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I am sorry that I have not been able to update you untill now, getting internet in Bali was rediculous with out having to go into an internet cafe and pay. So here we are, I'll go way back to Cambodia when I left the pals and got a bus to Sihoukville. The journey was short, just four hours and it took us to Serendipity beach, a small town filled with bars and guesthouses. A 5 minute walk to the beach and there are even more bars lined along the stretch. My first night I had an early one as I had a headache. The next morning I was not feeling any better but decided I wanted to see the beach, the beach was nice but I have never been so hassled in all my time travelling. On the beach every few minutes cambodian ladies approach you offering massages, pedicures, manicures, hair brading. Then you get children and young girls trying to sell you bracelets or fruit. As you can imagine it's not the best beach if you want to relax in peace and quiet. On the evening I met 2 guys and a girl from Cheltenham and went for a BBQ on the beach with them and a had a couple of drinks in one of the bars. The next day I had to get rest and drink plenty of fluids as by now I was feeling really ill. On the evening I left on the night bus to get to Siem Reap. This bus was actually the most comfortable night bus I'd been on unfortunatly it was also the noisest, even worse than the old 590 bus that ran into town back home. The metal bed frames rattled so much like they were going to fall apart and the roads were bumpy. It was 6:30am when the bus arrived and then I got a tuk tuk to the hostel. After a couple of days resting I was recovered and feeling good again, by now I couldn't wait to get out and see the temples. I got up early and had my very own tuk tuk driver to take me round the curcuit of temples. First stop was Angkor Wat, the biggest religous building in the world. It was amazing walking round and in and out of the temple a bit like it was a maze and to imagine that it is still pretty much the same now as it was when it was built thousands of years ago. I got driven to the next temple which was made of stone and had massive faces in the walls. I walked through two other temples and met my driver at the other end. The last temple was my favourite and I thought was very unique. Some of it was ruins but most of the temple had trees growing over the walls. It looks very strange and is hard to explain but the pictures show how good it looks. It was extremely hot walking round the sights all day I couldn't wait to get back and jump into the pool at the hostel and chill out for the rest of the day. On the evening I met people downstairs in the hostel bar for 2 for 1 cocktails and then we all headed out to Pub Street, the main strip of bars in the town. We went to a bar called Angkor What? I bought a bucket of vodka and redbull and one of the other girls did with me and I got a free t-shirt. I liked Siem Reap very much, I also visited the town and the local market whilst I was there though the highlight was the trip to the temples.
Singapore
I got to Singapore airport late in the evening, the airport is massive but everything is made easy with signs and directions where to go. I found the MRT (underground system), got my ticket and I was away, I found where I was staying literally on the doorstep of the underground in Chinatown and I got my head down for the night. In the morning I got up and bought my 3 day pass for the transport system. The underground is the best ever, it is so big and clean. I also noticed that the people in Singapore are big on their technology, looking around on the train everyone is either on a high tech phone watching something, listening to music or playing games on an ipad or something similar. I got the tube to Orchard, you don't even leave the station and you are in a massive shopping mall. I've never seen a shopping mall as big and as great as this one (sorry Bullring). It had been so long since I'd been shopping and so I was loving it, especially as it had all the shops you get back home, Topshop, New Look, Dotty P's and River Island. I couldn't resist getting a few new tops for when I am in Austrailia. The next day I got the underground to Harbour Front and got a ticket for the cable car to take me across the sea to Sentosa Island. These are the 3rd cable cars I have been on during my time away, they've gotten easier but hated the trip back this time as it was raining and the wind was swaying it all over the place. Basically Sentosa had a whole lot of attractions on the islands that you had to pay for but were ridicously expensive. I had a walk round checking them all out but decided I'd spend my money on the sky tower. I got on and sat down and it revolves all the way round as you go up to the top and can see views at all angles while you sit there. On my 3rd day I went to Marina Bay this is where you can see the sky line of all the high rise buildings. There was a shopping mall there that had all the disigner names you can think of and more. Walking through the shopping mall I came up to a fake river with people in boats going down this river to the round pool at the end, it was very strange to see this in the middle of the shops. After I got the MRT to Bugis, this has a really good market, very good for tacky soveniers, it was massive with so much to see, mostly it was in doors and had many floors. The next day I got myself packed up and left to get to the airport for my flight to Bali.
