Rainbow bright's travel tales

Australia

2009-04-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

I received mail today about wanting to advertise on this website so I thought I would revamp and re jazz it accordingly. Not sure if was a scam and what the catch is. But made me think anyhow to revamp it. The economic crisis sure is a problem.Getting a job for non- Australians is an issue even if your from across the ditch.Its fair enough to keep the jobs for Auzzies just like what would happen in alot of other countries in the world. Bad time for travellers, recent graduates and migrants. Work for the Government, nursing and teaching appear to be safer bets. Private sector will be struggling.Ifinding im having a common bond with travellers, new migrants and recent graduates on this issue. Wondering how secure our job is and not getting the hours we would probably like.Companies are cutting down and have more casual contracts even for jobs theat in the past would be normally a permanant full time job.This instability is tough its time to get rid of debt as the economic advisors have said and cut down expenses. Clothes are cheaper these days which makes me happy.

In Australia I have been surprised how Americanized it has become.the rules, quoting of laws everywhere and obviously the well known rejection of letting refugees into the country. Racism obviously exists everywhere but I was surprised how blatant it was up in mid- north Queensland don't bring any curry munchers back here or darkies.people who did int know me what happens if I had friends from that background in which they were referring to? Are we in rural Texas? I just did int expect how redneck it was. . this is the behaviour i would expect from America so Australia feels to have changed from last time i was here. Not dramatically so i suppose its been a gradual change over the last 8 or 9 years.It seems likely then Austalia will become a republic next time there is a referendum .

mexico land of the warm hearts, mariachi and tequila!

2008-01-29T14:31:00.000-08:00

Mexico!

what warm hearts Ive encounterd here ! its polor opposite to its neighbour... theres good and bad people everywhere but my goodness these people really have hearts you really notice it after the states which i like to nickname the land of the big bully , it i dont know what it is but many people get their kicks out of being a bully there some of the things i saw in californina ive nevcver seen anywhere else i know there are other parts f the states which are much better,... 0 its really apparent and clear there, its like they get a thrill from it asserting their power because basically they have none, the government doesnt let them have any and any inch they get many abuse i suppose its liek what hapens at elemenetry school many kids that get bullied at home or by othetr kids can sometimes end up being the biggest bullies later i life its their turn to be the bully instead of being bullied. yeah most travellers enjoy america ive met have enjoyed the state alot to see and its clear there can be alot of opportunties for people that succeed , it you work hard and stuff people over or are the best in your field but land of freedom ah...no;) anyway about two days befor e i left for mexico i went out on a hostel tour to tijiuna it was crazy i personally love it, we took the trolly bus over the border i wanted to take photo of the biorder crossing but none allowed anyway tijuiana is really really cheap $1.25 tacos the best meat i have had in north america by far... some one said to me the other day im a veggie at heart because i complain so much about the meat in americawhich i cant stand i throw up at the sight of it ! we went to soem fdifferent bars, did tequila tasting went to a casino played pokies in spanish, had lots of cheap drinks, drank moonshine which apparently you shouldnt drink and it it burned my throat i had trouble digesting it, it was really really strong. one girl passed out at a bar we had to take here to a hospital in tijiuna we went to two different hospitals but tehy were goingto charge here alot of money so we decided to try and take her over the boarder she passed out , at the boarder US officials put her in awheelchair and examined her teeth to see if she had any drugs in her mouth it was pretty crazy then she wasnt allowed to sit in the wheelchair to wait for the trolly bus so we picked her up and put her

My wallet got nicked in tijuiana i lost $20 USbut none of my cards as left them back in san diego but then when i crossed the boarder i found $20 us on the ground bizzar! thats happened to me countles stimes in the states! I got pretty drunk at one stage and in tijuiana i almost got a TATTOO in a bar , as there are tattoo parlours in all the bars ... i was pretty keen to get my star sign tattooed in japanese Kanji characters ..on my back thank goodness i had enough sense to not get it dione its like getting married in vegas to a randoma nd elvis being your priest .. haa funny, great story t tell trashy and could have bad consequences!

