Went to 'My Son' today

Not my actual son ( I am Barron! No just kidding , virile as a bull) haha but it's a place where there are temples that date back to the 4 th century! Old stuff. It was really interesting, but sad that more than half of it was destroyed by bombs in the Vietnam war! ( like the monks were a threat?!) anyways it was crazy, these red brick stone buildings were built with no mortar! So totally just brick upon brick, it's like a jigsaw puzzle. Other countries are involved in restoring this world heritage site as well, Germany has restored one area and Italy is restoring another. It's really cool. And guess who we bumped into again! Vanessa and Will. We first met these guys in Brunei, then happened to bump into them on the Cu Chi Tunnels here in Vietnam. ( they were in the tour in front of us) Then 1000 kms away again...
Then at Hoi An on the street, then today at the "My Son" tour, so we're going out to dinner with them tonight , should be good

We won 7 nights of resort Accomodation!

We think! Haha, today we went shopping, Bec and I bought new hats, then a couple of movies, then an American lady approached us, she asked us our age, and then said that she works for a travel company that does blah blah blah, marketing blah advertising, we did a scratchie she gave us and one was the "gold star" one! Ooooooo! We are thinking. Scam city!! Anyways we won 7 nights hotel resort Accomodation, to be used in Thailand not in the next 45 days but can be from January 26 onwards and that is pretty much when we should be back from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos!
So we might be able to use it in Chang Mai or Pattaya? We were pumped that it wasn't a scam ( For Once! Lol)
Should be cool :)

Chu Chi Tunnels from the Vietnam War

Had a great day with Bec today, we got up early, went on a tunnel tour " we got to go down the famous tunnels that the Viet Kong used in the Vietnam War. We saw bats down there, I barely fit in some of the holes! Hands and knees only. Then we shot some machine guns, a M30, then did a bit of shopping, got Bec some Ralph Lauren "Hot" and "cool" perfume, then came back to the hotel to our little christmas tree :) great day ;)

Bangkok & Ho Chi !

We R having a ball in Ho Chi now, Bankok was rad too! In Bangkok we stayed on Kaosan Rd, a Mecca for all backpackers, like in "The Beach" minus the Snake Blood! Lol but it was cool we had vendors galore all up an down the road, we had the best spring rolls ever for 30 cents each. Great pad Thai for 1.10$ saw people eating scorpions the size of rats, it was crazy. We went to the reclining Buddha, the emerald buddha, the Kings Grand Pallace and the largest pure teak mansion in the world, it has no nails in it, all wooden dowels!! And a part that was bombed in the war!
Here in Vietnam we had a good day, went to the war relics museum ( of the Vietnam war) it was incredibly sad to see the photos of the civilian victims and the deformities caused by the millions of tones of Agent Orange dropped on the country, I got really teary and couldn't stay too long. Then after that we found an STA travel and booked the Choo Chi Tunnels tour for tomorrow, where we can go down the tunnels used in the war. We also booked our next flight to Hoi An for the 26 th of Dec, can't wait! :)
All in all, feel so blessed to be on this trip!
:)

