Getting some practice on the quiet roads of Phu Quoc Island.

If you talk to anyone who’s visited Vietnam, one of the first things they will mention is the traffic (just type ‘Saigon traffic’  into YouTube and you’ll find countless videos). To say that traffic is mental would be a bit of an understatement. There are motorbikes everywhere, on the sidewalk, inside houses and on the roads. At first, looking at the traffic as a pedestrian is terrifying, with many first timers struggling to cross the road. This was exactly the reaction we had when we first arrived. We would not have even contemplated even trying to drive in it, but how times change. The longer we spent in the madness of it all the more normal it became to us. We were soon crossing the street without hesitation, sometimes without so much as a glance. During our first stint teaching English, we used Xe Om’s (motorbike taxis) to get us to and from work and happily put our lives in the hands of a local driver. Admittedly, when we returned to Vietnam for a few months to teach English again, I was still a little apprehensive at the possibility of driving a bike myself.

First time ever driving a motorbike. Donna doesn't even have a drivers licence at home, so driving a motorbike was a little daunting for her. Didn't take her too long getting used to it though.

After spending a week on the island of Phu Quoc off the coast of southern Vietnam, we both rented motorbikes for the week to explore the Island. It was low season and the Island was very quiet with very little traffic. In short, it was the perfect place to get some motorbike practice in. Donna, who doesn’t even have a car license, had a bit of a shaky start but after a few hours she was motoring along nicely. The only problems she had was burnt knuckles and hands from gripping the handles so hard in the heat of the midday sun. After gaining some experience and confidence on Phu Quoc we both decided that we should try it for real in the city of 8 million bikes.

When we arrived back in Saigon it was hard to imagine ourselves sitting on a bike in the middle of all the traffic revving up waiting for the lights to turn green. From a pedestrian point of view it just looked like a chaotic mess of motorbikes all scrambling forward, weaving in an out and beeping at each other.

We decided that it was best to give it a go as soon as possible otherwise we’d never do it. We rented out 2 bikes for the afternoon and hit the road. After a couple of shaky laps around the block (District 1) we headed further a field and decided to try and navigate to places we usually take a moto-taxi to. First stop was out to Binh Thanh district to Star Fitness gym and the Manor Apartment complex. This proved pretty easy as it took you out the highway and the outskirts of the city. On the way back we headed out towards Binh Phu (District 6) where Donna worked. This also was easier than we thought.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Although the traffic looks crazy from a pedestrian perspective, when you’re driving in the middle of it all, it makes sense. There seem to be unwritten rules that everyone follows. As long as you worry about what’s in front, to the left and right, then you assume everyone else is doing the same. You do see accidents quite regularly but they are often little more than a minor incident because traffic doesn’t go fast at all. Most accidents are usually caused by stupidity, groups of people chatting while driving or people chatting on the phone while driving.

The test run went well and before we knew it we were biking all over the city, exploring and navigating Saigon like seasoned pros. It gave us a sense of freedom that we’d never experienced before in Saigon. Maintenance of the bikes was also a piece of cake as there was always an eager eyed Vietnamese guy around when something went wrong to point you in the right direction. After experiencing a flat tyre I was quickly pointed to the nearest street corner where, after a cold beer and a chat with the locals, the puncture was fixed. All for a grand total of about $3 (beer included).

Donna also experienced the similar Vietnamese hospitality or as some would like to call it – an eye to make a quick buck. She had driven to the gym on what appeared to be a dry morning. By the time she was leaving, a heavy storm had come in leaving the roads in knee length water. In an attempt to exit the building she followed the other bikes through the water but didn’t last long, and her trusty Attila conked out. In a normal situation in any other country you would have to wade through the phone to try and call a repair shop to pick it up, service it and get it up and running.

Luckily, as she looked around there were similar people jumping off and pushing their bikes through the water, she wasn’t alone. A few Vietnamesers had set up a business at the side of the road, ushering Donna off the bike..stripping it down..checking the brakes and getting it up and running again within minutes, all for the price of $2 without the hassle of bartering it down.

