From London to Beijing by train … and beyond

Fun, adventure, frustration, missed ...

2008-12-28T18:30:00.006Z

The best things about being away ...
* No need to shave regularly (or ever)
* Time was almost irrelevant
* Could wear shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops everyday

What I missed about home ...
* Driving
* Regular, warm showers
* Electric toothbrush

What I found most frustrating ...
* Being arrested in Barnaul, Siberia
* Having the ‘runs’ and not being able to go to the loo or leave the train for 6 hours whilst waiting for Chinese immigration to return our passports
* Persistent rain in Vietnam
* Mosquitos

My worst journeys ...
* The 15hr overnight journey from Krakow to Vilnius, changing trains three times and no sleep
* The 17hr minibus from Barnaul (having just been held by Russian police) to Ust-Koksa
* Frightful minibus journey along the edge of a cliff along a road littered with rocks from landslides above Tiger Leaping Gorge
* The 20hr bus from Luang Prabang to Xam Neua in Laos, some of which was spent sitting on a broken plastic stool in the aisle
* The minibus journey returning from the Vinh Moc tunnels in Vietnam ... it didn't help that I vomited on the bus and was up until 4am the night before in DMZ bar

The most unusual accommodation ...
* Camping in a two-person tent with four girls in Altai
* Camping on a beach along the shores of Lake Baikal
* Sleeping in a ger with a nomad family in the Gobi desert
* 60p a night for a room with balcony on Don Diet island, Laos
* Sleeping on bamboo sticks in freezing conditions ahead of the climb to the summit of Mt Fansipan
* Sleeping in a hammock in the Borneo jungle
* The open veranda of the Iban longhouse in Sawarak, Borneo

What I saw and missed on TV ...
* Legendary Wimbledon final with Nadal beating Federer – missed
* Tiger Woods winning the US Open despite a knee injury - watched in Berlin
* Liverpool beating Man Utd – missed
* Croatia narrowly lose to Turkey - watched in a Warsaw pub with a die-hard Croat
* Liverpool’s comeback against Man City – watched in Luang Prabang
* Obama's historic Presidential victory - watched in Hanoi

The best bars ...
* Prozac, Krakow
* Muse, Shanghai
* Anna's bar off Nanluoguxiang, Beijing
* Bar 4, tubing along the Nam Song River in Vang Vieng
* Angkor What? bar, Siem Reap
* Red Mask, Hanoi
* DMZ Bar, Hue

Food and drink ...
* Sichuan hotpot - spicy and amazing
* Dried curd offered by the nomad family in Mongolia - nasty
* Chicken wings in the hutongs of Beijing - awesome
* Yak steak in Yunnan - yummy
* Wasabi challenge rolls in Haiku restaurant, Shanghai
* Sticky rice - enough already
* Altai local brand - very good, but strong
* Beerlao - not bad for someone who doesn't do beer usually
* Chinese bhai-zhou - strong and not nice
* Laolao - a little better
* Kiau rice wine - good

The best nights ...
* Countless nights out in Beijing with Whitney and Erika
* G Plus in Hangzhou with Ed
* Muse in Shanghai with Ed and Cathy
* Karaoke in Dali
* Tubing in Vang Vieng and afters at Bucket Bar
* Night on the boat in Halong Bay
* Dinner and drinks in Kiau village, Sabah, Borneo
* Night at Sepilok B&B in Borneo playing Uno, musical chairs, Duck-Goose and darts
* Final night in Sabah playing volleyball, ping pong, Uno, and other games

More fun ...
* Olympics in Beijing, especially beach volleyball
* Pool everywhere, but especially in Vietnam
* Firing AK-47s and M60s in Vietnam
* Playing ping pong in Emei Shan

My most adventurous escapades ...
* Mountain-biking in the Ural Mountains
* A week trekking and camping in the Altai Mountains
* Horse-riding in Mongolia
* Climbing to the top of Kwang Si falls in Luang Prabang
* Tubing in Vang Vieng
* Renting a motorbike in Vietnam
* Climbing the peaks of Mt Fansipan, Mt Kinabalu and the Pinnacles
* Eating pig's head

The coolest animals ...
* Pandas in Chengdu, China
* Irawaddy dolphins in the Mekong near Kratie
* Crocs in Dead Fish Restaurant in Siem Reap
* Monitor lizards, tarantulas and proboscis monkeys in the Borneo jungle
* Green turtles coming onshore to nest at night on Turtle Island
* The orangutans of Borneo

The most amazing sights ...
* Twilight in St. Petersburg
* The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
* The lakes and mountains in Altai
* The Great Wall of China viewed from Jinshanling and Simatai
* Seeing GB win gold in the double sculls rowing at the Olympics
* Rice fields and palm trees in Siphandon, Laos
* Bayon in Angkor, Cambodia
* At the peak of Mount Fansipan in Vietnam
* Halong Bay's limestone karsts
* Russian girls in Novosibirsk

What I am unlikely to return for ...
* Brussels
* SE Asia's many hookers
* Public transport, especially buses
* Russian hospitality

What I missed and will return for ...
* Tibet
* Grand Prix in Singapore
* Lake Baikal in the winter

Bye bye

Random travel tips

2008-12-28T18:30:00.004Z

Would I do anything differently if I could do the trip again? Not sure, but the contents of my bag would certainly be different. Here are a few, more unusual tips from personal experience.

Take trousers and shorts with zip pockets. It would have saved me $200, the loss of my bank cards, driving licence, wallet and friend's house keys!
Good hiking boots are an excellent investment if you intend to do lots of hiking. Many suffered more than necessary walking with trainers or poor walking shoes. My Scarpas, 7yrs old now, carried me across the Altai Mountains, along Tiger Leaping Gorge, and to the top of Mount Fansipan, Mount Kinabalu and the Pinnacles, without fuss and blisters.

You may not have to take your entire trip's supply of contact lens. I did, but found that they are available in most big cities.

Travel speakers, small and battery-operated, are great when looking for entertainment in isolated places. They're not expensive either.

An inflatable pillow may seem unnecessary when you have so little space, but it proved priceless at times, especially on long bus journeys in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Even though not fashionable, keep a poncho on you at all times (raincoat won't keep you dry) if visiting regions with heavy rainfall, as it can come down heavily at very short notice. I got caught in the monsoons on many occasions, especially in Cambodia and Vietnam, and it wasn't fun. You can normally buy cheap ones locally. Similarly, have rain covers for all your bags.

A waterproof camera is great to capture unique moments, and is light and small. I didn't have one and regretted it in Laos and Vietnam when on river trips. You won't use it often, but when you do, like in Vang Vieng, Laos for example, others will be very envious.

Take plenty of insect repellent from home. It's not easy to find good stuff in most places.

If you're a keen trekker, you may want to consider buying a gadget that measures altitude and distance. They are very cool, but not essential by any means.

An all-in-one charger (for phone, MP3 player, iPod etc) is small and excellent value, but get a decent one and try it out before you leave.

Other useful tips ...

Don't book flights too early unless on busy routes. You want to maintain flexibility and avoid charges due to changing flights. Most domestic flights in the South-East Asian region are typically available up until a few days prior to departure.

Check your visa requirements carefully and how exactly you can obtain them. Quite a few people I met had got it wrong, for example, thinking they could get a visa on arrival (you cannot in Vietnam under normal circumstances). The other classic which many failed to understand was that if you go to Hong Kong from mainland China, and subsequently return, you need a double-entry visa.

Laundry services are usually available outside of hotels more cheaply.

Get card protection in the event you lose your bank cards, passport or driving licence. It's not expensive and can save you a lot of hassle.

That's it from me.

Raising money for Mines Advisory Group

2008-12-28T18:26:00.010Z

Money raised to date: GBP3,050

For more information, click here.

To donate, click here.

17 Dec: the tube arrives in London
1 Dec: the tube proves a fun accessory on the beach at Turtle Island
26 Nov: the tube reaches the summit of Mount Kinabalu just before sunrise
22 Nov: it's time to head up mountains and into the Borneo jungle with the tube
14 Nov: what a pain in the ass! for the first time, I considered leaving the tube behind as I had to carry it (as well as my backpacks) on the back of a motorbike for 30 minutes
1 Nov: the tube travels into its third country with some difficulty
28 Oct: had to hold onto the tube, which was on the roof of a car, by hanging outside the rear window on Cambodia roads
21 Oct: every tuk-tuk, songthaew and bus driver thinks I'm nuts and wants to deflate my tube to minimise space!

Tube stops: 23
1 (14/15 Oct): Vientiane, capital of Laos
2 (17 Oct): Champasak, southern Laos
3 (18 Oct): Don Det, close to border with Cambodia
4 (19 Oct): Don Khone, even closer to border with Cambodia
5 (20 Oct): Kratie, home of the irrawaddy dolphins, Cambodia
6 (21-25 Oct): Siem Reap, Angkor Wat territory, Cambodia
7 (26-28 Oct): Silhanoukville, beaching in southern Cambodia
8 (29-31 Oct): Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia
9 (1-5 Nov): Hanoi, capital of Vietnam
10 (7-8 Nov): Sapa and a climb to Vietnam's highest mountain, Fansipan at 3143m
11 (10 Nov): Hanoi, back again to meet Mr Luyombya
12 (12 Nov): Hue, the divide between North and South Vietnam during the War
13 (13-14 Nov): Hoi An, in torrential rain
14 (15 Nov): Nha Trang, further south along the coast and same same rain
15 (16-20 Nov): Saigon, Saigon
16 (21 Nov): Kuala Lumpur, the tube makes it to its 4th country
17 (22 Nov): Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah region of Borneo
18 (23 Nov): Kiau, a Dusun village
19 (24-25 Nov): Mount Kinabalu, the summit at 4,095m above sea level
20 (26-27 Nov): Poring Hot Springs, relaxing after the tough climb
21 (1 Dec): Turtle Island, tubing in the Sulu Sea before seeing giant green turtles
22 (2 Dec): Sepilok Orangutan Reserve, with the infamous 97% human-like orangutans
23 (17 Dec): London, the greatest city in the world!

Thanks for all those who have donated!

KL and my final few days on holiday

2008-12-14T12:33:00.019Z

Kuala Lumpur

Arriving in KL, Malaysia's capital, felt like I was halfway home. Homely comforts at the Shangri-La hotel, the plush SkyBar and British architecture in the city's main square.

The spent the three days in KL walking around the various districts. Bukit Bintang is a buzzing street with many shopping malls, dodgy massage parlours, cafes. Just off Bukit Bintang is Changkat Bukit Bintang, a very cool street of hip bars and restaurants representing food from all over the globe - Russian, Brazilian, Danish, German, British, Irish, and many more. Nearby, Jalan Alor has several outdoor food stalls offering very good food for next to nothing. The Indian district isn't particularly pleasant, nor is Chinatown. Merdeka Square, the city centre when the British rules Malaysia has many pretty buildings.

The two main attractions, however, are the Pearl Tower and Petronas Towers, one of the tallest buildings in the world. You can view both buildings from almost anywhere in the city, and the sight by day and night is amazing.

At night, I would hover around Jalan Ramlee or at the SkyBar in the Traders Hotel, where I met Iris, Mysara and Andreas. The view from the 33rd floor SkyBar was great, and the drinks were great too.

Singapore

Arriving into Singapore's Changi airport felt like a different world. The people, language, organisation, efficiency, it was nothing like anywhere I had been to in the previous six months. I only had half a day, so I first headed to City Hall for a bit of shopping at the Funan DigitaLife Mall. I then headed to Little India for more shopping and a walk around what felt like Southall or Wembley in the West of London. I then went for a relaxing massage before taking the subway to Clarke Quay, where I would spend my last few hours on holiday. The Le Noir bar was great, but I couldn't help but think it was just being in Broadgate Circle, Liverpool Street on a summer's day, full of Brits in suits.

It was then time to go home.

Final night in Borneo

2008-12-14T10:01:00.007Z

We were back in Kuching. After going for a massage and spending most of the afternoon trying to change my flight to KL, we went for an Indian - Lyn's Restaurant. The food was very good and the owner of the restaurant was a little crazy, although entertaining. He was sharing his wisdom, a lot of which I disagreed with, but it was no use havign the debate.

I then headed out alone to check out Kuching on a Friday night. I went bar hopping from Goal to Piccadilly, where it was mainly locals. I then checked out Ipanema, before settling at Soho. I met Mike and Maja, both German working in Kuching, Joel, and Alisya, a very attractive local girl. We spent most of the night in Soho before briefly going to Mojo, but it soon closed and we were back in Soho. The music was not bad, but the local dancing was shocking. I then hopped into Maja's car and we headed to Junk Bar, where I stayed until around 5am I think. Fun night. Joel was a finance student of Warwick and worshipped the likes of Warren Buffet (so much that his shoes had WB's name printed on them), so it was fun taking the mick out of him.

The next morning, I paid a brief visit to the very impressive Sawarak Museum, but I didn't do it justice given my tired state. I then flew to KL.

It was a short, but very fun and adventurous trip to Sarawak. Anne and Aldrin are both very interesting and fun people, which made it even better. I couldn't help but feeling the trip was over, even though I had a few more days in KL and Singapore before heading home.

Living in a traditional Iban longhouse

2008-12-14T09:57:00.006Z

We headed out of Kuching in a minibus stopping for breakfast and again at the Serian Market. The market is where I saw a live turtle being de-shelled with many locals watching - it was very sick.

Our final part of the journey to Skandis, an Iban longhouse, was by boat. On arrival, we were greeted by the chief's wife as the chief himself was out hunting.

The longhouse at Skandis, built on stilts, consisted of 14 doors. Behind each door was a single room where a single family would live. All doors would face out to an open gallery shared across all families and where most people would sit during the day. There was an open veranda beyond this that would be used to hang clothes to dry, or dry rubber, rice etc. The longhouse was very basic with electricity only for a few hours in the evening, powered by a generator. The chief also has a fridge and satellite TV, which everyone would gather around at night to watch their favourite Indonesia soaps. The 'longdrop' toilets were outside.

There were kids and adults everywhere you looked. It was impossible to determine which kid belonged to who as it seemed like one big, happy family. Kids as young as 10 were drinking and smoking. There were roosters going at it all day and night.

We sat around until the chief returned from his hunt, something we would do a lot of - problem was there was no cushioning between my butt and the bamboo floor. It was getting late so the chief's wife asked Aldrin to present 'our' gifts to them - Aldrin had done a mass shop that morning of tobacco, toothpaste, fruits, and also a pig's head. Soon after the hunting party returned, guns in hand. There were around 20-25 of them, including a 7yr and 8yr boy, both bare-footed, who had been out for over 12hrs since 7am.

They were late as they caught and shot dead a barking deer. We were lucky, as well as our usual dinner, we were invited for some deer with the chief in his house. Someone also spotted a civet, but despite a few gun shots, it got away. We then had some chopped up pig's head as a snack during the rice wine session. There was more meat on it than I expected. The rice wine session simply involved lots of drinking and it was particularly fun for the teens who were lightweights by all accounts. We went through 11 bottles I think. It was then time for bed. The chief's wife pulled out three ultra-thin mattresses and laid them out outside. We tied out mozzie nets and that was bed - it was like my mum's village in Bochasan!

The next morning we went for a short walk walking up and down hills, across streams seeing how the Iban people extract latex from rubber trees. We were also pointed out iron wood, local plants and veggies, fruit trees etc. They have a use for almost every plant. The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent doing nothing, except every few hours we would be invited to eat something - I was eating like a beast and doing no exercise - great!

We went for a few swims/baths a day in the river to kill time. The kids loved the river and could swim from the age of 3! They would swim, splash and bathe in the river.

The final night, after dinner, was market time, where all the families bring out souvenirs for tourists to buy, except there were only 2 this time. Both Anne and I felt bad and bought something, but it was awkward to say the least.

The next morning we returned to Kuching, and notably the boatswoman fell in the river as she was paddling to prevent the boat from getting stuck in the rocks.

The stunning Mulu National Park

2008-12-14T09:52:00.010Z

I left my Sabah group behind for a new leader, Aldrin, and new group ... that consisted of 1 person, Anne, from Brisbane, Australia. I suspect there will be fewer late nights on this trip, although I still couldn't wait to head to the national parks and longhouse.

After a flight to Miri, it was food and an early night before a 6am start the following morning. Han had warned me that this trip was much 'rougher', but I didn't expect what was to come.

Most tourists opt for the 20 minute flight from Miri to the Mulu National Park, but we were taking a different route, and what a difference. It started with a comfortable taxi to the jetty, but that's where we left comfort behind for the day. Next up was a 3hr ride on a closed, cramped longboat to Marudi town. After a short break, we jumped onto another boat to 'Somewhere'. This was a little more comfortable, but another 4-5hrs, although this was only meant to take 2-3hrs. By now, my butt was very sore. From Somewhere, we were supposed to get a private boat sent from Mulu National Park, but we were a few hours behind, and just as we arrived to Somewhere, it started to pour down with rain. Aldrin was concerned that our boat wouldn't come, either because we were late or due to the rain. We were in trouble. There was no mobile phone reception and no homes in sight. Eventually, someone came up to us and asked Aldrin what we are doing. He offered us his home to stay in if our boat didn't arrive - relief! Finally, only a few hours late, our boat did arrive. But by now, it was chucking it down with rain and the boat was a small, wooden, open boat! We tried to cover our bags up as much as possible and jumped into the boat. The engine kept on cutting out and as it got dark, we were concerned that we might hit logs in the river that had fallen into the river from the rains upstream. We were on the boat for 2hrs and finally got into the Park HQ around 7pm, well after dark, and 13hrs after we left Miri! Great adventure.

After a good meal just outside the Park, we hit the sack. We had a long walk ahead of us to Camp 5 in the morning.

We woke up to find the Park HQ flooded. The rain didn't stop overnight and we couldn't get out of the Park HQ until the water level dropped. We were lucky that we got the go-ahead to leave around 9am and were off, without Anne as we opted to stay at Park HQ and not risk the conditions en route and at Camp 5.

We jumped on a longboat and first headed to Wind Cave, one of many caves in the Park. Mulu contains the largest system of caves in the world. The cave was very large, but the guide, Esra, said this was tiny in comparison to what I would see a few days later. The neighbouring Clearwater Cave was not accessible due to high water leves. We continued on the boat for a bit before we couldn't go any further due to fallen logs in the river. We hopped out with our bags, had lunch, and began the 8km walk to Camp 5. It was the muddiest, wettest walk ever. I was often in mud above my knees and it was tough going, but I was loving it. Little did I know that the rains had damaged the water system at Camp 5 and there was no showers or tap water, so we had to bathe in the river which was a little dangerous as it was flowing very fast and unusually high.

The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling and chatting to an Aussie couple, Brandon and Caz, who had just come down from the Pinnacles climb, which I attempt the following day. Accommodation at Camp 5 consists of sleeping on bunks in open rooms - not surprisingly, I got bitten alive by sand flies that night!

It was time to climb (not really a hike) the Pinnacles, a climb that I was warned was much tougher than Mt Kinabalu. The trail was 2.4km, of which the final 400m was like rock climbing with the help of ladders to traverse across rocks, and very slippery. I was up in around 2.5hrs and had the entire view to myself. The Pinnacles are a collection of 45-metre high, limestone needles that cling to the side of Gunung Api (Fire Mountain). They form a forest of silver-grey stone encircled by thick green vegetation. I spent 2hrs at the top admiring the view and delaying what would be a nightmare descent. It proved a hellish return to Camp 5; my knees were in so much pain, but I was down in 2hrs and jumped straight into the river to swim and cool off. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and chatting to a group of expats from Brunei who also went up the Pinacles with me, before returning back to Park HQ the following morning.

I was in luck as I was able to visit Clearwater Cave as the water level had fallen in the past few days. The cave was simply stunning. Absolutely massive and with a river running through it. It is one of the longest caves in the world at over 100km.

I returned to Park HQ, only two days later, to see the water level had come down considerably. After lunch, Esra took Anne and me to Langs Cave and Deer Cave, the latter being the largest cave in the world. Deer Cave is also famous for the bats that reside within, and at around 6pm everyday, around 2 million bats, mostly free tailed and wrinkle-lipped bats, fly out of the cave in search for food. It was unreal.

My four day adventure to Mulu was over and we flew to Kuching via Miri for the second leg of the trip. The views from the plane were spectacular.

