Apart from plenty of tourists on Koh Phi Phi,  there are also hundreds upon hundreds of other little residents, much to my delight…………

Cats! Oodles of them!  A cat snapper’s paradise.  So this one’s for you Gerald, I know how much you love the cats!

You quite often see the shopkeepers tipping out bags of food on the ground for the cats, and you’d also see little ‘charity pots’ on counters labelled ‘Money for the cats’ so I guess they help each other out!

I started snapping the cats as I usually do, but there were so many I dedicated an entire afternoon to finding the furry little friends, lazing about steps, preening and washing, meowing and sniffing around for food, and more lazing about.

One particular kitty that struck a chord in my heart was this little kitten, a poor wee mite with a nasty wound on his leg, skinny as anything.  He stumbled across my path, and I couldn’t walk on by doing nothing.  I had spoken to a girl in a nearby dive shop earlier, and saw she had cats in there, so I took him in there to see if she could do anything.  She dressed his wound with iodine to at least try and stop it from getting infected, and I went to the shop and bought and few pouches of food to give him.  He wolfed it down, and seemed to settle in the shop for a little bit, until he took to the street again on his own.  It broke my heart to leave him standing in the street but it was all I could do.  I saw him the next day sitting on the step which made me happy.  The girl in the dive shop said he needed a name, so I called him Oreo.   After the next day I didn’t see him again. I hope nothing bad came of him 😦

Little Oreo

Curled up on my lap with his poorly leg

Enjoy!

Yes, that is a painted foot you see!

Goodbye…..

25th – 28th September 2014

This, unfortunately  will not be the post I had hoped it would be.  This is the only section of photos that I didn’t get many back from, and probably the one I wanted most.  However, I will always have the experience with me, and maybe one day I’ll get to go back there.

I had managed to already back up the Angkor Wat sunrise photos as they were separate from the others.  We got up at silly o’clock to watch the sun rise with Angkor Wat as the backdrop.  It was absolutely beautiful.   And as expected I took hundreds of pics as the sun came up! Continue reading Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples, Cambodia →

21st-23rd September 2014

Our arrival into Cambodia along the Mekong River and then onwards by bus took us into the Southern city of Phnom Penh. The landscape was quite similar to that of Vietnam,  although I felt a little more green and lush. After checking into our hostel we decided to go for lunch. Here we were introduced to the city’s main transportation mode – the tuk tuk! Tuk tuks come in different shapes and styles. Continue reading Phnom Penh, Cambodia →

This was going to be my next post:

“Absolutely gutted are the only words I can use as to how I feel right now. I have just spent an awesome day trekking in the Malaysian jungle, and have excitedly booked a trek with a group tomorrow too.  So, feeling quite content, this evening I thought I’d catch up with some things I needed to do,  and so thought I’d get the photos off my SD cards and onto my tablet.  Four cards I went through,  and afterwards I formatted each card for the next use. The last card I formatted I didn’t think had worked properly.  So I did it again.  Unfortunately what I didn’t realise was that I was just about to format the storage card on my tablet, deleting 90% of the photos I had taken in the last six weeks. 

At first it was disbelief, then this lead to the realisation that I had actually just done this, and suffice to say I have spent much of the evening in tears.  Those that know me, and those that follow my blog, I expect realise, how much my photos mean to me. There’s photos of sunsets and blue beaches that I’m really not going to get upset about and I can get any day, they’re ten a penny, but what sticks in my mind is my visit to the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand, and my two days spent in the amazing temples of Angkor Wat. Yes, I know I could potentially revisit these places one day, but both experiences were special,  and I know I had some equally amazing pictures.

I know over the next few days/weeks I will remember other great pics and videos I have taken, and now lost. I know it’s not the end of the world but I can’t help being so upset about this.

Unfortunately the next few blog posts won’t have many pics on them,  if any. I have a handful of photos on my phone, but not many 😦 ”

Fortunately things weren’t quite as bad as I first thought:

Now, after chatting with a couple of people I was well informed that I should be able to get the photos back, with the use of a computer.  So whilst in Kuala Lumpur I took my memory cards into a computer shop.  I managed to get a whole bunch of corrupted photos back, some had been salvaged ok, but not many.  The next day I took all my memory cards in to see what I could get back from them, and luckily I did get a fair few more from them.  I had most of the Elephant Nature Park photos, but as hard as I wished I really didn’t get many of the Angkor temples photos.  Probably about ten out of…..er…..probably around 300!  Truly gutted about this as I had two of the best days of my entire trip in these magnificent old ruins, they really were something else.   I was even thinking of going back there to retake the pics I lost, but it would cost a bit to go back there obviously, and I came to the conclusion I can visit again one day.  So the awesome day and photos I took (which I never got to see myself as I hadn’t even had chance to sit down properly and look through them!) will remain confined to my memory, bar a few saved ones. 

I know it is not the end of the world, but it certainly wasn’t my best week I must admit, especially as I have cloud backup in case of such idiotic occurrences….but last time I did the backup, it hadn’t worked properly, and I hadn’t kept on top of it and checked it. 

Unfortunately I didn’t have a second back up in case of two idiotic occurrences…..

Tough lesson learned.  It’s always after the horse has bolted isn’t it……?!

7th – 11th September 2014

On arrival in Hoh Chi Minh City (aka Saigon), I got off the bus to be greeted, as usual, by eager taxi drivers/motorbike taxis, people transporters etc etc.  I had searched on my GPS for the street I was looking for, and it showed me it was about 3 miles away.  I asked a taxi driver how much it would be, and he said ‘it’s on the meter’.  Oh good, I thought, as this is usually the best rate!  I emphasise the word ‘usually’.

