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Kennedy Space Centre  This was very special day out. We took Uber rides there and back, with getting there far cheaper than the peak time return ride, not a lot you can do about it, but a little annoying to pay $50 there and $90 for the exact same ride back. Kennedy is everything you would expect and was a truly interesting day out. Whilst it is still very much a working environment, the whole site lends its self beautifully to past and present space exploration. We were advised to take the bus tour first, which we did, and saw the original launch pads amongst many other things. There is a lot to take in at Kennedy and I admit to being a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of exhibits and reading. A lot of reading. The bus out to the launch site was swift and organised, coming back was a different story with a whole lot of people standing around waiting to return to the main exhibit halls, watching empty buses pass us without stopping. (reason unknown) This was the only part of the day that could have really spoilt things. As it happens, we were amongst the first to arrive at the pads. With none of us particularly astronaut or space obsessed, we very much enjoyed watching and seeing things, but didn`t particularly stress about reading every single article, just the bits that looked more appealing, so luckily for us we were at the very front of the long bus queue and only had to endure 2 empty buses before we boarded. There was very interesting talk about the actual rocket launch back indoors at the main entrance area. The very knowledgeable guide walked us the whole length of the rocket stopping at various points to explain the workings of the rocket, and was quite brilliant , right until he said "and then"...."and then"...."and then" the first 20 mins of the talk was great, but the last set of "and thens" was just a little too much information. We had been told about the good stuff, and I would have been happy to leave it there, but he droned (pardon the pun) on and on and on..zzzzz Please shh, let me go look at other stuff! I don`t want to elaborate too much on the tour of Kennedy because I really do think it is a place to go and see for yourself. It is respectful, interesting, informative and brain numbingly clever. There was a very short and exceedingly interesting video showing where they repeatedly suggested `anyone can cook` ..whoops, sorry, that`s Disney....`anyone can be a space scientist` and all my less than scientific brain could think was, I cannot even rewire a plug! Busch Gardens This was once a favourite park with a multitude of animal areas and easy to navigate theme park rides, but it is now another park leaning heavily towards rides and away from animals. As a non Florida or even American resident, my experiences of any parks are at sporadic intervals. What was so enjoyable in 2004 or 2016 is now the same ride but 20 years older. The rides are tired. The three biggest Kumba, Montu and Sheikra whilst still good rides, are becoming very headache inducing body vibrating bone shakers. This was made all the more evident by a singular ride on the new Phoenix Rising, a simple but great ride. We may have ridden others but far too many rides had downtime with weather also becoming our enemy. The savannah train frequently had 35 minute wait times, (why is there only one train?) The animals were mostly hiding in the shade, and the tigers had decided to sleep in. We may have seen a hippo but given the disgustingly filthy glass around the exhibits, it was hard to say. Like Seaworld, this is another park that needs a really good overhaul. Then it rained. Have you any idea what you can do at Busch Gardens when lightening is in the air, and rain strikes? Nothing. Nothing is what you can do! From 3pm until 7pm, we did nothing but wander aimlessly waiting until it was time to catch the bus home. I presume the painfully boring ice skating show may still run, good for a sleep if nothing else. Personally we were gobsmacked at the end of the day when our bus driver asked if we had seen the show, and then went on to say how much he loved it. We bit our tongues quickly as quite frankly it bored the pants off us. We will go back to Busch Gardens, but we will go back with the knowledge that it is not the animal orientated park that it used to be. Disney Springs For anyone who hasn`t been to Florida in the last 20 years, you would not recognise this area. The extensions and building here has been quite phenomenal. Very little is left of the original area, but the expansion is excellent. Still three areas, Marketplace, Dining, Shopping, but each area is much improved. Apart from the Rainforest cafe area. That has not changed one iota. We chose to spend a whole day at Disney Springs wandering at leisure, in preference to the short evening visits of previous holidays. It was nice feeling relaxed with time on our bunny paws to pause for coffee or snacks, meander slowly around the many shops, and work up an appetite for our chosen dining experience, somewhere new to us all, the Raglan Road Irish Bar later that evening. I cannot begin to list the sheer number of places where you could dine, but, do as we did, and follow DFB on You Tube for ideas. That is a superb vlog of all food Disney, and they really, really  know their food. From that vlog we drank the best milkshakes, ate the most delicious cakes, sampled the very best chocolate, and would have queued for the best cookies in Orlando at Gideons Bakehouse had we not felt stuffed to the gills. We had to save room for the meal! The food choices at Disney Springs are just too many to mention. Ditto the shopping. Not mall size, but certainly a sufficient variety of shops to satisfy everyone from mums eyeing up a smart new outfit, dads at the Star Wars, Marvel, Coca Cola or maybe Lego Store? to the best Disney store around in which any child could find something to make them happy. The only type of shopping that is missing, is a shop that could sell Disney T shirts, (or any kind of clothing) with characters other than Stitch. I got so fed up of every Disney souvenir and t shirt being Stitch related! Give me a shop with Pooh, Eeyore, Max from Tangled, Thumper, Oliver, Aristocats, Hercules, Tinkerbell, Goofy, Baloo or Nemo to name just a few, or what about the many quotes from the man himself. eg If you can dream it, you can do it. There are so many lovely t shirts being worn in the parks, but non are available in the immediate vicinity. As for the lack of cute vests? Middle of August and we could buy thick t shirts by the 1000s, but not one cute cool vest could we find! Come on Disney, keep up! Raglan Road was our chosen venue to eat. Not a lot wrong with the place, but if you are going for the entertainment, make sure you request a table with a view of the stage. Our first table offer was in a room where we couldn`t even see the stage, never mind hear any music. The Irish girl singers were good. As were the dancers, but I couldn`t help thinking that these girls appeared a little fed up and seemed a little ` here we go again, stick on the false smiles girls`, It must be so so hard trying to muster up vibrant sparking enthusiasm multiple times per day, day in day out. Wonderful as they were, this is the type of act that would thrive in a loud, beer soaked bar of happy revellers, not as it is, casual drinkers and diners clapping briefly in between mouthfuls. Food was delicious by the way. Medieval Times/Dinner Show. I have seen this advertised so many times during my previous holidays in Orlando, that along with the other places I have not seen before, Gatorland, Kennedy for eg, I added this to the list of must do`s. Its a fairly short drive to the `castle` in which the show is housed, and looks quite fun with its flags and turrets. On entry you are given your appropriate coloured crown for the price you paid for your ticket and escorted into the main hall to wait for the call to be seated. There are many themed souvenirs available to purchase, but who really needs plastic tiaras, fake crowns, ornamental tankards or wooden swords? I did not see many purchases being made with most people giving the T.S. a cursory glance prior to heading to the bar for a pre show drink. The `King and Queen` wander around in their medieval costumes, talking in character, and generally giving the place an authentic feel. A call to the feast is announced with the tables being filled in an orderly fashion according to the six colours that represented the various knights. We were seated in the Green section. The show commenced and I have to say it was very enjoyable. Each table colour had its own Jester who tried to encourage his people to shout the loudest for their knight. Our table jester was a little half hearted, and we actually agreed with little B that the rather handsome Blue Knight would be getting a few additional cheers from us, rather than our weedy green knight. Jousting, sword fighting, horse displays were all very entertaining. The food served was hot, cooked and most enjoyable. Eaten with fingers of course maintaining the medieval theming. A little on the expensive side, but for an alternative evening out, we did enjoy it. A do once perhaps, but a good do once.

Yes, absolutely, we are back in our most favourite place ever. No matter how many wonderful places we have been around the the World, and all the amazing things we have done, Orlando in Florida is our true Happy Place. With monetary considerations our only deciding factor, I could have chosen any date to fly to Orlando, so for that and no other reason I decided to throw caution to the wind and book us a whole month here. It was always our intention to finish our amazing round the world trip here, and this particular destination was saved, booked and planned for moons ago. This was not a whim destination, or a where can we go next, this is our happy place and the place we wanted to share as a bunny trio for one last adventure. * Be warned, this is going to be a whole lotta Disney/Universal waffle with almost all things Theme Park related with just a couple of exceptions. I shall try and keep things brief, but this is Mrs Bunny, and Disney is my thing. With time on our hands, we chose to split up our residences and enjoy various other Florida adventures that we have not done in the past. Spending 11 days on a very quiet International Drive, we had time to spend around the pool doing a weird thing called `nothing`. We then went to Kennedy Space Centre, Gatorland, Busch Gardens and Seaworld. Disney Springs for a whole day, not just a speedy evening and also paid a visit to Volcano Bay water park. Each adventure was a singular relaxed event, a leisurely breakfast after a short lie in (for die hard rope drop Disney fans, a lie in is unheard of) followed by an unrushed taxi ride to each destination. I admit to being first in line at Seaworld, but it was only a 10 minute drive away. Each evening we were back in our wonderfully cool air conditioned bunny hutch for tv dinners from Walmart and a very very long tv (not netflix) movie. (9 minutes of movie followed by 4 minutes of adverts, rinse and repeat) International Drive We have stayed here on many occasions, always in the same accommodation, the very comparatively cheap, cheerful, centrally located Avanti, or for older readers, the old Best Western, and I have a hunch the Econolodge? It suits a purpose. No frills practical room with very comfortable beds. We have a fridge, coffee/tea maker, drawers, bath, shower and large TV. The pool is very nice, sufficient sunbeds with towels, a hot tub, and pool side bar and cafe. What else do you actually need? Years ago I would have added several things, like Ponderosa Steak house almost next door, Wendys (or Friendlies?) I cannot remember which, the shortest walk away, and a whole lot of interesting shops, fun restaurants eg I Hop, Ice Bar, (yes, still there but very laxy daisy) Ben and Jerrys, TGI Fridays to name a few, but now? Just so many empty buildings, all our favourites have disappeared with TGI`s vanishing in the last 18 months. Icon Park seems busy enough, but the old busy International Drive has long gone. A taxi driver told us he used to cringe when asked to take a fare to I Drive, describing it as a huge parking lot, but now he referenced it as a speedway. To say there has been some pretty intense new building work would be an understatement, the development here, not actually on I drive itself, is quite phenomenal. The latest of course being the brand new hotels around the latest Universal Park, Epic. Add that to the many huge hotels around Universal and Disney , and its bye bye International Drive. Orlando itself is also experiencing a huge population boom. Self explanatory as to why the parks are just getting busier and busier. To avoid overly long blogs, I have split the various places up into multiple shorter, cup, saucer and single biscuit length blogs, rather than mugs and munchies.

Prior to continuing with the blog and the journey in sequence, I feel compelled to type an interlude to explain my long absence. No Internet. Could I get internet with a decent connection whilst in Florida? Well Mrs Bunny here couldn`t, which made me feel quite Grumpy. I tried every which way I could, I even went `To infinity and beyond` to gain a connection but alas, For the `First time in Forever, nothing was going my way`. I had to sit back, switch off the laptop and just enjoy the show. For any Disney/Universal or Orlando fan, or anyone just curious about what a whole month of fun looks like, I assure you the next blog will tick that box. Internet however dodgy or slow around the world, Yes. America?...No. Go figure! Right now I am on borrowed internet, and speed typing. Probably explains the fat finger typing errors and slightly waffling paragraphs as I try to marshall my head full of thoughts into a comprehensive and hopefully non too boring blog. Are we home yet? Yes, yes we are. But guess what....No internet here either. Apparently cancelling your every household subscription is a doddle, `Cancel the Internet` ? Sure thing, poof, gone. Ah, 17 months later you want to reconnect? Afraid there is a 6 week waiting list! Have you any idea how much of every day life is internet driven? Yes, of course I could use my phone but my once decent network has failed me. I totally understand the actions seen in many films of walking around with phone in the air trying to grasp any floating signals.... So what does it feel like to be home? Strange, very strange. But also odd, emotional, depressing, comforting, quirky, bemused and a little sad. Prior to leaving and packing up the whole house into boxes we had little idea of how overwhelming reconnecting with all our all belongings, and living back in the house would be. Our first job however prior to any unpacking would be to rediscover the colour of the front door under its myriad of dust, dirt and cobwebs. My very fine idea of keeping our window cleaner employed in our absence ensuring the house remained tidy looking and lived in, fell quite flat when I omitted to ask him to wipe down the front door on occasions. Beautiful clean windows, front door buried in cobwebs....humph. After a couple of days of little more than endless brews, rest ,sleep and recollections, we started to take stock of the condition of the house. For the most part a good clean, vacuum and spider removal, would suffice to restore most rooms to their pre-trip condition, but we had mould in many places. How does mould grow on places that were scrubbed within an inch of their lives prior to our departure? Doors, furniture, pans. Maybe there is a science secret that I failed to acknowledge. I do know however, that every surface was scrubbed and anti bac prior to leaving. Yet, shoes left in cupboards had to be thrown away, ditto rucksacks. Anything packed into a box, survived its hibernation trouble free. A lesson now learned for future trips. Unpacking. The first job was to fully unpack our hardworking and over stuffed backpacks. It was quite liberating to be able to dump everything into a washing basket, we have a shiny new washing machine all of our very own, so exciting, no more hand washing, sourcing laundry services or handing over our clothes to strangers praying we would see them again. Equally to be able to relocate certain items straight to the bin having vowed that I never want to see or wear them again was quite satisfying. We then unpacked our America Disney bags, laughing that we managed more daft souvenirs in 4 weeks then we had collected in the previous 16 months. Naturally nothing that went to USA was discarded. A whole raft of washing and drying later, and there it was for all the bunnies, our clothes for 17 months of travel laid out on the bed. The first things to add to these piles were the contents of the boxes we sent home. Warm clothes. Oh the added joy of reconnecting with favourite leggings, warm jumper, best coat, the extra underwear and t shirts because we took too much. The three of us refilled our drawers, and revelled in having so many clothes available to us. I then retrieved the box labelled `last worn clothes` . Ok, no problems here, favourite dungarees, Mr Bunny`s jeans, comfy dossing pants, Mr B`s fleecy jumper and his quirky lion t shirt, Mrs Bunny`s super comfy well loved white t shirts, both long and short sleeved. So many clothes!! Then I found the clean laundry leftovers, more clothes. I delved a little deeper and found yet another box labelled `clothes`. Suddenly the fun of having extra choices of clothing diminished. Each box depressed us further. For seventeen months we had dipped into our bags, found sufficient clothes, washed underwear, socks daily/every second day, and always felt we had enough choices. I would like to think we looked clean and smart enough? Yet all of a sudden the reality of the life we had left behind became a smack in the face of frivolous spending. I bought pjs on the road, I loved them. When they required a wash, a spare t shirt sufficed. At home I found yet another box marked `Nightwear`. A whole box, containing nothing but nightwear? Yet another box labelled `underwear`..... Is it possible to have too much? Yes. And still the boxes kept on coming. Not just labelled Mrs Bunny, Mr Bunny had just as many boxes as I. Shirts. Mr Bunny was such a smart, fun, shirt wearing diligent worker, but 35 shirts? Whilst he took great pleasure in dumping the whole lot in a box ear marked for the charity shop, it was a sobering experience when we recall the purchases. Nothing cheap for my Mr B, yet the will/want to market and sell so many surplus clothes eludes us. We are now both retired and wish to leave behind our lives of old. We get excited now by silky sports branded clothing that requires no ironing yet looks so tidy. Walking casuals gives us a buzz, the words quick dry and breathable are quite the turn on. At least eight boxes of surplus clothing now reside in the bedroom waiting for the right moment to redistribute them. Other household items also found themselves unceremoniously dumped in boxes as well. Kitchenware being the main target. For at least twelve months Mr B made us creative and inventive meals with the food implements we had available. If the room/kitchen yielded a fish slice, fried eggs were a go. A sharp knife and we could add an onion to the food. A potato masher was luxury (cheap cutlery is not an advisable substitute) A wooden spoon meant a `hurrah`, no more burning fingers on hot spoons. We purchased one apron, one spoon, a spatula and a bottle opener on our travels. We came home to several boxes of cooking items, how many stirring utensils? casserole dishes? enough to cook and feed the kids at the local school ! And still we had more... Ornaments. There is only one rule in our house. You can have it if you love it and it must have a place. No home, no purchase, no matter how much we like it. We only made the mistake once, and that set of 4 blasted elephants haunts us, bought without a home in mind and fit nowhere. Too nice to dump, too darn big for anywhere we have. They move from pillar to post and invariably end up on a windowsill somewhere tucked behind a