Crossing the boarder really really drunk is crazy so many people took hours to cross... i took a matter of 3 mins . we had to wait for an hour for the trolly bus tehre was nothing open so had to hike for ages to find a toliet.

after that experience i decided im going to mexico! So me and this irish guty treked down to tijiuna stayed oovernight at the airport waited for a cheap flight to come up...we got a cheap flight to guadalajara Going through customs was different really relaxed far different from the states, once we arrived in guadalajara we caught a bus into town , but we had to catch one bus to the next and we miseed the connecting bus so then we got picked up by a off duty bus driver who drove us to the outskirts of downtown. stayed ina cheap hotel for $16 for the night°!
Guadalajara was enjoyable , the center was ver pretty colonial architecture some parts looked like england some looked very much like spain. Its apparently the most mexican city in mexico its the land of the mariachi= i went to a mariachi bar where men dress up in funny mexican clothes and belt out mexican ballads. In some parts there are men in mariachi COSTUMES everywhere the entire street lined up withthem its really cool also guadalajara is close to the town of ... get this TEQUILA! the town tequila is where tequila is from you can go and see it getting made! after some fun times in guadalajara caught a night bus to mexico city they drive really fast here i fell of the seat when i was sleeping on it have a bad bruise now hahhhaaa:) buses are great lots of legroom we arrived at 6am in the morning caught a cab who had no idea where to go but asked the police who are everywhere here so it makes you feel a bit safer but they still look like terriorists though and now went and saw some of the sights of mexico city, athropology muesum and cathedrals, Im going to see mexicos largests pyramid later this week and tonight im going to see a mexican wrestling match WWf style but where they wear a crazy scary masks which i took a photo of its in my facebook photos They call it lucha libre!IT reminds me of the film with jack black nacho libre . we are going to some cantinas first! mexico cxity is very uraban , cosmopolitian and downtown is pretty safe. but I will see how tonight goes I´ll still be keeping 100 pesos in my shoe to be safe!

till next time!

San Francisco/ Pacific highway/ new years in LA

2008-01-27T12:11:00.000-08:00

So after my arrival in LA i spent acouple of crazy days partying watching funny as open mic nights and comedy nights in the hostel. They were very very good the talent was fantastic from phil pub crawl leader at the hostel who rapped in away i had never heard before and a candian magician who had me to be his assisstant ,teh level of talent was high.. so many artists in hollywood get away from the plasticness the down to earth artists who have a love for their craft are brilliant i went up to san francisco,- took a small door to door shuttle with otehr travellers up to usa hostels went through the desert boring as scenery. But ppl cool.

I loved san fran , height asbury area little italy, misson district, cool neighbourhoods especially all those unique shopson height street great people were great friendly, a hint of reserdness, passive agressiveness going on there but sincere but always worrying about how they were going to pay their rent.That seemed to be the main topics of converstation in san francisco( it was easy to meet locals or other people who had moved inter-state)it was how am i going to pay my rent this week in LA it was how am i going to pay my car payments ,,,? or if not that check out my car! well a guy in ahot car in La will get the girls i suppose i admit i tdouble take when i see a hot car.. tehn the guy suddenly becomes hotter.