Final few days in Sabah

2008-12-14T09:43:00.005Z

The final days in Sabah were spent 20 minutes outside Kota Kinabalu at a seaside resort - Seaside Travellers Inn.

We had lots of fun chilling in the pool before our final group dinner. After dinner, we were joking around, Denmark had some tough riddles for us all.

We then played volleyball to settle the drawn game a few days ago in Sepilok. Wow, were the winners gloating.

Denmark taught us 'team ping pong' which was great fun. Jackie and I continued playing for another hour or so in very humid conditions while the rest kicked off a game of Uno.

Soon there were only four left. Yep, Scotland, Han and me. At around 2am, Han and Kathleen headed out in a car to fetch some food - they came back with sweet cheese biscuits, KFC and Mentos! That night ended very late and I had promised to wake up to meet all before we head off at 8am!

The next day, we all parted company, but not before arranging Dennis' Christmas message to his work colleagues.

You hideous orangutan

2008-12-04T13:14:00.004Z

I had only heard of the ORANGUTAN in an episode of Fawlty Towers when Manuel called one of the builders a 'hideous orangutan'. Seeing them in the flesh was one of my main reasons for visiting Borneo.

After some Chinese-style pork buns en route, we headed straight for the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary for the 10am feeding. The park was started for rescue and rehabilitation of orphaned baby orangutans from logging sites, plantations, and illegal hunting. The orphaned orangutans are trained to survive again in the wild and are released as soon as ready. Only a few of them came out for the morning feed, but it was amazing. They majestically cross the rope from thee trees to the feeding platform.

On our way back to the main centre of the sanctuary, we encountered angry-looking monkeys looking for some food. Some of them were quite scary, but it was great seeing so many of them out in the wild no more than a few metres from us.

After chilling at our B&B for a few hours, Scotland, Dennis and I returned to the Sanctuary for the 3pm feed. And how good a decision was that! We saw loads of them, big and small ones. It's amazing how the parent carries the baby as he/she traverses across the rope. After the orangutans were done with the bananas that had been left out for them, dozens of monkeys turned up for the scraps. It was an incredible sight to see both monkeys and orangutans in one eyeshot in their natural environment.

We walked back to the B&B very happy people. The evening entertainment then began. First, a very competitive game of volleyball followd by a fantastic BBQ that the B&B had put on for us on request - lamb chops, sausages, chicken wings, potato salad, greens, corn on the cob, it was delicious. It then started to get messy as we played 'Pyramil' with Uno cards (Denmark taught us), a drinking game, and then musical chairs, 'Duck Goose', and finally darts. At around 2am, just as everyone was heading to bed, a couple of locals turned up with local drinks, which Kathleen said smelt like "babies' vomit" (she's a nurse). The same old foursome continued on for a few more hours until only Jackie and I were left. We were in mischievous mood. First, we formed a human pyramid with a couple of locals, and then Jackie was driven away in the back of a van for a bit before I went and got her. One of the locals took a liking to Jackie, but was never going to be successful telling her she was 'fat' and '28' when she is only 26. After the locals left, we decided it would be fun to climb on top of one of the rooms and then block a few room doors with tables and brooms. We finally hit the sack around 4am.

Puurrrple turrrtlesssss

2008-12-04T12:53:00.007Z

My two days in the jungle were intense and very exciting, so have no time to write about it now, although photos are up.

Before heading to Turtle Island, we had a night in Sandakan, Sabah's second largest city.

I had a great Sunday afternoon there. Spent a few hours reading the local paper, went for a much needed haircut and chilled in front of the TV - is was just like a typical Sunday back at home, except without live football.

In the late afternoon, we went to visit the War Memorial, which was dedicated to the thousands of Australians and Brits who lost there lives at the hands of the Japanese during WW2, either at the POW camp (where the War Memorial now sits), or along one of the three Death Marches to Ranau, more than 200km away. Of approximately 2,400 POWs, only 6 survived. We then paid a visit to the Buddhist temple that sits on top of a hill overlooking the bay and Sulu Sea.

In the evening, we had dinner along the waterfront. Everyone went off to bed, but I stayed out a little longer to watch some footy. I headed back at 1am, my earliest night in a while.

The following morning, we spent an hour on a speedboat heading to Turtle Island. As the island came into our view, you could see the stunning palm trees and pristine beach. We pretty much had the beach to ourselves as they limit the number of visitors on the island per day to minimise disruption to the green and hawkbill turtles that come onto the beach at night to nest.

I had a great afternoon chilling in the sea on my tube, jumping into the sea off rocks, and playing 'water cricket'. As Scotland and I headed back to our rooms, we saw a baby turtle waddle into the water - great sight.

Before dinner, we spent a little time checking out the exhibition they have as well as a short documentary video on the turtles. During dinner we were alerted by the ranger that a green turtle had come onto the beach to nest. We all headed out quickly to see the spectacle. The green turtle had dug itself a nest about 30cm deep into the sand above the level of high tide. We saw each egg coming out - they looked like mini scotch eggs, but a little more gooey. The turtle's shell was more than 1m long and 80cm wide - the ranger measured it to enable it to identify and monitor the turtle in the future. The green turtle then thought it was burying the eggs under the sand, unaware that the ranger had removed them as they have a much better chance of survival in one of the islands' hatcheries. We saw the ranger bury the eggs in the hatchery and then saw him release 50 baby turtles, only 2 days old, into the sea - they have a 1-2% chance of survival. When they headed away back inland, we had to pick them up from the shell and point them in the right direction - it was quite amazing to seem them so close up. Throughout, we didn't use any cameras to protect the turtles from exposure to direct light.

We then headed back to our chalets for more Uno, which was later accompanied by lots of burping and farting (thanks to Scotland, Han and me) - not nice really, but reminded me of school:)

Eeveryone was taking the mick out of Jackie in the way she said 'turtles' with her strong Scottish accent - the way she said 'purple turtles' was even more amusing.

Adventure in the Borneo jungle

2008-12-04T08:40:00.002Z

After a little comfort in Poring, it was time to get smelly again, this time in Kinabatangan, deep within the Borneo jungle. We took a local bus from Poring to the Mescot Camp in a village along the Kinabatangan River.

Soon after we headed down the river in a longboat to our campsite, which was merely a small tent on the riverbank. We setup our 'bed' for the night amid fire ants, spiders, leeches, the lot.

We then took a trip further upstream in search for proboscis monkeys. We were in luck, we saw loads, and even saw an orangutan from distance. To see them swinging from tree to tree was quite something.

On our return, we had dinner (and lots of layer cakes), and headed into the jungle for a nightwalk. I wasn't expecting to see much, but it was excellent. Amazing how our local guide and Han can find all sorts of insects with only a small torch to help them. Despite the fact that we were making a fair bit of noise, especially when Jackie and Kristine jumped when they saw a flying butterfly, we saw lots - frogs, centipedes, lizards, but also a snake, a scorpion and the ultimate, a tarantula.

We returned to camp to play cards (Shithead) with Jim and Inkie. Jim also tried a ridiculous trick where he would ask someone to write their name on a piece of paper and then burn the paper. He would rub the paper, now ash, onto his arm and somehow guess the name. It didn't work, but he did burn himself.

It was time for bed, yes we were sleeping in hammocks in the sweltering heat, not helped by lots of farting. I didn't manage to get to sleep, but I was very manky when I woke up the next morning.

We had a jam-packed schedule for today. First up was a morning boat ride, hoping to see some birds. We saw more monkeys, and towards the end, we saw some great birds - an eagle sitting on top of a tree, the colourful kingfisher, and another cool bird whose name escapes me.

We then returned to the Mescot camp for a shower - with brown riverwater - hey it was something at least. Following this, we had some cooking lessons (mum will be proud). Denmark, Jackie and I opted to make doughnuts. It was fun, I was good at rolling dough (not surprising having seen my mum do it for 25 years). We even made rude ones:)

We then visited some nearby caves, where inside, as well as many bats, there were coffins of people and buffalos from many centuries ago. We also saw a karmeleon.

This followed a brief visit to a Muslim wedding that was taking place in the village. We were provided with local costumes. It reminded me very much of an Indian wedding. Lots of kids running around, food, chaos etc, but only around 200 people.

We were treated to an excellent performance by local artists in the afternoon, combining local dances, local instruments and some martial arts. Kathleen and I were also sucked into a dance of our own - fun, but quite embarrassing.

It got worse for me. Jim asked three of us to step up (Kenneth, Kristine and me). He then blindfolded us and asked us to stand on a chair. After that, he asked Kenneth to sit down and repeated the exercise on Kristine and I. After that, he asked Kristine to sit down, leaving only me. I was then blindfolded, asked to stand on a chair and the chair was then lifted on a few chairs that had been placed on a table. I was a good few metres off the ground. I was then asked to jump which was very scary. Little did I know it was a prank and I was jumping from a foot off the ground!

We then played some volleyball with the locals, only girls though because the guys were very serious and good.

We then separated and went off to our homestays. I was staying with Dennis and Han, and a family of a zillion. The father of the house introduced himself and we had a brief conversation. He has 15 kids, of which 10 are married! And 39 grandchildren! Most of the family just sit and lie in front of the tele all afternoon and evening. Dinner was good, very spicy, although it was a shame not to eat with the entire family, just the father. The bath was like my place in Indian, cold water from a bucket. I also had to share a bed with Han which wasn't ideal.

We then returned to the wedding for the evening event. We had different costumes this time, provided to us by our host family. Han and I looked very traditional, but also like muppets. It wasn't particularly exciting, although Scotland, Jim and I had fun spotting ladyboys. The bride's personal stylist was a ladyboy! After Han tried to set me up with a 22yr girl (who turned out to be 16!), some of us had a little dance with the locals, and the bride! It was the only time I saw the bride smiling!

The entire two days were excellent. Mescot has an excellent setup. I was looking forward to a shower though.

Chilling at Poring Hot Springs

2008-12-04T08:37:00.010Z

I was very glad to arrive at the Round Inn in Poring, and most looking forward to a hot shower and wearing clean clothes for the first time in a while!

Rather than get some kip like everyone else before dinner, I got drawn into an 'a bis' contest with Han and three local drivers: Ambulance, Helicopter and Bulldozer.

The next morning, I and everyone else were hobbling, feeling the effects of the climb. The hot springs were not great, basically bath tubs with sulphur water on drip. The massage later in the day was better, but extremely painful!

Scotland and I went to see Jackie, the resident orangutan in the park nearby. It was my first sight of an orangutan and I loved it - so human-like in its behaviour. On our return, we saw a snake that must have been around half a metre in length.

It was pouring down with rain in Poring, and there was little to do on our final night - so it turned out to be very messy in the confines of the Round Inn. There was a guitar, lots of singing by locals and us, lots of Uno and other card games, drinking games, skulling of beer with vodka, and for some unknown reason, throughout the night, the owner's wife kept on slapping me. It was a very late night.

The mighty Mount Kinabalu

2008-11-30T05:28:00.007Z

The time had come. We were preparing to climb from Timpohon Gate at 1,800m to Low's Peak, the summit at 4,095m above sea level.

We stayed at Park Headquarters the night before. I was not feeling very well suffering from a cold, and not helped by the fact that it took me 45 minutes to deflate the tube in preparation for the climb.

I was surprised with my fitness, maybe because I had only climbed Mount Fansipan a few weeks ago, but I was bombing it up the mountain. I was first to reach the nightspot at Laban Rata (3,272m). The facilities were excellent, including heating and warm bedding. I chilled as people arrived into the hut. Some food and a game of Scrabble later, it was time for bed, at 6pm.

We had to leave for the final ascent to the summit at 2am. There were a lot of people on the trail and it was difficult to get any momentum. A lot of the climb was using ropes, so we had to go one at a time unless we dared ascend without the rope (like the guides). I was among the first group of climbers to reach the top, at 5:06 am. However, sunrise was not until 6am, and so had to wait at the top for almost an hour in freezing cold and very windy conditions. I frantically tried to pump up the tube, difficult as I could not feel my fingers or feet. In the meantime, Mitch had proposed to a tearful Jo, which followed a loud scream of joy.

A quick photo at the top, and I was heading right back down. I had the tube over my shoulder as it would take too long to deflate. Somehow, I made it back down the ropes (one-handed) to Laban Rata unscathed. It was a very successful journey as 10 of the 12 of us made it to the summit. Kennets was in pieces as he had the runs, but managed it. Benedicte and Nicole had no problems, and the Scots made it without any major issues too. Dennis did really well too as was up pretty fast.

There are loads of stunning pics on the blog (not all that I took), but were are a few:

We had breakfast at Laban Rata before heading back down. I was down by noon, desperate to change into comfy flip-flops. I was very sore from the descent, brutal on the knees, but very happy with the way I went.

Living in Kiau with the Dusun people

2008-11-30T05:26:00.003Z

The short (by distance), but slow journey to Kiau was great fun. Either in a 4x4 jeep or at the back of a pick-up truck, the ride was very bumpy, and at one point, one of the bags fell out the side of the pick-up truck into a puddle.

Kiau is a small town at the bottom of Mount Kinabalu. It is home to Dusun/Kadazan people, the largest ethnic group in Sabah. Sappingi was our host and also the lead guide who would take us up Mount Kinabalu. We had a very warm welcome and were treated to a local dance performance by kids who were being taught English thanks to Intrepid's work with the village. We even had a go at some local instruments ourselves.

Dinner was at Sappingi's brother-in-law's house, a 15 minute walk away. However, is was absolutely pouring with rain and we were all slipping and sliding all over the place. This was a brilliant night, one of my best on the trip so far - the food was great, the people exceptionally friendly and lots of local spirits to keep the party going on well into the early hours.

It was Dennis' birthday the previous night and so he had a lot of rice wine early on, before he passed out on the couch in the living room. The rest of us continued as Sappingi toasted each of us before we drank. If the cup was left with a drop when turned over, another shot followed. Ruby, a friend of Han's and a fellow tour guide, was playing old classics on the guitar like 'Country Road'. As the night wore on, we played all sorts of games (with poles, on each other's backs, limbo), and slowly, those sensible ones, returned back to our nightspot.

Once again, Scotland (Kathleen and Jackie), Han and me were last out, I think around 4am. Apparently, we were very loud on our return and woke everyone up - don't believe it!

The next morning was a struggle as we went for a village tour - nothing special except Carina had a great fall.

Kota Kinabalu, capital of Sabah, Borneo

2008-11-30T05:23:00.008Z

Arriving into Kuala Lumpur was a different world - the traffic was normal, for the first time since I left Russia 4 months ago. I was only in town for a day before flying into Borneo, but am planning to return for a few days after my Borneo adventure.

I was excited at arriving into Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Sabah state of Borneo. I would be travelling in a group again having spent 2 months travelling independently. I went shopping for the big climb, which included a foot pump for the tube, so I could pump it up at the summit of Mount Kinabalu.

I met my group leader, Han, and the other people travelling on the trip:
Australia: Mitch and Jo
New Zealand: Matt and Kristine
Denmark: Kennets and Carina
Switzerland (with a bit of German): Benedicte and Nicole
Scotland: Kathleen and Jackie
Canada: Dennis (my roommate)

The leader was a local guy, shorter than me and maybe equally as thin - seemed like a fun guy - he was also teaching me some key local phrases: 'a rum a tea' (cheers), 'thri ma kasih' (thank you) and 'a bis' (bottoms up), a phrase that would be used very frequently in the coming days. We headed out for an Indian together and then to BB bar. It was our first night on the trip and a messy one at that. Australia, Scotland, Han and me went onto Cocoon club, a local club with live music, anything from local music to hip hop. Scotland, Han and me stayed out until the place closed, around 4am I think, before we headed back, when en route, I attempted to climb a tree.

The next morning, we left for Kiau, a Dusun village.

Saigon, Saigon

2008-11-30T05:15:00.007Z

So I am miles behind on the blog now - having too much fun in Borneo.

What did I do in Saigon?

After having to find a hotel at around 4am in the morning, we didn't too anything too strenuous in Saigon. The most activity we did was playing pool, which after a while, especially having not done too much exercise in a while, can really do you back in. Dave and I found this pool hall, which was full of locals who worked and played against customers for money. I beat probably the best guy in the place, but then lost 3-1 to Rosie who was a demon on the table, and 100,000 dong along with it, but only because she decided during the game that we were playing 'Vietnamese' rules.

We did manage to visit the War Remnants Museum, which gave an excellent depiction of the War and its impact on the soldiers, including American soldiers, civilians and the landscape.

In the evening, we hopped from bar to bar - first up was the rooftop bar at Caravelle Hotel, then Go2 bar on Backpackers' Alley, Q Bar and finally the nasty Apocalypse Now, which was full of 'working' girls.

Rather than go to Phu Quoc Islands, we headed for a couple of days into the Mekong Delta as the weather was fairly thundery. The two days were excellent. Chilled out rides on longboats, hectic ferry crossings, watched a performance from local musicians, and lots of floating markets, some of which were a bit lame. We spent the night in Cau Tao, which is the largest town in the Delta region. We decided to jump on the back of a motorbike and find a pool place. We were taken quite far from our hotel, but the place was great. After some pool, we chilled in a coffee shop which had back-to-back episodes of the original Tom and Jerry cartoons - I think we were watching for at least an hour. We then had a local dinner - hotpot out on the plastic stools on the pavement.

We returned to Saigon and met Seb, Sally and Jay, who I hadn't realised earlier but was on the same boat in Halong Bay. It ended up being a very late one in Alley Boo. We also saw an amusing, but quite sad, little kid who dancing like he's Usher in front of tourists for money, while his mum just sits there hoping he brings in plenty of cash. The video is on the blog too and worth checking out.

My final day in Saigon and Vietnam was spent at the Cu Chi tunnels, a network of tunnels the Viet Cong built to defend themselves from the air raids during the War. We saw the booby traps the Viet Cong used - quite amazing, but very sick and deadly. I went into a couple of sections of the tunnels, whose entrance was only 30x40cm. It was very narrow and claustrophobic, and was on all fours for a lot of the time, but it was very cool. We finished off shooting AK47s and the M60 machine gun - amazing, but very loud - wartime must have been hellish with so many going off at the same time.

Appropriately, I ended my visit to Vietnam with a kebab and some pool before heading to the airport amid crazy drivers in treachorous weather conditions.

I have mixed feeling about Vietnam. Most people are out to rip tourists off, it's difficult to find a place where you don't get hassled constantly by street hawkers, the roads are heaving with motorbikes, and worst of all, there are hookers everywhere. Yet, it had a very vibrant feel about it and was seemingly very capitalist. The scenery, particularly in the north, was stunning. I suspect the torrential rain we got for the past week or so didn't help, but I'm sure I will return, if only to visit Phu Quoc islands and Dalat.

Cruising quickly down the coast of Vietnam

2008-11-21T09:55:00.009Z

I returned to Hanoi to meet up with Dave. After giving him a quick flavour of Vietnamese life (kebabs, noodle soup, spring rolls and bia hoi), we got an overnight sleeper bus to Hue.

Hue

The bus ride was miserable for me, of Vietnamese size, let alone Dave, and we were glad when we arrived into Hue mid morning.

Hue was the imperial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty between 1802 and 1945, and suffering considerable damage from American firepower and bombings during the Vietnam (American) War due to its central position placed very near to the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam (Hue was located in the South).

We arranged a couple of motorbikes to take us around the Citadel, the Thien Mu Pagoda and a few of the many tombs of past emperors. The trip was eventful to say the least. We were riding on narrow paths through local villages and our motorbike riders were absolutely nuts.

The Citadel, although clearly damaged considerably during the War, was amazing and we rushed around to see as much of it as possible. It is similar in design to the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Minh Mang's tomb was very pictoresque (especially for a tomb), but the ultimate had to be our visit to Emperor Gia Long's tomb. It resides across a narrow river. We ended up paying a random lady some money to take the bikes and us across the river. When we arrived at the tomb it was clear that not many people visit this one, and the local dude let us into the inside of the tomb for a small 'discretionary fee'.

That evening was equally eventful. We headed to DMZ Bar and met up with a couple of random Aussies. After some recreational pool, it became very competitive, especially when the locals got involved. They play every day of every week and are pretty amazing. However, I managed to keep my cool and beat them, to the delight of other travellers. We also had a couple of absolutely twats (one Canadian and one American) who decided to get drunk and act like idiots in the bar and on the streets, including running onto the top of a moving car! Just when we thought out night was over, we headed to a food stall across a river. By this time, it was fairly late and we had no idea where the motos were taking us. The ride was fun though - I decided to sit on the moto (which also had Dave and the driver on it) backwards! After some pho (noodle soup), we headed to Brown Eyes, where we were briefly before walking back to our hotel. Before we could go into our hotel, the moto demanded we pay him 300,000 dong, about 6 times what we should have paid. When we refused, it got messy - foul language, phoning his boys to come over and sort us out, and other threats. WE survived.

