Here is a link to a selection of photographs covering my time in Australia:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=584411&id=554625160&l=7d3aa01b62

In a few hours I fly to India. I have six weeks for my Indian Adventure, (taking me to mid February - five months since I left in mid September! Crazy I know).

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone… I will be flying over New Years Eve so I will have a rum based drink and think of you. Again, it will be from one extreme to another as I fly into the overwhelming city of New Delhi and begin the last leg of my journey…

Everything is upside down when you’re drinking Pimms in the sunshine on Christmas Day…

I need to make a few amendments. For one, I didn’t actually spend Christmas in "The Outback". I was told that is where we were going but then got mocked because apparently people don’t really live in the outback (Aboriginal people and a few very remote "farms" in the red, hot desert maybe), but where I went is more accurately known as "The Bush". The farm was incredible. Having been plagued by storms we were seeing it in the first green year for a long time (this year it had floods to contend with in the place of ferocious forest fires). The weather has gone crazy on a global scale, London is snowy and freezing but many parts of Australia have been battered by fierce storms after twelve years of drought. They like the rain; they want the rain but not to the point of this serve flooding. In fact, as Sam pointed out, disasters seem to be following my trail. Many of the places I have just passed through here are now under water. Forest fires or floods, it seems there is no in between.

The second amendment is to take back the comment about how I can’t imagine living in a "one horse town". I can understand it a bit better now, with incredible countryside on your back doorstep and quad bikes to ride at break neck speeds, rounding up big angry bulls and dodging kangaroos as rampant as rabbits. It’s all part of the fun. I even take back those "remote" comments. "Remote is being out where the driveway to the house is five miles long," I was told. "This is not remote". I suppose it was less remote than I had imagined but still, I’m not use to towns like this.

98% of Australians live within a stone’s throw of the coast. That leaves a very vast, lonely land in the centre. The annoying Australian Sat-Nav frequently tells us to, "Continue 160km along Bruce Highway," and then remains silent for the next hour and a half, shocking you when she suddenly asks you to make a turn. No wonder the highways are littered with signs challenging you to "Survive this Drive"; it can be pretty damn boring. But along a lot of these roads the scenery was stunning with waterfalls and gorges round every corner. The rainforests and National Parks we visited have been beautiful (especially Dorrigo National Park). The Snowy Mountains and the Blue Mountains are both impressive sites, and to roam the farm was something else altogether (they have their own sunset views points).

But as pretty as the farm was, drinking Pimms as the sun shines on Christmas Day is just wrong, wrong, wrong. I can’t see it any other way. There was a storm in the afternoon, that made me feel more at home, but still it was so warm! I got to see the Christmas Special of Spicks and Specks (the show I watched being filmed back in Melbourne) and the puddings were better, chocolate mousse and Crunchie ice cream, instead of boring Christmas pudding. England needs Christmas more than Australia does, they’re pretty happy without the build up and without the hype. It’d be nice if you were used to it. For me it was upside and strange.

After Christmas, I visited Canberra on route to The Blue Mountains. It was a ghost-like, ready-made city, with a new Parliament House built in 1988 and a town that reminded me of The City in London, emptied in the holiday season as people fled to Sydney for New Year.

The pounds gone crap (note my financial knowledge) and even budget travelling is kind of impossible for me here. Luckily though, if you look at the weather map of Australia I can pretty much say I’ve been to most of the major places on it (excluding Adelaide, Perth and Darwin)! And that’s a strange thing to be able to say for such a huge country, after only being here five weeks. I’ll miss the BYO (bring your own) alcohol system they have in most of the restaurants (I’ve heard alcohol is often served disguised in India, in tea pots or under the table), and I’ll miss the friendly people who ask "how are you going?" all the time. I can see why people move here too. It’s got all the good bits of England and then sun, sea and a lot less stress on top of that. But then a small part of me doesn’t want random people asking me how I’m going all the time, and that’s my Englishness kicking in. The only reason I wouldn’t emigrate here is because it’s too far away from England. That and it has too many flies.

Photos to follow...

Scuba Diving and One Horse Towns (where the horse goes to bed at 7pm)

“We’re stuck in the middle of the f**king outback, the roads blocked by floods and I’m running out of petrol…” My Dad’s swearing and trying to work out which one of us is to blame. I go and take photographs of the magnificent floodwaters that rush by, blocking the road for the next thirty metres; (this pisses my Dad off even more). “For f**k sake, why is there no signal anywhere out here? Where’s the sodding map?!”

This does nothing for my new “Zen” outlook on life. I haven’t been on a family holiday for almost a decade. On one of the last holidays together we visited the Grand Canyon. My Dad and I had a blazing row because I just wanted to read and wouldn’t get out of the Camper Van to look at yet another canyon. “They all look the same”, I shouted at him, and I didn’t go on many family holidays after that. I also haven’t lived at home for almost four years and I forgot how heated the family arguments can get. But after three months of slow, ambling travel there is now just a hint of stress in the air.

