Nepal

We arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal on the 25th of Oct. It was really crazy in Nepal after being in Japan and our ears weren’t used to all the horns of the motorbikes so it was really loud. In Kathmandu we bought hats and mitts (even though it was really hot out) for when we went trekking. We also went to a place called Durbar Square which is an area that has lots of old temples and buildings, it reminded me of Angkor Wat a bit so I got a bit bored. After Kathmandu we went to a town called Pokhara and from there we started our trek.

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On the first day of our trek we walked all the way uphill for about 2 hours to a village called Pothana and we slept there. The next day we walked all day to a village called Landruk and we were really tired so we slept well that night. The next day we went to a village called Jinhu and to get there you had to cross a river which meant you had to go all the way down then all the way back up! I was lucky though because Bronwyn was carrying me the whole way. The cool thing about Jinhu was the hot springs. The hot springs were the perfect temperature compared to the Onsens in Japan which were a little bit too hot sometimes. The next day we went all the way downhill to a village called Syauli Bazar and we went down to the river bank and found cool rocks. We finished our trek in a village called Nyapul and from there we got a car back to Pokhara.

Trekking was fun and hard. My favourite part was popcorn and hot chocolate after a hard day of trekking, oh yeah, and the views of the pretty snowy mountains.
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Back in Pokhara we went paragliding. Bronwyn figured out a way to harness me in so I could go with her. We went with a pilot who flew the paraglider and ran off the hillside to get us started. It was fun to feel like you were flying but it was scary to be so high up. We would follow the eagles in the air because they would find the thermals and then we would be lifted back up again.
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We left Kathmandu on the 21st of November to the beaches in southern Thailand.
This is Hippie in Thailand coming back soon.

You know you’re in Tokyo when…

You rent an apartment in the suburbs of Tokyo because of road weariness. You say you have to frame the train line map because its so colourful because there are so many train lines. You switch to a different train map cause you realise you are looking at the wrong train company’s map. You stop to karaoke for an hour just to rest your feet. Everyone is on their smart phones texting (which must be very difficult since their writing has 1000+ characters). After seeing a Japanese temple you think: What the heck am I doing here looking at another temple! You think your blinded because of all the bright lights. You think the dogs are better dressed than you.(actually I don’t wear clothes I’m a hippo but if dogs do I might as well!). You have to go back to the science museum again to see ASIMO the robot. You go to a town north of Tokyo in hope of seeing Mt.Fuji. On the way out of Tokyo airport you make a Japanese style wood print. You think you have to stay longer to see every thing else there is to see.

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We left Tokyo on the 25th of November 2011 to Kathmandu Nepal
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This is Hippie in Nepal coming back soon.

Japan

We arrived in Osaka at 6:00am local time (4 hour red-eye flight). The first thing we did was go back to sleep. Then we went out for breakfast and did some grocery shopping and for dinner we met up with one of Bronwyn’s mom’s friends. 

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Then we went to stay in a temple which is the house of one of Bronwyn’s mom’s host families. Then we went back into the city and stayed with another host family, and while we were there we went to USJ (Universal Studios Japan) a big amusement park with rides based on Universal Studios movies.

Universal Studios Japan.

We went on the Spiderman ride, the Back to the Future ride, the Jurassic Park ride, the Jaws ride, the Snoopy ride and the Terminator ride/movie thing. We also went to the Osaka aquarium and saw whale sharks. We also went on a giant Ferris wheel. Oh ya I forgot, we went for lunch at a conveyer belt sushi restaurant. It was cool!

Conveyer belt sushi restaurant.

Getting rid of the fineshed plates.

Then we took a bus to a town in the Japanese Alps called Hirayu Onsen. We camped there in a rented tent.

Camping experiment.

We went in lots of Onsen. Onsen are big geothermal heated public baths.

Onsen.

Foot onsen.

The only thing we did was go to the onsen because it rained a lot. Then we went to another town called Takayama and stayed there for 5 days in Takayama. The toilets here are weird there are so many different buttons: one to spray one to dry one that makes a flushing noise plus heated seats!

Japanese style toilet.

Which toilet is availible?

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After Takayama we took a bus to Tokyo.
This is Hippie in Tokyo coming back soon.

You know your in Vietnam when…

The market at the local island town is filled with eel, giant prawns, oysters, crabs and other sea life. When you get dragged out of your hotel room to see the sunset on the beach.

Sunset on Phu Quock island Vietnam.

When you eat for the sake of eating because the food is so good. When you nearly go deaf from the constant honk of motorbikes. When you feel like you should buy a car horn just for the sake of honking it because that is what every one else is doing (Honking for no reason). When the local pig eats rice porridge. When you go rock climbing on an island thing that looks sort of like one of the twelve apostles.