Well we have had a great time in Koh Samui

What a week, we have rested as well as explored this awesome island, when we first arrived they told us that the whole 3 islands had lost power for 3 days already! It was a blackout, something to do with the under sea power cable? So at first the western part of me was all, no air con. But that night we went onto the beach found a Restaraunt right on the waters edge with nothing but candles and kerosine lamps to light it up, looking around the beach and seeing this was the case everywhere really made me feel like we were on a remote tropical island. Since then we have had lots of beach walks, swims and red/green/panang curries. 2 days ago we had a great tour of the Ang Thong National Marine Park. It's like Phi Phi, but it's the "James Bond Islands" as one of the old Bonds were filmed there. It was a great day, we bargained the tour down from $90 each to $50 aud each ( Arr the backpackers way!) it included breakfast and buffet lunch on the island. We left around 8 am , snorkeled, then did a great walk/hike around this saltwater lake inside the island. Then at another island we went sea Kayaking around this cool island where you go in these mini caves along the cliff edge, and under where ther water has eroded the rocks, probably not that safe Lol but it was great!
Then at another island there was the option of spending time on the beach or climbing this cave. Me and this other Aussie Andrew were the only two who decided to do the cave, which surprised me? but then when I saw it,, not so suprised, it was rough as! Like not 4 tourists, it was climbing tree roots, rockes and the only handrail was a rope, strung from tree to tree, we were both in thongs ,
So after the first 100 meters we had to take them off because they were causing us to slip too much, so for the next hour we went barefoot over sharp rocks. But it was soo much fun we didn't want to go back. We only saw one guy come out , he said " oh you have to see the rocks with sparkly diamonds in it" ok so we had to get at least that far. The cave which seemed to keep going on was really interesting, there were large caved in bits above so there was enough light ( without torches) there was lots of stelegtites and stelegmites we saw big sections of "bat crap" so there must be bats in there at night. When we both realized neither of us had a watch, and that there were absolutely no signs and the " handrail rope" stoped about 20 minutes ago, we took a photo of where we got up to and thought we better head back, about halfway back we saw the stelegmite that had the sparkly diamond things in it. Then we realized we had gone way too far and that we were probably going to hold up the boat. So we went down as fast as we could, while trying not to slip an kill ourselves, there were a few parts which felt like we were abseiling on a rope. Anyway near the bottom there was a guy from our boat" everyone is waiting for you", so embarrassing trip back to our beach. But all in all it was a great day.
Then yesterday Bec n I rode around the island on scooters. It was soo much fun ( thanks for the advice Dave n Claire!) we swam at a beach, had lunch, same beach, went to the Waterfall, fed elephants bananas, got a cool 4x4 drive where we were sitting on seats on the roof of the cab. ( Bec was especially brave as her seat didn't have a seat belt, and refused to swap with me) but the. I thought that it was probably safer as if it rolled i"d be stuffed! Haha, then I swam in the waterfall pool which was really nice, I always think a waterfall is twice as good if you can swim in it! :) then we saw some nice beaches up the west coast as the sun started to drop over the ocean. Then we saw a cool street market where we ate spring rolls and what was kinda like a jumbo Thai arronchini ball? Rice coconut and deep fried,mmm. Then we headed back to have dinner back at "your place Restaraunt" on the beach. Few! That was a lot! We are on relax and recovery day today :)

A storm came in this morning and knocked out the power again but that's all part of it! :) haha

Last day in KL

Had a great day today, we slept in, went to Vietnam embassy, it was closed for lunch Asian style, so we took a leaf and had lunch too. Then went and saw a woman that makes butterflies out of paper by a lake that Allan Toole told us about but she wasn't making butterflies, she had no paper, so we went back to the embassy got out visa, then went home :)
Went to dinner tonight with Jem and watched a movie, all in all a pretty sweet day! Tomorrow off to Ko Samui, can't wait!

Back in KL

Got back 2 KL today and we went to dinner with Jem to " Fat Boys " burger bar
Great pork burger!
Tomorrow off to the Vietnam embassy...

Island Hopping :)

Well today Bec and I are feeling a bit better so we decided to hire a boat and go Island hopping! For $15 each we got a boat to ourselves and taken to 3 awesome Sabah islands. Menutik, Menukan and Sapi islands. The weather is perfect too, Blue sky's, good snorkeling, Becs even getting time I read her new book. It's a peacefully vibe here on the islands. Definitely a highlight of being here in KK. :)

My turn to be sicky

Bec is feeling 80% better now, thanks for all the well wishes on FB. But now I have got sick! Grrrrr, so last night I took the fight to it, I turned off the air conditioner bundled myself up in a doona and sweated it out all night! It was my worst night yet but I'm feeling about 30-40% better today. If we're up to it I think we will travel out to some Islands tomorrow, see how we go.

Hello Flight 8 on 2 Sabah!!

Our time in Brunei has been wonderful thanks to Pam, Chris and Eli! We have loved it here, now onto Sabah, maybe if we're lucky we might see an Orangatang :)

Roadblock

Today we were meant to catch a bus to Sabah ( Malasia ) but we didn't. Bec was feeling sick last night and without going into details, needed to go to the doctor today, she's getting better now but It was pretty bad, we have been calling the travel insurance, so that's new, Covermore was great, helpful, they even had a nurse call her back within 10 min! We're now flying to Sabah tomorrow night, we have accom booked there. Being sick away from home is never nice.