There aren’t many ghosts floating around Kununurra but you can be guaranteed to see a few cane toads knocking about that’s for sure.

With these creatures spreading over the Northern Territory into Western Australia like wildfire, someone had to step up to the plate and try to fix the problem.

Just a BOG standard day in the bush, bogged in the troupe.

Cue the Kimberley Toadbusters – a group of volunteers who venture out every night scouring the waterways of the surrounding area busting some toad tush.

And by signing up to help the KTB was when I turned into a YES woman. To even consider going out into the bush at night trying to pick up these creatures would have never have been on my radar. But it’s an experience I’ll never forget.

Before setting off to Kununurra to do my regional work, I’d spent the majority of my time in Brisbane, Queensland and I’d heard a bit about the problem of the cane toad. Although to be honest, my only experience was watching my house mate hit them with a golf club over the garden fence onto the next door church and claiming a second plague was coming!

I’d heard a few stories about people seeing them in Upper Queensland (where they were first introduced to get rid of the sugar cane beetle) when they were doing their fruitpicking. Most backpackers just tramped on them as they hopped past. I don’t know what scared me more, coming across a field of toads or the actual fruitpicking itself (fast forward a few months and I discovered the fruit picking was a much more daunting experience than seeing a cane toad).

Decked out in the Hi Vis safety jacket ready for action, one less toad to damage Australian soil.

So when I got to Kununurra it was time to check out what all the fuss was with these little blighters. Gareth was already there volunteering with Kimberley Toadbusters when I arrived. I think he thought I’d not be able to handle it and declared on the first night that it’d be ok if I held the bag which they were put in and just try to lift a few.

On the first night, I jumped into the troupe, disappointed at only one person wearing a boiler suit. He didn’t even have a vacuum backpack and Bill Murray wasn’t to anywhere to be seen. This was going to be interesting.

My first thoughts were that no-one would believe I was actually going into the outback to catch toads. I could picture my friends faces when I told them, they would be in stitches laughing!

How was I gonna lift them was my next thought. I was given the ”Introduction to Toads 101′, a speech which highlighted the best way to catch the toadies, what to wear (protective gloves and a high-vis vest) and the obligatory warnings that you may get wet (from toad pee if you make it anxious).

I knew I was going to be a legend for this at home. I knew it was going to spark more of a reaction than the bog standard fruit picking.

Most people think of me as a real city girl. And when I asked what a cow pat was, who could blame them? Although as the weeks progressed I became a KTB regular and was able to determine the difference between lots of animal shit!

I’m a bit of a clutz, not very graceful and I’ve got no balance whatsoever. So when you’re climbing rocks, hopping across rivers and sliding down mountains made out of jaggy stones, it takes a lot NOT to fall and break your neck.

And for anyone reading this who joined me out on a bust knows that I promised to write this blog, to commemorate all those ‘busting fails’ I had over the three months.

Of course, everyone’s main goal is to get the toad and doing whatever it takes to get every last toad – even if that means falling into a river face first, doesn’t it Kate?

Out in the bush, I had the chance to hold a baby croc that swam up beside us at Lake Argyle

I’ve slid down mud hills, tripped over numerous rocks, stood in cow shit, been stabbed by HUNDREDS of thorny branches, had a rocket frog jump up one leg of my jeans, go across and come out the other leg, went arse down a mountain of rocks, got pissed on by a toad being passed through the car window, hit up the face by branches hanging off the side of the troupe and of course the infamous bogging overnight. I wasn’t the most elegant of busters, put it that way. But it was all part of the craic!

Over the months, we had some entertainment in and outside of the troupe with many newbies thinking we’d be heading down to Wolf Creek for the night, expecting an axe murderer to be standing in the headlights in the middle of nowhere just waiting for a car full of innocent backpackers.

Scaring new busters aside, we did try our best to get as many toads as we could each night. Although, there are a lot of toad shaped rocks out there I can tell ya that. Everyone mistakes a rock or a leaf for a toad at least once.

From picking up a Children’s Python to holding a baby crocodile at Lake Argyle, going out busting meant I was able to get to places that were off the beaten track and experience the real outback not sold in the tourist office. It was a great experience volunteering, doing my part to help the Australian ecosystem and something I’m glad I did.

