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27/3/2011
This was our last day in New Zealand and after watching yet more rugby we went to meet one of Luci's friends who was having a birthday party for her 40th. It was in a Karaoke place and the singers were pretty good, so Kirsty and I didn't go up for a shot. After this we packed up and went for a last dinner with all the friends we had made in Auckland. It was really nice to have dinner with them and get some good laughs before we left. As Luci dropped us of there was a bit of hugging and some goodbyes then it was time to check in and board the plane to Hong Kong.
28/3/2011
As we only have a couple of days in Hong Kong we had to pack as much in as possible in such a short time. So our first was the gondola ride up to the big buddha. The trip up was pretty spectacular with the gondola going over the bay and way up into the mountains, where we could see out right over the city. Once we arrived at the top we took a walk around the little village that has been built up there before we scaled the million steps to the Big Buddha. It was a very impressive sight and even more so by the fact that each stone was taken up by hand. We then walked around more of the town looking at the various temples. All the temples were lavishly decorated with lots of gold. On the journey back down we got an even better view of the city. We then went to another very magnificant temple for a look around. Just like the previous temples it was very impressive and the colours are very bright and eye catching. Our final stop for the day was the Temple of the Ten Thousand Buddha's. As the name suggests there are ten thousand buddha statues in and around the temple. The main room in the temple was unreal becuase it had so many minature gold statue's. The walk up to the temple is interesting aswell because on each side of the stairs are buddha's all the way up. That night we went to watch the Hong Kong light show, which Kirsty and I were really looking forward to. However it did not live up to our expectations and was a bit disappointing until the last ten seconds of the show when it came to life. We then went to Temple street night market to get some food and have a walk round. As expected we could buy anything and for a "very good price". It was good fun but a very busy day indeed.
29/3/2011
We only had one more sight to see in Hong Kong before we left and that was the tram ride up to the highest point in Hong Kong. The tram was really interesting as it went up the side of the hill at a very steep angle. The fact that we were not strapped in was cause for a little concern but we made it to the top safely. After walking around and getting some great photo's of the city, if you can see it through the smog, it was time to head back down on the tram to pick up our bags and head to the airport again to travel to Bangkok. We arrived late into Bangkok without a hotel booked. So we got a taxi to drop us off at a popular tourist spot and after some searching we managed to get a bed for the night.
30/3/2011
After a well deserved long lie we had to sort out getting a visa for Vietnam. Once we had that sorted we spent the rest of the day exploring our new area in Bangkok. It was such a culture shock to go from New Zealand and Hong Kong to Bangkok where everybody is trying to get money out of you for something or other. However it was rather funny to see the Tuk Tuk's and the various knock off items that you can buy there. The majority of the day was spent walking around and checking out the city.
31/3/2011
Today we got up early to go on a day trip to the floating market and tiger temple. First was the floating market and it was the strangest thing we have ever seen. We travelled round the market on a boat and all the ventors pulled us in for a look at their products. It was so wierd as neither of us had seen anything like this before. We could have bought so many wierd and wonderful things here, but we managed to refrain. We then took a trip around the local village on a boat and it was nice to see how the village people lived. After this we went to the tiger temple to see a whole variety of animals. The tiger temple is a sanctuary for lots of animals. The monks in the temple look after the animals and help them back to health if they have been injured. Kirsty and I managed to get our photo taken with a wee baby tiger cub. It was so cute and all it wanted to do was paw at us and roll around and play. After this we took a walk around the temple and saw some more tigers in an enclosure. Along with a huge bear. We then went down to the tiger canyon where we could get up close with fully grown tigers. Kirsty was scared in case it mauled her, but they were chained up so she was safe. After getting some snaps with the huge animals it was time to walk them back to their enclosures. Both Kirsty and I got to walk a tiger for a little while, which is not like taking the dog for a walk cause this animal could tear your head off easily. Our final part was to get a photo with a tiger as it was getting fed. Again this was strange as this huge cat was being fed by a babies bottle. The day was very good however the tiger temple wasn't what Kirsty and I had expected but was very interesting to get so close to these animals.
