Rakhi: Since we last wrote, we’ve been all over the place, on numerous buses, night trains and flights covering hundreds of miles and three different countries…

Our first stop after leaving our swanky apartment in Bangkok, was Chiang Mai. Our first Thai night train experience was great and after a few beers, a game of scrabble and whisky with a gang of Aussie teachers we had a soundless nights sleep and awoke in the hills of Chiang Mai.

I think most tourists go to Chiang Mai to go elephant trekking to hill tribes and every hotel or guesthouse offers packages for such trips. Joel and I however, were not really interested in either so instead, we did a Thai cookery course on an organic farm where all ingredients are freshly grown and pesticide free. It was great to learn how to cook some of my favourite Thai dishes.

After Chiang Mai, we night trained it back to Bangkok in time to meet Mr. Haynes at the airport. To allow him time to recuperate from the long flight and retune his body clock, we stayed in Bangkok in a hotel with a rooftop swimming pool for the night.

In search of a week of beach bumming and half mooning, the next evening, we began our long journey on a night train south. This time, to occupy ourselves during the long-17 hour- journey, we played a series of games and introduced Luke to the delightful taste of ‘Sangsom’ rum and soda. Again, we had no trouble getting to sleep but Joel and Luke found it hard getting up the next day! Our train journey only took us as far as Surrathani, the jumping off point for the island of Koh Phangan- our final destination. After 17 hours on the train, Sangsom and a rocky 4 hour boat ride, we were nearly green by the time we finally arrived. That wasn’t the end of the road however… The hotel we’d found on the internet didn’t live up to our expectations so after much arguing with a songtaew (taxi type thing) driver we headed along the windy, bumpy roads to ‘Sunrise Beach’ on the south of the island where most of the action is. It took us a while to find anywhere to stay but eventually we landed some bamboo huts a stones throw from the powdery white sand beach.

Koh Phangan is well known world-wide for its legendary Full Moon parties. There wasn’t one while we were there but there was a Half-Moon party (any excuse) in the jungle. I’ve heard so much about the Full Moon and it sounds like most tourists in the whole country descend on the island, get wrecked, ripped off and leave. The smaller and more underground Half Moon parties are for locals as much as tourists and the decked out jungle makes for an interesting location to paint your face in crazy UV patterns and dance till the sun comes up!

Once we’d recovered from the Half Moon, we took a boat to the neighbouring island of Koh Samui. We landed an amazing, centrally located apartment on the most famous strip of beach with air-con, a kitchen, satellite TV, a beautiful bathroom, two bedrooms and a swimming pool for the bargain price of a fiver each a night! We were made up and it served as a great base for us during our time on the island.

A higlight of Koh Samui was going to the beautiful Angthong National Marine Park- a collection of forty or so pristine islands all surrounded by beautifully clear water. Joel and Luke had fun jumping off our boat and I had fun trying to snorkel. That is until we’d got quite a way out and Joel told me he’d seen a sea-cucumber. I’ve never swam so fast in my life and got nowhere. It seemed to take ages to get back to the shore and in my panic I swallowed copious amounts of salt water!

Whilst we were on Koh Phangan, me, Joel and Luke signed up for a beginners Muay Thai class. It’s a national sport of Thailand, an extra brutal form of boxing in which pretty much anything goes. It was really good exercise but best of all, I got to practice some round-houses on Luke! Our class inspired us to watch how the professionals do it at a match on Koh Samui. We managed to get a great deal (or so we thought) on ring side seats. The bell rang for the first match and to our utter dismay, two boys no older than 10, walked into the ring and began trying to kick the s*&t out of each other. It wasn’t really what we expected and it left a bad taste in our mouths.

It was ace to see Luke, even if I did have to put up with him and Joel wearing their skimpy speedos all holiday!

The day after Luke left, Joel and I began our great rush around SE Asia! In two weeks we went from Bangkok to Phnom Penh (Cambodia) to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat to Saigon (Vietnam), Hoi An, Hanoi and back to Bangkok. It sounds like a lot but I think we made the very most of our time without missing out on things we really wanted to experience.

