Back to Bali

After Gili we headed to Ubud. Driving through the town in the taxi I knew I would love it, there were loads of cute shops which I could spend hours trailing around. The guest houses were also so unusual, like little hidden narnias. We would walk through a door to mini temple/villages inside. I feel we saw almost all the guesthouses Ubud had to offer after being told 'full' time after time! 

That evening we watched a traditional Indonesian dance show and let's just say they have a unique style of dance! Peculiar clangy music and the dances would do very odd things with their eyes. By the end when people dressed in bizzare animal costumes ran around as topless boys pretended to stab them, we began to wonder what on earth was going on! It was very interesting to see although I don't think that style of dance will catch on in Europe any time soon... 

The next day we went to a monkey forest and after my experience of being intimidated by monkeys in Sri Lanka I was a little apprehensive.... quite rightly so! We saw many a person getting nipped by the monkeys and running of crying! Including Tristan....

  

Moments before the monkey let Tristan know he'd had enough of his supposedly covert filming... 

The monkey forest has yet again shown me that I am definitely not at one with animals!

At the temple in monkey forest

We also managed to coax the guys into going to a 2 hour yoga class with us! Tristan was actually quite the yoga guru (huge exaggeration), whilst Steve on the other hand, lets just say I don't think he'll be doing it again.

After an intense class and being put to shame by men in tiny spandex hot pants, after months of almost no exercise I was in pain for days! 

Ubud in the evening was really nice with lots of live music, we ended up stumbling across a band which was quite honestly amazing, the singer could rival anyone in the charts. We had a really nice night dancing (one I'd again managed to coax Steve, I clearly have brilliant persuasive skills) and listening to the band. 

After a couple of nights we moved on to Kuta. It was far busier there with lots of shops, restaurants and bars, a little like a non chavvy and nicer Magaluf.

That evening we went to sky bar where we enjoyed an amazing buffet BBQ and unlimited beer for an hour for under £3! We then went back later that evening for an hour of free drinks. We got a little carried away and actually began timing each drink  and slying two at a time to take full advantage! 

For the rest of our time  we chilled at the beach which had massive waves, and enjoyed watching the surfers. There was also a shopping mall which was really modern and had some really nice restaurants inside. When you've been in South East Asia for so long you come to really love any place that's westernised! 

We decided to treat ourselves to Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant which is based on Run Forest Run. I had some delicious fish and chips and they have a great system where when you want service you flip a card over on your table saying Stop Forest Stop and they instantly come running. Again, when you've put up with painfully slow service for months, it's the little things like this that are oh so exciting!  

After 3 nights in Kuta it was time to say n emotional goodbye to Steve (and decent accomodation...) as he journeyed on to Bangkok to meet with his friends.

A last sad sunset! 

Tristan, Phoebe and I moved on to Pedang Pedang and were sad to find out we'd just missed out on the Rip Curl surf competition! 

It was a very small place with only a beach was really pretty like a little cove.

After a night there we moved on to Ulawatu. It was a really cool place with all of the accomodation, shops and restaurant built going down the side of a cliff with a view of the sea. We spent a lot of time just sitting watching the surfers who were really talented! 

We did however do one trip (much to my dismay) to monkey temple! I thought I'd be lucky enough to come out of monkey forest unscathed, so I was really pushing my luck! 

The location was really nice though so it made the fear worthwhile. 

 

Tristan even braved allowing a monkey on his shoulder! What a guy.. 

Apparenlt the terrified face is actually all an act for a video on vine... Sure. 

We then returned to Kuta for our last couple of nights and spent an evening enjoying the drinks at sun bar, and an evening in the town next door, Seminyak.  It was a really chic town and every single restaurants as completely unique with a really arty design. It's definitely somewhere I'd love to return to when I have a little more money! 

Before eating the best beef pie in the world. 

Overall I really enjoyed Indonesia and after 2 weeks of beaches was ready to move on to a city.... Singapore! 

Ciao for now x

It's Gili Time

Gili was really pretty and there was a nice (not magaluf style) strip with shops, restaurants and bars. 

After the luxury we had got used to, our dinghy room with no air con felt quite a step down, especially for Sid the new traveller, but other than that the island was perfect! 

We spent our time on Gili lounging on the beach and enjoying the nightlife in the evenings. Some of the restaurants had beds on the sand with lots of little lights, so it was really nice to chill out looking out to see, before heading to the bars and clubs. 

The four of us also decided we couldn't miss the opportunity to go scuba diving, especially as Louise could be our guide. After practicing in the pool I was a little nervous, but once down there in the sea it was so easy and fun. We saw tonnes of fishes and even a turtle! 

