Michael Russell

Preparation
Warlingham, United Kingdom
Just a quick test entry before my departure on 12th Jan.
written by  Michael Russell on December 28, 2008 from Warlingham, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Escape from Blighty

Mumbai - Gateway to India
Mumbai, India
Hi All,
So Mumbai, Gateway to India - Kate and I arrived midday in Mumbai airport, roughly 33C and the merking/jokers started from the off..overcharged for the cab, the driver going off to 'wash his face' to encourage us to go and purchase a bottle of water from the shop we had pulled up at, this was before we had enter left the airport car park!!
The journey from the airport to our hostel, the superbly named Hotel Volga II (surely the name of the hotel on the Starship Enterprise), was eventual to say the least... Indian drivers are best described as bad, no signaling and incessant honking. The journey also included slums on both sides of the street with adults/children squatting doing both sets of business on the side of the road.. add to this people sleeping on the side of the street and also on the central reservation. You can imagine the smell no doubt....
When we arrived at the hostel the cab driver tried to shoe us into another hostel, we casually strolled away from him and found our booked hostel, time for a nice relaxing nap we thought... the chap on the door apparently had no record of our booking and told us it was full up... then changed his mind and told us wait 30mins I will have a room. We were finally taken to the box (sorry room) and took whatever we were given really.
So Mumbai as a city, the Taj Mahal hotel is stunning, the Gateway to India lovely and the train station is a beautiful Victorian piece of architecture. Other than this Mumbai is rather charm less, I imagine Victorian London wouldn’t have been too dissimilar; hawkers and beggars and the personal hygiene of the cities inhabitants quite awful, spitting seems to be mandatory for both men and women in India!
Yesterday early morning we boarded the Konkan Railway to Goa and this was 12 hours of fun on an Indian sleeper train, it was pretty dirty but the views simply stunning.. I am currently in Arpora but looking to venture out to the old hippy beach in Northern Goa, Arambol.
I am having a slight technical hitch in uploading pics so I will try again in a couple of days.
All the Best, Get In! Game On!!
written by  Michael Russell on January 15, 2009 from Mumbai, India
from the travel blog: Escape from Blighty

Arambol - Goa
Arambol, India
All,
My trip from the hills of Arpora to the 1960s hippy beach of Arambol involved catching 2, yes 2!, local buses... it is quite delightful to be giggled at by local schoolgirls and have them rather stand than sit next to me on the bus on the basis of my skin colour.
My 2 buses, total cost 18 INR (roughly 30p), took roughly 90mins to get to Arambol, I rocked up to the beach at Midday in full backpackers gear and sweating like a bad boy. The beach was pretty much exactly what I was looking for, you know the idealic sandy beaches, the beach shacks serving ice cold lager and huts just off the beach to stay in.
I managed to barter my way into a beach hut just at the north end of the beach away from most of the bars, 400 INR which isnt too bad! The room is as basic you would think, a box hut with a shared toilet/shower facility. I went for a climb on the hills/cliff that overlook the beach and took some wonderful shots of the beach.
Arambol is a fairly quiet sort of stop, the vibe seems to be lots of Russians, old hippys and lots of people doing Yoga... not quite the Brit party scene that I was hoping to maybe encounter along the way. There is a lovely night market that meanders up the main street but its actually quite tricky to shop on your Jack Jones as you just get hassled by every single shop keep.. I have taken to listening to my i-pod whilst strolling through the market, which I'm sure isn't in keeping with the spirit of things.
The plan is to leave Arambol on Monday and make my way to Vagator beach which I am reliabily informed is a bit more Brit pack, there is also the famous Flee Market in Anjuna on Wednesday pm, so I shall look forward to the opportunity to be flogged lots of bracelets and tat that I really could do without, but they say you haven't travelled until you return with some iffy looking bracelets, necklaces... looking at Dad + Mun specificially :)
I will rendevous with you all soon!
x
written by  Michael Russell on January 17, 2009 from Arambol, India
from the travel blog: Escape from Blighty

Little Vagator - Goa
Anjuna, India
All,
I'm currently holed up in a quiet town just south of my previous abode in Arambol, its travelling population is made up primarily of Israelis and Russians ... so well chosen by me. Luckily the customary jokers and merkers are still here so it still feels like an authentic Goan experience.
No much to add on the town except that the beach isn't as nice as Arambol and seems to be slightly more expensive food/drink wise, although there are some lovely bars to watch sunset at... I popped down to the beach on Monday for a quiet day reading the Kite Runner (very highly recommended) but was confronted with a beach full of Indians as it was their national holiday, a few good games of cricket ensued with the Indians taking a no holds barred approach.
Today I went to the famous Anjuna flee market where lots of 'wily' vendors attempt to sell you rugs, t-shirts, jewellery, smoking pipes and all the usual sort gunk that you desperately need. Bizarrely there are lots of Nepalese trying to flog winter clothing in 35C heat.
My future plans are a sleeper bus to Hampi 2mro to visit some ruins of some sort and then onwards to Bangalore and Mysore, this should keep me busy for the next 2 weeks.
And finally... Monsieur - not sure if you can subscribe but you can add the page to your feed on Igoogle.. if you don't have a feed already then I recommend that you start one up!
Hope everyone is well
x
written by  Michael Russell on January 28, 2009 from Anjuna, India