We headed on a tour of the DMZ the following day not feeling so good from the previous night and lack of sleep, where we visited the Vinh Moc tunnels. The tunnels were built to shelter the people from the intense bombing in the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. The complex grew to include wells, kitchens, rooms for each family and spaces for healthcare. Around 60 families lived in the tunnels; as many as 17 children were born inside the tunnels as well. Dave is very claustrophobic and decided not to come in. I went in and could not believe how tight it was. No more than 50cm wide and 120cm in height. On the return journey, I was not feeling great and yacked up ... in the minibus.

We headed back into Hue and missed our shuttle to the bus station for our bus to Hoi An. So we had to get on the back of a moto. It was a 30min+ journey and very painful - I was carrying my backpack, daypack and tube while on the bike!

Hoi An

I was still not feeling all that well as we got into Hoi An, but was still out until the early hours. The weather was shocking - constant, heavy rain. However, not surprising given it was the monsoon season.

Hoi An has a river flowing through it and the banks either side are heaving with restaurants, bars and numerous tailoring shops (for which it's famous for), all of which can turn around garments in a day or two copying whatever you choose from magazines and catalogues.

However, given the weather, much of our time in Hoi An was spent playing pool, for fun, but also challenging both locals and tourists, moving between Tam Tam Cafe and King Kong Club. We ended up most nights in Salsa Club, where I would be the resident DJ, making the most of the music on iTunes and the laptop. By this time, I was on fire and winning almost every game with flawless pool, such that when Dave drew 2-2 at the appalling table at King Kong bar, he made a note of it with a marker pen on the wall.

We got off our backsides on our final day in town and headed to My Son, a Hindu temple complex, built between the 4th and 14th century, and heavily bombed by American B-52s during the War. It was a pleasant outing out of town and definitely worth the trip.

We returned to town, headed to Treats for a quick game of pool, followed by Tam Tam to watch the Liverpool game, King Kong for more pool, and finally Salsa Club around 2am. A couple of Swedeish guys were travelling with their musical instruments and we had a jam session around 4am when there were only a few of us left in the bar and the bartenders.

At around 5am, we spontaneously decided to get motos to Cau Dao beach for sunrise. It was great (not for my cold though) as we went for a swim and played football with the many locals there.

After a few hours kip, we got a car to Da Nang and an onward train to Nha Trang.

Nha Trang

The weather was now worse than before and it was pointless spending much time in Nha Trang, a seaside town. We got in late and headed to Crazy Kim's for food and then more pool at Why Not bar. Somehow, we ended up being out again until the early hours. The next day, we decided to leave for Saigon, but there was major disruption to public transport due to the tropical storm. Our train was delayed until early evening. We decided to pamper ourselves at Crazy Kim's spa - full body massage and foot massage - great!

Sapa and the top of Vietnam

2008-11-21T09:43:00.004Z

I finally left Hanoi and heading north to Sapa. It was a different planet to Hanoi - quiet, open, and very beautiful with a wonderful lake in its centre. I checked into an amazing guesthouse (Darling Guesthouse) with stunning views of the surrounding hill terraces.

I rented a motorbike for the very first time and what an experience. It was very messy with a few close shaves, but I survived. I visited a few minority villages around Sapa and the scenery along the way was stunning.

That afternoon, I also climbed Dragon Jaw Hill and saw a traditional show by local minority performers. It wan't very popular and I was one of few tourists there, but the show was well worth it (despite the electricty outage in the middle).

Before I headed off to climb Vietnam's highest peak, I went out for a few games of pool and ended up hustling, successfully, a couple of cocky locals. My pool game was back after a long barren spell!

It was time to leave town to climb Mount Fansipan which at its peak stands at 3143 metres above sea level. Most people take 3 days, 2 nights to climb the mountain and return, but 3 others and me only had 2 days and 1 night. The walk wasn't too difficult although I had a cold which didn't help matters. We slept in a cabin at 2800 metres. It was very cold, close to zero celsius, and we were sleeping on bamboo sticks! The final walk to the summit was simply amazing, and the views from the top made the miserable night's sleep worthwhile.

We made a brisk return down the mountain, where evewn the guide was struggling to keep up with Neil and me. I chilled for a bit before heading to the train station with a soft seat overnight train ticket to Hanoi. I decided to trade my ticket with some local dude to get a sleeper bed. I ended up with the policeman's cabin on the train, as the dude paid of the cop so that I could sleep in his 'bed'.

The stunning Halong Bay

2008-11-21T09:06:00.002Z

I headed to Halong Bay for a couple of days with a good bunch, probably 30 or so of us in total. There were a lot of Irish people as well as a few Canadians, Birts and others - a good mix in all. We had the perfect ingredients for a complete mess.

Halong is a few hours from Hanoi, from where we caught a boat, which we stayed on for the next 24 hours or so.

The afternoon was spent tucking into the great food on offer - prawns, pork strippers, chicked, vegetables - all really good. We then headed out on kayaks. The scenery was spectacular and we found a very quiet place to kayak, away from the many other boats out in the bay.

On our return, the mess began to take effect. Drinking games had begun early, and everyone was jumping into the water from the top deck before the 10pm deadline kicked in. I became the resident DJ as my iPod and choice of music proved popular. As the games continued, the 'you are not to jump into the water past 10pm' message was ignored by the vast majority as we repeatly jumped into the cool waters in darkness up until 2am when we decided it was time to chill out. I ended up sleeping around 5am before being disturbed by Chelsey gatecrashing the room I was sharing with Dan.

It was a tough next morning, but a very chilled one as we said goodbye to most of the people and heading back to Halong. The bar tab was ridiculous, but it wasn't to spoil the overall two days which were brilliant fun.

Entry into Vietnam and the carnage that is Hanoi

2008-11-21T08:23:00.004Z

After a difficult entry where I spent 30 minutes waiting at immigration while the Vietnamese immigration officer looked at the stamps in my passport over and over again, I almost got into a bustup with the minibus driver heading into Hanoi city centre. Welcome to Vietnam!

The place is carnage. Locals sitting on plastic stools on the sidewalk, motorbikes driving on the sidewalk and roads in all directions. It reminded me very much of India - I already liked the place.

I had some really good, although very greasy, local food off the street stalls, mainly consisting of pho (noodle soup) or spring rolls.

As I was waiting for Dave to arrive into town from London, I ended up spending 5 nights in Hanoi, which many who have been would say is 5 days too long. However, I really liked it - the energy, the vibe, the chaos.

During the day, I mostly spent it chilling at Hanoi Backpackers where there was always someone to chat to, including the Vietnamese staff who were happy to teach me key phrases in Vietnamese that proved very helpful on my travels. In the evening, I would look for the few spots open past the midnight curfew, i.e. those places that are willing to bribe the cops to let them stay open. Red Mask was my favourite - good music, nice pool table and chilled vibe. Other good spots were Finnegans, Le Pub, Hair of the Dog. One night, two other guys and me got jumped by four dodgy ladies who jumped off their bikes and onto us just as we were trying to enter our hotel. Luckily, we escaped into the safety of our hotel!

I also spent a ridiculous amount of time in the evenings at the 'bia hoi' corner. Basically, you sit on a plastic chair on a street corner watching the motorbikes, cars, cycles, etc go by constantly. Microbrew is served at around 10p a glass and there are lots of people selling great and really cheap food such as strips of dried squid with chili sauce, noodle soup, and even delicious kebabs.

After one of a few late nights in Red Mask, I came up with the silly idea of forming a human pyramid in the middle of the road - for some reason, everyone bought into the idea! We then watched Lewis Hamilton somehow clinch the F1 World Championship which was followed by 12 hours of US election coverage - Obama was declared the winner at noon local time at which point I decided to head out for some sightseeing!

The weather was appalling. Tropical storms had flooded most of Hanoi and it was raining heavily all day almost every day I as in town. However, I did manage to get to the lake, the Hoa Lo prison (where John McCann among others were kept during the War), the military museum which had many US tanks, aircrafts etc on display, the Lenin statue opposite, Ho Chi Minh's house, the guy who led Vietnam's Communist era (a hero across the country), and the Temple of Literature, which was similar to many temples in China.

One evening, I also went to the traditional Vietnamese water puppet show which was surprisingly very entertaining.

Although it didn't seem I did much in Hanoi, and despite the constant nagging from street hawkers, I met lots of cool people and it was nice to spend a few days in one place not having to think about where I was going to next.

The wonder that is the ancient city of Angkor

2008-11-04T08:11:00.007Z

Siem Reap is home to the ancient city of Angkor, home of the Khmer empire from the 9th century to 15th century.

I spent three days going to visit some of the many temples in the area. The place was quite spectacular. In my mind, a candidate for the Eighth Wonder of the World. Despite a long and tiring three days travelling from temple to temple on a moto, where it was either soaring under the bright blue skies or torrential monsoon rains, it was well worth it, even though I was constantly hounded by beggars and touts trying to sell you anything by any means possible. There were often many very steep steps to climb too, which was fairly scary, especially in the pouring rain. I took hundreds of pics, but here are a few of my favourite temples:

Angkor Wat, the largest and most famous of the temples at Angkor

The spectacular Bayon, which resides in Angkor Thom

Ta Prohm, spooky and also used as a location for the film Tomb Raider

The much smaller, but very impressive Pre Rup temple

The amazing Preah Khan temple

One of many spectacular gates to the temples

Banteay Srei, a little further out, but well worth the visit

Amazing carvings at Banteay Srei

Me at Angkor

It was very wet on day two and three

Bakong, one of the three temples at Roluos

Siem Reap was the largest city I had been to for quite some time and I made the most of it. Dead Fish restaurant was a really cool venue with live music and crocs!

I went out most of the five nights I spent in Siem Reap (yes, five nights), always starting at Angkor What bar. I met lots of people here too, some I had met on my travels in Laos, but also an Intrepid group. We ended up going to Zone One, the only nightclub in town and full of dodgy locals. X Bar was the only other place to go out late and despite being fairly dull, I did manage to stay there until 5am on two occasions.

Despite being a fantastic, must-see place in Cambodia and arguably the world, I was very disappointed by the people. Many were impolite at best, sometimes down right rude. Yes, there the high levels of poverty in Cambodia was very evident, but I found that difficult to excuse the behavious of most hawkers, kids, hotel staff etc. Also, despite being a poor country, I didn't feel the Cambodians necessarily were particularly hard-working, often seeing many of them mulling around on sidewalks playing cards, drinking or on mobile phones.

I left with my tube to head to the beach in Sihanoukville.

Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia and centre of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime

2008-11-04T07:36:00.006Z

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and a wonderful city with many French and Khmer influenced architecture. However, when the Khmer Rouge entered the city on April 17 1975, the two million or so residents fled and only a few thousand were left.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21) and Choeung Ek are the city's main attractions and paint a graphic picture of Khmer Rouge's rule.

S-21 is a former high school which was used as a prison and interrogation centre by the Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979. An estimated 20,000 people were imprisoned at S-21, mostly former Khmer Rouge members and soldiers accused of betraying the party, but also many women and children. Only seven survived.

The killing fields at Choeung Ek, a short trip outside of the city, are the most famous killing fields with mass graves containing almost 9,000 bodies, mostly former S-21 inmates. The most sickening sight for me was the tree where Khmer Rouge soldiers would batter children against.

I have not read a novel in the time I've been away, until 'First They Killed My Father' by Loung Ung, which is an autobiography of a young girl whose father was a senior official for the ousted government. It is an excellent portrayal of what is was like during this time for normal Cambodians.

During the day, I spent most of my time hanging out with Viktoria, who I had met at the guesthouse and who claimed to be Hungarian, but had a strong Irish accent. She had applied for an Indian visa and was worried about possible bribery attempts on picking up the passport, so I tagged along for support and avoided the $10 'fee'. We then headed to Elephant Bar in the Raffles Hotel. We were the scruffiest people there, especially as we were both on the back of a moto in the pouring rain. We then went for a Chinese, which turned out to be a lot of fun as the waiters asked us to dance with them despite others enjoying their meals around us.

In the evenings, I chilled with Henrik and Christian, who used to work at the door at CC Club in London in the evenings. On the first night, we headed to Pontoon, which was a club on a riverboat. It was not very busy, but they had cabaret and we all had a laugh, with a couple of gay folk. On my final night, we all ended up at Heart of Darkness. It turned into a very messy affair which ended around 4am.

At this point, I had not been to the stunning Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, but planned to go on my final morning before flying to Hanoi in Vietnam. However, due to flight issues, I spent the entire morning very cheesed off at a travel agent who refused to take responsibilty for the cock-up. I did check out the Royal Palace from the outside though, stunning.

My overall impression of Phnom Penh and Cambodia was not great. Yes, sunset on the Mekong at Kratie was beautiful, Angkor is truly one of the world's greatest treasures and Phnom Penh has some compelling sites, but the people, who make any country, were just not very friendly on the whole. I may have been unlucky, but I don't think so.

Attempting to chill on the beach at Sihanoukville

2008-11-04T07:18:00.004Z

I got into Sihanoukville very late, and almost missed the start of the Chelsea vs Liverpool Premier League game that I was mentally preparing myself for during the bus ride from Siem Reap. I met a British girl from London and two Aussies on the bus, the latter who I would spend the next few days with.

On my first night, I stayed in and watched the football in the guesthouse bar. The locals thought I was a little intense and were scared to come close to me, even to deliver my Sprite. When Liverpool won, I was warned of being too loud; they just didn't understand the significance!

Sihanoukville is a port city in southern Cambodia, and has in recent years become a popular tourist spot for both Cambodians (mostly from the capital Phnom Penh) and foreigners.

The beaches were ok, but atmosphere spoiled by the sewer pipes running from some of the bar shacks on the beach down into the sea as well as the large number of persistent hawkers, mostly kids. I played footy on the beach with some locals, but rather than chill on the beach, I spent most of my time fending off kids trying to sell me bracelets, name tags, massages etc. The water was amazing though, the same temperature as the air, and as an added bonus, you would be protected from the hawkers.

Some of kids' behaviour was shocking. If you bought something, you were their best friend, but if not, they would kindly wish that you die. A couple of them were so annoying that Rikki, one of the Aussies, taught them a lesson, as i did a little later on.

On my final night, I headed to a few bars, Kangaroo Kitchen which is a unique experience with lots of girls willing to partner you at the pool table. After around midnight, we headed for the beach and Dolphin Bar where we stayed until 5am. My bus journey to Phnom Penh at 8am was not fun.

Overall, I'm afraid I wasn't a big fan of Sihanoukville.

First taste of Cambodia

2008-11-04T06:56:00.002Z

The trip to Kratie, a 6 hour minibus ride south from the Laos/Cambodia border, was fairly straightforward. The border crossing was remarkably easy, although the 'immigration' officers demonstrated excellent entrepreneurial skills: "If you want a stamp in your passport, pay me $1". Not much you can do, although the officer let me off as I had a beard - wierd.

Kratie lies along the Mekong River and the rare irawaddy dolphins are its main attraction. I took a boat out on the river just before sunset to catch a glimpse of them, and that is all I got, a glimpse. However, with the sunset, it made for an amazing site.

Cracking final week in Laos

2008-10-28T10:14:00.003Z

Vientiane

After an hour's sleep, it wasn't surprising that I passed out on the early morning bus from Vang Vieng to Vientiane, Laos' capital city, but for once, the bus made the journey in super quick time and cut my sleep short.

Vientiane is not very large, but much larger than Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng, and it was rammed when I arrived because the locals were revving themselves up for the tens of thousands of people who come from all over Laos and Thailand for the three-day Water Festival.

I met up with Tom and Michelle, who were passing through as part of their whirlwind tour of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Their 5-star was a stark contrast to my dorm bed! After some sightseeing (That Luang and Patuxai), we ended chilling along the river watching the chaos unfold. Most of the backpackers had chosen to avoid the river as there were literally people everywhere among the hundreds of street stalls lining the banks. The grilled fish from one of the food stalls was excellent. I also bought a small rocket firework for 10p which you could light out of your hand!

The main boat race, between Laos and Thailand, wasn't even that exciting, and despite everyone trying to stamp on each other to get a view of the race, there was little cheering.

On my final night, we met this crazy scouse dude who was absolutely trolleyed. He was finishing off drinks that people had left unfinished; sadly he wanted to have a conversation with me after he found out I was a Liverpool fan.

It was time to leave and head south to Pakse, with my tube. The bus rides had progressively been getting better, and this was certainly the best. Other than the bright pink curtains, it was awesome - A/C and reclining seats - what more could you ask for.

Pakse and Champasak

On arrival into Pakse, I basically rented a local guy to take me by motorbike to the nearby waterfalls, Tad Fan and Tad Yeung. It was after about 20km, only halfway to the falls, that he told me he had never ridden a bike before! The halfday trip was entertaining though. We stopped at some tea (green and oolong) and coffee plantations, the waterfalls were both far more spectacular than I expected, we had the spiciest papaya salad I have ever had, and I even helped him get a photo with a local girl that he took a liking too.

After briefly returning to Pakse, I headed to Champasak, a short tuk-tuk and ferry ride away. The tuk-tuk only left after it was full with passengers and lots of other things, including living frogs in a bucket, however, I soon realised that the driver and I had different definitions of full. The ferry was basically a wooden barge that had been nailed to four small rowing boats below. Yet it carried 4-5 vehicles and around a 100 people!

Champasak was really nice, very quiet and with lots of accommodation right on the river. I had a great view 10 metres from my room door.

The main attraction here was Wat Phou which was commissioned by the same king who began the construction of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I rented a bike at 4am and reached Wat Phou, 9km away, just before sunset. It was not a very clear morning, but great nonetheless as I had the whole place to myself.

Siphandon

Later that day, I jumped on a tuk-tuk and headed further south to Siphandon, which translates into Four Thousand Islands. It is very close to the Cambodia border and a idyllic setting. Lots of small islands with heavy forest and palm trees scattered about the place.

I spent one night on Don Det island. However, it was far more touristy than I expected, but I expected nothing, especially given there is limited electricity on the island and none affter 9pm. Most of the bungalows lined the shore while paddy fields occupied most of the island. I had my own wooden bungalow (with no fan or light) and a hammock on the balcony for one pound. The restaurant/bars were very chilled and I spent hours chatting to a Belgian guy and two French girls, who I had met on the tuk-tuk.

The next day, I walked across to Don Khone island. This place was fantastic. Far fewer people, an even more beautiful setting. It was so peaceful that I almost fell asleep whilst walking. A 2-3hr walk took me through lots of paddy fields, cows and the odd hut, some amazing waterfalls and a beach. The waterfalls were really cool, particularly as the water was brown, which formed a nice contrast against the rocks
and blue sky. The beach was very quiet and you could swim in the river, although there was a very strong current about 6 metres out, so the tourists didn't go out further than that (although the local kids did).

It was my final night in Laos so I treated myself to a nicer room which was right on the shore looking across at Don Det.

My time in Laos has been an excellent experience. The food is very good, there's lots to see, it has very diverse landscapes, a compelling recent history, and most importantly of all, its people are great.

Raising money for MAG

2008-10-21T12:55:00.006+01:00

BACKGROUND

As you know, I have been to Vang Vieng in the north of Laos recently. It was here that I did the ridiculous activity called 'tubing'. For those of you that don't know, it basically involves floating down a river while sitting in a doughnut-shaped inflatable, and getting off every now and then to visit bars stationed along the route, which also have swings and zipwires where you can jump into the water from anywhere up to 30 metres above the water. More information on my escapades can be found at http://alkitpatel.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html#2798153019468493602.

Anyhow, because I returned back to town late, I was refused my deposit back for the tube and have therefore kept it! At first, it was for a laugh (as I took it on the 4hr bus to Vientiane).

I have now decided to take this tube, inflated (which is a pain to carry, especially with a daypack and a backpack the size of me), with me for as long as possible. This would mean on local tuk-tuks from town to town, on buses, across borders by road/boat, and on planes, and will travel through Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Borneo, Singapore, and hopefully, London. WHY?

