Post Work Trip - Vicky Griffiths - vicks4
After leaving work on 14th September 2006, I am now taking a long break and visiting several parts of the world.

Prince's Trust Trip
Nairobi, Kenya
Giraffe park
After leaving the Uk early in the morning, our goup of 12 arrived in Nairobi to embark on a 2 week tour of Kenya and Uganda.
written by  vicks4 on October 28, 2006 from Nairobi, Kenya
from the travel blog: Post Work Trip - Vicky Griffiths

Eldoret
Eldoret, Kenya
Arrival at Raj's place in Eldoret, after a day's safari in Lake Nakuru national park.
Rob and Vix
Safari bus
written by  vicks4 on November 1, 2006 from Eldoret, Kenya
from the travel blog: Post Work Trip - Vicky Griffiths

Kampala - Red Chilli
Kampala, Uganda
Arrival in Kampala, Uganda, where we took part in 2 days of work with St Janan's School. The school is in the slums of Kampala and although the children need to pay to go to school, they are all very poor.
St Janans school mural
Margerita and firends
written by  vicks4 on November 2, 2006 from Kampala, Uganda
from the travel blog: Post Work Trip - Vicky Griffiths

Jinja
Jinja, Uganda
Fun Run
Arrival in Jinja where I did a bunjee jump, went white water rafting and spent two days in a school painting, teaching and organising a fun run.
written by  vicks4 on November 5, 2006 from Jinja, Uganda

Eldoret
Eldoret, Kenya
Back to Eldoret where we spent a day in Kip Keino's orphanage, and another day organising a fun run for approximately 2000 children who came from miles around to take part. Every child had a medal and a yoghurt for taking part.
Jambo Jambo run
written by  vicks4 on November 7, 2006 from Eldoret, Kenya

Home for a while
Letchworth, United Kingdom
Back to the UK for just 4 days, before leaving for the next leg of my trip.
written by  vicks4 on November 12, 2006 from Letchworth, United Kingdom

Flights
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Stop over in Dubai, en route to Vietnam
written by  vicks4 on November 15, 2006 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand
Stop over in Bangkok, en route to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
written by  vicks4 on November 16, 2006 from Bangkok, Thailand

Arrival at HCMC
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Arrival in Ho Chi Minh where I was amazed at the number of motorbikes on the road. there didn't seem to be any road rules!
written by  vicks4 on November 17, 2006 from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Mui Ne
Da Lat, Vietnam
Afetr a 5 hour bus trip we arrived in Mui Ne, on the coast, to a beautiful beach (11km long) and a lovely bungalow. right next to the beach. We spent 3 nights here, just relaxing.
written by  vicks4 on November 20, 2006 from Da Lat, Vietnam

In land to Dalat, int he mountains
Da Lat, Vietnam
We then headed inland to Da Lat, which is in the mountains. It's a beautiful city with lots of crazy buildings. They are only recently used to receiving tourists, and it is in Dalat that I realised that everyone in Vietnam is very small, and I looked like a giant amongst the locals!
written by  vicks4 on November 23, 2006 from Da Lat, Vietnam

Nha Trang - back to the coast
Nha Trang, Vietnam
Back to the coast, in a very full, and hot, mini bus. Looking forward to spending some time on a bus trip tomorrow.
written by  vicks4 on November 25, 2006 from Nha Trang, Vietnam

Up the coast to Hoi An
Hoi An, Vietnam
Overnight train to Dalang and then into Hoi An, a beautiful fishing town with a real French feel.
written by  vicks4 on November 29, 2006 from Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An
Hoi An, Vietnam
Up the coast to Hoi An, a beautiful fishing town with a French influence.
written by  vicks4 on November 28, 2006 from Hoi An, Vietnam

Halong Bay
Hanoi, Vietnam
3 day boat trip in Halong Bay, visiting islands and caves.
written by  vicks4 on December 4, 2006 from Hanoi, Vietnam

Back to Hanoi
Hanoi, Vietnam
Back to Hanoi for a few days to enjoy staying in a beautiful city.
written by  vicks4 on December 4, 2006 from Hanoi, Vietnam

Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
Flight to Bangkok. Crazy city. Here for a few days, before heading off to some islands for Christmas.
written by  vicks4 on December 7, 2006 from Bangkok, Thailand

To the beach!
Chumphon, Thailand
Long bus journey down to Chumphon where we took a speed boat over to koh Toa. A beautiful island.
written by  vicks4 on December 12, 2006 from Chumphon, Thailand