Now I’ve left Kununurra I’m just waiting for the KTB merchandise to expand, with a Bobby Boiler Suit available in every colour for the future volunteers to bust in – I’ll be keeping an eye out for it don’t you worry.

For more information on what the KTB do - http://www.canetoads.com.au/

I’ve always been the adventurous type and usually pride myself on trying new things. This is especially true when it comes to the fun stuff like sky diving, scuba diving and anything provides a bit of an adrenaline rush.

It’s easy saying yes to things that you want to do or enjoy, but what about the things you never considered doing, or even thought about. During almost 2 years of travels there have been numerous occasions when an ‘opportunity’ would present itself and both Donna and myself would find ourself saying yes, despite initially thinking ‘NO!’. In most, if not all instances, we found the experiencies to be positive ones.

Posing for a picture with my Beano class.

When we were first planning to head off on the big around the world trip, the world economy was taking a bit of a beating and we both knew that finding work would be vital at some point to sustain our travels. The initial plan was to work in Australia, but we had been hearing rumours that finding work was not as easy as it used to be. Having visited a travel fair, Donna came up with the idea of teaching English in Southeast Asia. My initial thought was no way, but the more I thought, the more I grew to like the idea. After some further discussion, we both threw ourselves into a 120 hour TEFL course.

Kids from my Beano class carrying out an activity.

Fast forward several months and we were on our travels through Southeast Asia and loving every minute of it. As we were travelling, the thought was always in the back of our mind about finding a potential place to teach English. We had always been vaguely thinking Cambodia, but upon landing in Vietnam, we both knew almost immediately that Vietnam was the place where we would teach and Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) was where we would become teachers.

I found myself teaching students of all ages and levels. On the weekends I was responsible for teaching groups of up to 25 kids aged between 4 and 14. Keeping kids at this ages focused is no easy task. During the week was mainly teenagers and adults, which proved a little easier. It was also rewarding teaching the lower levels because you could really see a steady improvement in their English skills. At the start of the course, they could understand and speak  little or no English but by the end of their course they were able to understand and speak basic sentence structures and questions.

Celebrating the end of the course with students at a Goat Restaurant

Not only did I find myself in the classroom but I was also asked to do story-telling at the local book-store. I never thought that I would ever be in a book store reading stories such as the Three Billy-Goats Gruff, The Hare and the Tortoise and the Three little pigs.

For a county boy like myself, choosing a city with a population of almost 10 million people to live and work could have been a disaster, especially considering the entire population of Northern Ireland is a little over 1.7 million.

After a bit of a shaky start initially, I began to fall in love with the place, which might explain why we have since been back to Saigon to teach English again.

You can read more about living and working in Vietnam in my blog post Working in Saigon – A day in the life.

Statue at the entrance to the house.

We have stayed in quite a few dodgy accommodations during our trip, some dirty, some noisy, some too hot, but there was one place in the sleepy seaside town of Hokitika in South Island New Zealand that was particularly memorable. Not because it was dirty, or even dodgy, but it was just plain spooky. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was dirty because we were staying in our own tent on the lawn.

The common room looks like it hasn't been touched in years.

We were making the trip down the West Coast towards Franz Joseph after picking up some food in Greymouth.. Looking at the map, the next logical place to try and get to before nightfall was Hokitika. As we approached the sun was already beginning to set and we were starting to get worried that we wouldn’t get our tent pitched before dark, or find a camp site that was still open. We need not have worried though because we drove past a sign advertising Accommodation and Camping. A quick turn around and we were driving up a lonely path, past an old graveyard and church towards a guest-house on a large expanse of land looking out over the sea. The sky was grey and it was threatening to rain, which added to the gloomy mood of the place. There were two buildings, one looked like the main house and the other looked like an old hospital or nursing home from the 60′s. After a quick discussion, we all agreed that despite it being very spooky, it would be a laugh to pitch the tent and stay there for the night.

The old hospital style beds, complete with partition curtains.

