can be a real pain after a while....!

Till next time...

Jess

The "see ya later" email....

Evening all,

this is the email I sent out to just about everyone I know. I got pretty emotional sending it and though you avid readers might enjoy reading it....

_____________________________________________________

Hi Everyone,

As most or all of you know, on Saturday, I am leaving Melbourne to go traveling again.

I wanted to send an email to all of you; family, friends, fellow backpackers and old work colleagues to say a big thank you to you all, and also give you all a bit of an insight into how this trip came about.

When I first decided to plan this trip it was just after I came back from New Zealand in April last year, where I met Ben and Naomi from the UK . Both of you guys are probably partly to blame for me wanting to go away again, as you both (in your own unique way!) re-introduced me to the traveling lifestyle that I had forgotten since coming home the previous year.

It wasn’t until around September that I actually started to make it known to a few of my close mates that I was actually leaving. In my own mind, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of something until I was 100% sure in my own mind of where I was going, and exactly how long I was going for.

You see, when I first started thinking about going, it was just going to be a 2 month trip through Vietnam , Cambodia & Laos . Then I realized there was I bus I could catch into Southern China , so then I was going for 3 months. Then I started reading about this train you could catch across Mongolia & Russia from Beijing called the “Trans Siberian”. That appealed to me more than anything, so then I was going for 4 months. Then, I found out just how easy & cheap it was to catch a bus from St Petersburg in Russia to Helsinki in Finland . From Finland , the possibilities of travel were endless, so I started to make more “in-definite” definite plans.

So, I’m leaving Melbourne armed with a one-way ticket to Vietnam …and now face the adventurous task of slowly finding my way overland across Vietnam , Cambodia , Laos , China , Mongolia , Russian, Finland , Estonia , Sweden , Norway , Denmark , Germany , Spain & Portugal …eventually ending up in England .

It seems that from the moment I told all you guys at work back in October, the time just completely flew. Honestly, I don’t know where these past 3 months have gone.

However, the main reason I wanted to send this email to you all, is to say a big massive thank you.

I thank all of you who have come to my many many farewells over the past two weeks, those of you who have put in for the various presents and signed the cards with your beautiful words. I also want to thank those of you who couldn’t make it to my various farewells, but have still made the effort to call, stop by my house or send a card to wish me well.

I want to send out a big thank you to all the managers and staff at Clive Peeters, who have put up with my constant talking about traveling, traveling and traveling. I know, as well as my previous managers do, that there is no way I would be able to do this trip with out such a fantastic job, or have been able to survive so long waiting to leave without working with such fantastic people.

However, the biggest thank you of all is to all you guys who believed in me from the word go. The people who didn’t think I was stupid or irresponsible for leaving my family, friends and career. The people who didn’t think it was impossible and actually believed in me as a person to be able to make this work. Those people – I give you the biggest THANKYOU….and I will always always remember your support….!

So, consider this not a good bye email, but a “see ya later” email. Because we all know that I will be back in Melbourne one day. However, I hope to see you guys first as you travel around the globe!

Cheers, and see ya soon

Jess xx