Can you get tired of paradise?

Hello all and welcome to the latest installment of my blog. I apologise for the delay since my last installment, but despite a brief period of time in Kuala Lumpur to submit my request for an Indian Visa I have spent all my time on islands off of the east coast of Malaysia and Thailand. This has been great, but unfortunately internet access is expensive and unreliable, so I have not had the chance to update my blog. Even for this update I have had to steal a photo off the computer as it would not upload any of mine (hence why it is fairly rubish). but it should give you an idea of what the place I am staying looks like as it was taken here. I am currently in Pulau Perentian off the East coast of Malaysia. I should be here till Friday, and then I am heading down to the Malay rainforest at Taman Negara.

As I have said I have effectively spent my last 3 weeks on Thai and Malaysian islands. First stop was Ko Phangnan where I stopped for around a week, chilling out on the perfect Haad Yuan, a beach only accessible by boat, with no road connections. This meant that I had a beautifully undeveloped beach to chill out on in the day, before taking in the nightlife just a short boat ride away on Haad Rin. This nightlife included the infamous Full Moon Party, which was a great night of fun and excesive drinking, as were the previous few nights.

Next stop was just a short boat journeyh from Ko Phangnan to Ko Tao, the diving capital of Thailand. Here I spent a few days diving in the beautifully clear water of the Thai islands. I also had a chance to get my advanced diving licence, getting to do some deep dives and a night dive. The night dive was a fairly stange experience, but great fun and very interesting, geting to see fish sleep.

I then headed onto Malaysia, firstly to Kuala Lumpur and then onto the Perentian Islands. However I will have to cut this installment short as the islands electricity has gone out and the generator will only run the internet for a few minutes, so the computers are being turned off.

I will speak to you all soon

Phil

A bit or a rant

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest installment of my blog. I am back in Thailand having spent the last couple of weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia. I am currently sitting in an internet cafe on Haad Yuan a perfect beach on the east coast of Ko Phangan. I stayed here four years ago when I was in Thailand and had an amazing time, and I am glad to say that little has changed. There are no roads to the rest of the island as the beach is surrounded by mountains and the only way to get to the beach is by boat. It is also perfectly located as it is only a 5 minute boat ride from Haad Rin, the beach at the core of the island's famous 'Full Moon Party' which I will be attending later in the week. But until then I will just have to relax on the beach, or enjoy the view from the balcony of my 3 pound a night beach hut.

I have been very busy over the last couple of weeks and will be nice to relax on the beach for a bit. Since my last post I have spent the majority of my time travelling through Vietnam. Vietnam was an interesting country to visit; at times fascinating, but more often than not frustrating. Before Vietnam there had not been a country on this trip that I had disliked. I had bad experiences in Venezuela, but I enjoyed my time in the little fishing village of Santa Fe and in the South of the country. However I disliked Vietnam. It is not the setting, the limestone cliffs of Halong Bay are beautiful, the colonial town of Hoi An has some attractive architecture and beers are 10p at the 'Bia Hoi's' in the frantic cities of Hanoi and Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). But the thing that ultimately led to my dislike for Vietnam was the people.

Travelling around Vietnam you are constantly confronted by the image of 'Uncle Ho'. There is a picture of him in every house and shop, there are bill boards up throughout the cities and countryside and he's on the currency. In many ways then it is a pity that his influence is little felt. Don't get me wrong, i'm no Marxist, however I find it somewhat ironic that the country that fought and won one of the most iconic wars of the 20th century in a bid to be free from capitalism (and thus greed) by installing a communist government is the home of by far the greediest, selfish people I have ever encountered. Admitedly the country is no longer communist, but the lasting effects are felt, and it seems that 'equality' leads to greed. Everyone is trying to sell you something, and will follow you pestering you until you purchase it. The Vietnamese also expect you to pay 10 times what the locals pay, and when you refuse they become insulted 'because you can afford it'. One taxi driver decidded to change the price of my taxi from the original 10 dollars he quoted from the airport to 100 dollars. This came at a point when I was already frustrated with Vietnam, so I just got out of the car and walked off. The guy got out of his car to try and stop me, but being from Vietnam his diminutive stature was not particularly intimidating (he was about 5 foot tall) and his push was 'the straw that broke the camels back' so to speak, which resulted in me throwing him to the ground and him retreating back to his taxi. So I guess I got a free taxi out of it. My Australian hostel owner even gave me a free beer when I told him telling me I did the right thing as he'll think twice next time.

My theory about what causes this attitude towards foreigners from the Vietnamese is a feeling in the country that we should make up for past injustices. Seeing a 'documentary' on the Vietnam war whilst visiting the Vietcong tunnels was frankly hilarious. The best way I can sum it up is to compare it to the scene in Team America where the Film Actors Guild (FAG) are talking about Iraq before America: 'Iraq was a happy place before the Americans arrived where the children danced under rainbows with their gumdrop smiles'. They then go on to talk about how disgusting the weapomry used by the US was before glorifying their own weapons which are nearly equally as bad. Sorry about that, i'll end my rant there.

Fortunately Cambodia was a far more enjoyable experience. The people were friendly, not overly pushy and talked to you with a smile on their face. The ruins at Ankor What were aslo one of the most spectacular archeological sites Ihave seen on this trip (no mean feat).

Anyway I best be off, as I have some relaxing to do.

I will speak to you all soon, hopefully reporting more enjoyable experiences.

Phil