And the adventures continue...

Vietnam

After Cambodia we spent 4 days in Moto City aka Ho Chi Minh. It was very different from Cambodia with heaps of high rise buildings and so many motos that crossing the road definitely got your heart rate up! We had a great stay at Madam Cuc’s Hostel (thanks for the tip Lonely Travel : ) they were very friendly and helpful and a wee bit motherly too, which was kinda nice. We spent our days going on a few tours out of the city. The first one went to Co Chi tunnels where they hid and fought during the war. Watched an interesting video talking all about the enemy (aka USA) and how some of the Vietnam soldiers became “American Killer Heroes” for killing so many American enemies. Phew! Was a bit rough, especially for the American tourists watching too. It definitely wasn’t a PC version!

Our next tour was a full day travelling down to the Mekong Delta and it was really great! We had heaps of boat trips around a few islands in the Delta and got to experience a massive downpour (good old monsoon season!), learned how coconut candy was made, visited a fruit orchard and sat there eating fruit while listening to a live traditional music performance, and had our picture taken with a boa constrictor. I was very keen to stay well away but Pete and Sarah were both keen, so instead of looking like the chicken that I was, I braved it out and stood in the middle with the thing on the back of my shoulders. I actually look quite calm in the photo but as soon as it was taken, it took all of about 2 seconds to get to the other side of the hut! We opted for the speedboat return trip up the Mekong then the Saigon river, over another few hours in the bus (oh buses, I think we’ve spent all up about 30 hours so far on buses).

After a day of wandering round and exploring the shops and malls (so crazy to find yourself in a super flash mall it’s like you’ve stepped through a door into a different city!) and eating lots and lots of ice cream, (mmmm… yummy) we went to an evening show of Water Puppetry, which was so clever and funny! Will try and attach a wee video, the pics came out awful cos we were at the back and the camera is pretty crap! It was a brief introduction to Vietnam and will definitely have to come back sometime to explore further north.

Singapore

Ahhh… a little slice of nice. It was kinda nice to balance out our adventures with the clean, orderliness of Singapore. We only stayed 2 nights but it was pretty blissful. We ended up at the YMCA, which was about double the price as we’ve been used to from Cambodia and Vietnam, but it was lovely and clean and flash and cold. We ended up in little 4 bed dorm rooms with Pete in with the boys and me and Sarah in a girls one. We met an Aussie traveller called Pip who we took an instant liking to. She’s been travelling around Asia for a while and it was great to swap stories. Hopefully our paths will cross again sometime in the future…

Our first night there we went to the zoo and did the Night Safari. It was very touristy but actually pretty good, especially when partway through we got offered a free private tour on a buggy by a guy who wanted to get some practice in before his assessment the next day. For all of us the highlight was the walking through an enclosure with bats flying around you and munching on fruit within arms reach. I never knew bats were a) so very cute! and b) such noisy eaters with very big mouths!

We hit the lovely aircon malls too and got a few basic but good items that you can’t find in a cheap Asian market. And had a great view of the city at night on the Singapore Flyer which is a bigger version of the London Eye. 

Malaysia

We caught the train from SIngapore right through to Kuala Lumpur. It was very long but pretty empty so we got to spread out catch up on some sleep after our late nights in Singapore. Oh and a little tip... limit your liquid intake so you can avoid the train toilet. I have become pretty good with all conditions of toilets over the past few weeks but the train version is best avoided!! 

None of us were that keen on Kuala Lumpur. It was just a big noisy smelly crazy city. We stayed 2 nights in a pretty crappy hostel, but was fine, all part of the adventure : ) Although it meant we didnt want to be there except to sleep. We spent a lot of time in air con malls and cos our hostel was so gross, and we just were so tired and wanted to chill out, we ended up going to the Library and curled up in massive layzee-boy chairs and had a nap for an hour. It was absolute bliss!! Our second night we went to a super flash mall and went to the movies to see Kungfu Panda 2, which was just what we needed. A nice cool few hours to laugh and chill out. The audience was so much cooler than in NZ theatres, they all laughed hard out!!! Made us laugh even more. We walked back to our hostel and it was midnight so got to see some interesting seedy nightlife... 

 
On Thursday we came to Malaysia paradise called Langkawi which is an island - well one of 99 islands in a group together and we are on biggest one. Is so amazing here!  It is very chilled out and laidback, shops don't generally open till about 11am or later, whenever the person decides to turn up!  Our hostel is so great, basic but awesome. Is called gecko guesthouse and has about 20 cats and a great bar with cheap beer - by Malaysian standards anyways. And also does the best chocolate shakes ever! The first day was a recovery day cos travelling is so bloody exhausting! On Saturday we rented scooters and went all the way round the island. It was a great way to check out the sights, as well as being deliciously cool when speeding through the shady bits with the wind rushing past. Swimming was great too, although the sea is so warm that it doesn't really cool you down much! best to stick in the shade and drink icy cold drinks : )

 Yesterday we caught a ferry to the Thailand mainland and caught a bus to Krabi, a little town on the west coast, to check out some beautiful beach spots that are nearby. We are planning on maybe a canoeing, snorkelling, swimming, elephant riding tour tomorrow. Ahh, loving the Thailand prices, especially after Malaysia and Singapore!!

 Only a few more days left in Asia before saying goodbye to our travel buddy Sarah and heading off to the UK.