curtain. Rediscovering our boxes of ` ornamental treasures` was actually a joy. Each item is a memory, a story, a reminder. They all had a home. All except one. Sorry Buddha, but we got so heartily sick and tired of seeing your image in every guise possible, it's time for you to depart. Without even unwrapping it from the protective bubble wrap, this annoying icon was dumped, replaced with a favourite Bunny ornament. The next casualty of surplus was our cushion collection. Oh dear heaven how many sodding cushions!!! From beds (all 117 of them worldwide) that mostly yielded one pillow each, to rooms that seldom even had chairs never mind a chair with a cushion (certain hotels and cute hotels excepted) to suddenly being in possession of 30 plus cushions???!!! Even little bunny who is currently residing at our bunny hutch for a short while, politely and firmly refused to add a single cushion to a bed that already sports 4 super bouncy feather pillows. I tried adding a `decorative` cushion to our bunny bed, but one week later I am already ready to chuck the darn thing out of the window. Surplus. Just in Case. Maybe. These words are rapidly being erased from our vocabulary. Nope, cant do it. I have tried. Mugs. The last unopened box. It reads `Favourite Mugs` and you know what? I cannot think of one single mug that could possibly be in that box! In Argentina Mrs B purchased two matching blue thermal mugs with lids, and they were the best buy ever. He will never admit it, but I bet Mr B secretly wished that he too had purchased one of those mugs for himself. For us girly bunnies who love hot tea, they were the best. Decent sized mugs with thermal qualities, and lids for outdoor use, what`s not to love? Mr B managed with whatever piffling little cup any property supplied. We used our cups every single day we had a kettle, but now? I have a box full of `favourite mugs` and not a single recollection of what they are and zero willpower to just send the whole lot to charity I think this is my kryptonite. Mugs. I must add that we did leave the smallest selection of crockery available prior to leaving, just one of everything in a box (with the kettle of course) The need for extra mugs doesn`t exist. Huge shout out to my dad here. Not only did he diligently monitor our mail, he also welcomed us home with a large selection of breakfast goodies. He thought of everything and that basket of goodies just made me cry. Bread, butter, jam, crumpets, cereal, bananas, oranges, tea bags, coffee, sugar and milk. What a hero. The only remaining items that are left in storage now, apart from `favourite mugs` are trees. Artificial trees. And with the exception of one bare surface where a small plant would look very nice, I have absolutely not a single clue where any of them used to reside. Not one. I have no intention either of placing any of them somewhere `just because`. I guess my storage has just become a tree house. My final reality of home is the quiet absence of my mum. My lovely mum passed away whilst we were in Australia and the family decision that we were not to come home under any circumstances made the loss more bearable due to lack of visual reality. I hadn`t seen her for almost seven months, with the exception of whatsapp calls, so the harsh reality of absence did not hit me until I returned home, entered my parents home, and found the silence deafening. Seeing my dad standing alone, without my mums presence was too much to bear and the reality of loss hit me hard. Her empty chair. Her slippers tucked out of sight. No vocal reminder of why she bought a certain picture, a tale she told every time I arrived at the house. The smell of her perfume as I went into her untouched bedroom. The reality obscured by travel, time and distance. I refuse to end my blog on a sad note. Entering their kitchen is the reason (not the only reason of course) we made the hard decision not to return home. Pin Badges. My mum and dad loved to travel, mostly by cruise ship, but coach tours, personal holidays and day trips, and no matter the destination, a Pin Badge was the Prized Souvenir. Such was their love of holidays, travel and sightseeing, their pin badge collections are in the 100s. Together they saw the world, and together they blessed our trip, encouraging us to go see the places they had seen, to live our dream to travel as they had lived theirs. There is never a right time to leave anyone. When you get older, when the house is paid, when you retire, when the kids leave home, after the kids are married, when the grandkids grow up. Now. Your time is now. It may be the hardest decision you ever make, but make it, and go live your dream. I lost 5 people during my time away. Ages ranging from 84 to 25. You never know when the clock stop ticking. Be Brave. Make the decision. Normal blog service resumes soon as our date for Wifi installation looms large. All things Florida, and clues as to our next wild ride. Happy thoughts, Mrs Bunny x

Our world tour is nearing its end, with Dubai chosen to be the final destination. (Truth be known we do actually have a final final stop, but as part of our round the world trip , Dubai is our last awesome adventure). I knew in advance that we were heading to Dubai in the worst possible month, July, average temperatures in the high 40s, and that these bunnies were going to cook, but that couldn`t be avoided. Not sure however if I was prepared for the cost of Dubai.... With the temperature scale hitting record numbers I decided that touring Dubai would not be an option. Just the thought of getting taxis or buses here there and everywhere made me hot, tired and grumpy. I had to weigh up seeing the the sights of Dubai in punishing heat, or keeping it simple and ticking off the just the biggest icons. And what is bigger than the Burj Khalifa? We had hoped to add the Dubai Frame and the fountain show to our itinerary, but not every plan comes to fruition. Picked up from the airport by Uber, we set off for the most spectacularly stunning, hottest ride to date. Personally this bunny had eyes on stalks looking out of every window to catch the first sight of the Burj Khalifa. I knew we were only around twenty minutes from the airport, so surely I must be able to see the worlds tallest building without too much trouble? I was wrong. I am not entirely certain the last time I was surrounded by so many architecturally beautiful and amazing looking, tall buildings. Oh my golly gosh who designs such buildings! To say Dubai is almost futuristic would be an understatement. Then to my right I saw it, but how can it be? Surely it was bigger than that? Why does that little building resemble the Burj, nooooo! this cannot be! Turns out it can. We were surrounded by so many buildings of such incredible heights, the beautiful Burj could quietly dodge and hide at every turn. Even turning into our stunning apartment complex knowing the Burj was walking distance away, it still refused to present itself to us. To be as close to the Burj Khalifa as possible I had found the bunnies the most spectacular little bunny pad imaginable. Bookingdotcom could you possibly, just this once, live up to every photo with supreme accuracy? Yes, Yes you can, and even better, just once, excelled as well. This stunning little...little?...probably bigger than my own bunny pad in the UK truth be known, was situated on the 42nd floor (yikes) of two identical towers quite literally within walking distance of the Burj. Oh my goodness did we strike gold or oil, or what! This stunning apartment was on a corner and had the most breath taking panoramic views. Two balconies with grass underfoot and comfortable chairs, and there, right there, no neck craning, leaning, or obstruction, stood the Burj Khalifa in all its stunning glory. The Burj Khalifa stands majestically within its own area. Once you enter its domain it is only then you can appreciate the sheer size and scale of this monumental iconic structure. From the ground it quietly hides, biding its time until you reach the spot where you just stand in pure wonder and awe. Even the large mostly unobtrusive walls go unnoticed for a while, until the moment you realise, the fountains were being refurbished. Oh, we were gutted. We had chosen not to look too much at Dubai wanting to see it with our own eyes, but we did know that these fountains are amongst the best, if not the best, in the world. And closed. Our disappointment rapidly dissipated however as we entered the Mall, and the public entrance to the Burj. (We had already been quietly and politely turned around by security as we accidentally wandered the grounds of the private residential entrance, maybe the odd Ferrari or two roaring up the drive should have alerted us sooner..) The Dubai Mall, situated underneath the Burj is unbelievable. We thought we had been in some special buildings, but goodness me, this was just stunningly beautiful. We chose not to venture too high, as with all the best will in the world, these bunnies were not quite ready for the pure elegance, style and opulence that so many of the patrons exuded with little effort. Three bunny backpackers, just didn`t quite fit the mould. We did however purchase ourselves some sneakily reduced priced tickets to enter the lift to the next world. Standing on our apartment balcony on the 42nd floor, we were so high. Our next lift ride would stop at level 124. With surprising speed we were raised to the viewing point, and stepped out into space. Mrs Bunny who doesn`t generally have a head for heights, took several moments of gluing herself to the building, before the wobbly bunny butt subsided and she was able to hop forward towards the balcony edge for a better look. The platform was open to the elements, but the glass walls surrounding the platform were clearly extraordinarily substantial. 124 floors above ground level, yet looking up, there was still another 40 plus floors above us. With a 360` degree view, we could walk around the whole platform. We looked for, and found, our incredibly tall apartment block, which now resembled the size of a child`s Lego brick. And my first impression of the Burj Khalifa was that it was smaller than I thought?? Ha ! With all our photographs taken, and memories stored, once more we returned, almost literally back to earth. To the men and women who designed and built this building. I salute you. As I said earlier in my blog, we had planned to visit the Frame next. Truthfully, after standing on top of the world looking down, way way down on said Frame, we suddenly didn`t feel the need to see it any closer. Our next hotel has a bit of a back story. Many months ago I remembered about a certain amazing hotel in Dubai. We were actually in KL at the time. I showed it Mr B with a certain degree of trepidation and hope, and knowing it would make a fabulous end of trip stay, together we made the decision to cash in the chips so they say, and booked ourselves a 4 night stay, in `that hotel`. We kept little B in the dark, since I know that from being a very small bunny she had longed to stay at said hotel, same name, different destination. We still gave little B her chance to do the what and where of Dubai, keeping up pretences, but coming to the end of the trip I made noises about keeping things free, or as cheap as possible (in Dubai? chance was a fine thing) Time and time again she dropped hints and suggestions about `that hotel`, we could just visit the lobby? They have a waterpark? It took this mummy bunny real strength of character trying to keep a poker face. As we were to check out of our 42nd floor apartment at 10am, Mr and Mrs B embarked on a rambling conversation of how long we would have to sit in reception, that our new room was very different (hum te tum) to this one, and not everywhere has luggage storage. Oh we played the game of `Keep the Secret` so very well. Mr and Mrs B then suggested to little B, that whilst we had 5 hours to kill, did she fancy going to `That Hotel` and having a look around in the public spaces...... Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai. We duly called a taxi, loaded up all our bags and headed off to Atlantis. Mr and Mrs B were just so excited, little B was equally excited but for very different reasons. And then ARGHHH!! the taxi pulled up, and security guard stuck his head through the car window and requested our room numbers. Room number Sir! Room number? This was not how we planned to drop the bombshell on little B, so we said, No, no room number, we are just visiting. Our taxi driver huffed and puffed, saying Not staying? you didn`t say, visitor entrance is not here. He duly drove us round the corner, and dumping our bags on the pavement left us at the visitor entrance. We entered this jaw dropping hotel with all our bags, and instantly knew we had made the right decision. Atlantis is utterly stunning. Even this general area for day visitors was a vision to behold. With sparkling eyes, little B got out her go pro and started filming. This, that, down there, grabbing as much video as she possibly could. We knew we couldn`t keep the secret much longer. At a corner of the most beautiful hotel corridor you have ever seen, she raised her go pro once more, but this time Mummy Bunny gently placed her bunny paw on the camera, and whispered, `You don`t need to film it all now, you have 4 days, this is our next hotel. Together Mr B and I had pulled off the best kept secret ever, and the tears flowed copiously. With the secret now free to share, I admit that we are staying at the Atlantis Hotel, The Palm, Dubai. Bags in hand we headed for reception and couldn`t stop grinning. Our room is located in the west wing, and on the 12th floor. The view is just amazing, and the room, I know to some of the clientele staying here, it just another hotel, but for 3 bunnies who have endured just about every kind of room and accommodation going, this was, and is, very very special. Atlantis is without doubt the most amazing hotel we have seen, and we do admit to having stuck our bunny noses in several good looking hotels around the world. The attention to detail is just exquisite. Themed within an inch of its life around the lost underwater world of Atlantis, this hotel just exudes rich detail. My descriptions couldn`t begin do it justice, so I hope a few photos will help. Splendid or not, what we hadn`t expected were the prices. Yes, we knew it was going to be expensive, but there is expensive, then there is `you are kidding`. We assumed by the number of Ferraris parked at the front, Russian guests weighed down by gold chains, and handsome Sheiks in their pristine Abaya, that to them a price list was a mere token of information, whilst to these 3 budget conscious bunnies, choosing a bottle of water for £8 each because it was the cheapest drink made our eyes water. Breakfast is around £15 each, for a bowl of granola. Coffee is £8.50 per cup, as is tea. An average no frills meal for 3 at the most `average` restaurant ran up a bill of £100. We declined the dessert at £13 per portion. Three drinks tot up to £30 per round. With the average daily temperatures reaching the high 40s, the need to drink copiously is essential, thankfully the room water is free, and our flasks were purchased to serve a purpose. We don`t wish to be frugal bunnies, but at the end of a very long trip, the prices here are a little eye watering. There are quite a number of shops here at Atlantis, they are located in an area called the Avenues. Tiffany is one of them. Need I say more? We spotted a well known UK shop brand, WH Smith, and had a giggle. It stocked a tiny portion of well known English chocolate brands, such as Mars bars, but at £5 each, the need for a chocolate fix rapidly diminished. With four days to relax and explore the joys of Atlantis, I feel we have tried our best to enjoy the most relaxing areas of the hotel, aka, the free bits. We could have chosen to dine at any one of the exquisite Michelin starred restaurants, of which there are a few, but alas, our frugal wardrobes did not contain items to match the desired dress code of ` elegant and smart` darn.... Then there were the spa treatments, nails, eyebrows, massage we understood and dithered about booking but we drew a very firm line at `IV Treatments` the Underwater Yoga classes, Face Art Botox sessions , the Red Light Laser Bed and Microneedling whatever that heck that may be. I think these three bunnies are a little more down to earth enjoying life as it comes, not as pampered spoilt bunnybrats. Aquaventure World. Labelled as the worlds largest waterpark, this was a favourite of ours. We are entitled to enter free as guests of the hotel, but the park itself is open to paying day guests. With daytime temperatures akin to a hot oven, we relaxed on the lazy river on large rubber rings. Whilst enjoyable, the occasional rise up a moving ramp lowering slowly down the other side into rapids was fun, it was also brief. The water flow was a little too slow moving at times and more than once we found ourselves exerting more energy than we could spare trying to move our floats along. Mr B and little B managed to hoist their little butts up the tower to ride the tube rafts, but both felt that the constant flow of Fast Pass riders made the wait times tediously slow. At a different time of year I feel this could be a really good waterpark, but the incredible heat coupled with pathways on which you could have fried eggs was a little overwhelming for us. The cooler, deeper pool near the hotel beckoned us day on day. The Lost Chambers Aquarium. An Aquarium like no other. Day guests can see part of the aquarium wall, but hotel guests are able to view the most stunning glass wall to an undersea world of epic proportions. Like every inch of the hotel, the glass is spotless. All day long an endless stream of children and adults alike place their hands on the glass to feel a part of the ocean in front of them, and not a single fingerprint remains. That glass is cleaned inside and out quite possibly as many time as the floors are. The bunnies are well used to grubby glass and poor cleanliness of Busch Gardens and similar, but here? Nothing is left marked. This pristine window offers an unblemished scene of underwater fish life, from sharks to rays, from eels to shoals of serious looking silver fish. Then you have the actual aquarium. Now, this bunny can name less fish than birds, so please accept my apologies when I say the fish are big, small, colourful, still, fast, sat on shelves, tiny with orange stripes with little blue ones darting about nearby and just about everything else in between. There are no information boards to mar the ambience, just a beautiful vista of the joys of the underwater world. There was also a large tank of bouncing jelly fish that were quite mesmerising. With an exceptionally large budget, a luxury wardrobe, a penchant for all things expensive, a gourmet palate, the desire to be pampered to the extreme, and a flair for adventure (Balloon rides, Helicopter, Jet Bikes) then Atlantis is the most perfect destination hotel, a playground for the rich, a showground for those who want to be seen. For the more discerning and budget conscious bunnies, Atlantis is here for you as well. Three nights, or even two, would be more than enough time to give you the chance to experience this very special hotel. Research the restaurants thoroughly, decide on your preferred cuisine, and with a little hindsight you too could dip your little bunny toes into the life of the hotel Atlantis, the Palm, Dubai. Now is the time to say goodbye. The three bunnies have completed their Round the World trip and alas home beckons us once more. There are more adventures planned for the future, including one just days away. The three bunnies will be venturing forth together for one last blast of Disney fun lasting a whole month, and I shall endeavour to write about what we get up to there in the near future. On our return however, little bunny will return to work, whilst Mr Bunny and I figure out how to balance a life of retirement and travel. To the readers who have followed my bunny blog, I do hope I have inspired you, hopefully made you laugh or even just given you ideas. Thank you for sticking with us.