Hampi - Boulders gallore and stuff .....
Hampi, India
Hi All,
My trip out of Goa and the subsequent 3 days in Hampi, can best be described as per the below;
Journey to Hampi - Without doubt the worst 13 hours of my life so far, the journey started OK until I inexplicably decided to part with my mantra of not eating street vendor food... the subsequent 13 hours involved puking out of the side of the bus every 30 mins or so. My bunk was the top 1 at the front of the bus so I managed to spill my guts all over 1 side of the bus. All this and I was meant to be sleeping on the bus.
1st Day - Quite simply a right off, I managed to befriend 2 posh gap-year students from England who helped me stumble my way to a hostel in the quiet area of Hampi where I slept the entire day in between bouts of more puking and general traveller sickness - i think you get the point.
2nd Day - I decided whilst dying in bed the day before that I would take today easy as Hampi is large and a full day of sightseeing would be roughly 6-7km of walking. So I went mental and walked all day in the blistering sun!! Hampi is a 15th Century civilian that got merked by another civilization and burnt to the ground except for a few bits and bobs that survived. My favourite bits of Hampi included some amazing water temples and the famous stone chariot. That is as much of a history lesson as your getting, for more info check wiki or something...
3rd/Final Day - I decided to take it easy and hire a moped with the girls and we zoomed off to a lake for the day and had as relaxing a day as you can have in India, we were of course followed by the usual assortment of jokers trying to sell you stuff and several grown Indian men fascinated by 2 young Western girls in swimming gear!
My train ride to Bangalore was not without event, on the way to the station my rickshaw got a flat tyre so we had to deter to another station that was luckily on the way..phewww... I had a nice sleeper train with a Dutch couple - where I was subjected to a 2 hour lecture on how Ajax and Arsenal are so similar. But I have arrived safe and sound and plan to relax until Friday until I set off to Mysore.
X
written by  Michael Russell on February 1, 2009 from Hampi, India

Bangalore/Booralore?
Bangalore, India
A quick update on Bangalore..... its pony
I have decided that 5 days in Bangalore is 4 days too long.. so I am off to Kerala tonight on a last minute sleeper train.
Hurrrahhh
x
written by  Michael Russell on February 3, 2009 from Bangalore, India

The Backwaters of Kerala
Alleppey, India
All,
The Keralan backwaters are everything that people had described them as, beautiful, tropical and very photogenic. As with all of India, people do almost everything in the water; whether it be washing themselves, clean dishes or just general milling around.
My backwater trip started in the town of Kollam, Ewen's recommendation of a hotel was sadly fully booked with meant staying overnight into a hotel sandwiched between the 2 mosques of the town. This meant I was awoken by strange religious sounds coming from both mosques at 5am, I'm told that this is the call for Muslims to go and prey. The trip in Kollam was a trip into a backwater village and was wonderful. I was in a canoe with a girl from Newcastle and an old chap from Canada with the hairiest back in history. The highlights of the trip included having a coconut directly from the tree and a visit to a rope making factory (actually that part was turd). Sadly Kollam as a town was a bit of a dive so the lass from Newcastle and I decided to take a bus to Alleppey which is further North up the backwaters.
Alleppey was far nicer a town and was exactly the sort of picturesque backwater town that I had imagined, I was immediately accosted at the bus station and led back to a nice homestay just by the post office. Apologies Mum&Dad you may received your postcard from Goa in a couple of weeks ... The backwater trip from Alleppey was the typical backwater experience, saw lots of house boats out of the water which can be rented overnight for about 7000R, so just over 100GBP. Sadly this is slightly out of my price range, and in any case is the sort of thing you would want to do with a partner/couple of mates. Instead Becca and I booked a paddle canoe for 4 hours to explore the backwaters on, the views of the water were amazing and we saw lots of paddy fields, plenty of salesmen on water and kids fishing in a little boat. The main highlight however was my new found skill of climbing palm trees, oh yes... and I have pictures to prove this, which I will happily post next week, most probably Thursday/Friday.
However worrying whilst in Alleppey after deciding to wear my new 'gun show' wife beater vests I was taken down a side alley by an Indian man who assured me that the internet was this way, before he proceeded to kiss my arm and hands before I ran off very scared.
Currently I am up in the hills of Kumily and planning an assault on the Periyar Wildlife Park tomorrow, I have an all-day trek booked up and planning to do some Elephant riding later today! Hope everyone is well and not feeling the cold too much.
written by  Michael Russell on February 6, 2009 from Alleppey, India

