We have arrived in Laos.
After a good couple of days in the-always-interesting Bangkok we headed once more onto a sleeper train. Time to see how the Thais do it! It was much more organised surprisingly, with proper seats set up and attendants who made your bed up once we had got going, there was even somewhere to store your bags rather than squeezing them in the bunk with you.
However, the ride was a little more.... erratic?? Certainly it felt a lot more like a rollercoaster ride than the Malaysian train and as a result I constantly felt like a was going to roll out of the top bunk into the aisle. This made relaxing and falling asleep a little difficult. But we both gtot some sleep at least and arrived only a couple of hours late in Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai is brilliant. Its not very big, and easily navigable on foot and we stayed at a very nice place just out of town, on the east side of the river - The Imm Eco. Its was very green with lots of exotic plants everywhere and we had a swimming pool.
On our first day we got given some sctratch cards in the street by an Maeircan girl and a Belgian guy. Lo and behold Marie won the Star Prize and all we had to do was go to the office and fill in some forms and watch a tourism presentation. It was obviously going to be some sort of timeshare company trying to sell their business but we had nothing planned and knew what to expect, and besides we could have won a laptop!! We didn't, and it was a "Holiday Club" promotion. The people though were actually really friendly and the guy in charge was from Dagenham! They gave us a free T-shirt and some advice on where locals go (the reservoir!) and we caryed on our day, getting some lunh in a nice cafe around the corner - somewhere we would not have even seen if we hadn't gone along to the office.
We stayed for 4 days, during which we didn't go to the reservoir, or on any other tours - "Monkey World" and "Tiger Kingdom" didn't really appeal.
Next day, Marie did her massage course and I spent the day wandering around town exploring and getting our bus tickets to the Laos border sorted. When I went back to pick up Marie from the massage centre, her and her teacher werwe rolling around a bit and not working very hard at all! They had a had a good day though and Marie got a certificate. We celebrated by having some cheap cocktails in a bar nearby and then having a Meze meal which was enormous.
On Thursday we decided to relax and hang around near the hotel, and spent the day swimming in the pool and eating ice creams from the posh ice cream parlour down the road.
We were up early on Friday as our bus was at 8.30am. We breakfasted and caught a tuk-tuk to the station and again, it was very well organised. The bus left promptly at 8.30 and our bus attendant handed out water and biscuits to us all.
It was 6.5 hours to the border town of Chiang Khong, almost as north as you can go in Thailand. We had booked oe night at a guesthouse there - Bannrimtaling - which wasonly a couple of minutes walk from the bus stop and we found was run by a guy from Florida called Don. We was very friendly and showed us our room which was only three pounds fifty pence per night. It was good though, with a little terrace overlooking the Mekong which forms the border. We could see and occasionally hear Laos from over the water.
After the journey we were tired out and ate and drank at the guesthouse, venturing out only to the local 7/11 for the ATM. It was a nice little town, but we had to leave the next day. For a couple of quid Don could arrange the whole crossing for us next day and get us on the slow boat from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang, we decided it was worth it as by the time we paid to tuk-tuks and the boat over the river crossing we would have spent almost that much anyway.
It was definately worth it as the crossing is bit of a free for all. The leaving Thailand bit was okay, stamp passport, get on boat- no problem but arriving on the Laos side was a bit chaotic. Unfotunately, because everyone wants to get the boat to Luang Prabang everyone goes over at the same time, about 9am, which meant that the visa office on the other side is thrown into chaos as about 70 westerners all bumble their way through and Laos is very laid back, so urgency is not exactly a priority for the immigration people. I was the very last person to get my passport stamped into Laos from the scrum of people - typical!!
Still, because we had someone guiding us through the whole thing (thanks to Don) we easily got to the slow boat and after some initial confustion about the boat already having gone ("Really?? there a lot of people still here???") we got on the boat heading to LP.
The boat was good although we got numb bums, there was some lovely scenery and people pretty much all the way down the river, most either washing or panning for gold, coming from little villages nestled in the hills.
It involved stopping off at the village of Pak Beng for the night, which is truely the middle of nowhere. We went to a guesthouse recommended in Lonely Plant which would have been great apart from the bed bugs, and the shower didn't work. Still, we had an amazing Indian meal in the village and it was great introduction to Laos.
Next morning it was back on the boat for another 10 hours, which took us all the way to LP, arriving at dusk. We made our way to a nearby guest house - again putting faith in the Lonely Planet - and this one was much nicer. We're going to stay for a few days.....
Monday, 29 March 2010
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Bangkok Madness
We're in sunny Bangkok!
It's mighty warm here.