Bronwyn rock climbing.

When I look like…

... this.

When you go hiking in the mountains near China until your feet hurt.

Crossing a stream.

When you get…

...this...

...and these at a local festival.

And finally, When you see…

...this...

...and this.

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We flew from Hanoi (the capital of Vietnam) to Osaka Japan on the 9th of September 2011.
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This is Hippie in Japan coming back soon.

The rest of Cambodia

After Siem Reap we took a bus to Battambang. In Battambang we tried out the local transportation called “the bamboo train”, a “train” used by the locals to transport their produce to the local markets. It consists of a bamboo woven platform on top of a set of train wheels.

The bamboo train!

Riding the bamboo train is noisy and bumpy but a lot of fun! The most interesting part of riding the train is what happens when you meet another train going in the opposite direction. The direction with the fewest number of cars/passengers is declared the winner! So off goes the platform from the other train put it on the side then just lift the wheels off the track, easy as pie! Then we pass and they reassemble their train and keep going! While in Battambang we did a cooking class and learned how to make a spicy-sour soup, and a chicken dish with coconut milk. After Battambang we took a bus to Pnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We took a bus from Pnom Penh to Sihanoukville a town on the ocean, where the water is not refreshing! We took a ferry to an island off Sihanoukville called Koh Rong and it was so much fun! We swam, we painted the bar staffs’ faces, and played with the resident tiny fluff-ball kitten.

The local tow truck, a water buffalow.

The bungallow we stayed in.

After Sihanoukville we took a taxi to a town called Kampot. In Kampot we stayed in… a tower!

The Ganesha tower.

It was so cool! Bronwyn also rented a hobicat (a little sailboat) for the afternoon,

Sailing.

and visited a really stinky crab market in a town called Kep near Kampot. We then took a tuk tuk to the border into Vietnam to a city called Ha Tien.
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This is Hippie in Vietnam coming back soon.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Ok, we arrived in Siem Reap on the 12th  of June 2011. The 1st 3 days we  hired a tour giude to show us around the temples of Ankor Wat. The 1st temple we went to was called Bayon temple. Then we went to Ankor Wat temple and Bronwyn’s parents got to walk to the top but me and Bronwyn weren’t allowed to ’cause we were to little. Bayon temple was the best because you could scramble on the ruins. The next day we went to the temple that is in the movie Tomb Raider, and we also went to a water fall. The next day we went to the floating village and a temple that was in one of the Indiana Jones movies. 

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The next day we went to a village with a different tour company and helped them weave palm thatches for their roof and helped plant fruit trees. A couple days  later we did a cooking class and made fresh spring rolls, coconut curry and these crunchy crepe flavoured wafer things with black  sesame seeds, they are so good! The next few weeks we did absolutely nothing except read our books and swim in the pool at our guest house. Then we found this … well they call them selves an orphanage but most of the kids still have families. And taught English for 3 weeks and helped haul dirt for a new toilet block.
After 3 weeks of teaching English we left Siem Reap for Battambang a town just south of Siem Reap.
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This is Hippie in Battambang coming back soon.

Laos

We arrived in Laos on the 21st of May 2011. They’re big on the oreo’s here, there are oreo shakes everywhere! The first day we went to our hotel and just got a baguette with nutela on it and it is so good! They have really good pastries here because a long time ago France invaded Laos. The next day we went to a waterfall and Bronwyn went off the rope swing there she said it was lots of fun.

aaaaaAAaaaaAAaaaaa! Tarzan!

The next day it was just too hot to do anything so we just stayed In our air conditioned rooms. The next day we went to a swimming pool with a bar and we swam all day and it was really fun. We go to the night market alot and they sell lao lao (alcohol) with whole snakes in the lao lao bottle! YUK! A couple days after we rented bikes and rode to the swimming pool again. The night market is so creepy, they have the weirdest things, but some things are all hand made and embroidered and they have these slippers that are so big I would fit in them! (remember, i’m a bit smaller than a tisue box). And they have really nice jewellery and earings that are huge! They also have these necklaces that weigh max 3 kilos! They’re like armour! I imagine they would be hot. Bronwyn also went kayaking.

Relaxing in the kayak.

  And she also did silk weaving, she wove a placemat and dyed her own silk.

Weaving a placemat takes a couple of hours and alot of patience.

We flew into Vientiane (the capital of Laos) on the 5th of June 2011. We really didn’t do much except go to COPE, an organisation that helps clear UXOs (unexploded ordinence (mines and bombs) from when the Americans bombed the area of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). Bronwyn also went ziplineing.

Climbing across the spider web.

We flew into Siem Reap Cambodia on the 12th of June 2011.
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This is Hippie in Cambodia coming back soon.