Surprisingly i found well san francisco. really romantic you know its wasnt teh bridge or scernery as such which was nice .. but just the whole energy of things there. It really sems like asiide from rent prices would be a lovely place to live longer term . it was like melbourne (cultural things emphasised here) witha touch of sydney energy (not as brash but cosmopolitian like sydney and faster pased like sydney like in the financial district , and the the bridge ewaterfront remninded me oof sydney
) and geographically the hills reminded me like wellingtonand also easy to get around liek wellington and melboune if not gbetter and more interesting if you found a job you really likes and paid excellent well you would really be set. some parts were a little bland and sterile, i liked the areas that were nice but a bit edger had character, the richer areas seemd well a little dull.Everyone in san fran would go " i love your accent its so cute!!"especially the guys. I have to admit while i wa sthere i had a great time..yes it was romantic, on xmas eve , francois made me a made me a three course french meal it was amazuing he went to so much effort and got me work at cafe bastille in san francisco as holiday help over xmas.. tehy speak spanish in the kitchen and french in the restaurant i wa sthe only fluent english speaker.it was a little crazy. A really nice guy pierre i worked with him and helped me to get free french food every day i worked it was great!we got a three course meal .. really home style french food.
xmas was fun at the hostel... we would go across the road to this italian owned store grab bottle of millers beer for $2 every night leading to xmas and lots of drinking games.we also had a buffet meal at thge hostel which the food wasnt that great but better then nothing
after teh xmas festivities i wanted to head on as i wanted to head to mexico.. iknew that this could be my only chance for a while!
so italked to this irish guy who had a car who was wanting to go down teh pacific highway road ...i was excited as i had always wanted to do this. we headed off early i went and picked up my pay check and cashed it then off i went.
we stooped off in santa cruz it was fantastic i liked there .. nice park we went and wondered around the boardwalk then had dinner on the waterfront at twilight irt was a really flash restaurant amazing views witha ll the pelicans..had a great fish i think called mahimahi i cant reamebr its from hawaii i was great i had it a few times in america.after santa cruz we went or montereey and staye dthe night on a highway hotel cheap as only $60 per night for two .tafterwwards went to carmel by the sea drove around took photos then went to the big sur .. took more photos. its a rea;ly lovely drive great photos. which are on facebook. then went past santa barbara and ended up in LA. stayed at venice beach hostel for two nights then got a ride with these guys from Finland who took me to the hostel in hollywood went for look at hollywood rock shop and went to areally famous place which sold guitars to teh richa nd famous liek johnny depp came in one week before and eddie van halen is a regular customer.he bought a guitar for $6,000 dollars! apparently when we were in the shop a guy who featured in nickolton movie was in the shop. i didint recognize. LA was fun over new years crazy as though.. the hostel is just off hollywood blvd and sunset strip smack bang in the middle of hollywood. on new years there was apaarty at the hostel , then decided to go out walking along sunset strip was crazy all tehgse guys passed out on the ground who taken too much of everything , guys getting into fights with guys for losing keys for their guys (but the guys were crying not fighting) see in hollywood its all about the cars!
cops everywhere ... which i took photo os cops they chased us alittle then once they heard my accent and i said i was just a tragic tourist they laughed walked away.
it wa sfunny when i went back to the hostel it felt like a 2nd home ...last time i was tehre nicole australian girl from perth was in my rooma nd i went back and she had been in hawaii and taddahh there she was coincidiently inmy room. after new years we were pretty hung over went to ruhyon canoyon were all famous clebs walk tehre dogs , orlando bloom apparently very snobby though he runs up therea ll the time.saw jack nicolson house, went on a tour of LA and beverly hills saw playboy manshion and arron spellings house. apparely on one tour once a guy tried to climb on to arraon spellings gate to take a photo and teh security guards came out with a gun and almost shot him, ppretty intense!
WENT TO LITTLE TOKYO HAD YUMMY ramen learned about japanese americans assimilation into american life . china town wss cheap as , clotehs for $1 , nice pretty tops, cute bags, shoes, yum cha for $5.cheap as chips. live smakes everywhere.
after seeing what i wanted to see, booked a bus online to san diego through mega bus for $15 (no way in hell was i ctaching greyhound in LA)

out of all teh places i visted in my travels i found lA the dodgest by far, (except Kula lumper- if your blonde is probably more dangerous) a girl got beaten up by a group of guys while i was stying therealmost got raped but escaped (this was outside the hostel), countless people got held up by gunpointand mugged at metro stations , i got chased by a junkie , (actually in san francisco i went out with these nice turkish guys ended up in abad neighbourhood by accidient- tenderloun- everyone was junkies, homeless but somehow they were wearing more expensive clotehs then i was wearing,and was begging for money , i got circled by about ten junkies and the guys in the local corner store told me to get out pretty fast- as everyone was circling me in the shop wondering what a blond well dressed white girl was doing here- .
on my last day i waslked to teh metro station with my backpack in broad daylight thinking it would be fine what a mistake that was i got followed guys tried to grab my bags , it was really scary. La is really not made for the backpacker .
The first day i arrived these guys came over to my friends car and tried to grab all the bags out of teh boot we slammed it down fast and walked inside fast,.

so that was the end of my time in la, san fran

= i had this one saved in my draft box for ages - so only oublusehd it on my blog when i arrived back in NZ

LA LA LAND- like Japan?

