Well this is the Singapore Segment of the trip & the last in the S.E Asia trial. Mostly the photos are of the animals in the Singapore Zoo which was really great. I myself really love the the photo of the urangitane with it's hand over its mouth!

Our time in Cambodia from Sept 25th to Oct 1st.

Arriving in Cambodia via the border with Thailand was the usual hassle with the passport checks & carrying the backpacks around but there's nothing that can be done about that so we carried on til we reached Poipet on the cambodian side after a short government bus journey to set ourselves up to find transport for the four of us ending up opting for a car taxi as it was only four hour journey & would be alot more comfortable than the 'scam buses' (in which alot of sorry tourists probably fall for as it's cheaper) for the some-what bargain price of $50 which is the price quoted in the Lonely Planet.

We started the journey in the disbelief of how truely shocking the conditions in the local towns were, considerably alot more worse off especially inthe infrustrure within cambodia compared to its neighbouring country Thailand which is so prosporous looking in comparsion. We all could'nt help but laugh as we were shaken about so much in the car but so it became more than annoying when we were all getting tired as it was impossible to sleep with the fear of the driving especially! Just drive, even on the wrong side of the road at times as long as as you can avoid the bumps & hallows!

We arrived into Siem Reap just after dark on the look-out for a decent hotel so to rest after the stressfull days journey so the driver took us to must be a family connected establishment were we managed to get a good deal of all sharing a triple bed room for $11 per day or $2.75, basic but comfortable enough. As much to say taht we had a couple of Angkor Draught beers that night, Yum!!

Started the next day on Tuesday to go purchase our 3-day entance passes costing $40 for Angkor Wat, (Wat meaning Temples). Managed to see an non-existant sun-set after climbing a hill before started to rain.

Wednesday, the 1st official day of templifing got under way with a driver including a small fee of $20 over the 3 days with heading to view the magificiance of Ankgor Wat Temple which is said to be the largest religious temple in the World! So much to see of the sculptures which date to the early 13th Century but alot has now run into ruin. We managed to get other various but smaller temples included that day also such as Angkor Thom. Needless to say we all were quite tired & relieved to get back to the guesthouse afterwards!

The 2nd day consisted of our driver touring us round 5 temples with all the begging children wanting you to buy their bracelets, postcards or anything that they had in their hands at the time as well as a few amputee casualties resulting from the long years of wars of the Khmer Rouge behind them now.

That night we decided to hit a tradtional Khmer Dance & performance which included a buffet for the price of the ticket for $12 after heading down Pub Street for a few Beers and even a bucket in which we came accross a young local boy aged no more than 7 pitiful looking so we gave him some pop-corn to munch on & some 7-Up which he seemed delighted with. He became so funny & adorable with the games of clapping hands etc but it was good that some-one was able to show a little attention to the wee fella because that's what they what most apart from the little food they receive.

The last day we managed to complete with only 3 temples to visit before heading off with our driver to take a boat trip to the floating Village in which the driver's family lived. We spent two very enjoyable hours there even his mother providing dinner with rice & scrimp really tasty even if the girl's did'nt think so! even managed to get on a floating raft & tour take a tour of the Village getting to see a crocadile farm up close. left than to head up river to the Flooded Forest were all you can see is the tips of the tree tops poking out of the water but amazingly all the water completely vanishes in the dry season.

We left Siem Reap on saturday for the long awaited journey to the border of Cambodia in a real decreped bus which ran over the bumps no problem at all just leaving us banging our heads & half falling off our seats every minute or so. Arriving at the border in Poipet it was hilirious to see all of us & the colour on our faces for the journey which was so dusty that it made us look like we had had the worst fake tan experience ever!!! So orange, Donna claimed that i looked like one of the characters from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory! You know who i mean!!!!!!!!!

Arriving back to Bangkok was so nice in a plush V.I.P bus compared to the journey encountered beforehand. Back to stay on kho Sarn road for us again til we get ourselves sorted for Laos.