We boarded the KL - Hat Yai (Thailand) train just after 21:00 on Sat 13 March. James and I were squashed into the top bunks in 2nd class. You can't sit up, you have to lie down. The people below us had loads of room. Unfair! We had to sleep with our bags and stinky shoes too. Still slept reasonably well tho thanks to little curtains.
We arrived at the border of Malaysia and Thailand at 11am the next morning. We had to get off the train and get our passports stamped. Then we got back on a portion of the train and off we went to Hat Yai.
A chap got on the train at Hat Yai and guided us to a tourism office where we bought our onward tickets to Ko Lanta. The journey from was hellish. I think mostly because we kept thinking the journey would be shorter that it was. 'Are we there yet?' syndrome. We had to change minibuses in Krabi. I had a broken seat and James was behind being crawled on by the cutest baby in the world.
When we finally arrived after dark it was 8pm and we had to decide whether our hunger or grubbiness needed the most urgent attention. It turned out to be our stomachs. Pad Thai, Papaya Salad and ice fruit smoothies. Best food ever.
After eating and a shower we collapsed. We'd been traveling for 23hrs straight. We were at the Where Else resort. It looked really pretty at night with lots of lanterns and candles.
We had a good sleep and woke the next morning to settle into our 4 days of swimming and lying around and not doing very much else at all really.
We went into town a couple of times and bought some bits and pieces - again for our non existent home. I am rather pleased with these.
Our journey from Ko Lanta to Bangkok consisted of 2 minibuses and 2 coaches, the last one overnight. For some unknown reason the film choice was Saw IV. Who wants to watch that?? I tried to stuff headphones in my ears and listen to Adam and Joe, but it was so loud. Lots of screaming and squelching.
Fortunately there was a man on the bus who appeared to be a bit mad and was singing prayers at the top of his lungs and getting rather aggitated with the film. After a bit a nice man intervened and they turned it off.
James and I had to sit separately which I was gutted about. It's hard enough sleeping next to a complete stranger but I was next to a rather large lady who liked to spread out. I got a good 4hrs solid tho by lying very still and very straight and wearing my eyemask and earplugs. The blankets they gave us were disgusting and stank of man sweat. The air con was so powerful that you had to cover up tho. This trip is doing wonders for our immune systems.
We were turfed out off the dark safety of the coach into the Bangkok madness, straight into the taxi of the loudest, littlest, maddest Thai man. He was horrified I was 36 and had 'no babies'. Kept going on about it the whole journey, shaking his head. When we arrived the the Cozy Bangkok Place James gave him 200 Baht rather than the 150 we had agreed on in beginning (cos we had no change). He was very happy and told me I would have a baby next year.
Our guesthouse didn't open until 8am. It was 6am so we asked if we could sit at one of two tables outside a tiny food stall. I didn't feel too perky. One of the ladies fetched us tin mugs of water. They were preparing food and chatting away to each other. James and I played cards and watched the sun come up. People were on their way to work and stopping by for little plastic bags of food. A Buddhist monk came by and said a blessing and they gave him some food. We had some of the Tom Yum Kai (spicy chicken soup) and rice and a sort of sweet omlette with onion. One of the ladies refilled our soup bowl for us. It was like having your mum cooking for you. At 8am we paid 52 Baht (1.04 pounds) for the best breakfast ever and checked into our room.
We slept for a few hours in our lovely room and went into town later in the afternoon to the air conditioned malls. James finally caved and we bought tickets to see It's Complicated. I love Merryl Streep films! That day (19 Mar) was our 5th anniversary, you know.
Yesterday we went back into town and wander round different shops and in the evening went to Sukhumvit for tea. We ended up in a rather posh Indian restaurant and spent 10 pounds each. Money we shouldn't really have spent but it was really good and I discovered Gajar Halva which is amazing and is made from grated carrots but tastes almost exactly like bread and butter pudding. That's got to be good...
So now it's 13:25 on Sun 21 Mar and we're sitting in the lobby of the Cozy Bangkok Place guesthouse in the old town. If anyone is coming to BKK soon we thoroughly recommend it here.
We have the sleeper train to catch to Chiang Mai at 19:00. Looking forward to it. We have paid for bottom bunks this time.
It's mighty warm here.
We boarded the KL - Hat Yai (Thailand) train just after 21:00 on Sat 13 March. James and I were squashed into the top bunks in 2nd class. You can't sit up, you have to lie down. The people below us had loads of room. Unfair! We had to sleep with our bags and stinky shoes too. Still slept reasonably well tho thanks to little curtains.
We arrived at the border of Malaysia and Thailand at 11am the next morning. We had to get off the train and get our passports stamped. Then we got back on a portion of the train and off we went to Hat Yai.