2008-01-15T13:40:00.000-08:00

Arrving in LA was easy ..... immigration was a breeze:)The immigration i swear was Flirting with me he was preety hot for a governmnet official... actually theres something about men in uniform:) anyways after all the build up i think i must of looked aprahensive as he was really nice and relaxed which made life great.. i got warned that it would be tough but no it was simple took a total of three minutes. only question what job and i just said i was heading to san francisco,then i gota big ohh...:)I got asked how much money i had nad got ttold " you need more money then that... well ive survived pretty welll so far! ive seen a fair bit. Anyways i then hheaded to the hacienda hotel where orientation fo rthe work/travel participants to honest i was more keen to travel around and not stay in any one place only when i was typing my assignmnet and using resources at the local university/public library...Which i have now chosen to be san diego. due to its relaxed atmosphere, safety, affordablity and good bus routes. People say its no good here buts its way easier to get around san diego then LA apart from when you use the metro which is fabulous. After a meet and greet a bunch of us went to venice beach where we had lunch... we tipped well really really bad. The guy shooked his head we diidnt realise it was 15% of the bill . 15%! that is way too hhigh for average service...arrah i cant stand the tipping culture the US has its terriable to me its just the government not taking responsibily. like everyhing. need i say more.. many travellers have this view point. Iam the worst tipper i only tip in large groups or a fancy restaurant where im foced to anyway or if iam at a bar using Wif im there for hours and trhe barman refills my drink for free countless then he will get a buck or so.so basically i avoid the fancy restaurants and only tip minimal in large groups.I think if people start to boycott tipping then there will be strikes and then the government will be foced to up the up the wages. It annopys me that im paying these peoples wages especially since im not an american citizen.capatilism, consumerism. America remind sme of japan ESPECIALLY LA> Superficial, plastic, false, surface, laccks depth people cant be themselves but fun also. Exactly like japan well tokyo at least.Bloody hell materalistic and cosummer society everyone has their designer
bags which as so dam ugly, brands are huge here excatly like
jaapan. except the japanese are better with money i think. people say tehre are broke then they buy $500 worth of stuff what the hell? the amount of stuff peopel buy is crazy and the amount of food. Then they just chuck it awayor take it home in a tcky doggy bag the last time i did that i was 12 years old.
Anyways i really liked venice beach bough some awesome sunglasses it was funny i saw them on a stand and within 10seconds i picked them up. People said wow thats decisive and i was like nah its intuition i just knew they would suit me!
We had some funny people coming up to us saying "can you buy this painting for a dollar so i can buy some weed. and holding signs smiling " give me money as im going to rob you anyway" it was all quite amuzing, iconnic guy on rollar blades and playing a electric guitar, a model standing next a guy holding a gigantic lizard, a guy playinga piano... it was like how did he roll it down here.

Anyways everything looked familiar like scenes of baywatch an lifeguard towers. Went back to the hotel and then i went to the mall in el segundo and went looking for a adaptor for my laptop, talked to soem LA locals who were very entertaining:)
i found the mall pretty borin and bland it was near manhatten beach probably for the richies,The next day i had a lovely free breakfast and there was orientation about life in USA and working/travelling in the USA the IRS came and we filled out a social security documents ands so on. Then i packed up my stuff and waited for a friend who lives in LA for a day out.

LA is great everyone bags it i would never live there perm but to visit or to do casual work it sure is fun place:)never a dull moment.

Sweed backpacker who picks up paris

2007-12-31T23:29:00.000-08:00

Who Is Paris Hilton's New Boy Toy?
THE hostel i stayed at in hollywood USA hostels hollywood is right next to britnay Spears club.. and paris picked up a backpacker who stayed there at the club.. now he has an international career...:)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (September 25, 2007) - Who’s the new man that Paris Hilton’s been pictured with over the past week?

According to the New York Post, his name is Alex Vaggo, and he’s a 22-year-old Swedish tourist who just happened to be in the right place at the right time!

