I'm alive!

Wooooow... what a month we've had.

Please accept our apologies for such a late update, we've simply been having too much fun. Not a moment to spare. I don't even know where to begin, there's so much to tell you.

So after our long schlep of a journey to the Philippines, we made our first trip the Puerto Princesa Underground River, one of the 7 new wonders of nature. Somehow again they managed to get both Moo and I into a little paddle boat, and shift us into the caves. We concluded that nature is amazing sometimes, but what we love more is the way people interpret what was there - formations that had been likened to St Paul's Cathedral and vegetables and mermaids.

Bats!

We were keen to move on and get some beach time ASAP so we boarded a bus to Port Barton, which we can officially say is our favourite place from our 3 months of travel so far. A sleepy town with a gorgeous white sand beach and cheap, chilled out bars and restaurants, not to mention super friendly locals. We spent our first few nights at Port Barton Homestay hosted by the lovely Leizel who took us out for dinner and very competitive card games every night, before moving to a place a bit closer to the beach, because, well, we're fat cows and don't like to walk too much.

Backpacking on the beach

Moo being the lady that she isn't

Din dins on the beach

Making friends

Getting sloshed on rum soaked bananas

We <3 Red Horse!

When you have to cook for yourself after 2 months of being waited upon

The view from our Homestay

Just before we left for El Nido, we were encouraged to go island camping with a few locals that organised it for us. Again, this was one of the highlights of our travels. We loaded the boat with about $10 worth of Tanduay Rum (which equates to 10 bottles) and numerous litros of Red Horse - our new favourite beer - and sailed off into the sun. Oh, FYI, we swam with a turtle on this trip! The snorkelling was amazing, in spite of the HUNDREDS of jellyfish - but don't worry, they didn't sting! My favourite kind of jellyfish. We were accompanied by two Filipinos who were on holiday to celebrate a birthday, so naturally we spent the night drinking, dancing around FIRES!! (inside joke, sorry.) and taking late night dips in the ocean.

Catching dinner

BBQ

KC's Birthday Cake

Soo good

Waking up with the sunrise

Sailing out on the calmest water i've seen

The crew

Our private island

She's not a morning person

Topping up my tan

Moo being Moo

FIRE!!!

Eventually we decided to move on to El Nido, because time was precious, and frankly our diet of pumpkin soup and Red Horse beer was getting out of control. So off we went, and were again met with beautiful beaches and chilled reggae bars on the beach. We had heard great things about the island hopping in El Nido, so booked ourselves onto Tour C where we met a lovely bunch of people who we spent the day soaking up paradise with.

When you ask the captain to take a picture of you

That's better (I think)

Swimming back to the boat

Gangsta floating ice cream men

After a drunken time soaking up the beautiful scenery of Palawan, we journeyed back to Princesa to catch a flight to Borocay to meet Ami's sister Alex! We stayed in probably one of the best hostels we've been to so far, a place next to the beach called Friends, where you were greeted with a smile and a free welcome drink, and for the rest of your stay it was guaranteed that they'd remember your name! They hosted regular free pasta nights with live music... could it get any better than that? We took one of the funniest boat trips of our lives one day. The sea was a little rough, and our boat didn't actually have space on board, so we had to sit on the sides. Moo, Ami, Sian and I picked the right side. Ryan drew the short straw.. For about 20 of the 30 minutes we spent on the boat, Ryan was submerged in waves, being dunked in and out as if on some sort of fairground ride, while we looked on in amusement. Sorry Ryan.

Alex demonstrating how to be cool

Lovely ladies

Oh fuck off Roger

It was all fun and games at the start

The safe side

After consuming our body weight in crepes, sandwiches and free pasta, Moo and I decided to venture on to Bohol, where the Chocolate Hills awaited us. We had a great week there, surrounded by nature and lovely locals. Moo was kindly invited to spend an afternoon at the Chocolate Hills Adventure Park with a Filipino family staying at the same place as us, and decided to show off by riding the bike zipline. Crazy bitch. I guess she thought she'd never have the opportunity again, so why not? We spent another day with a Filipino friend drinking coconut wine and playing cards at the foot of the hills, and one day exploring the island with a scooter. Moo was itching to ride one but extremely apprehensive at the same time, so we chose Good Friday to do it as there was absolutely NO-ONE on the roads. After a lesson from the hostel owner, we cautiously set off on our adventure. And we loved it! 

Endless supply of waterfalls

Our big day out

The lovely, quiet country roads

Homemade ginger iced tea <3

I'm gonna miss being so close to these

Fancy going to a beach on an island in the Philippines and finding a castle...

