The Long Journey Home

So after someone picking up my bag in Sydney, a missed connection and then our bags not making it to Brisbane we finally arrived back home.

Greeted by both sets of parents we then parted company for the first time in 3 months and went our separate ways to our family homes. The separation didn’t last long as we were reunited that night.

Two weeks have passed and we have been busy catching up with friends and family as well as do a little bit of job hunting. It is great to be back and now I just need to think about what I am going to blog about next!!

For pure strength and hangover creating ability the award goes to Beer Chang.

I was sure after 4 of these bad boys someone had spiked my drink as I had a bit of trouble walking and talking.  But overall a great beer on a hot Thai day.

After a long 26 hour trip from Siam Reap we finally arrived on the beautiful island of Ko Tao. It did however involve being dropped off on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere at 3am in the morning. Luckily another bus rocked up 20 minutes later to take us to the ferry station.

What can I say about the next five days?? We really didn’t do that much at all except sit by the beach, swim and relax. We checked into a wonderful beach hut up on the hill with amazing views but the walk up to the hut did pose a few problems at night after a couple of beers.

It was the perfect way to finish the trip and before you knew it was time to head back to Bangkok for our flight back to Australia.

We did have a day or so in Bangkok where we visited the markets, watched the Euro 2008 final and tried to stay out of the heat.

So after a massage and a pedicure - boy did our feet need them - we were on our way to the airport and for the final leg home!

Most of the time I just drank BeerLao from Laos.

But to choose that would be unfair for Cambodia. So the Cambodian beer of choice the prize goes to Angkor Beer.

Now this one was a tough one with so many different beers to select from. So instead of one I have picked my top 3!

Coming in at number three is the cheap fresh draught beer sold on street corners and small food stalls across the country. Served with ice and very very cheap it is a worthy entrant.

The prize for the beer of choice was a close one and it was a difficult decision but the beer that took the number 2 spot was Saigon, either the Green or Red.

And the beer that takes the prize is Larue. Drunk this mainly in Hoi An and it was very nice both from the bottle and draught.

So we arrive in Siam Reap and the next morning head straight for the temples of Angkor.  The first day was spent exploring the massive Angkor Wat and also visiting some of the surrounding temples including Ta Phrom which was used in the filming of Tomb Raider.

We waited around until sunset and headed up the hill but were greeted by thousands of others doing the same.  All a bit of a circus so we quickly made our way back down the hill and back to our hotel to wash off the dust from a hard day of exploring ancient ruins.

All through the day we were constantly approached by kids trying to sell all sorts of things for always “one dollar”. To combat this we took along a bag of sweets which allowed us to bring a smile to their faces.

We couldn’t ignore sunrise and the next morning we started at 5am and quickly returned to watch the sun come up over the huge temple.  We then continued on and saw a few more temples.  However we were back by 10am a little bit templed out.

That afternoon we swam, slept and enjoyed a final night in Cambodia before making our way to the Thai border the following day.  Louise’s decision to take a taxi rather than a bus was a god send as the road was one of the worst I have ever experienced.

With really only a day and a half to spend in Phnom Penh we had to move quickly to see everything we wanted to see.  But coming to the end of our trip that is becoming harder and harder by the day.

And after our first day we were a little down.  This is because we choose to visit the Killing Fields and the S-21 jail that was used to torture and murder opponents of the Khmer Rouge.  To think that this occurred only 30 years ago it is easy to see how it still affects the people of Cambodia today.

The rest of our time in Phnom Penh was at the market shopping and also relaxing down by the lake and river with some good food, beer and company.  Although our stay was too short we were looking forward to visiting the much talked about Angkor Wat.

We arranged to spend three days exploring the Mekong Delta before heading to Cambodia by slow boat.  The days were spent being transported between local producers of snake wine, coconut candy and rice paper.

The first night we spent in a homestay and were welcomed into a lovely family’s house on the river.  We helped them cook dinner and I ended up giving English lessons to the family’s children.  While Louise taught the younger one how to “high five”.

The next night we spent overnight on a boat sailing to the Cambodian border.   With millions of bugs swarming to the lights we opted to grab our mattresses and head for the top of the boat.  Here we got a wonderful nights sleep and we greeted to a fantastic sunrise over the floating market.

Next stop was the Cambodian border to sort out our visas and then on the slow boat for the 5 hour trip to Phnom Penh.

So we finally decided to leave Mui Ne and head for the big smoke of Ho Chi Minh City.   We arrived and it was soon evident that the city had changed a fair bit.  Some of my favourite bars had been replaced by coffee shops and the local food stalls had made way for western fast food shops.

But we made the most of it and enjoyed the sights and sounds of this bustling city.  Unfortunately an ex Prime Minister had recently died so things like the Presidential Palace were closed for days of mourning.  But luckily we were still able to visit the war museum and the markets.

As Holland continued there Euro 2008 success so did the late nights as all of their matches did not start until 1:45 in the morning.  With Michelle dragging us along to each match we got one back when we dragged her along  to watch Australia play Ireland in the rugby.

Our time in Ho Chi Minh City quickly passed and we were soon packing our bags and heading on a tour to the Mekong Delta.

Home of Vietnam’s fish sauce, you can smell Mui Ne before you arrive.  11km of white sand and waves it was the perfect place to spend 4 nights.

What did we do there - not much actually.  Most of the time we spent playing pool or cards, watching Euro 2008 late into the night and swimming in the rain.

We did manage to get out and arrange a jeep tour, which explored the surrounding sand dunes and also try a bit of sand sledding.  But the sled the little kid sold to me didn’t work to well and I think I ended up with half the sand from the dunes down my pants.

We have been travelling with a Dutch girl Michelle for the last week so we have also become Dutch football supporters.  We are in the process of picking some orange clothing for tomorrows match.

With more rain forecast and our visas fast expiring we decided it was time to leave so we jumped on another bus and headed for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).