We made our way back from The Great Ocean Road after finding out we would be needing to check into our accommodation on the 26th and not the 27th as we had initially planned. This mean’t we were up fairly early and on the road in good time to get us to Melbourne that evening. Most of the journey was on the A1 from Warrrnambool and as it was Australia Day there wasn’t much traffic on the roads.

We had a brief stop in Colac before opting for lunch in Geelong where big Aussie Day carnivals were taking place. Geelong was packed all along the water front with volleyball tournaments, helicopter rides, sailing excursions and food stalls dominating much of the domain areas as well as thousands of people out for a picnic or crazy diving in the swimming area. We were surrounded by teenagers body-painted in the Aussie flag and families enjoying  their own fun and games.

When we left Geelong we were on the M1 which took us straight into Melbourne, it was an hour or so before we arrived at our humble lodgings with Jane and John who live in the Glen Waverley suburb. We were welcomed instantly and had were shown around their home and then into our bedroom for the next week, we couldn’t help but smile, this place is fantastic and we would have our own bed and bathroom for the next week all to our very selves. We found Jane and John through their Airbnb and listing for Melbourne, they are exceptional value for the fact that they throw in breakfast too and we were paying on average about $43 per night. Amazing! The only draw back is their location to central Melbourne, but we decided we could live with this. So after settling in and taking advantage of having the car still with us we did a Coles food shop, cooked dinner and chilled out.

On the 27th we dropped our car off successfully and wandered around the CBD a little before making our way to the Australian Tennis Open at Melbourne Park. We’ve done a separate blog post for our time at the Melbourne Open so if you want to read about that then just follow the link.

On the 28th we enjoyed a lovely day and evening with our friends Vic and Dave, by now you should be familiar with this pair as we’ve managed to meet up with them in Malborough and Christchurch, NZ and now Melbourne where they are going to make a living for themselves. It was a lovely day of food and drinks down at Baumaris beach which is a great spot for swimming followed by a fun an impromptu barbecue at their cousins place where they are currently staying.

So we ate, drank and boogied until we felt like going to bed, as it was a mission for us getting back to Glen Waverley we opted for a little sleep over in the form of foam mattresses in their very cosy lounge. The next morning we were ready for some tennis action once again.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Quiet times being back in La Canada (LA) especially after an 8 hour journey in the Chinook (Jill and Joe’s RV) but we pretty much caught up on the blog and packing. We did some exercise and cooked some lovely food for us all 2 nights in a row. On the 2nd November Dave and I ended up leaving the lovely home from home we have adopted and ventured down town LA from Pasadena on the Gold Line Metro to Union Station.

This is something new for us, public transport in LA! It’s such a big city to navigate but there is a good metro system if the destinations suit you! It’s $1.50 for one ticket which is valid for 2 hours of travel and took around half an hour to reach Union Station. We were confused when we arrived, but eventually picked up an area map from the information desk at the main entrance and managed to head in the correct direction towards Pueblo de Los Angeles; a very traditionally Mexican area. We hadn’t quite anticipated so many tourists and school groups to be around and realised The festival of the Dead was also taking place. There is a mini Mexican market and lot’s of authentic Mexican restaurants.

Walking down Main Street we stumbled upon Occupy LA at The City Hall. The Mayor has said they can camp there for as long as they want but we’ve since heard that they’re now trying to think of ways to move them on as the area around the City Hall isn’t holding up so well. Aside from this though there is a very strong presence at Occupy LA and we were invited in by a 19 day occupy resident to take a look around. It’s hard not to and it’s an interesting topic to photograph and observe.

So from the 99% to the 1% we ended up making our way to The Disney Concert Hall of which Frank Gehry who’s exhibition we followed in Beijing was the architect. The Concert Hall offers a bizarre versus beauty in its shape, reflections and form, standing out from any building that surround it. We were pleased to be able to explore the building for free and  enjoy both inside and out without any tours or lots of people around. The garden on the 3rd floor is open for people to use in their lunch break and offers a little abyss away from the city blocks of downtown behind. It’s a pretty cool building to explore if those of you out there venture to downtown LA.

On our way to Little Tokyo we wandered further through Occupy LA before enjoying some sushi on 1st Street opposite the Japanese Plaza. $20 between us in a very authentic Japanese style eatery.

We took the Gold Line back to Pasadena, and later that evening we all enjoyed another lovely family dinner! That night we would move closer to the sea as we were to be reunited with Sarah from Helen’s yoga course. We would be exploring a little more over the next few days!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We said we were never going to go to Vang Vieng, we’ve been told many a horror story of people ended up injured from their tubing and partying experiences and we thought we’d just skip it and explore another part of the country. However chatting to fellow travellers we got the impression that Vang Vieng offers more than the opportunity to go tubing down the river and get inebriated on toxic substances.