Ko Samui
Ko Samui, Thailand
Another boat trip across to the larger, more commercial island of Ko Samui
written by  vicks4 on December 15, 2006 from Ko Samui, Thailand

Christmas on Ko Phangan
Ko Phangan, Thailand
Onto another island to spend Christmas on the beach. It was crazy.
written by  vicks4 on December 20, 2006 from Ko Phangan, Thailand

Another island - Phi Phi
Krabi, Thailand
Diving - Vicky and Lou
On to Phi Phi island, where we learnt to dive. Amazing diving, particuarly on the island where "The Beach" was filmed. It was like swimming in an aquarium. We swam with turtles and leopard sharks. Phi Phi was hit particularly hard by the tsunami in 2004 and it is slowly being re-built.
Viewpoint
written by  vicks4 on December 30, 2006 from Krabi, Thailand

Back to the mainland
Phuket, Thailand
Back to Phuket for 2 nights. Too many holiday makers, couldn't stay any longer!
written by  vicks4 on January 5, 2007 from Phuket, Thailand

Visa run to Myanmar (Burma)
Ranong, Thailand
Having spent over 28 days in Thailand, I had to leave the country and come back again to renew my visa, so I took a day trip to Myanmar. One day was probably enough!
written by  vicks4 on January 7, 2007 from Ranong, Thailand

Into Malaysia
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
12 hour bus trip overland into Malaysia.
written by  vicks4 on January 11, 2007 from Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
...
written by  vicks4 on January 14, 2007 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Singapore
Singapore, Singapore
...
written by  vicks4 on January 17, 2007 from Singapore, Singapore

Manila, Philippines
Manila is a craqzy city. We really enjoyed the buzz of this capital, and rather randomly got our first job since being broad, appearing as extras in a Filipino soap opera, along with the winners of Big Brother.
Gerrard and Kim
Manila transport
written by  vicks4 on January 19, 2007 from Manila, Philippines

Diving and jeepneys
Sabang, Philippines
A few days in Sabang to go diving, and then the best trip to date, overland in a jeepney for most of the day. Jeepneys are the equivalent of your local bus. They are all decorated differently and can carry as many people as there are who need a ride.
Jeepney1
Jeepney 2
written by  vicks4 on January 23, 2007 from Sabang, Philippines

Waiting for the ferry
Roxas, Philippines
Overnight in Roxas. The fery goes when enough people turn up. Luckily we only had to wait a day - could have been a week. Took a ferry trip to Boracay (along with about 50 cockrells) and after a long and tough (!) search, we've found the ultimate in paradise. This island is stunning.
Viewpoint - Vicky 3
written by  vicks4 on January 25, 2007 from Roxas, Philippines

Boracay
Caticlan, Philippines
Summer Place 2
Viewpoint 2
Viewpoint wildlife
kite Surfers, Bolabog Beach
Sunset 2
Vicky, Lou and Jane
3 nights in Boracay turne into a little less than a month. This island has everything you could ever need, and more. We had no reason to keep travelling.
written by  vicks4 on January 26, 2007 from Caticlan, Philippines

Siquijor - Our final island in the Philippines
Siquijor, Philippines
Swimming in the a spring with the local children - it's supposed to have healing properties and the water is used by the local witches...
written by  vicks4 on March 9, 2007 from Siquijor, Philippines

Panglao, Bohol
Panglao, Philippines
Did 2 dives on Panglao - we were joined by a sea snake that was about 2 metres long. One of the most posionous animals in the sea, but luckily its jaws are only big enough to bite you between your toes. I'm very thankful for my flippers.
written by  vicks4 on March 5, 2007 from Panglao, Philippines

Overnight in Cebu
Cebu City, Philippines
...
written by  vicks4 on March 4, 2007 from Cebu City, Philippines

malapascua Island
Malay, Philippines
More diving, and we were lucky enough to sea a sea snake and a 5m Manta ray.
written by  vicks4 on February 27, 2007 from Malay, Philippines

Nuts Huts
Tagbilaran, Philippines
5 nights in Nuts Huts - not much to do here other than lounge in a hammock, read, eat, play Trivial pursuit, spot monkeys, swim in the river and trek through the jungle...
We only moved on because our visas were running out.
written by  vicks4 on March 1, 2007 from Tagbilaran, Philippines