RAISING MONEY FOR MAG: MINES ADVISORY GROUP

MAG is an impartial humanitarian organisation clearing the remnants of conflict for the benefit of communities worldwide.

I have seen the impact of their work in Laos (at the Plain of Jars), where they have been since 1994 clearing unexploded bombs, rockets, missiles etc. There are large rural and urban areas of Laos which have UXOs (Unexploded Ordnances) from the 'secret' war with the US from 1964-1973, secret as few knew about the US' attacks during the time as they were at war with Vietnam at the time.

MAG Lao operates 11 clearance teams (including two all-female teams) and nine Community Liaison teams. The programme has 211 national staff; 35% of the staff is female. In 2007, MAG Lao located and destroyed 6,460 items of UXO. 3,257,638 square metres of land was cleared for agriculture, drainage canals, electricity pylons, water wells, school gardens, roads (to provide access to markets) and for a project to encourage tourism at the historic Plain of Jars.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done - many kids roam around the fields searching for scrap metal to sell, but often this comes in the form of UXOs, which injury and take many lives.

For more information, please go to http://www.maginternational.org/maglao.

HOW TO DONATE

I would like you to donate any sum of money you can in one/two parts:
a) Sum per city I travel through
b) Bonus for reaching London (very difficult journey)

If you wish to donate, please email me at alkit.patel@gmail.com.

Thanks very much.

Carnage on the river

2008-10-16T12:00:00.005+01:00

Once again, another bus journey, this time to Vang Vieng, the adventure capital of Laos, was a nightmare. A couple were vomiting for about 5 hours non-stop. We were supposed to stop for dinner at 9pm, but did not do so until around midnight. We were supposed to arrive at 11pm, but instead arrived after 1am. But hey, this is Laos. Obviously we arrived with no place to stay. Miriam had heard of a really good guesthouse on the river, so we headed for it. However, it took an hour to find it ... in a town that cannot be more than two square kilometres!

The next morning, Miriam, Hinesh and I rented bikes to head along the dirt roads and visit some of the caves. The surroundings were amazing: rice paddy fields, wonderful karst limestone peaks, all under clear blue skies.

Poukham Cave was really cool, although very dark inside (the headlight we rented was crap) and very slippery. It also had a natural pool outside where we could go for a dip and swing into the pool from random ropes.

It was now time for the main event – tubing on the Mekong River.

It basically involves floating downstream, while sitting in a doughnut-shaped inflatable, and getting off every now and then to visit any one of nine bars they have along the route. Oh, and the bars also had swings and zipwires where you could jump into the water from anywhere up to 30 metres above the water – nice. Bar Four had a little something extra too.

I was skeptical at first, particularly given people have died doing this, but there were guys coming out with us who had been the previous day, who survived the adventure, with only cuts and bruises. I went twice, and here are the best moments.

Bar 1. The atmosphere was great, everyone sitting around relaxing and drinking, with an energetic few playing volleyball. Despite my fear of heights, I thought I'd better 'swing off' now, otherwise I will struggle later down the river. The experience was terrifying. The walk up to the swing is on bits of wood nailed together in a random and very dangerous way. Lucky I went when I did, as the guy who went immediately after me belly-flopped into the water. As he floated downstream with everyone 'oohing' at the pain he must be in, two locals realised he wasn't raising his head out of the water. Apparently, he landed on his lungs and was unconscious for a few minutes. He was ok after a few minutes though. After a few hours at Bar 1, we had to move on. It was time to experiment with my acrobats.

Bar 4. After spending a little while at Bar Two and Three, we headed to Bar Four. This place is ridiculous! What a complete mess. There was a volleyball net, but instead of sand, there was a mud bath. It was brilliant fun. Everytime I got out and sprayed the mud off with 'clean' water, I either ended up throwing someone else in and myself while I was at it, or being flung into it again by any one of many randoms.

After a few trips to the mud bath, it was zipwire time. On day one, I had held onto the zipwire with my back facing forward - ended up being very painful - ribs still aching 3 days later. So on day two I decided to look forward as I jumped in, but with a mate on the swing too. I'm not sure why I decided to lift my leg up onto the bar, but as a result, I landed badly again. Only cuts to my feet and legs this time.

The bucket drinks were being finished at a very quick pace. By this point on day one, Hinesh had already lost a pair of slippers and a t-shirt. We had our camera on day two, but not for long. Water had somehow got into our bry bag and that was the end of Hinesh's camera and my BlackBerry. We only left this bar around 5pm, although we were advised to leave the last bar (No.9), by this time.

By now, there were around ten of us travelling down the river together. We stupidly, unanimously decided to go onto bar five rather than to the end. Nothing untoward happened here, just more swings, higher ones, and more messy behaviour, including noughts and crosses on someone's back.

It was now dark and we were yet to get back. There were not enough tubes for those that remained on the water, so we had to share. I first shared with Chrissie, and then with Hinesh. We ended up deciding to get off the river earlier than the end, but after bar nine of course, and take a tuk-tuk. The tuk-tuk guy was being an idiot and refused to take us, so we walked back to town - 45 minutes later we arrived back. It was too late to get our full deposit back on the tube, so I decided to keep it.

At night, nothing much changed, except we weren't in the water. Some Friends and Family Guy (showing everyone around town, but heavily cut) with dinner followed by Bucket Bar and/or Sakura Bar. Despite a curfew of 11:30pm (in all major cities in Laos), I ended up being out until around 4am most nights.

Vang Vieng had been costly for me - broken BlackBerry, many cuts and bruises - but for Hinesh, it was double that - broken camera, two pairs of slippers lost in two days (and almost three), cuts everywhere directly from tubing and indirectly as he had to walk around town barefoot, and one t-shirt down. Very few, if any, finish tubing unscathed.

After our final night, and without an alarm clock between us, we decided to get up at 5:30am to head to Vientiane. Despite being very tired, I did manage to take a photo of Vang Vieng as we were leaving ...

... and I took the tube with me!

A step into Laos' history

2008-10-16T11:36:00.001+01:00

After a brutal bus journey to Xam Neua, I was expecting a lot from this part of Laos, where few backpackers choose to visit. The town itself was absolutely dead; no shops or restaurants open past 7pm. But it serves as a base to visit the caves in Vieng Xai. This is where the Pathet Lao (communist) leaders lived and ran operations during the 9 year ‘secret war’ against the US in 1964-73.

Vieng Xai was absolutely beautiful. A tiny town with a wonderful lake, stunning hills and mountains (hence many caves) and lots of colourful fruit trees.

The caves, some natural and others formed using dynamite, were very well setup, each with bedrooms for the leader, his family and bodyguards, meeting rooms, kitchen and bathroom facilities, and an emergency room to protect the Pathet Lao from chemical attacks. The US knew the leaders were residing here and subjected the area to an incredible amount of aircraft bombs, but were unable to infiltrate the area by land and therefore all the leaders survived the war. The ‘feu’, noodle soup with meat or fish, was recommended by one of the locals in the village and was excellent.

It was well worth the 20 hour mission east, but it was time to head back west to Phonsavanh. The bus journey was much better, although I did have a really smelly farmer come sit next to me halfway through the trip, which gave me even more reason to continue admiring the stunning views out the window.

Not surprisingly, we were a few hours late (Laos time) in arriving. It was here that I bumped into Miriam and Hinesh, who I would spend the next week or so with.

Phonsavanh and the neighbouring area were hit hardest during the war, both from the air and on the ground. The town itself was small, but there was a fascinating place called MAG ‘Mining Advisory Group’. Sounded to me like banking, but it is a group who are funded by various foreign NGOs, and together with local people, are responsible for clearing the countless UXOs (unexploded bombs) in the area. The 90 minute video they showed was pretty scary and gave a very good sense of the current impact of these UXOs in the area, i.e. many people are injured and killed from these UXOs, often kids who are searching for scrap metal to sell, and it makes a lot of the land unusable.

I also visited the mysterious Plain of Jars. Huge stones in the middle of majestic fields amongst many UXOs but the restricted, tourist area has been cleared of them by MAG. There are a few explanations as to why they were made, the most ridiculous being as containers for rice wine and lao lao whisky.

The area around the jars was truly amazing, difficult to believe this area was battered during the war.

We also visited a local village as well as a Russian tank that had been there since the war.

It was now time to head to the very different town of Vang Vieng, famous for its ridiculously dangerous tubing. Don’t know what it is? You’ll have to wait a bit longer as I have run out of time. Many have died whilst doing it. I clearly didn’t, but have many scrapes and bruises from it!

Epic: mother of all bus rides

2008-10-08T12:45:00.005+01:00

It was time to leave LP and take the not so well trodden route to the far east of Laos, to Xam Neua, in the Hua Phan province. It was where the Pathet Lao (communists) leaders hid during the ‘secret war’ against the US from 1964 to 1973, and I wanted to learn a bit more about Lao history.

I also decided, after almost 4 months travelling, to give myself a budget for the remaining 2 months, more as a challenge to spend as little as possible whilst still enjoying myself.

Just before I left LP, I connected onto an open wifi network with my blackberry, found outside one of the decent hotels. Internet would usually cost 6,000 kip –saving 30p.

Instead of taking a tuk-tuk to the bus station (30,000 kip or GBP1.50 for 5km journey), I agreed to be taken by motorbike by some local dude for half price – saving 75p.

Instead of taking the morning bus that leaves at a fixed time, I opted for an overnight bus that would save me one night’s accommodation – saving GBP20 (was staying at an expensive place).

However, the bus I would take was coming from the capital, Vientiane, and its time of arrival was not certain. I showed up at 4:30pm, bus turned up at 7:30pm, I was told 5pm! The 12-hour bus journey could now begin, but only after we spent 30 minutes getting all the bags and large parcels of God-knows what onto the roof of the bus.

As I got on, I looked for an empty seat, but there didn’t seem to be any. However, there were plastic stools in the aisle in between more bags and parcels, this time mainly of fruits and rice. Yes, I was to sit on a plastic stool, with no back rest, and a broken one, for the journey, with my legs squashed in between someone elses. About 3 hours later, someone near me got off and I pounced onto their seat; finally I was off the stool and could begin rehabilitating my sore ass.

We stopped on the road for dinner. There were lots of fruit stalls and one restaurant. I had met a local English teacher who invited me to sit with him at the dining table. When I asked him what he was eating, because it wasn’t obvious, he said “bees with sticky rice” and continued “it’s a Lao favourite”!

This was maybe the first long journey of any kind where I couldn’t sleep – men and women were frequently opening the window to spit, kids were vomiting in plastic bags (provided by the ‘busman’), we honked our way along the narrow, winding roads that cut the beautiful mountains and hills. Every now and then, throughout the night, someone on the bus would yell something and the bus would come to an abrupt halt and let that person off the bus in the middle of nowhere (probably their village). Sometimes the bus would brake sharply to avoid cows, dogs or chickens in the road.

It was now 6:30am. I assumed we were close to Xam Neua, after all it had been almost 11 hours. However, I had as feeling we weren’t. we continued at a slow pace, honking at every corner, passing village after village with small kids and families watching and waving the bus by. The ‘busman’, who seemed responsible for checking tickets and helping load and offload bags on the roof of the bus, was now busy trying to pull one of the girls on the bus. Interesting tactics he used! This kept me entertained before I fell asleep!

When I woke up, I soon saw a road marker: ‘15km Samnua’. I couldn’t believe it, I checked my watch and it was 11:30am! We finally arrived at around noon, almost 20 hours after I had arrived to catch the bus.

Love it!!!

Why on earth have I come to Laos?

2008-10-08T11:58:00.008+01:00

After spending only 24 hours in Bangkok and Thailand, many were telling me how silly I was to spend so little time there, and so much time in Laos (planning to spend 2-3 weeks here).

The aerial views from the 20-person propeller plane (courtesy of Laos Airlines) as we flew over Laos’ lush tropical forest and into Luang Prabang were breathtaking.

I took a dusty tuk-tuk (3-wheeled over-sized rickshaw) into town. I was so excited. Although the border with China was less than 200 miles away, this was a different world altogether.

Luang Prabang, where the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers meet, is the former royal capital of Lane Xang (Laos’ previous name for simplicity).

I already liked the place after just a few hours walking around. The scenery was beautiful with the main town sitting on a meander on the Mekong River. Even though there were dozens of food and travel shops aimed at both locals and tourists on the main drag, it was still very peaceful. The loudest by far were the chickens that roam around aimlessly everywhere. Most people travel around the dusty roads by walk, cycle or motorbike. The local people were very friendly and street sellers not ‘in your face' trying to make a sale. Monks were everywhere, not surprising given the dozens of ‘wats’ (Buddhist monasteries) dotted around town. It was roasting hot. It was super cheap: large dinner with drinks for around GBP2. And thanks to the influence of the French, the bread was great too.

I randomly met up with Dush, a colleague of mine from UBS, and spent most of the next few days chilling with him.

There are an abundance of ‘must-see’ sights dotted in and around town. The Royal Palace, built by the French, now the National Museum, was very good. The top of Mount Phousi, which overlooks the main town, was fantastic at sunset.

I must have visited a handful of wats, and each of them were different, but spectacular. Most were built out of wood, sometimes sandalwood, and decorated with lots of gold. My favourites are the Wat Xieng Thong, supposedly the finest example of a Lao monastery with a rare reclining Buddha and huge funeral chariot, Wat Sene, which houses a very large Buddha statue in one of its many chapels, and Wat Visoun, which has the town’s largest Buddha statue as well as hundreds of smaller ones.

The night market, which blocks the main road outside the Royal Palace, was also very cool – you could find lots of everything, mostly made of silk.

Just outside town, a very scenic 1-2hr boat ride away, are the Pak Ou caves. It’s a very religious spot with many Buddha statues inside the two caves.

I also went elephant riding for half a day. It was pouring down with rain which made it more fun as we were treading through mud as well as a river!

However, my favourite highlight has to be the Kwang Si falls. They’re not the largets falls by any means, but the sight was amazing, especially due to its three tiers. We also took a treacherous walk up to the top of the falls. It was very steep and slippery, but well worth it as you could literally stand on some rocks in the water at the very top of the falls and look down. We rewarded ourselves with a swim at the bottom. As an added bonus, there’s a bear and tiger sanctuary there, although we couldn’t find the tiger one.

The rest of my time in LP was spent relaxing and eating. I had the local delicacy, steam Mekong fish in banana leaf, as well as a Lao hotpot, some Thai food and many fresh fruit shakes.

It’s also a good place to have a massage, although I suggest the Khmu one (lighter) than the traditional Lao one (painful)!

There was very little to do at night, so Dush and I watched football in a bar until 2am while chatting to whoever walked through the door. Unfortunately, I returned to my guesthouse to find I was locked out. I had to climb over the barb-wired fence and wake up the guard! The next night, I watched the incredible comeback by Liverpool against Man City – and was singing ‘Fernando Torres, Liverpool Number 9’ all the way home.

Action packed final few weeks in China ...

2008-10-03T01:40:00.003+01:00

I've been away from my blog for a while - busy checking out Beijing (again and again) and in between Yunnan, a province in the south west of China that borders Tibet, and in many respects follows similar traditions as Tibetans.

It was then time to leave China, after a fabulous 2 months travelling all over the country, visiting the Olympics, meeting new friends, other tourists, foreign locals and local locals, seeing some of China's, and in some cases, some the world's most amazing sights, and trying some of the best, most diverse food I've ever had.

I am now in Bangkok. It is nice to receive good service in hotels again, be able to speak English and get what you want, watch Liverpool play in the Champions League with English commentary, know what medicines I'm buying, have access to foreign newspapers and TV, using a knife and fork for the first time in 2 months, and not see pollution floating in the skies above me. Although, I have to stop greeting people in Chinese; Thai people are looking at me funny.

The highlight of my short time in Bangkok must be listening to the Kop sing You'll Never Walk Alone before the Liverpool / PSV game, seeing Robbie Keane score his first goal for Liverpool and Steven Gerrard score his 100th for Liverpool.

Beijing - Round 3

I returned to Beijing for a third time, but to see for the first time China's greatest treasure - the Great Wall - stretching over approximately 6,400km, guarded by over a million men at its peak, and with an estimated 2-3 million people having died building the wall, its construction began around 220BC by China's first emperor, Emperor Qin, but most of the current wall was built under the Ming dynasty, between the 15th and 16th century.

Rather than the very touristy excursion to Badaling, the nearest point from Beijing to 'walk' the wall, we headed 3 hours outside Beijing to Jinshanling. We walked 10km from Jinshanling to Simatai, a stunning, largely original stretch of the Great Wall. Many steps, some very steep, up and down, the watchtowers, the stunning mountains in the background, all created an amazing scene and experience. So good that I did the exact same walk 3 weeks later.

After an inspired trip to the Great Wall the previous day, it was time for more Chinese history and a tour of the famous Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. This was altogether less interesting and spectacular. While Tian'anmen Square is the largest public square in the world, it's still only a square. It holds great historical significance, however the Chinese seem to believe or at least try to portray that only great, wonderful (debateable) events occurred in the square, such as Chairman Mao's proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, but ignore or claim not to be aware of the negative events associated with the square such as the massacre in 1989 of hundreds, maybe thousands of protesters. Mao's mausoleum, based on Lenin's in Moscow, sits in the square, and we went inside in orderly fashion (very unlike the rest of China) along with hundreds of Chinese tourists, kids, parents, grandparents, many carrying flowers. The Forbidden City, opposite the Square is where emperors resided, along with thousands of concubines to serve him/her. The "city" is massive and buildings stunning, although all very similar.

The rest of my four days in the capital were spent scampering around the City trying to retrieve my debit card, which got chewed up by an ATM (at the first time of use since I got new cards sent to me having lost my wallet last time I was in Beijing), or my BlackBerry, which I left in a cab and was very fortunate to get back (thanks to security cameras).

I also served as an unoffical night guide of Beijing to the rest of my group. Although I didn't get a tip (!), I believe my services were appreciated, with photo evidence. I took a few for a walk along Nanluoguxiang and around the hutongs, including my customary trip to Anna's bar and Ten Kwai Bar. On the group's final night together, we went to Club Kai. The girls were on fire, probably helped by the shots of jagermeister.

Lijiang

I then flew to the capital of Yunnan to join my new group - two couples and seven girls - Kiwis, Brits, Norwegians, Irish and an Aussie.

Then followed a long, uncomfortable (for most; I slept) 8 hour public bus ride to Lijiang. This 'historic' town is about 12 years old. It was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1996 destroyed large parts of the city, but it was rebuilt in a very traditional, old style, even though it didn't look this way before the earthquake. I wasn't a big fan of the town, although most are, maybe because I was trying to shake off a nasty cold. However, it was incredibly touristy, packed with street hawkers and noisy bars with bad live music. One highlight was the Black Dragon Pool, a lake set among wonderful gardens and buildings.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

Next was a short ride to Qiaotao for the start of the Tiger Leaping Gorge trek. The gorge is one of the deepest in the world and very narrow in parts, so narrow that legend states that a tiger leaped across it.

The walk was very relaxing, not too difficult, and passed through breathtaking scenery. My fear of heights were being tested, although I wasn't as worried as Marie, one of the Norwegian girls.

Our first night was at the Tea Horse Guesthouse, which had incredible views of the gorge. I had a mammoth meal and quickly got a rep as a big eater (along with Mian Xin, one of the Kiwis). The second day was even more chilled. I had a snooze at the Halfway Hut guesthouse before getting to Tina's Guesthouse for the night. I had a great chicken sandwich for lunch and spent the afternoon chatting to Charlie and Sheila, a couple from the UK (Liverpool and Ilford). Most of the group stayed at another guesthouse, so Mian Xin, Brooke, Marie and Hege had a quiet meal together before hitting the baizhou.

Zhongdian

Another short bus ride took us to Zhongdian, renamed Shangri-La to reignite interest from tourists to the town. It was very close to the border with Tibet, and the atmosphere around town gave us a taste of what Tibet might be like: fairly chilly, much colder than elsewhere, much quieter with few street hawkers shouting for a sale, and great yak hotpot. The town has a wonderful Buddhist temple overlooking the town and the Ganden Sumsanling monastery just outside time, although under renovation, is well worth a visit.

We had a very relaxing trip to some natural springs. Our drivers were very entertaining, but one of them kept on jumping on my back wanting me to carry him (even though he was three times my size). We also saw a truck turn over on the road.