Periyar Wildlife Banter
Thekkadi, India
Hi All,
The next stop of my trip was the town of Kumily and the Periyar Wildlife resort, the town is up in hills and as such there was the obligatory white knuckle bus ride up to get there including about 7 near death experiences.
Periyar is the most popular of the Indian wildlife parks and it’s easy to see why, the town Kumily is a relaxing stop with lots of nice restaurant and lots of jewellery stores. It does also have the standard collection of rug salesmen and tat shops. The most refreshing aspect of Kumily however is the temperature at night, or lack of it, as it is up in the hills it is not muggy at night and there are no mosquitoes!!
I had 3 relaxing days in Kumily which included; an elephant ride, standard banter up in these parts; a full day trekking where I saw wild elephants, bison and a couple of snakes. The wild elephants really are amazing and so different to the elephants that they let you ride. I had also been scheduled to go on a sunset trek however this wasn't quite what it said on the tin, I was driven up a steep, bumpy hill in a dodgy old rickshaw and told to walk about for a bit on my own until the sun set.. I wasn't really up for that so instead I found a rooftop bar and sat reading my book with a couple of beers, job done.
As some of you may know Kerala is a communist state, and as such there are hammer & stickle flags, posters, etc everything.. However in Kumily there was a van that drove round everyday covered with communist signs and posters with a loud attached spouting all sorts of communist propaganda, probably the weirdest thing I have ever seen.. photos to come shortly.
N.B. - Thanks Spewen for bring the spelling error to my attention, however your mistake was assuming that it was accidental, I say bring it on... but seriously please don't.
written by  Michael Russell on February 10, 2009 from Thekkadi, India

Return to Blighty
Warlingham, United Kingdom
Sorry for the tardiness of my blog entries recently, as some of you may know I am back in the UK at the minute preparing to fly out to Singapore for the next leg of my journey.. and yes as people have rightly pointed out it would have been easier to fly from India but I wanted to fully organise the rest of my trip.
So tomorrow I am flying out to Singapore for a trip to Borneo, the plan is to go on a fancy trek in Borneo then make my way through Malaysia and up to Thailand and then onwards to Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and eventually China.
For those of you that are interested I thought I would quickly reflect on India and why it worked and didn’t work for me; I had an amazing time in India but I felt that 1 month was plenty for me. India is such a diverse place with so many experiences, you really have to know why you are there, I felt that I didn't have an angle in India and was effectively padding out time there. I will certainly go back to India to do the Golden Triangle,et al.. but I really feel like I lost my travelling vibe towards the end of my time in India.. however the mojo has returned and I'm very much looking forward to the rest of the trip.
N.B. – I have finished uploading my India pics onto facebook so check them out and let me know what you think.
Speak to you all soon
written by  Michael Russell on February 25, 2009 from Warlingham, United Kingdom

Singapore Slinger
Singapore, Singapore
Hi Everyone,
Just a quick update on my wee trip to Singapore; very clean and no litter - as per what everyone says.
Took a nice trip to the famous Raffles hotel and had a rather expensive Singapore Sling - rather bizzarely they serve you monkey nuts for free and the bar is probably the messiest place in Singapore with crushed monkey nut shells littering the floor. Anyway the Sling is very nice and fruity and an excellent way to start a night out.
I'm feeling slighty worse for wear today as the Sling led to 1 or 2 (cough) more drinks back at the hostel.
I arrived in Borneo earlier today which is slightly more earthy and have 1 night before my 10 day trek featuring orangutans kicks off. The plan is then to fly back to Singa and then make my way via Malaysia up to Saraburi to see brother no1, his fiance and my baby nephew - I can't wait but a quick warning Jon i'm not going to be baby sitting or changing dirty nappies!!!
written by  Michael Russell on February 28, 2009 from Singapore, Singapore