1/4/2001
Today we spent the day touring around Bangkok in a tuk tuk. It was really funny and we got it for less than 20p for the day because we agreed to visit a few tailor's amongst other shops. We were actually wanting to visit the lucky Buddha statue, the big Buddha statue, the Grand Palace and the Marble Temple, but couldn't pass up the opportunity of a cheap lift. So after visiting the Lucky Buddha we went on a magical journey to a tailors to look at suits / dresses for Kirsty and I. Then it was off to a jewelery shop before we got to our next destination of the Marble Temple. The shops were really funny as the Thai people would do almost anything to sell us their products. However Kirsty and I were only there to get the cheap tuk tuk ride. The Temple was very impressive and the grounds in which it was build were very nice aswell. Kirsty and I walked round looking at the various statues and figures that lined the walls of the buildings. Then it was back in the tuk tuk for another round of the tailors. We then made it to the Grand Palace but sadly it was closed and unfortunately for us our tuk tuk driver had disappeared aswell. I think he took the hump because we didn't buy anything from the shops. So we were stuck at the grand palace but there are never a shortage of tuk tuk's looking for business and we quickly negotiated a price to take us back to the hotel. Thankfully we weren't paying the first tuk tuk driver until we got back, so that first journey we got for free. That night we went out down the Khao San Road, which is a very famous road in Bangkok. We had a great night chatting with various people we met on the street.
2/4/2011
Today we went to what can only be described as the world's largest market. It was huge and it sold absolutely everything. When Kirsty and I first arrived we must have walked into the animal section of the market because we saw a vast number of animals in cages ready to be sold. These ranged from your average cat and dog to the more exotic crocodile, snake, turtle and every other animal you can think of, including a squirl. We were both a little worried for some of the animals as they were crammed into small cages sometimes 20/30 at a time. We then wandered round the market for the next few hours looking at the massive selection of merchandice on offer. I even managed to pick up a new pair of sunglasses for the enormous price of £3. It was so interesting to walk round and take in all the sights, sounds and smells the market had to offer.
3/4/2011
We had a really chilled out day today as Kirsty had picked up a cold from somewhere. We watched lots of movies and relaxed by walking around the local area, and we also enjoyed people watching.
4/4/2011
Today we set out with the intentions of seeing the Grand Palace, although these were dashed when we found out that the palace is closed to the public. Kirsty took this as a sign we should go to the huge duty free shopping mall, and that is exactly what we did. It was massive and had endless shops selling everything. We spent the afternoon wandering round the shops bartering with the sales people to get good deals. Kirsty finally got this Cookie Monster t-shirt that she has been wanting ever since we saw somebody with it on in Australia. So she was delighted. That night we collected our Vietnam Visa's and Kirsty got beautified at the salon (which was actually thai ladies who do massages and nails at the side of the road!!). Then it was time for an early bed as we were leaving for Vietnam at 7am the next day.
5/4/2011
After the alarm going off at 4am we were on our way to the airport to fly to Vietnam. After arriving in Ho Chi Man City we got a hotel then went out exploring our new city. First stop was the Reunification Palace. This is significant because this is where a tank crashed through the front gates and signifies the start of Vietnams independence. Unfortunately it was closed due to a important meeting going on so we moved onto the Notre Dame Cathederal. It was a very nice building to look at but not as impressive as the one in Paris. We then went to the War museum to find out all about the Vietnam war. It was really interesting to read how the war started and how the Vietnamese people lived during it. It was unbelievable to read what the Americans did during the war and how everybody in the country worked together to stop them taking over. How the army built a whole network of tunnels into a mountain so they could move around without being killed by the bombs the American's were dropping. We also looked at how "Agent Orange" had been used by the American's to wipe out the jungle but it had horrific consequences for future generations. It sunk into the soil and went into the water and unfortunately the Vietnamese people ate and drank from the contaminated soil and water. When it entered their bodies and they gave birth there were a lot of deformaties including shortened limbs, enlarged heads, low muscle use in the lower back making the person have to crawl on their hands and feet. It was very distressing for Kirsty and I to see the pictures of the children affected. We then looked round an exhibit showing various photo's taken during the war. It was unreal to see how the people lived and what actually went on. The photo's were very graphic but really interesting and the museum was fantastic. After the Museum we went for a walk round yet another market and just like all the other markets we could have bought anything there.
6/4/2011
Today after seeing the war museum yesterday Kirsty and I went for a trip to see the Cu Chi tunnels that they used during the war. Our guide showed us round the site, showing us where some bombs had landed and also explained that the jungle we were walking through had only re-grown after the war as it had been destroyed due to agent orange. We looked at the lookout holes the Vietnamese used to see which direction they were travelling under the ground. We then went to the shooting range to look at some of the weapons used during the war, and Kirsty and I both got to shoot an AK47. It was great fun! Then we went down into the tunnels. We were only in the first and highest set of tunnels but we were almost crawling through them. It was very hot and stuffy down there. Once we got out at the other end both Kirsty and I were sweating because it was so hot. Our tour guide then showed us how small the second and then the third levels were, getting smaller the further down it went. After this we watched a video all about the war and the after affects of it before heading back to Ho Chi Man City. Once we got back we chilled out before we had to travel out to the airport to get our flight to Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.
