westo's latest blog entries

Did the earth move for you too?

Thu, 17 May 2007 23:57:36 EST

Hey there people,

I hope all is well with you guys?!

As you may have noticed I've been very slack on the group email front. Well, not really lazy, just haven't been up to much apart from relaxing and enjoying being over here in the warm weather. I can't quite believe that I've been over here for over 3 months now.

I seem to be spending most of my time getting into shape, tinkering with my website, and cooking up some lovely Thai food. As ever i think coming home at the end of next month will seem a bit weird. Although at least Summer will be here!!

I took a break from my relaxing to head down south and meet up with Messy Dave. As most of you probably know he was over here with his bloke, Aaron. Me and Fon met them on Ko Lanta, which was a really nice Island with lots of nice beaches.

The last leg of our journey to ko Lanta was by ferry, and as we neared the island we passed another ferry which was on fire. And not just a few licks of flame, but the whole thing was totally ablaze. It was pretty surreal. Apparently no one was injured, but saying that, we didn't see any survivors in the water either!!

While here we did lots of activities. Fon had never been kayaking or snorkeling before so it was cool to see her give them a go, and actually enjoy them too.

We also went diving with Dave and Aaron, which was really nice as, except for when i first learnt to dive a few years ago, I've always done it with people i had only just met. Aaron is well into his diving and had done it loads, which helps because he was good at spotting different fish and stuff. I'm a bit lazing in that regard. I'd probably swim right past an octopus thinking it was a rock if someone didn't point it out to me!!

On our first dive my air ran out much more quickly than everyone else's and as i surfaced i checked my gauge and it was on zero, so that was a bit of a close shave!! If it did run out i could have just used my "buddy's" air, but even so I'm sure no one likes the idea of running out of Oxygen when they are 20 -30 meters below the ocean.

It turned out i had a leaky tank, so to speak, and once they replaced it the second dive was fine. Although the dive company also gave me a wet suit which was size medium, even though i asked for an extra large one. Trying to squeeze into this baby with my day-old English sunburn was not a pleasant experience. Yes that's right, been in Thailand off and on for nearly two years and i still get sun burnt the first time there's a bit of sun!! Typical.

So after a week with Dave and Aaron, it was time to say goodbye and head down into Malaysia for a few days to renew my Visa. Thankfully our return flight from Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Mai had none of the excitement of Dave's journey!!

Now I'm back into relax mode. Although that got a bit shaken up yesterday, as there was some big muther of an earthquake. That was a bit strange. Never experienced one of them before. One minute i 'm siting in my chair watching TV and the next the whole room starts shaking. It was strange because my mind told me, "don't worry just step outside and it'll be fine". But as you step onto the "solid" ground, obviously that's all shaking too. Very weird!! Still, only had 2 or 3 tremors and that was that. Apparently the center of the earth quake was only about 50 miles from here, if that.

So on that shakey note I'll let you guys go. Let me know what you've all been up to and i shall be seeing you all pretty soon

Mongolia rocks

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:27:10 EST

Fantastic, got everything I wanted here. Great scenery, loads of horse riding and not a tourist in sight!! Although the horse riding nearly came to a disastrous end.

Getting across the border from China was a complete nightmare. Told to jump from one car to another, fights nearly breaking out in the passport hall. I had it all. But after travelling about 1 mile in 2 hours I finally made it across. However this was only to find that the train I needed to the main city, Ulaanbaatar (UB) in Mongolia, was all booked up. Just great!!

The ladies behind the desk spoke no English, there were no other tourists and they seemed rude to the extreme. As I was asking one woman a question she gave me a sullen look, turned her head and fiddled with her nails ignoring me totally - and that was at the information desk. Luckily for me there was one Mongolian who spoke English. He stepped in and finally got me a ticket. This guy, Jaaga, is really cool. He was on the train too, and even got his Mum to pick us up from the Train station and take me to their flat to sort things out. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

From there everything was much easier. Although UB looks derelict compared to other cities, say, in China, but at least their sanitary habits seem to be one up on their Southern neighbours. I managed to hook up with two girls, one English and one Canadian, who were going to be heading out into the country-side and the wild grasslands of Mongolia. So with the Kiwi guy who organised the trip we set off for seventeen days of roughing it.