Phnom Penh and Siem Reap- Cambodia:
I found Cambodia completely rugged but totally endearing. In some ways it reminded me of places in India. Cambodia’s main claim to fame is undoubtedly the temples in and around Angkor and the whole country capitalises on this aspect of their heritage. The temple complexes are in the north of the country and the nearest city to them is Siem Reap. It’s a very touristy place but laid back in ways I imagine Khao San Rd in Thailand may have been 20 years ago. Angkor was a city with Angkor Wat, a temple, at the heart of it. Surrounding Angkor Wat in all directions are other lesser known relics from the Khmer empire. Thanks to a handy Angkor guide book we self-tailored a three day cycling tour to our main areas of interest. Of course, Angkor Wat itself is impressive and deservedly a Wonder of the World but the other lesser known ruins are amazing also.

Two in particular that stand out in my mind are The Bayon and Ta Prohm. The latter is an atmospheric 15th century temple which lay undiscovered until a Frenchman stumbled upon in many centuries after the fall of the empire. It remains in the same state that it was found; engulfed by the thick surrounding jungle and twisted tree trunks. The Bayon which was built in the late 12th century is a temple whose most distinguishing feature is a multitude of gigantic stone faces- quite eerie.

What I found incredible about Angkor was the sheer size of the empire and the detail that went into the construction of the buildings and temples. The fact that they have survived today is amazing. I was surprised to discover that the temples are homages to Hinduism and that the bas-reliefs surrounding Angkor Wat and the Bayon tell some of the most famous traditional Hindu stories.

Saigon, Hoi An and Hanoi- Vietnam:
I loved the French influence in Cambodia and it was as prominent in Vietnam. Baguettes, yummy coffee, cheese and wine. I’m sure the Viet Minh didn’t see it like that though.

It was fascinating to learn a little about the history of Vietnam and understand the reverence with which ‘Uncle Ho’ is held. In Saigon, we went to a museum dedicated to him and to the work of civilians who fought against France and later America in order to gain independence. We also went to the infamous CuChi tunnel network constructed by the determined villagers. These tunnels have been surgically enhanced for tourists but even so they were too small for me. Joel was braver and made it through a stretch if the network, I got the fear and had to come out after a minute or so. I can’t believe some villagers actually used to live their lives down there.

On the way to the tunnels, we stopped off at the Cao Dai Holy See in Tay Ninh. Cao Daism is a belief comprised of three teachings (Buddhism, Christianity and Confucianism) and the temple in Tay Ninh is the main headquarters of the religion. The temple itself looked like something straight out of Disney World with bright colours, plastic figurines and massive eyes (The all seeing eye- God’s left, apparently). We arrived just in time for a service. What I saw and heard is probably the most surreal thing I have ever come across. Lots of people dressed in robes accompanied by a group of chanters and singers. It’s too detailed and strange to go into now and the pictures say it better than I could.

After Saigon, we took a plane to Hoi An where the saga of the coat is the most prominent thing that happened. Non-stop rain meant that we couldn’t do much but we did stay in a beautiful converted Chinese tea house and even though we got bitten to shreds by mozzies it was worth it for the uniqueness of the guesthouse. Hoi An is beautiful- lots of faded yellow facades- hangovers from French colonialism and you can eat like an emperor for less than 2 quid. One of the town’s selling points is the monthly ‘Legendary Night’ when the streets by the river come alive and you are entertained with traditional games and music. Legendary Night came and Joel and I found a spot in a restaurant overlooking the river and waited…and waited…and waited… and walked home to find one small group of men playing Chinese checkers.

Having worked our way from Saigon in the south to Hoi An in the middle of the country, our last stop on our whistle stop tour was the northern capital city of Hanoi. Joel took us on an excellent walking tour of the old quarter where we were staying and slightly further a field to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum and The Temple of Literature- Hanoi’s first ever university (for men only- pah). We also went to see a traditional Vietnamese water-puppet performance which was fun.

I liked Vietnam very much- you have to have nerves of steel to get across the roads as cars and motorbikes come at you from every direction but once you make it, you can get a beer from a roadside drinkery for less then 5p!