...and then a Cocoa Loco!

Delicious blue flower tea

Getting caught in the middle of a Holy Week street parade

Visiting the Tarsiers <3

The Chocolate Hills

The Bamboo Bridge

Drinking coconut wine as the sunsets beneath the chocolate hills

Our Filipino friend, Anne

We spent our final night at a place called Bohol Coco Farms - Moo obviously chose this one for the name - and met two lovely girls that we went exploring with. We stumbled upon the Bohol Bee Farm, where we were greeted with tasty cocktails and - wait for it - jacuzzis overlooking the ocean! That's not even the best part though. We had REAL. CHOCOLATE. And it was (excuse my language) FUCKING GLORIOUS. Proper, straight up, un-tampered-with dark drinking chocolate. We had such a lovely girly evening, and said our farewells in the morning as we set off for our final night in Manila, where we drank with the hostel owners until the early hours when Ami and Alex arrived from Borocay for our last night all together in the Philippines.

Its always nice to spot your car

And that was it for the Philippines! It was so hard for us to say goodbye after the truly amazing month we'd had, and to be honest, if we hadn't already booked our flights and visas for Vietnam, we would have without a doubt been extending our Filipino visas for another 30 days. Our heart belongs to the Philippines now, and we know that it wont be long before we find an excuse to return.

ANYWAY. It wasn't completely upsetting to be leaving, because a new country awaited us! We arrived bleary eyed at 3am in Hanoi with no idea what to expect from Vietnam, having been so completely absorbed in the Philippines that we neglected to do ANY research. We woke ourselves up in time to catch the free breakfast at our hostel (Moo wasn't about to miss free food, regardless of how tired she was), and sat with some people from our dorm room. Who knew that we'd find travel buddies after a few hours of stepping off the plane? We booked ourselves on a trip to Sapa with a couple called Lina and Yush, and ended up spending the next 10 days with them.

Sapa. Just. Wow.

It was beautiful. Exhausting, and slightly dangerous at times, but completely breathtaking. We not only survived the trekking, but also made it through the biggest thunderstorm Moo and I had ever experienced. At 4am the roof of our homestay finally gave up and let the rain come pouring down on us and our beds! Not ideal, but in some strange way we almost enjoyed it, it made us feel like we'd really survived something.

We returned to Hanoi and went on a street food tour with the owner of our hostel, Hai. This was obviously one of Moo's favourite nights, given that she's such a fatty. Sorry, I mean foodie. Ohhh how she loves food.

Bun Dau

Che Dau Xanh

Beer that tastes like the metal barrel it comes from!

Banh Bao

Banh Cuon

Deep fried sweet potato

When Moo was able to move again, we set off on a 4 day trip around Halong Bay, spending one night on the boat, one on Cat Ba Island and the final night in a bungalow on Monkey Island. Halong bay was certainly magnificent, but we were disappointed to see how dirty the water was. For one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world, we expected something a little cleaner. But a good time was had all the same, and we celebrated Yush's birthday on board the boat with a bottle of Vietnamese red wine - which tasted mysteriously like white wine - and lots of beer.

Birthday cakes on the bus

The Halong Hangover

Not cut out for this trekking

Floating village

Our cute little bungalow

The private beach

Now, as I write, Moo is lounging about the hostel waiting for a bus to pick her up and take her to Phong Nha, a national park about 9 hours from Hanoi. It will be our first overnight sleeper bus experience, and we're very excited... and intrigued. We'll keep you posted, promise it wont be as long between blogs next time!

From One Nutty Moo to Another

X

P.S. Here are some pictures from our Tam Coc day trip.

The foot clamp

Miss you already!

Cambodia, its been fun.

But now its time we go our separate ways. In many respects I feel cheated, because 2 out of the 3 weeks we spent together I was thwarted by an amoeba that decided to set up shop in my stomach. But it is what it is, and I'll never forget you or the times we had.

Where did we get to last time, the end of the homestay?

Our next stop was a city named Battambang, where we decided that taking a train made out of bamboo would be a good idea. The Battambang Bamboo train is notorious for being 2 things - exciting and dangerous. You're hurtled along actual rail road tracks balancing on a couple of pillows and holding on for dear life. Its certainly a thrill, and we're glad we did it while its still (somehow) legal, but after the first five minutes of uncontrollable nervous laughter, you realise that you might as well be on an actual, safety regulated, metal train, because your surroundings are hidden by the hedges that run alongside the tracks. So all you're really paying for is a game of Russian Roulette. And of course, where tourists flock, as do the sellers. You're literally emptied off of the train onto a platform where children bearing handmade bracelets and rings attack you with their little fingers, screaming "PINKY PROMISE YOU WILL BUY FROM ME OK LADY". The next 20 minutes are filled with awkward 'no thank you's and 'I have no money left', until finally your driver reassembles the train and sends you flying off into the distance again.