Sultans cool gifts and some Proboscis monkeys!

Today Chris and Pam took us to see the Sultans " cool stuff " museum. It had gold thrones, coronation stuff, tones of presents from other countries, gold carriges , guns etc, it was really interesting ,
Then later that day we went up river to see the Proboscis monkeys , they were cool, such a weird looking monkey, with a big droopy nose, apparently they are only here on Borneo!
Very cool
Then we went to dinner with my ol friend Phil to an amazing Chinese Restaraunt and then to a cool desert place. It was a great day!

Had a great time with Phil

Had a great catchup with Phil, my mate from High School, I feel so old that it was 15 years ago!! We went and had Murtabak and a weird winter melon and cheese drink! Going for dinner tomorrow night too

Brunei Here We Come

It is amazing being on this trip with Bec. We have just finished an amazing week in KL, and now we are off to Brunei!
We are hoping to be able to help in a school for disabled children with Pam. I'm also hoping to catch up with my old high school mate Phil. Hopefully we might check out the national park as well :) Apparently they have blocked off 90 % of it, so no humans can go there, pretty cool
this photo is of Bec n I at the KL monument.

7 th Flight :)

We are just about to take off on our 7th flight to Brunei. It's our first "Air Asia" flight, but we have heard a lot of good things about them. It's funny the number of different airlines we have flown on already in this trip. So far we have been on Jet Star, Scoot, Quatar, Lion Air/Wings, Sky, Tiger/Mandala and now Air Asia :). And we just booked our next one on Firefly! We're not trying to fly on everything, just picking the cheapest flights. (True Backpacker Style :) now off to the Island of Borneo! Woohoo :P

Conducting a PD

Bec and I got to help a local School for disabled kids by running a professional development for the teachers there. It was great, Bec n I were tag teaming, I think it was really helpful as some of the teachers only have a high school education :) it was really amazing

Enjoying KL

Last night we went up to the sky bar with Jem and Josh. Its on the 57th floor of a building that faces the Petronas Towers, it was soo cool, but funny story, we had to go home and change because we weren't up to dress code, ( even though we tried to be casually dressed) I had to put pants on and shoes , Birkenstocks didn't cut it. And Josh had to put shoes on too! Anyways it was worth it in the end. KL is a lot like Singapore, almost as good. Yesterday I got whistled by police twice. Once Bec and I where whistled for swing ing on a swing in a park! Then whistled for taking a photo of a sculpture in the middle of a lake. After this I did what Josh
Said he does, ignore it, so I did and nothing happened Lol. Apparently they don't like conflict;) we have come to nature park FRIM today and unfortunately it's raining ATM so we are trying to wait it out, half the time the rains pass over in about an hour? Well see... :)

Today we went to Kampong Water Village

Today we went to the largest water village in Asia. It was a great experience, kids were riding bikes around the rickedy wooden footpaths, we went to the little museum, it was really interesting. This afternoon, I'm catching up with an old friend Phil from high School this afternoon, haven't seen him for 15 years! He might show me a bit of his hometown :)

First 2 days in KL

Well we are recovering from being sick and it is relaxing! It is really nice here in KL, Jem and Josh are being really generous and caring to share their amazing home with us here, it is such an awesome pad! Yesterday we went to the fish market an we're going to the Vietnam embassy tomorrow, what should we do today? :)

ByeBye Indonesia!

We have been out of Australia for 4 weeks now! Amazing, we are just at the airport about to board a flight to KL,
Bring it on :)

Today was an awesome day!!

Started with Chicken Porridge for breakfast! Soo Indo!
Then off to an awesome country club for a swim, then checked out my mate Jose"s guns. After a marterbark and a snake skin fruit for afternoon tea we Then went out to dinner, had satay goat! It was soo good, Goat Ribs Rock, the goat satay sticks were good too. it was young goat, so we were technically eating a Kid for dinner ,Lol!

The Blessed Country

We have only started our journey but I am already filled with an amazing appreciation for Australia,, I feel soo blessed to have been born there. We seriously don't know how lucky we are.

