Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! - Vesele Vanoce a Stastny Novy Rok

Hope you all had a great christmas and all the best for the new year! We spent our xmas riding an elephant, white water rafting and cooking yummy thai food in Chiang Mai and we are now about to get boat to Koh Phangan for the mother of all new year parties.


Doufame, ze jste vsichni prozili krasne Vanoce a budete mit hodne stesti v Novem roce! Nas na Vanoce vitr odvlal do Chiang Mai, kde jsme se svezli po rece na raftu, povozili se na slonu a absolvovali Thajsky kurz vareni. Ted se nachazime na jihu Thajska, chystame na ostrov Koh Phangan, kde stravime prichod Noveho roku na jedne z vyhlasenych "Party za uplnku".

Vietnam, Beautiful Halong Bay & Stunning Sapa aneb Nashledanou Vietname

After our delay, the flight was pretty painless, we had already booked our accomodation and a 3 day trip to Halong starting the following morning. We checked into our lovely room just after mid night, which had everything except windows and after one of the comfiest nights sleep yet it was off to Halong Bay on a 3 hour mini bus journey. When we arrived, we were filtered out onto our various boats and once we got going we were served a nice seafood lunch.

Po priletu do Hanoje s par hodinovym zpozdenim jsme se neco malo po pulnoci ubytovali v hotelovem pokoji, ktery mel uplne vse krome okna. Ale to nam moc nevadilo, protoze postel byla jedna z nejpohodlnejsich, v ktere jsme asi doposud spali a hned rano nas cekal 3 denni vylet do Halong Zatoky. Po snidani jsme byli vyzvednuti a mini autobus nas za 3 hodiny dovezl na misto urcene. Tam jsme byli rozdeleni do skupin a lodi, podle toho jaky vylet si kdo zvolil. Hned po tom, co lod zvedla kotvu jsme byli posazeni ve skupinkach ke stolu a byl nam servirovan obed.

After lunch we took in some sun and the beauty of the bay from the roof of the boat and got to know a few of our fellow boat trippers. After a couple of hour we stopped off at a large cave and an area for kayaking, it was at this point we came up with the cunning plan to buy vodka on the floating markets that were around the caves. We smuggled it back onboard (this was all due to the near criminal prices of dink aboard the boat) and after dinner got stuck into some drinking games . . . which led to karaoke . . . which led to serious hangover in morning (great night though).

Po obede jsme se vysplhali na horni palubu lodi. Nasat trosku Slunicka, seznamit se s lidma na lodi a kochat se krasami Halong. Po nejake dobe jsme zakotvili a navstivili zdejsi jeskyni a po nejake chvili jsme zakotvili znovu, abychom si mohli pujcit kajak a trochu se projet. V te dobe uz jsme meli v hlave plan, jak propasovat na palubu lahev vodky (udelali jsme to jen proto, ze ceny na palube byli nekrestansky vysoke a jako batuzkari mame urcity rozpocet), ktera byla hodne uzitecna pozdeji pri hrani pici karetni hre, coz vedlo ke karaoke a coz vedlo pozdeji rano i k dalsi cestovni opicce.


The next day we had some trekking to do on Cat Ba Island, and let me tell you, its not easy when you sweat cheap hanoi vodka. But we all got through it and it was a really nice day including a climb up one of the dodgiest looking watch towers i have ever seen but with stunning views as a reward. The afternoon we were dropped at our hotel on Cat Ba and had the rest of the day/evening free. We got settled and took a little walk around before getting ready for the evening. After a lovely dinner our guide picked us up and took us to "the place to be" in Cat Ba. Need i go into details? After the cocktails started flowing, it was hard to get Veronika away from the karaoke.The next morning was the same story as the morning before, except hangover worse for Veronika this time. We made our way back to the mainland, taking in final couple hours of the brilliant Halong Bay back on our spot on the roof of the boat and then before we new it we were whisked back to Hanoi.

Dalsi den nas cekal maly vyslap na Cat Ba ostrove, a reknu vam, neni jednoduche se plahocit do kopce, zatimco ze sebe potite Hanoj Vodku. Ale vsichni to zvladli bez vetsich potizi a rozhled z velmi, ne zrovna nejbezpecnejsi rozhledny, byl prekrasny. Potom jsme byli odvezeni do hotelu, kde jsme meli volne odpoledne. Chvilku jsme pospali a pak se sli projit kolem mestecka. Po moc dobre veceri nas nas pruvodce zavedl do maleho baru, kde meli dobry vyber alkoholickych koktejlu. Podle Peteovych slov v jeho odstavci, pry nebylo jednoduche me odtrhnout od karaoke mikrofonu. Rano, tak jak uz to byva, nebylo tak vesele a usmevave jako predesla noc. Celou cestu na zpet jsme prospali na horni palube lodi, pak poobedvali v blizke restauraci v pristavu a nez se nadali, byli jsme na ceste zpet do Hanoje.

We spent the next couple of days exploring the maze of streets around Hanoi and running travelling errands, arranging Thai tourist visa from the embassy, flight to Laos, trip to sapa, then in between, we had the worlds cheapest beer from Bia Hoi juction (3000VND = 10p) and saw a traditional water puppet show. Trying to find the puppet show was stressful but turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip so far. I walked on down the street with a map only to turn back see veronika asking for help from a local security guard. The scene was priceless, Veronika acting out with full on arm movements how she would imagine the puppet moving and the guy looking back at her with an almost scared look, not sure i've ever seen anything funnier.

Dalsich par dni jsme stravili v Hanoji, prochazenim ulic pripominajici bludiste, vyrizovanim Thajskych viz, zakoupenim letenek do Laosu a vyletu do Sapy a take jsme zabrousili do ulice Bia Hoi, kde se prodava asi svetove nejlevnejsi pivo za 3Kc, ktere dokonce i dobre chutna. Jedno odpoledne jsme si vyhradili pro shlednuti loutkoveho vodniho divadla. Asi po hodine bloudeni a naze najit divadlo jsem se rozhodla vzit situaci do svych rukou a oslovila jsem vietnamskeho bezpecnostniho strazce, ktery mi prikyvnul, na otazku, zda mluvi anglicky. Tak se ptam, jestli vi, kde je loutkove divadlo. On na me hledi, coz me nechalo na vazkach jestli opravdu anglicky mluvi. Kdyz to neslo slovne, rikam si zkusim to jinak a zacala jsem mu ukazovat jak je ta loutka asi vysoka a jak vypada, kdyz ji taha za provazky. Kdyz se otocim, vidim jak se na me Pete s uzasem diva. Chlapik nemel absolutne tuseni o cem mluvim a musel si asi myslet, ze me zrovna propustilli z blazince. Mohli jsme se s Petem smichy potrhat, jak jsme si tu celou moji show prehravali znovu v hlave.

Then it was the night train to sapa for our 3 day trip into the highlands and rice paddies. At the station we must have shown our ticket 20 times to the same woman, who would then group us together like sheep and there was generally alot of running around and chaos despite the fact there only appeared to be 2 platforms. But eventually we made it to our compartment which we shared with 2 snoring vietnamese guys (they later turned out to be the drivers on the 2nd shift of the night) and did our best to get a few hours sleep.

Ten vecer nas cekala nocni jizda vlakem, smer Sapa, misto zelenych kopcu a ryzovych policek jedno za druhym. Na vlakovem nadrazi se zdalo, ze organizatori to nemeli zorganizovane, tak jak by meli a po asi dvacete, co jsme jim ukazali nas listek se nas ujal chlapik a dovedl nas k nasemu vlaku. Kabinu jsme sdileli s 2 mistnimi chlapiky, kteri si pul noci pochrapkavali, nez se vymeli s dalsimi dvema, z cehoz jsme posoudili, ze to byli asi ridici vlaku a vymenili si sichty. Alespon ta druha pulka noci byla poklidna a bez chrapotu a tak jsme i trochu zaspali.

