Síle & Bruce’s Travel Blog

Hello all, Just a very quick one.

We left Bali of the 18th of June, and to be honest, we would have loved to have stayed a little longer! We flew from Bali to Darwin and the in-flight meal was … wait for it … MEAT PIE! It was honestly the best airplane food I’ve ever had, and an awesome introduction to Australia!

Bruce got stopped by immigration, I was very excited and was hoping that we may be taken into the interrogation room! It was due to his terrorist style beard … and the small matter of a drink driving charge a few years back. But within a few mins we were out and hanging around the airport for 4 hours waiting for a flight to Cairns.

We got ot our hostel and went straight out on the Campervan hunt … nightmare! We’ve walked the whole of Cairns about 6 times now. But, yesterday we finally got the keys to our very own van! The only slight issue is the fact that it’s bright red, but other than that its a very “good runner”.

Oz is very expensive, it’s hit us a little harder than we thought it would. We even think it’s more expensive that London!

The hostel experience was interesting , I couldn’t do it for much longer though. Very noisy and not much going on. Although we met a few decent guys there … and some VERY racist Americans too!!

We’re off to Port Douglas, just north of Cairns, tomorrow morning. It’s meant to be very beautiful so looking forward to getting the van on the road.

We’ll get the rest of our pictures up shortly, can’t wait to show all of you our van!

Love and you all

xx

Hi All, I thought I’d take some time away from the beach to write a small post. We are currently on the Gili Island in Indonesia, just north of Bali, and they are stunning!

Read the rest of this entry »

Well it was until a few days ago, by which time I had spent 5 hours in the water trying to get up on the board, ended up busting two fins on the back of it (due to fatigue) and realized my nipples and chest had turned into a tandoori oven. Walking back to the guest house down beat with my tail between my legs Shee tried to console me by trying not to laugh to much and explaining I should of had a lesson in the first place like she suggested.

But anyway bali’s great, everywhere we have been is pretty cool, we left koh tao and head back to pattaya to see my 3 uncles. Linz had sorted us the best room we’ve had so far which was abit of a treat. we spent 5 days there in which time they took us on a tour of some very entertaining drinking establishments, the one with a jacuzzi in was the standout of the night. Cheers for a good tour guys!

So we left there and flow to Kuala Lumpur. Really enjoyed it great blend of people, amazing buildings, got some great photos. We were going to cruise overland from there all they way to bali, but time wasn’t on our side, so we opted for 6 weeks in bali and islands east of. We have found a great guest house with a pool for 4 quid a night, top stuff and are meeting some really interesting characters.

Hope alls well back home

Take it easy Sile and Bruce

So it’s been ages since we’ve last written so I’ll try to get you upto date!

We left Hanoi (the city where dreams are destroyed!) and flew to Bankgok. Once we got to the airport we realised that it was the start of the Water Festival, this meant a giant water fight all around Thailand for the next 4 days, it’s for their New Year. Our plan was to get a taxi to the train station then hop on a train to bring us down to the sun soaked islands. Once we got out of the airport we were told that this was near impossible (due to the water fest!) as all the trains were fully booked and it was unlikely that we’d get a room for a reasonable price in Bangkok! Oh dear, slight error in planning on our part, but we decided to get the taxi to the train station anyway, just for the craic!

Well we got to the train staion at about noon time and there were only a few places left on the train for 19:30. No worries, at least we got a ride! As we had our big bags with us (and because we were likely to get soaked if we went anywhere else) we hung around at the station for 7hrs - our second home!

The train journey was uneventful, apart from water being thrown through the windows at us and we arrive at Champon (or Chumporn as we saw a few times) at around 3 in the morning, then it was a tuk tuk to the pier and then boat to Koh Tao. It has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. We stepped onto the pier, look down into the water and could see to the bottom of the sea with only the fish in the way!

We were expecting the accomodation prices to be sky high but we managed to find a little bungalow with a bathroom inside spitting distance from the sea for 450 Baht (7.50) a night - bargain! Our plan was to stay there for 7 days then head over to some of the other island for a week. However, we found it to be so laidback and easy going that we just spent another week on the island.

It’s a funny little place, the main “road” that everyone uses is infact a walkway that runs almost the whole lenght of the island with motorbikes and cars speeding down it. One day we hired out a motorbike and, with the couple in the bungalow next to ours, headed to Shark Bay! Aparently there you can get a glimps of a shark if you’re very lucky. Bruce and Freddie spend hours snorkelling while Mel and I chatted away on the beach under the coconut trees - bliss! Aparently the fish that Bruce saw were amazing, he even claims to have seen a little shark swimming away from him - “It was THAT big!!”, hmmm fishermans tale anyone?!

We waited a while to get a good sunset, but when it happened it was stunning, Bruce got a really good pic of it (at the top of the blog). The sand was pure white and the sea completely clear. To be honest, we were too busy chilling out to do a lot more, I would go back to Koh Tao in an instant!

I also managed to get hooked up with Skype and with the aid of a webcam got to see some family, it was really nice; not that I was forgetting what people looked like but it just nice to know that everyone is still there!

Well I’ll let Bruce fill you in on our next set of adventures…!

love at all back home, we miss and love you all! Keep in touch!
Sile

xxxx

A small correction on my last post, 30000 Dong is actually a Pound!