Continue reading Hoh Chi Minh City – Scams, War History, and a whole lotta mopeds! →

3rd – 8th September 2014

I had to choose between another beach destination or Da Lat, an inland mountainous region with beautiful scenery.  Of course I opted for the mountainous region, as much as I love beaches I probably love a mountain’s views and the challenges they possess even more so!

The climate in Da Lat was a lot cooler, so much so that for the few days I was there I could straighten my hair again! 

Continue reading Da Lat, Vietnam. Mountains, wine, and a cat called Mau →

There were six of us on this trip, in two separate Russian mini vans.  This was a good job because a lot of the next 6 days were to be spent in these vans traversing bumpy, sometimes, rollercoaster-like dirt tracks.  The drivers?  They only know one speed…..I expect you can guess which one that is!  If you’re still a little unsure, check out Gobi Desert Part Two (to follow) to see the results of such speed!

In the group were Stefan (UK), Sebastien, Cecile, Thomas and Djena, all French, and all speaking fantastic English. 

Not far out of the city appeared the start of the countryside and the Mongolia I had come to see.  We started to see gers (or yurts as I used to know them) dotted about the countryside.  On the first day we drove for about eight hours through a lush green landscape and some beautiful mountain scenery.

Sebastien getting comfy!

Traffic…

We stopped off for lunch and had some camel milk tea, not bad actually!

A right character in the cafe

Along the way we also stopped at a sacred mountain of Mongolia, so sacred that the guide could not say the name of the mountain while we were next to it, for fear of bad luck.  It was called Zorgol Khairkhan, no one is even allowed to walk up the mountain.  At the foot is a large pool of water, filled with nearly a hundred horses all bathing in the hot midday sun.  Inquisitive creatures they were, quite often staring into the lens of the camera, posing for their beauty shots!

Zorgol Khairkhan

Specially for the horse lovers!

In the evening we arrive in a little village, and all six of us stayed in a ger next to a Mongolian family.  It wasn’t quite the nomadic experience we may have expected, as we had no interaction with the family, but nonetheless it was a comfortable bed and a good night’s sleep.

Stefan

Cecile

When I was arranging this three night trip to Olkhon Island all those months ago when I was back home, it was the one I was most excited about.  Well, it didn’t disappoint!  I booked my minibus taxi in the town, and they came to pick me up on the Saturday morning.  There was only one guy in the van when it picked me up, Trevor from England.  We then went on to pick up a further group of people, along with all their huge rucksacks, but we managed to squeeze them in.  Packed in like sardines, to our dismay we stopped at another hostel, with two further guys and all their gear!  It was a crazy squash but we did it, and we’d certainly be getting to know each other very well over our 6 hour journey!  Fourteen people and all their gear were packed into this what I think was probably a 12 seat minibus! (The driver certainly didn’t like to hang around either!  Although his speedo was broken so I’m not quite sure exactly how fast he was going, but he was overtaking everything in sight!)

At the ferry point

My first find at the place we had booked to stay!

Nikita’s Homestead was where I had booked my 3 nights, and at first I was worried because nearly all of the minivan guys I’d got to know over the last 6 hours were staying at another place, and I had enjoyed their company (I got in the bubble!) and I was worried I’d made the wrong choice, and so I very nearly changed my mind at the last minute, but I thought no, Nikita’s is where I wanted to stay all those months ago I’m going to stick with it.  I needn’t have worried one bit though, Nikita’s was lovely, a group of beautiful wooden buildings with guests from all over the world.

After checking in, I met a Swiss girl Silja, who had literally just arrived before me.  We were sharing the same room, and got on so well that in fact we spent the whole of the next three days together!

The atmosphere at Nikita’s was fantastic, everyone was so friendly, the staff very helpful, and the food was plentiful with good tasty choices.  I was also in my element, the place was heaving with cats and dogs!  I particularly took a shine to the little white kitten…..could have popped him in my rucksack!

On the first evening Silja and I went to the on site French Bistro, and drank some very welcome glasses of hot mulled wine.  Bliss.

On the Sunday we booked to go on s tour to the Northern cape of the island.  It was an extremely bumpy ride, as there are no roads on the island, only dirt tracks.  At least they were generous with the seating numbers in this one!

A few pics from the tour of the island

A funny little bit of driftwood with a face!

Cow on the beach!

People here tie little bits of material to the trees as shamanic offerings

They also leave coins and cigarettes as offerings

Seals on the rocks

Our driver made us a lovely fish soup for lunch

Apparently if you throw stones at the big rock you will get a husband (or wife, whichever your preference!)

I am quite ashamed at this blatantly obvious ‘girl throw’!

You even get to choose the kids!

Bit of a better throw!

Back at Nikita’s, I find another friend….

Cat selfie!

On the Monday Silja and I went to a cooking class with a lovely lady called Marsha. She taught us how to make varenikki. We made dough which was similar to pasta, and the filling, although I was a little unsure at first on hearing what it would be, cabbage and egg….was actually delicious!

In the afternoon we went on a two hour horse riding trek. It was lovely trotting through the woods, over the hills and along the dirt tracks on the island, taking in the views around us. The guy that took us was a bit miserable and just disappeared at the end without saying a word! Oh well, we enjoyed it even if he didn’t!

A few more pictures from out and as bout on the island, and the views from the hill on the last night.

The room we shared

This is by far my favourite bit of the trip so far. I would love to come back to Olkhon Island in the winter, when the lake freezes with ice 1-3 metres thick! Apparently it freezes so clear though, that it doesn’t even look like it’s frozen! Brave are those who drive across it, especially as apparently you can hear the ice cracking and creaking as you drive across it. Even though this is normal and is pretty safe, I would be terrified!