The Post’s source says that Paris met the hot foreigner on the street near the USA Hostel in Hollywood.
The source tells the Post, “The hostel is $27 a night and they shove in six people to a room. But in the morning there are all the pancakes you can eat. Our friend introduced him to Paris and she immediately took a liking to him. He’s very hot. He’s living much better now.”

Paris’ rep tells the Post, “They are just friends.”

Video: Access Archives - Paris Hilton

The Post also writes that the heiress is reportedly introducing Vaggo around to Ford Model scouts this week.

For a while in late summer, Paris had been seen out with ex-flame Stavros Niarchos, although the two haven’t been photographed together recently. Vaggo is not the first new man that she’s been linked to since her release from jail. In July, she was seen cuddling with 21-year-old Australian clothing entrepreneur Tyler Atkins in Malibu.

Last night, Paris showed up at an amfAR benefit in New York.

Copyright 2007 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved

Tiger escape in san Francisco who let the tiger out ? kills one on xmas day

2007-12-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318365,00.html

good old fox news- conspiracy story?

Siem Reap!

2007-12-26T02:44:00.000-08:00

So after my lovely time at the Orphanage i wanted some temple life so i headed up to siem Reap as I heard and seen so much of Angkor wat i just had to check it out,!~ i t was a mission getting from Takaka to siem reap firstly it took ages to leave i dont know what they were doing i ws in a time limit and tehy were fluffing around saying they needed one other in the car when i got impatient and threatened to leave for another car suddenly if by magic everyone got in the car and off to phenom penn we went. It was horrible there was tooting by the driver the WHOLE way!There are no road rules in Cambodia you just toot so that motos and people on cycles know that you are behind you and hope for the best. The whole time there was horrible khmer music and some sort of auction of the radio i wanted to throew myself out of the car. After a fast drive to the phenom penn and lost of arguing about drop off as they were told by a man back in Takaka who spoke khmer and english howevr he suddenly forgot where to drop me off and proceeded to drop me off at the clostest point that suited him. I had a bus i had to catch otherwise i would have to spend the night in phenom penn and would stuff up my travel plans as i was running short of time in cambodia as my flight was on the 9th of December from Bangkok- to the USA. Finally i got dropped off at the busstop by a kind man and off i went on the bus to siem reap.

The bus thouugh was awful! it was crampt they playyed Khmer Karaoke music the whole way- it was hot no air con. The rest stops sold dodgy food and stopped in disease infested areas where i got attackeed by mosquitos! had these massive red weltws all over my lega nd arms urg! i was comparing with other backpackers who had the most welts as many people on the bus seemed to be attacked also! At one of the bus stops there was alot of very skinny children bones were sticking out off the skin they were so... thin!I bought a meal for one of the children there as the child was shooed away for walking into the food market but i felt desprately sad for this child he looked sick and hadnt had a decent meal for weeks.
here was rubbish everywhere the sanitation system was mixed in with the trash and you could practically smell the malaria (yes i am taking tablets doxycycline - which make you very very tired but its not 100% effective:)Once arrived in siem reap arrived at popular guest house and yes as its namesake suggests it is popular! I was a little tired so just hanged at the hostel with other fellow travellers felt under the weather after the tiring ride from takeo.
The next day got up ear went to ankor wat temples , angkor wat is amazing it has a very calming spiritual i loved it . people started to say after a while it started to look all the same but personally i think it looked different as some of the photos ive posted on facebook. Some of the temples had amazing trees grown over them , looked voodoo like ... was like a mini maze ... lots of shafts .. like something out of a indiana jones movie.
Going out in siem Reap was awesome .. its style is New or eleans style I HAD SO MANY Magaritias and bloody mary (remmebr richard about the bloody mary meeting) eneded up having a crazy wild night remember dancing on tables to rage against the machine diidnt go to bed till 5am. great night life siem reap. Last minute dramas though- the next day i was very hungover and almost missed my flight - i got the time wrong. the the motorcycle broke down and ahh i was despratly trying to get someone to stoip. finally someone did and got a moto ride to the airport i was abxolutly exausted at this time- sweating like anything then i found out i had to pay a $25 departure tax. i had exchange dmost of my cash to bhat so i was running around trying to find a atm as none would accept my card it was crazy!i finally found one around the otherside of the building then got held up in customs as they were sucpicious of me as i was really nervous and all so they went through all my stuff. i was the last person to board and alas i just made the flight. but when i arrived in thailand i was watched and followed around as they were sucpicious of me and got held up when i arrived, then one of them asked in customs if i had the flu. it was really scary .. thai police are really relaxed or really full on no middle ground. Then i got a free ride whith airport workers to a bus station to ctach a bus to my hotel but i got scammed and had to catch fopur different buses and eneded up miles away from my hotel. i edned up throwing the dramatics and crying causxe nobody spoke english as this taxi driver gave me a ride to my hotel for free. I was so distreessed when i arrived the hotel upgraded me to an executive suite. with two different rooms, phone in the spa bath three tvs , bar everything you could need.