Granted, I really can’t complain. My eating habits have shot from one meal a day (and the occasional stolen food) to three square meals plus “snot buckets”, that’s Vanilla Slices, and “Rat Coffins” (for my brother), that’s meat pies. These are shortened Ozzy names apparently, but I don’t see how? My “budget” (another thing I meant to work out before leaving England but didn’t get around to) has gone crazy since entering Australia, so it’s another relief to see my family for a couple of weeks. Australia is currently more expensive than home and I was not prepared for this! I still have six weeks of travelling through India to do yet! And of course it’s nice to see them. My mum came through security to meet me as I actually disembarked the plane (I didn’t even know you could do that without being shot). Also, to my delight, my Dad got pulled over by a flashing police car while driving our hire car (complete with reindeer antlers and red nose) to Agnes Water. He was breathalized and cautioned for speeding, (he never lets me forget my speeding points). When we eventually found Agnus Waters, after a two and a half hour detour to avoid the floods (Australia has very few roads), we arrived to an apartment on the sea front with a huge sitting room, balcony and two bathrooms (showers the size of my Cambodian friend’s homes). And it had A BATH! I had my first bath with a mug of tea and chocolate and then with a big glass of wine. For me this was a place to call home for a while, a place that I didn’t have to leave every day or keep my bag out of people’s way or creep around in or share a shower. It made every possible stress worthwhile.

The beach next to the apartment was long, sandy and pretty much deserted. The water was gloriously warm (surprising after the chill of the Sydney sea). The waves were high and proper, sucking you right into their curling arms, tumbling you underneath them and spiting you out like foamy gristle. I momentarily scared myself when I saw a triangle piece of dark wood bobbing towards me like a shark’s fin. Then I scared my brother to the point that he ran out of the sea like a frightened girl.

The Great Barrier Reef was an hour and a half boat ride out (Agnes Water is where the reef is closest to the main land). I did some snorkelling and an introductionary Scuba Dive, which was my second highlight after teaching in Cambodia. The reef life and the colourful fish were absolutely incredible. The coral is beautiful. After getting use to the breathing our dive instructor poured fish food in front of me and I was instantly swarmed by hundreds of flashes of colour as the fish darted in. Agnes Water only got electricity in 1987 so is a very new little town but rather cute with great sunsets on the rocks.

After Agnes Water we made our way driving down the coastline back in the direction of Sydney. We passed through some coastal and inland towns. Australia is very strange. It’s such a large country but has very few big cities, towns and main highways. Outside of the big places (such as Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, etc) are the small coastal resorts, mainly made up of sailors and surfers, and the inland towns. The inland towns (off the coastal tourist route) are small one-horse towns, much like small American towns. I find it just as hard to believe that people live like this as they do in Cambodian shacks. And this is the East Coast which is “very populated” in Australian terms. One road, a few shops selling riders hats and boots and a “bar” room (which does food through a hatch) and that’s the town. I feel like I’m on a western film set and Clint Eastwood is about to clip his boots round the one corner and shoot at me.

Here are a few words on some places of interest that we passed through:

Noosa: VERY nice houses, it is where Nicole Kidman lives apparently. The main street is full of boutique shops and over-priced coffee. There is a more earthy side at Noosa Junction where we had lunch (it’s much cheaper too).

Lismore: A strange town. I’ve not much to add except it had a pathetic excuse for a Christmas tree (a normal tree with a few pieces of tinsel thrown on it) and a Koala Sanctuary, which cared for sick and injured Koalas. A volunteer told us all about Koalas and then showed us the ones they were caring for, a blind one with a baby and another female Koala. The baby was so cute. It was amazing to see them so close. I’ve also seen two Koalas in the wild now. (I have also seen one snake and one live kangaroo, and ten dead ones on the side of the road – they get run over A LOT).

Coolangatta: Disgusting high rise buildings, hated it – but that was because it rained and the dodgy Motel gave me bed bugs all over my arms and back, (again after Thailand I was the only one to get bitten, NOT happy). You could see the Brisbane skyline from the beach but then again; the Brisbane skyline is pretty ugly.

Croffs Harbour: Best beach, long and deserted. I walked along the beach as the sunset and a huge full moon came up. It was absolutely stunning.

Nimbin: Some uneven roads and dirt tracks took us to Nimbin. A “town” with a population of 400 hundred, it originates from the Aquarius festival in 1973 when people simply decided to stay on after the festival had finished. It’s like the Hippy part of Glastonbury on steroids. It has an amazingly odd museum and a few “new age” shops and cafes. The guidebook assured us we would be accosted by weed sellers with “dreaded hair and tie die t-shirts” but I was disappointed to find these guys looking exactly as they do in London. Still, this did happen approximately seven seconds after we had parked the car and there is something funny about people trying to sell to your Mum.