We all sat in the car and debated who would go to the house to discuss the price for pitching a tent on the lawn. After some negotiation, I agreed to go knock on the door. The door was answered by a pleasant enough older lady with long black hair. After some swift negotiation we agreed on $15 to stay for the night. She pointed at the other building and told me we could use the showers and other facilities in the other house.

The hallway didn't help ease the spooky feel to the house.

She walked across the yard with me, unlocked the door to the old building and showed me in. Immediately I felt like I’d walked into a 60′s time-warp, complete with old furniture and decorations. It smelt kind of old too, like your grandma’s old farmhouse. She walked me through the long corridor to where the showers and bathrooms were. A quick glance around some of the rooms and it was apparent that it used to be some kind of nursing home or hospital, complete with hospital style beds and curtain partitions. It had clearly closed down many years earlier and hadn’t been modified or changed since. Once the landlady disappeared back into the main house we proceeded to set up the tent in the fading daylight.

Having a beer and posing for a picture outside the house.

The combination of fading light, grey skies, crashing waves, an old church, graveyard and old nursing home/hospital all added up to a very spooky setting. On top of that we were also the only people that were staying there, adding a lonely feel to the place. We all cracked open a beer and played a game of cards while discussing what exactly the old house had been used for, and why it hadn’t been upgraded since. One thing was for sure, none of us was going to try and navigate through the dark corridors in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

The next morning, I was brave enough to go and explore the building fully. You can get a feel for the place in the video that I took below. All in all, it made for a memorable and fun experience in the small town of Hokitika. I recommend you check it out if you ever find yourself passing through.

Warmun Aboriginal Community sunset, outback Western Australia

During my time working in regional Western Australia I was lucky enough to be treated to this sunset on a daily basis. I never got bored of leaving work each evening and being treated to the above sunset. The perfect way to end the working day.

Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown. Crystal clear fresh water lake.

If I’m honest, I have to say that, before visiting New Zealand I didn’t know a huge amount about the place, except that Lord of the Rings was filmed there and Queenstown is the Adventure Tourism capital of the world. Pretty much everyone that I’ve talked to who has visited the Oceanic region have either gushed about how amazing New Zealand is or how much they regret not visiting New Zealand. Its a sad fact that when many people from my part of the world who decide to head to the southern hemisphere, New Zealand often gets overlooked in favour of Australia. Here are just some of the reasons why New Zealand should be high on anyone’s agenda.

Scenery

We landed in landed in Christchurch on New Years Day after celebrating the New Year in Melbourne. Needless to say, we were feeling more than a bit worse for wear. Despite sleeping most of the flight I awoke as the plane was reducing altitude to prepare for landing in Christchurch. Looking out the window towards the ground I could see snow capped mountains and I could already see why this was the place that Peter Jackson chose as his location for ‘Middle Earth’ from Lord of the Rings.

It's not hard to see why New Zealand made for the perfect 'Middle Earth' in Lord of the Rings.

There are very few places in the world that can offer up breathtaking scenery around every corner. New Zealand is definietly one of those few places though. Pretty much the whole country, both North and South Islands can offer something that makes you go ‘WOW!’. Its a sheer pleasure driving, from the roadside waterfalls , vast mountain regions, Glaciers and crystal clear lakes of the South Island, to the Volcanoes, bubbling mud pools and stunning beaches in the North Island. Never once was I bored driving in New Zealand.

Sunset in Kaikoura, South Island New Zealand

I’ll never forget the first New Zealand sunset when driving into the seaside town of Kaikoura. The sky had turned to and orange-purple gradient over the sea as the sun was setting. I have never seen anything like it before. This sunset marked the start of many unscheduled photo-opportunity stops through out the New Zealand leg of the trip. If I had to sum up the scenery in New Zealand in one word, the only word that would come even close to summing it up would be EPIC.

Adventure

New Zealand has a reputation as the adventure capital of the world. A reputation it is very proud of, and rightfully so. If its extreme, adventurous or scary in any way, New Zealand offers it. You can do Bungee Jumps, White Water Rafting, Skydives, Mountain Biking, Jet Boating, mountaineering, rock climbing, the list goes on. When the winter arrives you also have the added option of world class Ski and Snowboarding.