Just a wee message to c how ur keepin? Anythin goin on that we need to no bout? This is our last day in Bangkok again with no troubles with the Coup i promise, if we never had watched CNN i swear there would'nt be a thing goin on that we have noticed. Apart from Sheena gettin a photo with a couple of soldiers, & Alan aparately been caught photographed with his back on the Bangkok Post! Headin to Cambodia tomorrow on a bus as independately as poossibe tomorrow as there can be bother you can do without goin it alone on the train with people tryin to get extra money out of u than is needed. One of the main attractions in Cambodia is Ankor Wat wer there is a massive temple, biggest religious 1 in the world that is a most see that runs into kilometres wide. We'l prob spend a couple days there before havin to come bac in2 Thailand @ the start of October for the 3rd time as we have to enter Laos from there as it's easier & less hassle by train. Not knowin what to expect from the next couple of weeks in Cambodia & Laos as far as the roads been in a rough state but anyway it will be an experience!!!

Is it 2 obvious to say this is the Taj Mahal????

The security check was crazy to get in here. We queued up for around 20min with the locals pushing and shoving Myself and Sheena. All the Security Checks in india are male and female seperated. While waiting in line in the scorching sun these local women began rubbing up and down sheena's arms. When we finally got into the security they sent us back because we did'nt know it but you are not allowed to bring in phones or mp3 players to the grounds. So Sheena and Steven had to go out to the lockers to deposit our stuff and begin the lovely cycle of queuing all over again! When we got in it was all worth the hassle. We took tonnes of great photos and stayed until the sun set... It was beautiful to see the light change around the Taj and to watch the sun go down and the moon to come up. That night was a full moon, on the week of the full moon they open the Taj after dark so you can see the moon shine off the encrusted diamonds on the roof of the dome.

This Building was designed by the same man who built the Taj Mahal. We all had the place to ourselves which was great for the peace & quiet which is a rarity here in India.

This is the india gate which is situated in Delhi. The Names of those who died during the third Afghan War are imprinted on this memorial arch.

INDIA


This is the sight where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated. Thus we visited the memorial created for him.

Well let me tell u what we have been up to lately.

Since we came to chiang mai we have done loads of stuff.

We went on a day trip to the tribal villages here in Chiang Mai we saw the long neck tribe, carn tribe, the aka tribe and a few more that i canny remember the name of. then the next day sheena and i did a thai cooking class were we cooked some traditional thai cuisine.

Then we were on a 3day trek there at the start of the week. it was one of the most toughest things that weever had to do. it was up the side of a mountain and sometimes it was so steep that it felt like i was climbing a ladder. but in saying that it was so rewarding wen u got to the top just looking at the views which some were above the clouds. the second day was not as tough it was shorter and was split up by a swim in the river at the bottom of a waterfall. then the third day we went white water rafting it was so exciting and so scary at the same time. then to finish off the trip we went bamboo rafting on this u just relaxed on some bamboo sticks and let the guide take u down the river. wen we were on the trek we stayed in huts were the 11people who were on the trek with us all shared. the "beds" were no thicker than laying on a blanket on the ground.

Adding Some more pics

This is to keep everybody up to date with our trip.

There is only a little photographs up at the moment but we will keep it up to date.

Im sure you all have been receiving e-mails from us so u know what has been happening so far.

Well yesterday was my (donnas) birthday so to celebrate we went bungy jumping over a lake. The four of us did it myself (donna), Steven, Sheena and Alan. It was 50m high and was the most scary thing any of us had to do, (yet). Then we went out to dinner in a real posh restaurant for the food we got it was still very cheap when you convert the money to euro. In saying this it seemed very expensive in baht. We got free transportation to the restaurant and the guys had organised a winnie the pooh cake for me.

We got our flights to India booked and we went to apply for our visa today. We fly out of Bangkok on Monday the 4th of September arriving in Delhi at 5 in the morning. We are all very excited about going to India and to see another country....