So my sth east asia trip came to a close i miss it already...

Chidren at orphanage

2007-12-17T14:24:00.000-08:00

2007-12-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

Orphanage work.. and lovely children in cambodia:)

2007-12-15T02:13:00.000-08:00

Ater my time in shinoukville I then went to phenom penn to catch a bus to Takeo- had a take a stinky bus to the countryside,. Ugh! bus travel In cambodia was not my favourite,,,,,:) on the way from Shinoukville to Phenom Penn there was this cambodian man who kept on spitting the whole way i kept on getting some spit on my arm- i tried asking him to stop it- eventually he got it, The bus from phenom penn to Takeo was slow, stuff , hot and sweaty. I was the only foreigner n the bus aside from Australian guy who was visiting an orphange like me.Finally after a really slow trip and people going off the side of road to take a leak ( no way in hell i wa s doing that- There are still millions and miliions of landmines in cambodia.many not far from the road you really have to watch your step in some parts of cambodia and seeing amputtees was a clear reminder..:)Finally arrived at the orphanage after a a long long bus trip, i was i atown where NOBODY spoke english , it was the real countryside, only one restaurant which an english menu- internet broke down lots and was slow.The place I did the volunteer work was in Takeo town, there was a group of english people that co-ordiante it with the local people that set up the Orphanage. I found that while the british people were welll meaning i found some of their tactics to be "bullying" rather then constructive criticism.Face as most of you would know is very important in Asia and cambodia is no exception.To embarrass someone in front of everyone is pretty poor form - and thats exactly what they did,as they thought it would be productive and they dont listen.Anyways i loved working at the Orphanage - the kids were so affectionate and so pleased to see you it really made their day.We played games,got them to write words in english, got them to draw pictures and explain what it is in english.I love it i felt guiltyleaving the following day when i was leaving they were like "where"s mummy going?"i felt terriable its so hard for these kids they get attached with these volunteers then they leave its so hard for them..:)I really recommend that anyone that goes to cambodia to at least visit an orphanage they dont get much attention and the luch i ate was pretty basic , they wore really grubby clothes they need some loving thats for sure,any love you give is beautiful and they are so appreciative of it. Some of the kids there had been abused or abandoned by their parents so some of them are damaged while others just carve attention as they dont get any. One little gesture towards them and you will get the loveliest hug from them - even in shinoukville the kids lose their childhood there they are out late at night selling stuff sometimes in their pjs! If they dont sell enough stuff tehy get beaten up and they get little love from their parents . I can see why angelina jolie adopted them!Alp=ot of toursits want to adoptcambodian children- i wanted to bring back one on the plane- but no im not sure about taking them away from their homeland even if it brings them a better life.I think there are alot of ethical issues to work through there its a a big decision.

One classic quote was one child in shinoukville was one child tried to sell me stuff on the beach i said to him "sorry ddarling" and he said hahah get this"

.." im not your darling... sorry baby!" I got this from a 7 year old kid! How do they learn this?