Welcome to Sri Lanka, an island that has been on Mr B`s bunny list forever. Of all the places we knew we may or may not visit Sri Lanka was a constant. Oddly enough though, it was the one destination of all the multitudes of You Tubes that we watched, that we researched the least. As I sit here typing this blog, more fool us.... Sigiriya From the offset we always knew that we were going to tour Sri Lanka by rented TukTuk. Mr B made all the necessary arrangements to acquire himself a Sri Lankan Driving Permit, but unfortunately a last minute hitch occurred when he realised that his International Permit was only valid for 12 months, and had expired. The excellent company from where we hired the TukTuk (tuk-tukrentals @Negombo) aided us in acquiring a new one. Abu -The Tuk Tuk Day one, leaving Singapore/landing into Sri Lanka. The adventure began before we even left the airport at Singapore. A WhatsApp message came through from our first hotel, would we like a driver to pick us up at the airport and bring us to the hotel? Always a huge help, we confirmed immediately, Yes Please! ` Excellent` was the reply, followed immediately with `Do you mind doing me a favour and purchase me 4 bottles of whiskey from the duty free for my birthday next week, and I shall pay you on arrival?` Mrs Bunny always and forever suspicious was all for saying absolutely not no way, but on Mr B`s insistence that this could actually help us, we said Yes. Let me hasten to add, the Duty Free shop was through the immigration and just prior to leaving the airport on the Sri Lanka side. We duly landed into Sri Lanka which I personally found to be quite a stressful and slightly intimidating airport, purchased the whisky (@$240!!!) and judging by the numerous people doing the same, realised it was the norm, then we could not see/find our driver. Not a single sign had our name on it. Mrs Bunny asked a guard if she could leave the airport to find the driver outside, only to have a jobsworth armed security guard scream at me that I could not return back into the airport! I kept gesturing that my family was still inside, but he was quite loud and insistent, that I was moving no further. Lucky for me, Mr B and little B, wandered towards me, and I towards them, until we met in the middle and the first guard waved jobsworth away. Reunited, we walked out together and paraded the length of this most chaotic, loud, bustling, hassling airport concourse until our driver finally made an appearance. Yes he paid us for the whiskey. Sri Lanka you are a challenge. Taxi to the Tuk Tuk office please. We booked a large car, a Mini arrived ! There are no mini`s anywhere we have travelled, yet we manage to hire one here and now. Having divided up our luggage into smaller bags in preparation for our long trip in a tuk tuk with the tiniest amount of storage space, yet also needing to transport our biggest bags for storage, this little tiny car appeared when we had nine pieces of luggage plus Little Blue (our food bag) to relocate. With everything plus ourselves squeezed into a car the approximate size of a small fridge, we consoled ourselves that at least the office was only a mile away and our discomfort wouldn`t last. Ha! We must have had the only taxi driver in Negombo who couldn`t find the office of the biggest TukTuk rental company in Sri Lanka. 30 minutes and three very hot cross bunnies later we were finally evicted from this hot box on wheels with a curt, `just down there`. Never have 3 bunnies been more grateful for a kind face and those three little words, `want a drink`? The fun begins. Only Mr Bunny has the driving permit, (not that he would have allowed either of the other bunnies to drive anyway) and so it was Mr Bunny who was lead away to be taught how to drive a tuk tuk, by a woman whom I personally think had more knowledge of driving a toaster. Mr Bunny is a careful, considerate attentive little bunny who strives to do exactly as he is told, and whom quite clearly listened diligently to his driving instructor. After leaving the compound with the two other bunnies huddled in the back, it didn`t take Mrs BackseatBunny long to beg the question, `who taught you to drive, a woman?!!` (sorry fellow lady drivers, but in the heat of moment it was the best I could think of) I have a hunch that my lovely bunny will chuck me out of the bunny hutch tonight as I put pen to paper and say that the first few hours of a passenger in that tuk tuk where the longest in my life. Mr Bunny followed those driving instructions to the letter, as we clonked, jumped, juddered, screamed, kangarooed and darn near killed the gearbox before we had even left the city. Seated like a prim banker, a grip like a rings gymnast and the ignorance of a tone deaf pianist, my lovely bunny who can drive a car with the most exisite driving skills, proceeded to torture our poor little tuk tuk for the next three hours as he got to grips with newly learned skills. The panic was evident, the terror palpable and the scarefest was real. Launching a newly qualified tuktuk driver straight onto the streets of Sri Lanka was scarier than anyone could have imagined. Quite frankly the traffic is horrendous, with the worst culprits being the numerous coaches with drivers who are quite probably taught to drive during a demolition derby, then put on the streets with the instruction, just do the same out there and you will be fine. No lines, no traffic lights, overtaking on both sides, stop where you want, whenever you want, no indicators, bicycles, pedestrians, cows, kids and my brake lights don`t work so what? In my defence, my nerves were a little strained due to the fact that I drove a motorbike for several years, and every part of my wrists and fingers were itching to grab the gear change and change gears a lot sooner than Mr B. Hence the `who taught you to drive question`. Sticking rigidly to his script, Mr B did 10mph in first, reaching twenty change up, thirty and into third and so on. With every part of the tuktuk feeling like a motorbike, it took all my strength and a whole lot of lip biting, to refrain from yelling Change Up!! no no no, don`t change yet! and a very tense grip knowing that the tuktuk was about to lurch due to a mistimed or clumsy gear change. In defence of Mr B, the gear shift was temperamental, the ratios a little bizarre and the gearbox a snooty little madam. Several hundred kilometres later, Mr B grasped the feel of Abu (our tuktuk) and our journeys though still fraught, are at least a little smoother. Just need to address the actual width of Abu now and all will be good in the world. The journey begins. Whilst we could not change the dates of our visit, we could change the destinations. July is monsoon season in the west of the island, and we were advised that the east coast would be far drier and nicer. We had originally planned to head straight down the west coast, then north, maybe as far as Sigiriya, then back to Negombo. This would be the most touristic route, but hey, we can adapt. Stop one was at small hotel on a lake edge. No frills, just an old colonial house, single story, used to be English owned, but now owned by the present host's grandfather. Like many of our stops around Sri Lanka, this was just a one night stay breaking up a long journey. We ate at a nearby restaurant and started our learning about the nuances of Sri Lanka. Men for instance, are everywhere, but woman are few and far between. Our entire restaurant was male, with Mrs and Little B the only females onsite. We observed our first Chipmunk. We had our second cold fried eggs for breakfast, the first we thought was our two minute tardy lateness to the table, but a second time? Day two saw us heading to the sacred area of Sigiriya, where we landed and immediately found the key to the room of our previous hotel. Groan. Aside this, what a lovely little place Sigiriya is. Little bunny learned that big scary monkeys invade balconies, whilst Mr and Mrs B had a tree house type bunny hutch with an outdoor bathroom. Showering whilst looking up at the clouds was a little odd, not to mention being observed on the loo by a friendly local bird. Our host teased us by saying elephants were known to wander in the fields just behind the tree house, but to our chagrin we couldn`t even see the nearby fence by night never mind spot an elephant. Bah! Sigiriya is a huge mountain of rock with a temple on its flat summit. It is a sacred area, and it is treated with respect. Little Bunny paid her respects by climbing to the summit up its 1200 steps, while Mr and Mrs B toasted the temple gods with glasses of cold milkshake from the bottom. We were taken on a tuktuk tour around Sigiriya with a guide who drove our little Abu, (without grinding the gears or kangaroo hops, just saying....) as only the official guides were allowed to drive onsite. It was interesting to a point, but quite frankly my practical bunny brain just wanted to rewind the clock several thousand years and say to the numpty who thought that building a temple on top of a huge rock was a good idea, `you do know you are being a bit of a pompous twit`?. Sigiriya is long gone relic of old, only stones and stories remain. The food in the town was quite pleasant, but once again, a mostly cold hotel breakfast was served. Our lesson for Sigiriya was learned far too late. The reason for all the elephant safaris? Elephants are mainly found in the north. Darn. This bunny was planning a southerly jaunt to Yala, from a coastal stay nearby but that`s a lesson for later. East coast adventures. Following a very straight road all the way to the coast, we landed at the town of Trincomalee and the first of many challenging stays. With Booking.com never having let us down before, I was to quickly learn that here in Sri Lanka, `fab location` means miles out of town `amazing hosts` refers to pushy but pleasant hotel owners. `Superb` means better than a tent. With each destination requiring two bunny hutches, I always aim to acquire similar with great reviews. Baby Bunny hutch number one on Trincomalee turned out to be in the very centre of town and far from anything even remotely `touristic`. The description of her hotel was tenuously accurate. Yes, it was on the beach, but a fishing boat beach. Yes, it did have a `good location`, if local shops selling new buckets or raw fish was on your wish list. Whilst non of us mind this, life is so much easier when we can at least read a menu, and perhaps even have half a chance of something a little easier on the palate. With the second bunny hutch located 3km away on the main beach, a proper tourist beach with sunbeds, little B moved closer on the second night and normal serviced resumed. As both properties had had disappointing first impressions, we very nearly moved on after just one night, but decided to stay instead and see if we liked being beach bums for a few days. Turns out we did. The beach was clean and easy, the sea was nice, the beds were free and the beach bar and its staff close and attentive. Our lesson here was to know that the grass isn`t greener down the coast. We did tour the town a couple of times by tuktuk, I forgot to mention this. Our hosts kept suggesting we should go see the Fort, the Deer park, maybe Marble Beach or even a temple...please No! No more temples. We did visit these places, but our enthusiasm for these places was as extensive as this paragraph. Yes, thats a beach. That is a deer. Are those the walls of the Fort? (entry £12 each, lets not bother) Pasikuda/Kalkuda Looking forward to more of the same in the coastal town of Kalkuda, we again had two supposedly perfect new hutches, both in` excellent locations`, and again this was proven to be incorrect. Bunny hutch number one was so far out of town she would have needed to catch a taxi to reach the nearest shop and an organised tour to visit the beach. We didn`t even pause to glance inside such was the remote location and instead zoomed right past to hutch number two. This pleasant little pad was on glance so much nicer, but unfortunately full all except for the cutest little room with an amazing view over the beach and sea. (why was it empty we wondered) To cut a long story short, whilst the hotel was actually quite lovely, little B earned herself a new name, Snow White. If it moved, it paid her a visit. The chipmunk was cute, but alas everything else was less than. Possibly the reason the room was still empty on arrival? Mr Bunny was renamed Grumpy after spotting a rather large, and fortunately non poisonous snake right opposite our ground floor balcony. It took me a little while to understand why Mr B was so agitated as for quite some time the only words he uttered had 4 letters and began with F. Mr B does not approve of snakes. Beach life here was a little more challenging than at Trincomalee, the beach next to our hotel was utterly beautiful, but had zero shade and no facilities. It was refreshing to see such a beautiful long beach unspoilt by a blight of hotels, but for bunnies wanting a touch of shade and relaxation, maybe a hint of being spoilt this was not the beach for us. Grateful for having our own transport, we sought directions and found the public beach further afield. With no amenities or shade again we took a quick scoot to the left, offered the pool lifeguard a sneaky `bribe`, and secured the bunnies three comfortable sunbeds with towels and use of the pool in a rather nice, quiet hotel complex. Three days there and we were on the move again. Arugam Bay After driving for what felt like an eternity of nothing but tiny fishing villages, local towns and incredible landscapes, we knew we were arriving into somewhere very different when the tiny shops selling fruit, crisps and potatoes morphed into gaudy shops selling Surfboards?? Surfer dudes, board shorts, bare feet, bare chests, skinny girls in barely there bikinis, blue faces? Never quite got the blue face thing, I can only assume its a type of heavy duty sun protection, but suddenly, after driving through endless lovely little localised villages, this little town of Arugam Bay had a totally different vibe to anywhere else we had been. Gone were the amazing and wonderful beaming smiles of the delightful Sri Lankan people, and instead we were in a town of miserable faced young pale skinned people, with their know it all demeaner and bragging attitudes. (endless overheard conversations are always in the vein of been there, done that, seen, it.....at 25?) Guys, girls, seriously, you are just starting out, give it a rest! The Sri Lankan people are the friendliest people we have encountered anywhere on our travels. They beam at you with faces that light up with pure joy as you wave and shout `hello` , but tourists? Good grief people, Smile for heavens sake! Time and time again we meet the most frosty faced people, all with one thing in common. Tourist. We bunnies smile at everyone, we say Hi, we wave, we try hard to be polite and accommodating to the lovely, but occasionally pushy restaurant owners, but other tourists, most especially the younger end? Rude. Ignorant. Is it really so hard to just smile, say hello or thank you, but no thank you? Truth be known it has been the norm for most of Asia. But against a backdrop of the most wonderful friendly people, the rudeness and blatant disregard of culture and modesty is both embarrassing and shameful. Arugam Bay is a long singular street catering purely for tourism, not too many t.s shops I was glad to note, but many many restaurants and drinking establishments interspersed with accommodations, hotels and hostels of every kind. The food wasn`t particularly exciting, mostly simple offerings, but we managed. Nutella was available everywhere, not that we partook of any. We spent most days at the pool of a local hotel, paying them for the privilege. The beach was tried once to ease the financial burden of overpriced drinks and cold food offerings, but we quickly came to the conclusion that it was better to pay pool prices, than be swarmed by the aggressive crows that haunted the beach areas. Yala National Park. A lesson learned too late. Yala was a long, long way away. It was expensive, and the chance of seeing wild elephants was slim. Our host informed us that we could go to Yala and maybe see the Water Buffalo (of which we have seen plenty) birds..(not our thing) maybe leopards (possible, maybe) but his enthusiasm for us seeing the wild elephant was meh. We chose to decline in the hope of seeing elephants, as per a friends personal video sent to us during our time there, on the way to Ella, our next destination, our next lesson to learn the hard way. After 14 days enjoying the wonderful east coast with its lovely weather, endless sunny days and blue skies, it was time to start our journey across country back to the west coast. Remember I said that I didn`t do a lot of research? And that lessons were learned? Turns out not appreciating the geography of Sri Lanka was also a big mistake. On the map we had earmarked endless waterfalls, and scenic places., and had plans to visit as many as possible. First stop Ella. Yet another booking.com failure. Let down again. 9,1 rating? how can we have possibly arrived Mr B? This is a run down roadside restaurant, empty fridges, piled up chairs, no visible food, halfway up one heck of a steep mountain road. Yep, that`s the place. Two days we spent driving up and down that very beautifully scenic road, but no matter how nice the views, it was a road driven by crazy bus drivers, too many lorries, endless tuk tuks, and was incredibly stressful. If we wanted to eat, we had to drive. The `restaurant` owner offered to cook, but having spent 15 minutes of our arrival time looking straight into the `kitchen` whilst waiting for the room to be prepped, was enough for a polite but firm refusal. Ella. The town itself came as a big surprise. It was a lot bigger than we were expecting, and clearly a long established tourist town. A very multi cultural and mixed age town, quite unlike the young surfer type of Arugam Bay. A singular long winding uphill street filled with a multitude of all things tourist. The whole area of Ella centres around one thing, and one thing only, the stunning 9 Arches Bridge. Surprisingly easy to reach by tuk tuk, we set off very early on morning two to catch the passing of the 9.45 train as it crossed the bridge. We could if so wanted, have caught the train, and the rental company would have relocated the tuk tuk for us, but the train prices were a little steep, and insider info informed that the road criss crossed the railway taking virtually the same route, at least for a few miles. I think for a little while yet, the paths to view the train crossing will remain cute, rustic and challenging, but I predict that the rapid growth of tourism will spoil the charm as more and more people visit, demanding better roads, parking, ts shops and viewpoint restaurants. The trend is already there, but for the moment they are mostly unobtrusive. Onwards and upwards, quite literally to Nuwara Eliya. Lots of lessons learned the hard way again as we made our way to the town. We climbed the mountain, and climbed some more. We didn`t stop climbing until we reached an altitude of almost 1800metres asl. As we climbed these extremely steep roads, higher and higher, we started to notice trousers...a hat...a coat..a fleecy jumper....and still we climbed. These three unprepared bunnies, shivered our bunny butts off as we started to venture into the clouds. Did we know that the centre of Sri Lanka has mountainous regions? Did we heck! When we finally arrived at the town of Nuwara Eliya, we were frozen and attracting some very strange looks, sat huddled in the back of a tuk tuk in our shorts and t shirts. Sunscreen at 10am, furry blankets by 3. We wish we could have spent more time in this town, because as we drove through it, we may just as well have been in the Lake District (Cumbria, UK). Large stone built hotels, boating lake, pony rides, cafes, many English place names, eg The Blackpool Hotel, Langdale, Edinburgh, it was surreal, even had the correct weather! But we were frozen, ill prepared, and with zero warm clothing. Naturally little cold fish bunny had brought leggings and a fleece, but the two older bunnies had nothing. We parked at our out of town hotel, begged some blankets, and retired to our beds with hot tea and netflix. We left the next day, still wet, still foggy, still cold, and headed next to a hotel that from the day I first booked it, i was so excited to be staying at. Please. Please booking dot com, please let it live up to the expectations. Located at Hatton, which thankfully was at a lot lower altitude and just a touch warmer, this hotel was pure joy. Situated at the top of a valley, looking across at the tea plantations, this superb hotel was everything we could have hoped for. (Tea Hills Bungalow) The two bunnies had the most wonderful room with two double four poster beds with duvets, real cosy duvets, furniture (let me elaborate, we had a dressing table with stool, a larger table with mirror, a chaise lounge with the squishiest mattress topper, so comfortable, a mirrored glasses cabinet, three high stools, a couple of other smaller tables for baggage and a wardrobe.) The bathroom had a shower cubicle with mat, and a fluffy foot mat, a separate sink, and joy, a bath! A real bath, with hot water a plenty. Huge wrap around towels, and scented toiletries, oh wow, such a contrast to our previous rooms of late, and barely any more expensive. If that sounds good, well little B had it better! She really did win the room this time. On a higher floor, little B got a little palace room, with a single four poster bed, gold drapes, beautiful wooden furniture, stunning view, and a bathroom made for a queen. Standalone roll top bath, with gold free standing taps. Cue, one soggy bunny for the next 4 hours as she revelled in not just one hot bath, but treated herself to a second later that evening. Such was her enjoyment of said bath, she didn`t even mind when I knocked on her door, getting out of said bath, to accept the chocolate that I had been carrying, and which had finally hardened. Oh what we would have given for a second night here. We did try, but alas our little Abu had to be back in his own bed much too soon. Waving goodbye to a perfect hotel after just one night, we continued down the mountain, until we finally reached sea level once more, and the town of Kitugala . Bye bye nice cosy duvets, hello again you miserable single flappy sheet and air con. Talk about down to earth with a bump! The hotel served a purpose, and was clearly a local favourite, despite the fact that we were the only guests for the night, The entire reception area and restaurant, was very smartly decorated for a wedding party they were expecting the following morning, and the bustle of arriving caterers, food preparations and flowers kept the staff busy. We debated about staying and seeing the bridal party, but in the end the pull of the road and the need to get going made us leave prior to their arrival. Negombo. Our final destination for Sri Lanka. We dropped off Abu, reunited with our big bags and set off for our last hotel. I cannot comment about the town of Negombo as to be quite honest the batteries of these three tired bunnies are very, very flat. The hotel serves a base. We have no plans to go anywhere, or do anything. Catch up with You Tube, Blog and sleep. Play cards and just stop to catch our breath. Sri Lanka has been amazing. Challenging, but amazing. Elephants. We never did get to see a proper wild, free elephant. Our hearts did a jump in Sigirya as we spotted one walking towards us. With a fat tourist sat on top. I decline to comment, but said tourist got the gist of my anger, and I hope they felt guilt or fell off, I care not. Elephants are not tourist playthings. Our second elephant stood patiently in some ones garden. Tied to a stake. No friends. No herd. Wrong on every level. Was he rescued at birth and lovingly restored to health? I know not his story, but tied to a post? So sad. We next saw two elephants walking through a town. We were so excited until we realised the elephant number one had chains around his feet. Elephant number two was made to bow in front of the temple. His feet were free, but he had rows of massive chains around his neck. Again, without knowledge or understanding, we were saddened. Why are elephants so revered, they feature in all the temples, but are then bound in chains? Our last host gave us some insight, and partially renewed our faith that at least some elephants do live a free type of life. He explained that the elephant is so special, and where an elephant is required to participate in a festival, he is kept in a free roaming area until he is required to parade. The parade can be stressful, and to prevent the elephant getting angry and frustrated, he is chained for safety, and the weights slow his movements. We cannot deny that the atmosphere in that village was electric. They clearly loved that elephant, chained or not. It is not our culture or religion, we have to respect that. We were all glad to hear some evidence from a local, just how special the elephant is. These are not the Elephants paraded around for tourists money as per Thailand. Here it is just a little different. Dogs. There is a dog factory in Sri Lanka, somewhere. There has to be! Dogs, one size only are everywhere! You cannot move or drive anywhere without seeing Muttley walking, sleeping, lying, dodging traffic, sat on scooters, pavements, doorsteps and hotels. He is everywhere. They come in every colour, but only one shape and size. We never got to see the dog factory, but I swear its out there somewhere! Our time in this beautiful country has come to an end. Sri Lanka, you have the most amazing people, never before have we come across a nation of people who have made us feel more welcome. Thank you so much for your kind hospitality. One day, in the right season, we shall return. (with a jumper just in case....)