The next day we took a day trip to Lombok with our friend Flores from Holland. After our biking experience in Vietnam, we decided to rent mopeds! I had a go with Sid on the back but was wavering everywhere with his big weight off balancing me so I decided to take the easy spot at the back! 

Phoebe and Tristan. 

We drove along a coastal road which had stunning views...

...and then found ourselves a private beach...paradise! 

When we were nearly back to the boat port, Sid and I (slow but steady wins the race) came round a bend to find the other three at the side of the road with a bike on the floor, having skidded on some oil. 

We were sure it was all a big ploy to get money as there was a big section of oil on two big bends yet not a splash in between. There was also a local who helped them up and then disappeared, then when handing our bikes back, the owner mysteriously new exactly what had happened and so demanded 1 mil (£60) for the (very minor) damage. The man then became quite aggressive towards Tristan and despite all three boys being far taller than the tubby little man, we thought it best to pay up rather than evoke a fight which would have resulted in 3 against 100. Not great odds. 

That's the one thing that's driven me mad in South East Asia, the dishonesty, scamming and the fact they will do anything to get our money! 

On our last day in Gili. Tristan, Sid and I went to Sunset bar and played a little volleyball then enjoyed the pretty sunset. It was a great ending to our stay at Gili.

Moving on to the next stop, Bali! 

Ciao x

Reunited at last

Thankfully when I walked through arrivals I still recognised Steve/Sid (we've been through this!) and it was so nice to see him after so many weeks of waiting. 

Singapore have a really good Metro service so we hopped onto a train straight from terminal 2 and started munching on some crisps and chocolate. After wondering why were getting so many weird stares, I suddenly remembered the $500 fine for eating or drinking on the train (oops!)!! Trains are made for eating... imagine imposing that rule on the London Underground, they'd be uproar! 

We checked into our hotel on the prestigious Orhard Road (which had cost me 3 weeks worth of accommodation at the places I've been staying!!!) and it definitely felt like a pretty woman moment as we rocked up wearing backpacks and flip flops. 

That evening we went to the Marina which was just stunning! All of the sky high buildings lit up with lights looked amazing around the water. 

Afterwards we decided it was only right to visit the famous Raffles Long Bar to have a Singapore Sling! On every table there were peanuts and the shells covered the floor as it was traditional to just throw them when your were done.

After getting charged for tax and service (service for a drink...) the grand total was £16 for one cocktail! 

The next day we wandered around Orchard Road looking at everything I couldn't possibly afford, and then visited the botanical gardens which were really pretty.

 

It was so nice after 3 months to be somewhere that felt so westernised and CLEAN! But that evening it was time to say goodbye to Singapore as we had a flight to Bali. After arriving late, we stayed just one night in Talman and then got a fast boat to the island Nusa Lembongan. This was up there with the scariest moment of our trip, the boat sped at ridiculous speed and I was sure it was going to crack in half or flip! 

But it didn't... And after some issues with our reservation, we checked into Bayshore huts. I had been insisted we stayed in huts and these lived up to all expectations. It was paradise!! 

Other than being very lazy for our 3 nights in Lembongan, we had a massage, played pool (I won twice) and went on a snorkelling trip and saw so many amazing, colourful fish and the water was so clear. 

Lembongan was a really quiet island with few shops and restaurants, which was perfect for what we wanted. We even got turned away from a restaurant at 8:40 as they'd stopped serving food at 8:30pm! 

After 5 nights of luxury together, we boarded another fast boat (oh joy) over to Gili Trawangan to meet Phoebe and Tristan (my friends from home) who were staying with Phoebe's friend from Uni, Louise, a dive instructor. 

To be continued... 

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Angkor What!?

In Siem Reap we checked into the must stay hostel, Mad Monkey. It had a really cool bar/restaurant at the top with sand covering the floor and hammocks. That evening we headed to pub street and met 3 Irish girls and all spent the evening together which was really fun! The buckets were lethal, filled half with vodka and mixed with only one can of red bull!

In the day we went to a floating village which was massive and literally everything; houses, schools, shops etc. were floating on the river and villagers would get from place to place by boat.

We visited an orphanage there but were first taken to a shop and asked to buy food for the children. It was completely over priced and the whole situation felt very strange. Having learnt the amount of corruption that went on in the orphanage in Sri Lanka, I had my doubts. So we settled on just a bag of lolly pops which I ripped open as it wouldn't surprise me If they take the food straight back to the shop after we leave it at the orphanage. 

It was sad to hear that a big reason for the number of orphans is because the parents sometimes go out fishing and then a storm hits, resulting in the them never coming back. As was the case for my tour guide. 