Anyways i hope if you visit cambodia please visit an orphange if you can.even if you are mummy or daddy for the day:)

Cambodia- revisted ! Shinoukville- seeya

2007-12-15T02:01:00.000-08:00

This is late- im in San Fran but have revist my time in cambodia for my own record amyway!- had a great time in Shinoukville last day I went on a "booze cruise" which was run by this wicked bar sessions by these crazy english guys from halifax.The beaches were so cool there deserted , t was like something out of the beach movie with leonardo - guys jumping off rocks- no other people to be seen - then stopped at a Island which ahd crystal clear blue water like the pacific islands and nobody to be seen, nobody selling stuff , no touts noone . Just lots of backpackers getting really really drunk:) Sessions bar rocks- i went tehre twice and after that i was treaed like a local. The bar has a tree hutt which has cushions and pillows and a buucket that goes up and down which they put the beer in. there are also swings with comortable cushions just by the water . Divine Bliss. .)Many backpackers who were going to stay in shinoukville for a few days have now been there for months even a year! some are opening bars of their own. Basically Shinoukville is Thailand 20 years ago,.low development, , low westernization, deserted beaches. Ganja is smoked very very opemly there in restaurants and guesthouse restaurants. i think thats appealing to some backpapckers considering the severity of being caught in Thailand Was sorry to say goodbye to Shinoukiville. Sayonara- see you again one day:)

US marine drinking invasion of Shinoukville

2007-11-30T03:36:00.000-08:00

Well not quite. The US marines have arrived in shonoukiville Cambodia for the first time in 30 years and have taken over the entire town/resort. Have bought alot of money into Shinoukiville though- what i have been laughing at though is that they all dress the same - so conservative well predictably, saame haircut same - jeans too baggy around the behind a tight belt right up high, white sneakers or work boots and T SHIRY TUCKED in- T shirts tucked in... how nerdy . . hahha :we were mocking these helicoptor pilots the other nights their dress code they were going on about the war "how they blow some shit up in iraq ," then fly back. you guessed it exciting stuff. they showed photos on their sship holiding AK47 it seemed like somthing out of the movie Platoon you know the movie with charlie sheen ( in Phenom penn you can shoot a Ak47 for $30 US at a shooting range) and then going on how bad the iraqis are all night . They are apparently trainin the south Koreans and cambodians - droppoing off food/supplies to kid s apparently- as what i saw on on one marines piolit camera.
I met some marines from south carolina , jacksonville and georgia who had never heard of facebook. . Met some ex gang members from the south side of san diego who were the now military police who had to round up all the kiddies (marines!) before 12 midnight becuase then they go and sleep back on the ship.these guys on the first night here were out oof control hadnt seen women for a while - there is about 3,0000 of them in this small town / beach resort so they stood out thats for sure.

well I've enjoyed my time here in shinoukiville but moving on- tromorrow going off on an island cruise round differrent island"s snorkling off the coast of Shinoukville then vback to phenom penn then im off tyo Takeo which is two hours north of Phenom Penn to volunteer at an orphanage - im really looking forward to it after partying a little bit too much . its been fun though .

till next time

Clelia

Cambodia!

2007-11-24T03:25:00.000-08:00

Hello!

