Asia/Europe Travels 2008:
Kuala Lumpur
Thailand
Laos
Vietnam
Germany
Austria
Prague (Czech Republic)
Poland
Vilnius (Lithuania)
Riga (Latvia)
Berlin
London (UK)
Amsterdam (Holland)
Dublin (Ireland)
Hamburg
Vietnam
Wednesday 10th – Fly to Hanoi
Well we had to say goodbye to our friends at Spicy Lao, although I found myself making a pledge to return there in the near future for longer. It is so chilled out and there is so much to do. Our flight was destined for Hanoi, Vietnam. We were finally going to reach our original holiday destination. I was starting to feel quite ill at this stage and eager to get to our hotel room. The flight was bizarre - Lao Airways, their slogan "your safe with us" instilling quite the opposite feeling as we took off on the shaky propeller driven plane. On the seat in front was printed the words "Use cushion as floatation device" and there was no safety lecture. Just the way engineers like things, efficient! But we were offered free beer on the flight plus some little fruity lollies made from local fruit produce which tasted amazing which was impressive for a low cost carrier flight.
Thursday 11th – Day in Hanoi
Feeling quite ill today, I just spent time on the internet before we went on a short walk around the city. We visited the lake and bought tickets to the famous water puppet show too.
That night we returned to see the water puppets in action, although the story was a little lost being in Vietnamese and all. The show was really impressive though and worth seeing if you ever get the chance. They had a curtain behind a large tub of water, and the puppeteers were standing behind the curtains in massive wellies doing all the actions. There was also a live band on the left who played the backing music for each act. On the way back we grabbed some food at the Italian style restaurant just up from the backpackers which was half decent. We hit the hay all ready for our big day in Halong Bay.
Halong Bay
Friday 12th
Our Halong bay trip started well with a quick breaky. I was starting to feel much better too which was promising. We jumped on our bus and met our tour guide Wang who was a champion – really knew his stuff and made an effort to break the ice on the way there by getting to know everyone during the bus trip. He assumed that Kristy and I were married too because it is unusual to travel with someone you are not married to over there. We got to the boat and jumped on for a beer and lunch. The food was amazing as always and we really struggled to finish it off. The boat was awesome with a full deck out on top and a bar downstairs. We were all set up for the ultimate river cruise crawl. The day seemed to be far too hazy and we could hardly make out the signature Halong bay rock formations in the distance, but as we drew closer, they came out of the haze to form some of the most stunning panoramic views I have ever seen. We continued into the heart of the Halong bay protected area and occasionally little boats would come up and try and sell us stuff. This food must have been sitting in the full sun for months and we were warned about food poisoning risk. A few people bought some alcohol which was about half the price of the boats supply, but of course it would only stay cool for a short time.
We stopped in an amazing part of the bay and went for a dive off the boat. The jump from the top level was quite high but most people managed to give it a go. Shortly after we got out the canoes ready for some exploration. Kristy and I took off through the stunning rock formations paddling under low roofed bat filled caves and into intimate lagoons. We even saw a monkey in the trees. We made it back to the boat and started the long night of drinking as the sun went down. They had an ipod player aboard so on went the tunes and there was much rejoicing. We had dinner and played drinking games well into the evening. Of course Roger the blow up deer had plenty of action this evening as seems to be the tradition on his Halong bay adventures.
Saturday 13th - Halong Bay
I actually slept really well as stopped drinking about an hour before bed, and got a decent sleep. There were some very hung over people though so I think we made the right choice. The next morning was pretty awesome as we headed off for a day of canoeing and rock climbing. We dropped the people only going for the 2 day trip back with the return boat and the 7 remaining continued on. We canoed ashore and swam on the pristine beach. One guy had himself down for the rock climb so I asked if I could do it too. They agreed although I had to use my non grip ghetto shoes, but hey any chance to go climbing in Halong bay was not to be missed. The view from up the top was absolutely stunning too, and the view directly down was lets say a little frightening, but totally exhilarating. We returned to the boat after a lazy day swimming, playing Frisbee, and climbing to be boated to the touristy island town Cat Ba. We were driven to our hotel and allowed to freshen up, shower and sleep which was nice, as everyone was looking a little worse for ware and we had a big night of partying to do.
Meeting up for dinner we shared drinks then headed off into the town in search of music and karaoke. Fortunately we did not find any karaoke bars but still managed to find a pretty happening joint where we wangled happy hour prices all night so this seemed like the place to at least start. After some drinking games, and chatting we headed out in search of another bar, but were disappointed to find everything shutting for the night.