After 6 months of being in Thailand, Joel and I have less than 6 hours left here before we fly to India. I can’t describe how excited I am at the prospect of seeing my parents and Joel’s parent’s next week when they arrive. And, just seven weeks from now we’ll be back in my beloved Manc with all our friends and family! I’ll really miss Asia once I’m gone, I’ve definitely found that I’ve that adopted some very Asian habits; mainly last-minuteness!

Joel: And now, the end is near…we’re back in Bangkok for one final hoorah before a flight later today takes us to Delhi where we’ll be reunited with Rakhi’s parents. She hasn’t seen them since we left Manchester in May last year so I think it will be quite an emotional occasion for her. For the last five weeks have been constantly on the move and since we’ve been on holiday we’ve neglected this blog a bit. But since today is our last day in Thailand, it seems right to wrap up things up here and now.

So, where to start? We’ve done and seen so much since we finished school it’s been one helluva vacation. The week we spent in Chiang Mai was pretty cool. It’s a funky little city in the north of Thailand, slightly tourist-centred but lots to do and see nonetheless. We did a great cooking course up there at a little country farm growing organic produce so now we’re well versed in knocking up Thai treats - from curries to spring-rolls to coconut and banana deserts. Also, we met up with me ol’ mate Ken’s little brother Sean, who’s been living up there a while, and we were given a tour round some local watering holes. Quite impressed with how in he is with the bar girls in his locals, I must say. He took me on a top night out and I staggered home in the wee small hours pretty battered. I’d say he got his revenge for the times I used to challenge him to shotgun contests when he was about fourteen. Nice one Sean.

We came back down to Bangkok to meet Luke and spent the next two weeks out on the islands in the gulf of Thailand. Really top to see him – and in such good shape too. It appears he’s been putting in a fair bit of gym time. We went down to Ko Phangan – the party island - on the night train (during which time Luke somehow became champion of our five event Olympics by winning the decisive winner-takes-all poker tournament) to catch the half-moon party taking place there. Unlike the full moon parties that take place on the main beach, these twice monthly affairs take place at a small complex in the jungle. Rakhi found some neon face paints, the vodka red-bulls slipped down well and soon we were up on the podiums. I had a really good time despite falling asleep on a bench and having to hitch a ride back to our place on the back of someone’s motorcycle. Definitely memorable anyway. Also on Phangan we tried our hand at Muay Thai (kick-boxing) and worked up a sweat in an hour-long class. Desperate as I was to round-house Haynes in the knackers, we didn’t reach the combat stage, a touch disappointing but kind on his crown jewels I suppose.

After some serious beach time we hopped over to Ko Samui and couldn’t believe our luck in negotiating a last minute deal on an swanky apartment right on the beach. Two bedroom, two TV’s, luxury bathroom, well-equipt kitchen, all for a fiver a night each. Sometimes it clearly pays to ride your luck and just turn up somewhere. More serious beach time was had, Luke had yet more massages, and we had a great night out a Brazilian bar called Zico’s, hooowahaha, even the name makes me shudder, that culminated in some sexy Brazilian dancing and drunken bongo playing and cocktail heads the next day. We made it to some Muay Thai boxing but were appauled to discover the first bout was between two young boys (about 12?) who were urged through three rounds of battering each other by the locals. Pretty disturbing actually. I knew there was a reason I’m not a big boxing fan.

The highlight was a day-trip out to Ang Thong marine Park, perhaps the most beautiful place I’ll ever visit; stunning natural scenery, beautiful turquoise waters and sandy beaches. Luke and I jumped of the top deck of our boat, swam amongst the fishes and we all tried a bit of snorkeling (Rakhi most reluctantly). As we cruised back to port and the sun hung low in the sky, I really did look around and think how there can’t be a more beautiful place on earth. Truly breathtaking.

Back in Bangkok with sent Luke off with a trip up to the rooftop Vertigo bar and a shopping trip around the cities hotspots. He managed to squeeze a final massage in before his flight and it was sad to wave him off after such a great holiday. The down side of being out here has always been not being able to spend time with friends and family. It’s a pretty big downside and I know I don’t want to be so far away for so long again.