We arrived early the following morning where we were picked up and taken to the Sumit Hotel which would be a kind of base for the next couple of days. After we checked in, it struck us how much colder it was up here, for the first time since we'd been away I dug out my hoodie. We were put into small groups and given a guide from one of the local villages, our guide was Pam, and it seemed we also each had a companion as we had a another group of local tribe women accompanying us. We trekked through couple of villges to a waterfall and tried some local bbq snacks (rice in bamboo was pick of the bunch) and then as then walk was coming to an end our helpful tribal friends became ruthless saleswomen. In the afternoon we headed back to the hotel for lunch, a lovely hot shower and caught up with a little sleep before heading down to the market to buy some bargins. We took it easy that evening as it was freezing and we needed our rest as the followng day we had a 12km trek to our homestay up in the hills.

Do Sapy jsme dorazili v 6 hodin rano, kde nas vyzvedl minibus, ktery nas odvezl do Sumit hotelu, ktery byl nasi zakladnou na par dni. Bylo to poprve od te doby, co jsme vyrazili na cesty kdy jsme byli nuceni vydolovat z nasich ruksaku mikiny, protoze nam byla zima. Pote, co jsme se ubytovali, nas cekala mala prochazka. Byli jsme rozdeleni do skupin po 6. Nas pruvodce byla Pam plus se zdalo, ze kazdy z nas ma sveho osobniho strazce v podobe mistni vesnicanky. Prosli jsme par vesnicemi, minuli jsme maly vodopad a meli prilezitost ochutnat mistni barbeque. Prekvapilo nas jak dobre chutnala ryze v bambusu. Po prochazce jsme byli doprovozeni zpet do hotelu a z milych mistnich vesnicanek se staly neuprosne obchodnice nabizejici jejich rucni prace v podobe sperku a ruznych vysivek. Pak nas cekal obed a zaslouzeny odpocinek. K veceru jsme se vydali na trznici koupit par veci a pak studeni jak psi cumaci jsme skocili zpet do electricky vyhrate postele, aby jsme dospali to, co jsme ve vlaku nestihli, protoze nas zitra ceka 12Km dlouhy vyslap, kde nas na konci cesty ceka nocleh u mistni rodiny.

The following morning Pam was waiting for us out front of the hotel (as were the the little Umpa Lumpa sales women) and we had another couple added to our group. Both veronika and I were pretty concerned about the trek, not knowing how hard it was going to be, I had a pretty nasty cut on my foot banndaged up and veronika a strapped up knee, but it turned out to be fine and a absolutely brilliant day. Although it was cold and cloudy, when we reached certain points the views were stunning and the mist added a kind of magical feeling to it. Pam taught us some phrases to put off the tribes woman and then towards the end of the day we said goodbye to a few of our group and were picked up by our hostess for the home stay.

Jak jsme rano prisli na recepci, Pam uz na nas cekala a s ni mistni jarmark baby. Ze zacatku jsme byli s Pete opatrni pri kazdem kroku, protoze me porad zlobi koleno a Pete si zase nakopl palec u nohy uz asi po 6. K nasemu prekvapeni slo vse dobre a vyslap nebyl vubec obtizny. I kdyz byla zima a mlha, pohled na ryzove policka (i kdyz nejsou zelene a v sezone) byl krasny. Pam nas naucila par frazi v mistnim jazyce, jak odmitnout nabizene zbozi, o ktere nebylo nouze po celou cestu. Na konci vyslapu jsme se rozloucili s par lidmi z nasi skupiny. Byli to ti, co se vraceli na noc do hotelu, zatimco my jsme byli vyzvednuti nasi hostitelkou, ktera nas dovedla do jejiho domu.


The house wasn't at all how we imagined it, although it was pretty basic, it was spacious and comfortable and the beds were really warm. We sat in the kitchen and warmed up by the fire helping prepare carrots and potatoes. After a couple of hours we'd settled into the swing of things so much so that veronika was carving her carrots into flowers! We made some lovely spring rolls and other goodies in the wok and sat down and had a lovely evening feast followed by plenty of "Happy Water" (rice wine). Pam told us some fascinating stories, mostly about her life and the evening ended with the girls having a sing song back around the fire.

Dum byl mnohem "vic" nez jsme ocekavali, i kdyz vse bylo velice zakladni, dum byl velky a postele pohodlne s teplou prykryvkou. Vsichni jsme se sesli v kuchyni, kde jsme se ohrivali kolem rozdelaneho ohne, ktery byl hlavnim sporakem pro vareni nasi vecere, kterou jsme vsichni spolecne pomohli pripravit skrabanim brambor a mrkve, ze ktere nam bylo ukazano jak vyrezat kvetinky. Spolecne jsme tak ukuchtili zeleninove zavitky a spoustu dalsich dobrotek, ktere jsme zkonzumovali u dlouheho stolu. Po veceri nam bylo nalito spoustu stampli "stastne vody" (ryzoveho vina, ktere chutna jako slivovice, bez paliveho efektu po spolknuti). Potom, co jsme se vsichni zahrali jidlem a alkoholem, jsme si vykladali. Pam nam popisovala jeji zivot v horach. Bylo zajimave poslouchat jeji pribehy, ale taky tezko predstavitelne, jak zakladni zivot zdejsi lide ziji. Konec vecera jsme stravili kolem ohne s mistnimi detmi, ktere byli nadsene slyset nas zpev.

After a yummy pancake breakfast, we took another trek around the beautiful paddies, through some bamboo woods and over to another waterfall where we'd have luch at the bottom. At one point we came across some workman building a road, they seemed to be doing a lot of drilling. There was a really nice view at the edge and as we all stood there taking photos one of the workman came running over blowing his whistle. We took that as a "go go go, quickly" sign and quickly made our way towards the restaurant but before we were half way there were several massive explosions and rock flying from where we'd just been standing! It wasn't just drilling but holes for dynamimte. We were driven from lunch to the hotel, said our goodbyes to the brilliant Pam, showered, got some supplies and got to the train station to catch our night train back to the city. We had a much better sleep the second time sharing a cabin with an American lady and her German mother and arrived pretty fresh the following morning and got a taxi straight to the airport for our plane to Laos.

Po velice chutne palacinkove snidani jsme se znovu vydali na cestu pres ryzove pole, bambusovy lesik a kolem vodopadu, pod kterym jsme pozdeji zakotvili na prestavku na obed. V jednu chvili jsme se objevili na miste, kde byl krasny pohled na vesnici pod nama a spoustu chlapiku kolem, kteri udajne staveli cestu na vrcholku. Bylo tam celkem hodne hluku, protoze pouzivali "zbijecku", coz se pozdeji, (potom co zacali piskat na pistalku a kriceli na lidi kolem, aby rychle zmizeli) ukazalo, ze zbijecka byla vrtacka obsahuji dinamit. Vsichni jsme se zacli presunovat a netrvalo dlouho a prvni vybuch byl tu. Nastesti jsme ale vsichni byli daleko od nebezpeci. Jak jsme dorazili zpet do hotelu, rozloucili jsme se s Pam, dali jsme si sprchu a posledni veceri na hotelu nez jsme byli vyzvednuti a dovezeni na vlakove nadrazi zpet do Hanoje. Cesta vlakem na zpet byla mnohem prijemnejsi. Kabinu jsme sdileli se 2 zenami. Matkou (Nemkou) a jeji dcerou (zijici v Americe). Dokonce jsme i dobre zaspali a byli tak celkem cili, jak jsme rano dorazili zpet. Z vlakoveho nadrazi jsme si vzali taxi, ktery nas odvezl primo na letiste, protoze chytame ranni let do Laosu.