After haggling for about 20 minutes with some stall keepers for local vodka and mixers, the guy from the first pub rode by on a motor bike and saved the day. He was going to open up his motel bar and we could drink until the wee hours of the morning. Perfect! So we did, and had a great night talking, drinking and comparing photos. And Roger had heaps of action as always.
Sunday 14th - Halong Bay
We had to pack up and check out of our hotels, heading back for an early breakfast at the same place we had dinner – they also run the rock climbing tours I think. Then we jumped on the boat and headed all the way back to the backpackers where we had a BBQ dinner and crashed out after a long but amazing couple of days.
Monday 15th Hanoi – leave for Sapa
After a relaxing day in Hanoi looking at photos and emailing people we set off on the sleeper train for Sapa at about 6.30pm. Despite the beds being marginally too short I actually slept quite well as the train gently rocked down the tracks.
Sapa
Tuesday 16th
We were woken abruptly at about 5.30am by the guy outside trying to sell coffee. I gathered all my stuff in a hurry as we were bundled off our train. After an hour long bus trip up to the elevated town of Sapa through the most stunning winding valley, we reached our travel agents and had some time to look around the town. This really was tourist central and unfortunately what should have been a quite stroll around the little mountain village of Sapa became a continual ordeal as every 2 seconds we were harassed by someone trying to sell me a motorbike or a hand knitted bag. On a few of the stalls they have little caged birds which seem to be climbing around the cage in distress. Apparently you can pay to have them released. I don’t know which half brained nit wit fell for this scam in the first place, but of course as soon as the locals realized that people would pay for this, everyone started doing it, so there are hundreds of small birds caged up everywhere. I really hope no one else ever pays to have these released as it is plain cruel, and as a tourist we have a responsibility to foster ethical trade and treatment of animals and the environment.
Well it was up hill from here. We jumped on a minivan and were driven down to the start of our first days trek through several minority villages. First we visited a small school in the first village which was really interesting. We then wandered through various other villages and just when I was enjoying the serenity, more locals joined the walkers and tried to sell us stuff. We were told not to pay the kids as they should be in school. Again I think we had a moral obligation not to pay any of them, as it only encourages more to drop out of school which closes future options for them. It also really spoils the experience a bit having them walk with you the whole time asking you to buy their trinkets. Eventually after walking through a few surviving minority tribes, we ended up at a small shack for lunch and finally the locals left us there in search of more tourists, and we could enjoy the rest of our journey alone.
The track winded along the left bank of the valley overlooking rice fields and small communities. I was particularly intrigued by the rich network of half bamboo pipes which took the fresh water from upper mountain streams down to the houses below. It looked like one of those marble runs we all made as kids. Eventually we descended steeply down into the next town past a Hydro Scheme which was in construction. I really hope that some of the profits from the electricity generation goes back into preserving the land and the simple lives of the surrounding people that it will obviously disrupt. I quite liked the juxtaposition however of the bulldozer moving tons of soil every minute along side the simple farmers digging in their years crop.
We finally made it to the village and promptly were shown to our rooms in the home stay house. I was amazed by this house, built on stilts and mostly out of bamboo. You actually walked along bamboo floors which buckled under the weight. We were then informed that a 15 minute walk away were some hot natural springs so we all jumped in our bathers and headed down. Oh my god these were fantastic, and three different temperatures to choose from. I could have spent all day in here drinking beer I think, but in the end we had to return back as it got dark and the mozzies started harassing us even more than the Sapa stall holders.
That evening we had a real feast prepared for us and I felt bad that I was only able to stomach a portion of what I usually would. We were also served about 5 shots of rice whisky which was interesting to say the least. I realised soon that I had quite a bad sunburn on my arms from the walk, however it was really weird because it didn’t sting like a normal sunburn. I was to discover in the coming days that my malaria tablets make skin more susceptible to sun burn which may explain it. But no peeling so despite being very red, it just went brown and faded in the coming days. We all had an early night at about 9pm. I felt sorry for our host who tried to put on some western dance music in an attempt to precipitate a wild night of drinking and partying but we were so exhausted from being up since 5.30am, the train, and a whole day walking that most of us crashed out at about 9pm. It was a very nice place to stay and they looked after us very well.