Our first evening was spent at KTV (karaoke). Li, our local guide, Benny, Mian Xin, Brooke, Alice, Ali, Marie and Hege all showed up. We had a blast; great fun dancing and singing, returning to our guesthouse at 2am to find ourselves locked out. After a few spiderman-esque moves from Mian Xin failed to get us in, but a phone call worked.

The next night was spent watching local people perform daily traditional dancing in the main square. Ali, Hege and I joined in - it was similar to 'garba', a hindu dance performed at some festivals and weddings. Later, a few of us went to Karma Bar, a chilled late night coffee house where a local (famous) singer played Tibetan music. It was excellent and Aidan and I bought the dude's CD.

Dali

We next headed to Dali, 8 hours away. Some of our group were deeply distressed at the locals smoking on the non-smoking bus.

Dali was a very small, pleasant town, located by Lake Erhai. We had a great dinner on arrival - local freshwater fish followed by bumper dessert (cheesecake and brownie) at Sweet Tooth, a dessert shop run by deaf people.

The next day was spent on a tour of the surrounding region. We visited a few local markets, selling anything from fruits, veggies and meat, including live chickens in s bag, to clothes, and even calculators. We also tried the local delicacy, 'baba', which is a type of pastry, and you can choose sweet or savoury flavour. The savoury ones, lots of salt and bacon, were lush! This was followed by a walk along the lake, a visit to an island on the lake, a great lunch, a visit to a tie-dye workshop, and a quick detour to see the Three Pagodas. It was also the final day of the Ryder Cup, so I stayed up refreshing my blackberry all night to follow Europe relinquish their title!

Kunming

Our short tour of Yunnan's highlights was almost over and we returned to Kunming for our final night together. Maddie entertained the bus as she took a liking to my iPod and played random songs on my speakers.

We had food of the Dai minority people as our final group meal. it was one of my best meals in China, very different, lots of rice cooked in different ways (with spices, with banana leaves etc), very spicy, highly recommended! We then headed to Camel Bar for some drinks, incl baizhou, before a small group gathered in my hotel room for a bit longer.

Most of the group left the next morning. Other than a trip to the Stone Forest with Brooke and Mian Xin, which was great, although the weather was miserable, I spent most of 4 nights in Kunming chilling. I got my visas for Laos and Vietnam, I tried the local specialty' across the bridge noodles and bought some new clothes to replace some of my badly worn clothes.

Beijing - Round 4

Yes, I went back for more. I had a very relaxed time. I was a tour guide to my local tour guide from Mount Emei who had previously never been to Beijing. I was surprised how well I know some parts of the city. As well as revisiting some of the main sites, I also went to the Temple of Heaven. The place is awesome and the forest area is beautiful and very peaceful.

After some great duck, some time chilling by the pool, it was appropriate that my final few hours in China would be spent in the Olympic Village visiting the grounds and the Bird's Nest. The Olympics was the best of many highlights from my 2 months in China.

Xian and the 2,200 years old Terracotta Warriors

2008-09-16T06:52:00.001+01:00

The overnight train journey to Xian was eventful. Some of the group were lucky enough have be in soft sleepers, so nominated they cabin to be the party cabin.

The hardsleepers we're very 'hard': used bed sheets, pillow and duvet! Even I brought out my sleeping bag for this journey.

Xin taught us a 'devils and angels', a game where at 'night' a devil kills an angel and the 'next morning', we have to try and find out who the devil was. Losers had to have baizhou, a nasty Chinese spirit. We neutralised the taste by have sweet biscuits that looked like pigs' ears.

As promised by the cabin attendant, they played 'Beijing huan ying ni' as we entered Beijing. The past two hours on the train was spent being entertained by a young girl who came into our cabin with her grandfather and wanted to dance to the music coming from my speakers.

We had to get off at South Xian, 30km south of Xian. While we waited for a minibus to take us into the city, we witnessed a police raid on the platform (we think drugs related) and a little bit took an interest in each of us, finally wanting a photo of me and caught my attention by calling me the 'black one'.

Xian is the ancient capital of China, having been the capital from around 1000BC to 1000AD. We walked around the centre of the city and the vibrant Muslim quarter. We had a great meal, including awesome kebab sticks. Chris and I also were informed of the trip gossip, which we were not aware of at all! We then went to a bar briefly and then headed back to our hotel. However, on our way back, we lost Nicola! She refused to cross a 6-lane road, decided to tackle the subway instead and got lost. Chris, Chris and I went looking for her and found her, but not until 20 minutes of panic. No harm done in the end.

The next day, we went to see the Terracotta Warriors, which are around an hour out of the city. The Army was built to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, about 2,200 years ago.

The Army was only discovered in 1974 when peasants we're digging a well. There are three vaults, of which Vault 2 is yet to be completed uncovered as they are still struggling with maintaining the Warriors once excavated. All in all, it was very impressive, although very touristy.

After an afternoon of chilling, some of us met up in the evening. We were bar hopping, first at the ride Hutong Bar, then at the cheap, but empty Kingsway Bar, and finally at the 1+1 club, which was brilliant fun. The night ended around 4am.

The next day, I hadn't done any sightseeing the day before in the city, so was determined to check out as much as I could before we got a train to Beijing at 5pm, even though it was raining.

I managed to see the Big Goose Pagoda and the Small Goose Pagoda, both very impressive. The Small Goose Pagoda was set amongst beautiful gardens and artifical lakes, and was also next to the very impressive Xian Museum, which explains well how civilisation developed in Xian and the Shaanxi Province.

I then bumped into Leon on the City Wall and we decided to rent bikes and cycle around the 14km perimeter. It began to rain heavily and we got soaked. Worse, we walked back to the hotel as we couldn't find a taxi and ended up rushing for a shower before leaving for our overnight trip to Beijing.

The Giant Buddha, Emei Shan and a whole lot more

2008-09-14T14:01:00.002+01:00

We took a short bus ride from Chengdu to Leshan, home of Dafo, the largest Buddha sculpture in the world. Dafo took almost 100 years to build and stands at 71 metres in height.

We then got a bus to Emei Shan where we would stay at the Baoguo Monastery. The monastery was amazing; very tranquil. The living facilities were much better than I expected - comfortable rooms, clean squat loos, hot water 24hrs a day as long as you're willing to use the Chinese showers.

The next morning, most of us (not me) were woken up by the monks' chanting at 4am.

Our local guide, Patrick, who was clearly the man around town, brought an attractive local guide, Aries, with him the next morning who would come with us to the top of Emei Shan.

We took a bus to a spot best the top of the mountain and then a cable car the rest of the way. The buildings and scenery up top was stunning and we could easily have spent an entire day up there.

After lunch together, the group split. Most of the group took a bus back down, while Chris, Dave and I decided to walk down to our nightspot, the Hongchunping Monastery. Chris and I didn't have any sticks to fend off any potential monkey attacks (very common). It turned out that we encountered very few monkeys; we later found out that most of them were on the touristy path that the others took. The scenery was by no means spectacular, but it was a much quieter track. At one point, it was 5pm and we were 15km away from our nightstay, so we were worried we wouldn't get back before dark. As a result, we put our foot on it and dragged Dave with us.

After playing Mallett's Mallet at dinner, we crashed out, but I didn't get much sleep as Chris was snoring like a demon in the room next door!

The following day we walked back down to Baoguo Monastery and then headed to the nearby 5 star hotel to treat ourselves to their hot springs facilities. There were more than 10 different pools, indoor and outdoor, as well as a traditional swimming pool. Aries wanted me to teach her how to swim, but within 5 minutes of the lesson I handed responsibility over to Rachel, who seemed to love it. There was even a pool where fish eat any dead skin you have on your body - couple of the guys were bleeding! I also had a full body massage.

It was Christine's birthday and Patrick and Xin had arranged dinner at the local market. Dinner was awesome, even though we had hoards of locals taking photos of us while eating. Patrick had also arranged a birthday cake and for a musician to play for us - after Happy Birthday in Chinese and English, we also heard Royal Britannia and Beijing Huan Jing Ni (my request). The entire evening for great fun, probably one of my best nights in China and it didn't involve a bar or a club (not possible as monastery had a curfew of 9:30pm).

The following day, most of the group went for a countryside tour. I had agreed to meet up with Aries at her university. It was a stark contrast to anything back home. Students often lived in 8-person dorm rooms, and girls and boys had separate dorm buildings. I had lunch at the canteen which was average at best, but it was an experience at least. Probably every student and teacher who walked into the canteen
must have stared at me - I didn't see a non-Chinese person on campus all day. We then played ping pong with some of her friends (I was surprisingly ok) and a young girl who was keen to try and play, and then spent the remainder of the afternoon chilling.

I met up with the rest of the group and we then headed for dinner and the train station for our journey to Xian.

Chengdu, home of the giant panda

2008-09-14T13:52:00.004+01:00

It was time to head to Sichuan Province, which was hit by a huge earthquake only a few months ago. Sichuan is famous for its natural beauty, spicy hotpot, attractive girls and most of all, the giant panda.

The overnight train to Chengdu was not great. We passed the time by playing card games. The loser had to have some horrid salt and onion biscuits.

The hotel was very nice (much needed after boat trip) and we had a great lunch on arrival. Thus far, the food in China had been excellent and I was eating loads (but not putting any weight on of course).

Leon and I decided to rent out some bikes and tackle the chaotic streets of Chengdu. It was brilliant fun, and definitely the best way to navigate around the city. We must have nearly got run over at least half a dozen times. We stopped at a teahouse in one of the many parks in Chengdu and had some excellent tea - can't tell you what it was as menu was in Chinese. We got in trouble a few times with security police as we were caught riding bikes on pedestrian only roads. We got very lost on our way back, but managed to return back to the hotel just in time to catch the group heading to the Sichuan cultural show.

The show was spectacular. It is famous for performers who can change their masks and sometimes their entire costumes in a split second without the audience realising. The mask performance was amazing, but so was the puppet show, kung fu dudes, music etc.

To top of a great day, a few of us headed to a restaurant for a spicy Sichuan hotpot with our local guide. We had a great meal and entertained others in the restaurant at the same time with our basic Chinese.

The next day was a big one - panda time! We were all very excited, especially the girls. We got to see pandas of all ages, from one week old pandas to fully grown adults. It was amazing to see them in the flesh - climbing, playing with each other, falling off trees etc. It was a little disappointing to see a few in our group pay £80 or so to cuddle a 1yr panda as it is not good for the pandas. It was also clear that the pandas were very aware of human presence, often hiding behind trees when many people gathered in one place.

After that, a few of us went to visit the Wenshu Temple, which is a Buddhist temple. The entire complex was great and the calming influence of buddhism was evident as the street hawkers were not as loud and aggressive. We ate at the vegetarian restaurant inside before returning home.

Rather than get a taxi back, I convinced the others that we should take a bus for the local experience. We somehow managed to find the right bus going in the right direction and we befriended this random girl on the bus who told us when to get off.

After another hotpot for dinner, a few of us headed out. First stop was an outdoor amusement park area where I got my ears cleaned by some dude for 20RMB (less than £2). I think it was more traumatic for those watching it than me as I couldn't see the various tools he was using. We then went to a club which was good fun and didn't leave until around 3am.

Unexpectedly eventful boat ride on the Yangzi River

2008-09-12T10:26:00.002+01:00

Our journey to Yichang, from where we would explore the Yangzi River and infamous Three Gorges Dam, was very complicated. We first took a four hour bus, and then an overnight train, although we were in soft sleepers this time, so only four per cabin and we had a door - luxury! Dinner on the train was not the best, but edible. This was followed by another lengthy bus ride to where we would board our boat. It was further complicated by the fact that Leon, one of the Kiwis in the group, was always late and Xin, our group leader, was always hurrying is everyone, often with no reason.

The room on the boat where we would spend two nights was muggy, the bed linen damp, the AC wasn't working and the carpet was wet. Other than that, they were fine. However, whilst fast asleep, I woke up at 6am the next morning to a lady blurts out a "Chinese" wake up call on the boat's speaker system. This was follows by some loud and bad Chinese music, just to make sure you didn't go back to bed. There was no missing the very average Chinese breakfast in favour of a lie in on this boat.

Most of the group decided to skip the welcome party. I joined in one of the games where the instructions were given in Chinese - not a surprise that I didn't win. Having said that, Patrick from another Intrepid group won - hmmm. Leon, Dave, Leon's dad, and I joined the other Intrepid group for a few games: musical chairs, leap frog, human pyramid and best of all, karaoke. This included each of us singing our national anthems which was quite amusing.

The boat ride through the first gorge wasn't great, mainly as the weather was very overcast. We took a rowing boat out where our sweet local guide entertained is with her singing (yes, more Chinese ballads). The views got better through the second gorge. It reminded me of the high, green hills of Marlborough in New Zealand's South Island.

Due to the building of the dam, some one million people had to be relocated, and according to our local guide, were all happy with it - believe that if you want. We had the dull opportunity to walk around a town built for some of those relocated. Whilst there was little to look at, our walk proved very interesting as this random Chinese girl kept on saying Hello to me as I passed with some others from the group. As I bought ice cream for others in the group, she asked me to buy her one. Guide said I should for a laugh and she then decided she wanted a photo with me and felt that I should have her phone number and home address. The group found all this hilarious.

We visited the dam itself the following day. The dam, though a very ambitious project, was not visually appealing - it was basically a very large block of concrete, but the Chinese were clearly very proud of this project, which will be completely next year. The dam is almost 2km long creating an artificial lake extending 670km upsteam.

Yangshuo, the beginning of my group trip

2008-09-10T08:45:00.006+01:00

It was time to leave Beijing (for now) and head to Hong Kong for the start of my 3-week Intrepid trip through central China. I was being cheap so I took a flight to Shenzhen and then got a bus across the "border" - the Chinese don't consider Hong Kong within "mainland China", so flights to HK are way more expensive. I was struggling big time, mainly because I didn't sleep the night before thanks to a heavy night out.

I was in Hong Kong for less than 24 hours, but I did manage to have lunch with Sachin and Sheryl, get a temporary AMEX card (as I had lost of my cards in Beijing), and met the people I would be travelling with for the next 3 weeks.

It was a very different experience being with a group, especially having been travelling alone with all the freedom in the world for the previous 2 months. There were clearly some who would struggle with the Chinese culture (spitting, no privacy etc) and food, but I was hoping this wouldn't lesser my experience. Only time will tell.

We left Hong Kong, back across the border to Shenzhen and then an overnight train to Guilinm, a city in the southern Guangxi province of China. We were in the hard sleepers cabins, ie 6 beds to an open cabin. Some of the group weren't very unimpressed with the standard of accommodation (which shouldn't have come as a surprise), but I actually thought it was pretty good and got a good night's sleep. But before I did, a few of us spent some time in the dining cart and bar where the barman was getting molestered by some female waitresses, but I think he enjoyed it!

When we got into Guilin, we took a private bus to Yangshuo, a small town situated along the Li River and surrounded by karst peaks. It was a very touristy town, but most of the tourists were Chinese, and even though there were several hawkers trying to sell you anything and everything, I found it very pleasant. The views of the surrounding peaks were awesome, especially from the Monkey Janes bar.

During our two days there, I went bamboo rafting along the Li River and cormorant fishing, which is a strange method of fishing whereby cormorant birds are released into the water to catch fish. They have thin piece of rope around their necks so they cannot swallow the fish and the fishermen grabs the fish out of their mouths. Never quite got to the bottom of why they used this method of fishing.

We also went for a light show in the evening, which was designed by the same guy who masterminded the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. Most of the performance was out on a lake and quite spectacular.

The highlight of my stay in Yangshuo was definitely the bike ride around the surrounding hills. We walked up to Moon Hill where there were good views od neighbouring peaks, although it was fairly smoggy. The short walk to Moon Hill was very slippery. The Chinese built very slippery stairs everywhere! We then had lunch at our local guide's house before heading back into town.

The town although very small had great food and a few good nightspots. Nicola and Chris, a couple from London, and I went for dinner and then a few drinks at Coco Bar where we learnt a game with dice. Dice games are a very popular pasttime for Chinese people, especially on the streets and in the bars and clubs. The following night I also tried beerfish, the local specialty, which was delicious, and then the group played the dice game, which was very entertaining!

Olympic heaven

2008-08-26T07:15:00.008+01:00

So it didn't start so well as having missed my original flight to Beijing, once in Beijing, I was told they had left all check-in luggage in Shanghai. Nice! I wasn't too fussed though as I had my Olympic tickets with me and was going to the Water Cube the following morning.

15 08 08, National Aquatics Center ("Water Cube")

It was the first day for athletics in the Bird's Nest, so the entire Olympic Green was mayhem. The site of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube was quite something.

The Water Cube was awesome. It is actually made of huge bubbles, which you can touch. Inside, the facilities are amazing. I couldn't wait for the action to begin. 3 of the 4 finals I saw were won by Americans and all in world record times - I was getting tired of hearing the US national anthem and about the "land of the free and the home of the brave"! Although I would have preferred another country dominating, one of those winners was Michael Phelps. The guy is one of my new sporting heroes. Comes on, wins the 200m individual medley final by a country mile, collects his 6th gold medal of the Games 20 minutes later and then no more than a few minutes later, he returns to win his 100m butterfly heat.

I was still buzzing two hours later at how amazing the whole experience was and was not going to leave the Olympic Green anytime soon. So I decided to wander around the entire Village. The official Olympic store was massive and for once I bought lots of souvenirs: Fuwa toys, fridge magnets, shot glasses, GB flag, t-shirts etc. Doe lunch I had some self-heating chicken with rice - very cool technology. I then got comfortable in front of a big Samsung television screen and watched gymnastics in the shade.

17 08 08, Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park

It was finals day and, unlike the swimming a few days earlier, there lots of medals chances for Team GB. The venue is quite far out of the city (north east). My seat was right along the finish line - fantastic view - and I had a huge GB flag too. I went berserk in race 2 of the day when GB's double sculls, Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter brought home gold. It was brilliant to finally hear the GB national anthem. GB picked up two other silvers that day, including narrowly missing out on gold in the women's quad sculls which went to China, which sparked jubilant celebrations all around the park. I even saw three crazy Canadian fans jump into the lake in between races.

19 08 08, Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground

Wow, what an experience. The grounds were within Beijing's largest park and once again Beijing delivered an excellent venue. I was there was the women's semi-finals. First up were the favourites US against Brazil. The US won but the main event was the second semi-final - China vs China.

I had seen a glimpse of one of the Chinese pair, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, while waiting for my flight in Shanghai, and followed their progress through the tournament. Xue Chen is particularly beautiful and I'm sure will be a pin-up all over China after the Olympics.

Cheerleaders, some from the New England Patriots' cheerleading team, would come out during every timeout. During the all-China game, the cheerleaders were all Chinese! Cool music would play throughout the games and the atmosphere generally was unbeatable. Jing and Ed joined for the all-China game and some of Ed and my madness may have got us on the big screen.

A great experience although my "team" lost :(

19 08 08 Workers Stadium

I was at the Brazil / Argentina men's football semi-final game with Jing and Ed - can't get much bigger than this. Arch rivals with Argentina the defending champions and Brazil having never won the event - amazing! It was billed as Ronaldinho vs Messi, and Messi won hands down. Other than a few bits of skill from Ronaldinho, he was poor as were Brazil who lost 3-0 and ended with 9 players.

Before I game, it took us longer than expected as people were literally queuing to have a photo taken with me. I had brought a Brazilian flag and all the locals obviously thought I was from Brazil.

21 08 08, National Stadium ("Bird's Nest)

I couldn't wait to get inside the Bird's Nest. The place was awesome, absolutely massive. I was seated right behind the javelin throwers, but there was so much going on at the same time: decathlon high jump, javelin, triple jump and running. It was difficult to keep up. The crowd were really getting behind each javelin thrower and it had an exciting finish with the person in the silver medalist position sneaking gold with her final throw. I also saw some great sprint races. Veronica Campbell-Brown blitzed the field to win the women's 200m gold and the Jamaicans won the men's and women's 4x100m relay heats (the US dropped the baton in both races)! I also saw Usain Bolt pick up his gold medal for the 200m.

I had probably the most sought after tickets before the Games had begun as it was the 110m hurdles final which should have featured the defending champion, China's hero Liu Xiang. However, he got injured in the heats and didn't make the final. His rival, Cuban Robles, cruised to victory and to the delight of the Chinese fans (surprising). After this race, most of the Chinese fans left and I was free to roam around the stadium.

