Sumatra

After a one hour flight we arrived in Medan, Indonesia, and promptly ran to the airport KFC for wholesome food (I know we are sad but 5 odd months does that to you). We boarded our luxury (Indonesian style) coach and drove the 6 hours to the Samosir ferry to take us to the inland island of Tuk Tuk, formed in a massive volcanic explosion that sent Earth into a mini ice age 70,000 years ago. We spent the next few days exploring the island and meeting the lovely but very poor people before going back on the ferry to meet up with our coach again. We set off North to Berastagi and arrived at a very large and quite grand hotel with a panoramic view of the larger of two active volcanos. Steam billowing from the top. On our second day Julia climbed the smaller of the volcanos up to the noxious gas. The following day we visited some of the original stilted houses still being used and went in to one that housed 8 families around 4 fires on one open level!
The following day we headed off to our next stop, Bukit Lawang in the jungle. We stayed in an Eco lodge with no hot water and basic facilities. We trecked into the jungle with a good guide and came across some Orang Utans. A mother and baby came down and took bananas from us while hanging down from a tree. Mother was very big!  We finished the day coming down a fast flowing river on lorry innertubes. After a lazy day we headed back to Medan where we catch a flight back to Malaysia in the morning.

Beach Bums

We are having a week of 'rest and recuperation' on the Island of Koh Phangan. Everyone is doing their own thing and have booked into various parts of the island. Julia and I and 5 others have all opted for Cyana Beach which is just up the coast from the harbour. We have a lovely bungallow looking out to sea, the food is great and well priced and they have a pool! Having settled in to this small part of heaven we took ourselves off in to town and all hired scooters (including Julia). Some had never ridden before so a fair bit of wobbling going on. No need for a driving license or insurance  etc, just get on and ride off. As long as you avoid the pot holes and loose sand you will be fine!! Having said that by day 2, two of our ladies had managed to fall off at low speed creating various cuts and bruises but nothing fatal.
The other suprise on this small laid back island is that it has a small Tescos, time to stock up on tea bags.
The weather was perfect every day so, having purchased a snorkel we spent the week going from one fantastic beach to the next followed by great Thai currys.
The week came to an end and it was like back to school when we all met at the harbour for the fast ferry. The next few days saw long hours in mini buses as we drove out of Thailand, in to Malaysia and hopping onto an aeroplane to take us to Sumatra.

Kanchanaburi - Bridge on the river Kwai

We left the madness of Bangkok behind us and hurtled out of the city in two mini buses for the drive to Kanchanaburi, a small town by the river Kwai. We stayed in a very nice little complex called Apple & Loi which looked out onto the river. On the first day Julia and I walked in to town but had trouble walking past a sign that said 'cottage pie'. We were drawn in and had to sit and eat lovely cottage pie and drink cold beer. We then carried on and went to the Commonwealth war grave cemetery. As usual an immaculate place beautifully kept. The cemetary contains over 7000 graves of the men who died at or near this point and suprisingly a large contingent of Dutch. During the evening we continued with our eat local theme and had pizzas!
On oue second day we hired bicycles and cycled out to the bridge made famous by the film. A sombre place a little spoiled by the need to take money from tourists with gaudy shops etc.
During our stay we visited three museums, the best being the one by the cemetary which had many artefacts and detailed information on what happened to the men who wre forced to build the railway and bridge.
We return to Bangkok to catch the overnight bus South to get the ferry to Ko Phangan.

Bangkok (Oh my God)

Having survived the crazy border crossing in to Thailand we got in ti two mini buses and apparently took part in a race to Bangkok, crazy driver...Massive traffic congestion and pouring rain when we arrived but we are in the centre of the city. This is backpacker central with many thousands of visitors. Although interesting not my kind of city, seems to have lost its charm. We are in the Ko San area so lots of bars etc, thank God for cheap beer.
We decided to 'do' Bangkok so all went in taxs to the infamous Pat Pong area. If you are feint hearted stop reading NOW.
OK, so the area is famous for its shows so we were enticed in and we are an odd group of ordinary men and women. On stage were agroup of women who were performing jaw dropping acts that you would not think humanly possible. This was not in any way erotic but more naked burlesque. Anyone requiring more detail see me later.
Anyway, three days was enough to look around and see the sights.
Next instalment will be Bridge over the river Kwai.

Siem Reap

We took a long boat journey from Batambang to Siem Reap the home of Angkor Wat. Great trip but a bit numb on the old boney bum ( 7 hours).
We are staying at the 'gay friendly' Golden banana!! The place is very nice and the staff all friendly, well, to me anyway. We have a balcony overlooking the pool and the cocktails with names too rude to mention are great.
We went in tuk tuks out to the amazing area of Angkor Wat, these are temples on a massive scale and very beautiful. The heat in the jungle is suffocating and you need lots of water.  One of the temples has trees growing out of it and was used as a set during tomb raider (the film).
The town is very touristy and we drank in the aptly named  beer street. As it was our crew member Rogans birthday we all went out for a pizza, I should have realised that Happy Herbs Pizza was exactly that with an extra ingredient.  Anyway we all survived and had a great evening.  Thailand next stop.

From cocktails to killing fields

We have arrived in Cambodia a place with a terrible recent history, year 0 and Pol Pot. Everything here is priced in US Dollars and that is preferred to their own currency. We are staying in a very nice 11 month old hotel in the centre on Phnom Phen. We arrived on the outskirts of the city in the pouring rain and had to get our things in to Tuk Tuks and race off.
The hotel No 9 has bars on three floors and 'happy hour' from 4pm to 9pm!!  The museum and Royal Palace are fantastic albeit the heat and humidity slow you down as you look around. Plenty of stops at big air fans. The heavens opened as we neared the end of our trip to the palace and we had to dive in to the nearest Tuk Tuk which would not start and was pushed up the road by other drivers.
Our second day started with a visit to S21, the main building used by Pol Pot to torture people into confessing they were spies before killing them and all their families. S21 is kept exactly as it was and is a terrible place that must be seen. The regime obviously learnt a lot from the Nazis.
From S21 we went out of town by Tuk Tuk to the 'Killing Fields' (Choeng Ek). This is exactly what it was. People were taken here and killed in the most disgusting ways, a written description cannot conjure up the feel of the place or the piles of human skulls.great, full of smiles . We are now moving on again to Batambang.

Saigon

We set off for Saigon on a bed bus. A coach full of beds! A bit wiered and tooik some getting used to. Fortunately we had 10 hours to get the hang of it. Our hotel is in the middle of the city that everyone still calls Saigon. It is completely mad. There are hundreds of thousands of scooters coming at you from all directions without a break. The only way to cross the road is to just walk out in the road and the scooters just pass around you. This is quite hairy on a six lane carriageway.
While in Saigon we visited the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. Aparently the Americans were very evil and the Vietcong were peace loving farmers. Very interesting, quite harrowing and very biased.
We went 10 pin bowling in the evening as Pip was 30. The madness continues in the evening as we drink beer on the streets in very small chairs with scooters zooming around us and hawkers trying to sell anything.
On our last day we went to visit the Cu Chi tunnels dug by the Vietcong during the war. There are a vast amount of tunnels over 100km on 3 levels. They have enlarged a small section so that us fat westerners can go down. Still very hot and cramped. They were very proud to show off the man traps full of sharpened bamboo for killing and maiming the American troops. Julia and I also visited a water puppet show which sounds a bit naf but actually was brilliant.