The general idea was to drive around and see some sights, with 5 days on horse back in there and visits to these huge lakes, sand dunes, hot springs and mountains. We were all pretty flexible on what to see and do. As you may have guessed it was the horse riding I was really up for most. Like in china the horses are pretty small, but strong as and they certainly like to run!!

Riding here was just the best. All the people living out here are nomadic. They just herd their animals and live in these small round houses called Gurts (Yurts). Because of this there are no fences and the grasslands just seem to go on for ever. Over each hill there they are again stretching out before you. And the best bit is these nomads are pretty hospitable. You just rock up on your horse in the afternoon and they serve you up some tea, these milk biscuit things and other assorted, albeit foul tasting, snacks (definitely an acquired taste).

Then after a days horse riding you land yourself near another Gurt and get a free bed for the night. Or exchange some candles and fags for your stay. It was great. We also camped out a lot too as there wasn't always a Gurt around when you needed one.

All I can say is that it is well recommended. John, the Kiwi guy, actually organises horse trekking tours in Mongolia so he knew all the places to go. At one of these huge lakes I went for my very first fishing trip, ever. And even managed to land myself a pretty big mutha of a fish. Although once out of the water, and no matter how many times I hit him over the head with a rock, he just didn't seem to want to die. I think he only stopped moving and twitching once we actually ate him!!! Sorry to all you Veggies out there!

Sarah, the English girl, was even brave enough to go out for a swim in one of these lakes. This water was freezing as far as I could tell. No way I was getting down to my trunks and taking a dip. It was even nice spending some time with a fellow English person which doesn't happen too often.

One slight thing was that all over these grasslands live these little rodents which burrow everywhere. Great for all the hawks and other birds of prey we saw, but not so hot for a speeding horse. I was cantering along as fast as I could without flat out galloping and my horse puts his foot down one of these little buggers' holes.

So, my horse falls forwards, I go straight over the handle bars, next thing I know I'm on the floor looking up at my horse doing a rather good judo break fall right in my direction. Luckily he just brushed over my leg so the only injury was a sprained or lightly twisted wrist. Made me realise that I should have renewed my travel insurance!! Still I was straight back on my horse who seemed 100% a-ok.

We even bumped onto one family out in the middle of nowhere who were packing up their Gurt to move somewhere else by Camel. So we all wangled a bit of a camel ride too. It just felt quite cool because it wasn't some planned ride. Just one of these nomadic families on the move.

So after a great trip I got back to UB and got Jaaga to take us to some very strange Mongolian bar. You can see the Russian influence here 'cause these guys love their vodka. But I wanted one more horse trip so headed out with John for 3 more days of horse riding. We actually went with 3 Israeli girls who pretty much restored my faith in backpacking Israelis, I never thought that would be possible!!!

But after a month here it's now time to get back home. I finally booked my ticket so I will be back in Blighty in a few days. See many of you soon!!

The Chinese never swallow!!

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 23:05:11 EST

Arriving in Kunming felt pretty weird. Mainly because everything seemed full on and foreign. Emerging from the bus station into the busy main street where no one spoke English and every sign was rendered unintelligable took a few minutes to get used to.

After settling in i got a really good feeling from this city. Fon flew over from Thailand to travel around China with me. So that was great and made such a difference.

Over 3 weeks we cut up diagonally from Kunmiing in the South-West to Hohhot in the North-East. The highlight in the South had to be Songpan. This large village / small town was where we joined a cool group of people and headed out into the Chinese hills on horse back.

We went native out here. That meant using wooden saddles, having very strong but very small horses and even wearing some traditional heavy coats that the locals wear. It looked like a huge dressing gown but weighed a ton. But as the temperature ventured below zero at our high altitude i was very happy to be wearing it.

Thankfully my trusty steed was lively and well up for it (even with me on its back). So while most people tagged along behind the horse in front i took mine "off road" with the occasional burst of speed.

