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Blog time again!!! time seems to go so fast in between writing these - only feels a day or 2 since I wrote the last one!
So since the last blog....we travelled to Phnom Pehn which is where the Khumer Rouge army forced everyone out of their homes in the 70's and killed 2 million + people.....its the capital of Cambodia and all city (that we saw of)....not a very nice place to be honest......very very dirty and lots of pollution and children begging again. We had a nice day walking around the city though, saw the grand palace and went to the Genocide Museam (an old school that was converted into a prison where innocent people were tortured)...it was a bit spooky there though...I didnt go into some of the rooms as there was just a really weird vibe about the place...
Something I forgot to mention before was that we met a Scottish guy called Derek that has been working in South Korea for a year as an English teacher...anyway we met him in Luang Probang ....then bumped into him ramdomly in Vientianne (both in Laos)....then again in Phnom Phen and AGAIN in Siem Reap (both Cambodia) how funny!! We just kept seeing him everywhere - he was a nice guy and we had a few drinks with him....quite funny that you see the same people in different places like that.
We decided that 1.5 days was enough there and got the bus down to the cost to Shianoukville the next day and spent 3 days there - had quite a bit of rain there again so wasnt the 3 days in the sun I was hoping for but I really liked it there. theres not a great deal to do but everyone was really chilled out and friendly - there was some nice restaurants and a good bar there and everyone goes to the same places so its always nice and busy which was good. We met a really nice couple from Leicester that we spent quite a bit of time with - funny how you meet people on the other side of the world that live so close to you at home...
From there we got the bus back to Phnom Phen and got dropped at the airport to fly to Kuala Lumpur...
KL is very different to the other places we have been to....the men are quite pervy (from our experience) and the city is hugh and FULL of sky scrapers...very different to the other cities we have travelled to..We booked a place to stay from the Lonely Planet guide (never use those!!!) which was a hostel...the first hostel we have stayed in. Its run by a group of Indian men who didnt talk to use at all...after the initial "oh my god this is awful" shock when we first arrived it didnt seem to bad. So the next day we got a ticket for the hop on hop off bus which takes you all round the city to the sites and you just get on and off when you like...we had a really good day seeing the sites and the city - at night we just had a drink and went to bed (really expensive in KL compared to other places we have been). The next day we went to the Petrona Towers that look just like the twin towers in NY did..they have a really nice shopping mall in there and I could have very easily have come home with a few lovely new expensive handbags but resisted the urge....then we went to Little India and to another shopping mall where we were literally the only white people!! for about 3 hours we didnt see another white person - even the babies were staring at us! on our last night after dinner we were chilling out in our room just reading and stuff when an Irish guy started shouting in the hall way....Terri came in from the communal area and told me there was a rat in the kitchen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I went out there to see what was going on and the Irish guy was freaking out shouting there was a rat! A few other people came out of their rooms but no one else could see it....so I went downstairs to get one of the workers to come up and have a look. He came up after huffing and puffing and dragging himself away from the TV and said he couldnt see it and that they dont get rats very often just about once a week - ONCE A WEEK!!!! I started to lose it a bit with him because he wouldnt help us....after he went downstairs the rat came running out of the kitchen so I went and got him again (much to his annoyance) and he explained that they knew they were coming from the kitchen of the bar on the ground floor - I was like well why on earth dont you do something about it and block off where they are coming in!! they were running up and down the stairs at the end of the corridoor near the kitchen like humans!!! Anyway to cut a long story short the manager came to see me, I gave him a mouthful about it.....saw 2 more rats and I didnt eat breakfast there the next morning! When I was asking the manager why they keep letting the rats come in when they have people paying to stay there he offered me and full refund (at about 10 o'clock at night) and told me I could stay somewhere else if I wanted. He also said "so you dont get rats in your house?" I was like sorry?!?!?! No I dont!!! DIFFERENT WORLD!!!
So that was KL in 2 and a half days...some great sites to see....but not much else!
On Tuesday we flew to Bali - got to our hotel at about half 9 10 at night, dumped our bags and decided to go out for a drink.....that turned into 5 drinks and a few hours on the dance floor! Had sooo much fun it was a really good night, we found a great place called Paddys which is just down the road to where we are staying - I think it was actually one of the places that got bombed in the Bali Bombings and has been rebuilt in the last couple of years...Theres a monument down the street with the name and nationality of every person that died in the bombings.
Where we are staying is ok...all the guests are really friendly. The rooms are clean enough and the pool area is pretty...we are staying there until Sunday. On Wednesday we went into Legian (we are in Kuta at the moment) and looked for our next place to stay...we have booked into a really nice 4* hotel right on the beach and I cant wait to stay there...we are treating ourselves to somewhere expensive - it even has a hairdryer!!! Cant wait to use it!! Then at sunset we went to a place called Kudata which is like a really big trendy bar right on the beach and is very popular...we got there just in time to get a drink and a perfect seat to see a gorgeous sunset over the ocean....it was really lovely.
Yesterday we did some shopping in the morning and then had lunch and came back to the pool to chill out for a bit (suffered a little from drinking the night before as I havent been drunk since March!) I had a great 3 hour conversation with an Australian couple by the pool who were really lovely - everyone seems to be really nice there. A little 3 yr old Australian boy seems to have taken a shine to me and kept coming over to me bless him...he put his hand on my shoulder and started talking to me! AH!!!! My heart melted!
So today I am doing lots of relaxing and hoping to start working on the tan again - not going to be as tanned as some of you think I am! - you spend a lot of time out here trying to keep out of the sun when you are walking around as its so hot and humid... so only really catch it when you sunbathe which isnt very often as so much to see and do!
Cant believe its nearly home time....Bali is awesome - not sure I'll want to leave!
Keep emails / updates coming...looking forward to seeing you all!!
Lots of Love Donna xxx
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