Category Archives: Travel

Peanut butter and jam, or marmite and chips?

by Daily / Travel / work

Sometimes I wish decisions were still as tough as what to have in your sandwich at school.

Today I have drafted myself a budget and savings plan for the rest of the year. It’s going to be tricky to stick within it, but I’m excited – having money saved up means I will end up with choices in life. We all know choices are important.

I have a little bit of debt to pay off, which is priority number one. But that will be cleared by the beginning of March (if I stick to budget) and I will then go on to be able to save over NZD$9,500 by Christmas. What the frick?! Why did I not do this last year? Bloody useless.

If you follow me on twitter, you will have seen my tweet about my boss offering to match whatever I can save for a house deposit and go halves in a mortgage. Now while this is a bloody good offer, the 26 year old with itchy feet inside just wants to explore the world.

As a good friend pointed out to me, I’m not old yet. It’s true, I’m not. I also don’t want to be tied down yet. Secretly, I think my boss offered it because he doesn’t want me to leave my job and travel. I don’t want to leave it either – but it’s important to get out of the comfort zone and live life.

I have often spoken of my craving for the UK and Europe – so it is most definitely top of the list. My sister and her boyfriend are heading that way in June, so I’m hoping to join them not long after.

Photo credit.

Cambodia; to day 37 and Vietnam; to day 46

by Daily / Travel

This is it, the last entry of the trip, it could be a slightly long one – so please prepare yourself with a chilled glass of your favourite beverage, preferably alcohol-based, to help you through. Thank you!

Day 32 – Thursday 28 January

  • My Mum’s birthday! So hopped online to send her my best wishes.
  • Went to Otres Beach for the day – magical!
  • Jacques got a massage on the beach, says he didn’t get turned on… haha sure sure!
  • Caught up with Rhys & Jeff and ate bugs; black beetles, crickets and ants. Eww
  • Met Crazy Steve while playing pool in a bar; he must have been on something, at one point he was trying to scratch his skin off, then there was something wrong with his foot… we were all a tad nervous, the whole bar was watching him! AT one point one of the guys hit the white ball off the table, so we all made a mad dash for it to the next bar.
  • Went to a bar on the beach, Bar Nap.
  • Had a hot chat with Rhys on the beach, nothing happened – he had a girl back home he was keen on. Nice to meet a nice guy!
  • Jacques hooked up with a few girls, but no goal. Even hot guys worry about this stuff. Don’t you worry!

Day 33 – Friday 29 January

  • Running on very little sleep…
  • Woken up at 6am for a fishing (ha, what a joke!) and snorkelling trip with Rhys and Jeff
  • Dry, solid bread for breakfast
  • Met some new fun couples, an Irish couple and Steph and Darryl
  • Eavesdropped on a skinny, runt-like guy “This is the face that gets everything” he says as he rotates his finger around his own face while sitting onboard the boat in his revolting underwear. He wasn’t even hot to be saying that shit!
  • Changed to hotels to one on the beach at Otres Beach – The Greenhouse. Came home from dinner, all getting ready for bed when we saw a rat run through the middle of the room… haha, oh such fun!
  • BBQ prawns for dinner. Delish!

Snorkelling trip

Day 34 – Saturday 30 January

  • Woke up on the beach front, palatial!
  • Spent the day on the loungers getting a tan.
  • More seafood for dinner, on the beach with cocktails.
  • Left on an overnight bus at 6.30pm for Phnom Penh.

Day 35 – Sunday 31 January

  • Arrived in Phnom Penh at 1am
  • Bumped into Ed, Fritz and the rest who showed us where they were staying at the #11 Happy Guesthouse, thankfully we managed to get a room there too!
  • Jacques went out drinking with them “for one drink” and came home at 4am, lol.
  • The guesthouse was gorgeous, it had decks stretching out over the river.
  • That day we headed out to the killing fields – we could see bones and clothing surfacing still from the mass graves. They weren’t even fenced off! It was pretty spooky.
  • We also visited S21, the school that was turned into a prison and interrogation place – very heartwrenching to see. I couldn’t even make it through the whole thing.
  • We were a bit depressed after that one, so stayed at the guesthouse and had a few drinks, trying to improve the mood.
  • Tried an Amok curry – traditional Cambodian dish – so amazing! best curry I have ever had.
  • Stayed in and played cards with another group of travellers.

Day 36 – Monday 1 February

  • Had a chill day at the guesthouse, I read my book on the deck, Toni talked to her boyfriend online.
  • Met Kristian from Denmark, gorgeous looking man!
  • Had a few drinks in the afternoon and played pool with Toni, Jacques and Matilda (from the UK)
  • Had drinks at the guesthouse and went out clubbing with a crowd of about 10 and ended up back in Kristian’s room.