After the worlds slowest check in it all became a little chaotic, but we got through and just in time. Neither of us were overly impressed by the little, fairly battered looking plane but we figured it was only an hour or so and what can you do about it at that point. We took off and got stuck into some reading about Laung Prabang , our first stop in Laos, at least thats what we thought at that time . . . coming into land, you could see out the windows how thick the cloud was over the city below, the pilot tried once and pulled up, circled for half hour, tried again pulled up sharper, i'll confess - my palms were dripping with sweat. Over the speakers we get the pretty blunt message that the cloud is too thick to land in and we'd been circling the airport so long we were low on fuel, we were being diverted 30mins away to Vientiane, we were guessing we didn't have much of a backup plan left if this doesn't work . . .

Po nejpomalejsim snecim odbaveni na svete jsme byli skoro hned pripraveni na nastup do letadla. Pri pohledu na male "Jumbo" letadylko jsme se pro jistotu vyfotili (memorial z cest) a nastoupili na palubu. Je to jen 1 hodinovy let, takze asi nema cenu pilotovat neco vetsiho. Po vzletnuti jsme se pustili do cteni nasich pruvodcu o meste Luang Prabang, nasi destinaci. Potom, co bylo oznameno, ze se mame pripravit na pristani jsme proletali pres huste mracna, ktere se pilotovi nejak nezdali, a tak oznamil, ze budeme krouzit asi 30 minut a zkusime to pozdeji...po pul hodine a pokusu cislo dva nam bylo oznameno, ze pristani neni mozne, kvuli pocasi a ze musime letet do hlavniho mesta Vientiane, protoze nam dochazi palivo... tak zatimco se nase dlane zacinaji potit, premyslime jestli jsme radsi nemeli jet autobusem . . .



To be continued . . .
Pokracovani priste . . .

Good morning, Vietnam - Dobre rano, Vietname

We took a bus to the port just outside of Phnom Penh and boarded a small 20 person boat which took us steadily to the boarder. We were going a little into the unknown, not sure how the crossing was going to go or how uncomfortable the boat was going to be. But to be honest it turned out completely trouble free and was a really beautiful, relaxing way to cross. We stopped off for half hour at a check point to do the immigration formalities, and then continued down the Mekong and into Vietnams Mekong delta. Straight away we could feel a different kind of people, kids waving at us and splashing around, happy people, as though life wasn't so hard. There was definitely a more prosperous atmosphere.

Rano nas odvazel minibus z centra Phnom Penhu do pristavu, kde na nas cekala lod asi se 20 dalsimi pasazery, ktera nas prevazela pres hranice do Vietnamu. Nevedeli jsme jestli to bude jeden z nejlepsich napadu prekrocit hranice po vode, ale jak se ukazalo asi za hodinu jsme byli na imigracnim a vsechno slo jako po masle. Zastavili jsme asi na pul hodiny na Vietnamskych hranicich, kde jsme cekali na razitka a potom vesele pokracovali dale plavbou po Delte Mekongu. Hned jsme si zamilovali zdejsi lidi zijici na rece Mekongu, deti se cakaji ve vode, zeny umyvaji nadobi na brehu reky, muzi se venuji rybolovu a vsichni vypadaji spokojene, usmevave a pratelsky.

Eventually we made it to Chau Doc where we checked into a hotel and grabbed a moto guy to drive us up Sam Mountain for sunset. At the top we saw the most amazing panoramic looking down on some rice paddies and enjoyed our first Saigon Beer as the sun came down.

Pote, co jsme dorazili do mestecka Chau Doc, jsme se ubytovali a asi za pul hodiny odpocinku si pronajali chlapiky na motorkach, kteri nas vyvezli na horu z nazvem Sam, abychom se mohli pokochat zapadem Slunce. Bylo to nase prvni kochani se Vietnamskou prirodou a sledovani ryzovych poli z ptaci perspektivy za doprovodu naseho prvniho vietnamskeho pivecka Saigon.

The following day we went back out into the Delta and visited a fish farm and some local Cham people before catching a bus to My Tho for another free afternoon, we sat down in the park for little while people watching. At one point a local guy jogged up to a tree just in front of us and started doing pull ups whilst some other guys shouted over a him in Vietnamese, and over to the left of this some women were fighting over who was going to take some tourist girls out on the river, it was all quite entertaining to watch.

Dalsi rano nas mala lodka vyvezla opet do proudu Mekongu, abychom mohli navstivit rybi farmu a lidi kmene Cham zijici v okolni vesnici, pred tim nez jsme vyrazili autobusem do mista My Tho, kde jsme meli osobni volno. Odpoledne jsme stravili v parku sledovanim mistnich lidi (stare zenske, ktere se celkem otevrene dohadovali o tom, ze jedna prevzala kseft druhe, aby mohla vzit par turistu na lodicku anebo chlapika, ktery pred nama v parku, asi dokazoval okolnim chlapikum, co ho sledovali a smali se mu v povzdali, jakou ma silu, se vytahoval nahoru a dolu na vetvi stromu) bylo to pro nas celkem zabavne.

Our final day of the Mekong Delta trip we went out to see a couple of floating markets and then over to a rice noodle making farm. Another really interesting farm that showed some traditional ways of doing something we really take for granted in the west. There were also some pigs, i mention them because this was the first sign of things to come from one Australian guy on our tour. He was posing for pictures with them kissing and at one point had his whole fist in one pigs mouth. Obviously immune to swine flu.

Nas posledni den straveny na vylete po rece Mekong jsme stravili navstevou plovoucich trhu a farmy na vyrobu ryzovych nudli. Obvzlaste navsteva farmy byla velice zajimava. Byl nam vysvetlen a ukazan cely postup od ryzoveho zrnka az po krajeni nudli, ktere my na zapade uz vidime jenom v hotovych baliccich v obchode. Meli tam taky par prasatek, ktere zminuji proto, protoze to byl zacatek, kdy jsme si vsimli jednoho Autralana, ktery se zviditelnil jeste par dalsimi ukony behem cesty... ne jen tim, ze za obdobi vzrustu praseci chripky tem cunikum daval pusinky na rypak.

We continued the journey the Ho Chi Minh, crossing a ferry, the oz guy appearing to be drinking quite heavily and chatting up a married woman in front of her burly husband. The other side of the ferry, the call of nature came for this super intelligent guy from down under. He ran to a tree (less than 2 mins away from some toilets), over some rubbish and then we heard the scream. A few of us turned to see him, up to his waist in a sess pit! Not nice, but i suppose when you gotta go you gotta go.

Do Hociminova mesta jsme pokracovali autobusem, ale na chvili jsme podstoupili v plavbu trajektem, kde uz se zdalo, ze uz drive zmineny Australan mel neco vypito a tak vesele flirtoval s zenou nejakeho chlapika. Po prejeti reky na druhou stranu uz Autralana neuprosne volala priroda a tak si v rychlosti chtel ulevit na strane silnice v mistnim krovicku (asi jen 2 minuty od zachodu).Dalsi vec, co vime, ze se Australan po pas brodi v mocuvce. No, kdyz se chce, tak se chce, ze jo?

In ho chi minh city we checked into phoenix hotel, a really nice room and they were very helpful with bookings. We booked with them to go to the Chu chi tunnels. This was great value for a half day trip. We heard how the Vietnamese fought against the US during the war, some of it very propagandist but interesting nonetheless. We were taken to some of the booby traps they made, a disabled tank and into the tunnels themselves. The air got quite thin at times and it was quite tight in there (they kept reminding us they had widened them for westerners). We were in them for about 10-15mins and it was a real relief to get out, to think they would sometimes spend days in there is mind blowing.

