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

Why do lots of women in Bangkok have adams apples?

Hello all and welcome to the latest installment of my blog. I am currently writing to you from Luang Prabang in Northern Laos, which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful towns in the entire of South-East Asia.

The town sitting in the forest covered mountains of Northern Laos and lieing on the Mekong river, the natural setting is undoubtedly stunning. However it is not just the natural setting, the town is a French colonial jewel, and the town blends perfectly it's natural beauty and it's buddhist and French architecture.

However it is not just Luang Prabang in Laos that is beautiful. I have been generally impressed with this stunning country, which is a pleasant change from the hectic lifestyle of Japan and Thailand. Laos is how I imagine Thailand was 30 years ago, before all the development began. In Laos there is a feeling of true South-East Asian culture that is lacking in the tourist fronts that exist in Thailand.

This is not to say that I disliked Thailand, in fact my time in Bangkok and Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) was very enjoyable, but it is a different kind of fun. In Laos I am enjoying the culture, in Thailand I loved the nightlife. Whether in Chiang Mai, or Bangkok I rarely got it before sunrise and I doubt this will change when i return to Thailand in a few weeks for the Full Moon Party.

However I best go as I am heading out to try some of the spectacular Laon (I think that's right) cuisine. Tomorrow I head into Vietnamwhere I will spend a couple of weeks before heading into Cambodia.

I will speak to you all soon.

Phil

Gaijin Smash!

Hello all, and welcome to the latest installment of my blog. I am now in Bangkok having arrived in Thailand a couple of days ago following just over a week in Japan.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent in Japan, which I would say is probably the country with the most unique culture that I have ever visited. As a people they exceptionally reserved (almost frustratingly so) and even in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo nobody seems to rush anywhere. The other thing is that they have a huge number of cultural norms which you are supposed to follow, and everybody does this without question. For example you could be at a set of traffic lights at 4 in the morning where there wasn't a car on the road, and people would not cross unless the pedestrian light was showing. This is just one thing of hundreds, and from speaking to traveller's i discovered that many merely did not abide by any as it was easier to do none and just be dismissed as a foreigner that didn't know any better. the term used in Japan is gaijin, and led to the phrase being coined by backpackers in the country 'gaijijn smash' which is effectively where you just do what you want and get away with it because the Japanese generally find it more funny these days apparently as your a foreigner that doesn't know any better (although I did make sure I followed all the religious rites).

Anyway aside from culturally offending an entire nation I spent my week in Japan in Tokyo and Kyoto. Tokyo was a crazy city with everything going on at all times, however I far preferred Kyoto. The city is far prettier with beautiful shrines everywhere and geishas walking the streets. The town also has great nightlife, and every night i was there i was out until at least 7 in the morning including hitting up many karaoke bars (worryingly it turns out that my best karaoke number is the Backstreet Boys' 'I Want it That Way).

Anyway that is all for now as I have to head to Bangkok train station to catch a train to Chiang Mai in the North.

I will update you all on my progress soon.

Phil

Hollywood!

Hello everybody and welcome once again to the latest installment of my blog. Yet again I have not posted for a while, however this is due to the fact that I have been exceptionally busy over the last few weeks and have not had the time to sit around and post.

I am currently writing this from my hostel in Tokyo Japan. I have bid farewell to the America`s and yesterday I arrived on Asian soil. I will be here for just over a week before I head to Thailand. I think the shortness of my stay in Japan is a wise choice. Not because i do not like it, in fact today has been fascinating, but because it is extortionately expensive. I have spent all today walking around Tokyo, starting early in the morning at the Tokyo fish market where I had a sushi breakfast whilst wandering around. It seems that the Japanese are the French of the sea, they eat anything that swims. My sushi/sashimi breakfast included salmon eggs, which was interesting to　say the least. The food here is great, if unusual. Last night I had octopus and noodle soup, although how I was supposed to eat the soup itself with the chopsticks i`m still trying to work out.

Anyway since I have last posted I have actually spent the bulk of my time in Mexico and the United States. The rest of my time in Mexico was fairly enjoyable, I spent around a week exploring the countryside around the Copper Canyon and found it very relaxing. It was also nice to get away from the hectic surroundings of Mexico City and into a true wilderness.

