Hello at last everyone!

Sorry for the gap in blog posts - the internet cafes we were finding were so expensive that we just didnt have the time or money to update!!

So lots to tell you since last time!

When we last updated, we were in Mui Ne in Vietnam, which wasnt really that great a place and we were both ill. We are both recovered now, and are currently in Malaysia, Truly Asia!

After we left Mui Ne we went on to Ho Chi Minh city which, truth be told, was nothing special. It was just like Hanoi, without any of the good bits and with more motorbikes! From Ho Chi Minh we caught a bus to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. The bus journey was about 7 hours (not as long as some we have endured) and involved our bus driving onto a small river ferry in Cambodia! Also, at the border crossing between Vietnam and Cambodia we had to wait until VERY last for our passports to be stamped out, as it was very clear that it was a case of Vietnamese First, Tourists last! NO EXAGGERATION!

We arrived in Phnom Penh which was actually nicer than expected! Tom sampled the local Khmer cuisine - and I tried a bit too! We stayed in a nice hotel there, with incredible, mismatching bedsheets! We only stayed there one night as we were due to fly out of Siem Reap a few days later.

From Phnom Penh we caught YET ANOTHER bus to Siem Reap! On arrival there, we were told that the hotel had LOST our reservation. We were very tired and hot and ANGRY. They offered us 2 nights free in their sister hotel - which was absolutely horrid. A prison would have been nicer. So, we shunned the free nights and left silently for 'Mom's Guesthouse'. Mom's was much nicer - however, we were very kindly treated to a very special traditional seranade every night from 7 til 9 courtesy of the restaurant next door! Loud doesnt do it justice! Apart from that, Moms was great. We went to see Angkor Wat which was great but feeding the resident monkeys was better. We bought some pineapple (which I have a new found love for) and fed them for ages! Some of the monkeys had tiny babies clinging to them, and were taking the food straight from our hands! See pictures!

The next day we had a lovely day in a posh hotel's pool (the foreign correspondents club) which cost us very little. We met a nice American called John who bought us some Angkor beers (which were lovely in the hot sun). He had a friend who was a professor studying the Khmer Rouge's links with the Chinese - (whatever they may be!)

We flew out of Siem Reap airport for a very extortiate price - thanks to the monopolizing Bangkok airways! We just couldny handle another long bus journey or land border crossing!

Once back in Bangkok we headed straight for McDonalds and the IMAX - where we watched Alice in Wonderland in marvelous 3D! (Have you seen it yet?) I thought I lost my purse in Maccy D's, and was most concerned about the IMAX tickets inside, however - it turned up!

Bangkok was once again much enjoyed and needed. We flew out a couple of days later to Surat Thani. Surat Thani is like the St Mary's of Asia. There is literally NOTHING there. From there, we caught a ferry to Koh Samui to stay in our resort, "HARRYS". Koh Samui was nice and relaxing (nothing too special). We spent most of our time in the pool! Its a hard life!

From Samui, we went to Koh Phangnan - NO full moon parties for us though. The moon was decidedly 3/5ths - haha. We stayed at a beautiful resort run by Italians called Blue Ocean Garden. It was right on the beach, which was stunning and Tom did lots of snorkelling! His back is now peeling like a potato but he did have a face to face encounter with an ........EEL! (A moray eel to be exact!)

From Phagnan we moved onto Koh Tao - a tiny island, miles away from everything! Here we did my first, and Toms second, ever Scuba Dive! It was absolutely amazing! We went down to 12 metres and saw lots of tropical fish - including a huge shoal of Scads (a type of fusillier fish) which surrounded us like a cave. Our instructor, the crazy Irish 'Mama Gee' said it was virtually unheard of to see in such shallow waters! We also 'petted' a sea cucumber and a pincushion starfish! Tom thought the coolest things were the christmas tree worms which reacted to our water movement. (google them!) We hope to do another dive soon!

From Koh Tao, we went back to Surat Thani (AGAIN!) on a 6 hour boat journey from hell! It was really rough and we were both almost sick, until we discovered we could sit on deck and this made it much more bearable although we both got sunburnt!

Surat Thani was its shining glory as always!

From there we went to Trang (another Surat Thani experience) by Minibus. This was a very interesting minibus ride as the woman sat next to Tom, where we were squashed onto the back seat, was sick!!!! TWICE!!!!!! It was so disgusting that once people left the bus we had to move to the front, clambering over nine thais on the way!

From Trang we went on the most expensive and excrutiating boat journey ever known to man! We thought it would be ok as we could sit on the deck again - BUT NO! We werent allowed. We had to sit in the dingy, hot cabin for 6 hours - and then another 1 1/2 hours floating outside Langkawi harbour with no mention of a reason. We later found out the tide was low. THEN - we had to sit outside an office for another 1/2 hour, in the dark, whilst our passports were transported to the OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND to get stamped into Malaysia. OH DEAR! We were not pleased!

We are now in Kuah Town, Langkawi - a small island off Malaysia. It is quite different to Thailand and today we went around some shopping malls and saw the giant eagle statue. We are staying in a hotel which literally opened yesterday. We are their first customers and our room is VERY clean. The staff are so eager to please us that they look terrified every time we walk past. Tomorrow we move to the beaches which look nice (LOTS OF RESTAURANTS) and apparently our hotel has a slide in the 150m pool!

Next stop, K.L.!

Lots of Love to you all, Happy Easter - enjoy all those easter eggs - There is no such thing as easter here!

We are off for a KFC - Speak soon.

Lucy and Tom xxxxx

P.S: Tom wanted to write a PS so here it is. HA!