Kota Kinabalu - City of Chinese Widow
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the delay in updating my movement since I have been away, having succumbed to the lure of a tour in Borneo the schedule was so tight that email was impossible to use for more than about than 5 seconds a time. I will give you a quick update on my 10 day whistle-stop tour of Sabah, the Eastern province of Borneon Malaysia.
The trip started with a climb up the highest mountain in South-East Asia, Mount Kinabalu (4,101m ASL) - this was pretty grueling and was only finished by a few of our albeit elderly group (only 3 of us were under the age of 30, and only 1 more was under 40). I will update with photos when I arrive in Saraburi. The agony of the climb was followed by the ecstasy of an evening in a natural Spring bath which helped to sore some of the aches and pains.
The mountain climb was followed by 2 nights in a jungle lodge and 2 solid days of wildlife spotting, the spotting was mostly for monkeys (of which there were 4 types) and also the King of the Borneo jungle the orangutan. We were lucky enough to see a mother and child oranagutan in the wild which was amazing however like a tool my camera had run out of batteries by the time we saw them!
OK I will put out an update tomorrow regarding the 2nd leg of the trip.. sorry if this reads like a boring travel diary I will try and jazz it up for tomorrow.
X
written by  Michael Russell on March 3, 2009 from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Oragutans & General Monkey Business
Sepilok, Malaysia
‘ello,
So the 2nd leg of the Borneo trip was to encompass a visit to the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary and either a trip to an island or a white water rafting trip... as I have plenty of time to bum around on a beach I of course went for the rafting choice.
The Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary is part run by a UK Orangutan charity and sadly feels like a profit making scheme; sadly the feeling is rather touristy and the generic sob story video that they make you watch before you enter was extremely cringe worthy. Our guide has told us that the Orangutan levels had grown considerably since their plight was highlighted some years ago, approx numbers are 15 -20k in the wild however the sanctuary will of course say that more needs to be done, yada yada. The visit consisted of 2 feeding times, 1 in the AM and the other in the afternoon. The orangs are provided with food and toys to play with whilst a baying crowd of tourists watch them. I was lucky enough to see 2 organutan shaped blobs in the wild and for me this was far more enjoyable than being in the Sepilok environment, however I did of course get some cracking photos at the sanctuary!!
The rafting also deserves a mention as it was most enjoyable, it was a 19KM trip with 9 rapids to maneuver, our guides for the day Mr Bond & Mr Brown assured us that capsizing was extremely rare! It was fitting that on the 1st rapid we flipped over, it took 2 1/2 hours overall from start to finish and 1 chap remarked that was considerably better than he had done both in Thailand and NZ.
So the plan for the next week is as such, in currently in Kuala Lumpur, tomorrow I am scheduled to depart for Cameron Highlands for 2 nights and then finally onto Penang. The plan was then to traverse across Southern Thailand and up to Saraburi, however due to the airline phenomenon that is Air Asia I can fly from Penang to Bangkok for under 60 GBP and do the Thailand traveling later next month once Rob has departed.
Hope everyone is well, speak to you soon
X
written by  Michael Russell on March 7, 2009 from Sepilok, Malaysia

The bright lights of KL
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Had 2 days in which to explore KL and this was probably just about right, as with most of Malaysia, KL is very Westernised and hi-tech.
A visit to KL wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Petronas Towers and the KL Tower, the Petronas Towers are set amongst a fancy shopping mall with all of your favourite designer boutiques and Starbucks a plenty. In fairness to KL it seems to do top-notch shopping malls better than we can. The KL tower boasts wonderful views of the city so a trip at sunset was a must, sadly the dirty glass on the outside of the viewing deck made good pictures almost impossible.
A trip to Chinatown followed the next day & having done Singapore Chinatown the day before there are only so many fake Rolexs and knock off Premier League jerseys that you can stomach before everything becomes much of a muchness. I did however purchase a garish pair of swimming shorts that may go see-through when wet.. you (the loyal reader) will have to wait until Rob gets out before they can be snapped on the islands!
I thought I would end with a quick observation of Malaysia, from what I have seen so far in both Western and Borneo, Malaysian are obsessed with 2 Western products; firstly Premier League football; it seems to cross genders, women as much as men can be seen in football colours and there isn't the macho image of football that we have over here. Secondly, and most bizzarely, is their love of KFC.. the Colonel is cleaning up here! There are the standard MacDs and the occasional BK but the Malays love their KFC, so much so that this was our 'packed lunch' following the rafting in Borneo. In fact Kenny Rogers has his own Rooster joint in KL Chinatown in an attempt to muscle in on the Colonel's territory.
Next stop is Cameron-Highlands for a wee bit of trekking and walking round tea plantations/strawberry farms and apparently Butterfly Gardens!!woo hoo
written by  Michael Russell on March 13, 2009 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tea, Hiking and Banana Bread
Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
Cameron-Highlands is the famous of the Malay hill stations and was founded by the British in the 1930s, it produces the apparently 'famous' Boh Tea, which I'm led to believe you can buy in Harrods/posh foody shops in London.
As is the case with hill stations the temperature is a lot cooler during the day and gets a bit nippy at night, I met a good lad from Northern Ireland on the bus up and we trekked around the town for 2 days happy as larry's. Sadly the weather wasn't so good for the time we were there so activities were limited to a walk in the morning-ish and watching DVDs at the hostel in the avo as the rain came down.
The first day we went for a walk round the main tea factory in CH and went for a hike amongst the tea Plantation, this was then finished off with a cup of afternoon tea and a smuggled-in loaf of excellent banana bread. The 2nd day was slightly more energetic as we went for a walk up to the top of the mountain (1663m ASL) and back through a village of indigenous people.
Next on the itinerary is a quick bus to Penang before my flight to Bangkok on Wednesday. I will upload the Borneo, Singapore and Peninsula Malay photos sometime over the weekend/early next week for you all to see.
written by  Michael Russell on March 17, 2009 from Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Saraburi- Land of Tesco Ladyboys and Heart-throb Westerners
Sara Buri, Thailand
So following a dirt cheap flight from Penang, courtesy of Air Asia .. I have had a week to chillax with my older brother Jon, his girlfriend Ana and her family and of course the latest addition to the Russell family tree, Tobias Napat ... known as Platong (pronounced Batong) to all!
JR i stationed 50 or so clicks north of Bangkok in a town called Saraburi, its roughly 1 hour by bus from BKK. The vibe is very much a relaxing one, despite the presence of a 5 month old baby! It is obligatory to take a nap at some point in the day, which is fine by me, and there is also an abundance of quality thai food due to the family running a restaurant/snack bar at the end of the drive-way!
Highlights of this week include being served buns by a ladyboy, aged 50 odd, in Tesco Lotus; a 2 day trip to Bangkok to sample the Khao San Road and the Grand Palace; and most importantly my new found fame as the Nick Berry of Saraburi, I feel obliged to discuss the last point in detail. As Saraburi isn't on the tourist trail so farangs are a novelty item. When I arrived there was a welcoming party of a few local young ladies, one of whom, Nue, has taken a bit of a fancy to me and has brought me rice cakes, offered to teach me Thai and has said that I am 'very handsome' - to be fair to Nue, she fancied my brother when he turned up and also some other doctors that were in town but she clearly has immaculate taste in men.
So the plan is to chill out until Wednesday as my parents have just arrived for a fortnight stay, then meeting up with Rob in Bangkok followed by some Full Moon fun on Ko Pha Ngan until 12th April.
written by  Michael Russell on March 27, 2009 from Sara Buri, Thailand