Dorrigo: As you drive into Dorrigo you pass a sign telling you the population there is 1192. Do they have to change the sign for every birth and death? Do people never move out or in of Dorrgio? Apparently not. In one of the shop windows there is also a “Santa List” of the naughty and nice children that year. It’s definitely aforementioned “one horse town” but by the time we showed up for dinner at 7pm the horse had long gone to bed. The only shop showing life was a Vodka distillery with a man making huge vats of potato and lime vodka. How can people live here? In this sleepy town where people live and die and drink potato vodka.

Christmas in Australia is LAME. There are hardly any decorations or signs of Christmas and every time I catch the odd Christmas advert on the television or radio it just makes me feel really weird. So I have totally missed Christmas this year. Maybe Australia doesn’t need Christmas as much as England does. We are about to enter “The Outback” where I will spend my Christmas on an Australian cattle ranch with no phone signal or Internet. It will defiantly be another “experience”. I’ll write about that and add the rest of my Australia photos before I fly to India on New Years Eve. Sending lots of Christmas love to everyone. X

Sydney

There was more up my street in Sydney than in Brisbane. As I mentioned, the only thing up Alice St in Brisbane was the Botanical Gardens, but in Sydney Alice St crossed over Kings St in the area of Newtown, a long road full of vintage shops, little bookstores and cafes. Nick (my brother) and I spent the day wandering the length of King St, popping into every interesting little shop and having coffee and beers on the way. I found Newtown from talking to a Chugger (Charity Mugger) because it is a little out of the CBD (Central Business District). It was like Brunswick St (Fitzroy) in Melbourne or Chapel St (in Melbourne) where my first hostel had been.

The other highlights of Sydney for me included The Old Fitzroy pub, which was very close to were I was staying and had a theatre inside it, served delicious Laksas and played a lot of Jonnie Cash and Bob Dylan. The other was a moonlight cinema in Centennial Park, which played films just after sunset on a hill, where you could take your own picnic and beers and sit on massive bean bags in the grass. We went to watch “The Ghost Writer”, while hundreds of flying fox bats flew over our heads and the sun set and the stars popped out.

The Sydney Botanical Gardens were huge and gorgeous, home to 22,000 of the former named bats; the largest bats in the world with a wing span of 1 to 1.5 meters. Sadly, they are slowly killing off all the trees and need to be moved on somehow (although it doesn’t seem to be working). There are also fantastic views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from the gardens. I walked over the bridge (it cost $195 to climb so I opted to walk) and the views of the harbour from there are stunning. I was a little disappointed with the Opera House. After seeing so many pictures of this iconic building it didn’t really have the effect I thought it would have. It is a beautiful bit are architecture with it’s segment cream pieces (inspiration taken from the sexual mating of turtles…apparently) and shinny glass face, but it seemed dwarfed next to the magnificent bridge. It was littered with fluorescent jackets and steel structures as workers turned the attractive Opera House into “The Oprah House”. As Oprah was visiting on the 14^th December (newly christened “Oprah Day”) I couldn’t get anywhere near the windows to see inside. I saw a giant O smoked into the sky, an O constructed on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and “Oprah Watch” all over the television. She isn’t even Australian and yet they hailed her like a Queen. The only option to see inside was a tour of the Opera House, which (like a lot of things in Sydney) was stupidly over priced. Its not like you have to pay to take a look inside the Royal Albert Hall, but every entrance to the Opera House was firmly guarded and that was disappointing.

We caught a ferry to Manly and the northern beaches, which were very beautiful. White sand and lots of swimmers but freezing cold water, even colder than the English Channel, so there was no way I was swimming in it (I can’t understand why so many people were). “The Rocks”, which used to be the centre of Sydney, is now a little network of small streets, old fashioned shops and a market selling food and juices. The CBD is like any other big city and has some good shopping centres, and a monorail (Sky train), as well as buses, a train network and trams. The London names throw me a bit. I walked down Oxford Street, across Hyde Park, through Paddington and could catch a train from Kings Cross, not far from where I was staying. I was staying in Wooloomooloo…definitely not a London name with its eight o’s.