Getting a 90 min full body massage with Bec for $7 each

Today is our last day in Cianjur and we have had a really good time here at the homestay, after the massage we are heading off to Jakarta which is about 2 hours away but takes 4-5 hours! So we are leaving after lunch, we have taken our first 2 scooter rides on the back of strangers ( Organised by the homestay) that has been interesting, but good I see what it is like weaving in and out is traffic here. ( scooters are Included in our insurance haha) but we don't want to use it of course. We would definitely recommend this region to anyone going to Indonesia.

Off to a School

We're going to a local school to help the students with their English, and hopefully introduce them to a sherrin footy Lol
Should be good :)

Got a Special Tour Today

Today we got a local tour of a rural community, met a family, saw Palm Sugar get made. Then we were offered a special add on to a waterfall that is not the normal tour one! So of course we were in, they had to take us down the back of the house ( so the rest of the other tour didn't see us and ask questions) I slipped over because it was about as steep as you can get and muddy, I cut open my hand on thorns on a trunk trying to save myself! After band aiding that up we went on this long journey into the jungle just Bec Me and our guide ( no English/ 15 years old) it is like a 10 cm wide goat track in the mud and really steep down, like we spent 20 min trying not to slip down the cliff. Then there was this one part where we had about a 4 metre drop onto rocks on the left, we had to step on rocks for about 3 meters with only a dirt wall on our right! Then we saw this awesome waterfall! About 50 meters up. Thend a giant poisonous spider, then the most amazing rice paddy valley we have ever seen, it was about 3 valleys one after the other. What a day! This is what it's about.

On the train again...

Well we have said farewell to Yog, now onto Cianjur, a small town/ city for a real Indonesian family homestay. We will be living in a bamboo hut ( I think) actually living with a family. It is going to be wild. We are there for 3 nights then off to Jakarta for 4 nights, for our last stop in Indo. I had a funny "Metamucil" explosion, where it exploded in my pack and Bec was amazing about it, she discovered it and started cleaning stuff about 10 minutes
Before I saw it, it took us a good hour to clean it up. It's one of those funny NOW moments :) and cos I was too rough with the DVD player, it's now stuffed, so we will look for a new one in Jakarta.
We are both glad the air con works on this train. :) Got Bec a kinder "Joy" this morning, a weird Indo version of kinder surprise lol

Skyfall

Tonight we went to the ambrosia mall , a big Indo shopping centre, we thought we had earnt a bit of home time. So off to the movies . We went to Pizza Hut for dinner, it was actually pretty good, not cheap though, western prices but since I saved us $39 last night with my $1 haircut I think we're still ahead! Lol

Then we went to the movies, saw the New James bond, it was great. One interesting thing that we worked out quick though is that Indonesians love to talk the way through the whole movie and play on their blackberrys too! Random? The highlight for me was seeing a Mario Kart arcade machine out the front!

A sign of relaxation!

I'm very excited about something in this photo! Can you tell what it is? Lol

A big day

Thankyou to anyone that has been praying for us (for safety/health/adjusting to Asia etc) we have needed it, traveling as a backpacker is very different to having a 4 star hotel, 10 night Asian holiday. We have had 2 1/2 weeks of steep adjustment to expectations and being each others best friend and better half has never been soo important. But we are surviving and having some great experiences together!

We got up at 4 am again today for our tour, man everything here seems to have to be seen at sunrise!! I admit that sunrise is the best time as it is cooler and looks nice with often a red or yellow sunrise in the sky.
Getting some amazing photos too, so we will have to get some blank disks an start burning them off and posting them home.
Going out for dinner with Jørgen and Guli, should be good :)

P.s this is Bec with an Asian sized Cornetto! Lol

Follow our instagram world map!