Bali
Got to Bali in the evening and went to Kuta, this is a popular resort close to the airport so it made sense to start here. Got myself somewhere to stay and met a welsh couple who were familiar with Bali so had a drink with them and found out what to expect and best places to go from them. Kuta is a lively beach resort filled with many austrailian tourists, for them it is like our Magaluff or Aya Napa. In the morning I hit the beach and could see so many surfers riding the waves. The water was freezing and the waves were strong and high. I had a couple of days relaxing on the beach and then met Warren, another friend from Thaintro and we had a good night out at one of the many clubs along Legian.
I wanted to visit the Gili Islands after hearing so many good things about them. I booked a ticket and left on the morning, got a lift to Padangbai where I then got the fast boat to Gili Trawangan, the main island and the biggest one of the 3, the other two islands are called Gili Meno and Gili Air. I got there in the afternoon and went for a walk, this island like some of the others I've been to had no cars or roads it did have though something I haven't seen yet and that's horse and cart that transport people and goods using the paths. I went to the beach to read my book for a bit and there were young local lads practising break dancing on the sand that I sat and watched. When it started getting dark I left to get ready, I went out to get food and found and open air food hall with communial seating. There were lots of different food stalls selling all different foods. I got something, sat down and started chatting to a few people around me. After pancakes for desert and a good natter I headed to Rudy's with John and Dave my new friends. Rudy's is a night club but most of it is outside in the open air and just the d.j booth and a bit of the dancefloor under cover. The night was really good and I met more people here too. The islands was beautiful and I loved chilling out at the beach that was not at all full of austrailian tourists or surfers. The sea was suprisingly cold for how hot the weather was and the current seemed to make you drift along sideways with out realising it.
From Gili T I went straight to Ubud it's more inland and is great if you want to see some culture. I arrived quite late in the afternoon so was just able to have an explore around the town. The next day I went into the town to book my coach back to Kuta for the next day and also wanted to ask about seeing a Balinese dance show. The man was very helpful and recommended me to see a Kecak Fire and Trance show, more on that later though. So after I got my ticket I headed for Monkey Forest. These are old temples set in forest with hundreds of monkeys living all over the sanctuary. There are 3 holy temples to see but the main attraction is the monkeys. Walking round the jungle like forest, monkeys are everywhere, falling out of trees as they play fight rolling around in front of everyone. Tourists can buy bananas to feed them, I didn't but I watched as people held a banana above their head and a monkey climbed up the person as if they were a tree and grabbed it. Sometimes sitting on their sholder to peel the fruit and eat it. In the middle of the sanctuary was a bathing pool with statues around it and a small tree with no leaves on it just branches hanging over the water. The monkeys seemed to love this, I got to see them swimming and play fighting. They chased each over around, climbed up the tree and jump into the water making a splash. The monkeys didn't mind the tourists they just carried on with there business a couple of times their 'business' being a bit more than I asked for.
The Kecak Fire and Trance Dance Show was the strangest thing I think I have ever watched. The title of the show made me think there would be dancers dancing with fire. Firstly the show was performed outside at 7:30pm so it was dark by now. The audience sat on plastic chairs in a large court yard. There was a statue thing in the centre with lots of candles on it. There was no music for this dance but a choir of about 50 or 60 men chanting, making noises with there voices to create music. Fair play to them they did this all the way through the show that lasted 65 minutes as well as taking part with the dancing. The show told a story, I'd read about it in the programme before hand but didn't understand and still couldn't as I watched it. However the costumes were amazing, very colorful with so much detail on them. The female dancers were odd to watch they did not smile and make up they wore made there eyes look massive. The dance ended with a big fire in the middle and a man on a horse (the horse was a costume) dancing round the fire then charging through it several times kicking flames everywhere. After the show I found John who I'd met on Gili Trawangan with another girl, Amber, so we went to a bar and watched a live band which was nice so it was a good evening. The next day I headed back to Kuta and by now started getting very excited to be flying to Sydney and arriving in the next couple of days. Which is where I am now.
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Sarah Anderson Hi Fiona. Sounds liek you are still having a great time. What are your plans for Sydney. Is this where you are going to try and get some work and stay? Thinking of you lots. Love Auntie Sarah, Uncle John and the boys XXX