Burmese Days - Yangon
Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)
Its been a while since the last update, so im just gunna update the blog with the places I've been with a snapshot of scenes that were generated there
[[Myanmar-(Burma)/Yangon]] - colonial capital of Burma/Myanmar - when we rocked out in the 1960s the Burmese decided not to bother with maintanence of the city and as such the city is a wonderful city of old buildings and rundown streets. It appears however that the junta has plenty of bunce to spend on nice pagodas.. the Sole pagoda is the heart of the city centre and the Shwedagon pagoda overlooks the city and is truly beautiful at night.. (see facebook) - The Shwedagon has a 76 carat diamond at the top of the umbrella!Impressive stuff!
written by  Michael Russell on April 21, 2009 from Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)

Inle Lake - Home to Aung San Suu Kyi
Nyaungshwe, Myanmar (Burma)
I forget to mention during the last blog entry that I had meet up with an English lad whilst applying for my visa in Bangkok and luckily our flight dates matched up so we decided to hit the sights of Burmese together...
The Lake was slightly dissapointing, especially as it took 17 hours on a nasty bus to get there.. as it was low season there were very few tourists and we ended up being hearded round market stalls and shops on our day on the lake.
Highlights included visiting a monestry where the monks have taught cats to jump through hoops in the air & fisherman rowing with their legs
written by  Michael Russell on April 25, 2009 from Nyaungshwe, Myanmar (Burma)

Teakbridges & Burma's Next Top Make-Up Artist - Mandalay Madness
Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma)
Mandalay - the former capital of Burma was reached following another horrible bumpy journey from Inle Lake..
The stay in Mandalay was only 2 days which included a trip to Mandalay Hill where we meet a Burmese chap rather keen to practice his English, topics included the political movement in Burma and the promiscuity of Burmese women. The view was breathtaking from the top and included a view of the State prison which was quite sobering.
The 2nd day included a visit to the worlds longest teak bridge where Mark and I got 'made-up' Burmese style by a talented young local girl - the teak bridge was up there with the best of the things I have seen so far..
Next stop the 12th Century ruins of Bagan...
xx
written by  Michael Russell on May 1, 2009 from Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma)

Pagoda, Pagoda, Pagoda - Bagan
Taungtha, Myanmar (Burma)
The final destination on the Burma voyage was a 3 day trip to the 12th Century ruins of Bagan, think Angkor Wat but without so much of the tourist parafinala.
The ruins were plentiful & very beautiful.. sadly the only down side was the weather... with temperatures at 42C in the shade getting around by the preferred course (bicycle) was pretty tiring, hard still were the bikes themselves, as I had 3 flat tires out of 4 bikes.
The pagodas were extremely beautiful and almost untouched by tourists, there were too many to pick a favourite but a favourite moment was messing around with local kids on the top of one of the more famous pagodas during sunset. One of the plus points of Bagan was interaction with local kids... they are always looking to practise their English and very keen to flog an array of postcards and paintings.
After 2 half-days of sightseeing Mark and I decided to chill-ax by our hotel swimming pool all day as we felt we had earnt our break, that evening we bumped into a local we had met at one of the pagodas the previous day and were invited to a local coffee house to watch some English football, it was certainly a good way to finish the Burmese trip....
For anyone that is thinking of visiting Burma I would say go for it as the beer is ridiculously cheap, we mananged to buy a beer for 25 US cents and the sights to see are top notch.
Coming up next is Laos, where we currently are, Emilia will be joint-blogging to ease the burden for me.. woo hoo!
written by  Michael Russell on May 3, 2009 from Taungtha, Myanmar (Burma)