I liked Sydney and could have stayed longer. I don’t rate it as highly as Melbourne but I agree with Oprah when she commented on how friendly and happy everyone is, and how she’s not surprised they are happy because they live in Sydney. Now I have met my family, (my Mum, Dad and brother) and we have flown back to Brisbane and driven to Agnes Water to go diving. Agnes Water is the where the Great Barrier Reef is closest to the coast line, and to dive on the Great Barrier Reef is one of my main reasons for coming to Australia. (I did this yesterday and after teaching it's definately the next highlight to my whole trip - I'll write about it on the next post!) Then we will go and stay with my Mum’s cousins in the real Australian outback on their cattle ranch for Christmas, which should be um, interesting…so I will keep you updated with how that goes…

Three Adventures in Brisbane

As I mentioned before “Brisvegas” wasn’t a patch on Melbourne as a city. I don’t even think you can compare the two. There were shops, pubs, bars, and we had meals and Christmas drinks. (These were complete with Santa hats for the girls and reindeer antlers for the guys. It was a desperate attempt to try and feel at least a little bit festive. There are the odd decorations here but not nearly enough, and anyway, a man dressed in full Santa attire or fake icicles hanging from trees in 35 degrees heat is just stupid). But after all the normal city activities, we sought out three things that made my time in Brisbane very memorable.

Firstly, holding a Koala has been a life long dream ever since they became my favourite animal at the age of three. We visited Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the first and biggest Koala sanctuary in Australia, and I got to see a lot of Koalas and hold a rather heavy one by the name of Yaba. Secondly, we found an old style theatre, which had been turned into a cinema where you could take your own food and drink. We went to watch “The Loved Ones”, a Melbourne Film Festival flick (which was unnecessarily gruesome) and huddled under scarves with bags of Maltesers and bottles of wine. It reminded me of a coffee bar I liked in Melbourne, which contained old red and peeling cinema seats. Thirdly was my Skydive. I’ve always wanted to do a Skydive and Lorna wanted to conquer her fear of heights. The guy I was strapped to was called “Fully Sik” and was a little bit mental. The jump was from 14,000 ft out of a small plane, free falling for about a minute and then the parachute opens and you drift the rest of the way down. Because you’re strapped onto someone else (and nothing is your responsibility) a Skydive has never worried me that much. I think if I’m not in charge that can only be a good thing. As we were climbing higher and higher, however, I was pretty petrified. It only really hit me when I fell out of the plane. Falling through the sky from that far up was a pretty incredible feeling. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone.

Skydive

I have now uploaded my Skydive video to Facebook. I don't think there is anyway you can view it without having Facebook (unless you search for me on Facebook and find it there, because the privacy is set to everyone). If you don't have Facebook but would like to watch the video, just e-mail me and I'll send you the link :)

It wasn't too scary until the plane door opened and we were ready to jump. Then you can see my reaction of terror! I am pretty petrified. We jumped from 14,000 ft and free fell for about a minute. It was amazing experience. I always wanted to know how it felt to fly...

Australia Photos

I've tried to upload the skydive video but I'm having major issues with it. Maybe when I get more time I can upload it for you. In the meantime here are a few photos from Australia so far, I haven't got many but here are a few from Melbourne and Brisbane...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=584411&id=554625160&l=7d3aa01b62

I fly to Sydney tomorrow morning. I'll write again soon...
Much Love xxx

I should just make it clear that I went to the filming of Spicks and Specks, which Michelle works on, and didn't just meet lots of semi famous/known people on the streets of Melbourne!

Now in Brisvegas things are very different. Last night we raved it up with a bag of gin and the local "Irish" bar (gin is the boxed wine all backpackers in Australia drink because it's super cheap but not exactly yummy...) I love the extremes of my life these days! I seem to go from one extreme to the other everytime I move. I left the beautiful lane bars of Melbourne for gin in the trashy "Irish" pub. (How pretenious I have become. I must remember my Maidstone roots!) It is lovely to see Lorna though!

Weather permitting I will be jumping out of a plane on Wednesday morning at 14,000 ft over Brisbane for a skydive...free fall of over one minute! So if this is the last you hear from me it's been fun, and please scatter some of my ashes in Phnom Penh (Cambodia), some in The Thames (Battersea Park), some in The Loft (Maidstone) and throw some in the face of the bouncers at Oceana (Kingston). Thanks xxx

Melbourne

I planned to stay four days and ended up staying nearly two weeks. The thing about Melbourne is, it’s a place to “live in”. I’m told that Sydney has the instant wow factor, the ease of a tourist city, whereas Melbourne is more about the people, about the art and music scene and knowing where to go. If you rocked up to Melbourne with no prior knowledge or contacts you would most definitely end up staying in the city and assuming it is a huge network of department stores and sushi bars. You might not even find some of the little lanes that connect the main streets, stuffed with beautifully dirty coffee bars, tiny restaurants and downstairs record shops. A friend told me he knew someone who lived in Melbourne six months before stumbling across Degraves Street, hidden away between the wide tram routes. These lanes remind me of Barcelona, colourful graffiti cover the walls, a beautiful man with my favourite crazy hair serves me coffee, while a whole jazz band busk in a nearby alley.