7/4/2011
As this was our first day in the city we decided to go exploring and look at the various things it had to offer. We took a short walk round our area and then we chose to get in a cyclo. A Cyclo is basically a bike with a carriage at the front of it for people to sit in. We go a tour round the city for an hour in our very own cyclo each for less than £3 it was a great laugh. Although it did get a bit scary at certain points when we were crossing traffic with cars, motor bikes and even buses heading straight for us!!! We got taken down some nice little streets with lots of different shops and past various temples and churches. It was great little journey and a nice relaxing way to see part of the old town. We then went and organised the next few days, with a tour to Halong Bay and organised our sleeper bus to Laos. That night we went for a walk round the market after we had some dinner. Again they were selling the usual stuff but as we walked down one of the streets we noticed they had some sports clothing which is unusual. So after looking at various items Kirsty and I chose some t-shirts and bartered a good price. Once we got back and tried the t-shirts on however we realised we had forgotten to take into account how small Asia people are. Therefore a large that should have fitted me comfortably did not and the same with Kirsty's t-shirt. So note to self remember the difference in sizes and try before you buy.
8/4/2011
Today we set off on our two day trip to Halong Bay. After getting the bus up we boarded the boat that we were also going to spend the night on. We had a really nice lunch on board the boat when we arrived. We travelled through the bay passing lots of different islands on the way to our first stop. Our first stop were these caves that had formed over time. It was interesting to see inside the caves and our guide made us use our imagination to see various animals in the rock formations. We then went out Kayaking for an hour and we had really good fun with people we had met on the boat, we raced across the bay and paddled into various caves on our own. It was good fun but the old arms were aching by the end of the hour. Then it was back on board the boat to sail through more of the bay to our docking point for the night. The scenery as we travelled through the bay was briliant and it was so quiet and peaceful too. Once we were docked for the night we had another good meal and spent the rest of the night chatting with the others on the boat getting to know one another.
9/4/2011
As we were on a two day but only one night tour we had to say good bye to the friends we had met the previous night as they were going to stay on an island called Cat Ba for a further night. So once they had departed, the boat made its journey back to the mainland through another part of the bay. Again it was fantastic and the journey looked as if we were travelling through a scene from Jarassic Park, it was pretty cool. Once we arrived back on the mainland it was time to begin the epic day of travelling that was ahead of us. The bus journey back to Hanoi was only three and a half hours but once we arrived back we were going to board the sleeper bus to Laos which takes twenty hours. However we had a brief moment of panic when we realised we had forgotten to get passport photo's taken for our visa to get into Laos. So there was a bit of rushing around to get them done but we managed it and a mini bus picked us up to take us to the big bus. This was an experience as the bus only twelve passenger seats but had fourteen passengers plus all the luggage. It was like a giant game of tetris to get all of us and the luggage in, but they managed it with a very tight squeeze. Once we got on the sleeper bus we settled in our reclining seat which doubled as our bed for the journey. It wasn't too bad to be honest, and we did manage to get some sleep, except we did get woken up at 6am to the sound of hardcore dance pumping out of the stereo to wake us up for the boarder crossing, and also the crazy dvd's that were on the t.v all of which were in Vietnamese.
10/4/2011
The majority of the day was spent on the sleeper bus. However once we arrived in Laos we did take a walk round the town and organised our transport to Vang Vieng for the following day. That night we met a group of people we got friendly with on the bus for some dinner and drinks. It was good to exchange stories of our travels.
11/4/2011
Today we set off on yet another bus to travel up to Vang Vieng. This was only a short trip so it wasn't too bad. Once we arrived and checked into our hotel we took a wonder round the town. Vang Vieng is a very chilled out place where nearly every restaraunt shows either Friends or Family Guy. It was a great place to just relax and chill. So that is pretty much all we did for the rest of the day.
12/4/2011
Today was our big adventure of Tubing. Now tubing is basically an adults version of a water/theme park combined. We got our huge rubber rings and set off to the top of the river to start floating down and stop in at various bars along the way. The first bar had a huge swing which of course I had to try it was good fun and was pretty high when I finally let go and plunged into the water below. We then moved onto the second bar, which also had a huge swing but only higher. We met some guys here and decided to stick with them for the rest of the afternoon chatting, playing beer pong and playing on the swings and slides. We had such a great time with them and all the other people we met along the way. The crazyness of the slides and the outragousness of the size of the buckets made it a fantastic day all round.
13/4/2011
Today was another day spent on a bus well four buses to be exact. We travelled all the way from Vang Vieng in Laos to Chiang Mai in Thailand. It was a total journey of over twenty seven hours.
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