Yes, that is me throwing myself off the edge of a cliff, 400 meters above Queenstown. I doubt you'd find a better backdrop anywhere else in the world.

The main hub for most of these activities is in, and around Queenstown on the South Island. Being a bit of an action-man myself I couldn’t resist getting in on the action by doing a Bungee Jump, Jetboating and Bungee Swing in Queenstown. David, a friend from home, was even convinced to take part in the activities and successfully completed all the challenges he was set, although he did need a slight ‘nudge’ of encouragement for the Bungee Jump.

After all the adventure, Donna wasn't the easiest to wake in the mornings. Most of the time she wouldn't get up until I started dismantling the tent.

Donna even got in on the sense of adventure by celebrating her 26th birthday white water rafting . This wasn’t just any tame trip down the river, it was a Grade 5 white water rafting that boasts ‘the highest commercially rafted waterfall (7m) in the world’. If this was going to be her only adventurous activity in New Zealand, I was going to make sure it was a memorable one. It certainly was for me, watching her face as each set of rapids approached.

People

Something that you learn quite quickly while travelling is that its never just the locations or landscape that makes a place; it’s the people that make it special. This is especially true of Kiwi people, they are some of the warmest, genuine, helpful and friendliest people I have ever met. This was immediately apparent from the moment we arrived in Christchurch airport. People were always eager to help out, offer advice, or just strike up conversation. This trait was pretty much universal in New Zealand.

Face to face with Gollum at the Weta Caves in Wellington.

Bus drivers, in particular, were surprisingly helpful in ensuring we got the right bus, got off at the right stop and even stopping to pick us up, despite being at the wrong stop. Another example was when we were trying to find the right road to Papamoa beach and we asked a lady on the street where the nearest iSite (tourist information) was. She was unsure of where it was but walked us up the street to her car, produced a map and explained how to get to Papamoa beach. She even gave us her road map to keep.

Cleanest river I have ever seen.

New Zealand has something to offer everyone, and is a place that should be high on the list of priorities for anyone visiting the Oceanic region of the world. It’s a place I definitely earmarked for a revisit, maybe even an extended stay.

The trip was well worth the money, over 5 days I had encounters with turtles, giant Potato Head Cod, White Tip Reef Sharks, Scorpion Fish, Clownfish, Moray Eels and countless other species of fish. I had rented an underwater camera for the trip and took well over 600 photographs, a selection of which can be viewed below. I’ve also included a couple of videos, showing the shark feed and Cod feed. You can view the full set of images in the Photo Gallery.

Trying to catch a shot of the Potato Head Cod as it swims past.

Hanging over the Abyss. A 1000 meter drop-off at Osprey Reef.

 

Watching the Silver Tip Reef Sharks in a frenzy for some Tuna heads.

Pink Anenomefish.

 

A poisonous Lion Fish trying to make its excape.

 

A Giant Clam sitting among the Coral.

 

Small Nudiebranch makes its way along the Coral.

 

Some soft Coral, a favourite with the Clownfish, AKA Nemo.

 

Look close enough and you should be able to see a grumpy Stonefish frowning at you.

Swimming through a massive shoal of Yellow Perch at Steve's Bommie.

 

I've found Nemo, hiding in the soft Coral.

A small Pufferfish peaking out behind the Coral.

Dolphins joined us for some fun at the front of the boat.

Christmas tree worms appear on the coral in their hundreds. They look just like Christmas trees, hence their name. If they are disturbed they instantly shoot into their hole in the coral.

A Parrotfish decides to pay us a visit. One of many, as they tend to swim in shoals.

 

Striped Humbugs passing by.

One for my Cousin Linda. I told you I would take Teddy everywhere with me. Including scuba diving.

 You can see the full set of photos  from the trip by clicking here.

Scenes like this was normal to us. The quiet streets of Cairns now seemed strange to us.