Even around the city you would need insider information. The best places, such as E: Forty Five (an underground Internet café and bar packed with mismatched comfy furniture, art work and great music), the tiny back street spaghetti house and noddle eatery, were places I would never have found without being told where to look. Melbourne is not tourist friendly. It’s got “sites”…I visited the parks, art galleries, the Zoo (I saw Koalas!) and St Kilda pier (to watch the cutest 30cm-tall fairy penguins waddle out on the beach after dark, so close you could touch them). But it is more about the places to eat, the places to drink, the atmosphere. I’m lucky to have met some people who could show me around, and some writers too, who could provide the information I was after.

But that’s just “The City”. The city is the central point that divides the areas of St Kilda and Fitzroy. In St Kilda there is the beachfront, the palm trees, the beautiful botanical gardens and a wealth of little shops and bars. This is where a lot of the backpackers stay. Pure Pop Records was another place recommended to me, a small record shop with a tiny space out that back and packed into it an amazing live band. Fitzroy has Brunswick Street, dirtier and fantastic, with its weird and wonderful artefact and vintage shops, little bookstores and pubs. I liked Fitzroy a lot. The two are opposing sides of the river. Like North and South London I guess… You know which side of the river you fall.

Melbourne and its people just seem “very cool”, and that can be slightly intimidating. Everyone looks good and second person seems to be some sort of creative, walking around in vintage attire and a Trilby, writing in a scruffy little note book or playing a cigar box. And everyone is so happy and friendly with it. In England, we expect so many of “these types” to be aloof or pretentious but Melbourne seems a very happy place. People talk to you on the street and shop assistants always ask how your day is going. I find my English mannerisms kicking in and wishing people would mind there own business just a little bit …it can be tiring, being friendly all the time.

When I first arrived at Melbourne airport I discovered that I had lost my bankcard and that my back-up card was one that could only be used in the UK (I really should have checked this earlier). I didn’t have a phone or any Australian money what so ever. I also momentarily lost my diary (which sounds petty given the circumstances but is actually my most prized possession after my photographs and means way more to me than my bankcards). I thankfully got this back but then had to call Michelle who said I could get a taxis to the ABC Studios were she was working and she would pay for it. There I met Adam Hills, who tried to give me lots of money. (I didn’t know he was mildly known in the UK, and was way more interested in the fact that Ross Noble is his best friend). Anyway, if it hadn’t been for Michelle I’m not sure what I would have done!

Melbourne was then a surreal eleven-day episode of dubious Hostel arrangements (complete with a creepy guy who never left the dorm room), random people’s beds (contacts that I am indebted to) and Kate’s sofa. I ate mini quiches and posh cheese with people that are apparently huge deals in Australia, but I have no idea who they are (there is no point name dropping here although I wish I could! I met actors, musicians, presenters, comedians, but the only big deal for me was the guy who played the first Phamnton in Phamnton of the Opera (Anthony Warlow) because I love that opera and I actually got goosebumps when he started to sing the main love song from it.) I went to the “iconic Nicholas building” (apparently) to the office of the lead singer from The Models, “a very famous Australian band in the 70s” (apparently), while he sang a Lou Reed parody. I went for a drink with the guy who used to be the main boy in Round the Twist (loved that show!). I met some Neighbours cast members but declined a photograph with Irish Conner because he wasn’t Carl Kennedy (I felt a bit bad about that). I stayed with my friend Kate, along with a few others, in her “open house” feel apartment. Her friend used a snow globe to buy something (which is surreal in itself), Christmas lights were being turned on in the warm summer weather, I was having reverse culture shock from Asia and all the time getting by on borrowed cash, thinking how funny Melbourne was turning out to be. Cambodia felt like a million miles away.

- - - -

And a note on now….

Australia is expensive and I wasn’t prepared for this. I’ve never done this type of travelling but considering I didn’t do much trip planning things have worked out well so far. (Loosing my bankcard was a bit annoying.) I am now in Brisbane and this morning my poverty levels reached new heights when I ate my roommate’s cake out of a bin after they had left the room. (I can’t believe I just admitted to that). The two girls I stole the cake off have been in Brisbane for one week and are depressed. I’ve just taken a walk around the city and I can see why. The only thing up my street is the Botanical Gardens (which I mean literally as they are at the end of Alice St). But now Lorna has arrived, (the fiery, redheaded Glaswegon that I met in Cambodia) and all is well in the world. We could be in the skummiest place on earth and she’d fill it with her sparkling positive energy and amazing ways. She’s exploded her bag over the room and it’s instantly like old times. I will spend a few days here and then fly to Sydney. I will also try and post photos soon. My camera has broken so it does take photos but it refuses to zoom anymore. Also, it’s run out of battery and I can’t find the charger. Australia is like England but very strange (this gave me a little pang of home sickness on my arrival but I’m over it now.) Oh and on a lasting note, I’m not actually starving. It’s just I am running on borrowed cash and I hate to see a cake go to waste when everything is so damned expensive in this country. When I arrive in Sydney I will get my bankcard back and things will resume as normal.