Jak jsme dorazili do Hociminova mesta ubytovali jsme se v hotelu s nazvem Phoenix, pokoj byl moc utulny a cisty a personal ochotny pomoct se vsemi rezervacemi, takze na dalsi den jsme se jeli podivat do Chu chi podzemnich chodeb. Byl to hodne zajimavy vylet. Ukazali nam film jak se tam lide schovavali a zili v dobe, kdy se statecne branili proti americanum. Potom jsme asi ve skupine 15 lidi prochazeli lesem, kde nam ukazali vsechny nastrazene pasti, nemocnici, stary tank, zakladnu, zakop, kde vyrabeli naboje.Taky jsme meli sanci "poobedvat" u spolecneho stolu (dostali jsme caj a neco, co chutnalo jako sucha brambora, jidlo co jedli za doby valky, zajimava chut) Nejvetsi, no jestli se tomu da rict zazitek, spis neco, co si clovek vybavi zive, jsou tunely sami o sobe. Prochazeli jsme asi 100m tunelem (a to jsme byli upozorneni, ze jsou zvetsene pro lidi ze zapadu) a byl to celkem zvlastne ztisneny pocit. Vzduch byl tezky, sem tam svetlo. Predstavit si, ze tam lide muesli zustavat po cele dny je celkem sokujici. Kloubouk dolu!



After a couple of days in the madness of Saigon we decided it was time to head to the beach so bought an open bus trip north up to Mui Ne, supposedly one of the nicest beach areas in Vietnam. We arrived just after lunch from a fairly pleasant 5hr journey and then spent quite a while trying to find somewhere to stay. It seemed most places were fully booked, but to us it looked like an empty town but eventually, knackered from an hour and half of walking up and down the streets with our rucksacks, we found a nice place with bungalows close to the beach. That evening we went to check out a Czech place which was suppose to sell Czech food, but it wasn’t quite what we expected. Beautiful restaurant, nice beer, but to call it a Czech menu because the have dishes called Czech pork or Czech chicken didn’t really feel right.

Po par dnech ztravenych v Saigonu (Hociminovo Mesto) jsme se rozhodli, ze bychom se na chvili chteli zase povalovat na plazi a misto z nazvem Mui Ne se zdalo perfektnim mistem, protoze to je udajne nejkrasnejsi plaz ve Vietnamu. Tak jsme si koupili tzv. otevreny autobusovy listek. Jak jsme dorazili na misto asi po 5 hodinach cesty autobusem, museli jsme najit mistecko, kde slozime hlavy. Jak se zdalo vsude meli plno, i kdyz jsme skoro nevideli ani nohu. No, ale asi po hodine a pul vlaceni se s ruksaky na zady, jsme nasli bungalov, ktery byl asi vzaleny od more, co bys kamenem dohodil (taky zalezi na tom, kdo zrovna hazi :-)) Ten vecer jsme se vydali najit restauraci, ktera udajne serviruje Ceske pivo, alkohol a jidlo. Nebylo to presne, co jsme ocekavali, protoze napis v jidelnicku Brambory po cesku, Veprove po cesku a syr po cesku se nam nejak nezdal. No, ale objednali jsme si Pilsnera a Becherovku, ktera byla zarucene ceska. Misto samo o sobe bylo prekrasne, meli tam hodne jezirek s vyhledem na more a vlastni pivovar.

Check out this video for rough idea of Saigon traffic and the 6 million motos.

Podivejte se na tohle video a udelejte si obrazek jak ridit nebo prekrocit cestu ve meste, kde je 6 milionu motorek.

The following day we went to see the local sand dunes, had a great day but decided that there wasn’t enough happening in mui ne so booked on to the bus to go and meet our friends from Bangkok in Hoi an. After a quick swim in the rough sea, we began our 16hr coach journey comfortably in a half full coach. We had a 2hr stop for dinner in the evening and then boarded the coach again, this time completely full. Fortunately we managed to get some decent sleeper seats at the back and we had a spare seat separating us from the Australian couple next to us. Half we through the night we were woken to the bus stopping to fill the remaining seats with locals so we spent the rest of the night shoulder to shoulder with a scary looking Vietnamese man. Didn’t sleep great!

Dalsi den jsme se jeli dzipem podivat na mistni pisecne duny, bylo to super. Krasne hedoucky pisek, ktery byl po vyletu vsude. Ale protoze se zdalo, ze Mui Ne zrovna neni v sezone a je tam ponekud ticho, rozhodli jsme se vyrazit o kousek dal na sever do mesta Hoi An, kde jsme se domluvili se znovu setkat s parem z Anglie, (Simonem a Ali) ktere jsme potkali v Bankoku. Takze jsme se zbalili par svestek a jeste pred tim nez jsme vyrazili na dlouhou 16ti hodinovou cestu autobusem, jsme se vycabrali a poblbli ve vlnach. Autobus byl plne obsazeny. Meli jsme stesti, ze jsme mohli sedo-lezet vedle sebe v zadu na petce. Vedle nas bylo volne misto a pak par z Australie, takze vse bylo v pohode, nez asi kolem 2 hodiny rano pristoupil dalsi (Vietnamsky) nocleznik a tak jsme tam byli naskladani jak sardinky v tomate. No, abych rekla pravdu, moc jsme toho nenaspali!

We arrived in Hoi An at 6am and took the first hotel that offered decent room/price. We spent the morning and middle part of the day catching up with sleep before heading out in the afternoon to meet Ali and Simon. It was great to see some familiar faces and we spent the rest of the evening catching up with our travels and offering tips on where to go as we were travelling almost exactly the opposite routes to each other.

Pote, co jsme rano v 6 dorazili na misto, rozhodli jsme se vzit prvni nabidku ubytovani. Misto bylo pekne a cenove v pohode. Odpoledne jsme se jeste snazili dospat to, co jsme nenaspali pres noc a potom jsme se sesli se Simonem a Ali. Bylo fajn videt zname tvare. Cely vecer jsme si vymenovali zazitky z cest a super bylo, ze zatimco my smerujeme sever Vietnamu a Laos, oni uz to meli za sebou a naopak. Takze jsme si vsichni udelali obrazek a plany na dalsi cesty plne dobrodruzstvi.

We both loved Hoi An, it was a beautiful little town full of character. We spent one day touring the town with an open ticket which allowed us to visit a temple, museum, Japanese bridge and tradition music performance. Another day we took a boat trip to a beach, although the weather was poor we had lovely meal out on the sea front. But I think our highlight of hoi would be the fantastic food and in particular a little bakery we would make our days plans from each morning called Cargo.

Oba jsme si zamilovali Hoi An, je to krasne male kouzelne mestecko.Jeden den jsme stravili prohlidkou chramu, musea, Japonskeho zastreseneho mostu a shlednutim tradicniho koncertu. Dalsi den jsme se jeli malou lodkou podivat na mistni plaz. I kdyz nam ten den pocasi nepralo, nasli jsme milou restauraci hned vedle plaze, kde jsme meli moc chutny obed. Kdyz ale budu premyslet o Hoi An, a co nas nadchlo nejvice, budou to jejich mistni speciality, ktere bych mohla jist od rana do vecera a mistni pekarna s nazvem Cargo, ktera se stala nasim kazdorannim tercem.

Our last day in Hoi An, we were waiting for our bus to the airport only to find we were delayed 6hrs. Still, it wasn't too bad, we had the excitment of a trip to the beautiful Halong Bay fresh in our veins.

Nas posledni den, jsme kolem odpolednich hodin meli byt vyzvednuti z hotelu, abychom chytli nas podvecerni let, ale jak se ukazalo, let byl zpozden asi o 6 hodin. Nasi naladu to ale nepokazilo, protoze uz dopredu jsme vedeli, ze nas dalsi den ceka vylet do Halong Zatoky.


To be continued . . .
Pokracovani priste . . .

Cambodia - Part 3

For our remaining couple of days in siem reap we visited a really interesting silk farm, where we watched the process of the worms producing the silk all the way to the factory workers weaving. This is the sort of thing you never imagine how much work goes into making the scarves we buy from the shops back home. Our last day we spent relaxing at a local swimming pool and then in the evening went out for a meal (including our first taste of frog) and farewell drinks with Michael.