We just set up our instagram world map, pretty cool it uploads our instagram pics to where it was taken in the world, our name on instagram is easy it s
hendotraveldotblogspotdotcom

Same as this blog :D

Saw some cool 800 ad buildings today, very cool ( not really it was sweltering hot but amazing, jumped strait in the pool when we got back!! :)

Not all fun n games

Ok well this morning I kinda had a meltdown! We spent all day yesterday on bus's n trains ( trains were good!) but so we got to Yogyakarta at 9 pm and tried to find a backpackers, it was awful , we tried about 4 and they were all full, then we went to another one that was like the one out of the movie The Beach" dirty and cockroachy literally on our wall! Then it started pouring outside and so we said stuff it and booked in with our new Norwegian friends Yorgen and Guli.
I am a bit sick in the stomach from some random thing I ate, but I can handle that, but the toilet flush didn't work, I'll let u fill in the gaps, but we had to fill bucket etc... Bec is also not fewling too crash hot, :( So We were feeling a bit homesick this morning but the awesome thing is that it passed because we have each other and prayed about it. It's funny how when your comfort levels are really challenged you realize how reliant you become in your cushy life style. It was a big wake up call. We now have found a nice cheap $14 a night hotel with a pool and waterfall into the pool. It dosnt have air con so we will see how that goes, and no hot water but it's soo hot here you don't really need it, but the main thing is that we have found a clean safe peacefully place to crash for the next 4 days :)

1 big thing we have learnt is to try to avoid getting to your destination in the dark, we have done it twice now and it always makes the place look more dodgy!

Off to Borrie badur tomorrow!

A rough night !

Catching our first public bus in Indonesia!

Wow well this morning was a big leaning curve. We went to catch a bus, not a tourist bus, but a ( we are the only white people in the entire bus terminal ( 30 buses)
When I went onto the bus there was about 4 men smoking on it, a grotty toilet with no seat and no toilet paper,
Very funny ticket ( I love the recleaning seats!lol) and the rules about hand guns!
Anyways hopefully we get to
Java with in one piece
:)

Postcard to You from Flores Island

Bec has found her Penut MnMs Asian replacement!

It is funny, for almost every western Lolly/chocolate/icecream you can find an Asian version for about 1/4 of the price, they don't taste the same but neither does the proper ones!

Bike Tour= Awesome

Had a great day today, we met 2 nice girls from Belgium and one from Canada. Bec Organised for us to go to a Balinese dance tonight with Lisa and we we're told to keep in touch with Nele and Annelies :) we just shared a whole watermelon in the pool.

Rice Paddy Bike Tour

Today we have hooked up a sweet deal to go on a bike tour, should be fun, perfect morning...

Flight to Spew Ratio

5 flights so far to 1 spew... (not bad!)
5/1

Shampoo is better?

I just worked out that I have been washing my hair with Conditioner for over a week now, no wonder it was feeling weird! :|

Good Street Food on the beach in Flores, mmm

Last night we had a nice grilled fish each for dinner, we are getting used to grilled fish with bones head and all. It was yum and we got to pick the fish, mine was red! The peanut satay was the BEST and the chilli was sooo hot.

3 Days on a boat, sleeping under the stars...

Had a great time on the boat, lots of snorkeling coral reefs and a really funny crew, that would occasionally sing Whitney Huston kareoke!

Komodo Island

Absolutely amazing and scary getting close to these creatures! Their bite is soo bad, you have to get flown to Bali (2 hour flight) and then there is no cure for the bacteria!)

A nice quiet spot

We found a nice quiet spot along Sanur Beach today, very calm, peaceful and relaxing :)

Real Asia- Level 1

We arrived in Bali, you have to push your trolly with your packs on it through a mosh pit of spruikers trying to get you into their taxi for double the normal price, to Sanur Beach the normal price is $9.50, we managed to find a nice driver to take us for $10.
The Big Pineapple Backpackers was down a few dirty ally ways and was a
We were culture shocked when we got there, hot as hot and cigarette smoke coming in to the bedroom from the common area. Age limited backpackers= not a great idea
But having said that they do have a nice pool that you can watch movies in on a large LCD screen, that's a plus. ;)

Singapore knows how 2 Train!

The train stations and trains here are awesome, they come every 3 minutes, we caught a taxi, and the trains are better! Just caught one from our hotel to the Airport, and they have Quiznos!
About to fly to Bali :)

The Raffles Hotel & Night Zoo Safari

Today we went to the Raffles Hotel, it was great, old charm etc etc.
Then later on that night we had dinner at little India then went to the Night Zoo Safari Park. It was awesome, saw some really random Asian Animals like Tapiers!