We took a bus journey to Vang Vieng which was around 5 hours from the capital and arrived at a decent enough time to start looking for accommodation. There was a group of us looking and we all managed to get into our first choice La Jardin Organique, Dave and I ended up sharing with Corrine to lower our costs for a few days and so it was 100,000 kip between the 3 of us which wasn’t a bad deal at all considering the costs in Vientiane. They have a good selection of accommodation here with bungalows, guesthouse style rooms and cheaper rooms for 40,000 with shared bathrooms, also the owners are very accommodating indeed and the female owner certainly seems to be the one negotiating prices with tourists over her husband!

With accommodation sorted early on we set off in search of finding some kind of trek/kayak trip that would cater to our needs. We went to a few companies along the main back street of Vang Vieng and found a company located around 10 minutes walk up the street from Le Jardin Organique on the right hand side, there are so many but these guys offered a 2 day tour that included hiking, caves, waterfalls and kayaking. The more of us that were interested in booking the tour then the price would come down, so after a good mint and lemon shake at the organic cafe in town we opted to book the trip and later on found out that Doug and Emma would also be joining us so that would shave off some of the cost. The total came to roughly £50 for the two of us to do this trip with food and one night’s accommodation included. That evening we went back to the organic cafe and enjoyed some good home-cooked soups and curries.

We met the next morning at 8.30 am for the tour and hopped onto a song thaw along with others who were going on a one day kayak and cave tour of the area. We all got off at the same point but the kayakers went one way and we the other. We started with a Buddhist cave in a village around 15km north of Vang Vieng along the Nam Song river, the cave is called Phu Kham cave and hosts a reclining Buddha along with a shrine and other symbolic Buddhist monuments. We were there for 5 minutes or so and our guide then started the trek. The first part of the trek was very steep indeed and took us up a karst peak, through dense jungle like foliage and we had a few clear moments where we could look out over the area, but otherwise it was quite hard work and in the heat we sweated lots. The walk led us to another cave, this one being much more interesting than the first, with no other tourists around for a start which is always a treat! We were led through one part of the cave where new stalagmites and stalactites were forming and the light shining into the cave was beautiful. Our guide started to get a barbecue going and said lunch would be around15-20 minutes later. So we explored the cave, Doug enjoyed the spa like water coming from the river and we cooled down after the heat of the walk.

Lunch was really simple but very good indeed; barbecued kebabs with vegetable fried rice, a baguette and bananas, it certainly filled us up and did the trick. After lunch we continued to walk through the secret eden forest area which is a valley in the middle of the peaks where no-one goes through other than the villagers as it’s surrounded by steep peaks all around. It was once an area where a hill tribe village lived and no-one knew of their existence until the Indo-Chinese war and then they left for more mainstream areas…we do try to remember this information when it’s told to us by our guides! We then carried on back up the peak and out to the other side, followed by a further hours walk to the eco-lodge built next to the river where we had stopped earlier in the day to drop off our bags. We got into the river to cool down and waited for our rooms to be organised, there seemed to be some confusion as to where our accommodation was but after a while we found ourselves in a wooden lodge which was simple but did the trick. We enjoyed a good local meal cooked by our hosts, accompanied by our guide Noi and this was followed by some card games.

Another good part of the tour was that we could choose our own breakfast from the menu at the eco-lodge, this was a first on a tour!! We had a bit of a wait for the tour guide and kayaks to turn up and whilst doing so the rain decided to come down, our fist rain shower in a long long time, it was really refreshing. The rains don’t last very long so we were able to get into the kayaks and start the first leg of this part of the tour. This time we were heading in the direction of Vang Vieng as we would eventually land up there later in the afternoon. The first part of the kayak took only half and hour and we got off to start trekking again, we were all aching a little from the steep climbs of the trek the day before but today we were promised it wouldn’t be so steep! This was the case though and after half an hour of walking we landed at our third cave of the trip, it was huge, we were able to walk through one entrance under the peak and out to the other side. During the wet season water comes crashing through from a river located further up the hill and right now it was completely empty with only large tree branches and trunks as evidence that water does come through at great speeds and volume. It was very cool indeed, we walked with head torches and took in the scale of the cave, not as bit as one’s we’d seen in Tha Khaek but impressive in other ways. On the other side we climbed out into the sunshine and our guide asked us if we wanted to go to another cave or to the waterfall up the hill. We opted for the waterfall and began the walk upwards. It didn’t take too long to reach though and when we got there we met a few other people on tours, including Ann who we’d met in Tha Khaek. We enjoyed another dip in a deep pool, it was much colder than the river temperature so it wasn’t long before we were sat warming up on rocks and enjoying another kebab and rice style feast.

The last part of the tour was kayaking all the way back to Vang Vieng, it was around 13km or so to get back and we took in a few rapids along the way, they were pretty tame though but we had fun going through them all the same. We passed through where the tubing starts and were faced with hundreds of happy go lucky backpackers enjoying the Vang Vieng tubing and zip lining into the water. It is a pretty mental site, from the peacefulness of the valley and mountains to an Ibiza style day by day party, music blasting out and everyone getting wrecked, really odd! As we got closer to Vang Vieng we passed more and more tubers coming to the end of their little adventures and we landed at the bay just where La Jardin Oraganique is located, perfect for us. We had already pre-booked a room there so we were able to check in straight away, they had an even cheaper room for us 80,000 kip between the 3 of us and it wasn’t any worse than the last other than it wasn’t in a bungalow.