When we first set out on our trip, I was looking forward to having my first real culture shock.  To a certain extent, our first stop Hong Kong was our first experience, mainly with the food. We had somewhat naively expected the food to be like our local Chinese takeaway at home. This was not the case; instead we were treated to chicken’s feet on street stalls and the smell of shrimp paste in the air. Donna also found herself to be a bit of a minor celebrity, with the locals all wanting their picture taken with her. However, the first major culture shock of the trip for me was arriving in Hanoi, Vietnam. Everything there seemed alien to me; the sheer number of people, crazy traffic, sights, sounds, smells and general way of life.

After the initial shock, we soon got used to it and grew to love it, which is why we chose to live and work there for 4 months teaching English. What was once strange to us, soon became normal. People got to know us; we navigated the crowds and millions of motorbikes with ease. We hopped on and off the back of a motorbike several times a day to go to work, the markets or the gym. We never had the desire to cook, nor had the facilities even if we wanted to. Why would you cook when you had the choice of cuisine from round the world on your doorstep, all for less than a couple of dollars. The Vietnamese were good at cooking not only their own cuisine, but cuisine from other cultures with ease. Bargaining and haggling became a way of life and less tedious as people got to know us. We got to know the Xe Om (motorbike taxi) drivers, Tam the fake book seller, the local street stall owner, restaurant staff and our Vietnamese family; TiTi, baby Louis, ‘laughy woman’ and ‘granny’, among others.

Hitting the Goon (low quality cask wine). No more cheap beer. Alcohol is crazy prices in Australia, even more expensive than at home.

Although I had read quite a few blogs on the topic of reverse culture shock, I wasn’t quite expecting to suffer from it myself. Our first taste of arriving back into ‘western’ culture was arriving in Cairns after spending 8 months in Southeast Asia. The first shock was just how expensive everything was, small bars of chocolate were $2 to $3, and small bottles of water were $3. An even bigger shock was the price of alcohol, where a bottle of cider in a bar cost $12. It was blatantly obvious to us that the days of 40 cent beers were well and truly behind us. Obviously, we knew things were going to be more expensive than Asia, but we were still shocked as just how much more expensive it was. We had quickly gone from living quite comfortably in Hotels and Guesthouses for $3 – $10 each per night to sharing an 8 bed dorm for $20 – $30 each per night.

Arriving in Cairns, we were surprised by how little traffic there was. All the cars obeyed the rules of the road, stopped at traffic lights and adhered to the speed limit. We had gotten so used to constantly dodging motorbikes, weaving in and out of heavy traffic and walking on the roads due to the pavement being blocked with bikes. It was probably more noticeable because we had went from heavily populated Asian cities to the relatively sleepy town of Cairns. Crossing the road was a breeze, because it seemed like the roads were practically empty.

Durian was a popular fruit in Asia, but it smelt so bad it was banned in many hotels and public areas.

It was a sensory overload going from A to B in Asia, from the smell of fish sauce or Durian, motorbikes with 3 seater sofas balanced on the back, hawkers all shouting for your attention and people everywhere. By comparison Cairns seemed a little dull. Where were all the people? Why were there no hawkers? Where were the millions of bikes?

It seemed old habits from Asia also died hard. I was so used to removing my flip-flops before entering many buildings in Asia that I was slightly embarrassed when I instinctively kicked off my flip-flops before entering a dive shop in Cairns.

Opening hours also seemed bizarre to us. Shops opened from around 10am and closed again at 4pm (or earlier if the owner could get away with it). Was this what it’s like at home? In Asia most places opened from early in the morning until at least 10pm. Infact, most of our trips or journeys were booked late the night before. It seemed that were were going to have to be a little more organised in Australia. As it turns out this seems quite common in most towns in Australia. The bigger cities tend to have more extended hours and open late (until 9pm) at least once a week.

The people also seemed less friendly, don’t get me wrong, they weren’t unfriendly but we were no longer greeted with beaming smiles and friendly questions. Nobody seemed to care who we were, where we were from, where we were going, how we got here. The naturally friendly and inquisitive nature of Asians was replaced with slightly more guarded Westerners.

Catching Cane Toads. Just another normal day in Australia.