Wednesday 17th – Sapa (Waterfall)
Our guide Sy explained the days schedule and we headed off to visit the local waterfall, a short 30 minute walk away. It was really hot as this town was a lot lower than Sapa, so by the time we made it to the waterfall we were itching for a swim. The water however was very cold and it must have thrown my body into a bit of a shock jumping in as I really struggled to breathe for a few moments, but it was so nice to cool off. We swam around for a while and I found a neat little seat where you could sit with your bum and legs in the freezing water and the rest of you is in the heat of the day – a nice compromise I think and I was quite comfortable there just sitting watching the river wind its way down the hillside.
We returned for another feast although I was still completely full after breakfast and could only manage about half of the noodle and egg soup – which was really nice by the way. These guys have a limited kitchen but they sure know how to cook a tasty meal. And off we went up the steep incline back to the top of the hydro dam wall. We ascended a good distance and were rewarded with great views looking back over the town. I don’t think I have ever sweated so much in my life however, as my arms seemed to be dripping water from them. I certainly drank plenty of bottled water to replenish my fluids and prevent dehydration and hey we all got a free sauna out of it.
The minibus drive back was uneventful (thank god) as we passed over the crumbling road met by sheer drops on the valley side. I really hoped that today wasn’t the day that the next piece of land decided to slide away under our weight. Finally back in Sapa village we could take a shower and wander around for a while before heading back to Hanoi on the sleeper train. I found myself a quiet café, did some photo editing and had a beer, coffee and fresh fruit juice. Some of the pictures came out really well and seemed to catch a glimpse of the incredible scenery in Sapa, so I hope you enjoy them.
Thursday 18th – Hanoi
Arriving at about 6am, we made it back to the Backpackers in a combined taxi and exhausted fell asleep on the seats in between breakfast and looking at photos on the computer. I ended up just staying in the pub the whole day as was feeling really ill from the Malaria tablets and really needed to relax after a busy few days. Kristy headed into town to some museums and other attractions.
Friday 19th - Hanoi to Hue south
Our last day in Hanoi, which meant more chilling out and what have you.
That evening we said our farewells to the great staff at the backpackers and headed off on the horrific ordeal that was the sleeper bus. We arrived at the bus station to find that both buses were pretty much full and arguments between the bus companies were getting heated as all the travellers looked at each other in dismay having paid inflated prices for a comfortable bus journey. In the end we were shuffled onto the last few seats on the first sleeper bus and the some of the locals were moved onto an upright seat bus. Maybe they had low priority seats or something but they did not look happy. We basically got the two worst seats on the bus however and barely slept cramped into a bed fit for a midget. We survived however and made it to our seemingly luxury hotel at 8.30am the next morning. I guess we can put this one down to a memorable travel experience although we are dreading the second over night sleeper bus ordeal in a few days.
Hue
Saturday 20th
Two motorbikes picked us up in the morning to take us down to the ferry. We set off to see some of the ancient tombs. In fact most of the day revolved around tomb visiting. I am not always that into the whole site seeing thing, but some of the images I managed to get from these places were amazing and made the trip very worthwhile. I captured some great textures from the old stone walls surfaced with moss and other plants. We saw some really exotic looking bugs too, which always makes for challenging photography. On one of the tomb visits we were taken to the entrance by guys on motorbikes who stopped us at several of their friends stalls along the way even though all the other bikes seemed to go straight to the tomb site.
After visiting the site, we came back by bike and the riders insisted we gave them a US dollar each as a fee for the motorbike riders. Even though everything was supposed to be paid for we gave them the dollars then took the last few steps back to the boat. I asked the tour dude if everyone had to pay this fee and he said it was all paid for, returned the boat to the sore and went to get our money back which was nice. I didn’t really care about the money it was more the fact that they scammed us so I'll put it down to a moral victory for the day.
The last temple was perhaps the most interesting and I am glad we had a whole hour looking around. There were interesting plants, a variety of walls and gardens and majestic temples of course protecting the tombs within. It is quite nice to wander around once you get past the sea of locals trying to sell you water. You really have to force your way past some of them which seem to use aggressive selling tactics.
After the tour we headed back to the Orchid hotel and had to check into another hotel as it was all booked up on the second night. I had finally decided to bail out on my Malaria tablets as they were giving me too much grief. I was raring for a big night last night and almost threw up my dinner, and we had to return to the hotel.