Posledncich par dni stravenych v Siem Reapu jsme jeste meli prilezitost navstivit farmu na vyrobu hedvabi. Videli jsme cely proces od cerviku, kteri se laduji zelenymi listy a jak jsme pozdeji zjistili, podle toho jake listy ji, takovou barvu hedvabi vyrabi. V Kambodzi cervici vyrabi zlutou barvu hedvabi, ktere se potom musi vybelit a bud chemicky nebo prirodne obarvit..(na prirodni barveni treba pouzivaji - bananove listy, kuru ze stromu nebo barevne kvetiny a zajimavosti bylo, ze kdyz k nekterym z nich pridaji rezavy hrebik dostanou jiny odstin). Bylo to hodne zajimave. Je fakt, ze kdyz doma nakupuji a hazim veci do kosiku ani se nepozastavim nad tim, jak pracne je utkat 1 metr latky. Pote jsme byli zavedeni do obchodu, ktery byl opravdovy raj pro oci. Nas posledni den jsme stravili v bazenu jednoho z hotelu a sesli se s nasim kamaradem Michaelem na par drinku.

The next morning we were taken by mini bus (which included 3 plastic seats from the local restaurant in the aisle for extra passengers) to our boat which would take us down through the Tonle Sap lake to Phnom Penh. The journey wasn’t great, the boat was going very fast and it was so loud, it was hard to really take in much of the scenery. When we arrived in Phnom Penh we checked into Okay Guesthouse and explored a little of the city. We went to see Wat Phnom and the fat monkeys and although it wasn’t the most exciting place we’ve been, it was where we met Saran who’d become our tuk tuk driver for the following days trip to the infamous Killing Fields and the S-21 Prison. This was something neither of us were looking forward to but is a “must do” part of any trip to Cambodia in order to see the horrors the people had to go through and helps give an understanding to a lot of the social and economic problems Cambodia faces today (There has been a fair bit about some of the things that went on in the news lately as they are currently running a trial for some of the Khmer Rouge leaders). It proved quite an emotional day, at one point I found myself watching tourists like ourselves slowly walking around mouths open, it created an eerie quiet that I‘d never been part of before.

Dalsi rano nas vyzvedl mini autobus (kde ridic po ceste musel pridat 3 plastikove zidlicky z poulicni restaurace, protoze neodhadli pocet pasazeru), aby nas dovezl do pristavu odkud nam plula rychlo lod do Phnom Penhu. Cesta lodi nebyla zrovna jak jsme si predstavovali. Rychla byla to jo, ale taky tak hlucna, ze vlastne prehlucila vsechnu okolni krasu prirody a jezera Tonle Sap. Po prijezdu do Phnom Penh jsme se ubytovali v Okay Hostelu, a potom vyrazili prozkoumat ulice Phnom Penhu. Nechali jsme se zavest k jednomu parku pobliz s malym chramem na kopci. Nebyl to jeden z nejuzasnejsich chramu, co jsme videli, ale meli tam i tluste opice,,, no spise tehotne. Nez jsme opousteli misto, potkali jsme Sarana, coz byl nas tuk tuk ridic na zitrejsi vylet. Ani jeden z nas se na tento vylet netesil, protoze jsme se jeli podivat na Smrtici pole a byvalou skolu pod nazvem S-21. Je to skoro ale "povinnost", aby turista v Kambodzi videl to utpeni a hruzy, co se tam deli, aby pochopil, proc je socialni a ekonomicky zivot takovy jaky je. Byl to hodne emocionalni den pro oba. Prochazet kolem pomalu a tise a sledovat ostatni lidi, kteri pocituji tu samou litost. Misto vyvolalo velice smutnou a krutou atmosferu, kdy clovek pocituje malou vnitrni nevolnost. Pro vice informaci si muzete precist tento clanek.

The following day we took a walk to the grand palace only to find that the king was there and it was closed to the public. We coud only visit the silver pagoda area so spent an hour or so there and went to the national museum. We booked to start our journey to Vietnam for the following day, but that evening, out of nowhere, we found an extra day! What a bonus, and very lucky we discovered it back at the guesthouse and not as we were crossing the boarder. We decided that we’d use the extra day to see the parts of the palace that were closed the day before, but to be honest it was a real let down. We’d expected to walk around royal gardens etc but it turned out just to be a couple of extra buildings with not a great deal to see. We got an early night before our 3 day tour across to Vietnam, into the Mekong Delta and then up to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) . . .

Nasledujici den jsme se vydali navstivit Grand Palac, kde jsme zjistili, ze kral je zrovna na navsteve a tak byla verejnosti umoznena jen prohlidka Stribrne pagody, ktera se stavala s mnoha malych krasnych chramu. Prosli jsme to asi za hodinu a pak se vydali do narodniho muzea. Ten den jsme si taky rezervovali listek na dalsi den, odjezd smer Vietnam, aby jsme pozdeji vecer zjistili, ze jsme v kalendari nasli jeden den navic... Jaky bonus! Nastesti jsme to zjistili vecer pred tim, ponevadz by nam nebyl umoznen vstup do zeme po dalsich 24 hodin. Protoze jsme nasli tenhle bonusovy den, rikali jsme si, ze ho vyuzijeme ke zbytu prohlidce Grand Palace, kde jsou krasne zahrady. Jake zklamani, kdyz jsme zjistili, ze Grand Palac je jedna budova navic a na zahrady nema verejnost pristup! Ten vecer jsme zalehli brzo, protoze nas dalsi den ceka 3 denni vylet po rece Mekong smerujici do Saigonu (Hociminova Mesta)... Pokracovani priste...

Cambodia - Part 2 - Angkor

We took the night bus from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap, we both woke a couple of times during the trip to witness the bus driver attempting to break the sound barrier, but arrived safely at 6am the following morning. At the bus station we met Sinnet who would become our driver for the next couple of days around the temples. After a couple of hours sleep in the afternoon and some dinner, Sinnet came and took us to one of the temples for sunset. It was very crowded but the views were amazing a really good taster for the following day. The next morning Sinnet was waiting for us at 5am to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat and then take us on a day tour of the other temples in the Angkor region. It was a really long day but one of the most fascinating experiences, The Bayon Temple and the "Movie" temple were highlights and of course the sunrise at Angkor Wat.

Ze Sihanoukville do Siem Reapu nas privezl nocni autobus, oba dva jsme se behem jizdy parkrat probudili a byli svedky toho, jak se ridic snazi prekonat rychlost zvuku, ale dorazili jsme v poradku v 6hodin rano. Na nadrazi jsme potkali Sinneta, ktery se na par dni stal nasim ridicem. Po par hodinach spanku a veceri pro nas prijel Sinnet, aby nas vzal do Angkoru, a my mohli videt zapad slunce. Bylo tam silene moc lidi, ale pohled na zapad Slunce byl prekrasny. Dost nas to nadchlo a tak jsme odjizdeli s pocitem jak se nemuzeme dockat dalsiho dne. V pet hodin rano nas Sinnet vyzvedl, abychom se mohli pokochat prozmenu vychodem Slunce nad Angkor Watem a pote nas provezl po okoli, abychom mohli videt vice chramu. Byl to dlouhy den, ale plny zazitku. Nejvic nas zaujal chram Bayon, kde se natacel Indian Jones a film Tomb Raider..... ale ani vychod Slunce nemel zadnou chybu.

Next we go to see a silk farm were they show us the whole silk farming proceess from worm to scarf and then heading down to Phnom Penh were we will see the horrors of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge . . . to be continued . . .

Jako dalsi exkurzi se chystame navstivit tovarnu na vyrobu hedvabi, kde nam ukazi cely proces od cerviku po salu a pote vyrazime do Phnom Penh, kde budeme svedky hrozneho rezimu Rudych Khmeru v cele s vudcem Pol Potem . . . pokracovani priste . . .