Ziplines & General Monkey Business
Houay Ne, Laos
Houay Xai
We managed to get across the Thai/Laos border without much fan fare, just the usual falang (foreigner) prices applying!
Houay Xai is a sleepy small town, well really it just had one street, so it is a town in the loosest of terms. We were staying here as we were heading off the much anticipated Gibbon Experience!
Gibbon Experience
The idea of the Gibbon experience is an all adventure 3 days and two nights of trekking, staying in tree houses, zipping across the tree canopies on cables and as the name suggests Gibbon Monkey spotting. We managed about 2 and a half of these and had a lot of Leeches thrown in for good measure. The trekking was pretty strenuous in the heat and humidity, the zip lining was lots of fun, queue some Attenborough worthy jungle shots. Some bad luck and bad breaking skills led Emilia to jar her leg on the first day while zip lining into a tree house. The guides version of medical assistance was to create a stick out of bamboo, then proceed to trek for a further 3 hours.
All in all, it was good fun but we still carry the scars from the experience with some leech bites and Emilia still a cripple! We also failed in the main aim and didn’t see any gibbons!!
written by  Michael Russell on June 4, 2009 from Houay Ne, Laos

Another Crepe please ....
Luang Prabang, Laos
No stop on the trip following a nasty bus ride was Luang Prabang. LP is a lovely little town perched it a couple of thousand metres above see level, thus it avoids the high humidity that the low lying areas of Laos are subject to.
As with all tourist destinations in Laos it sits next to the Mekong River and there are some lovely views to be had of the said river.
Laos was colonised by the French before independence in the 1950s and they have left a legacy of crepes, baguettes but sadly they were rubbish conoloisers as they forget to sort out roads. LP was probably the highlight of Laos for both of us as the vibe was very laid back and the scenary very beautiful. We had probably our best meal so far in LP which consisted of a BBQ fish on a stick for $2!We also invested in our best travelling purchase so far... a chess board.. Sadly Emilia is up 2-0 in our series but there is enough time for me to stage a come back.. any chess moves/tips please send them to my email as I need some help!
Next stop tubing in the Vang Vieng
written by  Michael Russell on June 5, 2009 from Luang Prabang, Laos

Tubing in the Vang Vieng
Vang Vieng, Laos
Tubing in the Vang Vieng was something that everyone in Laos talks about and buys that flipping awful t-shirt.. anyone that has spent 1/2 a day in Bangkok will know the one... so VV was something that had to be done.
Em and I werent exactly sure what to expect, the rough outline that we could gather was that you hired a tubing ring from the town and then you were carted via tuk-tuk some 4 kms up the Mekong River where there were plenty of bars serving all sorts of booze (buckets, beers, 'happy' shakes) etc, much like a Ko Pha Ngan of Laos.
We hired our rings and set off just after lunch and meet a couple of chaps on the way up who like us had never done it before. The first bar that you come to can best be described as a playground for 18-19 year old British kids playing the generic dance music that plagues the Thai Islands. There are ropes and slides and zip-lines and all sorts of shenangines going on, there would only have been a couple 100 people in this bar as it is low season so god knows would peak season with a couple of 1000 people would be like.
The first bar had a very high trapeeze line running over the river which looked kinda fun to do... so I manned up and gave it a go. I got to the top and suddenly realised just how high it was, I let go at the top of the arch of the line and realised just how high I was.. I kicked my legs Jackie Chan style and hit the water a couple of seconds after I thought I should have done.. ie was a lot higher than I thought. I got back to our table and an Argentine girl fancied a go so I went with her to the top.. she managed to face plant off the line and reckoned she cracked a few ribs...
The next 4 hours involved more tubing and sliding and a beer or 2 on the way down... next stop 4000 Islands and Don Det
written by  Michael Russell on June 7, 2009 from Vang Vieng, Laos

Don Det
Champasak, Laos
Following Vang Vieng we had 1 nights stay in Vientiane in which we visited COPE, a centre dedicated to providing prosthetic limbs for Laotians who lost limbs during the secret bombing of Laos during the Vietnam war. From Vientiane was a sleeper bus overnight to 4000 Islands in Southern Laos, next to the Cambodian border.
The 3 main islands are Don Khong, Don Khon and Don Det.. Em and I choose to stay on the quieter island of Don Det which has electricity from only 6pm - 10pm... the 5 days that we spent on DD were recuperation for Emilia, still suffering from the knee injury sustained on the Gibbon experience. Highlight of the days were watching the FA Cup final with some local chaps and a day of biking riding around Don Khon including a visit to a waterfall and a swim in the river.
Cambodia is next on the hit list.
written by  Michael Russell on June 8, 2009 from Champasak, Laos