A chap got on the train at Hat Yai and guided us to a tourism office where we bought our onward tickets to Ko Lanta. The journey from was hellish. I think mostly because we kept thinking the journey would be shorter that it was. 'Are we there yet?' syndrome. We had to change minibuses in Krabi. I had a broken seat and James was behind being crawled on by the cutest baby in the world.
When we finally arrived after dark it was 8pm and we had to decide whether our hunger or grubbiness needed the most urgent attention. It turned out to be our stomachs. Pad Thai, Papaya Salad and ice fruit smoothies. Best food ever.
After eating and a shower we collapsed. We'd been traveling for 23hrs straight. We were at the Where Else resort. It looked really pretty at night with lots of lanterns and candles.
We had a good sleep and woke the next morning to settle into our 4 days of swimming and lying around and not doing very much else at all really.
We went into town a couple of times and bought some bits and pieces - again for our non existent home. I am rather pleased with these.
Our journey from Ko Lanta to Bangkok consisted of 2 minibuses and 2 coaches, the last one overnight. For some unknown reason the film choice was Saw IV. Who wants to watch that?? I tried to stuff headphones in my ears and listen to Adam and Joe, but it was so loud. Lots of screaming and squelching.
Fortunately there was a man on the bus who appeared to be a bit mad and was singing prayers at the top of his lungs and getting rather aggitated with the film. After a bit a nice man intervened and they turned it off.
James and I had to sit separately which I was gutted about. It's hard enough sleeping next to a complete stranger but I was next to a rather large lady who liked to spread out. I got a good 4hrs solid tho by lying very still and very straight and wearing my eyemask and earplugs. The blankets they gave us were disgusting and stank of man sweat. The air con was so powerful that you had to cover up tho. This trip is doing wonders for our immune systems.
We were turfed out off the dark safety of the coach into the Bangkok madness, straight into the taxi of the loudest, littlest, maddest Thai man. He was horrified I was 36 and had 'no babies'. Kept going on about it the whole journey, shaking his head. When we arrived the the Cozy Bangkok Place James gave him 200 Baht rather than the 150 we had agreed on in beginning (cos we had no change). He was very happy and told me I would have a baby next year.
Our guesthouse didn't open until 8am. It was 6am so we asked if we could sit at one of two tables outside a tiny food stall. I didn't feel too perky. One of the ladies fetched us tin mugs of water. They were preparing food and chatting away to each other. James and I played cards and watched the sun come up. People were on their way to work and stopping by for little plastic bags of food. A Buddhist monk came by and said a blessing and they gave him some food. We had some of the Tom Yum Kai (spicy chicken soup) and rice and a sort of sweet omlette with onion. One of the ladies refilled our soup bowl for us. It was like having your mum cooking for you. At 8am we paid 52 Baht (1.04 pounds) for the best breakfast ever and checked into our room.
We slept for a few hours in our lovely room and went into town later in the afternoon to the air conditioned malls. James finally caved and we bought tickets to see It's Complicated. I love Merryl Streep films! That day (19 Mar) was our 5th anniversary, you know.
Yesterday we went back into town and wander round different shops and in the evening went to Sukhumvit for tea. We ended up in a rather posh Indian restaurant and spent 10 pounds each. Money we shouldn't really have spent but it was really good and I discovered Gajar Halva which is amazing and is made from grated carrots but tastes almost exactly like bread and butter pudding. That's got to be good...
So now it's 13:25 on Sun 21 Mar and we're sitting in the lobby of the Cozy Bangkok Place guesthouse in the old town. If anyone is coming to BKK soon we thoroughly recommend it here.
We have the sleeper train to catch to Chiang Mai at 19:00. Looking forward to it. We have paid for bottom bunks this time.
Friday, 12 March 2010
The Folks!
We're back in Malaysia and I think its about time I did and blog and gave Marie a rest. Also, it should be me that does it because for the past few days we've been "poshing it up" with my Mum and Dad.
We left The Philippines after our long day in the Mall of Asia followed by a stay in what can only be described as a brothel. Because Clark airport is only really "Manila" in the special atlas that only Air Asia and possbily Ryanair seem to own, we decided to spend our final night in the Philippines in the nearby town of Angeles rather than contend with Manila's Monday Morning Rush Hour when trying to get to the airport. It was worth it, although we didn't see any of Angeles apart from the bus station, it is a bit grim to be honest and officially the "prostitution capital of the Philippines"! Hurrah! Anyhow, we had a cheap and clean room and cable tv so kept ourselves amused whilst trying not to stare at every other person staying there, who was a) American, b) male c) a bit of a wierdo and d) had a heavily made-up Filipino woman on their arm. It did mean however a totally stress-free journey to the airport next morning.
We flew back to KL, and did almost exactly the same journey as three weeks previous, getting the monorail to Bukit Bintang. We had co-ordinated our trip to coincide with meeting up with Mum and Dad who have been doing their own extravagant travelling (their blog is here) along with their friends The Toms's. We stayed at the ParkRoyal Hotel, which, safe to say, was a bit of a step up from the previous night's accomodation!