Sunday 21st
We got up, checked out and jumped on the 4 hour bus to Hoi An. Upon reaching the city we were once again harassed by hotel workers at the bus stop. Luckily I had looked quickly on the net in the morning and we knew where we wanted to go. One of the people who harassed us also happened to be trying to get us to stay at the hotel we wanted so I could ask where it was. Very far he said, which didn’t match the description on the site but still we could grab a motorbike ride with our cases for 20,000 dong which was ok I guess. It turns out the hotel was a 5 minute walk away but at least we were taken straight there instead of walking around trying to follow a less than adequate map. We checked in and the lady offered us a discount rate which is always nice.
Monday 22nd
Old Hoi An was on the agenda after a lengthy sleep in. We bought the tour which allowed us to go to 5 places. These included the old bridge, the pottery museum, a temple and the home temple where I tried sweet coconut which was amazing. At the alter people had left offerings including Oreos which I was quite amused by. I am sure god would have appreciated the popular biscuits in his non human form. After we were given the full house tour and had the whole sales pitch, I felt I had to donate something so I gave them a few thousand dong and we headed for the post office.
We were getting thirsty so went in search of a nice western food outlet, and we found just the place. The power had just gone out in the town, so we were with out a fan and tap beer but they still managed to serve us everything else we asked for. I tried for the first time in my life a Bloody Mary cocktail as well as downing a beer and a few Margaritas. They were only about $2 each so I figured what the hell. We also had some of the local Vietnamese wanton soup Hoi An is famous for and then stumbled back home to our hotel where we had a swim in the swimming pool and a small nap. It is so awesome being able to drink beer in the swimming pool I might add.
It was 8pm and time to go try on dresses and suits we had ordered earlier that morning and they were stunning. They all fitted very nicely and we looked quite dashing if I say so myself. The clothes were cheaper than back home plus for once they actually fitted me in the sleeves. Finally we grabbed a bite to eat at a place across the road from the hotel – delicious of course – and headed to bed ready for the early morning wake up the next morning.
Tuesday 23rd
We took a tour out to the island today which was quite interesting. First we sailed to the small eco tourism town and had a look at the information centre before heading out to do some snorkelling. The two French people who dived in were almost immediately stung by jelly fish, so we decided it was too risky for snorkelling. You could literally see them floating in the water near the boat. We did however sail up to the beach where we had a small snorkel off the sand and a swim which was quite nice. They made us the most amazing lunch too. Fish and chips with all sorts of other goodies. We then jumped back on the boat and sailed back to Hoi An for our last night in the city.
Wednesday 24th
Our last day in Hoi An, we decided to walk around the city before heading off on the sleeper bus for the second time. That night we asked the bus driver if he could drop us off at the pick up point for Jungle Beach Resort, and he said no. After conferring with the other bus driver, and discussing it in Vietnamese, he said "you go sit down now" and we were left wondering if we were going to be dropped off, and would it be the right place if so. Still there was not much more we could do so just settled back into our squishy bed seats. I watched the first half of a movie before my laptop ran out of batteries. We stopped at a road house along the way as well and it looked quite dodgy. I ended up feeding on a pack of biscuits and some Oreos as the cooked food looked less than appealing.
Thursday 25th - Jungle Beach
At 4am the day began, waking up on the sleeper bus wondering if the bus driver had remembered us or if he had even understood us in the first place. We weren't holding our breath, but then the bus stopped at a random road house and he ushered us out of the bus. Yay he had remembered. So here we were, marooned at now 4.30am in the morning in the dark at a random road house having been told we need to find some motorbikes to the resort. Well there were only two guys sitting there smoking and playing cards or something and they agreed to take us for 100,000 dong each (about $6US each). We tried to barter them down to the usual rate of 80,000 but they played the waiting game, and well put it this way, we just didn't want to wait, so off we went, our pack straddled between the drivers leg and each of us on the back of the bike for almost an hour as we watched the sun come up. I didn't even have a helmet so I had to position my head directly behind the guy in front of me to avoid getting a face full of midges. It was quite stunning however coming in on the bikes and we were very relieved that they actually took us to the right place. (which is a bit hit and miss as they sometimes take you to Paradise Resort - which is not nearly as nice I hear - instead so they can get their commission).
Lunch and dinner were both really good with a smorgasbord board of options. There were 6 of us on that first night, however by the end of the few days the place was to fill up to about 50. That night was fairly uneventful and we headed to bed reasonably early playing catch up on the sleep we had missed on the sleeper bus the night before.