Later on we attain town at a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant which didn’t really live up to it’s reputation, although opting for the local barbecue was the best option, for those after western tastes don’t expect to be in a rush. Still this is Laos after all!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

People in this part of the world get up early, so you get up early too. We awoke at 6am and decided to watch the sunrise from our floating house looking out across the water. The sunlight colour and luminance changes so fast that its a photographers dream to be somewhere so unique and interesting. Breakfast was provided by our guests and we happily ate yet more fried eggs, bread, jams and fruit which would set us up nicely for another day of boat travel and beach time. This time we headed back on ourselves from the following day and docked at beach 6 which was again very isolated and offered the chance of some snorkeling action. The water was relatively clean, not crystal by any means, and there were a few fish around the rocks which made it interesting. After all feeling the power of the sun on our skin yesterday we had a slightly more sheltered day under the trees on the beach front when not swimming or exploring the beach.

Lunch was again provided by our guide and the boat driver which was amazing again. We think they had learnt that we eat quickly and therefore fill up quickly and they did not produce as much food as yesterdays lunch which was a relief to us all. The boat left at 1.30pm and we made our way around the island, past the homestay and onwards to the Mangrove forests which we did not arrive at until nearly 5.30pm. We walked through the forest along a raised wooden platform exploring the trees and their amazingly alien like roots. Sunset arrived swiftly and we departed for Koh Kong where a tuk-tuk was awaiting our return. We felt the tour was amazing and our guide and driver were great, so we tipped them a few dollars as it was well deserved. The tuk-tuk drove us back to the tour operators and we grabbed our bags from the Dugout hotel as we were moving to a cheaper hostel. Big thanks to the Dugout for allowing us to leave our bags, whilst we were away, however on our return arrogance and rudeness seemed uncalled for, as well as asking for a tip for the girls who apparently looked after and carried our bags, but if tipping was not our thing, don’t worry about it. Even though it is in many review books, we are not sure how long it will last with attitudes like that and at $16 a night in a tired room we did not feel a tip was warranted.

We moved up the road to were Ali and Carl were staying and we got a great room for $7 and then $10 the following night as it was Chinese New Year. We freshened up and all met for some evening food. Ice cream followed from a great place on the water front and then an early night before heading off in the morning on a bike ride into the Cardamon Mountains Conservation Corridor to find the Tatai River and Waterfall.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Boxing Day is traditionally a time for eating the left overs from Christmas day, watching some great films and playing games with family and friends. However this year we wanted beach, sand and sea with some lovely sunshine, especially after coming from the north of China! Lamma Island was our choice as it has good reviews a nice walk from one village to the next and has a good reputation for being a million miles away from Hong-Kong’s manic streets. During the morning we sorted out or next tickets for traveling back in China, Shenzhen to Guilin on a 10 hour sleeper bus which would be our first sleeper bus journey!

The boat over to the island takes around 20/25 minutes. If you want to buy a ticket you need change for the entrance barriers, there are change machines if you don’t have enough coins with you. You can walk from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan in around 90 minutes or so and it’s an easy walk along a custom concrete path. There are shops and restaurants in the villages and we found a great little organic shop which even sold flapjacks and wine which was very reasonably priced, even cheaper than on Hong-Kong Island. We found a beach, ate our packed lunch of sardines on Rivita bread and bought an ice cream for dessert. One caveat however, when there is beauty there is quite often some unappealing elements, such as a coal fired power station just across the bay. It’s a pretty big eye sore but you would hope that the waters are safe, people were swimming and everywhere was pretty clean. If you can ignore the beast on the horizon then this is a little gem of a place away from the shops and manic life in the city.

Continuing our walking we headed over the hills and towards the other village. Its a nice little walk with some great views out to sea (when looking away from the power station!) and the sun was slowly turning our skin golden even in December so plenty of suncream is required. Another beach called Lo Shing off the beaten track can be found and we had it all to ourselves pretty much, a nice jetty with a BBQ area was occupied by a family cooking all sorts of fish and meats. We settled onto our towels and Dave dragged, well carried, Helen into the sea against her wishes! Dave got his punishment after slipping on a rock and slicing off some layers of skin on his heal which stung quite a bit, that was the sea fun over with for him!

After some anti-septic wipes and a “little” bit of sympathy from Helen we hobbled off to the village to head back to Hong-Kong Island. Stopping on the way at a restaurant called Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant we had some awesome fresh fish and prawns, the best fresh seafood we’ve enjoyed on the trip so far! We don’t like the name but it was damn good food.

We made our way back to the guest house, bought some essentials for the next part of the trip, toothpaste, earplugs etc and after the first real sun and beach in months we were knackered! We snuggled down in bed and watched a new episode of E4′s MisFits. A great boxing day, one to remember!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)