Phnom Penh and pyjama'd grown-ups
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Following our departure from 4000 Islands we had the border crossing with Cambodia to negotiate involving the usual bribing of border police for entry/exit fees for stamps your passport.. Em and I both managed to avoid paying their fees following our pleads of poverty.
We made our way into the capital city Phnom Penh over the course of 3 days stopping in the Riverside towns of Stung Treng and Kratie... bizarrely the Cambodians seem to love wearing their pyjamas around town and on bus... there was even a kid 7-8 years old with no trousers on.. so his circumcised penis was on display for the whole of the bus to see..
Phnom Penh itself is a somewhat manic city, lots of tuk-tuk drivers everywhere and lots of motor bikes on the roads. Em and I made the usual tourist trips to the markets and interesting to the former prision of S-21 where the Khmer Rouge tortured & murdered unwanted elements during their rule in the 1970s, this was pretty chilling as the holding cells have been left exactly as they were found in 1979 including some of the crude instruments of torture that we used. We decided to skip out a visit to the Killing Fields were most of the dead were buried.
Next stop is 3 days of temple visiting in Siem Reap.
written by  Michael Russell on June 9, 2009 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Totally Templed out...
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Siem Reap is the setting for Cambodia most famous monument.. Angkor Wat, the series of temples build in the 14th century. The town has dveloped into a nice spot much in the way of Luang Prabang in Laos. There are nice coffee houses and patisseries as well as a nice vibe in the town itself with locals mixing in with tourists, however as it attracts budget tourists and those on package tours it is quite a bit more expensive than LP.
In order to visit the temples you must pay a slightly steep charge of $20 for 1 day or $40 for 3 days, Em and I decided early on that the best plan was 3 days of cycling round the temples and ruins. Our hostel was roughly 6 km outside of the temples and then arriving in the area was roughly a 15 km cycle around, so we managed to clock up 60odd kms for our 3 days. The 2 most famous temples of the area are Angkor Wat and Angkor Prohm (the 1 where the trees have grown in/around the temple). We decided to take our 3 days very easily and did 3-4 hours of sightseeing in the morning for the first 2 days and then a Sunrise on our final day, sadly the Sunrise was cloudy so was a bit of waste of time really.
That takes us back up to date now, we are curently back in Phnom Penh, we have our Vietnamese visas ready and will be booking a bus for Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City for Monday morning. We have 1 month in Vietnam moving from HCMC up along the coast through Na Trang,then a couple of days in Ha Long Bay finishing up in Hanoi before heading across to South-West China.
Hope everyone is well... we will try and update Facebook with some photos of Laos and Cambodia
written by  Michael Russell on June 13, 2009 from Siem Reap, Cambodia

Saigon Story
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Saigon
Woo hoo! We are finally in Vietnam ! Although we have enjoyed both Laos and Cambodia there was always the sense of the adventure begins in Vietnam . Saigon or HCMC or Ho Chi Minh City is far more built up and advanced than you would imagine given its history. It is much more akin to Bangkok than to its neighboring capitals of Phnom Penh and Vientienne. Think lots of people, big buildings, flashing lights and even more motos. The city definitely has a buzz about it.
We spent much of our time here firstly finding out about all the gruesome aspects of the war and waiting for a Chinese Visas. The definite highlight would have to be our day visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels. For those not in the know, these were tunnels built by the Viet Con during the Vietnam/American War in a town outside Saigon called Cu Chi. They were used as an under ground network for living and fighting the Americans. We had a wee wander in one of the tunnels that the Viet Cong used to live in and it was cramped to say the least & also inhabited by the odd bat or 2. Included in the package of the tunnels was a trip to a shooting range where, for about US$25 we got the chance to share a clip of an AK47.. pics are on facebook and I will try and upload the video with sound of Em firing hers.
Next stop is the jam making/wine making mountain town of Dalat
written by  Michael Russell on June 15, 2009 from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Dalat - A taste of the mountains
Da Lat, Vietnam
Dalat
As with any country in SE Asia anywhere up in the mountains will usually attract a fair crowd of travellers purely on the basis that it lacks humidity and has nice and cool evenings, Dalat certainly has this and more...
Dalat is reminiscent of a quiet town in the Alps and is the centre of Vietnam's wine/fruit/jam industry. Emilia and I eventually sampled a tipple of the local red and white wines and have to say that for an amateurs palate it wasnee half bad, ie.. if it was 2 for a fiver down the local off-license then I would quite easily neck the 2 bottles prior to a uni night out (cough, cough .. not looking at you Ben!)
The couple of days in Dalat mostly involved cycling around the local countryside and flying kites! We had coffee with some nice Vietnamese construction workers who didnt speak a word of English.. I even threatened to bring out some old-skool Francais.
Next stop the seaside city of [[Vietnam/Nha-Trang]]
written by  Michael Russell on June 17, 2009 from Da Lat, Vietnam

Dalat - A taste of the mountains
Da Lat, Vietnam
Dalat
As with any country in SE Asia anywhere up in the mountains will usually attract a fair crowd of travelers purely on the basis that it lacks humidity and has nice and cool evenings, Dalat certainly has this and more...
Dalat is reminiscent of a quiet town in the Alps and is the centre of Vietnam's wine/fruit/jam industry. Emilia and I eventually sampled a tipple of the local red and white wines and have to say that for an amateurs palate it wasnee half bad, ie.. if it was 2 for a fiver down the local off-license then I would quite easily neck the 2 bottles prior to a uni night out (cough, cough .. not looking at you Ben!)
The couple of days in Dalat mostly involved cycling around the local countryside and flying kites! We had coffee with some nice Vietnamese construction workers who didn't speak a word of English.. times were so desperate I even considered cracking out some old-skool Francais.
Next stop the seaside city of [[Vietnam/Nha-Trang]]
written by  Michael Russell on June 17, 2009 from Da Lat, Vietnam