The men's triple jump final was in its final stages when I moved to within 5 metres of the sand pit in row 1, amongst many Portuguese Olympics athletes supporting their fellow countryman, Evora. He was competing for gold against Britain's Idowu.

Evora got gold to the delight of the Portuguese athletes and fans, while Idowu got silver. He did hear me and stopped for a photo - I've chatted to an Olympic silver medalist!

Evora came over and hugged each of his colleagues. The GB flag around my neck precluded me from this, although I was just glad to be amongst the fanfare.

I tried to reconcile differences between the two sets of fans by congratulating the Portuguese (and taking pics with them).

The whole evening was amazing. I wanted to hide and get locked inside the stadium so I could roam around further, but eventually had to leave.

20 08 08, Capital Gymnasium

Erika's colleague had spare tickets to the volleyball, which I jumped at when offered them. It was the men's semi-final between Russia and USA. Once again I had great seats, in row 3, amongst many Russians supporters. The US were up by two sets before Russia levelled and took it to a decider, but the US came through winners in a thrilling match.

The ten days or so I spent in Beijing the second time around were amazing. During the day, I was either at an event or watching it on a big screen in a bar or on the streets. In the evenings, I would go out, often until the next morning. Whitney has about as much discipline as I do, ie none, so quiet nights ended up being very messy indeed - shots at NanJing until 5am, drinking games until 3 in Goose Duck, Forrest's leaving do which started at Club Obiwan and inevitably ended at Anna's bar around 7am, and on my final night, I decided not to sleep and go straight to the airport for my 11:30am flight to Shenzhen. I even did some sightseeing this time around. I visited the colourful Yonghe Gong, a Tibetan Lama Temple, and the beautiful and very large Summer Palace, which I got a bus back from (very, very slow journey, but good experience).

It was an awesome time and certainly the highlight of my trip so far - I love Beijing!

Shanghai/Hangzhou: more great food and fun antics

2008-08-21T11:12:00.000+01:00

Photos of my trip will not be on blog for a few more days as, very inconveniently, my camera decided it would rather not take photos of women beach volleyball players and so it died on me the night before. No fear though, as Whitney kindly offered her camera for use!

As soon as I got into Shanghai, I met up with Ed and his girlfriend, Jing. Ed and I had worked at UBS together and spent many torturous nights in the office together.

Shanghai felt larger than Beijing, and has some 15 million residents. The city is split into two area, Pudong and Puxi, separated by the River Huangpu.

We went to the top of the famous Pearl Tower on Pudong side (some 300m high), and witnessed amazing views over the city. It was skyscraper heaven, more than I had seen in any city before. Some of the buildings were truly spectacular, although the smog was very apparent in Shanghai too.

After some great Taiwanese (loved the mini dumplings), we headed to the trendy Xiantiandi district to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. I was very excited and the locals were very proud of the display put on by China to the world (although it did drag on a bit).

Ed and Jing had the weekend off so we decided to drive to Hangzhou the following afternoon. Hangzhou, is a beautiful city 2hr outside Shanghai, where Xi Hu (West Lake) lies at the centre of the city. It was nice to put the pollution aside for a day or so. We walked along one of the two causeways that sit on the lake and then had some great beggar's chicken (local to Hangzhou). Ed and I went out that night, settling at the SOS club. The music was great and they were celebrating an anniversary of some sorry. It turned into a messy night. I lost Ed after an hour or so as he fell asleep in some corner. I returned to my hotel around 6am (I think).

The next afternoon, once we woke up, we took the shortest of boat rides on the lake, apparently because visibility was low! We then rented bikes and rode around the lake. It was brilliant fun; I was honking everyone, practicing my limited Chinese on random locals, and we kept on ignoring security guards and taking forbidden, but very scenic paths along lake.

We then had dinner and headed back to Shanghai. I was shattered, but had to watch the eagerly awaited men's basketball contest between Yao Ming's China and the awesome US team.

The next day started with a bang - Rebecca Adlington won Great Britain's second gold medal of the Olympic Games. With a smile on my face, I wandered around Shanghai's shopping malls, met Tiffany (friend of friend) for coffee and had dinner with Ed, Jing and Jing's friend, Cathy, who like me also went to LSE.

We then went to Racks, a cool bar with loads of pool tables. I was off my game, but did pot one ridiculous ball - reminded me of my days in the Holborn bar at LSE! Across the corridor was a club called G Plus, where I chilled until the early hours with some random Chinese students who have been studying at Nottingham University.

On my fourth day in Shanghai, I thought I'd better do some sightseeing so went to the Old City and the stunning Yu Yuan gardens. The entire area was awesome, very different from the rest of Shanghai, much older, more quaint, small stores selling everything you can think off. This was topped by spicy frog's legs for dinner and a post dinner massage.

My final full day in Shanghai was to be very eventful. We went to Haiku for lunch, an excellent Japanese restaurant. I decided we should order the Wasabi Challenge Rolls. Vanilla, the waitress, looked at me in disgust when I ordered it! After one each, we realised why - it was brutal!!! I ended up have four of the rolls, thanks to Cathy. The photos are quite amusing and show all of us in substantial amounts of pain.

Ed and I then went to the Bund while the girls did their nails. The colonial buildings along the Bund were in atek contrast from the modern skyscrapers on the other side of the river, although once again the view was spoiled by the smog.

After admiring the view from the bar at the top of the JW Marriott, we headed to South Beauty for dinner. I had some of the best fish ever (it was inside out). I also had a very embarrassing moment where I mistakenly spat out a whole lot of watermelon juice after finding something quite amusing. The waitress was laughing for the next 30mins before we left.

Cathy, Ed and I went to Muse 1. I wasn't expected much, but the music in this club was excellent. The DJ was playing some great house, hiphop and old school tracks. Ed and I decided to get up on stage with the dancing girls, which seemed like a good idea at the time. We then went back to my hotel; I think I crashed around 6am.

I woke up fairly late the next day and had to get to Pudong airport for 3:30pm for my flight to Beijing. After some lunch, Cathy, who was flying to Tokyo, and I jumped on the Maglev express train, which reaches a speed of 431km/hr! I still missed my flight though, which angered me a lot as I was 1min late according to the member of staff, but Air China staff were having none of it as most of them are not allowed to use their brains and common sense, but instead follow rules. It did mean that I could watch the Chinese women's beach volleyball team in action - I was now a huge supporter of Xue Chen, but especially Zhang Xi.

Like my time in Beijing, I did very little sightseeing, although there isn't much to see in Shanghai, but I ate excellent food and had a memorable time. Big thanks to Ed and Jing!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

The holy mountain and birthplace of Confucious

2008-08-12T06:54:00.000+01:00

I decided to venture out of Beijing for a few days, and explore Chinese history a little more.

Taian was my destination, home to Tai Shan, the holiest of China's five holy Taoist mountains.

It was my first time travelling in China without Chinese language assistance and it required much patience. I took an overnight train to Ji'nan and then planned to take a bus to Taian. However, before I bought a bus ticket, I bought two separate train tickets from Ji'nan to Taian by mistake. Anyhow, I got finally got what I wanted and the train tickets and bus ticket only cost me £2.50 in total!

Whitney introduced me to Kevin, who is ex English student at her school and lives in Taian. He and his friend offered to take me to the top of the mountain.

I was already exhausted from the journey to Taian and the mountain climb was brutal: apparently some 5,000 steps, and at a steep inclination. Once we got to the top, the view back down was awesome, but I couldn't help thinking it would have been so much better if there was no smog and I could see more than 100 yards into the distance. Pollution seemed to be a more widespread problem in China, not just an issue in Beijing.

The following day, I took a trip to Qufu, 80km south of Taian. Qufu is of significant Chinese cultural importance as Confucious was born here around 550BC.

I had arranged a hotel taxi to take me there and back, but I ended up having more travel partners. A trainee at the hotel came along as he wanted to practice his English and the taxi driver's wife soon hopped into the taxi as she had never been to Qufu before.

It was very hot and made sightseeing uncomfortable. We first went to the Confucious Forest. It's basically a burial ground for Confucious's clan, the Kongs. If you're really interested in exploring the forest fully, rent bikes from outside.

The other two main attractions, the Confucious Mansion and Confucious Temple, were awesome. The temple was first established in 478BC, but was expanded by emperors since, particularly from the Ming and Qing dynasties (14th - 18th century). Both places were very cool: many grand buildings, cool stone bridges, narrow alleyways etc.

The next day, I took a bus to Ji'nan airport and took a flight to Shanghai, my first flight in 5 months!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

BEIJING!!!

2008-08-08T03:38:00.001+01:00

Finally I have arrived! I can think of no better place to be on the planet right now than Beijing.

The city is huge, there are people everywhere, but as a sports fanatic, it doesn't get any better than this. Olympic fever has hit the city of 15m people in a big way.

You can certainly question some of China's methods in preparation for the Olympics, but Beijing is a magical place right now.

I've been here for four days now and I have yet to see any of Beijing's top attractions. I've been too busy soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the patriotism of the Chinese people, and their friendliness, and stuffing myself with the most ridonkulously good food.

One minute I am in Tian'anmen Square marvelling at the Olympic statues and figures, and within 10 minutes I'm in the jacuzzi in the adventure pool of my hotel, and an hour later, I'm having unbelievable Chinese food in a hutong with local Chinese people!

I've granted myself some luxury and am living on the corner of Wangfujing Street, the main shopping street, and Dong Chang An Avenue, which is only 300 metres from Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. In the centre, it seems almost everyone has a Beijing 2008 T-shirt, there are volunteers everywhere and the police presence is large, but not intimidating, although the officers could smile from time to time.

The Beijingers are so happy that the Olympics are being held in their back yard. They don't seem to mind the restrictions placed on them during the Games. Taxi drivers must wear ties (sent to each of them by the Government) even though it is at least 30 degrees celsius. Cars are only able to drive in the city on alternative days: based on odd and even numbers plates corresponding to odd and even days of the month. Many residents have been sent pamphlets on how to behave during the Games: no public spitting (very common amongst men and women), no rolling up your top and showing your belly in public (a man thing), smile at foreigners, don't shake hands for more than 3 seconds, girls with large thighs should hide them, and it goes on! Sadly, i've been told many of the street food stalls have been forced to close, which is a shame as the food is supposed to be excellent.

It's so easy to get around town, yes there are lots of cars, but i've never been stuck in traffic. Fine they are only allowing half the city's cars in on any given day, but the Beijingers want to do it, so who are we to knock it. The subway is also very cheap and efficient. Security checks don't seem to have halted the transport network. All bags must be scanned before gaining access to Tian'anmen Square, but despite the masses, it only took a few minutes to get in. At Heathrow, this would take hours.

I have to mention the smog. The first few days I was there, I didn't know what all the fuss was about - beautiful clear skies. However, the next few days were very different - couldn't see more than 100 yards into the distance. I say suck it up and move on - no athlete is likely to be in Beijing for any longer than 2 weeks and it's the same for all.

I have been very lucky in that I have been shown around by sisters, Whitney and Erika. They are cousins of Adam's and have been teaching English in Beijing for 4 years and 1 year, respectively. They have given me the local experience, especially when it comes to food.

I've had some of the best food i've ever tasted and so much variety. The highlights have to be the Sichuan hotpot at Haidilao (with the public noodle making performance) and the double spice chicken wings in a hutong, so spicy that they keep on bringing you toilet rolls for you to wipe your nose, tears and sweat! Forrest, an ex English student, was loving it, but in pain at the same time. It was so hot, we both ate with our tops off - I felt Chinese except I don't have the belly.

The variety of bars is amazing! Nanluogu Xiang is a fantastic road with handicraft stalls and many cafés, restaurants and bars, many open 24 hours. On Saturday night, Cici, another ex English student, had her leaving party before heading to New York. It turned into a crazy mess ending at 5am, but only after a round of "flatliners" and some pole dancing with her at Club Kai - she's pro, I'm clearly not. After chicken wings on Monday night, the girls left Forrest and I to explore the city. After walking around Houhai lake and through several hutongs, we ended up at the tiny "Anna's bar" just off Nanluogu Xiang and stayed until 6am.

It really was a fantastic few days and the Games haven't even started yet. After a few days exploring Mount Tai, considered the holiest mountain by the Chinese, Qufu (pronounced choo-foo), the birthplace and residence of Confucious, and a few days in and around Shanghai, I will return to Beijing to see some of the events for real: swimming, rowing, athletics and women's beach volleyball! Can't wait!

Pics to follow later.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Luxury "ger-ing"; Robbie Keane signs for Liverpool!!!

2008-08-03T09:01:00.000+01:00

I left the nomad family for a few days at the Elstei ger camp, a tourist camp in the countryside, not far from Ulaanbaatar.

En route, I had a swift look at the Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar. It has a 26.5 metre tall Buddha statue inside the main temple, made of copper, silver and gold, and is very significant as it was the only monastery that survived the Russians' attempt to eradicate Buddhism in Mongolia in the mid 1930s.

The tourist camp was very relaxing. I had my own ger and there was a restaurant/bar, and most importantly, showers. There were very few people there on my first night, but I met another group comprising Aussies (Michael and Julie), Norwegians (Eric and Elizabeth) and the Irish (Ross and Sarah-Jane).

The food was very good, prepared by Kumar, an Indian dude from Delhi. He doesn't often (ever) have Indian guests, so treated me to chai (proper Indian tea) and some Indian pickles. It was the first spicy stuff I had had since London as tasted great.

The next day turned out to be the most action-packed of my trip so far. I went horse riding in the morning, and for only my second time (first time was 7yrs ago). I started off with only one guarantee, my bottom would be very sore afterwards. It turned out to be brilliant fun. I found cantering too painful so galloped most of the way to a 28 metre tall Chinggis Khan statue that is still yet to be completed, but very impressive nonetheless. I even felt like I had some control over the horse for the first time in my horseriding career.

My 16yr old horseriding guide then surprised me when he asked me if I want to do some shooting. It turned out to be clay pigeon shooting in the middle of nowhere and the place also had a dart board and table tennis table, which was all good fun. They were surprised by my accuracy on the shooting (thanks to UBS/Heinz corporate events).

On my return to the camp, I played some archery, but it was the evening that proved most entertaining.

By now, the tourist camp was very busy with 50 or so tourists. When offered, Michael, Ross and I accepted, the chance to wrestle Mongolian wrestlers. Silly, and it got worse, as they provided us with local, traditional, skimpy costumes to wear. Brilliant fun and I think I won my fight, but very embarrassing (wait for the pics). We then played volleyball, but with a violent twist. Many people in a circle and if you fail to keep the ball in the air, you sit down in the middle and have to try and catch the ball as the game continues. The local experts had a great way of avoiding those in the middle catching the ball - they would hit the ball with force directly at those in the middle to avoid them catching it - it was fairly brutal!

Then followed a fairly heavy night of drinking, led by Claire, Helena and Elizabeth.

We would return to Ulaanbaatar the next morning for one night. As we walk into the hotel, CNN is on the TV in the lobby, and what do I see - Robbie Keane in a Liverpool top! I am overjoyed, and all the locals in the lobby thought I had gone mad.

That evening Ross, Sarah-Jane and I went to a Mongolian cultural show, which was excellent. There was a fashion show, traditional music and some really entertaining dancing. We then had a Mongolian barbeque to top of a fantastic 6 days in Mongolia.

The early morning train the next day to Beijing was packed full of tourists, many of which we had come across on previous trains through Russia and Mongolia. The quality of the train was amazing - wooden doors, a shower, TVs for each berth and the option of playing DVDs! Michael had a few DVDs and so we watched Bourne Supremacy and Death of a Funeral.

The border crossing was a fairly traumatic experience for all. They locked the loos about an hour before we reached the Mongolia border before any prior warning, and they were to remain locked for the next 6hrs, during which time we were not allowed off the train!

Leaving Mongolia was fairly straightforward, but entering China was not. I thought three forms and a thorough check of my bag and books was bad enough, but then some Chinese official came on and tested whether I was really a Brit Indian by asking me trivia questions about India, some of which were in Hindi. I was shocked, but passed the test. After changing the "bogies" on the train, we were on our way again.

The scenery changed from Mongolia's flat, sandy desert, to China's lush green valleys growing all sorts, but lots of corn and rice. There were beautiful mountains and rivers to see for miles as we headed into Beijing. By this time I couldn't wait to get into the city.

I will put some photos of my final few days in Mongolia soon, but right now I'm having to much fun in Beijing to spend time in an internet café, especially thanks to Erika and Whitney, but also Forrest and Cici, who are off to Vancouver and New York, respectively. Both these cities better watch out!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Warm welcome into Mongolia

2008-07-30T07:50:00.003+01:00

It was my last night in Russia and fittingly it would be on a train. This time it was the 650km journey to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. This journey would take 28 hours, that’s an average speed of 23km/hr! Why? We spent 6 hours at Naushky, the final stop in Russia, while Russian immigration and customs officials carried out their checks before we left their country – they wanted to ensue we weren’t exporting any of their precious weapons or ancient art. There was little to see, buy or do in Naushky and most of the time had to be spent off the train in the soaring heat. Soon after leaving, we reached the first stop in Mongolia. This only took 2 hours and was a very different experience. There were several local stores, lots of people offering to change foreign currency and even more people selling fermented mare’s milk, Mongolia’s traditional drink.

Linda (from Vancouver, Canada), Christian and Stacey (from Oldham, UK), Gabrielle and Flore (from Brussels, Belgium) and I decided to celebrate our last night in Russia with some Absolut Raspberry (Stacey picked the flavour), and to go with it, some cookies, banana cream biscuits, crisps, noodles and mash. This meant that I only had 3 hours sleep before being woken up by the carriage attendant ahead of arriving into Ulaanbaatar.

After a quick tour of the city, i.e. trip to the main square to see the statue of Chinggis Khan (aka Genghis Khan), and some government buildings and theatres, I was taken to a Japanese ‘bathhouse’ in a hotel to freshen up (much needed).

We then set off for the 300km drive to my nomad homestay, most of it offroad through fairly flat green pastures. The roads were terrible, like many in India after the monsoons, and the previous nights antics suddenly didn’t seem a good idea.

Shitere and Enkhtsetseg were my hosts at the ger. They had two sons, Uuganbaatar (4) and Uuganbayr (6 months). All together, four generations lived together.

The ger itself was fascinating, very similar to that I saw in Buryatia, and located 200 metres from the edge of the Gobi Desert. It was surprisingly very comfortable, and certainly cosy when the entire family gathered for dinner or to watch sumo wrestling on their 14” black and white TV.

Most visitors like myself would go out with the herders (any man who could ride a horse) to bring in the horses, cows and goats for milking, go out and collect horse dung for the fire or help milk the animals, but the weather wasn’t great so I couldn’t do any of these things.

There was a storm one night and the wind never let up until the morning I left. Apparently these winds (I would think up to around 40mph) were nothing in comparison to what they see in spring or during the winter months.

My stroll to the Gobi Desert was cut short by a sandstorm, and when I decided to venture back there, this time on a camel, I didn’t fare much better.

One afternoon, we did drive through the countryside of the Ovorkhangai Province to the birthplace of Mongolian civilisation, Karakorum. This was where Chinggis Khan was declared the Great Khan and his quest for domination of the west began. The ancient city was destroyed, but on its site lies the monastery of Erdene Zuu, the first Buddhist centre in Mongolia built in the 16th century. It was only after this that Buddhism became the prominent religion in Mongolia. The Russian militia, under the orders of Stalin, destroyed much of the monastery in 1937, but strangely the three main temples survived.

Otherwise, I spent most of my time in and around the gers, and I loved every minute of it. It also gave me a flavor of what it would be like in winter when most of the day is spent indoors in what compared to back home would be considered a very cramped environment. After all, the ‘kitchen’ ger, where we spent all of our time in other than for sleeping, had a diameter of no more than 3 metres. At one time, I think we had around 15 people watching TV.