Bangkok’s left me buzzing

(The Water Festival)

At first this huge, sprawling and daunting city felt too much like hard work. I have rose tinted glasses for Cambodia, (and Cambodian people) and I realise that’s not Bangkok’s fault. And it’s not Bangkok’s fault that I just experienced my first bout of real homesickness. Nor is it the fault of this immense city that I can’t navigate my way because to me “Siam” and “Sa Yam”, two completely different underground stops, sound exactly the same. It’s busy, it’s polluted, and it’s noisy.

Thing is, left to my own devices, Bangkok turned out to be such an adventure. I wandered off without a map (although I quickly bought one on day two) and strolled for hours in search of coffee shops and parks (anything to keep me out of trouble and away from damaging my “budget” (ha) any further). I’m not sure whether it’s a good or bad thing, but I haven’t been acting much like a tourist. I’ve barely looked in any guidebooks or done much prior research since I left England, preferring just to walk, observe and find things out as I go. In Cambodia I didn’t feel like a tourist because it became a kind of home for me. Now I wander across the crazy streets with no sense of direction, spotting something on the skyline I like the look of (much like Katie and I have been known to do at 6am in London after a good party).

This is how I found Lumphini Park, engulfed by skyscrapers in the middle of the city, complete with big roaming lizards (iguanas are they called?). It was like an oasis in the middle of Canary Wharf. I’ve walked right into people before when staring up at the huge, glass buildings in London. I think they’re gorgeous. These big skyscrapers and sky trains and raised walkways dominate the huge roads of Bangkok.

I went to Chatuchak Park and the weekend market, which is huge and reminded me of the Russian Market in Phnom Penh. It has little places to eat nestled within it and even a whole art section. I visited Co San Road and went drinking there, being told it has “some of the best bars in Thailand and the world”. I’ve been a little obsessed with Banana shakes throughout Asia and here I discovered the only way to improve on a foamy, cool Banana shake …add rum. Isn’t “add rum” always the answer?

I saw Harry Potter (everyone had to stand up at the beginning while they showed a short slow motion, black and white film of who I presume is the King doing “good deeds”. I wonder how many popcorn and drinks cartons would be thrown at the screen if they tried to do this in England.) I wrote and read and drank tea in places with little snowflakes stuck to the windows.

I met a Thai guy (Surapong, nickname “Ram”) in a Temple, who invited me to go to the Water Festival with him and his daughter that night. He also said he wanted to take me for dinner. So I jumped on the back of his motor bike and the three of us went to the river. I find it hard to understand, as a cynical westerner, why a Thai stranger would be so nice to a foreign tourist…(only then did my new life in the Bangkok prostitution trade flash before my eyes). (NOTE: Mum – this is a joke, I never felt in any danger, he is a lovely family man).

The Water Festival is simply to say “Thank You” for all the water you have used in that past year. You take a wreath-type-thing of beautiful flowers, a candle and some incense, and you light the candle and drop the wreath to float with this little light down the river. This happens all down the Chao Phraya from Chaing Mai in the North, right down to the sea. It never, ever occurred to me that we should say “Thank You” to the water. I mean, without it we’d be totally screwed. So I lit my candle and said thank you on behalf of everyone I know, for the thousands upon thousands of gallons we’ve all used in the past year.

The Water Festival was very beautiful. People had sparklers, and let off big lanterns into the sky and there were so many fireworks, up and down the river in massive displays. All the boats were lit up and there was lots of music playing. This is a Buddhist festival which happens right throughout Asia. I just read that in Phnom Pehn there was a terrible disaster where more than 330 people were crushed to death on the riverfront. This was where I was originally intending to spend the festival. (My friends are all safe by I am so sad for this tragedy to happen in such an amazing city which such lovely people.)

I went for dinner with Surapong and his daughter “Jam” too. We eat in a sprawling restaurant where you had tickets for food (delicious noodles and fish) and there was Karaoke and a raffle (“Jam” won a stuffed baby that looked like a giant marshmallow.)

This is my third visit to Bangkok now but it was definitely the most special. I’ve already seen the temples, the gold reclining Buddha, the floating market and done a lot of the tourist spots. This time I contented myself mostly with walking and watching life and loving every part of it. (Note: If you want to stay somewhere grand in Bangkok the Millennium Hilton is so LUSH. I wondered in there and pretended I was staying...I can dream). I took a boat down the river. This is the exact same trip that gave me my first ever taste of Asia. At the age of nineteen I remember thinking; this world is insane.