After another night out, the following day we went to Angkor Wat. Being the history expert I am and having done no research, I was actually quite surprised to find out that the temples were only ruins! (Oops). One of them had been where part of Indiana Jones was filmed and was my favourite of them all. After 4 temples (which were all really interesting but extremely similar), by the time we got to Angkor Wat itself, I felt rather templed out! From the front though it did look extremely impressive and it's hard to imagine how they managed to build something like that so many years ago!

After Siem Reap, we moved on to Sihanoukville which is very much a beach town. It was really nice to just relax on the beach, although we were incessantly pestered by people selling bracelets, massages and promoting clubs. There was also an oddly large number of beggars with missing limbs, which was quite upsetting to see.

In the evening, all of the beach restaurants put their tables on the beach with candles and put on beach barbecues. There's also lots of fireworks going off towards the sea as tonnes of children run round selling the fireworks all night (strange combination I know). The kids were so sweet and I ended up arm wrestling one (he was probably about 8) for a free bracelet. Of course I won (after a surprisingly difficult wrestle) but couldn't bare to take one off him! 

Later on, all of the bars put on fire performances. They would never ever pass English health and safety! They would drop the batons of fire here there and everywhere and light up the floor in flames just inches from people. I feared for my life! The night life was really good though, there were so many beach bars, most of which offered free drink deals. We made friends with 3 guys from Manchester Uni and spent our nights with them, so I became one of the lads with 5 guys and just me! 

After 3 nights there, we returned to Phnom Pen as the Danish guys had a flight the day before me. We returned to everything being closed as it was Election Day and it's illegal to not vote so all the workers have to go back to their home towns. After I bid fairwell to Christian and Oliver, I was left all alone and after hearing about a couple of shootings and being advised not to leave the hostel, I made use of the lounge once again in White Rabbit and hid out until my flight the next day! 

Overall I really enjoyed Cambodia and liked that it was a little more of mix of culture and nightlife than Vietnam as there were lots of things to see and do, with there still being the social side. But by now, I could hardly contain my excitement to jump on a plane to Singapore to see my long lost boyfriend after 11 weeks of travelling! 

Adios x

Next stop... Cambodia

Due to my lack of phone throughout Vietnam, there are unfortunately no photos of Cambodia to show for the time being...UPDATED!

I waved goodbye to the girls as it was now time to go are seperate ways and tagged along with two Danish guys to Cambodia, Christian and Oliver who we had met on various occasions in Vietnam.

Of course I couldn't leave Saigon without one more issue so as I walked towards my seat on the sleeper bus to find a couple sat there, I was hardly shocked. They'd kindly left me with their seat to sit in which had suitcases so low above it I would have felt like I was in a coffin and the aircon system so close to it I couldn't have heard myself think. Quite frankly, it shouldn't have been sold as a seat.

Well I wasn't having that, so it turned into a half an hour battle against me and the most arrogant French guy I have ever met and the whole bus watching on as my audience. Felt like A level drama again. Never one to back down or be trampled across, I of course came away victorious and the couple left the bus whilst I received high fives and congratulations from my audience. Well at least that was one way to make friends! 

We arrived in Phnom Pen and checked into the White Rabbit hostel. It had a lounge with TV and tonnes of films to watch so it was really nice to have a chilled night infront of the TV. It felt like a home comfort! 

The next day we went to the S-21 museum which had once been a school and then had been made into a prison by the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot.

It was such an interesting museum, particularly as there were lots of first hand stories from survivors of the prison and those who had worked in the prison and been recruited by the Khemer Rouge. The conditions sounded horrific and some of the cells were so tiny, it's made worse by the fact that most of the prisoners were inprisoned for things they hadn't done but tortured so badly hat eventually they confessed regardless. But despite all this, I still found myself feeling sorry for some of those who had ran the prisoners as many had been teenagers who only worked there as they feared for their own life. 

Afterwards, we went to the killing fields, which is where many of the prisoners from S-21 were taken in crowded vans, unbeknown to them, to be killed. 

We were given head sets which talked us through the killing fields as we walked along and this really set the seen and was far more powerful than just reading information. It's in humane how many people were killed there and they would literally be blindfolded and stood at the edge of a mass grave and then smashed round the head, where they'd then fall straight into the grave.

But what really got me was the grave that was filled with babies. Next to it was a large tree and we were told how the babies would be swung by the feet and smashed against the tree then chucked into the grave. It's disgusting and unimaginable.

We spent the rest of our time in Phom Pen wandering around the town and royal palace which had really nice decorative buildings. As we hid from a rain fall, I saw a woman tucking into an egg which contained a half formed chick, head and all. Apparently it's a delicousu there. One that I didn't try...

As it was the run up to the elections, we saw hundreds of demonstrators everywhere having parties and going past on motorbikes waving flags. The atmosphere there was really postive and I actually thought it was quite a nice town just with not too much to do, so one night was enough.

Onwards to Siem Reap...

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