On to Borneo
Kuching, Malaysia
A lovely, developed city. We spent St Patrick's Day here. The good news wass there was plenty of Guinness, the bad news was that it wasn't developed enough to have a bar sto show Wales beating England.
written by  vicks4 on March 13, 2007 from Kuching, Malaysia

Into the jungle
Belaga, Malaysia
It's taken several days to get here, and we're well off the beaten track. The local tribes all lice in "Longhouses" which house approximately 400 people each.
One of the families had a baby monkey. They were treating it like a child. I made the mistake of asking how big it would grow. The anwer was "It could grow to be the size of a 5 year old child, but this one won't grow that big". "Why not?" I asked innocently.
"Because we'll have eaten it by then".
I say no more.
written by  vicks4 on March 16, 2007 from Belaga, Malaysia

Miri, Malaysia
written by  vicks4 on March 23, 2007 from Miri, Malaysia

A long weekend in Brunei
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Not much more to see here, other than a big mosque, a big shopping mall and a lot of money.
The sultan wasn't in.
written by  vicks4 on April 1, 2007 from Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Climb every mountain
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Just the one mountain here, but we climbed it all the same.
Mount Kinabulu
written by  vicks4 on April 4, 2007 from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Monkeying around
Sepilok, Malaysia
A few days up river into the jungle, and we stumbled across some of the natives.
Orangutang
written by  vicks4 on April 13, 2007 from Sepilok, Malaysia

Across to Sumatra
Medan, Indonesia
written by  vicks4 on April 17, 2007 from Medan, Indonesia

Volcanic island
Parapat, Indonesia
written by  vicks4 on April 24, 2007 from Parapat, Indonesia

Java bound
Jakarta, Indonesia
written by  vicks4 on May 1, 2007 from Jakarta, Indonesia

Better than the view from a Torquay bedroom window
Bandung, Indonesia
Krakatoa it wasn't (too difficult to get to!), but the volcano just north of Bandung was bubbling away, just enough to boil and egg.
written by  vicks4 on May 3, 2007 from Bandung, Indonesia

Borabodor and Prambanan
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
written by  vicks4 on May 8, 2007 from Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Another volcano
Probolinggo, Indonesia
An early morning climb up Mount Bromo, followed by a long bus journey to Bali.
written by  vicks4 on May 11, 2007 from Probolinggo, Indonesia

Bali
Denpasar, Indonesia
written by  vicks4 on May 12, 2007 from Denpasar, Indonesia

On the return leg
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Just under 6 weeks left to squeeze in Northern Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
written by  vicks4 on June 29, 2007 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

Mount Rinjani
Sanur, Indonesia
It was a long trek up a mountain, down a mountain, up a mountain and down the otherside, but Billy and I made it. The only injury was Billy losing one of his toe nails.
written by  vicks4 on June 18, 2007 from Sanur, Indonesia

Mad dash back to Bali
Singapore, Singapore
Running like crazy across Singapore airport to catch a plane that eventually took us close to paradise.
written by  vicks4 on May 30, 2007 from Singapore, Singapore

Gill Trawangan - again!
Bangsal, Indonesia
Back to Gilli T for 2 weeks of R&R. Billy deserved it and I just did well out of the deal.
written by  vicks4 on June 1, 2007 from Bangsal, Indonesia

Slow boat
Vientiane, Laos
Took the slowboat down the Mekong river for 2 days and it was worth it to reach the beautiful French influenced town of Luang Prabang. Onwards from here to Vang Vieng for some river tubing and then onto the capital - Vientiane.
written by  vicks4 on July 7, 2007 from Vientiane, Laos

Angkor wat
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Angkor Wat - Hunreds of temples, and hundreds of degrees. Melting.
written by  vicks4 on July 25, 2007 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

My birthday - 4000 Islands, Laos
Champasak, Laos
Presents, cakes (well a pancake), bike rides and waterfalls. Lovely.
written by  vicks4 on July 18, 2007 from Champasak, Laos

The killing fields and S21 museum
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
written by  vicks4 on July 27, 2007 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Bike rides and more
Savannakhet, Laos
written by  vicks4 on July 27, 2007 from Savannakhet, Laos

Local transport - VIP
Savannakhet, Laos
written by  vicks4 on July 12, 2007 from Savannakhet, Laos

Falling off a log - Bang Lung
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
written by  vicks4 on July 20, 2007 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia