China

From the moment I got off the plane (still barefoot, you can take a girl off the island but you can't take the island out of the girl) I had a Chinese translator/interpreter, in the form of my cousin, who was able to tell me the best places to go, read menus and order for me. This made things very easy and I was able to spend my time with him discussing eastern philosophy, practising yoga and qi gong (and realising how similar some of the exercises are) and generally discussing life, love and the universe (I swear we worked out the answer at 6am one morning ...).

It wasn't until the train to Nanning that I faced China by myself. My first mishap was getting my ticket stolen in the train station and having to buy a new one, but the day did not improve from there ...

The weekend before my intended train journey Typhoon Usagi approached and the boats were canceled and when we arrived at the train station at 1pm in time to get some lunch before getting on the train it said the train could be about 3 hours delayed. By the time I got back from lunch they eye saying the train wouldn't be there until 10pm so I left and came back at 10 ...

10pm was when the gates opened and I could wait on the platform. I was the only foreigner in the room so stood out like a sore thumb and when at 3am people started to leave and I tried to find out what was going on, all I got was people laughing at the fact that I couldn't understand. Eventually I found someone at the information that spoke English and found the train was due to arrive at 5am. It did arrive at 5 but it didn't leave till 7.

Once I was on the train it was fine. I fell straight asleep and the delay meant that I didn't need to stop the night in Nanning, but could get straight on the bus to Hanoi.

Internet information that I had found on the Nanning bus ticket office was slightly out of date as there are building works going on outside the station so it was lucky that I spotted an Australian with a Chinese friend that was able to take me there and order my ticket for me.

I will attempt to do China by myself one day. It is yet another example of travelling somewhere just to realise that thereis so much more that I haven't seen.

opening a restaurant

When I arrived on Koh Rong 4 months ago I had no grand plans and certainly never dreamed that I would be opening a veggie restaurant on this Cambodian island, but that's what I've done!
It started with a painting, I was looking for somewhere to paint a mural as I had done in Thailand and Laos, and Vagabonds had space for me to paint. I was told they wanted a mermaid so I started sketching and by the time I met Dave, the owner, I had already begun painting on the wall. He quickly offered me free beer, food and accommodation to continue painting and with a free rein to paint what I wanted where I wanted it was an offer I couldn't refuse.
My role as in house artist quickly expanded as I offered to help out with everything I could in this guesthouse/bar and within a week I was manager!
As the business was just starting up (we had the opening party two weeks after I arrived) and wasn't really serving much food, Dave said we could experiment in the kitchen, but we couldn't order expensive foods such as meat. This gave me the idea of trying to make some good vegetarian food...
My parents are vegetarian and I was brought up working in vegetarian cafes in Glastonbury so I'm used to cooking vegetarian food but my first couple attempts at veggie burgers came out as sloppy pumpkin mess.
With everything else going on it took me until the end of June to get a menu written but as soon as that was done it was amazing how quickly we transformed into a restaurant.
There is already a good selection of western food on the island and Pan Mai and Tom, the two girls who work in the Vagabonds kitchen, could cook a full English breakfast with their eyes closed.
Introducing a vegetarian menu, however, meant a lot of new dishes that they had never cooked before, using different flavours than they are used to and a whole new style of cooking. The girls have done an amazing job of learning a lot of new dishes in a short space of time but it's tough work introducing a whole new menu in a week, let alone teaching stock control, efficiency and what needs to be prepared in advance. At the moment it's low season though so there aren't many customers and we can use the next couple of months to practice and really get it right for high season.
Yesterday we demolished one of the dorm rooms to build a new, bigger kitchen and moved the bar to create more restaurant seating so in the next few days we should be able to have a grand reopening party of our new restaurant!
So if your in Koh Rong at any time soon, come check out the menu, maybe even stay for a 'Yolanda special' - a baguette with marmite, poached eggs and cheese  :-)

5 things I love about my life

1. Having pink hair.

People say blondes have fun. Pink's have more fun. Fact.

2. Living on an island.

It feels cut off from the real world. No roads, no cars, just beach, jungle and sea.

3. Starting a businesses.

The whole island is young and developing. Most businesses here are less than a year old and it's exciting to be part of creating the scene. I started by painting on the walls and was managing the place before we opened so it really feels like my baby.

