Another installment of Oli’s round-the-world emails:

Hi all,

To give you an idea of my travel budget, if someone decided to mug me,
they’d end up putting something in my pockets. It’s fortunate I’m in SE
asia, but you gotta have your wits, because some people will always try
their luck….

Well, on the morning of leaving Phuket, I booked a bus/coach/ferry ticket
that translated into 12 hours of travelling before I reached the verdant
green gorgeous island of Koh Phan Ngan, a recommendation by a friend. I had
arrived at ground zero i.e. full moon party weekend (unplanned); drunk
people were everywhere, the bars were blaring out loud music, people
heckling left right and centre for tuk-tuk rides, restauramts, souvigners,
the works. I pushed through the throng of people and very luckily escaped
sunrise beach (where the party was) on a longboat destined for the resort
I’d booked, on the remote east coast. I thought that it was quite ironic
that I had landed bang in the biggest party in Thailand, and had decided to
high-tail it to the only quiet pocket of paradise, riding the rough sea
swell under a full moon in complete silence (save the engine noise). Spent
four days relaxing at this resort (kinda hippy-esque with yoga classes, vege
menu, soothing music 24/7, fasting, people reading Tarot cards…you get the
idea). I wasn’t there for any of that, but because of the dead cert that
there would be only a hand full of backpackers and that I wouldn’t meet any
laary t*ssers content with getting pissed and passing out during the day.
My days were remmincent of Fiji’s bounty island- waking up to sunshine
bursting though my window, hearing the din of the sea waves crashing against
the beach right outside my room, I’d have a swim/ laze in a hammock and then
spend my whole day writing/ reading, listening to music, sunbathing,
swimming and frequently eating amazing Thai food with or without company at
a fab restaurant perched on a headland in between two beaches, with such a
panaromic view too!!

Tearing myself away from my gulf of Thailand paradise, I caught the ferry
back to the mainland and almost missed my night train to Bangkok “ässumption
is the mother of all f*ck ups”. This saying is so apt, as I thought that
everyone else sat down eating with me were going to Bangkok, hearing them
say that the train’s delayed. The penny dropped when a french guy asked äre
you going to Penang too?”. I thought oh shit, my train isn’t late but is in
fact the same bloody thing that’s on the verge of pulling away from this
station!!”….I legged it and managed to just get on!! Bangkok itself was
sweet, like visiting an old friend. Only two nights spent there, with an
Irish girl I met on the train, so I had great pleasure in dining out with my
Thai friends and exploring a bit more of the city, as well as the mandatory
stop in my favourite massage parlour!!

A change of plan….I decided to go to Cambodia with the Irish girl, as she
said it would be great to go together. The journey to Cambodia took ALL
day, leaving Bangkok early morning and clearing customs at the
thai/cambodian border late lunchtime. The real fun came when we had to use
the Cambodian “road” from its border to the final destination of Siam Reap,
taking a loooong 5-6 hours. The “road” itself was nothing more than a dirt
track with a lot of pot holes and stones, constantly shaking our minibus. I
cannot describe how bad the road is, suffice to say that when we took a road
detour (due to road works!!), the surface actually improved!! Stayed a
couple of days here and explored the unfathamable achievements of the
Cambodians in the form of Ankor Wat. This temple site is the most
incredible beautiful achievement I’ve ever seen- intricate stonework on such
a grand scale. Ankor Wat is actually one of over 100 temple sights in the
area, being a part of the vast Khemer empire’s capital. We got there at
dark and watched the sunrise slowely unshroud this immense holy structure,
worth getting up at 4.30am!! We did the ëssential” sights with our
motorcyle guides and just went around like headless chickens snapping pics
all day, pausing in the town of Siem Reap during the afternoon as we were
“templed-out”.