I had a sort of “epiphany” too, although I don’t feel suddenly “enlightened” or anything. Surrounded by Thai businessmen in suits, with laptops and strong coffees, I sipped my tea, curled on a sofa and watched a busy, Bangkok intersection outside. In a chaotic mass of colourful bikes and people and rush and noise, I sat behind the huge glass, raised up above it all, in prefect stillness. I had a moment of compete clarity about where I was and who I was and what was important. I think so much as been happening I haven’t had a chance to just sit and process it all. I won’t say any more because I know a few people reading this will be rolling their eyes right now (I know who you are), but whatever. While I sat there in this moment of complete happiness, having my little life-changing moment, I felt very thankful to be alive. Yet another thing to thank the water for.

Me at The Water Festival

"Jam" and Surapong

Bangkok intersection of busy roads and sky roads

Lumphini Park

Island hopping in Thailand

From one PP to another, the only comparison to make between Phi Phi Island and Phnom Penh is in some of the latter’s western, river front bars and the formers sea front entertainment.

Being bundled on bus after bus after boat, shouted at and forced stickers on, I felt a little disappointed at how hard and tiring it seemed to be to do the causal thing of “island hopping” in Thailand. In our two weeks, Hayley and I settled on two islands (thank god). Firstly, Phi Phi Island, and then Ko Pha Ngan.

Phi Phi Island felt like Glastonbury, a weird, contained world with no roads, no cars and no motorbikes. The “taxis’” were metal carts pushed my boys. Hayley totally nailed with; “Everything feels so temporary here.” That’s exactly it. The shops (which sold amazing boutique-style clothes), the bars, the restaurants, it all felt like you could wake up tomorrow and be the only thing left on the island. As if everything could be packed up into boxes within a couple of hours.

I had three favourite places on Phi Phi Island. The first was D’s Books, which was a bookstore (funnily enough) with an open front, free wifi access and great banana shakes. I spent nearly the whole day in there when Hayley was ill and unable to get out of bed. The second was PP Garden Home, a tiny restaurant that was covered in hundreds of photos of happy, smiling customers and the rebuild after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. (The whole of the island would have been completely devastated from that event.) PP Garden Home had vines that fell all around it, low glowing lanterns and made a wicked Pad Thai. And thirdly, The Stones Bar, a beautifully chilled out bar on the beach with pillows to lye on by the sea and candles in the sand. Big coloured lanterns hung from every tree and the music was amazing, the “Hippie vibe” was everywhere (they actually sold weed at the bar). Hayley informed me it was exactly like the places you get in Goa, so very much looking forward to the parties there.

We did a boat trip, while on Phi Phi Island, which took us to the bay where “The Beach” was filmed. It was totally lush but a tiny bit disappointing because of how touristy it was. (I realise me wanting to tread in the same sand where Leo’s toes have been only further adds to this problem). We saw Monkey island, an island that seemed to have been given over to rather fierce and aggressive monkeys, and got stung by loads of tiny jellyfish, (Hayley couldn’t get out of the water fast enough). The weather changed dramatically as we were returning from the sunny bays and snorkelling spots. It suddenly started to rain so hard that the boat driver could no longer navigate us in the correct direction home. Hayley had to become a tiny ball at the back of the dangerously, swaying boat.

One night we stumbled across an amazing, random beach party, another I got badly bitten by bed bugs (not sexy at all). If “fire shows” and “Sangsom” (rum) are the two words which sum up Phi Phi Island, then “half moon” and “more Sangsom” should be Ko Pha Ngan’s two words. Or maybe “less Sangsom”, unless it’s at “half moon” in which case it should be “more Sangsom”. What I mean is Phi Phi was described as the laid back, relaxing island, Ko Pha Ngan as the party one but we found them the other way around. Sure, Ko Pha Ngan is famous for the full moon parties, but apart from that (in the season we were there) it appeared quite a sleepy island with a ghost-like town.

The half moon party was hosted in the jungle and was everything I thought it would be: VERY NEON. We had to pay 500 Baht to get in though…each. And because I wasn’t expecting this our friends from the same bungalows had to pay. I’m sure when hippies first joined on the beaches or in the jungles to celebrate the cycle of the moon they never expected that one-day the price on their ritual would be 500 Baht.

After my two weeks island hopping with Hayley, I spent 6 days in Bangkok on my own, which I have just written about and will post on here tomorrow. I have really, really loved my time in Bangkok so I hope you get a chance to read about that too. I leave Bangkok tomorrow and fly to Melbourne. I think it will be very strange to be in an English speaking place where I won’t, at first glance at least, look like an obvious outsider.