Day 37 – Tuesday 2 February

  • Caught the bus to Vietnam
  • Standing inline at immigration when someone calls out my full name – scared the shit out of me! Then I realised they had our passports so were calling us up one at a time.
  • Got hit on by a Vietnamese immigration office; “you’re beautiful“
  • Saw some crazies on our bus trip, usually you just have foreigners/travellers on the bus, this time we had locals. One woman kept perving at Toni’s toes. Another one kept spitting some red (it looked like bits of her gums) into a plastic bag, or the floor if she didn’t have time to grab the bag. And the couple behind us got really angry when we reclined our chairs. One lady was very dressed up for the bus trip, but once we hit the bus ferry, we realised it was probably her big outing for the week!
  • Arrived in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) city that evening

cute blue building

Day 38 – Wednesday 3 February

  • Visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, amazing! They lived in those for just over 20 years! They’re tiny, I felt sick after walking through 100metres of them!
  • Jacques bought some sandals for US$2 made from old tyres. Haha
  • Met the most annoying 40yr old man from Sweden, he continued to tag along after this…
  • Enjoyed the most beautiful guesthouse room we’d had on the whole trip! No hot water in the whole of Cambodia, but this room had super comfy beds and awesome TV channels!
  • Hunted for two hours for damn box for Jacques to put his painting in! No-one understood what we were asking for.

Jacques' too big for the Vietnam tunnels... Cu Chi Tunnels

Day 39 – Thursday 4 February

  • Left Ho Chi Minh on an overnight bus (yeah, how many bus trips in total now?! my God!) to Nah Trang
  • Had a chill day before we left
  • Toni wasn’t feeling 100%

Nah Trang beach

Day 40 – Friday 5 February

  • Arrived in Nah Trang at 6am, found a guesthouse and had a sleep
  • Hit the beach in the afternoon
  • I wasn’t feeling 100%

Day 41 – Saturday 6 February

  • Another boat trip; snorkelling, floating bar, a performance from Vietnam’s best boy band
  • Met a group of poms (English people) on the trip and then bumped into them while out clubbing that night.
  • Big night! I had some fun with one of the English guys, didn’t do everything, but Jacques is now travelling with them and he has apparently told a different story… ass!
  • Met a Dutch guy, nicknamed the Dutch Rudder – haha the dude was weird. Kinda big and gumpy. He was sooo wasted that night, we all tried to stay clear.

the floating bar, so much fun!

Day 42 – Sunday 7 February

  • Jacques left Toni and I in Nah Trang as he headed off for his extended 3 weeks of travel further north.
  • Toni and I spent the day at the beach, determined to come home with a tan!

Day 43 – Monday 8 February

  • Another day on the beach building the tan
  • Toni and I treated ourselves to cheese and crackers (a serious favourite back home) and then to pizza in our room with a DVD that we had bought from Thailand to watch. It was heaven I tell you!

Day 44 – Tuesday 9 February

  • Whole day spent on the bus from Nah Trang to Ho Chi Minh city. It took 11 hours!!
  • Caught the slowest taxi in the history of Southeast Asia to get us to the airport for an international flight that was leaving in an hour! The dude laughed at us, which of course made us angrier. Amazingly enough, he got us there in record time! We were worried he didn’t understand the word “airport”, so did plane signals and everything for us, he must have thought we were right retards.
  • We arrived in Bangkok at 12am, were far too tired to look for a good hotel, and ended up spending NZ$40 for one night. Complete feckin’ rip off. But we were in the most expensive part of the city. Grr
  • By now, Toni and I are ready for home.

Day 45 – Wednesday 10 February

  • We find a cheaper hotel in the morning run by an Indian family, so switch to lower our costs. The beds were terrible though. A plank of wood and a 5cm thick mattress. Hell.
  • To make ourselves feel better we indulge in a lavish day of foot massages, body massages and pedicures. The body massage was a tad erotic, not what we were expecting. I move the curtain aside at one point to talk to Toni, to see her masseuse massaging her breasts! Hahaha seriously…
  • Leave the beauty place feeling amazing, all oiled up and looking tan!
  • We have a real Indian curry at our guesthouse, so yummy, then settle in our room and watch a couple of movies and chill out.

Day 46 – Thursday 11 February

  • Travel home day!!! YAY
  • Sleep in until 9am, pack up all our bags and get to the airport by 12pm. On the plane by 2pm and we’re heading home. Have a two hour stop in Brunei, and then straight home to Auckland.
  • So relieved to get off the plane and see my mum and sister.