Poor Fon had never been on a horse before and here she was in the Wilds of China being taken for a ride with her rather spirited horse (he was a bit of a biter). But she got right into it. Fair play!

Our first meal turned out to be sliced tomatoes and hard bread. Not quite what was promissed. Our "guides" spoke no English and we all had sore arses from our saddles. But i loved it!!! The rest of the group were a great mix and it turned out to be one of my favourite parts of our trip.

Now is maybe a good time to appologise to any internet perverts who are only reading this because of the title. This actually refers to what i believe to be the national sport of China. No not Kung-fu - but spitting.

Througout China you can't go five minutes (that's being generous) without some man, woman or child hacking up a big greenie and spitting it out. On the train, bus, street - anywhere there's a square inch of floor space, they're at it. No shame, that's just the way it is. Disgusting.

Anyway, our next interesting stop was Shaolin Si. This Mountain is the fabled home of Kung-fu. The Kung-fu show we saw was very impressive, but that aside the venerable martial artist monks were in short supply. Like, we never saw any! Still it was worth coming here for the cable car up the mountain. Fon had never been on one and she looked very scared!!

In Beijing we had our first encounter with daylight robbery, litterally!! In China no one ever seems to queue. They simply barge their way to the front. A thousand times worse than the grannies at the Post Office on pension day. Believe me, it gets brutal. Anyway, while fighting our way onto a bus there were three women with babies in their arms, all shoving as well as the next person. Fon looks down and one of these wily mothers had her hand in Fon's handbag. Luckily nothing had been removed before she pulled it out of the mother's clutches.

As our bus pulled away these women were still at the stop waiting for the next bus to come along so that they might indulge their theivery. Watch out for that one.

Before Beijing we had our second highlight. This was in a place called Chengdu where we paid a visit to the Panda breeding and research centre. Here they had 44-ish Pandas, giant ones and some lovely smaller red ones. they looked well looked after (which seems rare in China after one "Zoo" we saw) and it was very cool to see these dudes enjoying their breakfast and generally mucking around. Well reccommended.

So after 3 weeks we saw a lot but too few truely cool things to make me want to come back. After meeting the, generally, grumpy Chinese and their poor sanitary habbits i was glad to head up into Mongolia.

Here it's back out into the wild grasslands and deserts for some camping and horse/camel riding. That's more like it. Sadly Fon has gone back to Thailand so it's back to being on my lonesome. But i leave tomorrow for a 17 day adventure with a really nice group so things look promissing. So i shall let you all know how that goes. Catch you later

So long Vietnam

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:43:02 EST

Well Vietnam turned out to be full of surprises. The places I heard were going to be a bit dull turned out to be great, and generally vice-versa. I ended-up spending a month here, which was longer than I planned, but it could have so easily turned into an even bigger stay. The point is, I really liked this country. After my time in Cambodia the people and atmosphere in Vietnam was like a breath of fresh air.

Ho Chi Minh City was my first point of call. Man, this place was busy. I have never seen so many motorbikes in my life. Ten times worse than Bangkok. And yet with its really wide streets you didn't feel penned in like I have done in some other hectic towns. I hooked up with two locals Cuong & Lam and spent most evenings with them getting drunk watching the football and checking out the local bars. Hang-on, the football. That deserves a moment of reflection. What a travesty!! Once again England prove they don't deserve to win anything. What was Rooney thinking? As most of you know I'm no big fan of the beautiful game, but even I had to catch the latest and was disappointed to say the least.

Anyway, on one occasion Cuong & Lam took me for something to eat, from one of the various street vendors. I thought you could just get noodle and rice dishes. But they ordered us all a ton of mussels, cockles and snails. I certainly never expected the latter. I guess you can see their French heritage coming through there. But then they ordered these eggs. Some were just salty and hard-boiled, but others had a half formed duck chick in them. I thought it looked pretty rank. But then, when in Rome and all that, so I chomped my way through the one offered to me. Chewing on half formed bone is never going to be nice, but I have to say it wasn't half bad.