From Siem Reap, my two friends (Irish girl and U.S guy) and I travelled to
the capital of Cambodia- Phnom Phen, where we’ve spent the last three
nights, one of my longest stops in one place to date!! That’s saying
something in itself don’t you think? We used our time to do the beautiful
city justice, seeing the national museum (exhibiting the khmer culture), the
Grand Palace (with all of its temples and gold statues), the killing fields
(where Pol Pot and his evil genocidal regime tortured and killed 20,000
people using clubs and firearms during the mid 70’s), the genocide museum,
the Russian Market (you could aquire anything here!!), the cafes/ eateries
and just dumb wondering around its quant streets. I like this place a lot,
as i contains a lot of crumbling french architecture, a colonial city
dropped into the heart of SE asia!! Imagine coupling the food, traffic, buzz
of people, smells and sounds of any asian place and then adding old European
buildings- the best of both worlds!!

I’m done with Cambodia now, a great place of raw energy, great people and a
huge treaure-trove of culture that is still understated!! Going to the “nam
tomorrow….Siagon here I come!!

Oli.

Really do wish you guys/girls could share some of these moments with me!!

Another installment of Oli’s round-the-world emails:

Oh yeah, late again….

Melbourne was great, relaxed and busy and bussling at the same time. Found
some great cafes and tasty food in China town, but it was good to finally
leave. Hired a car and hit the “great ocean road” for 3 nights, checking
out Torquay (where a lot of surfing takes place and subsequently where some
of the most famous surfing brands were conceived). Had great hot sunny
weather, taking in the beautiful coastal scenery including famous “Bell’s
beach” (where the movie Point Break was filmed), the fashionable art deco
town of Lorne, lighthouses, soaking in the seas, a beautiful waterfall set
in a bush forest, sheer cliffs, rock arcches, viewing a pod of Dolphins
tracking along the coast. Of note, I saw the famous “12 Apostles” (cool
rock stacks). My favourite part of the ocean road trip was driving on my
own at night along 60km of road, a full moon illuminating the sea waves
slamming against the bays and cliffs and listening to some surprisingly
decent music on the radio. Not a soul around

After 1100km drive up the interstate and unsealed bush roads, we arrived in
the beautiful Blue Mountains, inland from Sydney. Spent our two days there
mavelling at the incredible valleys that constitute this huge elevated green
sandstone plateau. I remember doing a bush trek to an aboriganal cave,
moving on to the cliff edge to see the collosal Nepean Gorge unfold in front
of me. It’s so magnificent that I’d put it in the same league as the Grand
Canyon- it stretched as far as the eye could see, undulating
eucalyptus-filled slopes forming a blue/green carpet, dissected harshly by a
river carving a stark stone channel through the base of the gorge…a green
grand canyon. Aside from this walk, we drove a picturesque loop around the
whole national park and did a 6hr trek into the Jamison valley to a rock
formation called “ruined castle”, which again offered great views across
another portion of the national park. The “3 sisters” rock formation was
beautiful to see at sunset, from Echo point, although Ben wasn’t quite the
romantic company that people would envisage. Me being me, I checked out
loads of cafes in Katoombe town and hunted for a new camera…..rip

The last couple of days were spent in the beautiful cosmo city of Sydney.
My second time there, I checked out its southern districts of Darlinghurst,
Paddington, Surrey Hills and basically the laid-back inner city districts
that you don’t see many tourists, so great to relax with a coffee…which I
had to do.. Did the cheesy tourist stuff too, like Sydney Fish Market and
Darling Harbour, but my attraction to Sydney lays in its architecture and
abundant cafe culture, shared by a plethora of people. Bondi beach was an
average beach worshipped by a loada posers. Beautiful people everywhere, an
outdoor gym and subtlety isn’t in their vocab. Nice to see, but I walked
around the headland to a much nicer, quieter beach to spend my day. Stayed
in an amazing hostel too, which is the closest thing to home since
leaving…home..?

3 nights were ample for me in Sydney, it’s time for me to roll up the coast!

I’ll try and write within a week next time…but don’t quote me.

Take care and cheers,

Oli