All About Asia

77 days
7 countries 
7 flights
18 Buses
4 Trains
10 Boats
1 earthquake  
Over 7800 Kilometres
Over 4000 Photos 
Over 15 Towns & Cities and 8 Islands
 
Highest point- Sarangot, Pokara, Nepal
Lowest point - Scuba Diving, Ko Phi Phi 
Darkest point - Cu Chi Tunnels, Saigon 
Brighest point - Going to the toilet at sunrise in our beautiful outdoor toilet on Ko Lanta 
Scariest point - Brought to Random Indian mans shanty town, Nepal 
Most rewarding point - Hike to World Peace Pagoda, Pokhara, Nepal
Most random point - Sharing a room with a couple we met 6 hours previous 
Funniest point - Getting marooned on a deserted island in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
Best quote - I want your dollar, fuck your hole!  
Greatest achievement - Staying Alive 
Most craved item - Dairymilk
Best purchase - Toms $10 copy of a $1500 watch in Cambodia 
Strangest food - Thali
Thing we lived on most - Oreos 
Something we missed out on - Paragliding in Nepal
Most scenic place - Luang Prabang, Laos
Most scenic route - Hai Van Pass, Vietnam
Wettest point - Visting elephant sanctuary in Chitwan, Nepal
Nicest hotel - Golden Mango Inn, Cambodia 
Worst hotel - Thanh Hoa, Vietnam  
Nicest beach - Phu Quoc, Vietnam

What else can we say, Asia is amazing it's so hard to sum it up but let's just say it was worth the Dengue Fever!    
 

Attack of Dengue and Bye Bye Asia

So just before we left KL Alv had a really high fever 39.4 degrees infact so since they had free healthcare in Malaysia we were told by the local pharmacist just to go see the doctor. And after a blood test and some prodding she was told she had DENGUE FEVER. A blood disease spread by mosquitos. So she had gotten bitten somewhere in the last few days and picked up this virus. YAY. So there is no tablet to cure it or vaccine for it so basically it wa bed rest and at least 5 litres of water a day until it passes. So onto the bus to Singapore we got the next morning and she slept the whole 5 hours, hardly waking to get stamped into the country but we made it to Singapore ok. So from here on in it was sleep, sleep and even more sleep with at least 13 litres of water intake since being here alone. But the fever broke which was a really good sign that the disease was progressing but the next phase was set to be the worst and most irritating. After the fever broke her body was covered from fingers to toes in an unbearably itchy rash. Not a surface rash but an under the skin one. So that appeared on here on Monday morning with her waking with severely itchy soles of her feet. It quickly spread to the palms of her hands and everywhere else. It's unreal watching someone writhing with a pain that's so itchy and knowing all she can do is suffer through it. It continued and continued and finally the rash is starting to receed and she feels normalish again. So we managed to get to see a bit of the amazing city of singapore, seen clarke quay and bugit street as well as sone of the dockland areas with crazy architecture and a bustling hive of activity as well as searing heat, at least 36 degrees or something. But now it's check out time from our hostel here in the city and off to the airport pretty soon to spend the day both in great air conditioning but also the worlds best duty free shopping. So it's only a day before we arrive in NZ and our flight here is at 9pm this evening so that's 2pm Irish time today. So this is our last post from Asia but onwards and upwards . . . . . . . To be continued . . . . . 

Next stop. . . . .

Ko Lanta, a nice chilled out spot but it heaps popular with the hippie crew. There are so many around te place. All the resorts are run by them too. We managed to find one that was run by an Irish woman from Armagh or something like that. Was a cool bamboo hut we stayed in with, wait for it, an outdoor bathroom. Pretty strange going to the toilet and seeing the moon in full glow above you. We spent 3 mites there and we did absolutely nothin except relax and sleep. It was time to get over the fatigue of travelling for the past 2 months and it was so great. We just lay on the beach or in the water. Rye weather was nice enough but did get a thunder storm everyday which was annoying but they made nice sunsets in the evening so we were content with that at least. Alas it was time to say goodbye to thailand for the last time as we got a cheap enough bus all the way to KL. Took us about 22 hours to get there but it wasn't all travelling time. We had a 4 hour break near the border which meant we could get food and stretch the long legs for a bit. So on the bus and off we went for country number 6, Malaysia. And at about 7am we arrived into KL greeted by the sight of the KL tower and proper forms of transportation. So we dropped our bags, got an hour sleep and hit the pavements for a wander around this city. First stop, where else but the Patronas towers and the KLCC shopping centre. The towers are bloody massive. Got a creek in my neck from looking up at them. Pretty awesome I have to say. So we managed to actually navigate the city easy and with Alvs desire for a harddrive we hit Low Yat place a visit. The home of every bit of technology the world would ever need. 5 floors of IT wonders. So surprisingly we managed to source a harddrive easy and got a real good deal on one so she was happy. After that it was a visit to time square and the back to KLCC where we decided to go see Harry Potter. Was a great movie and plus the cinema was dirt cheap so everyone is happy. We also managed to get up the KL tower the next morning and te views were stunning. I now have the makings of a full panorama of KL. May see how that turns out. Next it was over to the colonial district to see Merdeka Square and the sourrounds. The buildings over there are pretty cool and are so completely different to the whole city. Amazing stuff. Then it was Market time and we got some cool bargins but it was mainly just wandering around and seeing what the city has to offer and it has alot. It's one of the most liveable places we have been to. So now it's another bus trip but only for 5 hours to our final Asian country of Singapore. Only 3 days to our flight to NZ now. Insane!