Overall there were good and bad days, but seriously, this trip was the most amazing thing I have done in my life. I loved it. Meeting all the other travellers was by far a highlight. I can not wait to travel again. I definitely have the travel bug.

Thailand; to day 26 & Cambodia; to day 31

by Travel

Day 22 – Monday 18 January

  • Left Chiang Mai for Bangkok – heading back to organise our visa’s for Cambodia
  • woke up at 11am, pretty chilled day before catching an overnight bus

Day 23 – Tuesday 19 January

  • Sleep in to recover from lack of sleep on the overnight bus
  • Into Bangkok central city to organise Cambodian visa’s with a funny, chunky, gay Thai man in a tight, pink t-shirt.
  • Went to the Night Bazaar, had dinner and looked around the markets
  • Had an awesome taxi driver who played us songs in English from his laptop and proceeded to sing and dance along with us.
  • Toni finally found her Chloe handbag again! Success!! YUS!

Day 24 – Wednesday 20 January

  • Visited the Grand Palace and temples – longest, hottest day ever!
  • Went shopping at the Night Bazaar again and bought four handbags! Most amazing shopping night.

Grand Palace & Temples in Bangkok

Day 25 – Thursday 21 January

  • Our visa’s turned up, we were nervous they wouldn’t
  • Toni and I went on a river ride through Bangkok – very heartbreaking to see.
  • Mega western fail – ate Burger King for dinner – but seriously, there is only so much Asian food you can stomach before you’re over it!

Day 26 – Friday 22 January

  • Took a bus from Bangkok to the Cambodia border. Pretty scary! Already Cambodia looked much poorer.
  • Toni got hit on by a little 12 year old (looking, not sure on his age really) Cambodian boy who was pretending to be our bus driver for the second leg of the trip. He was smitten.
  • Another bus to Siem Reap. Yes sick of buses.
  • Met Savi, who became our awesome chauffeur for a couple of days.
  • Hit Pub Street and danced and drank the night away with Nick and Josie. Met the pilot and skinny – Australians. Love triangle. Dear Lord.

Cambodia

Day 27 – Saturday 23 January

  • Toni and I ate Cambodian BBQ – snake, crocodile, beef, chicken and squid. All amazingly delicious.
  • Toni attracts another Cambodian man, Mr tall and lanky.. hehe
  • We watched Ms Tight & Bright strutting up and down the road most of the night. Couldn’t work out if she was a prostitute or a pimp. Cambodian woman in her late 30s, hit on every European man over 30. Haha
  • Visited Ankor Thom and Bayon temples during the day. Exhausting, the heat was so intense! But they were stunning to see.
  • Watched the sunset from the top of a temple.

Jacques and the Bayon temple

Day 28 – Sunday 24 January

  • Had a chill day. Caught up on uploading photos, blogging, emailing etc
  • Had a big night out on Pub Street again. Drank a tower of Ankor beer at a bar called Ankor What? with Toni and Jacques.
  • Met a crowd of UK, American and Swedish people. Drank buckets of vodka and red bull all night. Home by 4am.

Day 29 – Monday 25 February

  • After getting home at 4am, we were woken by Jacques (who hadn’t slept) at 5am to go see sunrise over Ankor Wat. Yeah so not in the mood…
  • We all felt like shit, so only managed a half day of temple browsing.
  • Back to the hotel by 11am for a nap.
  • Jacques and I decided we could handle another night out. Met up with some crazy Australians, one of whom decided it would be a good idea to swallow a whole bottle of chilli sauce, he then swallowed a bottle of milk. Idiot, but funny.

cute Cambodian kiddies that I fell in love with.

Day 30 – Tuesday 26 January

  • A chill out day, well needed.
  • Took yet another overnight bus to Sihanoukville – my favourite place! Lots of stunning beaches.
  • Toni and I complained of being stuck in the back seats of the bus (which didn’t recline – overnight?!!? come on!!), so we got moved. Yus! Sometimes bitching works.
  • Met Rhys and Jeff, two crazy guys from Australia – lots of fun.

Day 31 – Wednesday 27 January

  • Staying in the Apsaea Guesthouse, the crazy grandma kept talking to us – of course we understood nothing!
  • Hit the beach and tanned…
  • Ate Cambodian lobster on the beach – YUM
  • A huge seafood platter for dinner, with an Australian wine – first glass of wine in 31 DAYS!!!
  • Saw the pilot and skinny again, walking down the street, I didn’t recognise them at first so we all just called out feeble hello’s. So lame. But it’s all too tricky, what with the love triangle and all.

beach in Sihanoukville