Following my time in the Copper Canyon I decided to head straight up to the US. The first stop was San Diego where I stayed for a couple of days. San Diego in actual fact suprised me a little. Despite having relatively little for a backpacker to do in the day apart from going to the beach, it had a great nightlife. The Gas Lamp Quarter in particular was really fun and seemed to have a lot going on every evening, although it is a slight pity that all clubs had to close before 2.

Now following San Diego, my next stop was LA where I was set to fly out to Japan. I was looking forward to LA because a friend, Neil, who I met in Columbia and travelled with for a for a few weeks had invited me to stay with him whilst I was in LA. This was great for 2 reasons, firstly I got on really well with Neil and was looking forward to a few nights out, and secondly it saved me the cost of accomodation for the 5 days I was staying. However I did not know how lucky I had got.

Now I was wondering where Neil was staying in LA. Neil is in fact from the UK and had told me that he was going to be in Austin, Texas for the next couple of months working on a film (he works as a production assistant), so when he told me he was actually working in LA I was suprised. I kind of knew that I had struck it　lucky when I was picked up in a Porsche by Neil`s friend who was also named Neil (i`ll call him by his surname Mandt in order not to make this ridiculously confusing). Now on the drive back to his house he informed me that Neil were old friends who had met travelling about 8 years before and that Neil was now living in his house and working for him. Mandt as it turned out is a very succesful Hollywood TV producer and director who owns his own production company and has directed a number of independent films. He told me that he was more than happy for me to crash in his guest house at his place in the Hollywood hills as he was always willing to help a traveller out and because I was a friend of Neil`s. I still find it almost hard to believe. His place was amazing and quickly made up for all the cockroach-riden hotels i`ve stayed in over the last 6 months.

However that was not all. On the second night I was in LA Mandt invited me along to a party at one of his friends places. This party was as it turned out was in the most ridiculous house I have ever seen. The party was great even if I did not really fit in due to the fact that I was neither an exceptionally attractive girl who worked as an actress/??? or an exceptionally wealthy man. That being said the party was great and I attracted quite a lot of attention, if only for being the only man there under the age of 25.... they probably thought I was an actor, or model.

The rest of the time was fairly chilled

Anyway I best be off, I should be heading out in Tokyo soon.

Speak to you all soon

Phil

Speak to you all soon

Mexican Midget Wrestling!

Hello everybody and welcome to the latest installment of my blog. I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in the small town of Creel situated on the Copper Canyon railway in Northern Mexico.

To be honest i'm not a massive fan of the town thus far; it is a bit of a hole and everybody is just trying to sell you things at ridiculous prices. But at least I suppose that I have not come here for the town, but for the surrounding countryside, which I intend on exploring tomorrow. This should make a nice change of pace from the last week which I have spent predominantly in Mexico City with a brief stop of in Chihuahua in Northern Mexico in order to catch the train. Before that I also spent a day exploring the spectacular ruins at Palenque.

Let's start at the beginning. Following my departure from Belize, my first stop off was at the Maya archeological site of Palenque. This was undoubtedly a beautful architectural site and was far easier to explore than Tikal, primarily because i visited on a sunny day as opposed to attempting to look around in a minor hurracaine. The site itself is vast and it's positions in a rainforest full of waterfalls and streams makes it a pleasure to look around.

Following my time in Palenque I decided that instead of spending time on the beach as I had previously planned, I instead decided to head straight for Mexico City. This was largely down to the fact that I have spent a rather large amount of time on the beach recently, and also because I have looked at the prices of Mexican beach resorts at present and it wasn't particularly financially logical. I am however very happy I made this decision as it enabled me to spend more time in Mexico City, which is undoubtedly one of my favourite cities of the trip so far. Aside from the great night life which I experienced in full, I also had a chance to look around the Frida Museum, see Trotsky's final home, visit the Inca ruins at at Teotihuacan (including getting to climb the world's 3rd largest pyramid) and go and see a Mexican wrestling (Lucha Libre) event.
THe wrestling was undoubtedly one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life, particulalry when a midget (above) wrestled a six foot man. You know you shouldn't be laughing, but you cannot really help it.

Anyway i am being asked to leave this internet cafe, so I better go.

I will speak to you all soon

Phil