I did mention in my previous blog that we had to return to Malaysia to pass time before heading off to our next big destination. Singapore was our destination of choice. Yes, we have been before, and not that long ago, but there were just a few things we wanted to see again or visit for the first time having missed the opportunity first time around. The Zoo. Pretty sure you went to the zoo last time I hear you say...yes, yes we did, but Singapore Zoo is huge, and separated into many different components. It turned out to be a misunderstanding on my behalf that I thought we had missed the biggest part of the zoo first time around, as we seemed to wander the zoo in no time at all leaving me to think maybe we did see almost everything first time? We did see a few super cute animals, and for the first time in our zoo travels came face to face, (almost literally), as she wandered onto an external viewing platform for feeding time, a tree kangaroo. This may sound a little bizarre, but the tree kangaroo really is the cutest little thing you will ever see. Think oversized squirrel, crossed with a wallaby, and et voila. A tree kangaroo. We said hello to a rather matter of fact orangutan, but other than that we just wandered this very pleasant and lush green zoo until it was our own feeding time, when we sat eating watching the almost free roaming gibbons watching us as we ate. Universal Studios. Situated on Sentosa Island, we really wanted to visit Universal Studios first time around, but time was not on our side then and choices had to made. Not this time however. We booked our tickets and to Sentosa we headed. We travelled directly there by taxi, rather than duplicating our previous mode of transport, the cable car and arrived as the gates were starting to open. We were a little concerned by the sheer number of people heading through the gates, but like smoke they all but vanished. Vanished to where we do not know, but poof, and they were gone. Being old hats at popular theme parks, we marched with the crowd to the newest ride in the newest land. Minions. This part of the park was due to open the week after we left on our first visit, so everything was brand new to visitors and locals alike. Not being a fan of motion simulator rides, this was a no no for Mrs Bunny, who chose instead to ride the carousel. Between the ride queue for Minions, 20 mins, and the carousel, 10 mins, you would think that we ticked off two rides within the first hour. Wrong. You have never encountered a more disorganised system for getting people on and off rides, ever. Big bunny and little bunny despaired at the ride attendants who couldn`t fill ride carts, with the simple phrase, you two line 2, you two line 3. Oh no! Their description of Asian tourists waiting until the very last second to decide who was riding with who, but I want to ride with them, and I don`t want to ride alone, kept me amused for several minutes as we all recalled the superb efficiency, no prisoners, (you will sit there) of the Florida theme parks. By return, they listened with jaws dropped, as I explained that despite every pink or purple `bug` horse on the Carousel having a do not use sticker, at least 3 people per carousel round made a bee line for said `bug` having to be turfed off and lengthy explanations given. The long queue got longer by the minute, and every carousel turn went around with more than half the `horses` (bugs) empty, due to the lack of organizational skills of the operator. We knew then that it was going to be a long day. Resigned to this fact, we backtracked to the most ordinary cafe/coffee place we could find which just so happened to be Starbucks, and had a pleasant relaxing breakfast watching the crowds. Refreshed and fed, we set off once more to see what Universal Studios Singapore had to offer. After Minions land, we came to Shrek, and far far away. Was so odd finding a whole area devoted to Shrek and Puss in Boots, when the exact same ride in Florida has been removed due to lack of interest. (changed to Minions funny enough) Exact same ride. IYKYK. "Please continue to the end of the row filling all seats" fell on deaf ears. Perhaps people didn`t understand English?, but when the entire film is in English...... again we despaired. I cant remember many ride names, but `Puss in Boots` suspended rollercoaster next. Queued for one hour. ride lasted 15 seconds, my have pushed to 20, but I kid you not, up, across, round, down, stop. Barely higher than your average 5 storey building maybe, and people were screaming! Tame? just a bit. Universal Studios Singapore occupies the tiniest footprint of any park we have been to and we found that rides we recognised had been adapted to take up a much smaller area. Eg The Mummy. Same elements, half the ride. One wild and twisting rollercoaster turned out to be two, think duelling dragons, but downsize to duelling pocket snake. They ran as two separate rides, but intertwined with each other. Quite a clever design if you ask me. Maybe one exception was the Jurassic Park Water ride. That did feel like a full size ride with some very good elements. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our full day at Universal. Yes, its tame compared to Florida, everything is much smaller, the food is very much Asian orientated, so don`t be thinking your going to get a break from Asian cuisine into park food junk food, your not. The American Diner had elements of burgery things, but still with the Asian twist. For a tiny park we managed to fill a whole day. Walking a different path, we took to the waters edge on day three. We previously missed seeing the Merlion, the iconic symbol of Singapore, so this was our chance to try again. We had actually started our day at Battle Box as recommended by Daddy Bunny, a history buff, but alas we should have booked a slot prior to arrival, and as such we were only left with a short 2.30 tour or nothing, given that it was 10am, nothing is what we chose. One overpriced bakery breakfast later at the bottom of the hill from Battle Box, we then walked the river banks to see the Merlion. We took all the silly photos as you do, water in the mouth, catching the water etc, then continued along the riverside in the direction of the Gardens by the Bay. Along this walkway are some rather nice hotels, in front of one of which is a statue dedicated to Ghandi, whose ashes were partially scattered at the point in the river. Prior to entering the Gardens we walked once more through the beautiful, air conditioned, mall of The Marina Bay Sands Hotel. As malls go, this one is pretty special. Pretty special priced shops as well, so unless Gucci or Chanel is your go to everyday shop, then I would probably say its a window shopping type mall. Gardens by the Bay. So beautiful we just had to come again. We chose not to visit the Cloud dome and the Flower dome again having been there done that to both on our previous visit, but we did want to see the light show again. After a meal at the Nest cafe, we purchased tickets for the main Tree, and headed to the top to watch the sunset over Singapore, and then viewed the light show from our elevated position. Whilst not quite as good as watching from the ground, due to the fact that you cannot see the lights of the biggest tree whilst standing on it, it was a great visually entertaining show looking down. On our last day we headed for the area of Orchard Road, this is the shopping area and has many malls. Oddly enough though non of us seemed to be in any mood to wander through yet more shops. Our bags are full to bursting, too heavy, and at this point in the trip we want for nothing. We did find a great underpass that took us along a very long air conditioned road out of town, but coming back to the surface all the bunnies were tired hot batteries burned bunnies. We had done Singapore and all the major sights pretty well on our first visit, and without wanting to spend copious amounts of money finding yet another trip or sight, or taxi, we decided a room picnic in an air conditioned hotel room ticked all our boxes. We had some planning to do for our August adventure, and picnic /planning suited us all. We love Singapore. It is clean, smart, (expensive) and very enjoyable. Will we come back?, maybe not for quite some time, but yes, one day we will. Two short stays. Two short blogs. Normal service resumes next month :-)

Langkawi was never meant to feature so prominently on our list of must see places. Our original plan for Thailand was to hop progressively down the country to the south, enjoy fabulous food, weather and scenery, take a huge leap, well a decent size bunny bound at least across the sea to the beautiful island of Ko Lipe, finish off what was meant to be an awesome trip to Thailand on a special island described as a mini Maldives, and from there take a short bunny hop across the sea to the island of Langkawi with our bunny butts refreshed and exhilarated to buy some time in Malaysia prior to heading off to our next bucket list destination. This next place only allows us a 30 days visa, so a few days on Langkawi, a Malaysian island conveniently situated very close to Ko Lipe would tick that box very nicely. As per my previous blog describing our less than fulfilling trip to Thailand, our travelling bunny batteries felt more than just a little deflated as we landed into Langkawi from Ao Nang, rather than the planned Maldives like island of Ko Lipe. Langkawi Island. This is the bit where I type and type and type about how beautiful this island is, all the wonderful sights, the places to visit, the things to do and see, and how excited we were to be here after being disappointed and disillusioned by Thailand. Alas, with bunny batteries at an all time low, may I be forgiven for not feeling overwhelmed with excitement? Langkawi was quiet. Very, very, very quiet. The resort in which I had chosen for us to stay, close to the airport for convenience, was like a town running on out of season left overs. There was very little there to see or do, at least not without spending copious amounts of money on long winded tours to the far side of the island. Chocolate supermarkets? plenty of those. Cafes? very few. Nice looking restaurants? does Subway or Mcdonalds count? TS shops, meh, there were a few but only the usual tat. Now don`t get me wrong, if we had transport and a degree of motivation, I suppose we could have gone and explored this very green and lush island, but we had neither. We know that little B took herself off to a couple of places, but even she didn`t come back gushing with excitement. Out of season?, Yes. Out of bunny battery power? Possibly. A little tired of same grumpy weather different location? More than likely. Even the most beautiful island, with its pristine clean beaches, fresh air and palm trees failed to rouse these two tired bunnies. It served to remind us which parts of travel we love, and what doesn`t float our boat. Not just us either, in the apartment next to us was a young English couple, staying for 5 days, and even they asked me, what is there to do here? It was as though there was a certain apathy about the place. The motel host was the oddest man. He grinned at us regularly as he walked by our apartment, but it was a mouth movement, the smile was fake, the gesture was false, his eyes never showed any emotion. Almost mechanical. The housekeeper left us fruit on the table, we asked for a knife and got the same mechanical smile. A knife never arrived. The trips were very expensive. Jet boats on the beach would have cost more than our 4 night stay for an hours fun. Langkawi hides its secrets well. Be brave, go with body batteries fully charged, hire the scooter, rent the car, you will not be disappointed. We enjoyed Langkawi because it got us away from Thailand, with its inflated prices, constant stink of weed, and the endless stream of silly people constantly taking photos. Would we return? Quite possibly, I think Langkawi is a genuine jewel in the ocean. An oyster protecting its pearl. We perused the shell, without finding the time or energy to peruse the inner depths. Until we meet again.

Where do you start? That was the big question. Every reel and You Tube video says the same thing, `you haven`t seen Thailand if you miss here, here, here, here , here and here.` I could start to name a few, but they would be words on a page unless you plan to go. Blue skies, palm trees, secluded islands, quiet beautiful beaches. A million must sees. Best food in the world. Nicest people. The list of reasons to come to Thailand are endless. And Elephants. Must not forget the Elephants. Bangkok When ridiculously cheap flights from Siem Reap to Chiang Mai added another £180 to the cost of the flight purely for luggage, we quickly jumped to Plan B and caught a very nice bus to Bangkok instead. (very nice bus, comfort stops, nice clean roomy bathroom on board free coffee, wifi and exceptionally comfortable seats) we were very happy on this occasion to bus not fly. Having been swayed by yet another endless stream of Instagram (curse you) videos, showing a sparkling wonderful bright lights big city, interspersed with beautiful temples and must see iconic places, I have to say I was struck. Now, where to stay? Bangkok is huge, and incidentally if Google is to be believed, the most visited city in the world. Sukhumvit area came recommended and there I chose. Turns out even Sukhumvit has many different areas and quite frankly our area was in the middle of sod all. Desperate for a little bit of decent home cooked bunny fodder I was severely challenged by Mr Bunny requesting a kitchen, another reason our chosen apartment with fully fitted kitchen was picked. Supermarket nearby turned out to be local corner shop. Fully fitted meant I had 2 spoons, 2 forks, and a large spoon. A singular pan and a frying pan, with a spatula and knife being added by the caretaker on request. Compared to some places I dare say this flat would have been someone`s dream home, but, and I apologise for sounding a little bit snobbish, 2 pans, appalling wifi (a necessary curse) microwave and settee 12" from a tv that did not have Netflix, does not a home make. With a one and half hours trip on public transport to get anywhere even close to central, we managed one night only and checked out. Prior to leaving we spent several hours researching exactly where we wanted to be and what we desired. It came down to a choice of two, with an executive decision made by Mrs B, that Chillax Hotel was the place to be. An hour later in the most horrific traffic you have ever seen, we finally arrived in the area of Khao San road. Any review would tell you this is backpacker central with seedy bars interspersed with real gems. We need to confirm that we are out of season, its monsoon rainy weather, much quieter than usual, and our hotel was `on the outskirts of` and not in the middle of, Khao San road. Not a single backpacking hippie did we see. Apart from the bedroom being separated from the bathroom by a very large double bath and a curtain (quite bizarre) we really did land ourselves a very nice hotel. A minor grrr, when the hotel manager asked from where we had just come and I said Sukhumvit his response of `oh, such a lovely place, beautiful shops, fabulous restaurants` very nearly earned him a whack on the nose. When I added `71` he (phew) quickly added,` Ahhh, that`s quite a long way out` I forgave him and his nose remained intact. The reality of Bangkok. Traffic. We found out too late that the traffic in Bangkok is just horrendous. Barely moving and stationary traffic is a thing. You go nowhere fast. Even mopeds and scooters get held up with the sheer volume of vehicles on the road. No matter how nice that Temple is, how stunning the park is, unless you want to battle both the heat and the traffic, the temptation to avoid both is understandable. Our trip has been long and our patience for temples and the endless taking your shoes on and off all day long is just plain tedious. Also, and I know my opinion will annoy too many people, but quite frankly once you have seen one really nice temple, they quickly look very samey samey. We are both physically challenged, and therefore wear secure shoes not flip flops. We fully understand why just about everyone in Asia wears slip on shoes, or shoes with broken backs, we get it, but we cant, and the constant on and off, is beginning to irk us. Bangkok does have, or at least I have been told, a very good metro system. With a lot more time, patience and a willingness to look, we could probably have seen a lot more using both the metro and the river boats. Jim Thompson House. Doesn`t this sound odd and out of place? A must see place in the centre of Bangkok. This was one of only a few places that we pulled out all the stops to see. It came not just highly recommended, but recommended by a young Canadian guy who was quite in raptures over it. Lucky for us, it was easily accessible using the waterway. We walked the canal, crossed the 6 lane highway to the river, and caught the river boat that whizzed up the canal at quite an alarming speed, dropping us off almost at the door of Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was an American, very clearly wealthy and well educated, who was sent to Thailand during the war years. He loved what he saw, decided to build his house there, and along with it introduced the world to the beautiful silks of Thailand. The house he had built is just beautiful. Made of wood, and filled with some of the most unique ornaments, it is quite a joy to wander around. A cross between Thai living and western comforts, the house is quite simply a stunning wooden home. All three bunnies felt like all it needed was an invitation to stay, and the invitation would have been accepted there and then. Jim Thomson however did not leave the house voluntarily, nor did it become a museum due to his death. He disappeared during a trip to Malaysia in 1967, and was never heard of again. His only distant relatives felt the house was too much of a burden to maintain, and handed it over to equivalent of the Thailand National Trust to become a living museum. The silks that his factory produced captured the eye of a film producer, and were the garments worn in the original film The King and I, with the legendary Yul Brynner. Next on our list was the Gold Buddha. I could tell you which temple, but I wont, as the temple itself is nothing special, but the story of the gold Buddha is. In a nut shell, a large Buddha was built, worshipped for many years, then during a temple refit, a large chunk of the plaster buddha was broken off revealing what appeared to be another Buddha underneath this shell. On closer inspection, and with all the plaster removed, they found a solid gold 5.5 tonne Buddha underneath. We had to see for ourselves what a 5.5 tonne solid gold Buddha looked like. Not sure why I was expecting security like Fort Knox, I mean seriously, its not like you can stick five and half tonnes of gold under your arm and walk out. I did however expect a little more than a security camera and a grumpy old woman who screeched at anyone who dared take a photo whilst seated on the mat in front of said Buddha. She said nothing to a hundred tourists taking photo whilst not on the carpet, but on the carpet? whoa big trouble. This Buddha has earned itself a mention in the Guiness Book of Records as an objective of intrinsic value. Siam One/One Siam, a shopping mall. Our taxi driver told us about the malls as we came from the airport. He asked if we had come to shop because Bangkok is obsessed (oh how I hate that over used silly word, but it was his word) with Malls. Not hard to see why. Little Bunny spent time at Paragon, whilst we loved the Siam One that was nearer to us. What an utterly stunning, multi level, with mini levels and mezzanines, shopping Mall. If you believe Instagram hype, the waterfall is a must see. Its a water feature, whoopy do. There are bigger and better anywhere and everywhere. Just once take it from me, its not worth the hype or the fuss. Yes, its nice, but so what. As we don`t particularly need or want anything from Gucci or Balenciaga at this moment in time, we spent most of time wandering around the lower floors and the food halls. Here you find the best clean street food, made in clean sterile pans, with fridges in use. There are also all the nice arty stalls with handmade objects that are a little more tasteful than the usual t.s. I have struggled badly with the food in Asia, and these stalls suited me. I was able to find more simple dishes such as the Bao Buns, Gyozas, Egg buns, pineapple rice and the mango sticky rice ( saw, didn`t try) There was also a stall that sold fried bugs and scorpions on skewers, and hey guess what! I walked away of course! I did have a momentary stop at the rotisserie crocodile stall, pausing just long enough to take a photo and left well alone. I have very odd views of what should or should not be eaten. I can just about live with cow, chicken, pig and lamb, but other meats such as crocodile, horse, rabbit and anything at all with either more than 4 legs or non at all don`t sit very well with me. Not that I actually eat meat at the best of times, I hasten to add that whilst I am not vegetarian, I do prefer anything without meat, but if you add well cooked parts of white meat of chicken, I wont refuse. Our last visit in Bangkok, and the visit that finished off my patience, was our walk to Bangkok Palace. Even now as I write this, my heckles are rising. We walked towards the palace knowing it wasn`t far. I even said to Mr B, I bet we get told its closed, being repainted, closed for lunch, closed on Sundays, or any other excuses. I said it!! I said it out loud. While amiably wandering on the road, we got approached. "are you going to the Palace?" yes. `"its over there, you need to cross at the junction and walk down towards the left" sounds about right, so we thanked him and proceeded to walk. "Sorry,guys," he shouts, I should have told you, It is closed on Sunday for the Buddhists Monks to Pray, and it opens at 1pm" Why oh why oh why did my inner me not smell a rat? My Bunny, always a little too happy to be pleasant and accommodating, listened to the spiel, to the fact that the palace was definitely open later, only government run tuk tuks have yellow number plates, and they are the ones that are paid for by the government and therefore cost the least money, so any trip should cost 100 baht only and why don`t we pass a little time by going to x y and z temples first? He wrote the temples down on a list, in very scruffy writing, and hailed us a yellow number plated tuk tuk who just so happened to be driving past......(please tell me you smell a rat!) and Yes, we got in. The moment we got into the seat, and the pleasantries started, that rat appeared under my nose. Yes, we absolutely did go to a temple, with absolutely no other tourists in sight. A sure sign its not a temple of interest. Second stop? A bloody silk shop! We had fallen foul again of the tuktuk scam of `its a tour`,but one that you don`t mind that I am going to take you to either a silk shop, or jewellery shop, where you will be expected to spend between 6 and 10 mins minimum` before we go to any other place of interest. This time Mrs B pulled no punches and told both shop owner and driver that we had no intention in spending time or money in a shop `just because` Those bunny ears were flapping and both paws were pounding the ground in anger. Mrs B dragged away the sheepish Mr B , after all it was he who got us talked into the darn tour, back into the tuk tuk and demanded that we went to the `closed` Palace right now! One exceptionally annoyed tuktuk driver (and frankly I didn`t care) dropped us at the palace gates at 11.30am, and hey guess what, no surprise, it was open to the General Public. My snarky comment fell on deaf Thai ears, when I pointed this out. We are seasoned travellers, and still got caught out. The ride itself was just a couple of pounds, but its the being lied to that really got my bunny whiskers motoring. We did have another pleasant day out that I forgot about, to a Cat Cafe. We did pigs in Japan, the pigs all loving Mr B but totally disliking both Mrs and Little B, so I thought maybe I would do better with cats? It was quite some distance away down a little side street in some quiet suburb of Bangkok that we found the cutest set of cats ever. We entered the shop and after having our hands, feet and oddly backsides sprayed (don`t ask we don`t know) we were then each given a spoon and sachet of fish oil paste. We sat down and were instantly surrounded by about fifteen of the most adorable looking puddy tats you have ever seen, all could have been the next Shrek sidekick Puss in Boots. The jumped on our laps, stood on two feet pawing at the spoon with the paste, and purred in sheer bliss as they each nibbled and licked at this fishy smelly paste. We were surrounded by cute cats, right until the last nibble of the cat paste, then each and every one of those cats vanished quicker than a $100 dollar bill in Disney. Poof, gone! Back to their beds, to the other side of the room, to a box, anywhere apart from near us. The staff gave us cat toys, feathers on bendy poles, flash lights, little strings of wool, wow, if looks could kill lol. You could dangle these toys where ever you like, and the look of pure disdain stared back at you. Even touching the nose of any pussy cat with a feather didn`t even produce a blink or a twitch. You have never seen anything like it, this was cupboard love in feline form. With 20 minutes of our time left, we bought another 2 packets of the smelly fishy paste, and hey, guess what Puss in Boots, eyes and all, surrounded us immediately. I very nearly felt like being the Ogre and came close to holding the sachet closed so these snooty little cupboard loving pussies could beg a little longer! Sachet empty and ...............................................poof gone! It passed an hour and at least it was better than yet another temple. Stern words were had in the bunny burrow in the days that followed, we promised ourselves no more nice bunnies, and from now on we come from a tiny village somewhere unpronouncable, we totally dislike football preferring rugby, and this is our 14th time to Thailand. The spiel on the street is just so predictable, these simple amendments to the truth ensure we have little to nothing to talk about. Quick side note, Mr B had changed his tack and claimed we were from Liverpool, he suggested being from Manchester was being laughed at, bad football year apparently? Anyway he was about to utter these words to a rather unsavoury and stereotypical Thailand tourist ape, the kind totally off his head with drugs, and alcohol, here for `the scene man` from Liverpool, just practicing his boxing in the pool, when Mr B clocked at the last minute maybe even Liverpool was a bad idea and simply stated he preferred Cricket and Rugby. When asked why, he confirmed the said lout was an Everton fan and claiming to have been a 'red' might not have been wise?? Chiang Mai We chose Chiang Mai most probably for the wrong reasons. We know now that watching the You Tube of a 20 year old backpacker for ideas prior to leaving the UK does not necessarily mean that her choices should be our choices. It is lovely no doubt about it, but when you are reliant on either public transport, taxis or a hired scooter,(which I add we have not hired) nowhere is particularly close. Yes, its got plenty of those temple doofers dotted about, but for heavens sake ( literally ) another temple? The whole area is surrounded by jungle, trekking and hiking is a big thing, hike to this waterfall, or that one...No!! Being in South America and surrounded by mountains begging to be walked or climbed was one thing, but here in high temperatures and higher humidity, we quite frankly cba. Little B took herself off to Chiang Rai after a couple of days to see for herself the must sees there (temple.temple.temple) whilst the two slightly more relaxed bunnies opted for short walks and nice meals. Pasta. I must add. Pasta? In Thailand? Land of the best food and nicest people? Afraid so. Thailand was the country we were most looking forward to for the promise of cheap good food, beautiful beaches, palm trees and blue skies. Our reality was a bit of a slap in the face. Although we have found food that we like or can eat most everywhere, truth be known we are not really a fan. Thailand is also complicated. No doubt it is beautiful, but we haven`t as yet found that beauty. Our observations to date are as thus. It isn`t cheap. £15 for 2 breakfasts. Is that cheap? Weed/Cannabis is everywhere, and it stinks. Old or older white men and younger Thai women, or worse, older white guys and young men. Its cringy. You cant help the person with whom you fall in love with, but here its so `in your face`. When your vision of a typical Thai tourist is either hippie backpacker or old white guy, no top, tattoos, flip flops and a bald head, and you see that every day, you know your assumptions were correct. Endless amounts of the same ts, I know that goes for everywhere, but a 100 pink tie die dresses, and white shirts? As for elephant print? From being excited at home to owning a pair of comfortable and baggy elephant print trousers, to now seeing them absolutely everywhere, and not just trousers, shorts, shirts, t shirts, no thanks. The clientele is young, very young. The average age of anybody in Thailand must be 25 . Young people, especially young woman means tiny clothes. Why do they think it is acceptable, in heavily Muslim and Buddhist countries to walk around in shorts no bigger than a pair of knickers, and a barely there top? Call me old fashioned, but personally its just downright rude. Thailand, to date you are just not floating our boats. Elephants, and Tigers. I said earlier that I would expand on the elephant sanctuary. In my naivety I really did not know there would be more than one or two elephant sanctuaries. Arriving into our hotel at Chiang Mai and finding 9 different leaflets, advertising `ethical` elephant sanctuaries , the reality smacked hard. I had done enough research in the UK to know that the word Sanctuary is overused, and used as a cover. A cover so that they can entice tourists using the ruse that they are somehow protecting the elephants. What on Gods Earth is `Ethical` about patting, bathing, feeding and riding elephants, day in and day out, and pretending its ethical and normal? If normal is avoiding close interaction in a zoo environment, or normal is keeping a very wide berth when encountering an elephant in the wild, how can normal be bathing them in a river surrounded by endless groups of people day in and day out? Has nobody at all considered how these elephants have become so placid? Whilst I cannot say for sure how these elephants are treated behind closed doors once all the ignorant tourists have left, I am going to leave the subject there for you to decide. Do your research people. Learn what is truly ethical, learn what is the true story behind these `sanctuaries`. In the Disney film Hunchback of Notre Dame, Esmerelda runs into Notre Dame and claims Sanctuary. She cannot be touched. The parting words are "you have chosen a beautiful sanctuary, but it is still a prison none the less" Tigers. Just a few words here. Do you really want to come to a country where a tiger cub is paraded around in a bar for a few pounds? Or go on tour to a place where you can `cuddle a tiger`? Snake farms. I hate snakes. The more boxed snakes the better, but its wrong. They were here first. If they were here first, then they have a right to stay and its me that shouldn`t be here. Parading them in shows is wrong on every level. Talking of shows, do not get me started on Phuket Fantasea!! We are not going. We have no intention of going. Nobody should. Phuket It was never on our bucket list to come to Phuket. None of the bunnies wanted to come to such an over touristic destination, but when the flight here was £300 cheaper than our preferred destination, we opted to make the best of it and see what the fuss was all about. Truthfully? We don`t know. Little Bunny opted to stay in the most tourist part of Patong Beach, Mr and Mrs B aimed for Karon. Little B, even out of season has likened Patong to Blackpool with the addition of the smelly aroma of weed, whilst Mr and Mrs B lasted one night in our hotel and promptly relocated to another hotel (we got a refund) in Phuket Old Town. Truth be known, none of us are particularly enjoying Phuket. The weather is awful, our first bad weather in months, weed is just a smelly constant and endless whistle blowing of the sodding street police is driving us up the wall. Will we be glad to move? You bet we will! Ao Nang (pronounced ow nang) With our initial plans to visit certain parts of Thailand hampered by unfavourable weather conditions, we opted to stay in the coastal town of Ao Nang, in the area of Krabi. Krabi itself is the city, think Manchester, Ao Nang is a small area, eg Stretford, on the beach. Once again however we found ourselves amongst many weed shops, more ts, endless massage parlours and countless bars, but we also found palm trees, two beaches, (not the kind with sunbeds and brollies) a mostly walkable promenade, and a little bit of space. Maybe this could be the Thailand that people crave? It could almost be described as pretty. Like anywhere in the rain, nothing is at its best. The town is far from busy, restaurants are a little expensive and mostly empty, the beach deserted. We are not on holiday. We have not spent thousands of pounds to be here, we are here to be, to enjoy, to relax, the days are our own and the need to see everything on every trip going far from our our minds. Little B did not have the best of bunny burrows, as burrow very much summed up her room deep in the heart of a hostel with no windows. With so much rain, she seldom ventured out, but on a day the rain stopped, and we managed a nice walk, I quickly messaged to her say, `if you are in, go out` a whatsapp message not too much later was a photo of the beach and a great big thank you. I have now added weatherman to my list of motherly duties. Mr Bunny quite liked the forest burrow in which we were staying whereas the whole place managed to annoy me from day one. A far cry from the promise of a traditionally decorated Thai dwelling, our room was as white, square and basic as any other we have stayed in. The floor was a skating rink in socks, and the promise of a tv remote with Netflix addition dashed when we were told it wasn`t a useable feature. A poorly designed room, sheets washed in something akin to bleach or other irritant, topped off by a breakfast served on a chopping board, just irked me to the last. Our only room decor a very well documented and priced, list of every single object in the room, including the wall mounted air con unit and the toilet. It just screamed, `we trust you but..` Damn, so annoying, I totally had my eye on the large wardrobe planning to tuck it under one arm as we left. With our plans to visit Kho Lanta scuppered by unfavourable sea conditions, I was somewhat delighted when Mr B said we could find a much better place for our last few days in Thailand. Still staying in Ao Nang, we started by finding little B a new burrow, one that was quite lovely and had both windows and a pool, whilst we fancied something more in keeping with our less than active bunny butts. We found Bluezotel sat just a little way back from the beach at the end of a small road, and it just ticked all our boxes. Two pools, nice rooms. tvs with Netflix, a gym with treadmill to while away any rainy times and a decent breakfast. For the first time in a very very long time, we were in a holiday hotel surrounded by people, mostly English, doing what people do on holiday. You know what? We felt like fish out of water. For a brief moment we felt as though we had found the Thailand that we had hoped for. The sun was shining, the sea was blue, the view from the rooftop quite fabulous, the infinity pools to die for, sun loungers and a pool side bar. But for me at least, reality was a little odd. We chatted to various guests who mentioned `x bar on the has fabulous food` Find `Y` for a great night out, Just going to order food at the pool bar with a few cocktails. Not to mention the flashy pool outfits, large cool mugs, beach bags and sarongs. It suddenly felt quite alien, at least for me anyway. When a woman spoke of their `trip`, and the fact that they were going to do a three centre stay but changed it to two because she couldn`t be bothered with all that repacking, I could barely keep my jaw shut. Two moves. As I write this, we are stay number 101. We cannot really say to people that our idea of a evening was 2 hours of essential planning, blogs, you tube and financial trading, a take away micro meal from 7/11 and Netflix at 8pm. Gone are our days of endless hours by the pool, shower, makeup, evening clothes and choosing nice restaurants. Would I do it again? Not a chance. Especially not to here. Why on earth would you fly 14 hours, to sit by a hotel pool, take a few trips and leave? Our hotel could be anywhere in the world. If you want hotel, pool, nice restaurant and leave, go nearer home. Thailand, or any country for that matter that takes this long to fly into, deserves to be explored. Do yourselves a favour. Pack rucksack, minimum stuff, and spend your two weeks giving it your best shot to see as much as you can. I had my day by the pool yesterday, it was enough, for both me and my phone (she says, admitting that it too went for a swim, then proceeded to lounge about on the sunbed drying out, baking itself into overcooked charred satay of electronic misery. ( Cue another visit to Samsung, and a huge kick up the bunny butt to damn well learn how to upload and save your entire photographic evidence of a 13 month round the world trip!!)see blog titled `lessons learned and how to not regret being an electronic and backpacking numpty` A couple of things to add, it has been very quiet here, but one evening, on the day that we had beautiful weather, and incidentally the day we checked into this very nice touristy (Tui) hotel, it was though a whole raft of flights had suddenly landed into Krabi. It was odd going from quite local and Asian, to suddenly seeing rafts of whiter faces. Clearly faces and bodies that have not seen the sun for months. Have the holidays started by any chance? OK. I confess. I hold my hand up. I was had. I know about the Ladyboys of Thailand. Who doesn`t?. Super glam, attractive guys, dressed like woman. Its a thing. Men dressed like women. Look at every cute girl with suspicious eyes (not that I personally have a desire to look at women) but just so that I knew which sex I was talking to. Bar, restaurant, hotel etc. Me? taken in by a ladyboy?, not a chance in heck. Waiting for little B to join us one evening, we sat for a while at a terrace bar, and people watched. Now, don`t forget there are shows everywhere. Suddenly showgirls started walking down the street, all heading in the same direction. Absolutely utterly fabulous looking girls, stunning figures, legs upto their armpits, impossibly high heeled shoes, and tits far larger than your average skinny bint who lounges on the beach. The dresses were sequinned affairs with splits to the crotch, head dresses of feathers and diamante. After nights of stopping in, I thought maybe it was a show we could see for a change. Little B arrived, we walked together past some of the girls, who then mimed to me, photo?? I just shook my head, said nah, knowing it would cost me, and carried on walking. The butchest voice ever then shouted after me, `suit yourself love` WTF!! I turned on a dime and little B absolutely killed herself laughing at me, when she clocked that I hadn`t twigged, These ladies, were in fact, the Ladyboys. Yep. they got me big time. Thailand, you have been an odd country. You clearly have many places of interest, but are you now devoid of your tranquillity caused by the glut of over tourism, and a rather smelly acceptance of legalized weed. Like Bali, we find ourselves asking, `Would we return?` and again like Bali, the answer is probably No. We thank you for your wonderful people, and kind hospitality, but we bid you farewell with few regrets about leaving.