Hayley

Half Moon Party

Hayley on Phi Phi

Phi Phi

The true Phnom Penh

The true Phnom Penh happens away from the riverfront, crammed onto plastic stools, slurping noodle soup and getting dusty by the roadside. It’s teaching barefoot and jumping around the red ants, or shouting over the excessive rain. It’s pleading with an HIV positive mother to get her child tested, and being there when the results come back negative. It’s visiting a public school and having to pay the Khmer teachers for each Library kid, so they can “do well” in their classes. It’s being able to buy a roof for a family who couldn’t even sleep before when it rained. It’s trying to convince children that Justin Bieber isn’t a 51 year old impersonating a 16 year old, like they all saw on the Internet (apparently Cambodians don’t get satire so try telling them it’s not true and they won’t believe you). It’s following “Fire Love” (the soap opera) and waking up to “I am sorry” (a very popular Khmer song) blasting out of your Cambodian mobile. It’s reading Khmer translations of stories such as The Little Mermaid, which are either totally wrong or just plain “trippy”, full of monsters with bleeding eye sockets and snakes for hair. It’s being pushed so far out of your comfort zone that you completely forget you once had one. It’s feeling like a C List celebrity (even B List at times). And it’s feeling so completely shit about yourself and what you take for granted back home.

I’ve just said goodbye to my Cambodian “home”, which has been the Narin Guesthouse for the last seven weeks. I will strangely miss the Narin guys, who watch TV all day, get drunk all night and occasionally bring you a cup of tea or a pancake, or drive you somewhere (if they aren’t too pissed to do so). It’s become such a relaxed and homely environment. I’ve also had to say goodbye to the people I’ve met here, some of which have left before me. I’ve met some truly inspiring people who have had a profound effect on me and I’m so grateful to have shared this experience with them.

On Friday we had a surprise party for all the kids at The Library. I think I was the one most surprised that day though. When we turned up everyone came out to meet the Tuk Tuk and stood cheering, clapping and throwing confetti over me. I was bombarded with so many presents from children who have so little themselves. I’ve never had a reception like it. The party was so much fun. On Thursday we went to the market and cooked a huge curry with some of the mums from the community to eat on the Friday. When it came to say goodbye I was so choked up by some of the things the children said to me. They don’t normally have volunteers stay long term there and it was incredibly hard to say goodbye to the children, and later to Channa as well.

Last night I came full circle and had my last meal in the Bodhi Tree (where I had my first meal in Cambodia). I couldn’t believe the difference. On my first day I had lunch there, which I hardly touched, and I was so stressed I could hardly talk. I thought I didn’t like Phnom Penh or Cambodia (although I’d just landed). Last night was so relaxed and calm and I was so, so sad to be leaving a place I have fallen in love with. I kick myself at the times I hated it or felt frustrated or home sick, but now I realize that’s all part of the experience. It’s been unforgettable.

There have been many times when the difference in culture has seemed great. For example, being looked at in disgust and having my hand ripped away from my mouth by a male friend for biting my nails, or taking off my shoes in a night club. Or just not understanding the ‘Cambodian logic’ of running things and how they teach. And there have been many times when I’ve I felt like the whole world around me was on drugs. For example, last Sunday night. I started to sip my beer just a little quicker when we watched the “entertainment” at the fair. It was a big stage and a big audience, me being the only white face for miles. The competition for the boys was simple: 1. Close your eyes, 2. Spin around in circles, 3. Point in the direction shouted, i,e, “Left” or “Right”. The whole audience, including Channa and Dalin, were in fits of laughter. In the end I started to laugh too, not because I thought the game was funny but because everyone was having such a good time. I might not understand or relate to everything that happens in Cambodia and although I’ve learnt a lot, there are some things that coming from a western perspective I just cannot get. But Cambodia is such a loveable country with such a gentle society that you can’t help but fall in love with it. Even after the heartache and torment it’s picking itself up and it’s still smiling. And laughter is the best medicine.

Phnom Penh:

A selection of photographs from Phnom Penh spilt across two photo albums…

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=511964&id=554625160&l=e932ebfd3a (200 photos)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=569881&id=554625160&l=280d453536 (45 photos)

The final count down of Cambodia

Here is a link to a few of my Kampot photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=564953&id=554625160&l=15635ce201

Next weekend (7th November) I leave Cambodia and fly to Bangkok to meet and travel with Hayley for two weeks. I'm very excited to see her but I am absolutely gutted about leaving here. I feel very happy and settled and I will be SO sad to go. Next Friday I'm having a big party for all the kids in The Library. I'm going to decorate the class and have a big curry with lots of games and hip hop music (because they love it!). I'll be very sad to say goodbye and being soft it's a given I will cry, no surprise there. But I definitely want to come back as soon as I can and I'll be staying in close contact with this place. The experience has been unforgettable.

I've got so many things to do in the next week before I go, the list just keeps getting longer and the time has gone crazily fast. Lots of people to go out with and say goodbye to but also things I want to revisit and see before I go.

I will write again before or when I leave Cambodia and I'll put the rest of my Phnom Penh photos up then too. Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I'm off to a nice dinner tonight, followed by a bar top drag show and some mega cheap cocktails. Much Love X