Island Hopping

Angkor Wat and more temples

Sun is Shining

So for th past few days we have been down in the south of Thailand. The day after we done our diving we decided to abandon ship and get off Phi Phi coz there was a storm coming apparently so first thing the next morning we jumped onto a ferry heading for the mainland town of Krabi. And sure enough it lashed rain from as soon as we got on the ferry until we were going to sleep that nite. It was just a constant rain but it was strange beacuse it wasn't cold at all, it was like a warm shower. So the plan was to et out of there to a place called Railay just on a headland 5km away but we couldn't get there by road only access was by boat. So next morning we woke early and looked to see what the weather was like and the sun was shining so within 5 mins we were up and at the pier waiting for a long tail boat to Railay. Only took us about 30 mins to get there which wasn't bad. Once we got there we got a room and it was straight to the beach yo catch a few rays coz we had been neglected in the past few days with either cloud or the rain. It was so nice to chill there and do nothing, so nice infact that we did it the next day too fur the whole day jut mainly coz we had the weather and we could. That day though we did do sone tick climbing up to a view point that was about 700m of sheer cliff face above us but it was worth the sweat after all coz the view of the two bays was amazing. After all that strenuous work we lay on the beach and it was gooooooood. After 2 days in Railay it was time to move on, to a place called Ao Nang, somewhere famous for it's beach but when we got here we weren't impressed by it so we only staying here one day just a stepping stone to getting to Ko Lanta further down south fi the next 3 days or so and hopefully get more sunshine in. Lanta will be our last big stop in Thailand before we leave to head to KL on our final leg of the asia trip which is trying to catch our flight to Nz in 9 days time. 

From Temples to Turtles

We got on the bus to Bangkok at 3am I think, we were both half asleep t this stage that it's a bit blurry. We manged to actually make it to the border for opening time at 7am and hit across without any problems at all and got our free visa stamp on the way through so happy days. We got a mini bus then from he border into Bangkok and it only took about 3 an half hours so wasn't too bad at all really. Since we had been in Bangkok before we didn't really have anything to do except go grab our train ticket for later in the evening and that only took half an hour so we jumped into a tuk tuk an headed for the cinema to kill the rest of the day. Was good to have a little but of a comfort after all the travelling. So at 7.30pm we jumped onto our overnight train bound for Surat Thani in southern Thailand. We had been hearing for the last few days about a bad typhoon in the gulf of Thailand and on the train our worst fears were realised, there was flash flooding on all the gulf islands with more to come and no sign of it receeding for at least 4 days. So this all meant that we now couldn't make it to any of the islands on the east, no Ko Tao, no Ko Samui and no Ko Phanagan instead we had to get a bus to Phuket and do the western islands. So the train arrived at 7.30am and were on the bus for 7.40am headed for Phuket, it only took about 4 hours to get here so easy. Spent just 3 days on Phuket. We had time to go and see some of the beaches on the island. We went over to one on the west coast just south of the tourist saturated patong, called Karon. It wasn't what we expected at all and was really laclusture compared to what we have heard. Maybe it was down to the weather too, it was overcast and dull, just our luck. So on yesterday then we got the ferry to Ko Phi Phi, the home if "The Beach" and world class diving, both if which we can now tick off our list. Yesterday we just wandered around and looked at the island and figured out what we wanted to do and diving came in number 1 so off we went and booked the discover scuba dive for today. We were up at 7 and were on the boat for 8.  About 25 minutes later we were at our first dive sight, a soft coral bank off a small island. The first few minutes was a bit scary, getting used to the breathing and all but once we got under, wow, what a world down there. We seen so much amazing coral with tons of fish from baracuda to clown fish to pufferfish and even our first sighting of a sea turtle. It was so amazing. After that we had lunch in Maya bay, where "The Beach" was filmed but it was so horrible, boars everywhere and hundrerds of people. We can however say we went diving in Maya Bay where we seen more turtles, razorfish, even more Nemo and Dori made an appearance too. There was so much down there. Such an awesome exierience, just a pity I didn't have an underwater camera!  

Some of the smaller Temples of Angkor

A day in Phnom Penh

The island of Phu Quoc