A slightly different start to my blog this time, but bear with me. This is a story that everyone should know and no one must forget. "Shall we go to Cambodia? See Angkor Wat, maybe Phnom Penh for a few days and learn a bit about their history of which we know only bits". That was the plan, our unscripted loosely researched, plan. As children we had learned via Blue Peter about the genocide (what did that mean?) and from John Craven the war in Kampuchea. (9 year old me, that`s Africa isn`t it?) Both bunnies had heard the name Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge, little Bunny knew Cambodia had had a war. As years have passed these tragic events became just a blurred memory. As adults, Kampuchea or present day Cambodia was a country we wanted to visit, now having learned exactly where in the world it lay, specifically for Angkor Wat. The war is over, the country is at peace. To say we were unprepared for the raw, brutal reality that this beautiful country suffered for 3 years 8 months and 20 days was an understatement. Every person in this country knows exactly how long that genocide lasted. What we learned whilst here has made for a sombre, sobering, thought provoking and haunting start to our time in Cambodia. You probably know about Auschwitz, but does S-21 mean anything to you? On a quiet street in the middle of old Phnom Penh lies a converted high school. Its conversion? A prison. Now a museum. Of the 20,000 people who were incarcerated here during its time, just 12 survived. No person placed in the prison was to remain a prisoner, they were there purely to be killed. Men, Women, Children, there was no discrimination. Torture, then kill. No person was allowed to die naturally if avoidable. To die naturally was considered a crime. Together we walked around this brutal untouched prison, listening to audio guides that gripped your heart in an iron fist. Every prisoner was bound by the rule of strictest silence. Nobody had to know they were there. No chain, cough or rustle was to be heard. Beatings, torture of the most vicious incomprehensible nature were to be endured in silence. Noise meant death. We listened over and over to stories of the most heinous crimes, performed on the most innocent of souls. S-21 was only one of many such prisons. This was the worst. On the final day of the prison, the 14 political prisoners, each in their own classroom/torture cell, was photographed in the position in which they were found. The photographs taken hang in each cell. A reminder of the atrocity that occurred there. Each photograph is displayed with raw emotion, with the most emotive elements carefully blurred. When bullets were banned due to cost, and noise, hammers and pickaxes took their place. S-21 Over and over we walked in silence through the converted classrooms, with chalkboards bearing the marks of the last lesson still hanging in one corner. We tried to stand together in one of the cells, but we didn't fit, such was the tight space. At the end of the `tour` we had the privilege of meeting 4 of the 12 survivors. They sit in the grounds, and are proud to tell their story of survival. We felt humbled. A survivor There were between 1.5 to 2 million people slaughtered during these 3 years, 8 months and 20 days. That equated to 25% of the entire population of Cambodia. One in every 4 murdered. From the prisons, people were transported to the Killing Fields. Our next stop. Just 4km from the prison, not very far from the city of Phnom Penh lies a piece of open land. The Killing Field. Protected by a wall, and now a protected area, it was to this area that first weekly, then later daily, a truck containing the prisoners from S21 were brought to be slaughtered. The unmade road track ends near large undulations in the ground. Dragged to the ground, their throats crudely slit with the barbed branches of the trees that grow nearby to prevent these souls from crying out, each and every man and woman was brutally murdered, their bodies cast into the open pit. Small children were brutally murdered against the Killing Tree. There were hundreds of these `Killing Fields` dotted around Cambodia, but it is here at Choeung Ek that the haunting memorial to the victims was built. With Respect. The Killing Fields. Research will tell you that `bones and material fragments can be still be seen, and when it rains and the ground loosens, more and more bone fragments rise to the surface`. They can, but in minute forms. Don`t go to the Killing Fields expecting a macabre sight, it isn`t. It is a field of indentations and sombre memorials. Whilst tiny bone fragments, may catch your eye, and the hint of cloth, don`t go guarded or worried about seeing whole skeletons, or buried bodies, go to walk in Silent Remembrance, go and pay your respects. Wander quietly, listen to the audio guide stories, imagine as you walk, every person you stand with, murdered, for no reason, and never ever let the memory of the Killing fields, and the genocide of Cambodia be forgotten. The Memorial dedicated to all those murdered. Our taxi driver, aged 50 lost his father. A tour guide said his family was lost. Pol Pot, the man responsible for the genocide lived a normal life and died aged 76. It was never my intention to start any blog in such a thought provoking, sad, graphic manner, but when the reality of genocide stares you in the face, I felt it deserved some respect. I could not in good conscience fail to acknowledge, especially after visiting the Genocide Museum, and The Killing Fields, the modern and recent history of this country. The people of Cambodia are delightful, wonderful and amazing. Their kindness and hospitality is beyond compare, but their older generation lived, those who were allowed to live that is, a brutal and traumatic few years. Phnom Penh With the thoughts of the museum and the fields still in the forefront of our minds, we very much felt lost in our thoughts during our remaining time in the city. We chose instead to stay close to home, which was a short walk away from S21, playing cards, writing, researching and reading. We did however opt to take an evening tuk tuk tour which was fun and interesting, and lightened our mood quite quickly as we were driven through the stunning modern city streets of new P.P. in a cute little 4 bunny sized tuktuk Such a rapidly evolving city, it is super modern and quite beautiful. A number of our stops involved looking at statues of people whose names I have forgotten, I think one was Mrs Penh, of Phnom Penh fame, the next was a golden stupor, with a snake in front (shame on me, but I totally failed to take in the names of the statues and temples we visited) we paused at an old, but still in use railway siding, not entirely certain why, but the lonely old steam train made for a nice photo. From there we went to the French Quarter to see the oldest building in Phnom Penh, the Cambodia Post Office Building, I tried to look impressed, but given that it was built 100 years after my own house, I failed to see it as `old`. To another nice monument, this time a more recent build commemorating the separation of Cambodia from France. Any country that breaks away from France deserves a big fancy monument. Crossing the nice new bridge all lit up in the colours of the Cambodian flag, we paused at our last stop, the unfortunately named Arc `de Triumph, a very commanding white arch way, that has been built alongside the most stunning set of modern, gated condos you have ever seen, and all empty! It was so odd. They were absolutely gorgeous looking properties, but as our driver said, empty because they are just too expensive. And still they build more. Classy looking buildings stand empty everywhere, not in the old city just the new and its outskirts. Our driver had no explanation for the continuous building, he didnt know who was building all the new properties, he just shrugged his shoulders and said `they`. Our time in the city was coming to an end and faced with yet another long bus ride to Siem Reap, Mr Bunny booked us a private taxi instead. The price difference compared to the bus was very favourable, and a private driver meant not having to endure another journey of noisy passengers listening to their phones without headphones. A new pet hate. It also meant we could stop at will, and not where 20 other buses chose to stop. The journey was surprisingly easy, the driver spoke very good English, was very pleasant, and quite unhurried. He told us he lived in Siem Reap, and that he was a tour guide there. Naturally we were happy to take him up on his offer to give us guided tours to Kulan Mountain, waterfalls, and to Angkor Wat itself in the following days. Cambodia is a very flat country, with endless stretches of green fields, and quite possibly it was the draw of seeing green hills or mountains after endless cities that sparked our interest in visiting the mountain. Picked up at 9am, we first drove to the town centre to purchase our Kulan mountain tickets from the equivalent of our tourist information, then headed out of town in the general direction of what appeared to be a lump on the horizon. The nearer we got, the bigger it got, (naturally) . First stop was at an unmade car park near to a stream, here we were supposed to able to see 1000 lingas that lie along the edge of the water. Unfortunately for us, it is the rainy season, and heavy rains of the previous evening had swollen the river leaving the stone marking barely visible. What we could see however was impressive. Stone carvings, set out like an oversized chess board, half the markings show a square with an indentation, the other half have raised centres in a short stubby circular patten. They represent male and female, and you can make your mind up which was which. The next stop along the narrow stream ended at a Buddha statue and another pond. In said pond was meant to be a fine example of another stone statue. We had to take his word for it, as all we could see were floating leaves and mossy debris. Such a shame, but mother nature does as she pleases, and if we were not meant to see, then so be it. Our next drive was an upwards direction. Rather pleased actually that the car was able to transport the three bunnies up the mountain, as it would have been rather a long hop. What a deceptive drive. Through trees, more trees, more unmade road, and finally a stop at the clearing. Over there he pointed, and be careful. We made our way carefully to where he pointed, and wow, what a vista awaited us. We truly were on the edge of a precipice looking out over miles and miles of jungle scenery. Non of the bunnies ventured near the edge as it really was an awfully long way down. When our eyes had feasted, it was back in the car to visit yet another temple. This one was a little odd, and a touch unique. Once upon a time a huge rock was lying quietly minding its own business, when a person with a hammer, chisel and a determined mindset, bashed away at its upper level to make one side of this rock into a lying Buddha. This special rock was then surrounded by a wooden building to protect it, with far too many steps, and a new temple was formed. Whilst there were quite a few tourists there, and naturally the usual mini markets stall of pointless tourist sh.t (TS) it was quiet enough to have space to think and enjoy the greenery and open space. Our driver did take us then to a waterfall, but as waterfalls go we all felt it was pretty meh, We had to assume that public outdoor swimming venues are few and far between in Siem Reap, as at the lower waterfall, there were metal baskets in which to store your clothing and several rubber rings in the shape of ducks to be hired. 5 minutes here was 4 too many, and we were happy to retreat to the cool air con of the car and return to our hotels in Siem Reap. Angkor Wat. That place of enigmatic beauty, the one you have been dreaming of seeing with your own eyes. From endless days of writing our must see world icon wish list, today was the day we fulfilled one our dreams. Naturally little B wanted to see it in all its magnificent glory, which meant a 4am get up, and a 5am pre dawn taxi collection. (yawn) The previous day, Mr Rey, the taxi driver and guide, had told us that most hotels in Siem Reap were geared up to provide tourists with take away breakfasts for the early morning starts. Two bunnies duly collected picnic bags of breakfast food, whilst little B was in a hostel that did not pamper to such requests. There would be plenty to share. We were swiftly driven to the entrance of Angkor Wat, and pointed in the direction of the temple complex. We darn near ran along the road to grab a spot prior to the sun rising. Were we alone? Not a chance. We quite probably saw more tourists at 5.15am at Angkor Wat, then we have in our past 12 months of travel. There is more than one temple, and we climbed the ruins to watch the sun rise. Mr B nabbed himself a fine spot near the moat to capture `that` photo of Angkor Wat with its reflection in the water. If I had to be brutally honest, the whole sunrise at Angkor Wat was a little underwhelming, due to the fact that the sun is so bright behind the temples, and cast the temple itself into a very dark shadow. So dark in fact it was actually quite difficult to see it. This was quite unlike the fabulous sunrise at Uluru when the whole rock was bathed in natural light. Once the sun had risen a little more, we headed towards the temple complex and found ourselves a quiet set of stairs to enjoy our buffet breakfast. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be sat eating boiled eggs on the steps of Angkor Wat, Cambodia, at dawn, but we did. We ate the eggs. The mosquitoes ate us, well Mr Bunny specifically. Bunnies two and three were left unscathed. Angkor Wat is huge, far far bigger than I had realised. And it has steps. Hundreds and hundreds of steps. We went on a day that was not Buddha Day, which meant we were allowed to climb the stairs (the new stairs I add) to the very top. We entered the temple and wowed our way from stone room to stone room. Whilst not dazzling with painted rooms or decor, each and every room stunned with its architectural brilliance. Quite incredible how such a huge building still stands, but the stone work is just phenomenal (!) Up steps, down steps, up, down, up and down. After a while you get a bit stone crazy, ,however seeing all that intricate craftwork is quite awe inspiring. We could, maybe we should, have got a guide, but truth be known, clever as it is, we don`t really care that this was a kitchen or that was a loo (whether it was or not) We were hot. Very, very, very hot. All the bunnies walked the temples in clothes that you could have wrung out, such was the heat and humidity, and it was still not yet 8am. We again satiated our eyes at Angkor Wat, and left around 8.30am. We were then taken to yet another temple, forgive me if i say `same same but different...and to then yet another. The only difference in temple number three was the fact that Mr Rey failed to mention that we would naturally be herded to the exit at the opposite end of the complex to where he dropped us off, leaving us to the mercy of a million tuk tuk drivers all convinced that we needed driving to the other entrance. Not only did we not need the service of a tuk tuk driver as we waited for Mr Rey to remember that he needed to move, we also did not require hats, fans, t shirts, shawls, cold drinks (although.....) or sun umbrellas. Arghhhh people, leave us alone !! At last Mr R arrived, and we escaped in the direction of a nice cafe for a slightly more substantial and rather more expensive breakfast. After enjoying the peace of this quiet cafe the cool of its fans, it was time to leave for our last temple. This was given no name, other than `Tomb Raider Temple`. Of said film fame. Whilst I have not seen the film myself, this particular temple very quickly became our favourite. Saving the best for last I suppose. Set in the jungle and left to nature, the temples are now standing entwined within the branches and roots of massive trees. Standing being the correct word. How the heck do these structures still remain intact (mostly) whilst so entwined in a network of roots? All three bunnies had fun wandering this less than perfect ruin, gawping at ceilings made of tree. There has clearly been a little rebuilding, protection, structural supports added, where temples two and three had not, but I guess that`s what film fame does for a building. Angkor Wat. Huge. Magnificent, splendid, and stunning. Whilst you could spend several days here going from temple to temple, unless you are addicted to old ruins, personally I would say a good few hours is more than sufficient. Siem Reap Of all the places we have stayed recently, Siem Reap was a favourite. If time had allowed we would quite happily have spent far longer here. Such an easy going, friendly, spread out town. With no structure built over 5 storeys, it gave the whole town a feeling of space. No crowds, no hassle, just a lovely little town in which you could cheerfully spend a week just relaxing, most especially when the most stunning of hotels cost the same as a flea pit in Blackpool! We are out of season, May, so that should be a consideration, but a very nice place to be. Any moments that caused us any grumbles? Just the one. For the first time we gave in to a tuktuk driver offering us a city tour. It was so hot, we fancied the ease of a ride. We should have known better, when stops two and three were at fancy overpriced jewellery stores. Please just spend 6 minutes here so that I can get a petrol voucher was the pat. Whilst neither shop particularly hassled us to buy anything, it was not on our plan to visit such shops. With a large town just begging to driven around, it made us cross that our time was hijacked. Lucky for Little B, when on our way back to the hotel, we spotted her hopping along the roadside, and offered her a lift. We really enjoyed our time in Cambodia once the shock of the reality of the genocide left our minds, but not our memories, and would definitely consider coming again to see other places. Thank you for your hospitality Cambodia, we have loved staying with you.

Good Morning Vietnam!! Never actually thought I would ever utter those words as a truthful statement rather than in jest of a film, but here we are. After a very long 4 days in Shanghai, we were so tired, and travelling through the night only added to the way we were feeling. With forethought I had booked us into a basic airport hotel so that we could arrive and crash. Day one was given to sleep, with Day 2 a day of planning the how where and what in Vietnam. Not a country we have researched at length, but it was always on our list of must see places. There are far too many nice places here in Vietnam, all of which we would like to see, but with a 3 week time scale, not practical. For a first time visit I decided that we would stick to the main tourist hotspots, for their ease of travel options. Starting with the utterly enigmatic and totally chaotic Ha Noi. Ha Noi A city of two words, Ha Noi, not Hanoi, but for ease I shall roll the two words into one, and continue. For the next 3 months or so the three bunnies will be travelling as 2 plus one. Whilst it has worked very well for us sharing accommodations, it was mostly driven by monetary considerations, rather than suitability. Here in Vietnam, rooms are exceptionally low cost, and we can now each have our our bunny burrows. Mr and Mrs Bunny chose a rather nice Boutique Hotel. Sounds Posh? Well it was, but it was also the same width as our room. Our room had a slightly shorter bed, a just about wide enough path at the base of the bed to walk easily to the bathroom, and that was the total width of room and hotel. Called tube buildings, these are very much the norm of the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Our building was not just the hotel. The entrance was ancient pharmacy? Boxes of whatever that I would swear had a 1970s sell by date. The next little bit was entrance to private apartment through a closed door and staircase, then another doorway and we came to our hotel reception. We had a room on the 6th floor and a view over the rooftops of Old Hanoi. A maze like no other. An absolute mishmash of building and rooftops, with one that we called The Up house, as in Disney`s film Up. One little house with a pitched roof and balcony stood higher than anything else. All it needed was balloons to complete the picture. We spent 4 days in Hanoi wandering its myriad of tiny streets, dodging everything from scooters to cars to hand carts, men on bicycles wearing non la, (conical hats) and women carrying the fruits on two baskets suspended from a long bamboo cane carried on the shoulder. It was a crazy chaotic city, and it went on all around you. We learned to cross the streets with confidence, wait for a gap and you would wait until Christmas, just walk out with purpose and everything drives around you. Little B had done the research as always, and pinned it all onto google maps. Managing to see everything pinned at a slightly less frantic pace than weeks gone by, Mr and Mrs B still managed to rack up fairly impressive 20k step days. First stop was the Cafe Giang and the home of the original Egg Coffee. This is a drink steeped in history and started here in Hanoi. Egg yolks beaten to a froth with Condensed Milk poured over coffee, served with a spoon. It looks yummy, and the froth is, but you have to be a die hard coffee fan to appreciate the ultra strong black coffee flavour of the liquid. (of which there is not much) Neither bunny was in raptures, but the froth itself is rather good. A hot chocolate found in a later cafe served with the same egg/condensed milk concoction was ever so much more palatable. For breakfast we shared the 4 lava cakes. Little cakes with a filling of runny egg yolk. Tastes better than it sounds I promise. After a long walk around the city getting a feel for its history, we stopped for lunch at another must do. Bahn Mi, a sandwich that comes served on crusty bread from a cafe with 3 venues on the same street and a rather large queue. Mr Bunny enjoyed his sandwich immensely, but as usual Mrs B struggled with slimy textured chicken, no matter what the flavour. Actually it was in this cafe that I am going to mention the rudest woman met so far. I do hope you read my blog and recognise yourself you miserable bint!! Sat on a table for 4, but alone, in the busiest cafe in Ha Noi according to google, I asked if we could share the table, and you begrudgingly and silently moved your bag. I offered no conversation, just politely asked what coffee you had chosen as it was placed in front of you. Did I ask you for an oration or presentation, I think not, your reply was `Not now, I`m too busy`, waving your hand at me in a dismissive fashion whilst continuing scrolling pages on Facebook. You managed to be exceptionally rude to the next people who dared share your table as well, I note they also moved. Lady, you deserve to sit alone. It costs nothing to smile, and even less to be polite. Lunch over, we headed towards the `Maison Centrale` or Hanoi Hilton, or Hoa Lo Prison. Quite a sobering building, but one in which I lost interest as the prisoners from the American war started talking about their kind treatment and easy stay. I don`t particularly enjoy anything prison or torture related, and the early days of the prison with the imprisonment of local Vietnamese political or even non political rebels was quite harrowing. Seeing the relics of old cells, tunnels in which they tried to escape or the trees from which they tried to make things to save their sanity was humbling. Unlike too many other people, I chose not to take photos of the once working guillotine, most especially when photos of real heads in baskets where displayed on the wall. Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, and museum, unfortunately we missed the museum part, and without the museum the huge imposing Mausoleum, was just a structure in a very large space. We opted to give the Pagoda of Who What Ever a miss, as we feel quite pagoda'd and templed up. What we did instead was much more fun. Hanoi Train Street. Train Street, we knew it was a fairly short walk away from our hotel, and deciding to walk there following maps so that we didn`t get lost. Chance would be a fine thing! This Street is a whole in your face look at me, I`m here, street of lights and glitz. A short length of street with bars on either side of the train tracks is devoted entirely to sitting, drinking and waiting for the nightly trains. The atmosphere was incredible. The bars on both side are bright gaudy affairs, tiny stools and tables almost touching the tracks. You have no choice but to traverse the rails as you choose your seat in any cafe. Getting there at 6pm for a 7.30pm train, that actually arrives at 7.40pm, was definitely not too early. So many people. How many photos on Instagram? We choose a bar with slightly higher seats than most, (have you any idea how small Vietnamese stools are?) And we waited. The atmosphere got more and more electric as the time for the train came closer. At 7.25 the whistles started and the cafe owners made no bones about making people SIT DOWN NOW. Moving stools and tables behind the very obvious bright yellow lines, and continually monitoring people so that absolutely no one was under any illusion other that breaking the rules meant death by train. With everyone sat, we waited in eager anticipation of the train. Now don`t ask me why I thought it was going to be a small train (seriously doh, small train?) but I did. Your hear the long extended horn blasts long before you see the train, and the excitement is palpable. Oh my golly gosh, watching that huge train drive by not overly slowly, but definitely within arms reach was pretty thrilling. We could see the feet of the people opposite as the train wheels passed us by. The moment the train passed us by to loud cheers, the hunt was on for the squished steamrollered bottle tops that just about everyone had placed, us included, on the rails. We had such a good evening, we went back the following night and did it all again. From Hanoi it was my intention to visit both Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh. Mr Bunny took matters into his own hands and booked us onto a 3 day trip covering both. Poor Mr Bunny, he only went onto the website to enquire about bookings and prices, and got back a full itinerary and confirmation of booking. To say it was a tiny bit expensive would be an understatement, but after completing said trip, I can say that we really did cram a lot in. We travelled for quite some miles south to Ninh Binh in a rather comfortable 7 seater luxury mini van and landed at stop one. Toilets, coffee and the usual large jewellery and souvenir outlet, after all every tourist wants to buy expensive overpriced jewellery or pictures away from the town in which they were so recently staying and surrounded by! Not. Still it was a pleasant break in which to stretch your legs. Stop 2, was a Temple. This was the Temple of What Another One. Beautiful like all the rest. but still a temple, are you sensing my lack of enthusiasm? "We will get to see the Vietnamese Unicorn", the guide declared on the bus. I was mildly intrigued. A strange horse, perhaps a mule or donkey with an interesting shaped head, maybe it would be white. I wasn`t so daft as to expect a horn, but a stone statue of a dragonish like horsey thing? That lump said the guide, is where his horn used to be. Whoopy piggin do! I love history, I love old, stunning architecture or clever stonework, but I do apologise for my lack of enthusiasm for long winded stories about a stone dragon or unicorn, or that mountain over there shaped like a saddle because `they` why is it always `they`? used to believe its where a person rode his horse and declared some long forgotten words yadda yadda yadda. Its a mountain, with a dip. Its pretty. Move on. There was also a red roped off area around a mildly once engraved flat stone, like a gravestone, that also required a long winded explanation, and a stick to point out where the mouth of the dragon was and its tail and legs etc. Think 200 year gravestones, overgrown, mossy and with a few gouge marks that once meant something. What I did not need was a 15 minute standing lecture in broken English of what this represented. quick interlude here. The most fascinating mountain range was back in Peru. From Machu Picchu the mountain range in front of you absolutely made the shape of a face. Every mass produced ..I mean ` unique hand painted picture` (that just happened to look like the previous 1000 we had been shown) did show how Machu Picchu was surrounded by a mountain range that 100% made a face. Now that`s interesting and unique! I continue, after my brief deviation. Every tour bus in the vicinity had landed at this Temple, and I would assume everyone had the same brief. No sunglasses in the temple and no photos. Unless of course you are taking Instagram pictures so the rules don`t apply to you, You guys feel free to disrespect the rules of the Temple. It makes me so bloody mad. Excuse me everyone, don`t mind me, I think my super short shorts are real cute and my tits hanging out of my crop top are the perfect attire to take posing pictures in a temple of worship, so if you don`t mind walking around the tripod we have set up slap bang in the middle of the path, so kind... and it didn`t happen once either. Part 3 of the trip, and this was the scary but fun part. We each climbed into a small boat, 3 or 4 bunnies to a boat, "Firs` years over `ere" as Hagrid shouts in Harry Potter. We all boarded the boats, rowed mostly by women, not sexist here, but it was a rowing boat, 4 people, and a heck of a long way. Kudos to those ladies, I raise my hats to you. We set off and our guide had told me, just one cave, not too long and then a fabulous view. Try and enjoy the cave he said, I promise its worth it. I hate caves. I avoid caves at all costs. 100 or so little boats all set off together, a sea of orange life vests, rowed by these beautiful ladies in fine make up and not a hint of sweat upon their brow. The lagoon was stunning, we were surrounded by green hills, the weather was unkind due to being monsoon season, no rain but a lot of cloud. It made for a spooky grey ride, but still so stunning. One by one the little boats fell into a single file formation. This was the cave. Caves. Rain. Asia. my heart was in my mouth. Our wonderful rower propelled us through the cave system, very low in places, until finally we saw daylight again. The caves had been lit, and we had been prewarned that the caves were a means to an end, not a thing of beauty. Phew, this bunny could breath again. Wait one sec, another cave? another enclosed cove? and another cave, I was ready to have some serious words with our guide! Then encountering daylight once more, there it was. Another Temple !! The Temple of Why The Heck Did They Build It Here. This beautiful large wooden open sided structure stood in the middle of the lagoon. Was it worth being rowed through 5 cave systems to see said temple? hmm In order to prepare the hot, sweaty and tired bunnies for the next adventure, we paused for lunch. Not a bad buffet selection, shame it included goat meat, but at least there were safe rice and egg options and good ole chips. Last port of call, ladies and gentlemen we are now driving to our beautiful mountain where you can climb 500 uneven steps to see a wonderful view. Any bunnies not wishing to hop to the top to see yet another view, may retire to a nearby bunny bar for drinks and refreshments. Too right. Obviously little B with her FOMO joined the others and took her little bunny butt up that mountain. Mr and Mrs Bunny walked through the fields taking in the views of the very traditional and clearly not staged men and women in their conical hats tending the fields of what I assume was rice. If you ever have a vision of life in Vietnam, from photos or films, this is the view we had. Silent and stunning. Two minutes away from this mountain was our Eco Lodge stay. Most other people were on a one day tour, whilst we were on a 2 night 3 day. Our stay was lovely, a quiet little bungalow set amongst trees. There was a pool that little B investigated, but yet another truly obnoxious family had clearly decided it was `their pool` and declined to share, swimming far too close, hounding her, limiting her space, and generally making life uncomfortable. Mummy bunny would have defended, but the family was large, and clearly of that nature. We had the unfortunate luck to encounter them again for the evening meal. It pains me how some people can act so badly. Given that another family at the side of us allowed their child to drink from a glass on the floor using a handmade long straw and suck gravy from his plate making awful noises, we ate rapidly and retired to peace and sanity. We are tolerant of people acting however they so wish in their own country, but I do think tourists and visitors should act with a little humility and decorum. Ha Long Bay . We were picked up at 7.30am and driven 4 hours north to the very spectacular Ha Long Bay, and to our cruise boat, the Aspira. We had no idea what to expect at Ha Long Bay, and held our breath. Every picture you see is an expansive array of beautiful green islands jutting up from the sea. A few boats here and there. Picture post card blue water and perfect skies. Whilst not wanting to paint a less than perfect picture, our trip is very much out of season, it is April, monsoon season, cloudy skies, colourless islands. Moody, stunning and quite eerie. We arrived at the dockside after passing what seemed like hundreds of small boats, cruisers, rowing boats, fishing boats and more. There it was, the most stunning boat you have ever seen, a luxury yacht moored with multiple decks, helipad, handsome sailors dressed in white, and not ours. "Everyone on the tender please" came a voice over the Tannoy, "boarding now please". Tender? Boarding? You mean that beautiful luxury yacht was not our home for the night, instead you want me to climb on the rust bucket of a tender, don a life jacket and traverse the ocean for xx mins heading to goodness knows where? Yep. Clutching a life vest like my life depended on it, and judging by the rust probably did, we headed out towards the islands. When you don`t know where or for how long the journey is, everything seems to take so much longer. After what felt like an eternity, we came to our boat, The Aspira moored far out amongst the islands. Whilst it looked very much like every other boat in the vicinity from the moment we boarded we were treated like Royalty. An ice cold welcoming drink and cooling towel, escorted to our own table for a pre sailing itinerary, then shown to our rooms. We had a large bunny hutch with 3 beds of hay and blissfully soft pillows and duvets. A full length window with our own balcony with tables and chairs, and a wonderful bathroom with a full size bath along side its huge water side window. We were on the lower deck of 2 sleeping decks, so although it felt a little third class, being lower, it didn`t really matter as these ships, boats are only designed for minimal passengers. We think there were 40 or so passengers. Whilst the Itinerary was busy, Mr and Mrs Bunny had only one. To meet Fanny Adams, if you catch my drift. Whilst the rest of passengers boarded the tender again for a transfer to smaller canoes or bamboo boats, Mr Bunny and myself had a lovely chat with Mrs Adams. She plied us with drinks and was most accommodating. Little B, decided that if it was on the itinerary, then she was going to do it. Everything from rowing a canoe, taking part in the cooking class, Thai Chi at 6am, luxury bath, she did it all. Very proud of her. The food on the boat was wonderful, we got fed on arrival, fed again in the evening, breakfast at 7.30 and brunch at 11.30 prior to disembarking. Mrs B requested vegetarian options, not to be awkward, but far too much salad contains seafood items, and meat is invariably not my kind of thing. oh my goodness, I thought Mr Bunny could cook, but If Mr Boat Chef ever needs a person to sample his food, I`m there with bells on. After 11 months of travelling and food very much of a less not more, to be suddenly presented with a luxury 4 or what is 5 course? We were quite full to bursting. I think the word here is `replete` though stuffed works just fine for me. Ha Long Bay. A destination on just about every Vietnam bucket list. Yes, it is truly beautiful. Whilst we were not blessed with clear skies, blue seas and pristine green landscapes, we were certainly able to appreciate the beauty of the landscape around us. The 1000 plus islands rising from the sea shrouded in mist was eerie but stunning. Is it everything we hoped? Yes, but equally no. As per every other must see tourist attraction, over tourism is taking its toll. We boarded a boat that was moored in a bay, but we motored past 50 or more boats to get there. We drifted silently along, but in a direct line of sight I could count 17 boats behind us, 14 in front, and 18 to the side. I would imagine that left port side of the boat would have seen an equal amount of boats from their windows as well, Not quite the `unique` experience you are hoping for. People create waste, and far too much of was in the water. Quite shameful really when you consider just how many people are out on the water at any one time. If every boat caught just one piece of plastic, how much cleaner it would be. You stand on the balcony to admire the fabulous views, but you cannot help saying, bottle, bag, crisp packet, styrene box, flip flop...as they drift silently by. At what point is the world going to stand up take notice and say enough is enough? We returned to the chaos of Hanoi later that day, and boarded yet another plane, this time to Hue. Hue, This was the ancient capital from 1802 to 1945. A destination that with hindsight, I should have researched. People come to Hue for one reason, to visit the Imperial City. And? And what? Whilst both sets of bunnies had quite nice accommodations, we rather wish that we had chosen a much shorter stay. 5 days here was at least three too many. But at least we got to see the Imperial City, seeing as it is the main attraction...No. No we didn`t. Mr and Mrs Bunny just did not get the urge to wander yet another most probably beautiful temple, castle palace doofer. It is exceptionally hot, and the drive to visit this ancient site just failed to muster itself. Our drive remained firmly parked in the garage of abject lethargy. The town itself was a hive of activity, we had landed on the eve on the 50th anniversary of the Reunification of Vietnam and the people were in party mood. There were massive military parades taking place in Ho Chi Minh City, and a large food festival was being held in Hue. Incidentally Vietnam is supposed to be a culinary delight for any foody. I still feel however that it takes a certain strong stomach and a cast iron belly to feel confident eating such an array of weird and wonderful foods. A foodie I am most certainly not. If we stayed put in one place long enough to not worry about a bathroom should the need arise, I may have tried one or two of the safer looking offerings but bathrooms on buses and planes? Risking it not am I. Getting bored of the city, we contacted Little B, who had also intimated that she was finding it difficult to get enthusiastic in Hue, and we decided to meet up and have a day at the nearby beach. This beach was pinpointed using our Lonely Planet must see map. We got a taxi at 11am to said beach resort, towels, suntan lotion, kindles and swim kit ready, and found.....nobody. Not a single soul was on that beach! There was a long sandy strip of very basic concrete pad eating places. So simple they consisted of long plastic tables, too small chairs and stools (what is it with child size chairs!) and large grubby fish tanks no doubt holding whatever fish was destined for the plate later that day but no families with kids with bucket and spades, no skinny bints in too small bikinis (that would be for once in the right place), no guys doing the hunky chunk strut, nada, no one, nobody. There were enough people in the different `restaurants` using the term loosely eating , but a huge stretch of sandy beach did not contain a single sun bed, chair, towel, or person. With no town, maybe a local village or so, there was certainly nothing to invite us to spend very long there, so we walked the length of the beach in both directions and high tailed our bunny butts back to Hue. It had been my intention to visit Bana Hills, Vietnams answer to Disneyland, from Hue, but with all the festivities, coupled with a national holiday, it was decided to postpone that jaunt to our stay in Hoi An. We actually spent a further two days in the nearby outer edges of the city in a small eco lodge hostel with pool. Bed. Pool. Breakfast. Little B took herself off on a walk to the old abandoned Water Park, but Mrs Adams had followed us there so we engaged with her once more. From Hue, we continued our journey through Vietnam, and made our way to Hoi An. Getting to Hoi An was an adventure in itself. This was the first time we had made a long bus journey in quite a while. We had thought it was going to take 4 hours, but our ridiculously impatient bus driver honked and beeped his way through the traffic the entire journey and we made it in 3 hours flat. I wonder if that`s why every website suggests trains are better/safer than buses? The bus itself was a sleeper, and our first encounter with such. Very comfortable I have to say, 3 rows of bunks, 2 high. Each bunk space was its own personal little cabin space with a reclining seat, a tv (which may or may not work as nobody seemed to put it on) a small shelf, bag storage, air con and curtains. The bottom bunk was floor level, but with a full window to look out of was no hardship. Hoi An What a beautiful little town, such a contract to Hue, and quite the opposite of Hanoi. With a pretty little river running through the town, picture perfect little shops decorated with lanterns. Small bridges and a myriad of narrow winding streets, we have enjoyed Hoi An immensely. Here we had our first exceptionally nice hotel, a real hotel with real hotel rooms, the type that come with a booklet of instructions, fridge, kettle, mini bar, balcony, netflix an overpriced list of massage treatments a restaurant, bar and a swimming pool to spoil us . Such Luxury. With a hefty price tag of £29 per night including breakfast we are quite pushing the boat out. By day we have walked around the little streets, Mr B got himself a haircut and came out looking like a new man, haircut, beard and moustache trim for a whole £4. Whilst walking you do get continually hassled by guys driving multi seated golf buggies. They offer to give you a city tour for a small price. Originally we said no many times, but as the temperatures started to soar we finally gave in. Our first stop of what turned out to be just a whistle stop, zero commentary tour of the town, we landed at the Old House. Clearly a very nice old traditional house, still lived in judging by the large tv in an open room marked Private. We were there no longer than 10 mins, and that included an invitation to view the rather expensive home made silver jewellery that was on offer. I took a shine to the little bangle with the traditional conical hat, but when she tried to convince us that the price offered converted to £24, when it fact it converted to £49, we bade her farewell and left. Our waiting driver then asked if we wanted taking to the Coconut Village. Knowing this was a bit of boating fun, we accepted. Looking back this was a spontaneous and somewhat expensive little jaunt. With hindsight, we should have declined the buggy, without commentary we were no wiser anyhow, and booked a trip including transport and entry fee to the boats. Tut tut, proving even experienced travellers can be hassled into making daft choices when you are hot and bothered. The coconut boats, round deep boats a cross between a bucket, a boat, canoe and paddled with one oar, were dotted everywhere. There were probably 300 of these little boats and their oarsmen and oarswomen waiting to paddle you along the river. They clearly had a well organised system of ensuring every `driver` had a ride for the day, with an exceptionally well detailed book of names and boat numbers being consulted prior to us boarding. He paddled us for ages, along the river, between the bamboo reeds, and then asked us if we wanted `gangnam style`, having seen many videos of these crazy spinning tricks, we firmly declined. My Boatman was clearly disappointed, obviously wanting to show us his tricks. As we watched other boats spinning in faster and faster crazy circles, with the passengers (just 2) getting closer and closer to the waters edge, and I must say, getting greener and greener, we were very glad to have said no. We had the chance to paddle the boat ourselves, and this proved to be so much harder than it looked. A most enjoyable afternoon. We spent the rest of our time in Hoi An doing not very much. All four evenings of our stay we chose to eat at our hotel rather than in the town. Our chef was excellent, and the restaurant airconditioned, peaceful and empty. We knew we wanted to see the lantern boats that Hoi An is famous for, and set off one evening to see them for ourselves. By night, Hoi An, which if I haven`t mentioned before is a registered UNESCCO town, is truly beautiful. Lit with a multitude of lanterns both near and on the river, it is really special. It is also exceedingly busy. Hoards of bus tours arrive into the town in the early evening, and the little town is just swamped. We took our photos, and once more retreated to the peace and comfort of our wonderful and peaceful, hotel restaurant. By the time we had left, we had eaten 4 meals in the restaurant, had numerous daytime drinks by the pool and racked up a staggering £55 doing so. For perspective, Mr Bunny had a very nice steak meal in the hotel, whilst the same meal in town would have cost four times the price. We are still very mindful of our budget, and even more so that whilst we are in holiday mood, we are not with holiday budget. Nah Trang With so many wonderful places to see in Vietnam, we can only do a few. We need to be progressive in our travel, and Nha Trang appeared to be a very nice destination, and quite the contrast to Hoi An. We knew it was going to be a large hotel beach side destination, and I had booked the bunnies into two very nice but separate beach side hutches. We flew to Nha Trang, a swift 40 min flight, rather than take the the 10 hour bus. Leaving the airport we immediately passed one fabulous hotel complex after another. If you can name any high end hotel brand, we passed their hotel. We had high hopes. Hmm....Arriving into Nha Trang itself, I can describe it in three words. Blackpool meets Benidorm. As we had arrived by night, the bunnies both grabbed snacks from the respective local supermarket, and retired for the evening. The morning however revealed a very different side to Nha Trang. It is the haunt of Russian tourists, and possibly only Russian tourists. Everywhere boasted only two languages, Vietnamese and Russian. All the bunnies endured this stay with particular contempt. I refuse to be drawn by politics, but I deign to give anyone from this country any of my interest. We were glad to leave. I shall leave it there. Ho Chi Minh City Saigon. At no point in our travel to this city was it described as H.C.M.C. Every bus driver, and bus rep referred to it as Saigon. This is their country, their prerogative, and if that is their preference, who am I to comment or question? Our sleeper bus was awesome. Brand new, and clearly so, as it had that brand new smell about it, we were three of only seven passengers on the bus. All I can say, is that if only long haul flights were as comfortable, travel more by plane would I. With respect to the endless signage around this city, I too shall call it Saigon. It is a huge sprawling city, some new, some old, high rise modern buildings rubbing shoulders, or rather knee caps with little buildings of old. It had been my intention for these two bunnies to investigate the famous, infamous? Chu Chi tunnels of the Vietnam resistance. `Not suitable for persons with knee or back problems` it declared, and that ruled us out. We could have sailed on the Mekong Delta, but truthfully these two bunnies have quite run out of stream and the thought of spending yet more hours on a bus failed to induce any enthusiasm. Instead, we had more pressing needs. After twelve months of travel, our tech has started to have a hissy fit. The Go Pro on which I have documented our journey decided enough was enough and refused to switch on anymore. With precious little time to get it mended, we had to make a quick decision and purchased a new one. Mrs B phone, fit to bursting with photos and just about every important document and email required for the trip, also decided, nope, not working anymore. Rapid trip to the Samsung store, a whole lot of head shaking and a promise to order new parts immediately, resulted in a bus journey to Cambodia delayed, and a case of fingers crossed and a whole of lot praying to anyone I can think of hoping to goodness that my phone can be repaired and information salvaged. MP3 player? Also bored of working. My only pair of reading glasses, now doing their best Harry Potter impression with their sellotaped bits. Mr Bs razor? Needs a new razor head. It would appear that our belongings are begging for a holiday of their own. We managed one small trip within this city, and took ourselves off to the War Remnants Museum. It made you cry. It would be a lie for me to say that I understand the Vietnam War. Especially the Why. It is far more complicated than it appears, and I decline to be drawn. Is this museum biased, I cannot say. I don`t want to say. The photos taken from every aspect of life during the war, before and after paint a sobering and damning story. How any country can do such things to another is shameful. Target the men with weapons if you must, but taking your wrath out purposefully, not accidentally within the confines of war on children is cowardly. Vietnam is a wonderful, special, beautiful, proud and defiant country. the hospitality of the people is quite beyond compare. We love you Vietnam, and would like to thank you for your kind and welcoming hospitality.