Friday 26th
The second and third days at the jungle beach resort seemed to blur into one as it was just nice and relaxing. I tried to surf the tiny waves but they were just too small. As soon as I stood up, I started sinking. I'll have to come back in December when the surf's up. That evening we had a great game of beach volleyball which we drew 1/1. We versed the local players, but pulled together a surprisingly strong team in the end. I spent some time on the laptop emailing and editing photos. I really need to find more time for this as my diary is looking a little sparse in some spots.
That night we had beers around the campfire while songs were played on the guitar. It felt like home sitting round the fire and chilling out with a beer. Someone mentioned that we should all go night swimming in the phosphorescent water, so about 15 people waded into ocean. I have never seen anything like this before. As you waved your hand through the water little sparkles appeared on your skin and if you look down near your feet as you wade, it looks like someone is shining a torch at your legs. It was awesome and I will never forget this moment. Kids would go ballistic over this. You could also occasionally feel a rubber like jellyfish thing rub against you but there was never a sting so everyone felt quite safe. The night progressed and the youngins pushed on with their drinking, soon deciding to try and make the worlds largest human pyramid which collapsed into a pile of sore bodies a few times. The guitar was sent round the campfire and many a tune was sung. It reminded me a bit of festivals jams and I enjoyed this night very much.
Saturday 27th
Our last day at Jungle beach, we had one last swim and I met some of the local kids. They were very cute all speaking in Vietnamese. They seemed to be very fascinated by my laptop so I thought I should show them something more interesting than me checking my email. Out came Super Mario Brothers, one of my faviourite games from childhood and it was official, they were addicted. I think computer games have universal appeal, as the kids scrambled for the next go and then chucked a sad when it was time to go for lunch. I should have been doing my own work today with this rare chance to use cable connected internet, but I was so amused by the kids playing the game, that I really couldn't say no. After a while however I did pack it in, close down the laptop and go for one last swim. We left before dinner in a taxi with 4 other people and headed to the main town. There was a bit of a mix up and the taxi driver didn't understand his directions, so instead of taking the girls to the hotel to get their tickets for the bus he took us to the wrong sleeper bus station. There were a few angry phone calls and then we were finally dropped at our sleeper bus stop despite asking that the girls (who had about 5 minutes to get their ticket and catch their bus) were dropped off first. We jumped out and never heard any more so I hope they got their bus and made their flight home. You really have to check and double check with the locals. They often just nod when they have no idea what you have said, or decide to try and be tricky and help you, but end up messing you around. Oh well, at least we made it to where we needed to be.
Sunday 28th - Sleeper bus to Saigon
We arrived in Saigon at about 6am in the morning and were once again inundated with taxi and accommodation offers. We had however decided on a place to go already, but just had to find out how to get there. We asked some of the taxi drivers how far, but they just quoted 100,000 dong to get us there. I said we wouldn't pay more than 10,000 so we set off on foot to find it. The first street we saw happened to be the same name as the street our hotel was on, so we checked the number only to find that the hotel was literally 50 metres away. Cheeky taxi drivers. We knocked on the door and after the third attempt the guy woke up and let us in. We left our bags with him and went for a walk around Hu Chi Min city before check in time. We had breakfast at an awesome little cafe with a grand piano and a double bass in it. I think they have live music in the evenings. It filled nearing lunch time however so we moved on to the next cafe for an iced coffee before check in. One of the more bizarre things that happened at the second cafe is that when Kristy got her camera out to look at photos, the waiter came up and said "sorry no photos". I would understand if this was a tour of the crown jewels, but this is a cafe?? Anyway, don't want to mess with the waiter hey.
It was check in time and we met our host once again. He then told us, I take you to my uncle's hotel. I was a little cautious about this, but it was just around the corner and he kept saying "same same". It was actually really nice, if not nicer so we just stayed and laughed at the whole thing. That afternoon we just dozed catching up on much needed sleep after the long sleeper bus trip the night before. In the evening we headed out in search of a restaurant and settled on the most touristy looking place in the street. They had free fruit and garlic bread with every main meal too so it worked out quite well. We headed back and somehow despite having slept most of the afternoon, were tired enough to have an early night.
Monday 29th - Saigon
We got up at about 7am and packed up our stuff ready for breaky and checkout. We left for the tour to the tunnels at about 8am which was about 2 and a half hours bus trip away. We stopped at the handicapped handcrafts factory where veterans from the war were busy making bowls, plates, vases and just about anything else you can think of. I was kind of sad seeing them slave away in the production lines as people snapped pictures of them but at the same time I guess it gives them a way to earn money and provide for their families etc.