So we are now in Hanoi, I don’t really like the place. We arrived at a guest house to be greated by someone telling us we were talking “F-ing Bullsh*t” and then told us to “Fu*k-Off”, Nice! It is more expensive here also, we had to upgrade to a $25 room for a few nights as the cheap-o’s we’re damp and Bruce is trying to get rid of a cold (a good reasonfor air-con and lots of TV channels!)

 We went to see the Traditional Water Puppets last night … what a disapointment. We have flights booked for Bangkok on the 13th and we tried to get them changed, its just cost too much and turned out to be a bit of a pain to do.

Once we get to Bangkok the plan is to get the train down to the Islands and then spend a few weeks diving and chilling a bit more on the beach! Bliss!

Love to all, I hope all is well back home

xxx

Yes its true people, in this crazy country the locals and alike have come up with a novel and sometimes ear bleeding sound track for those already horn fuel streets. Vehicle reversal music. Heres the top 3

1. Jingel Bells

2. Happy Birthday to you

3. We wish you a merry christmas

Im not sure this will be beaten!

What a great place Hoi An was, it was still 46 in the shade, but a slick 5km bike ride out of town and you land on a storming beach with an array of quality seafood restaurants. Hoi An was a chilled out affair, we met some decent people there which we got slighty pissed with on more than one occasion, ask sile about the big bamboo, Its a drink!!

We managed to blag a hotel with sky, bathtub and swimming pool for 5 pounds a night. Hoi An was also good for some local tradtional munch out affairs, including White Rose, bit like Wonton stuffed with pork and topped with fried onions and also Cau Lao which is a soup with chunky noodles, croutons and sliced pork, top stuff.

But a trip to Hoi An was not complete until we bought some hand made clothes. I spent a few quid on a 3 piece (Pimp) suit which looks the nuts, chacoal grey with a dark green lining. Its on the ship for 3 months. Sile bought a stunning greeny blue dress which I will look forward to seeing her in when we get back and also a spot on green winter jacket all made to measure, so we’re gonna look storming on all those formal nights out. We spent 8 days in Hoi An and have just arrived in Hanio the capital after a 16 hour bus jounrney from the deapths of a ditch.

Well since we haven’t written in a while, I think it’s about time for a little catch up.

First of all, Welcome to the World Aidan Mallon!

We left Ho Chi Minh City after Bruce played football and had a reasonably O.K 12hr over night bus journey to Nha Trang. It’s a beautiful little seaside town, with a lovely beach and it was very cheap! our room was $7 a night, big fan, TV, fridge AND the toilet was inside! It was also only a 3/4 min walk to the beach where we hired out sun loungers for 30 000 Dong a day (about 30p!). We did watch a few fights between the locals who’d been drinking in the sun all day which is always fun, and evenings were spent making friends with travellers and locals alike at the “fresh beer” bars for 3000 dong.

One day while looking around a shop we found some dried fish with the label “Instant Leather Jacket Fish” I almost bought it for that but we wouldn’t eat it and it would really stink! 

We left Nha Trang after just 5 days and while waiting for the bus we were asking ourselves why we were leaving, we liked it so much; but by that stage we had bought our ticket to Hoi An and had checked out of the hotel, so on we went.

It turned out to be the best decision as Hoi An was amazing. Bruce is writing something on Hoi An now I’ll let him post that before I add anything else!

xx

Happy Easter All!

We’ve been in HCMC for just over a week now (the reason we stayed so long was Bruce’s football game - highly entertaining!)

This place is crazy - so different to anywhere else I been. In a way its very ”westernised” but so un-western in another way. It’s far richer than Laos or Cambodia, there are Gucci shops and massive shopping malls in one area with rich women ”lunching” about town. We felt like real scruffs!

We’ve met a lot of locals so far in Vietnam, they’re really friendly and always up for a chat, even if they can’t speak English and our Vietnamese isn’t any better.

We’ve been to a few museums, one of which was the War Remnants, really interesting. Lots of photos and military stuff from the Vietnam War, as well as a nasty video about the victims of the war.

Yesterday we spent the day at a local water park (trying to escape the heat) - it was massive and full of Vietnamese kids shouting and staring at us! It’s strange and difficult to get used to, but it’s only done in a friendly way so we just smile back!

We’re getting a Sleeper Bus this evening to Nha Trang. It leaves at 8pm and takes about 10hours. We’re planning on getting a bit more beach action!

We’re still really enjoying the novelty of not working and just taking it easy with minimal stress!

I hope all is well back home, it’s lovely to hear from you all.

Lots of love
xx

After days of negotiations and drunken ramblings with our saigon mates, juen and salvidor, I finally persuaded them to let me in the football team for easter sundays crunch match at the stadium near the airport. Playing full back for the dragons was a real challenge but after months away from the pitch in london playing for emap rocketeers, i was up for the game. With professional photographer S.Joyce on the sidelines all of the action was documented include the kit, which was abit of a snug fit. Unfortunately we lost 3-0, the first goal was a complete fluffage by there stand in goalkeeper and the 3 was a disputed penalty. Overall though it was a brillant experience playing 90 minutes with the locals, never thought for one minute it would happen so all good. Pics to follow.