The traditional food was very good too, although a little different to what I’m used to, jackal soup for example, but also ‘buuz’ (steamed meat dumplings) and ‘suvan’ (fried slices of dough with meat). During the winter, they would have lots of meat as very little else is available, so during the summer, they would have lots f dairy products (what they call ‘white foods’) to clean their stomachs. This mainly took the form of homemade ‘airag’ (fermented mare’s milk), but also green tea with milk and dried curd. They also sometimes distil the airag to make ‘shiimin arkhi’, a clear spirit. I couldn’t quite believe how much airag each person would drink, I would think around 4 litres a day. There would always be a bucket of it and a bowl to drink it from. You never finish the bowl as it is a sign of greed and wanting more. Everyone would take turns drinking it. By day 2, I was drinking a couple of litres of it myself – it was the only cool drink available! I also brought a bottle of Chinggis Khan vodka for the father of the house – he loved it – not surprising, as the local stuff I had the following day was nasty.

I got lots of exercise playing with Uuganbaatar. He had so much energy. We played football, but he loved the nomad lifestyle. He would try and sit on a goat and ride it, like his father does on a horse. He spent much of his day sitting on my shoulders with a whip in hand asking me to run around as if I was a horse – very tiring!

His father, 28, was very friendly and so hospitable. He wanted me to return in November as this is the month where all four members of the family have their birthdays.

One the final night, he dressed up his son in traditional riding gear and let him ride his horse. I was amazed at how comfortable he was riding it – I guess it’s second nature to them, but nevertheless, he was completely fearless. The father then let me on one of the horses.

I then showed the family all the photos and videos I had taken of my time at their ger. They have very few photos of themselves, especially with their 6 month old son, so I promised to print some and send them via the tour company.

I don’t think I saw any anger or frustration on anyone’s faces for the entire three days. Even the women, who cook, clean, look after the kids and milk the animals, seemed so cheerful.

It very much reminded me of when I would visit my mum’s village in India (Bochasan). The roads were appalling, guests were treated with such hospitality, animals would always need milking, the women did all the work, the entire family lived under one small roof, and there was even a small black and white TV.

Fantastic experience – I could have spent another week there.

Was that Russia?

2008-07-30T05:23:00.004+01:00

Firstly, there are more people pics from Altai thanks to Christina.

It was a short train journey around Lake Baikal from the western shore to the eastern shore, to a place called Ulan Ude. I had now travelled over 10,000km by train since leaving home.

Ulan Ude is the capital of the Buryatia Republic region of Eastern Siberia. Buryats are a native ethnic group, similar to Mongolians and are traditionally Buddhist.

There is not much to see in Ulan Ude, and its highlight is the great big statue of Lenin's head in the main square.

I was at a lovely homestay hosted by Andrei and Svetlana, and their two children, Yasha (21) and Masha (19).

The family has done lots to develop ecotourism in the region and has been working in tourism for 18 years. They were very friendly and welcoming - definitely the most homely place I had stayed at since leaving home. The house was fantastic too, built from scratch 4 years ago.

Andrei and Svetlana were also my guides. Andrei drove me to the small Atsagatsky Buddhist temple outside the city, which Andrei is helping to renovate and develop with the head lama. The head lama is a cool guy who wanted to take me in as a pupil - I look Buddhist apparently especially with my lack of hair!

We then went to a Buryat village for a traditional lunch - green tea with milk as a welcome, and then some noodle soup and 'poozy' (meat dumplings). I finally felt I was in Asia.

After lunch, I tried on a traditional Buryat costume and we played some traditional games with sheep's ankle bones (I wasn't very good), and had a go at some archery (much better, although I was out of luck).

I learnt lots about Andrei's vision for tourism in the region. His main project is to build the Great Baikal Trail, a network of 570km of trail around the Lake. You can visit www.greatbaikaltrail.ru for more information. He is very determined to make it work and seems to have the right people and skills, but can always use the help of willing volunteers.

Yasha and Masha get very involved in the projects too. Yasha manages the hostel that is adjacent to the family house and Masha was on a project by the Lake at the time, so I didn't meet her.

Eli was also staying with the family. She is a student from Glasgow who is spending a few weeks in the area helping out on various ecotourism projects.

Yasha knew I was keen on playing football (for the first time since I injured my ankle back in November of last year), so we went and joined a game at the local university dust field.

That night there was a big storm and lots of lightning; don't think I've seen anything like it before - I actually thought the windows might cave in.

The next morning, I met an Aussie couple from just south of Sydney: Rob and Janet. Svetlana took the three of us to the Ivologinsk Datsan, containing many Buddhist temples and schools, and housing for the lamas ands pupils. It's the centre of Buddhism in Russia, and was visited by the Dalai Lama in 1991.

We then visited an 'Old Believers' village. Old Believers are people who stuck to the old Russian Orthodox beliefs and traditions after the reformation, and were exiled in Siberia a couple of hundred of years ago. There is a population of about 250,000 of them there now.

On our return to the house, Yasha took an interest in the music on my iPod, but thanks to Apple, I was unable to transfer any of my music to his PC. I did however get some local Buryat music in return, most of which is played with the fiddle.

That night, we had a fantastic meal coked by Svetlana. Meat dumplings, grilled fish, pickled cucumbers, and great sponge cake (which I had almost all of). We were sitting by the dining table for hours chatting, although Svetlana would run ff every now and then to attend to her beautiful (although high maintenance) garden.

It was now time to say goodbye to Russia.

The wonder that is Lake Baikal

2008-07-21T08:16:00.001+01:00

After some confusion with my itinerary, I headed out of Irkutsk into a cab to Listvyanka, a village 70km outside Irkutsk on the shores of Lake Baikal.

I was staying at a "homestay" hosted by Olga. John and Chris, both Brits, also arrived that same morning. Her house is a traditional Siberia "izba", a square log timbered building with a massive stove in the middle to keep all the rooms warm. The longdrop loo and banya are outside (design must be questioned given it falls to around -35 degrees in winter).

The local museum was surprise surprise, dedicated to Lake Baikal. A few cool facts about the lake:

* Deepest lake in the world (around 1.6km at its deepest)

* Largest freshwater lake holding 20% of the world's freshwater

* Can drive across the lake between Jan and early May where the lake freezes over with ice up to 1.5 metres thick

* So clear that you can see up to 40 metres down

* If there was no water in the world other than that contained in Lake Baikal, the world would have enough water for 40 years (my favourite fact, although the mathematician in me wanted to understand the underlying assumptions)

The very fat nepra seal is the largest animal in the region. We saw two playful seals in the aquarium in the museum. We were also introduced to the endemic omul fish, and then had some for lunch with cabbage soup and some vegetables made by Olga.

We also headed to a viewpoint at the top of the hill (opting not to take the better cable car option). The view was cool, but it was a little hazy.

One thing I did notice is the lack of entrepreneuralism, which has also been evident in other places i've been to in Russia. There was no shop selling food or drink at the top or bottom of the hike we did, despite everyone wanting a drink as the walk was fairly strenuous and very hot! There were also no (i've been told there are a few very occasionally) watersports on offer on the lake. This was not to preserve the lake and its inhabitants as there were many more boats on the lake. Potential business opportunity?

That evening we had a banya, where one of the Brits was very uncomfortable with the nudity.

The next morning, an American couple came in, Todd and Mollie, who had been teaching English in China for the past five years. They were heading in the opposite direction, across Europe and finally back home.

I then left for my one night hike/camp trip. It was the highlight of my stay in this region. It was a fairly relaxing walk hugging the shore of Lake Baikal. For my guide, Valyara, a biologist, Lake Baikal was the dream home. He would point out various interesting things along the walk. We reached our first stop, an almost secluded pebble beach with crystal clear waters, which was to be our campsite!

The dog and the brown man. There was another family also on the beach who had their dog with them. Like most Russians, the dog had not seen a brown man before and took very unkindly to me, barking for almost an hour. At this point, the dog's owner asked my guide if I was with him and if he could introduce me to the dog as the dog had never seen anyone look like me before and was scared. I charmed the dog within seconds and he stopped barking.

After lunch and a refreshing swim in the lake (water so clean that we also use it as drinking water), we went for a walk further north. This time we were walking along the no-more-than-foot-wide cliff edge, with a gradient of around 70 degrees, 40 metres above the lake, for 40 minutes! My fear of heights kicked in and I was not feeling entirely comfortable and was glad to get to a sandy beach for another swim. Then we had the exact same walk back - not physically tiring, but mentally shattering.

My guide then disappeared for 2hrs (only supposed to be 1hr) and just before I was about to tell the family on the beach about my guide's absence, he appeared with a girl - apparently someone who help him for the following day - believe that if you want.

I briefly returned to Listvyanka the next day to find it sprawling with tourists, mainly weekend visitors from Irkutsk, before I headed to Irkutsk for another homestay . I was very glad that I missed the tourism in town!

There was little in Irkutsk to write home about. Centre was fairly dull and Irkutsk's only pedestrian street, supposedly pretty, was not very nice and had cars parked down the entire street! Although there is a good restaurant on this street called Arbatsky Dvorik (enter through Café Fiesta). There's a few nice buildings in the historical part of town. It's a city of 60,000 students, but it didn't have a particularly vibrant feel to it.

I'm now off to Ulan Ude, my final stop in Russia.

Chill time

2008-07-18T01:30:00.003+01:00

I did very little of note in Novosibirsk and I'm glad. It was the first time since I left London where I had no plans, but to chill.

The city itself, had a huge Lenin statue in its centre, but was not particularly attractive; but I liked it. Maybe because my hotel was only a 15min walk away from the centre so I didn't have to walk much in the glorious Siberian weather. Yes, that last bit is true - 31 celsius during the day and 20 celsius at night - and with no cooling to speak of in my rusty hotel room.

I had a great Italian meal at Makaroni, probably best meal i've had since London. Otherwise, days were spent walking up and down the main street and lots of afternoon siesta. Evenings were spent at the Old Irish, which other than a few expats, was full of locals. Having said that, this is where I met Lee, an English teacher from Maidstone, and Trevor, an aviation engineer from Liverpool, who had been in Novosibirsk for 4+ years. We then went on to Trubar, where I met a lovely couple, Sergi and Ira. Ira grew up in Altai, so was fascinated by my experience there.

Whilst wandering, it did seem that there were more women than men, and many stunning at that. At first, I thought it could have been because more men work or drive cars maybe, but I was told this is very possible as Russia still hasn't completely recovered, in terms of population distribution, from WWII, where apparently 1 in 4 men were killed (also has to do with increased life expectancy for those mathematicians).

After more than 2 days of R&R, I had my first train journey in 10 days to look forward to - forgot what it was like to be on a train for so long - 30hr this time. As Long As You Love Me by the Backstreet Boys on the train speakers as we head into Irkutsk, from where I would experience the wonder that is Lake Baikal.

Adventure in Altai

2008-07-15T08:14:00.004+01:00

Wow, what an experience! This was no usual trip. I suspect this might end up being a long posting, but so much happened in the space of a week. It's also my record of what happened and hence the detail.

Getting to the Altai Mountains

It was a long train journey to Barnaul. I was first sharing my cabin with a man who smelt bad, but soon he left and a large, and very loud family came on board. The father kept on trying to get one of his sons to speak to me in English. They were all very friendly. I let the kid play with my iPod. His mother was playing sudoku as I was, and even challenged me :)

As I previously mentioned, I was held by cops while waiting for the bus in Barnaul that night. If that wasn't bad enough, the bus journey was. It was a painful overnight journey in a small minibus crammed with 11 Russian tourists and me heading to our base in Ust Koksa, a small town in the Altai region. The place itself was very nice and peaceful, although visa registration at the local police station took 2hrs!

Once I got back to base, I met a couple of guides - Yura and Yevgeny. They showed me their drinking habits - shots of Komandirskiy cognac with a cigarette in between shots, until it was time for supper. Everyone would take turns making a toast for each round of drinks, a Russian tradition. Yura translated my toasts in Russia for the others.

Supper was traditional "borsh" soup (beetroot soup with vegetables and meat), and some meat and mashed potatoes - yum.

This was followed by more drinking around the fireplace, but this time it took the form of Nemiroff Vodka (spiced up with red chilis). After each shot, we would eat something small. If a shot is refused, you are asked "Ты меня уважаешь" (or "Do you respect me?" in English). I didn't dare refuse. And then off to "bed".

Trek to the Multa Lakes, Altai

The next morning, everyone began to split the required food supply for the nights out camping amongst the group aiming for an even split. However, I ended up with all the heavy stuff, mainly potatoes, pasta and onions, but also cans of meat, crackers, bread, biscuits, and Indian tea :)

It was only now that I realised that I was going out treking with only four of the group - Veronica, Christina, Olga and Anastasia - 'appy dayz' - and we were being guided by Yevgeny, nickname Zhenya. The girls were all from a Omsk, a city on the Trans-Siberian railway between Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.

Finally, after 3 weeks travelling from one city to the next, I was spending some quality time in the wilderness.

The first day's walk was fairly relaxing, meandering through forests and navigating our way across rivers via very narrow logs of wood. Lunch that day consisted of an apple, half a cucumber and some walnuts.

Veronica, born in Kazakhstan, but moved to Russia in her teens, spoke excellent English (thank God, otherwise my experience could have been very different) and helped translate conversations etc. She was also loved all kinds of music, included Venus by Bananarama and Hotel California by The Eagles - very varied!

Camp that night was beside a beautiful lake with mountains in the distance.

As we began putting the tent up, I realised there was only one (no mistake) and I would be sharing with the four girls - yes, me and four girls in a single, standard 3-person tent (while Zhenya had a tent to himself).

Dinner was porridge, which I don't think I have had in over 15 years! And there was vodka of course. During dinner, I also found out how they were all huge fans of Mithun Chakraborty, a C-list Indian actor from the 80s. Bollywood movies were very popular during this time as very few American films were screened in the Soviet Union during this period.

The next morning, we went for a very cold dip in the lake, and then went for a leisurely stroll around the amongst the many surrounding mountains and lakes. The weather was awesome and scenery spectacular. It reminded me of Los Alerces and Torres del Paine in Chile, although the landscape was not quite as dramatic. Some of the girls were finding it difficult navigating from one rock to the next, and at one point Christina got into a little trouble as she was stranded on a rock and couldn't get to any of its neighbours - Zhenya and I volunteered to get very wet and help her.

Christina, who similarly studied economics was a trader, but her favourite hobby seemed to be taking photos of small animals and plants. I couldn't understand it, but maybe it's because Russia has very little in the way of large wildlife :) They were particularly fascinated by chipmunks, which they associated with Chippendales. I told them about the clubs known for male dancing.

One of the girls nicknamed me the "grasshopper" as I was walking fairly fast. Personally, I would have preferred something like a cheetah or leopard, but maybe this was Russian "large animal" syndrome.

That night, I experienced my first "banya", a Russian tradition that is similar to a sauna, but not quite. You enter into a relaxation area, which then leads into a wet room for bathing and then into a steam room. The steam room was extremely hot, much hotter than your typical sauna. After 5 minutes or so, Zhenya said it was time to go to the lake. We walked out of the banya, butt-naked, and ran into the lake, which was around 8 degrees celsius. Fantastic! After one more round, it was time for "chai" (tea), which Russians would typically drink afterwards in the relaxation area.

After returning back to our tents, we were approached by Russian militia. It was common for militia to check passports and park permits, but it seemed a completely pointless exercise, and I'm not sure why they needed massive guns on them. Even in the middle of the sparsely populated Altai region, Russia's Big Brother was watching.

Zhenya was trying hard to speak to me in English, so I let him borrow my phrasebook. He found it very entertaining and it was soon being misused - "Давай в постель", he asked me to tell one of the girls.

Veronica, Christina and I played a "word association" game before bed in the mosquito-infested tent, which was funny given the language barriers.

We would start walking each day around late morning, but the girls would always wake me up early. Zhenya would always be the last to wake, and once I had to collapse his tent to get him up - he wasn't too happy about that.

We had a tough walk ahead of us the next day, and Anastasia was keeping me company at the front. She was an unbelievable athlete - it was like she was on autopilot. She reminded me of Paula Radcliffe, but in a good way (if that's possible) - tall, slim and very fit. Zhenya was scared off snakes so I was asked to lead and look out for them (but I missed one apparently).

As we stopped for the night, beside a river with the sound of a 25m waterfall behind us, we had some borsh soup - this was a daily occurrence, but it tasted very good, even though the meat was preserved in lard. The sound of the waterfall, especially while sleeping, was very relaxing, and I had my best sleep in days.

That night, finally, we would have "макaрoни" (pasta). I was dead excited as finally my bag would become lighter. Up until now, we were reducing the girls' foodstock. I didn't have a bowl (only a mug), so I would always have dinner out of the pot it was cooked in. We also had Indian tea, which I'm afraid tasted nothing like as good my mum's back home. They were sad when I broke the news to them.

The next day would be my final day with the group as I had to return back early to catch my train to the Baikal Sea. We decided to climb to the top of one of the mountains that surrounded us. The climb was lots of fun, randomly finding a path, and the views from the top were stunning. Zhenya was so excited at the top that he wanted to listen to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and Can't Stop by the Chili Peppers on my iPod.

That night, Yura, the other guide, joined us for dinner with another group. He was going to take me back to base the next day. Surprise, surprise, he brought some Nemiroff Vodka with him. One of his group was cooking pork on the skew - shot of vodka, bite of pork, and so it went on until there was no vodka left. Yura also put on a mini fire show for us.

The next day, Veronica, Christina and I went to a nearby lake for a nice walk and another very cold swim in the turquoise, clear waters.

Zhenya was listening to as much music on my iPod as he could before I left - Nirvana, Queen, REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails.

I then said goodbye to the group (strangely quite emotionally with everyone in a line) and headed back to Ust Koksa with Yura. Yura was almost sprinting and we ended up walking for over 4hrs in the soaring heat with only a couple of 5min breaks, but I had a 120-litre backpack with me!

I couldn't wait to get back now - I felt and probably looked a mess. I wanted a bed, although it would be a wooden bunk until tomorrow, a shower, which would have to wait another day, any drink made by the Coca Cola Company and a shave.

After walking 4hrs, Yura stopped in some village and asked a local family for some tea and biscuits. I was then picked up in a car by his other group and headed to Ust Koksa. The car seat felt so comfortable - finally some cushioning for my butt, rather than rocks or logs of wood! The car broke down on the way, but a new tyre later, we were back at around midnight.

I chilled around town the next day before the bus left at 5pm for 15hr ride to Novosibirsk, but that didn't factor time for tyre punctures. Everyone on the bus was dropped off pretty much where they wanted to be - 40 or so passengers on the bus and we must have had 20 drop-off points, and the last one was mine - right outside my run-down hotel - couldn't wait to get in a freshen up. I knew I was back in a Russian city when I heard the screaching sound of brakes of the ever popular Lada's tumbling along.

The trip was a brilliant experience. I learnt a lot about the local culture. Everyone would share everything: food, drink, bowls, cutlery, water etc. The people were very friendly, everyone greeting anyone they came across. The banya was another example of Russia's very social culture. The region itself is beautiful too, albeit difficult to get to.

It also reminded me that we can live off very basic supplies, and enjoy it, and how "soft" one can get living in cities. I'm not used to drinking water direct from rivers and lakes with bits of whatever in it. I'm not used to the lack of cleanliness and not being able to have a shower twice a day. I'm not used to borsh soup and crackers with salami and cheese every day. But although I did miss the variety and "luxuries", I got used to it and was strangely enjoying it.

I learnt quite a few new Russian words, and I let the girls know it as I kept on repeating them whether relevant or not. But more importantly, my experience proved that one can overcome language and other difficulties when travelling and have fun, lots of it. I also hope that I have convinced at least some of the people I crossed paths with on this trip to travel beyond Russia's borders, which doesn't seem to happen very often for various reasons.

It has definitely been the highlight of my trip this far, and for that, a big thank you to Zhenya and the girls.

Do I ask for it?

2008-07-06T18:06:00.000+01:00

I've just been held by cops for about 30mins at a mini compound next to the bus stop where I was waiting for a minibus to take me to the Altai mountains.

I kept in good spirits, although very frustrated, and even gave them a Haribo Strawb each (which they all seemed to like)! They found my phrasebook hilarious as I tried to get them to call the tour operator I booked the trip through.

After the bus arrived, they let me go, after a few jokes between them.

I then met the 10 people (5 couples)
who I will spend the next nine days with - none speak English. However, I have been assured that the guide does (thank god)!

This is going to be exciting, tough, and very intriguing.

I'll be back in a week or so.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

The real adventure begins

2008-07-05T10:25:00.001+01:00

I was finally starting the first real Trans-Siberian journey, a 26hr train ride to Yekaterinburg.

