Langkawi - Malaysia

We arrived in Malaysia on Friday the 23rd of October. We went to Langkawi which is a big island between Thailand and Malaysia. We got a room 5m from the beach and we were so tired of traveling so we jumped straight into the sea! The water was not even close to being refreshing, it must have been over 32*C, so so so HOT! We watched the sunset on the beach and realized that this was a place for relaxing.. We've had a couple of really lazy days, which we needed after crazy Phi Phi.. Went running on the beach in the morning and ran past a massive stingray which looked more like an alien. It was so big both me and Ingrid had to lift it up together to get a better look at both sides of this weird looking creature:) It was kind of pink underneath and brown with mad eyes on the other side. We actually got a fright when we saw it's eyes.. Felt really sorry for him/her/it you name it..

We've met a swedish boy called Peter, and we went missioning into the Malaysian jungle with him today. Went hiking, saw some waterfalls, got savaged by a lot of mad and blood thirsty leeches! While we were in the jungle the rain started pouring down, but we carried on and those crazy creatures obviously woke up and started throwing themselves at us!! I had at least 12 of them trying to penetrate my skin but I'm so quick to remove them so they never got a chanse, haha.. The only ones they got to was Ingrid and Peter, and THEY went crazy, screaming and waking up every other jungle animals and insects. I saw a couple of at least 2m long iguanas, massive ones.. Started thinking of those meateating ones at Galapagos Islands.. Aaaaah..! And YES I saw a loooong, thin, ugly snake which gave me goosebumps as well..
We've made friends with a baby monkey, well it likes me more than I like him so we've had a couple of good laughs.. You will see it in the pictures:)

Anyways.. Ingrid, Marthe and Peter are leaving for Panang (another Malaysian island) tomorrow without me.. I'm going back to Koh Tao to see Toby, Calum and John.. Will hopefully do some diving , maybe a nightdive even..;) Excited!
And the adventure carries on and on..

Phi Phi Island - Thailand

Amazing, crazy, party- place!

Marthe and Ingrid left Koh Tao 3 days before me, they went to Railay Beach and did rockclimbing and other cool things.

We all met up at Phi Phi and it was time for new adventures! We have spent a lot of time on the beach with Miranda from Holland, two german guys, Phil and Mo and Kealy and Mel. This place is all about beaches, parties and dancing! So that's what we've done to be honest, haha..

We went diving one day and we were lucky enough to see two Leopard sharks and turtles! So so cool.. We've seen Maya beach (where the movie "The Beach" was filmed..) I must say I prefer the beach in the movie.. Our instructor brought his camera under water so we've got some really cool pics from the dives!!

We don't know how long we're gonna stay here, but we have to be in Singapore on the 1st of Nov, because we are flying to Australia! The time is running too quickly, I need more time...

Koh Tao - Thailand

We left Cambodia after seing amazing temples and experiencing a flooded Siem Reap. We got on the plane and went straight to Bangkok, then Koh Samui. When we arrived at Samui we found out that we just missed the boat to Tao, AND that the full moon party had been the night before! Pretty ridiculous to be honest.. So we stayed one night at Buddah Beach and left with a boat to Koh Tao. Marthe was going to do her Open Water Diver License and Ingrid and I was going to relax on the beach for a couple of days.. Well, what happened was that I also decided to do the course so we started the course the night we arrived. After 4 days we were certified and had some amazing moments under water! I am not scared of fish anymore!!! Too stoked about that! After finishing the course we decided to do the Advanced Adventurer so that we could dive down to 30 m. We had the scariest night dive, swimming around with tourches and we saw glowing algues!! AMAZING!

We met a lot of cool and interesting people, and had so much fun! I will never forget the adventures of Koh Tao and the under water world!!

Siem Reap, Cambodia

We left Vietnam early in the morning on Friday the 2nd of October. We jumped on the bus at 07.30 and arrived in a flooded Siem Reap at 20.00. I slept most of the trip, I was exhausted and the bus always makes me feel like sleeping.. Our backpacks were soaking wet from the floods we had been driving through, so we swore a couple of times before we jumped into a tuk-tuk. Rocked up at a nice hotel in town and started planning our stay in Cambodia..
We spent the whole of Saturday watching temples and taking millions of photoes. We got up at 04.00 on Sunday morning to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, pretty amazing I must say!
We went out to a floating village by boat and tried to do as much as possible for three days in Siem Reap. We went out with a cambodian friend last night, he showed us how cambodians party! It was very interesting.. Haha!
We woke up this morning and booked tickets to Koh Samui, Thailand. So we're here now, enjoying it!!!
One thing is for sure, I'm going back to Vietnam and Cambodia!!!