The town itself was great. Old quaint areas mixed with modern ones and some pretty stunning buildings. One evening I was plodding around in the afternoon taking some snaps in the local park. And some Vietnamese guy comes up to me and says "Hello where you from?" as they generally do. So I'm like "Yeah alright mate, I'm from England". Then I walk off to show I'm not really up for a conversation right now. But he tags along next to me and goes "You wanna f*** me?" Jesus, it was only 5pm and still daylight.

So I just stride off up the path. But he's a stubborn one "Hello you wanna f*** me then I f*** you?" That was the censored version too. I won't put you through the what he really said. Now, some of you Brightonians may have been well up for these kind of antics, but I made a quick exit. And I thought it was such a nice place too!

Next stop was Da Lat. Here it was rainy and very chilly. It was pretty dead too. The scenery is meant to be great, but I didn't think it was anything special. One bonus was that because of the temperature you could get a good nights sleep. But after an uneventful motorbike tour I was bound for Nha Trang.

Nha Trang is a beach town. And again the locals were lovely. Two girls who worked in the local restaurant took it upon themselves to show me around while I was there. We went biking to a really nice beach which wasn't touristy at all and knocked the socks off anything I saw in East-coast Australia. We spent a lot of time drinking in the nice bars they had there. I went diving while I was here too. If was only $30 for two dives. That's about 20 quid. I thought that maybe the safety wouldn't be up to much but it was great. The rest of the group were beginners so me and the dive master when out on our own. Bargain. And Scott, I even managed to do it without getting blood-shot eyes this time!!

Yet another mammoth bus journey took me to Hoi An next. This is apparently the place for getting tailor made clothes. I thought most of the clothes places seemed to lack quality. But after a couple of days I found a pretty good shop and they knocked me up a swanky Chinese style suit, a wool winter coat and a vivid pink silk shirt all for 60 pounds. Primark prices for hand-made clothes, excellent. Ian, I think you would have been in your element here.

The town itself is really small and quaint, a real chill out spot. I spent seven days here and never even made it to the beach. I just bummed around being extremely lazy.

Well after all this stress and hassle I popped-up in Hue next. Only spent a day here but it was really nice. It has this massive walled city which is very impressive. But after yet another boat trip I made it up to the last big city and the capital, Hanoi.

Sadly I thought this place was dull as. Just as busy as Ho Chi Minh but without the wide streets and nice people. I just felt crammed in. So I booked myself onto a boat trip into Ha Long Bay. This is supposed to be a World Heritage site, and maybe my one night / two day voyage didn't do it justice but I thought it pretty disappointing. It didn't help that our boat seemed a bit disorganised. We stopped at a beach and got told that we could hit the surf for a bit. Five minutes later one guy ended-up with a jelly fish wrapped around his forearm. It stung him pretty badly. After the event I was chatting to our guide and he said that at this time of year there are loads of jelly fish. Well thanks for letting us know mate!!

But then I headed up into the mountains of Sa Pa. I don't think I have been to a more beautiful place inland before. All these mountains are stepped with rice-paddy fields and it looks stunning. Getting there was strange enough though. I was booked on an overnight sleeper train and spent all night in a cabin the size of your average chest-freezer with 5 Vietnamese. The bed was rock solid and the cabin was stinking hot. But somehow it all added to the trip. Don't ask me why, but it did.

Again, I could have easily spent much longer than two days here. Apart from the local kids trying to sell you some bits of tat every five minutes, it was perfect. In retrospect I would have booked the train myself and done my own thing there rather than pay for a tour. Just a little tip if you ever find yourself up that way.

Finally (yep I'm nearly done) I hopped on a motorbike which took me across the border. And after the sleeper bus from hell I found myself in Kunming, South-West China. It was pretty weird stepping of the bus into this city. But first impressions look good. I shall let you know how things pan out. I hope all is good with you guys, and I'll catch you later.