We arrived in at the tunnels and immediately felt like we were in tourist central. We were ushered in large groups around the various exhibits with little time to do anything apart from take a quick picture. Each group was literally on the other's heels and I really didn't enjoy it very much. We could hear gunshots the whole tour which seemed to get stronger until we reached a part where you could actually fire one of the guns. It was insanely loud even being about 10 metres away from the person shooting and it left a brief ringing in my ear. I think you could buy bullets and have a go at letting off a round for about $15 or something (the bullets aren't cheap).
The last part of the tour was quite fun as we had a chance to crawl through the tunnels which had been widened for tourists thankfully. There were three sections allowing you to bail out if it got too much. The full length which we went along was about 100m underground, and it got a little tight at the end. I had to push my backpack in front of me eventually, as there was no turning around once it got tight. Still this was nothing on the original Cu Chi tunnels which I doubt I would have made it very far in.
After the tour we had a final dinner at the same restaurant as the night before, picked up our bags and headed to the airport. Our flight was only a couple of hours from Saigon to Kuala Lumpur. It was Kristy and my last night together for the next 2 and a half months so we splashed out a bit and stayed at the international airport 5 star hotel for some real luxury. It really was something walking into the main room, and we felt a bit out of place in our grubby clothes. Still it was so nice not to have to catch more buses that night.
Tuesday 30th - Goodbye for a while
We didn't really sleep at all Monday night, staying up to watch Fifth Element, consume all the complimentary tea, coffee and chocolates, and sit in the spas and saunas. It was a really nice way to wind down after a month long trip together. It was very sad seeing Kristy off at the airport as I knew it would be over 2 months before we would see each other again, however it had been a heap of fun travelling together.
I was of course excited about meeting up with Geoffrey, Siobhan, Sally and Dain who were to be my travel buddies for the next leg of the journey. I returned to the hotel, and slept for a few hours, packed, jumped in the pool, sauna and steam rooms one last time, and then checked out in the afternoon. I headed to Burger King, having been told it would have free wireless, however was later to find out that the whole of Kuala Lumpur airport has free wireless. It was in fact quite nice having a while there, and I filled my time reading up on the story behind the airport expansion which won them the best international airport award in the world award a few years ago. Its not hard to see why either. What could have been a big lump of concrete had been made into an aesthetically pleasing flight terminal, and the only airport in the world to conform to some environmental standards thingie - I'll have to look that one up. Anyway it was well designed as they tried to minimise the impact on its surrounding environment which is refreshing to see in this day and age. After a long struggle with my laptop attempting to remove a virus that I had picked up from the computers at Hanoi Backpackers, my computer stopped booting up, and I sadly packed it away and had to pay Burger King to use their internet which was expensive and the keyboard space bar only worked if you thumped it. It felt like everything was going wrong that day, but it all worked out in the end.
After a long wait, it was time to check in my luggage. I actually was a bit late in the line because I was confused by the signage which I thought was pointing me to a different flight, which is kind of ironic as I was there about 8 hours early. When I was lining up the girl behind me thought it would be a good idea to move her trolley as close to my feet as possible every time the line moved. As she actually started pushing her trolley into my ankles so I had to turn around and glare.
She then tried to cut the corner at the next zig zag, but soon I found myself at the check in desk and all was good. I really don't understand why some people are so pushy, it really makes no difference if you leave 10cm more gap between you and the next person. You'll still get there at the same time, but I suppose if you are on a motor bike or something you won't get very far here without a 'push and shove' attitude.
Anyway I was in luck as the check in lady gave me a window seat at the emergency exit I guess due to my height without me even asking, which I was very impressed with. In the departure lounge I jumped off the departure shuttle train to find Geoffrey and Dain walking towards me. We simply couldn't have planned it better! Our flight was delayed by just over an hour due to bad weather, so we had some time to kill. We had a quick drink, went for a wander, and then it was off and away to Frankfurt. On the plane there was a guy sitting in my seat. He was a right pain, and did the whole I didn't realise thing when I asked for my window seat back. Anyway I slept a little on the flight and watched some episodes of Heroes as the movie selection was pretty average. All in all a great flight on Malaysia Airlines, they really know how to look after you... and then I was in Germany.