my first blog post! After three nights in bangkok Khao san road (foreign backpacker ghetto) which to me now is like a mini tokyo with the flashing neon, selling phoney ids from media passes to fake degrees on the street, everything black marcket street stalls for twenty cents to gems \scams this is classic bangkok There is actually signs saying "we sell to underages" For those who have been to Tokyo it looks like a real miniture version of harajuku/east shinjuku but dont think the black market exists in tokyo the way it exists in bangkok tho w ell not for foreigners anyway ! , Had massages galore ($3- 5 ) for one hour drinking singa beer for 80c (US) with fellow backpackers who gave me tips about cambodia riding on creaky franrtic public river boats that have little life rafts to visit wats, museums and the royal palce . I flew to Phenom penn from bangkok , A bit of drama getting to the airport though i missed the airpost bus that was meant to pick me up at 5am i slept in I packed up my stuff in record time .. i ended up getting a taxi to the airport oit normally takes an hour to the airport my driver got there in 30 minuites flat in a harrowing drive ! had a dispute over the price as he diidnt use the metere and kept on yelling at me sayting "400 baht "to airport . I was like "meter only"he ended up stopping the car in the middle of the freeway and i almost got out on the freeway as we couldnt come to an agreemnet(crazy!!) . We then came to an agreenent to reduce the fare by 50baht. Once saftely arrived in phenom penn settled into the guesthouse .. got approached by a moto driver that he could take me on a day tour to killing fields and to tuleng sleng prision (where they captured high ranked officials and others before transferring them to the killing feilds for extermination) I hvae found a new passion! riding on the back of a motorcycle- i love it liberating driving round the countrysidea nd in the city (no buses) - (soon im hiring a scooter on an island in thailand - close enough) went to the killing fields yep youve got to see the skellingtons to see it to believe it many of the pits where people were bludgeoned to death are still there- it certainly chills lls you to the core.Phenom penn is intense for the idependent travelller especially if your a woman. Cambodia is an extreamly extreamly poor country especially in countryside and in parts of phenom penn. walking tound is harrowing i get haranged by EVERY SINGLE moto driver that has no customers asnd children gravb onto me not just one but twenty at least, gbegging for money or food. when i approasch a moto driver who normally speaks next to nothing english thwen everyobne within that area comes up and listens into the concversation once i had an audience of entire market, some travellers say some of the behaviour and what the travellers will experience is like India. The look of shock on their faces seeinga western woman is classic im used to it after japan and malaysia, lao, thailand etc but this is is more genuine open mouthed shock like what on earth...? Got some contact details for a orphanage in phenom penn contacted and hopefully doing a day at a orprphanage on my way out of cambodia Got a little tired of being harraged especially evertime I would be eating some food these children will try to be sell me something like blackmarket books normally stuff on cambodia or travellers tales books and they dont leave they sit beside you hoping you will eventually budg eand start to dream away so you end up buying themn a meal . Its pretty sad the poverty here and they are pretty despararte and dont give up easily . So then ended up getting a bus ticket to sihanoukville as had enough opf city life and had two other kids in the seat next to me one cambodian child ended up falling asleep on my lap . Sihanoukville has some me great beaches and wildlife where you can view monkeys and dolphins possibly snakes and tigers too! . We ended up laxing x out on the beach all day today having mango and lemon shakes , and tomorrow may visit waterfalls and national park. Full moon party on the beach 2nite plan to dance the night away on the beach!! have fun!

Rude Rainbow with Zippy

2007-10-17T22:07:00.001-07:00

Nickelback Rockstar Spoof - Popstar

2007-10-17T21:56:00.001-07:00

LA stars superficiality.Im sure i will see some of this plastic ness in LA

2007-10-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

I went along to a pre- departure info session in welly where they give us this info about visa requiremnets to the US , regulations, forms to fill in. Informative and cool talking to other people part of the programme where they are going anyhow. Afterwards we went to hotel Bristol for cheap drinks , two for one meals and a pub quiz which tested your knowledge on north america! Our group won and we named ourselves the san- panarama trio!m(as im heading to california , san fransisco intially and they are heading to panaroma ski fields.silly nam ebut oh well) anyway it was a little unfair that had to pull names out of a hat andmy name luckily came out! I won a bungee jump vouncher - (for the auckland harbour bridge! done one in queestown the pipeline in skippers canyon but be interesting to see what its like bungee jumping in a city.

Update: went to bungy jumping, disapointing... horrible walking up the bridge in a hard hat and jumping off something made out of metal bungee jumps belong in nature surrounded by waterfalls and lots of trees! more relaxing!

Flight of the Conchords Ep 8 'Foux Da Fa Fa'

2007-10-09T21:43:00.001-07:00

Flight Of The Conchords - Foux Da Fa Fa

2007-10-09T21:25:00.001-07:00

Little Superstar

2007-10-09T21:24:00.001-07:00

Little indian superstar!

2007-10-04T21:29:00.001-07:00

Do you love the picture got it off a rainbowbright fan club website!

2007-10-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I have decided to create a blog post as im off in about 6 weeks overseas for 6/7 months and the countdown has begun! goodness sorting out everything is a mission! New passport to get visa documnets signed blah blah. Well im off on November 18th to Thailand then onto Cambodia to do some Volunteer work . After my stint in sth East Asia I will arrive on the 10th of December in LA,,lala land. where my time begins in the states. Staying in the nice hotel by the airport along with all the other exchange programme participants.Thats all for now. Ill update as more tales come to surface.