Yep, we're the only white people!

We had our first Asian food court meal ( don't they say get right back on the horse) it was great! Bec had the vegetarian nann meal and I got the scallops and teriyaki Chicken meal.
I am in "weird product" heaven. Went into a supermarket and it has an awesome mix of American, Asian and Aussie stuff! Soo Cool!

First Yak of the trip

The meal on the plane looked like sweet n sour pork on the picture, so i got it. When it came it looked like brown soup. Well of course I ( Shane) ate my mine, then ate Becs as well. When we got to the hotel Nek Minute, spewed 5 times! But it was efficient because I was in the shower at the time and so was the toilet!
Ps Bec said not to eat it, Haha

Nek Minuit!

Well we thought we were leaving... Nek Minute!! Delayed another 3 hours till9.30 pm! Ahhh! :(

Not so Scoot!

First international flight is delayed 7 hours, so we will get to know Sydney airport a little better, lucky were not in any hurry! ;)

The night before we leave

Can't sleep so up posting, it was a really amazing night, had a good night with the family, played monopoly deal with Dan and Jane. The family prayed for us that we would be safe, not hold back and that our marriage would be strengthened along the way. It was soo good and just what we needed. We can't wait to meet all the amazing people we will around the world and hear all the cool stories etc.
It's going to be massive!

Cant Sleep

Well it s Sunday mroning at 4.49am. and i cant sleep so i got up and dis some stuff like pack up the DVR to give to Gellie int he morning after church. He can tapenn watch all the NFL he wants now LOL.
Very excited about leaving, hope we have remembered everything to do before we go...need more sleep now...zzz (found newsroom disk)  #Aiden...

Packing Tears

Well we just finished a solid day of packing our packs! It was tears ( almost) as we tried to get 2 kg s each out of our main packs to get them under the "Scoot Airlines" 15 kg limit!
It was soo hardcore my Hair Gel is now on the Maybe pile!

Ok, well last night we caught up with some friends, which was rad. We have been doing a lot of that lately, as we are packing up our life and taking it overseas for what could be hopefully a year. Bec and I have been feeling a lot of emotions lately, like Anchorman's glass cage of emotion, we are a bit scared of the unknown, excited to be 'on holidays'. I officially finish work today, which is surreal. But the reality of the list of things we need to do in the next two 'business days' before we go is a bit daunting. We are having a Family Movie Tonight which I am pumped for, trying to get as much family time as we can in.
Well trying to work out what to take in our 15 kg limited backpacks is hard, this is my list so far;

light runners
birkenstock thongs
rubber thongs (for the shower)
2 pairs of board shorts
1 pair of camel cargo shorts
4 tee shirts
2 button up microfire 'mountain bike style' shirts
coffee 'aeropress' for my latte's lol
keep cup
survival kit
sleeping bag
'hendo made' sleeping bag liner
digital SLR camera ( i know its heavy but love taking awesome photos)
zenbook ASUS ultrabook 1kg  ( thanks friends)
2 USB fans
worlds smallest 'Go' fan
battery backup charger
universal power adapter
water bottle
inflatable double deck chair for beach action
mini pump for that and air mattress when we go camping
Steripen ( thanks David and Judith)
6 spare batteries for steripen
toiletbag
dry shampoo
gel soap shaving cream small sissors for cutting hair
microfiber towel
crushable latex pillow
5 boxer shorts "silkies" Lol Gellie :)
5 pairs of ankle cool max sox
couple of pens
wind breaker jacket
katmandu interloper 65 lt pack
digital scales, for avoiding $40 per kilo excess baggage fees.
pack waterproof cover
waterproof bag

i think thats about it?
what do you think I should leave behind? or add?

Appreciate your help :D

Hey, I think as we are starting in Asia, I'm not going to take any pants? Any thoughts?

Just 6 Sleeps until we start our world trip. Wow, crazy, started to think this day would never come. We have been saving and preparing for over 2 years.
The biggest thing to sort out today is how to take things out of my pack to reduce the weight. How do you know what not to take when you are going for a year?