Ho Chi Minh City/ Saigon

We woke up on Wednesday morning the 30th of September. I was on my way downstairs to the hotel reception when I saw that the whole first floor was flooded with brown water.. I freaked out for a moment before I helped the staff to move the computers upstairs. We were supposed to leave for the airport that day.. We called the embassy in Hanoi and asked them what to do. We didn't have any information or access to any media except our cellphones.. Anyway, the hotel refused to give us our passports before we had paid our bills, fair enough.. But the ATM's had been out of order for 3 days.. In the end we had to give our creditcards to some australians and they went to Danang (another town) in a taxi and drew money for us all.. Pretty ridiculous indeed! So we missed our flight at 12.00. Anyway, we were evacuated by boat from the stairs inside the hotel and taken to a place where the roads were dry. We caught a taxi to the airport and jumped on the first plane to Ho Chi Minh City.. When we arrived in Saigon, we had no idea of where to go.. We were thinking of going to Malaysia, Thailand or basically anywhere.. We really wanted to go to Cambodia so we decided to stay one night in Saigon. We found a hostel in the backpacker part of town, met some crazy english guys and danced all nigth long.. We ended up spending to days in Ho Chi Minh before we left for Cambodia on the 2nd of October. What a crazy mission!

Hoi An

By the river in Hoi An.
Vietnamese Ane.

Banana lady.

Missioning around town.

Nice little cafe.

After eating a delicious meal, we carried on walking until we found the bus stop for the bus to Hoi An. A taxi driver told us we must pay 300.000 dong from Danang to Hoi An, but we tuned him no! We payed 20.000 dong (which is double price) pr. person to get there by bus, but that's OK, it's only 3,50 NOK. We jumped on some motorbikes at the bus station and went to the hotel that Lonely Planet recommended. So we're staying at a great hotel with free internet access, swimmingpool, A/C and the room is great. Very different to the bustrip from Hai Phong.. I don't think I've ever been or felt as dirty as after that bustrip. Not even being out in the bush for 10 days in the army can compete, hidious! Never enjoyed a shower that much in my life!

We've been walking around town and been to the market. This town has a great atmosphere and it is very romantic:) Only problem right now is that it's raining and it's super windy.. So we're staying in the hotel today, reading our books, updating travelblogs and booking tickets for the rest of our stay in Vietnam. It looks like we're heading south to Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday the 30th, flying from Danang. Then going from HCMC to Cambodia by bus.

If the weather gets better we will probably go to the beach and mission around town a bit more before we leave.. Would be great to go back here sometime.. ;)

Hai Phong to Danang

Storm in Cat Ba town.
Waiting for the bus in Hai Phong.

Inside the sleeping bus.

Sleeping bus 2.

Eating in Danang.

We left Cat Ba Island on Friday the 25th. The weather was absolutely crazy, it was a storm and it rained so heavily. The streets were like rivers and people's belongings were flying around. We heard that during the storm 3 greek tourists and their guide drowned after their boat turned upside down. It was the same type of boat that we were on a few days earlier, hectic..

We arrived in Hai Phong in the afternoon and were pretty excited about the sleeping bus. My friend Andre had told me: "Never go on a sleeping bus in Vietnam", but it was the easiest option for us, specially when people told us that the train in Ninh Binh sometimes just goes by, not stopping for more passengers. So we got on the bus and it looked kind of cool.. Well, the beds were dirty and made for small Vietnamese people, and the TOILET was a hole in the ground and it was NOT clean! I almost vomitted twice, but asked the driver to give me some plastic bags to put on my legs before I went in.. Haha, and they played disco music all freekin night, and some European music, covered of cousre.. And it was loud, all night long. Haha, I've got a couple of friends who would never be able to stay on that bus at all, because of the music.
But come on, what a cool experience!! :D I must say that I'm going to appreaciate Norwegian standards even more from now on..

We arrived in a city called Danang around noon and walked around town until we found a place to eat. Noone could speak english and the menu was in Vietnamese. I tried to speak a little bit vietnamese mixed with fingerlanguage, and after a couple of misunderstandings they came to our table with some wonderful vegetarian food! And they had soy sauce!!! And YES I'm a vegetarian, since two weeks ago. Feels great!