Cambodia - Part 1

When the driver returned, we were all ushered onto the bus and weren't sure what to think. In that situation it was hard not to imagine explaining to Cambodian border officials that "we have no idea where they came from" and the infamously accommodating prisons in this part of the world. We made a plan that we would pretend that I couldn't find my passport and that I must have packed it in one of the rucksacks. We got off the bus and headed on foot to the border and popped into a little shop for drink and toilet stop where we went through the rucksacks as best we could. To our great relief they looked untouched, although we felt a bit stupid for suspecting something was wrong, we felt we'd learned a lot about backpacker rule #1.

Kdyz se ridic minibusu vratil zpatky a bylo nas sdeleno, ze mame nastupovat, protoze brzo vyjizdime, nevedeli jsme poradne co si o tom myslet. V teto situaci si neni tezke predstavit jak vysvetlujete na Kambodzske hranici ze "nemame tuseni, jak se to tam dostalo" a hlavne taky kdyz kazdy vi jak to chodi ve vezenich v techto castech sveta. Vymysleli jsme plan, ze budeme predctirat, ze nemuzeme najit Peteuv pas a proto musime projit nase ruksaky. Jak jsme vystoupili z autobusu a pomalu kraceli k hranicim, odskocili jsme si na zachod a piti do maleho obchudku, kde jsme si zkontrolovali ruksaky nejlepe jak jsme v teto situaci mohli. S velkym oddechem jsme zjistili, ze ruksaky vypadaji nedotcene.I kdyz jsme si delali starosti asi trochu vic nez jsme museli, tak myslime, ze jsme se poradne ponaucili a pravidlo cislo 1 jen tak z hlavy dlouho nevypustime.

We went through immigration, were given the worlds quickest health check, and pointed around from place to place. We had already noticed that despite everyone being very helpful, offers to carry bags, pass documents to officials, point us where to go it all came at a cost. Eventually we found our driver and were driven to our hotel in Koh Kong, it was great to have a swim, a quick meal and some sleep before going on to a 6hr coach trip to Sihanoukville. When we arrived we took a tuk tuk to the backpacker area and checked into Monkey Republic.

Prekrocili jsme imigracni, byli jsme bleskove lekarky prohlednuti a pak odkazani z mista na misto. Uz v teto chvili jsme si vsimli, ze i kdyz se nam kazdy snazi sebevice pomoct, odnest ruksak, pomoct vyplnit formulare a ukazat nam cestu kam jit....nicevo zadarmo ani kure nehrabe...a vsechno stoji penize.Nakonec jsme nasli naseho ridice, ktery nas odvezl do hotelu v Koh Kongu. Bylo super se osvezit v bazenu, neco malo snist a poradne se vyspat pred 6ti hodinovou cestou autobusem do Sihanoukvillu. Kdyz jsme tam dorazili, vzali jsme si ryksu do batuzkarske oblasti a ubytovali se v hostelu z nazvem Opici Republika.

Sihanoukville was the first place we settled and it was the first place we started to see some of the bad side of Cambodia. The poverty has driven kids out onto the streets where they beg and try to sell you things. Its difficult to deal with, on the one hand $1 here and there is not a lot to us but on the other giving that $1 causes the parents to send the kids out in the first place.

Sihanoukville bylo prvni misto, kde jsme se na chvili usadili a taky hned prvni misto, kde jsme videli spatnou stranku Kambodzi. Je tu takova chudoba, ze deti jsou nucene prodavat veci a zebrat na ulicich. Je tezke to prehlizet a i kdyz 1 dolar pro nas neni moc snazime se jim penize nedavat (ne vzdy se to podari), aby jsme nepodporovali to, aby je rodice posilali do ulic.

We spent a few days doing bits and bobs around the town but to our disappointment the main beach had been recently been washed away by the storms in the Philippines. We applied for Vietnam visas and hired moped's to find a nicer beach. We were told to not travel between 2-5pm as this was when the police were out looking for bribes from foreign bike riders. Otres beach was beautiful and far more peaceful, we had great day there and when we took the bike back we sat down at the bike shop and spoke to the Canadian guy running it. He recommended we stay in a place called Bodhi Villa in Kampot and as we were booked to go there the following day we decided to go for it. He spent the next hour or so getting us beers and trying to contact them to reserve for us, whilst showing us pictures and talking about his cats.

Stravili jsme tam par dni delanim ruznych veci. Nejvice jsme byli zklamani z toho, ze hlavni plaz bylo odplavena diky bourkam na Filipinach. Zazadali jsme o Veitnamske viza, pronajali si motorku a nasli krasnou plaz.Bylo nam receno nejezdit mezi 2-5 hodinou odpoledni, protoze policie zastavi kazdeho a vybira ani ne pokuty jako uplatky, za to, ze jste cizinec a nemate Kambodzsky ridicsky prukaz.Otres (nazev) plaz byla nadherna a celkem poklidna od ostatnich, kde nabizeni jakekoliv sluzby a veci co minutu. Pote jsme se vratili odevzdat motorku. V pujcovne pracoval nejaky Kanadan, ktery nam doporucil ubytovat se v Kampotu na miste z nazvem Bohdi Villa. Tak jsme tam s nim stravili par hodin a vypili par piv, zatimco se nam snazil pres telefon rezervovat misto a ukazat jeho obrazky s jeho kocicimi mazlicky.

The next morning Danny our mini bus driver turned up to take us on the 2 hour journey to Kampot. It was really nice to be driven by a European for once (the Cambodian drivers seem to think they can see around corners whilst overtaking a moped, lorry and a cow) and he was great with stopping for photo opportunities and explaining some of what was going on.

Dalsi rano nas Danny, ridic minibusu, vzal do mesta Kampot vzdaleneho asi 2hodiny. Bylo dobre jet pro zmenu s evropskym ridicem(protoze Kambodsky ridic dokaze videt i za zatacky kdyz predjizdi at uz moped, nakladak nebo jenom kravu.),ktery nam udelal i par zastavek, aby jsme si mohli udelat nejake fotky.

When we arrived at Bodhi we were checked into the most unique room of the stay so far. The bungalow had three walls, a pond where the 4th should be and a very large (highly necessary) mosquito net. We borrowed some bikes and cycled around town and then went to Bodhi's bar in the evening where we met some guys and booked a trek up Bokor Mountain for the next day. To be honest I kind of thought it would be a little stroll in a bit of jungle but as it turned out we spent most of the time on all fours climbing, definitely the hardest walk we have done. At the top there was an old abandoned village from the 50's with casino and some beautiful views, a really exhausting day but good fun.

Kdyz jsme prijeli do Bohdi Villy, byli jsme ubytovani v zatim nejvice jedinecnem pokoji. Bungalov mel tri steny, rybnicek misto steny ctvrte a velkou sit proti komarum, ktera byla neodmyslitelnou soucasti. Pujcili jsme si kola a vyrazili do mesta, kde neexistuji silnicni pravidla. Pak jsme se vratili, dali si par drinku a potkali lidi, se kteryma jsme si na dalsi rano domluvili vyslap na horu Bokor. Naivne jsme si mysleli, ze to bude celkem prijemna prochazka ve velkem lese, ale jak se ukazalo skoro vetsinu cesty jsme se skoro plazili po ctyrech, rozhodne nejtezsi prochazka, kterou jsme zatim sli. Na vrcholku je vyprazdnena vesnice a kasino z 50tych let a prekrasny vyhled.Byl to vycerpavajici den, ale stal za to.