4. The wildlife.

Every night I fall asleep to the sounds of geckos and crickets. Wake up to chickens, a snake coiling itself around a nearby tree and a buffalo rolling around in the mud. I go for a swim and have to tread carefully around the giant pink starfish dotted on the ocean bed and barracuda coming for me. Swim at night and there is phosphorescent plankton. At work my dog bounds up to me with a million kisses, dragonflies hover around and a giant butterfly lands on my head. (Of course not all the wildlife is good, sandflies are the bane of my life and it's not possible to keep anti venom on the island as we can't keep it refrigerated consistently. There is always a price to pay for paradise.)

5. The people.

You meet some interesting characters travelling but the ones that have decided to live on a Cambodian island are certainly a rare breed.

A week in the life of the island

Last week was pretty eventful...

Monday: Met the minister of tourism for Cambodia.

The whole village and several businesses owners lined up on the peer at 10am to greet the minister only to find out he wasn't in that boat. A couple of hours later when we lined up again a speed boat arrived with a lot of important dignitaries. I shook everyone's hands then sat in a 2hr meeting, getting filmed for Cambodian TV looking interested and nodding along but not understanding a word that was being said. Lots of smiles and claps though so I guess we are doing something right.

Tuesday: Started first aid training.

As part of the Koh Rong Conservation project there are a couple of nurses on the island that are running a first aid clinic and offered free training to long term staff at the bars so that when they go we can man the clinic ourselves.

Wednesday: I was meant to learn about island fevers such as dengue, but instead got a fever.

It may or may have been dengue but whatever it was it wasn't fun. I did, however, move a mattresses and mosquito net onto my balcony so was able to lie down staring at palm trees for 6 days. You know you've found somewhere special when you can still be this happy when your ill with a fever!

A little poem about bangkok ...

Bangkok you've been epic, as usual, a blast.

Each time I return is more fun than the last

From buckets on Khaosan and scummy hostels, to red wine in the pool at 5 star hotels.

Markets and malls and cinema 4D,

tagteaming germans,

stop!

Roly poly!

Thank you to the friends that have made this the best,

now one night by myself to get some rest.

Then back to the island I shall go.

It's a hard life in Asia, don't you know!

koh rong

I came to koh rong on a quick visit and now I have no idea how long I've actually been here ... just over two weeks I think.

In that time I have become the manager of 'vagabonds', a beach front bar/guesthouse, painted several murals, and started teaching yoga.

The island is paradise. There is white sand, turquoise sea,  snorkelling, and drum and bass!

Most days I watch the sunrise, do yoga, and go for a swim before breakfast. It's the best way in the world to start your day!

Everyone here seems to be on a similar wavelength and I feel at home. I've always wanted palm trees in my back garden ...

Cambodia

No posts so far in Cambodia yet because I've been having too much fun!

Ban Lung and Kratie were pretty quiet but nice scenery, cheap and good to see real Cambodian towns rather than just tourist destinations.

Next was Phnom Pehn where we visited the killing fields and genocide museum. A day of quiet reflection as we learnt about Cambodia's atrocious recent history, it was difficult to understand how such things can take place but definitely a worthwhile visit.

Siem Reap was a lot more of a party turn than I expected. We did 3 days of Ankor wat which is one of the must magical places I've been to in my life, but 50c beers meant that we had to take a day off in between each temple day ... Definitely recommend Villa Anjuna for it's tripped out goan hippie vibe and beautiful garden but rooms are expensive and the German owners seem to be slightly falling apart at the seams. For a cheaper option Garden Village is only 5 dollars per room and 1 dollar for some of the dorms.

Sihanoukville was next and it is where most tourists in Cambodia seem to stay. We heard Serendipity has all the parties and cheap booze and Victory is full of prostitutes so stayed on chilled Otres (venturing onto Serendipity for a few drinks every now and again).

Now I'm on Ko Rong where the water is blue, the sand is white and most of the bars seem to be run by people back home so the music selection is like being back in Bristol.

Our boat over here had one of the best unexpected stops ever! We thought we bought the normal return ticket to Ko Rong but turns out that for the same price we ended up on a boat that gave us breakfast, stopped for 30 mins for us to swim and snorkel and then have us lunch before we arrived!

It's a popular thing to come out here and work at the bars for the whole season and I can see the scene only getting bigger. It's a good lifestyle, western staff work for no money but get their accommodation, food and drink for free, it's long hours but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. The smaller places like Otres and Ko Rong have building work going on all around and there are still plenty of undeveloped islands in the area...

Not sure how long I'm going to stay here this time but I can definitely see myself coming back for sure!