The comparisons with Asia continued for a few months as we adapted back into Western society. Now, 10 months after first entering Australia, I have went from being a bit Asian to being a bit Aussie. I’m more laid back now and I usually reply to questions with ‘No worries’. What next? Wrestling Crocodiles while shouting out the word ‘Crikey’. I would rule nothing nothing out any more. I’ve done so much that I never thought, or even knew I could do. Some might say that I’ve become a bit of a Yes Man. catching cane toads and getting stuck in the outback overnight being just a couple of note worthy, and equally random things that I’ve done. All of which will be covered fully in a blog shortly. This is the western world but not as I knew it.

Needless to say, I may have to prepare for reverse culture-shock part 2 when I do eventually return to the homeland.

Before embarking on a trip, hope and pray you like the people you do meet because it’s not going to be the last you see of them. I don’t know if it is because we cling to our photocopied or otherwise ligit copies of Lonely Planet but these days most of us are heading in the same direction.

It might just be a faded concept that the travelling folk are all hippies with backpacks that whip out a compass and let the wind take them to the next town.  More so nowadays, most backpackers end up doing a fairly similar route when covering a country and therefore, you end up spotting people you know along the way.

South East Asia was great for this. Meeting people during tours, chatting to them randomly on the street or spotting them on a bus, however you met, you’d be guaranteed to see them again in said country or the next.

If you really wanted – you could call it a modern day serendipity – fate bringing all these people together time after time but it’s kind of crazy to think how you can bump into someone in three different countries considering the distance and time spent travelling between them.

Phil was the best example. It happened when we were tubing in Laos. We got chatting to Phil because he was from 20 minutes down the road from me in Ireland. It was one of those short “We’re from the same place” conversations lacking any great detail.

Moving on with our travels, I think we might have bumped into aul Philly boy at least 5 times again…in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, never really finding out much about him when we chatted but it became a running joke to us that we’d spot him in the next town without a doubt. He even bought a South America Lonely Planet guide before he left to go home to Ireland so I’m guessing we’re going to see him there too at some point.

It is obvious that over this huge span of land, meeting people time after time following a similar intinerary is bound to happen. Ok..but how can you explain when it happens just living in one city?

Brisbane is another place that you are guaranteed to bump into people! It’s that kind of place.

I got chatting to a guy on a bus one day coming home from work and we got talking. Of course I never passed any remarks after meeting him and went on about my business.

A few weeks later… on a different bus route – I see him again. Making the usual “oh fancy seeing you here” chat I get off the bus and think nothing more of it.

Three months later, I start a new job and of course who is sitting in the office…but my bus friend!! We don’t run in the same circles, live in the same area or know the same people but have bumped into each other randomly on quite a few occasions!

Regardless of routes, money or committments… it’s something you can guarantee will happen and  will keep you on your toes as to who you might see next.

Sunset in Siem Reap

A street scene in Siem Reap in Cambodia. You never get sunsets like you do in SE Asia and this is an example of street life as the sun was setting. Lovely small town with great bars, cafes, restaurants and of course the Temples of Angkor.

40+ Degree heat and no air con or water is not fun.

Conked out from the power cut, G tries to find some refuge on the cold tiled floor with not much on as a long night of 40C  with no air-con or electricity kills us. Disgustingly sweaty, we both jumped into the pool the minute the sun came up to try and cool down.

Break down. Not impressed.

The bad luck continued the following day with an unsuccessful night bus knocking someone down, a 4 hour wait for the next bus in the middle of the night, a rocky and speedy journey on the second bus which then broke down and just about now if you look above to the pic…you can see my pissed off face. Yup this was my breaking point….almost 15 hours after we left Siem Reap… nearly died.. two or three times in one night… I lose it 15 km away from our final destination. I would have walked it just to eventually get there!!

Snacking on some Locusts.

This woman is having a snack on some locusts at the border crossing of Cambodia and Vietnam.  As delightful as they look, I just wasn’t in form for them that day.

Singha and Diet Coke.

The beginning of the end. Our favourite drinks to accompany dinner in Thailand…in Thai!! When I was feeling mad…I’d go for a Mai Thai!!