The same evening, Moo and I took a trip with a few others to see the circus, which is organised and performed by former refugee children. I couldn't remember the last time I went to a circus, so I didn't have a clue what to expect, but it was fantastic. There was contortion, dancing, acrobatics, and some brilliant acting. If you're ever in town and it happens to be on a night that they are performing, i'd definitely recommend a trip.

Moo was, sadly, still unwell the following day, so she missed out on a trip to the Blue Lagoon with her hostel buddies, but as it goes she still managed to have a productive day. We hired a bicycle with a friend and rode along the river for a few hours, exploring local villages and temples, frequently hollering "FISH PASTE?" at people we passed. We weren't going insane, we were actually looking for the fish paste market. We never found it, so it will forever remain a mystery to us. What we did find, however, was a cave filled with what seemed like MILLIONS of bats that all emerged in symphony as the sun began to set. It was another moment that can't be translated through a camera lens, something that you can only really appreciate by being there.

After our short but sweet stay in Battambang we ventured on to Phnom Penh and struck lucky with our hostel - staying next door to one of the most reputable doctors in Cambodia. A short consultation and $70 dollars later, Moo was holding magic pills and praying for the best. They worked!! It took a few days for Moo to feel right again, but those few days were spent visiting the Killing Fields and S21 prison, so she probably wouldn't have felt right anyway. We really knew nothing about Cambodia's horrific past, so we were shocked to discover that this was all happening while in the UK we were listening to 'Play that Funky Music' and shopping for suede. We didn't take any pictures here, because frankly its not something that you want to look back on.

With Moo feeling back to her normal self again, we travelled on to Kampot to be reuinted with Ami for one night by the river. The next day we hopped over to Mad Monkey Hostel to meet our Phnom Penh travel friends, and took mopeds out on a trip to Kep for the day. Along the way we stopped off at the Elephant Caves and the Pepper Farm, and then a restaurant by the sea to taste the famous Kampot Peppered Crab. We had no idea how difficult it was to eat a crab. But it made us enjoy it just a little bit more.

Too right

Do you see the elephants?

And this one?

Mini Moo and Rock Moo!

We loved Kep so much that we took another trip the next day, but this time we got off the bikes and decided to a little bit of hiking. We nearly died. Not only was it extremely steep and lacking in ropes to hold onto - we are really unfit. Really really unfit. At the end of our mountain scaling, we reached a butterfly sanctuary. A little bit of an anti-climax. But pretty all the same. And its good to have goals.

After finally making it back to our bikes, we rode off in search for some more caves. Instead of writing this part of the blog, i'm going to paste in Ian's brilliant description of our day:

"The cave was a pretty wild experience. Our "guide" was a girl who claimed to be 15 but looked 9. We had no light but a couple of cell phones. At one point we had to slide on our asses along a slick, steep decline where one wrong move would send you shooting off the edge through the darkness down into a chasm that I assume is filled with the bones of tourists who've done just that. No way this 15 going on 9 kid is fishing you outta there. Then we had to actually jump off a ledge and land well enough to not luge down into another corpse filled cavern before catwalking DOWN A LOG ALA FRED FUCKING PENNER IN ORDER TO ESCAPE THIS GOD FORSAKEN DEMON PIT!!! Got to see some bats though... That was cool."

So after our near-death experience, we headed home, stopped off for some fake streetside Oreos on the way, and drank the night away. It was a sad goodbye the next morning, we really had a good time with our 3 travel buddies, Ian, Brittney and Marianne. But hopefully one day we'll meet again, perhaps in Norway. Because why not?

That time we met Hitler in the middle of nowhere in Cambodia

Wonder how he got stuck?

Moo sunbathing

This is serious Oreo talk.

Moo and I returned to Phnom Penh for one last night, ate with the locals and then found a lovely cafe for breakfast the following day with another hostel buddy. Daughters of Cambodia is an NGO run company which helps women escape their lives in the trafficking industry and gives them training in all sorts of areas. Their french toast went down a treat, and before we knew it, it was time to jump in our last tuk-tuk and head to the airport, where we met up with Ami again for our long onward journey to the Philippines.

Passenger Assistance - i.e. free chicken if your flight is delayed

33 hours and 3 flights later, we've made it, and have spent most of our first day in a cafe guzzling fresh mango juice and planning our month ahead. Its going to be a good one.


From One Nutty Moo to Another

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