Since then we spent three day at the Angkor temples in Siam Reap, Cambodia – another truly wonderful spectacle – ensuring we were there for one sunrise and one sunset. The sunrise ws tough but we made to a temple on a hill over Angkor Wat just as the sun was coming up. We explored the area on bikes for the most part and, despite the distances I reckon this was the best way to see the area – good exercise for us pair of out-of –shape blobbies too. Compared to Thailand, Cambodia really feels like the wild-west. In Siam Reap I saw only one properly paved road and generally the streets were pretty filthy and difficult to walk down. It was cool though. We had time to explore the capital, Phnom Penh, where French influence is pretty strong. I didn’t see a single baguette in Thailand but they’re sold on every corner over there. And all the roads are tree-lined avenues. Definitely a cool place to relax after our Angkor cycling. A somber trip out to the killing fields where Pol Pot exterminated so many Cambodians provided a striking history lesson. This part of the world has a pretty nasty recent history. It occurred to me that many Cambodians might look at today and, despite being so desperately poor, feel they’ve never had it better.

Then on to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it used to be known. After a boat trip to take us across the border, we arrived in this behemoth of a place. Our guest house was lovely and we did a great walking tour of the city, but the motorcyclists make being a pedestrian there pretty tricky. Now even Bangkok seems completely sane. Slowly but surely, Rakhi and I mastered the slow-walk-through-heavy-on-coming-traffic technique. Hearts in mouths, we realised this was the only way to get across these crazily busy streets. On one day, we went out to the tunnels of Cu Chi, a part of the old Vietkong tunnel system used to take on the Americans during the Vietnam war. I had a crawl through a short section, about 30m, and have to say, I would not be happy living there in peace time, never mind not knowing if you’ll ever see daylight again as the ground above you is bombarded with heavy explosives and Napalm. Interesting to go out there though, and to see some of the traps they set to kill American soldiers. Pretty gruesome but you have to respect their resilience and ingenuity in the face of such a power.

The next stop, Hoi An, is a lovely little town full on nineteenth century buildings but also far too many tourists. I was pretty disappointed to be honest. We found a really interesting place to stay – an old tea house and we were able to while away the rainy days in coffee shops and bars playing pool (Rakhi’s now brilliant – in Siam Reap I just pipped her 10-9 in a mega-tournament!) Unfortunately, my strongest memory of Hoi An may be of going to pick up the coat I was having made only to discover the fabric wasn’t the one I’d been told it would be, the grain ran the wrong way and it was very shoddily-made in all aspects. They refused to give me my deposit back saying they would remake it for me in two hours (which wasn’t good enough since I couldn’t trust them to make a mess they’d tried to sell me this coat) I had to bore them into submission by very reasonable repeating my request for over two hours until they’d lost two customers who’d overheard me and I’d driven everyone there, including myself, mad and finally got them to give me back 75% of my deposit. So I have no coat, but two absolutely superbly made shirts from another place where the tailors were lovely, very skilled and very professional.

After Hoi An, we headed up to Hanoi, the capital, for our last four nights. I thought it was a great place. Now a little more used to the motorcycles, we had a good wander the old town where all the roads are named (in Vietnamese) after the thing that’s traditionally sold there. So there’s a tin street, a shoe street, a rope street, a Buddhist shrine street etc. It was kind of like I expected Saigon to be; all old higgly-piggldy buildings and dark back alleys, really interesting to explore. We checked out the famous water-puppet theatre where puppeteers in waders and behind screens use underwater sticks to control puppets on the surface of the water to tell traditional Vietnamese stories. It was well worth the visit – the music was great and I’ve never seen anything quite like it. We found some top bars and quality little restaurants around the town as well. Saturday night was spent in a club on a boat called Solice which was rammed and on our last day we walked up to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum which unfortunately was closed while his body is being touched up in Russia. We had a walk round the complex though. Another lesson in history.

On top of all this we’ve been to countless temples, palaces and museums in the last month, all helping me to build a picture of what’s been going on in these here parts over the past few hundred years. The countries certainly have troubled histories. I’d say they deserve a much more peaceful and prosperous future.

So, now back in Bangkok. Our six-month Thailand stay has really affected me, as least as much as my time in Korea did. This world is a big crazy place full of lots of crazy people. It’s been so interesting to see how other people live and discover what other people feel is important in life. I’ll miss it. Especially the price of a nice cold beer.

Until next time.