Not knowing what to expect, the train was in excellent nick - clean cabins, boiling water for cups of tea (and noodles), and the dining carriage was cool too, although food was average.

The people were far more friendly than those in Moscow. One of the guys in my cabin, an ex military man, after having a couple of cans of beer with bread for breakfast, found my travel guidebooks fascinating. While the dining lady thought she'd learn some English using my phrasebook.

The best of all was this little girl, maybe 6yrs old, who was singing along to "baby if you give it to me, I give it to you", which was playing on the radio (which they seem to play at the start and end of journeys). She knew all the lyrics; hope she didn't know what it meant!

The journey would take me across the Ural Mountains, and finally into Asia. The 'middle' Urals are not really mountainous, more miles and miles of very tall pine trees, with the odd lake and village every now and then. The lakes leading into Yekaterinburg were particularly beautiful.

Lots of music, a few episodes of Gossip Girl (!), some sudoku, and 25hr and 37mins after leaving (to the minute), I arrived in Yekaterinburg. I was now halfway into my train journey from London to Beijing; only 5,600km to go!

Yekaterinburg was larger than I thought and I was pleased to hear that most of the locals I spoke to there also didn't like Moscovites :)

It is particularly famous as it was here that the Romanov Royal Family, the last before WWI, the Russian Civil War and then communism, were murdered. It has a wonderful "Pond" too (more like a lake) in the centre of the city, and an impressive memorial dedicated to the Afghan War.

It had been raining heavily the previous week before I arrived so I had the option of cancelling my mountain biking trip for an excursion to a traditional Ural village.

Having rode a BMX without breaks my whole life (some of you will have seen it), I wasn't passing up the opportunity to ride a proper bike!

After a good night sleep, I woke up and Dmitri drove Estelle (?) and me to the point where Europe and Asia meet (pretty unspectacular, but lots of tourists) and then Estelle took me into the Urals to start biking.

After taking a while getting used to the gears, I had a brilliant time riding through puddles getting very muddy, admiring the awesome surroundings. After an hour, we climbed up the Ural Rocks for an incredible view.

Both Estelle and Dmitri were great, and I highly recommend anyone who's here in the future to join their trip (from Hotel Suite). Both spoke good English and answered most of my many questions about Russia, Yekaterinburg etc.

I was shattered after 2hr of bike riding. My leg is certainly much weaker than it was before my ankle injury, my butt was hurting, and I think I had the runs - perfect way to head into the next 10 days of hiking in the Altai Mountains, after another 1day+ train journey of course.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Uninviting Moscow

2008-07-03T17:14:00.001+01:00

Biggest city in Europe and don't they know it!

Unlike St. Petersburg, there wasn't much to see. I had a lovely tour guide, Dina, show me the main sights, centred around Red Square and the Kremlin. Militia were everywhere and I felt like I had a bomb up my ass waiting to explode if I took one step wrong.

The Kremlin is an impressive sight, and I especially liked the Armoury Building, which houses the collection of treasures accumulated by the Russian State, including the most incredible carriages. It's also amusing to see the "checking" of the guards ceremony which takes place outside the Kremlin regularly - check out my video, hilarious!

It's very obvious that Lenin is everyone's hero here, so I made a special effort to queue early one morning to visit Lenin's Mausoleum in Red Square. Security was immense and there were guards every 5 metres to ensure visitors remained respectable. I got told off for having one hand in my pocket. The whole experience was a little strange.

The Bolshoi Theatre is closed and will be for the next year or so, so that was that.

Another cool place to walk around was Arbat Street, Moscow's most famous street, which has a Covent Garden feel to it. I then had lunch at Café My My (pronounced Moo Moo), and yes, there was a great big cow outside. Excellent Russian food.

Having "seen" the sights, I went on a search to find an internet café - it was somewhere in the underground shopping mall near Red Square. By now I had a grip on the Russian alphabet and was using my phrasebook frequently. Even so, about 10 Russians I approached for help all ignored me, except the final person, a security officer, who responded "This is Russia, no English". So he spoke English, but had no interest in helping - nice!

That evening I ended up at the O2 Lounge on the roof of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The bar was 5ft off the ground; I felt very short. The views were great although the clientele were basically bankers (ironic I say this, but wasn't really looking to discuss the current economic climate or UBS's stock price). And then onto one of the new spots in town, Denis Simichev. Cool bar / club, although small. The wealth around the place was very clear to see. If you weren't drinking champagne, you were a bit of a loser!

It would have been interesting to see Moscow 10yrs ago - I suspect it was a very different place, without the oil money fuelling the local economy and ego.

Londoners are fairly arrogant when it comes to acknowledging the rest of the UK and even other parts of the world, but they don't come close to Moscovites. These guys live in a different Russia (a bit like Mumbai and Delhi vs rest of India), and I can only see the divide between Moscow and the rest becoming greater.

Dina did tell me however that more and more young Russians like herself want to learn foreign languages and increasingly travel to other parts of the world, not just on holiday.

One think Moscow has got right is its metro system, the busiest and deepest in the world. Even though it sometimes felt like I was taking the Waterloo & City line to Bank, it was very fast and efficient, and easy to use providing you can translate Russian letters into English ones!

Also Russians seem to love cakes and ice-cream :)

Hopefully as I travel east across Russia I will find the more pleasant Russian people that I've been promised.

Sankt Peterburg: an intriguing entry in Russia

2008-07-03T17:10:00.000+01:00

I got in at 8am and immediately had a tough decision to make whilst tired and hungry: navigate the metro system or negotiate "best price" with a taxi driver. The traffic was a nightmare (went for the taxi), and it turns out, I probably could have walked in half the time, and not risked my life on the roads of St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg (the capital of the Russian Empire prior to the end of WW1 when Lenin moved it back to Moscow for defence reasons) was built based on Venice, but with the added attraction of even more spectacular architecture.

Due to its latitude of nearly approx 60°N, St. Petersburg often enjoys beautiful "White Nights" from mid June to mid July - the views are quite spectacular, so much so that at 5am after clubbing I felt I had to capture it on camera, so ran to the hotel and then to the Fontanka Canal for some awesome views.

I walked along Nevsky Prospect (the main street) crossing the two canals (Fontanka and Griboedova) and the River Moyka seeing the usual sights, including the bling Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood (which is also Twister ice-cream style domed), then up towards and crossing the Neva River where you see the splendid Peter and Paul Fortress. If you want a walking route, just follow the order of the photos up to the Hermitage. I was taken back by the amazing, grand scale of the buildings, and how many there were!

I left the visit inside the Hermitage and Winter Palace for another day, so I could spend proper time there. And it was worth every second spent. In fact, if you're an art lover, it might even be worth getting the 2-day pass. Everything about it was striking - and you wouldn't let Delboy near the chandeliers! The collection of art must rival any collection in the world.

St. Petersburg had a constant buzz about it, but especially at night. I went out both nights I was in town, Rossi's Club on Friday and Lubovic on Saturday. Both were great fun, although finding anyone who spoke or wanted to speak any English was a real challenge. The other challenge was staying up until the next morning, as these clubs didn't really kick off until well past midnight.

I haven't quite figured out what I think of the young female population - these girls didn't have a care in the world, except feeling the need to look good! A few remarks however. Most of them are very tall (vs 5ft6") and very attractive; many smoke; they drink like fishes (saw many start their nights off with flamin' sambucas); and dress to kill - lavish dresses, huge big belts, high heels (even for sightseeing) and oversized shades. But the funniest thing of all is that they love posing for photos of themselves - this was evident when I went to Peterhof, where I thought I was seeing a film shoot for a Bollywood movie.

Peterhof is a beautiful town outside St Petersburg, and has an amazing palace, which can be visited by bus, taxi or boat. I opted for the boat.

The palace was well worth the visit - beautiful gardens, fountains around every corner and it even had a beach. I spent 4hrs there, but one could easily spend more time.

However, the journey to and from Peterhof was ridiculous, and almost put a real dampener on the trip.

I only had RUB600 (£15). None of the nearby ATMs liked any of my cards, so I thought I would pay for the boat ride by card - wrong, they didn't accept plastic. Return trip was RUB700 and one-way was RUB400, so I had to get the latter. Everything looking good, cool boat ride too.

But just as I get off the boat, they ask me for RUB300 entry into the palace (guidebooks suggest you can go for free)! I then try to pay in euros or pounds, but no good, and finally try to exchange my foreign currency for roubles, but no takers (even at a favourable FX rate to them). I couldn't get into the bloody place nor get back to St. Petersburg - I was screwed!

I then decided to see if I can get in as a student, ticket RUB150 ... using my driving licence. The lady at the counter tried her best to make out what the card was, but really had no idea - job done, I was in, just!

I had 4hr to see the palace, and to find some roubles. No ATM in sight and the ice cream vendors didn't want my euros either. Finally I was directed to an ATM - 3rd card worked (the most expensive), but I didn't care, I had money and even though everyone else did too, I felt the best for it!

With money, the return journey was going to be much simpler. Final boat back was at 6pm, so I got to the pier at 4:45pm to buy a ticket. But, oh no, they close the ticket counter for no good reason! The Russian tourists were going ballistic. After an hour waiting in the baking heat, they begin selling tickets and getting people off the pier and back to St. Petersburg - complete comedy!

St. Petersburg didn't feel like the most hospitable of places. I hope it's simply down to large city syndrome and language differences. Having said that, it (and maybe Russia) didn't seem to be particularly interested in attracting outside tourism: getting a visa is difficult (part explaining the lack of foreign tourists (most were from other parts of Russia), Russians tolerance of non-Russian speakers is nil and the service especially at the major attractions was surprisingly appalling (as experienced in Peterhof).

I partly overcame the language issue by liberally using the concierge services at the Grand Hotel Europe (even though I wasn't staying there) to arrange tours, check transport times etc. Thankfully they were happy to help.

All in all though, definitely one of my favourite cities and I will certainly go back. Magnificent in summer, but I'm sure it would be equally special in the winter, although in a different way and a whole lot colder.

Fast track Vilnius

2008-06-29T13:57:00.008+01:00

What a schlep of a journey getting here from Krakow. 16hr train journey starting in the middle of the night via Warsaw and Sestokai, Lithuania. Multiple stops meant two things: lack of sleep (as I couldn't risk missing my stops) and complexity.

Warsaw train station was deserted except for drunken louts and at least 4 kebab shops open - very handy (kebab shops that is) as it was 5am and I was starving.

Then came the real issues - I was convinced I was on the correct train to Sestokai, but the train conductor was telling me otherwise, or at least I thought he was. Between this Finnish girl, who had the same issue, and me, we finally figured out that we had to be in the final 3 carriages - surely the conductor could have simply pointed this out via than rap Polish to us - for anyone doing the same journey, remember this! The Finnish girl was hardcore - spent 3wks hitchhiking her way through many of the Baltic states and then thought she'd take the train for a break from the uncertainty!

It was noticeably much cooler in Vilnius; felt a bit like being back home in Britain. But then again, that may have been because there were armies of Brits out there - mostly on stags - and it's difficult to avoid them.

That even Germany scraped past Turkey in atypical nervy fashion. I had planned on an early night as I had a 13hr train to St Petersburg the next day. However, whilst strolling around town, a local boy convinced Ben and I that we could go with him to Prospekus club. It didn't take much persuasion. Turns out that this dude is the MacDaddy of Vilnius. All the girls were over him like a rash - he even helped us out (in pity). Ended up being a 6am job.

A hazy walk around the Old Town followed the next afternoon; lucky that most sights can be seen in a matter of hours.

If I had more time, I probably would have headed 30km out of town to a place called Trakai, which is a lake resort.

So far, I had crossed 4 borders and my passport has not been taken out of my pocket. But now it was time to face the Russian authorities and cross Latvia into St Petersburg, where the trip was originally going to begin.

Poland rocks

2008-06-25T18:03:00.004+01:00

I've never had a strong desire to visit Poland and am only here because I thought it would be cool to take a train to St Petersburg rather than fly. Great call because my time in Poland has been truly brilliant, and here's why ...

Warsaw

So I decided that I didn't need my own room, shower and space, so checked in at the Oki Doki Hostel. It turned out that I picked the best hostel of the lot. Thanks to the hostel bar, I met a bunch of cool (and some wierd) people.

I'm not sure how to describe Warsaw; it felt neither modern or old; much of it had to be rebuilt after WWII.

The Old Town, one of the two main districts, is very cool, and home to most of the main attractions, including the Royal Castle. The United Buddy Bears were in town too (http://www.united-buddy-bears.com/). But I was most impressed by the Palace of Culture and Science, Poland's tallest building at over 200m. It's like a mini city housing cinemas, theatres, shops, museums, offices etc. Warsaw is most famous for the Warsaw Rising, Warsaw's liberation from German occupation by the Red Army in 1944. There is a beautiful monument marking the event and a very cool museum dedicating to the events of that time.

I explored the nightlife too - fantastic, but surprisingly expensive. I can highly recommend Cafe Bar Lemon for its drinks and clientele! The next night we stumbled on the ultimate place (cannot recall the name of) when Mary thought she heard some music from a basement across the road. We walk across, music sounds wierd, so we pay 5zl entry (about £1) and go in. There were Poles and the four of us (James, Mary, Lindsey and me). The music was great, one minute house, next cheesy. The Poles were out of control and most of them would take their shoes/slippers off before dancing on the greasy floor - so we thought it would be rude not to do the same - nasty, but what the hell.

Krakow

The Saturday I arrived in Krakow was Wianki - an annual cultural event marking midsummer but also dates back to pagan times, so one of the most important days of the Polish calendar, which also meant the biggest party of the year. Approx 100,000 people gathered along the river bank for the open air concert to commemorate the event. Most of the music was Polish and I'm afraid not good (in my opinion and some locals too), but the star of the show was Jamiroquai. The fireworks display to close the event was spectacularto say the least - London could learn from this!

The city itself is tiny - Old Town through to the Wawel (Royal) Castle to Kasmierz (Jewish quarter) is a 20min walk! But the buildings are beautiful, and the people too, and the "city" has a great vibe. The food is excellent too - I had a wonderful meal at U Babci Maliny (http://www.kuchniaubabcimaliny.pl/) serving typical Polish peasant's food in an authentic and well decorated manner with music from Chopin playing in the background - try the pierogi (ravioli dumplings) or the nalesniki (pancakes) - delicious!

The town itself seemed to be buzzing constantly, but especially at night when people of all ages were out until the early hours. Having scoped out all the bars/clubs the night before, Monday night was always destined to be a big night. James, who I met in Warsaw, had arrived into Krakow, as didhis mates from Suffolk. It was carnage. Pick any club and you can have a fun time here - Prozac, Ministerstwo, Respect, Cien, list goes on. The beer gardens are great in the evenings too for a more chilled out evening (such as RE).

There are also some awesome underground salt mines, up to 150m deep, which are cool to visit and only a short bus ride away.

The hostel I stayed in during this time was absolutely amazing - highly recommend it - Greg&Tom Hostel. They surprise you with cakes, ice cream, vodka shots, and best of all, they have ProEvo on PS2 - thought I'd spend my final evening in playing PS2 before a 1:30am train to Vilnius, to save money of course.

Auschwitz-Birkenau

One of the main reasons people visit Krakow is to go to the nearby famous, but terrible, Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp from WWII.

Without having visited other concentration camps to compare to this experience, I can honestly say it ranks as the most horrific place I've ever visited. The area comprises of 2 main camps, Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau) as well as approximately 40 other satellite camps in and around the area. The Nazis chose this area for its excellent rail links from other parts of Europe (Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy etc). Auschwitz I is tiny in comparison to Birkenau, and was established in 1940 to imprison/exterminate Polish intellectuals who were considered a threat. Soon, the Nazis realised they needed a significantly larger camp and began the construction of Birkenau in 1941. The scale of this camp is overwhelming, 30 times the sizeof Auschwitz I, much of it destroyed by the Germans as soon as they found out the Red Army was approaching. This is the site most people know as "Auschwitz". Most of the people brought to the camp were deemed useless and were killed immediately, mainly by gassing, in one of the two large gas chambers that sit at the end of the railway line - they thought they we're entering shower facilities. The gas chamber could hold 2,000 people each and the cyanide would take no more than 20mins to kill everyone inside.

Those who were imprisoned, had appalling living arrangements and almost no sanitary facilities. The forms of torture used during the time can only be imagined today - starvation cells, suffication cells, standing cells, public hanging, and the infamous death wall where supposedly 10,000 were shot dead.

It was here that an estimated 1.5m (potentially up to 2.5m) people were killed, mainly Jews.
We often hear about how it was like for the Allies during WWII, but rarely get an insight into what is was like for the occupied regions. I encourage everyone to visit if they have not done so already as it is a stark reminder of what should never be repeated again.

Poland in summary

So to finish on a lighter note, here are some of my observations on Poland:

* Very open and friendly people, which I didn't necessarily expectgiven their harsh recent history

* Seems like a very safe place; little police presence in major areas

* Poles spend a lot of effort looking their best - when I went to the barber shop, I was surprised it was costing me £10 for a haircut. It's cos they love their hair and are willing to spend serious money on it.Everyone was getting funky hairstyles; I felt quite lame with my Grade 1 shave, so I decided to grow a goatie instead

* The girls have the best legs I've ever seen ... with no exception!

* There are zillions of kebab shops, and the kebabs taste great

* Almost everyone smokes, girls more so than guys

* Some famous Poles: Pope John Paul II, Roman Polanski, Nicholas Copernicus, Fryderyk Chopin, Maximilian Kolbe and Robert Kubica

B&B ... Brussels and Berlin

2008-06-19T15:03:00.002+01:00

I had never been to Brussels before, and to be honest, it was uninspiring. Thankfully, they have some great cafes/bars (my favourite: Mappa Mundo on the corner of St Gery place), which were surprisingly busy for a Monday afternoon. Some people were having food and a bite to eat, others working with their laptops, and some just reading a book in solitude - all in all, a very good atmosphere. I spent most of my 12hrs in Brussels cafe-hopping before catching an overnight train to Berlin.

I had visited Berlin before so I was less interested in seeing the usual sights in town. Lucky that as I spent the best part of the afternoon in a hospital getting a second opinion on why my ear was aching (doctor I saw in London just before I left was unconvincing). Same response though: "no major issues, here's some penicillin", except in German.

That evening was a big event - France vs Italy in Euro 2008. I saw the same teams do battle in the World Cup Final 2yrs ago at the Olympic Stadium less than 10 miles away from where I was watching it this time round, a cool bar I stumbled upon near Senefelderplatz which had no name or flag. It was obvious it was French though - 500 fans outside watching on the big screen screaming "marchons, marchons" as La Marseillaise played out, oh and the only beer on tap was Kronenbourg 1664. Same result and just like 2yrs ago, I ended up at a quirky and very cool nightspot: 8mm (www.8mmbar.com), where I met Tim, a photographer from Islington, and Petra, a Romanian girl who is in love with India and its people following a 8mth visit there.

I headed out of town the following day to a place called Potsdam, the former residence of the Prussian kings. The place is well worth a visit. Beautiful gardens, fantastic architecture (influenced by the French, Dutch and even the Chinese) and a great place to play around with my new camera for the first time. That night, I settled down at a local campsite that had a huge TV projector screen (and a few happy Russians too)! to enjoy the football and a quiet drink.

I was now ready to move on. I took the 570km train journey from Berlin across the seemingly never ending green pasteurs of Poland to my next destination, Warsaw. Here I am, checked in at the Oki Doki Hostel.

The journey begins ...

2008-06-16T05:57:00.001+01:00

Equipped with visas to Russia, Mongolia and China, all of which were hard-fought for, and some small change for coin-operated showers on trains (among other things), I now leave for my journey across the Eurasian plate to Beijing, China.

I leave behind my comfortable bed, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 on the Playstation 2 which has kept me good company over the past several weeks, and my car which I may never see again.

The few luxuries I am allowing myself include a BlackBerry phone, a sexy new Canon G9 camera, an iPod with loads of movies and great TV shows such as Only Fools and Horses, toilet tissue (scarce on some trains) and PG Tips to accompany the boiling water provided on the Trans Siberian Railway.

By the time I return, Holland will have been crowned Euro 2008 Champions (hopefully), Obama will be the new President of the US (hopefully), Europe will have won the Ryder Cup (hopefully) and Liverpool will be top of the Premier League (certainly).

I’m very excited although I have to leave home very soon to catch the 8.05 train from St Pancras to Brussels. Let’s hope I make it!