Did you know to visit China you need a visa? Back in 2018 this Visa was around £300 each for our 14 day stay but now you can visit visa free for up to 240 hours. I am not certain this covers all areas of China but you can certainly visit the very wonderful Shanghai. And guess what is at Shanghai?.....Disney of course! Disneyland Shanghai, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly... Many weeks ago whilst still in Taiwan I had tried and failed to book a stay at the Disney Hotel in Shanghai. No matter what, I could not get a much needed code that allowed me to create an account and make a booking. I tried again when in Japan, and still failed. I was quite sad. Mr Bunny and I hadn`t mentioned to little B our dreams of visiting yet another of the great Disney parks hoping to make it a surprise. but when you need a tech savvy little hopper, little B is the only way to go, most especially when I told her what I was trying to do. Did she manage it? Does Dumbo fly? Disney Toy Story Hotel. I chose to stay on site at one of only two Disney hotels. The other is the Disneyland hotel. With all the You Tubes and Reels about the phenomenal queues at Disney Sea, we were sure Shanghai would be the same and with one chance only to do this, staying on site was a go to. We did all the research about opening queue times, rope drop, but drew a blank. How odd. Turns out moving people is their speciality. We lined up, scanned and were in the park within 10 mins of leaving the bus. Is this the norm? I don`t actually know as we had one hour early priority entrance, even so we were through in no time and there were some hefty lines. Did I mention that we had flown in that evening, landed at 12.30am, to the hotel by 1.30am, bed at 2, up at 6 for breakfast and on the park bus at 6.45? Disneyland Shanghai The Good. Disneyland Shanghai is huge. Classed as one of the most complete parks on opening it truly is quite special. We found it very pretty, especially as we were there at Easter and springtime. Having spent numerous occasions at WDW in the Autumn, it was nice to see other colours for a change, not just the orange of Halloween pumpkins. I cannot say that it has a multitude of rides, but it most certainly does have a huge number of walking paths and given the overwhelming number of visitors, they know how to keep people moving. Ditto the rides, the queuing systems are crazy long, but they keep moving, no endless minutes of standing and waiting, you are always shuffling forward. We decided that the rides loaded quickly and efficiently due to the absence of disability riders. There are zero scooters in Disney Shanghai. Wait times of 70 minutes was not uncommon, yet the times passed quite quickly (apart from Peter Pan, a notoriously slow loader) Day one we chose to ride Tron first, a super awesome motorbike type ride. We were on and off within 15 mins, and for any Disney geek reading this, you know just how improbable this would normally be. Disney Shanghai is unique. They have a new land called Zootopia, based on the film, and every man, woman, child, angel and doll, makes a beeline for that area at park opening. (we saved that bit of fun for day 2) Whilst I could tell you about all the different rides, I wont, except one. Pirates of the Caribbean. oh my goodness gracious me, what a ride! Mr Bunny had read and seen snippets of film that this particular Pirates ride was quite unlike any other at any other park and was quite adamant that we would be waiting in line for this ride no matter what the times. He was not wrong. How long would I wait to ride this again? 4 hours? yep, all day? probably? multiple times, too right! I thought I had seen spectacular when we rode Beauty and the Beast in Tokyo, but nope. Jaw dropping. Literally. From the moment you get into your boat, you start a voyage like no other. Mrs Bunny had chosen not to do any research into the ride and was expecting the same as every other with a few more bits of animation. Ha! Oh how I loved being overwhelmed by this ride. The very second Captain Jack Sparrow magically turned from skeleton to man in an eye blink, I was hooked. We dived to the bottom of the ocean to a watery city of life, watched the Kraken awaken and swim away, with our boat dragged by the current through the bowels of various shipwrecks, we could see the surface of the water far far above us. The sirens sounded, it was time to fight! We rose to the surface and burst out onto the ocean only just missing the large Man o` War as it passed us by. With all cannons firing we did well to dodge between the ships and escape the Armada. With many vessels sinking around us, we took to the safety of a cove, where alas a fight between two pirates ended with one firing a pistol into the barrel of gunpowder launching us on a tidal wave back to dry land. And there endeth our ride. Did we go back and do it all again? You bet we did. 7 times in total. Zootopia. We saved the whole land of Zootopia until day 2. A whole land devoted to the film, and the absolute heroine of pure adoration? Judy. Jude the Dude. Cute Bunny. Bunny Cop. You actually have to queue just to get into Zootopia land, and then you queue again to get on the only ride there. Do they queue all day for this ride? Yes, yes they do. Was it special? Absolutely. the theming was just Disney come to life. The best part, or worst, I cannot decide, the people. They play dress up, and Judy is their hero. From the smallest child, to mums, dads, teenagers, boy or girl, they play dress up as Judy. Younger kids wear cute little Judy dresses, Mums go for the skin tight bare midriff, open shirt sexy bunny look. Guys wear the cop uniform, and bunny ears! Not fox ears for Nick Wilde, oh no, bunny ears. You have never seen anything like it. Unlike Florida, dress up is a big thing here. Any age. Disney, The Bad. Photographs. Selfies, more photos, more selfies, absolutely everywhere you look the local girls are taking photos. Happy, look at us, we are here photos? Nope. This is me in front of a tree. a wall. in front of the toilets. in a shop. crouched down on a path, in front of a brick wall, and the expressions of blank baby doll is just bizarre. And the outfits? You find yourself staring and thinking what on earth are you wearing?! Cute, baby doll, bimbo, anime, they are everywhere. Silly looking blank faced girls, standing posing every which way possible in front of the most ordinary young guys, presumably a boyfriend, who never ever EVER utters a word of boredom or frustration. And they are everywhere! Worse for me was watching smaller girls, in dresses that in the UK a 3 year old would shy away from, being encouraged to pose in cute poses, if I say Shirley Temple and a lolly pop, you get the scene. We grew tired of seeing silly face, after silly face. I didn`t appreciate quite how interesting women of the world people are until we came across the baby dolls of China and Japan. Did I mention that they also wear face masks, and wear them on photos as well? Disney Ugly. Unlike every other park, smoking is quite the norm in the park. There are smoking areas, but they are so big and so often, smokers may as well just walk around the parks, cigarette in hand. Not in the wait lines, but anywhere else. Prams. There are double buggies everywhere, for the adults. I am not kidding, they hire buggies for adults, and we didn`t just see the occasional adult perched in a pram, we saw many many many adults in prams. Grown men in buggies! These buggies are specially designed to carry adults! Seeing a silly moo in their mid 20s (we guess) being pushed around by a male partner was not uncommon. You have never seen anything quite so odd or cringy. I get Disney is incredibly tiring, but a pram??? Potty time. More than once we witnessed, usually a small child, being allowed to stand up against a railing and just pee. Yes the lines are long and narrow, but standing where you are and having a whizz? It certainly made us look twice at any puddle of liquid. Spilt orange juice? probably not. Rubbish in Disney? a distinct lack of cleaners leaves areas a little worse for wear. Lastly, as you exit the park you run the gauntlet of aggressive sellers shoving what appears to be genuine Disney products in your face, hard faced guys whispering ` wanna buy a park ticket` and an endless barrage of taxi touts. For a park that gets so much right, they have aspects that do leave a lot to be desired. Would we go again? Of course we would ! :-) Shanghai We came to Shanghai in 2018 and really wanted to see it again. Our trip to China is brief to say the least but we couldn`t leave without seeing Shanghai once more. The most beautiful, stunning, colourful, scented city, A far cry from the ugly bland and colourless Seoul of late. Little Bunny had of course lined up a whole raft of must see places, and we tried our best to accommodate. We started at (where else..) the Disney Flagship store, located almost directly beneath the Pearl. What a beautiful shop. Why oh Why cant Florida have such amazing and desirable items for sale in its shops :-( The pay queue though, oh heck, it wound round the whole shop and Mr B made his feelings plainly obvious when he said he wasn`t joining it to pay for anything. Turns out, this 4 hour (FOUR) hour queue, was to buy the new limited edition Mickey Baker products. Considering you cannot find Mickey Mouse anywhere in the park, bar a small statue, this was so odd. From the Disney Store, we boarded a HoHo bus with its utterly pointless commentary to the old part of the city. We loved this area, coming here on our previous trip. It was nice to see how much it had changed, remaining the same, but better. Same, same but different. We paid to visit the Lu Garden. Was very very pretty, but still a garden. A big garden, but a garden, with water. We two bigger bunnies don`t do gardens, we know what happens when you go into a garden. We are desperate to eat pie, not be the pie. From the gardens we headed off to Nanjing walking street. Us and half a million others. Absolutely stunning and impossibly busy. For a country that does not celebrate Easter holidays, there was definitely an air of holidays. Surely It cant be that busy everyday? We wandered that wide avenue of shops and lights heading, like everyone else, to the Bund. Shanghai skyline is like no other. We had idly considered getting a boat tour, ha, seeing the size of the crowds made us giggle at our naivety of `just` getting on a boat. Little bossy bunny muscled her way to the barrier so that we could all watch the light of the Bund. We didn`t know about the laser show when we arrived, but a quick google translate `What are you waiting for` and showing it to everyone around us in the hope of someone giving us an answer, we quickly found out the reason for the bazzilion phones in hand poised and ready stance. The laser show was quite special, and clearly a watch once and leave. As fast as everybody arrived, they vanished the minute the show was over. However with a multitude of bodies all around us, we decided the best chance of getting a taxi was to cross the river again. Of course little B had the perfect answer to that problem. The scenic tourist tunnel. Such a simple innocuous sign, that led to something extraordinarily special. With thousands of people all around us, I was amazed at how quiet this tunnel was. Just us and a couple of others, quite odd really considering how many people were at street level. Down a very long escalator to a gondola/glass train carriage. This large glass carriage arrived, just 4 seats, one in each corner, and standing room for 13. It arrived. turned round on a train equivalent of a lazy susan, we boarded, and headed back off down the tunnel. I almost want to say think Alice in wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. A swirling vision of lights lit the way, quite breath taking. Deep under the river we found ourselves in a painted tube of marine life, so hard to explain. Further on the tube resembled a lava shaft. £5 each and we had the carriage to ourselves. So special. A wonderful way to end our brief time in Shanghai, China. A very special country. We love you. We don`t love your loo`s lol, but we adore everything else. Thank you for your hospitality China.

South Korea was never a destination intended to be on our bucket list of must see places. To be perfectly honest, we have witnessed enough tourists from this country to have an opinion that I shall refrain from repeating or sharing. I had hoped that visiting the country would shed new light, alas, I was wrong. Our next destination is our place of choice. To go there, we wanted to land on a certain day of the week. With Japan being a rather expensive country, we opted to fly to Seoul for a few days, then move on. What could possibly be wrong with visiting yet another new country? If flight prices had been more favourable, then we would have flown into Busan, a coastal destination, but alas prices dictated that the Capital was far cheaper to fly in and out of. And that is how and why we came to be in South Korea, and Seoul. Don`t get me wrong, its not all bad, our hotel is perfectly adequate. Exceptionally clean, very small, just 8 or so rooms, and one of the cleanest kitchens so far. Such a shame cooking is not an option. We have Netflix, a window that opens, and a private bathroom. The hotel manager is lovely. Very different to anyone else we have met whilst here. From his equivalent of our Amazon App he has purchased Teabags and SD Memory cards for us, we gave him the cash, order placed at 9pm arrives at 6am. We have required both for quite some time, not so much the T bags, but even in Japan, the land of tech, we were never in the right sort of place to find the memory cards. South Korea is a country of coffee shops, ever second shop leading away from our hotel is a Coffee shop, and not ones that have Tea tucked away in the corner of any menu. Its Coffee or bust. Mr and Mrs Bunny are not wanting to venture far from the central part of Seoul, google maps doesn`t work here, and though the local mapping app is good, its just not the same. Little B wanted to go on a trip to the DMZ, we were not particularly bothered. Of everything she learned whilst on said trip, more of which I will expand upon later, was the fact that Koreans are workaholics, and learnaholics. They strive to be the best English speaker, have the best white collar jobs, aiming always upwards, but gaining this by endless learning, school all day, quick nap, and additional advanced learning each evening until the early hours. Every day. Pretty much sums up why they drink so much coffee! (and why they look permanently miserable and tired) Seoul. From the moment I arrived I confess that I just didn`t feel or get the vibe of Seoul. It is not a pretty city, it is not a happy or bustling city, it just Is. Tourism doesn`t seem to have a place here. Very much, `Oh, your a tourist, well you can go here, or there, play dress up if you want, but just get on with it on your own please`. I do admit to arriving into this country very much feeling the pain and sadness of losing a very dear lifelong friend, but there is nothing here to take my mind off it, or cheer me up. I find Seoul, soul less. We went to the `Palace` we know they have a changing of the guard ceremony. Prior to watching this ceremony, we wandered the grounds of said Palace. Truthfully nothing about it looks like a palace. It is not a lived in palace, it looks more like a collection of Temples, a smaller version of the Forbidden City in China, and everywhere we looked we saw people playing dress up in the local traditional dress of the country, the Hanbok. Fine, go ahead and play dress up, but why? It looks perfectly wonderful when you have the face that suits the dress, but western people wearing the Hanbok looks, sorry, stupid. (my opinion only) Putting a pleasant quizzical look on my face (at times hard) I asked an older English speaking lady why she was wearing it, her reply `to be a part of it` ? Eh? You want to be part of a culture that does not wear its traditional dress everyday (unlike say Ecuador or Peru) I tried to keep my opinion of `well I think you look stupid` well and truly masked. Like I admit to earlier, I really do not get the vibe of Seoul. My frustration towards the dress was exacerbated when a white foreign person from a country which I deign to refer, had a hissy fit about having to pay an entrance fee because as per all the notices stated Persons wearing the Hanbok are exempt from paying. He was wearing it, but partly. Wearing scruffy jeans and trainers under the smock does not a traditional outfit make. The cost of the Entrance Fee? £1.50 for goodness sake people, get a life! The time of the changing of the Guard approached. They fenced off the area, people walked into the fence multiple times dragging it across the ground purely because they couldn`t bear to tear their eyes away from their phones. Oh I was getting so cross. At least let this ceremony be good. It wasn`t. It was a painfully boring and amateurish recreation of how the changing of the guard was done, way back when. 40 or 50 persons, in recreated traditional dress, some with stick on beards, marched about in some sort of formation, waved a few flags, and left. I may have found some humour in the situation if some infuriating bint behind me hadn`t used my head as a phone rest. I was so angry, but alas the parade ground was respectfully quiet. 20 mins of biting my lip, but she clearly knew as she scarpered pdq when the parade ended and I rounded on her in a fury. Poof, she was gone. Two younger end boys, possibly early 20s most probably from Korea, were my only salvation to the day. We saw them standing ever so proudly in their very smart Hanbok outfits of the most beautiful pale blue near the lake. Taking each others photo, they brought a smile to my face that day. Later in our stay in Seoul we visited the temple. A lot less people playing dress up, and a very fine room that you could view through the window were about as much as I recall. My patience with temples, is waning fast. We could have visited the secret garden to see the cherry blossom, but, you know what, we all agreed we were pretty much done with the cherry blossom. Starbucks hot chocolate and cake, Mr B having beer and chicken in the bar opposite, finished our day. That, my bunny friends, is probably all I can tell you about Seoul. We walked to a pasta restaurant one afternoon to find some real food, Pasta always works and a box was ticked. The choices of food here in Seoul are vast, and I promised myself that when we came away I would be brave and try different foods, but as per the food found across Asia, be it Singapore, Kl, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, if you cannot stomach fish of every variety, sea foods, chicken every part still with skin on, or even more bizarre sandwiches made with egg, crab meat, mayo, carrot, vinegar, onion, sweet corn and strawberry jam, on the same sandwich at home, then your taste buds are not going to change that much when away. I have really struggled with food these last few weeks, the 7/11 in Japan was a lifesaver with its huge choices of wonderful and almost `normal` foods, but in a few other places? Mars Bar anyone? South Korea, I may not understand you, but I respect you. It is unlikely we would choose to return and wish you every kindness and peace in your lives.