Pete, Bonna (our Bokor Guide - nas pruvodce po Bokoru) and Verunka

For the next couple of days we hung around in Bodhi villa and relaxed by the river, and then Danny the bus driver picked us up to take us back to our night coach to Siem Reap and the famous Angkor Wat. As we'd already seen the photo stop etc we weren't expecting to stop, but how wrong we were. Usually it’s a dog or a cow that gets stuck on a road and needs a bit of help crossing, but this time it was a boat. There were 20 local guys trying to push a fairly large boat across and we thought they could do with a bit of western weight behind them so four of us got out and pushed. The extra hands did the trick* and before we knew it we were back in Sihanoukville waiting for the world’s campest bus taking us to Siem Reap and the Angkor temples. . .

Zbytek casu jsme pak jenom odpocivali ve Ville vedle reky nez si pri nas zpet prijel Danny, aby nas vzal zpet do Sihanoukville, odkud nam jel nocni autobus do Siem Reapu a znameneho Chramoveho komplexu Angkor. Protoze jsme na ceste tam meli moznost vyfotit si par veci, neocekavali jsme zadne zastavky, ale i tak nejake byli. Normalne je to bud pes nebo krava, ktera blokuje dopravu, ale ted to byla lod. Bylo kolem ni asi 20 chlapiku z vesnice, kteri se snazili ji popostrcit vedle do reky. Tak chlapi z autobusu se rozhodli pridat ruku k dilu a zatlacit s nima*. Ctyri pary zapadnich rukou pomohly a lod byla na vode.Nez bysme rekli svec, byli jsme zpet v Sihanoukvill, kde jsme cekali na nas "nejvic prihraty" nocni autobus na svete, ktery nas poveze do Siem Reapu a Chramum Angkoru....

. . . To be continued...

. . . Pokracovani priste...
















* Just to add to this, Danny spoke Khmer and later told us that they were quite impressed "those foreigners were quite strong", although we only helped them for the last 5% of the push we felt like heroes!

*jenom mala poznamka od Dannyho, ktery mluvil Kmersky, ktery nam pozdeji rekl, ze ti Kambodzani byli celkem prekvapeni a rekli: "ti cizinci jsou docela silni" a i kdyz jim kluci pomohli asi jen z 5% citili se jako hrdinove!

Koh Chang

From Bangkok we took a 6hr coach to Trat, a truck to the port and boat over to the beautiful Koh Chang. We had nowhere booked but was hoping to head down to lonely beach and find a place we'd heard about called Little Eden. Its a difficult place to track down as it has no website but we'd heard great things. Coincidental, on the boat across we then met a guy called Amer, who was taking two girls he'd just met to Little Eden. We all got chatting and decided to share taxi/truck there.

Z Bangkoku jsme si vzali autobus (cesta trvala asi 6 hodin), gazik k pristavu a trajekt, ktery nas prevezl na krasny ostrov Koh Chang. Nemeli jsme zatim nic rezervonane, kde bychom prenocovali, ale vedeli jsme, ze chceme dojet na misto, ktere je oznaceno jako Osamela Plaz a najit misto, ktere se jmenuje Maly Raj. Protoze tohle udajne krasne misto nemelo zadny kontakt na internetu, nevedeli jsme jak obtizne to bude najit. Zhodou okolnosti jsme na lodi potkali typka, ktery se jmenuje Amer. Byl s spolu s dvema holkama, ktere potkal pred par dny a vschni smerovali na misto, ktere se jmenuje Maly Raj. Vsichni jsme se pustili do konverzace a pokracovali spolecnou cestou taxikem/gazikem na ono misto.

The two girls, Vicky and Kara, would become our neighbours and trip buddy's for our time on Koh Chang. Amer was a cool guy, it was his forth visit to Little Eden this year, and the place was kind of his unofficial kingdom. He helped us loads on the island, i'm not sure if this is a real memory or not but it felt as though when we walked through the Lonely beach streets with him the locals and children would coming running out shouting his name! The kind of guy you have to meet to understand this.

Dve holky, Vicky a Kara se staly nasimi sousedkami a kamoskami, se kteryma jsme stravili skoro vetsinu casu na ostove Koh Chang. Amer byl super typek, ktery byl na ostrove tento rok uz po ctvrte a vzdy zustal ubytovany v Malem Raji a tak se zdalo, ze je to jeho male kralovstvi. Zatimco jsme byli na ostrove dal nam hodne informaci o miste atd. a taky se zdalo, ze kamkoliv jsme s nim sli, lidi ho uz znali a zdravili ho z dalky. Jeho osobnost se proste neda popsat, musi se zazit.

The first night was quite an experience, it was the closest we'd both been to sleeping with nature. The noise of the insects and animals combined with our freaky malaria drugs meant that what little sleep we got was spent dreaming weird dreams. We both woke up tired but relieved we'd survived.

Prvni noc byla nejaky zazitek! Bylo to poprve, co jsme stravili noc v takove prirode. Vselijake zvuky hmyzu a zvirat s kombinaci tabletek proti malarii udelali sve a tak se nam moc spanku nedostalo. Oba jsme se probudili unaveni, ale stastni, ze jsme prezili nasi prvni noc v dzungli.

The next day we had breakfast in beautiful place over hanging the sea and then spent the day beaching-it-up. We made some plans to hire bikes and explore the island the following day so took it easy that night. It was great to get out on the road with the bikes, good fun and a great way to see the place. We went to Khlong Phlu waterfall, swam, lost first set of sun glasses, but had great time, said hello to some elephants and then went to watch the sun set.

Rano jsme se vydali na snidani na krasne misto hned vedle more a pak stravili den na plazi. Rozhodli jsme se udelat si plan pro dalsi den a to, ze si pronajmeme motorky a pojedem trosku prozkoumat ostrov. A tak jsme vecer zustali v poklidu bez jakekoliv party. Bylo super pronajmout si motorky. Byla to dobra cesta, jak prozkoumat ostrov blize. Jeli jsme se podivat na Khlong Phlu vodopad, kde jsme si zaplavali, Pete ztratil jeho prvni slunecni bryle a pozdravili jsme par slonu. Uzili jsme si to naplno. Pri ceste zpatky jsme se zastavili na drink - cerstvy kokos a pritom sledovali zapad slunce.

Day 4 was time for our first boat trip, we were all very positive until the heavens opened! All the way out there were storms, but finally they stopped, the sun came out and we got stuck into a bit of snorkeling. Veronika hadn't done any proper snorkeling before so it was quite daunting to her but before we knew it she was diving down to play with the fish and get a closer look at the coral 3-4 meters down. We done a little fishing for afternoon snacks, visited some monkeys and then headed back (nicely sun burnt). Went for really nice BBQ buffet down on the beach with all the guys, and went back to the bungalow to find an ant invasion! Now since the first night we had started to settle into our wild life sleeping with the bugs etc but this was pretty annoying.They were all over our bags and bed, i didn't know what to do but Veronika was obviously getting more used to this than me and calmly and with out hesitation declared war back on the ants! she led the fight by taking us down to the local 7eleven to buy weapons (bug spray) and we cleared all our gear out, shook the ants off and sprayed the room from top to bottom. Whilst we let the ants suffer we spent the rest of the evening chilling out with our neighbours.

