Now then, Stacey has made the mistake of leaving me in charge of updating the blog rather than editing her entries for spelling and punctuation.

Apparently in the last blog we'd made it up to Bangkok so I shall continue...

Essentially a pit stop to do nothing more than collect a couple of visas, Bangkok was our first introduction to the temperature and humidity that would become our nemesis during our time in SE Asia. We eventually managed to escape the airport after our flight from Sydney late on the 4th and were presented the task of making our way to the hotel before we both died of exhaustion. We did this with aid of a rather insane taxi driver who clearly had little or no idea of where we wanted to go, perhaps as a result of prolonged exposure to hairspray used in maintaining his quite excellent 80s perm. With more help from our guidebook than from our driver we eventually made it and checked in to our luxurious Radisson hotel (made cheap thanks to Stacey’s points acquired with work, you see, PwC can be good for something!).

We woke to the prospect of collecting visas to both Vietnam and China and were hopeful of a successful day. The hotel kindly got us a taxi and explained where we wanted to go to the driver and we were off. After a short while we were informed with the aid of some rather random gesticulation from the driver that we had arrived (having survived what was to be the first of many journeys of death). To be honest I was expecting more from the Chinese embassy, but I thought 'what the hell’. Approximately 3 steps from the taxi, and it having zoomed off, we were told that the embassy was closed on a Monday and that we should come back tomorrow. s***.

Plan B. The Vietnamese embassy it was then. We crossed the road and hailed another taxi (which actually turned out to be the same taxi, much to his surprise and our embarrassment). We spent the next 10 minutes pointing at our map and saying the same thing over and over in ever increasing increments (how very British) to our driver who evidently spoke no english. Anyway, we eventually set off and somehow made it to the right street. Once there the process was easy enough, although we were both somewhat aghast at the prospect of leaving our passports overnight…

The next day we headed for the post office weighed down with all the 'stuff' Stacey had bought and which I was made to carry in my suitcase due to the already limited space in hers (much more of this was and is likely to come...). It was boiling and thanks to it being hidden down an alleyway and not adequately signposted, it took ages to find. However, once there it all went very smoothly. Royal mail could learn a lot - Thai post sell boxes for 30p which includes tape and string. Job done and we were off to collect our visas which were miraculously ready. Things were looking up.

We flew out to Phnom Penh the next afternoon having spent the morning painfully trying to upload some photos. On our first full day in Phnom Penh we headed off in search our elusive Chinese visas. To our delight, not only was it open, but it also offered a same day turn around. The price for this excellent service turned out to be $100, a fair price we both thought, that was until we found that we only had $99 on us. b*****. With very little help from the guy at the gate we did eventually find an ATM. Having killed a couple of hours wandering around town, our visas were indeed ready and we headed off for the Killing Fields just outside of town via tuk-tuk. I think it’s fair to say they’re haunting and left us both feeling a little sick at what had take place. 8,000 skulls and other bones piled high in a 17 tier mausoleum really hits it home. With the rest of the afternoon we visited the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, taking in our first glimpse of some monks (and some monkeys). It was also our first taste of markets in SE Asia, a real treat (if that’s the right word) for the eyes and the nose. Phnom Penh was pretty hectic and we were quite looking forward to getting away, especially from all the dirty old white men that had VERY young Cambodian women on their arms – it felt a bit sleazy.

Next up was a 6 hour bus journey to Siem Reap. Our first morning took us to the incredible Angkor Wat and the associated temples, dutifully chauffered by our trusty tuk-tuk driver. They have must rank up there as some of the most amazing sights we've seen while we’ve been away. Absolutely enormous and mind bogglingly intricate and all left to crumble away in the jungle. They didn’t make them easy to look at either, the steps up to the top are huge and quite scariliy steep, this in combination with 40 degree heat meant the stones were literally too hot to touch. The next day we headed off for the floating villages – houses on 8m stilts and boat gypsies out on the lake. Although not quite in wet season so not as impressive as they could have been, they were none-the-less incredible, with the Tonle Sap lake only 1/8 its maximum size and still seemingly endless. Unfortunately the lack of rain meant we couldn’t do the trip to Battambang we wanted to, so decided to leave for Vietnam early (we’ll return another time to do that and to see the south coast).

The next day saw us take our 12 hour bus journey to Ho Chi Minh City / HCMC / Saigon and Vietnam. Somehow, being sat on your arse all day can be exhausting. Arriving somewhat tired and disorientated we were immediately fleeced by a taxi driver who charged us far too much to take us round the corner to our hotel. Git. The following day we took in the Presidential Palace (a bit rubbish to be honest, just a 70s building and nothing more) and the war remnants museum (very cool with lots of guns/tanks/planes 'n' that, as well as being pumped full of communist propaganda and some truly harrowing photos). The next day saw us on a tour to see some crazy religion established in the 30s – The Cao Dai revere Vicot Hugo for example - and then on to the Cu Chi tunnels to see how the VC kept the Americans at bay (including a crawl down an original section). I bottled having a go on an AK47 or M60 though, it didn't quite seem like a sensible thing to do.

The following day we packed up and shipped out to Mui Ne - the best beach in Vietnam. On arrival we found the hotel we'd booked to be a right old dump / building site to we sacked it off (after paying $10 as they had our passports hostage) and checked into a rather fantastic hotel right on the beach and all for not much more than we would have been paying anyway. Result.

That's it for now. Speak soon.

S & S