Pol Pot & Happy Pizza

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 05:20:17 EST

Right then, I made it to Cambodia safe and sound. The first thing that hits you is the amount you get hassled. Because of their harsh past such as Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge and thousands of landmines there are lots of very poor people here and crippled beggars with various limbs missing. Even the tuk-tuk and moto drivers happily hover near you while you're eating your lunch and ask you relentlessly whether you want to go somewhere with them. They don't seem to understand (or chose not to) the word "No".

First stop was Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat. This was obviously very impressive. The simple fact that it is covers such a huge area is one thing. Coupled by the fact that it is nearly a thousand years old makes it a sight to see. Although I think you would have to be a dedicated photographer or temple junkie to want to spend more than a day here. And to all the trinket seller, "No I do not want to buy a bloody t-shirt or any other useless tat!!".

I didn't realise you could climb all over the ruins. So that was cool. Some of them are pretty high up and all the stairways are very steep. It made me wonder if many people used to fall off them and hit the stonework below, or still do.

I met up with a Canadian girl, Leanne, out here who was going in the same direction as me. So we headed South to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. This was a pretty busy place. And you certainly wouldn't call it a beautiful city. Luckily Leanne had the number for a recommended tuk-tuk driver who picked us up from the bus. Lucky because when we stepped off the bus we were swamped by locals trying to get us to go with them. I reckon it would be pretty intimidating if you were on your own.

So our bloke took us to a nice (but cheap) hotel. And we called him the next day to take us to the Killing Fields. This was a pretty sober affair. I knew that Pol Pot was a dictator but I didn't really now much else about what he got up to. But in short he decided in his "wisdom" to over throw the current government and return Cambodia to a country of farmers by removing any educated class or western influence. He did this by torturing and exterminating any and all educated Cambodians and sending anyone who lived in a city out into the countryside. Between 1975 and 1979 he caused the death, torture and starvation of over 1 million Cambodians. The Killing Fields is where these unfortunates met their fate.

There wasn't too much to see at the Killing Fields and what there was to see really wasn't my thing. The many skulls and other bones put on display seemed very wrong to me. We then went to S-21. This was a school before it was taken over by Pol Pot and turned into a concentration camp. The inmates here were tortured relentlessly and made to give false confessions to non-existent crimes. Once the Khmer Rouge had gotten everything they wanted from a convict, if they were not already dead, they were then sent to the Killing Fields for liquidation. Even with such a barrage of harsh information it was very difficult to relate to this. I think you can't help but feel quite detached from the whole thing as the stories told here are so unimaginable.

Well, after this I was itching to go somewhere a little more jolly. So we headed down to Sihanoukville. Here we found a beach and plenty of bars. So I was happy. I needed a bit of nature so we hired some bikes and went to Ream national park. Here I met a very large and extremely dangerous looking spider. My damn camera just wouldn't focus on the thing, but it looked like one evil mother!

When we got to the park a guide came with us into the conservation area. We had to pass the local Navy base. As we passed there was some soldier type at the front gate of their barracks demanding that we stop. So our guide pulled over. This guy was seriously drunk and was ranting at us. My guide said he was harmless enough but that we should go back the way we came. So off we went. However Leanne had sailed past us on her bike, so by the time she had done a 180 and got to the barracks again me and the guide were already off. So she got the full force of this guys drunken ranting on her own. She freaked out big time and was shouting to us that she was gonna get mugged.

After we got her away from the guard, our guide told us that they always like tourists to stop in before going past their barracks. But when a tourist doesn't speak Khmer it makes them very angry and they usually fire their rifles into the air which makes the tourists crap themselves. Again, I was glad I wasn't on my own this time round too.

On the way back we went to Happy Herb Pizza. As the name suggests you can get a pizza with a very happy kind of seasoning on it. I thought this kind of thing would be a big no no for a country like Cambodia, but obviously not. Anyway, dinner here certainly put a different twist on the evening.

The locals in Sihanoukville were lovely. A marked difference from the ones inland. We met some guys who had been here for months just chilling out and I can see the temptation. But after a few days it was time again to jump on another bus and make my way to Vietnam. Leanne headed off to Thailand to meet her friends so it was back to being a lone backpacker. Untill next time.