Adventures of Captain Haddock
Nha Trang, Vietnam
[[Vietnam/Nha-Trang]]
The seaside city of [[Vietnam/Nha-Trang]] is arguably Vietnam's most popular resort, the beach is long, sandy but sadly not is great condition.. lots of rubbish and fag butts.. I managed to find a house brick and a broom during a recky in the sea.
The highlight of [[Vietnam/Nha-Trang]] was the fishing/snorkeling day trip that we booked, the boat was sadly not the vessel that we were expecting.. apparently a Mr Abrahmovic had made a late minute booking on our little lady, so instead an alternate was sent. The boat was semi decent but didn't stop me feeling a tad queezy.. happily 2 Saigon Exports before 9am soon had me sound and settled.
The plan was to spend the day alternately fishing and snorkeling, the snorkeling was pretty poor compared to what we had both done before (Thai Islands and Great Barrier Reef) - so the fishing took on extra importance. By midday is wasn't looking good, the plan to have caught our own lunch had failed.. as we glumly tucked into our chicken baguettes (good bread though) we thought positive and the fish duly arrived. Final tally was 4 to Emilia (including 1 poisonous fish, either a plus/minus point depends on which way you look at it) and 2 for Russ. A fun day was had by all!
Another excursion was to a natural mud-bath/hot Spring which was fairly decent.. worth it for observing the antics of Vietnamese tourists.. a funny bunch.
Next stop the village of Hoi An and time for tailored suits and dresses.
written by  Michael Russell on June 20, 2009 from Nha Trang, Vietnam

Bakers and Tailors and CandleStick Makers - Hoi An
Hoi An, Vietnam
Finally Some Shopping!!
What Russ has been waiting for the whole trip, a place to flex his shopping muscles! Hoi An is a lovely little coastal town situated north of Na Trang, it has a lot of Chinese and French influences but is mostly famed for it's over night tailors.
Our first and most important stop was picking the right tailor, this ended up being a bit of a stab in the dark, there are about a million to chose from. As fate would have it we met a lovely young gentleman when we first arrived off the bus while having coffee, he ended up helping us order coffee, find a guest house and a tailor, a job well done.
Having a suit made in Vietnam is a bit of different experience from that one might expect in Saville Rowe, they firstly give you several different versions of the Next catalog to sift through, they then just repeatedly state that they know what you want even before you have told them. This ensured we had to make at least 4 repeat visits for adjustments. All in all I wish we had some empty suitcases to fill with tailor made attire!
Hoi An itself, is a lovely little town complete with quaint streets and buildings, a real highlight was finding the local bakery, which we frequented each day filling up on toasty warm fresh out of the oven bread. mmmmmm
written by  Michael Russell on June 27, 2009 from Hoi An, Vietnam

Shameless Birthday Plug - Hue
Hue, Vietnam
Hue was the last stop before Hanoi on our Vietnam trip and also the town in which I celebrated my quarter century b'day.
Hue was the capital of the Vietnamese royal family in the 19th Century and as such has a royal citadel within another citadel in the town.
Our 2 days spent in Hue involved lots of walking in and out of the citadel in blistering heat, no change from the norm here.... The b'day meal was a lovely French restaurant where we both indulged in steak and Vietnamese red wine... very tasty..
Next stop Hanoi and a nasty overnight bus ride.
written by  Michael Russell on July 2, 2009 from Hue, Vietnam

Beautiful Ha Long Bay
Cat Ba, Vietnam
Halong Bay
So we have reached one of the stand out highlights of the trip! Ever since the infamous Top Gear moment of drinking G&T's from a floating village while the sun was setting; we have been looking forward to this! Halong bay is a gorgeous area off the north east coast of Vietnam, it consists of around 1000 limestone islands which protrude out of the sea. It seemed fitting for such a location to treat ourselves and splash out on a gorgeous boat for sailing the ocean seas. I have to say we were not disappointed!
After lots of internet searches and shopping around, we settled on the Columbus Cruise, we even received a nice free upgrade Surprise. Our boat consisted of 3 levels, rooms on the lower deck, restaurant on the middle and an amazing open air top deck complete with beds and sun loungers! This is definitely an occasion where pictures paint a thousand words. The bay itself is amazing, we had perfect sunny weather which helps. There were lots of picturesque scenes, including, caves, floating fishing villages and kayaking around the islands.
Before finishing off this entry I have to mention the food! We spent 3 days gorging ourselves! Each meal was like an endless procession of dishes! I think the average was about 10. One night we even had a FREE birthday Surprise cake for Mr Michael Russell and some champagne thrown in for good measure!Hurrah!
written by  Michael Russell on July 5, 2009 from Cat Ba, Vietnam