Ctvrty den jsme se vydali na nas prvni vylet na lodi, byli jsme vsichni hodne nadseni az do doby, kdy se otevrelo nebe a zacalo prudce prset. Asi pul hodiny cesty prselo dost silne ale nakonec se pocasi umoudrilo a prestalo prset. Lod zastavila a tak jsme si vsichni vzali snorchlovaci pomucky a sup do vody. Bylo to poprvne, co jsem poradne snorchlovala a tak jsem byla ze zacatku trosku ostychava, ale netrvalo to dlouho a potapela jsme se 3-4 metry hluboko a obdivavala koraly a ryby, co plavaly kolem me. Po snorchlovani jsme zacali chytat ryby, aby jsme si je mohli opect na zpatecni ceste, ktera jeste zachrnovala navstevu a krmeni opic na skale. Pak jsme se pomalu zacali vracet zpet, vsichni pekne spaleni od slunicka. Po vylete jsme se vsichni vydali na opekackovou veceri, kde si vyberes co chces a oni ti to ugriluji. Pote jsme se vydali zpet do bungalovu. Ted uz jsme byli klidnejsi a zacinali si pomalu zvykat na tu divocinu... brouky, jesterky atd.... ale co se nestalo, prisli jsme zpet a vypadalo, ze jsme pod utokem mravencu. Byli vsude, na vecech a v posteli. Pete zacal stresovat, co budem delat ale ja jsem zachovala chladnou hlavu a navrhla jit a koupit spraj proti mravencum a zacit protiutok. Tak jsme vytahli a vyklepali vsechny veci, vystrikali cely sprej a nechali je pomalu bud odejit nebo umrit. Zatimco jsme cekali az to vyvetra, stravili jsme zbytek vecera s holkama posazeni na verande a v houpaci siti.

After spending another day on the beach we decided it was time to hire some kayaks to go to an island that had been staring at us every day since we'd been here. It was a really cool day, the island had one lovely beach with only one other group of kayakers on, crystal clear seas and plenty of rocks and caves covered in crabs to explore. We went out to a local restaurant and had the hottest meal we'd ever eaten, possibly due to Amer asking for "extra spicy" and then went for a beach party.

Po dalsim dni stravenem na plazi jsme se rozhodli pronajmout si kajak a vydat se na nedaleky ostrov, ktereho jsme si vsimli hned prvni den, co jsme dorazili. Byl to moc pekny den straveny na osamele plazi, jen my 4 a dalsi skupinkou lidi. More bylo krasne pruhledne a kolem skal se hemzilo neskutecne mnozstvi krabu. Po vylete jsme sli na tu nejostrejsi veceri, co jsme zatim ochutnali. Pote jsme se vydali na party na plazi.

The next day, we were quite hungover but hired mopeds to go to another beautiful white sand beach, followed by our last dinner with the guys and a session of exchanging photos.

Rano jsme se probudili s opicema,,,, nekdo s vetsi nekdo s mensi. Ale i tak jsme chteli posledni den stravit jinak nez nicnedelanim, tak jsme si pronajali motorky a jeli se podivat na sever ostrovu, kde byla nejkrasnejsi plaz, kterou jsem zatim videla. Vecer jsme se vsichni sesli na posledni vecere a vymelili si fotky s ostatnima.

We loved Koh Chang and are both hoping we get the chance to come back, i'm sure there'll be many more great places but everything comes to an end and before we know it we are on the boat and then taxi/truck to Cambodia. We get dropped at a bus station where we are due to swap to mini bus, load our rucksacks and wait. Pete asks the driver how till we leave and is told 1 hour, so we decide to pop to toilet and sit out in the fresh air. To our horror the mini bus leaves, with our rucksacks on board, for a quick run into town, suspiciously just before two foreign tourists are due to cross the border to Cambodia . . . . backpacker rule#1: Never leave rucksacks unattended on journeys across borders!

Oba dva jsme si zamilovali Koh Chang a doufame, ze bude jednou sance, ze se muzeme zase vratit. Jsme si jisti, ze bude jeste hodne takovych mist, ale jak se rika vsechno jednou konci a nez jsme si to uvedomili byli jsme na trajektu na ceste zpet z ostrova smer Kambodza. Gazik nas vysadil na autobusovem nadrazi kde jsme si presedli na miniautobus a odevzdali nase ruksaky, aby byli ulozeny dozadu autobusu. Pote, co se Pete zeptal a zjistil, ze nepojedem jeste asi hodinu, vystoupili jsme z autobusu, zasli si na zachod a posadili se na lavicku pred autobusem. K nasemu zdeseni se autobus zacal vzdalovat a to bez nas, ale s nasimi ruksaky asi 2 hodiny pred tim nez 2 turisti z cizi zeme hodlaji prekrocit hranice Thajsko - Kambodza. Batuzkarske pravidlo cislo 1: Nikdy nenechavej ruksak bez dorozu.

To be continued . . .

Pokracovani priste...

Bangkok

We arrived, not without problems but safely.
Tak jme dorazili do Bangkoku, ne bez problemu, ale v poradku.

At 7pm (local time) we checked into Roof View Place, our home for the next 4 nights, and then headed straight to the infamous Koh San Road for some well earned first night drinks. This would prove to be a common theme of our stay in Bangkok. On the way we met Simon and Ali, a really nice couple from the UK. We had a couple of cool meals and nights out over the next few days with them and ended up in a backpacker bar with brilliant live music for their last night.
V 19 hodin mistniho casu jsme se ubytovali v hotelu Roof View Place, ktery se stal nasim domovem na 4 noci. Hned pote jsme vyrazili do povestne zname batuzkarske Koh San ulice, kde jsme si plne zaslouzili nas prvni drink, coz jak vypada, se stalo pravidlem kazdeho vecera ztraveneho v Bangkoku. Po ceste tam jsme potkali super par z Anglie. Nekolikrat jsme se s nima sesli na veceri a pivko. Den pred jejich odjezdem jsme navstivili bar s vynikajici atmosferou a zivou hudbou.


Day 2 was spent recovering from the long journey's (nothing to do with the horrendous Chang-over).
Druhy den jsme se zotavovali po dlouhem letu (nemelo to nic co delat s nejvetsi opici vubec).

Day 3 we decided to get up for a trip to the Bangkok flower market. Without doubt the most beautiful, colourful and yet crazy markets we have ever seen. From here, we took a tuk-tuk around the amazing Bangkok temples and then had lunch with locals. After lunch we visited the lying Buddha and headed home.
Treti den jsme se rozhodli vyrazit a jet se podivat na kvetinovy trh, bez reci to byl jeden z nekrasnejsich, nejbarevnejsich a nejsilenejsich trhu, co jsme kdy videli.Odtud jsme si vzali tuk tuk (ryksa) a jeli se podivat na neuveritelne krasne chramy Bangkoku a pak si dali obed na mistnim trhu. Po obede jsme se jeste vydali omrknout Leziciho Budhu a pote zpet.


Day 3 was Simon and Ali's last night and on day 4 our last night was slightly spoiled by some noisy drunk Brits abroad deciding to smash their room about. Apart from a little lost sleep we didn't ave any problems though.
Treti den byl Aliin and Simonuv posledni vecer, tak jsme sli ven. Nas vecer byl trosku pokazen hlasitymi opilymi brity, kteri se rozhodli asi rozbit apartman. Az na maly nedostatek spanku bylo vse v pohode.

Bangkok was a great experience, nowhere else have we ever been offered so many different "once in a lifetime" bargins, suits "same same as home" and food on every street corner. We are now in the beautiful island of Koh Chang, staying in a little eden
Byt v Bangkoku byl veliky zazitek.Nikde se nam jeste nestalo, ze by nam nabizeli tolik cetek, (a tyto nabidky se pry deji jen jednou za zivot), obleku a jidla, ktere je na kazdem rohu dostatek. Zrovna se nachazime na krasnem ostrove Koh Chang, kde jsme ubytovani v Little Edenu (Malem Raji)



. . . to be continued
Pokracovani priste...

Thanks for the send off . . .

Thank you to all those that came for leaving drinks, we had really cool night and great to see you all (and share the odd pint of tequilla) before we go on our journey.

Dekujeme Vsem, kdo se s nami prisel rozloucit pri pinte Tequilly....bylo super vsechny videt nez nas vitr odvane.

Our Leaving Do!

Tomorrow we are having some leaving drinks at The Green Man pub in Mill Green.

Note: One look at the English summer sky in this picture makes me wonder why we are heading to the beautiful Asian beaches!

Ja a muj ruksak

Hello this is me and my rucksack
"Sbalena jak tatranka na cesty"