Its been a really good few days with them actually, although a bit surreal at times after having been doing this travelling as a twosome for so long. We went to the Petronas Towers (and up the skybridge between the two towers), the Batu Caves, Jalan Pataling and Chinatown, a Pewter factory (and saw the biggest beer tankard in the world!) and had a good walk around town in general. We also took full advantage of the hotel pool and made sure we got lots of shampoos and body lotions out of the bathroom.
We only had three nights there and it was a bit like a holiday within a holiday, Mum and Dad have now gone back to Singapore on the train and we've gone back to the Rainforest B&B again for a couple of nights. We've got our train tickets sorted for tomorrow night which will take us into Thailand to Hat Yai and we are looking at getting to Koh Lanta by the end of the day after tomorrow.
Our first border crossing! And our first sleeper train! Should be fun......
Being mature at the ParkRoyal. Very big beds.....
We left The Philippines after our long day in the Mall of Asia followed by a stay in what can only be described as a brothel. Because Clark airport is only really "Manila" in the special atlas that only Air Asia and possbily Ryanair seem to own, we decided to spend our final night in the Philippines in the nearby town of Angeles rather than contend with Manila's Monday Morning Rush Hour when trying to get to the airport. It was worth it, although we didn't see any of Angeles apart from the bus station, it is a bit grim to be honest and officially the "prostitution capital of the Philippines"! Hurrah! Anyhow, we had a cheap and clean room and cable tv so kept ourselves amused whilst trying not to stare at every other person staying there, who was a) American, b) male c) a bit of a wierdo and d) had a heavily made-up Filipino woman on their arm. It did mean however a totally stress-free journey to the airport next morning.
We flew back to KL, and did almost exactly the same journey as three weeks previous, getting the monorail to Bukit Bintang. We had co-ordinated our trip to coincide with meeting up with Mum and Dad who have been doing their own extravagant travelling (their blog is here) along with their friends The Toms's. We stayed at the ParkRoyal Hotel, which, safe to say, was a bit of a step up from the previous night's accomodation!
Its been a really good few days with them actually, although a bit surreal at times after having been doing this travelling as a twosome for so long. We went to the Petronas Towers (and up the skybridge between the two towers), the Batu Caves, Jalan Pataling and Chinatown, a Pewter factory (and saw the biggest beer tankard in the world!) and had a good walk around town in general. We also took full advantage of the hotel pool and made sure we got lots of shampoos and body lotions out of the bathroom.
We only had three nights there and it was a bit like a holiday within a holiday, Mum and Dad have now gone back to Singapore on the train and we've gone back to the Rainforest B&B again for a couple of nights. We've got our train tickets sorted for tomorrow night which will take us into Thailand to Hat Yai and we are looking at getting to Koh Lanta by the end of the day after tomorrow.
Our first border crossing! And our first sleeper train! Should be fun......
Being mature at the ParkRoyal. Very big beds.....
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Bottom Trouble in Paradise
Good grief it's been a while since our last blog.
Here goes the update...
From Kuching we flew to the Philippines. The flight took 2hrs and the journey on the coach through the traffic into central Manila took 3hrs. I forgot I had any legs. They'd become numb. The traffic is mad and progress is slow, there is lots of honking of horns but it's all very good natured and people just accept that that's the way it is. Very wise.
We stayed in Ermita for that first night. Was an eye opener. Most of the western men have a young lady on their arm. There don't appear to be too many of us 'regular' tourists about in comparison. We walked to JollyBee, a chicken and spag bol combo fast food place. The food was as awful as it sounds. Never had worse chicken in my life. We picked our way through the streets, over mothers and babies lying on cardboard on the pavement; children and smaller children begging; things sticking out of the pavement, like pipes; and big holes. If you end up in the road you have to be aware of the taxi's and jeepneies flying past. Organised chaos. Manila is grubby and loud but the people are great.
Security guards are everywhere. They are heavily armed and open the door for you when you go into a shop or restaurant. Some of them even appear responsible for a spot of light cleaning duty.
We flew the next day (Thurs 25 Feb) to Cebu. An island in the Philippines with Malapasqua at its northern tip, where we were aiming to end up. For the first time we hadn't booked any accommodation on the island in advance.
We stayed that night in a lovely B&B in Cebu City and crashed on the next morning to get the 4hr bus to Maya, at the north of Cebu island. We were on a bangka boat by 17:30 and on the island by 18:30 just as the sun was setting.
Seesan met us straight off the bangka and helped us find somewhere to stay. He described himself as a sort of unpaid unofficial tourist guide, he had a boat and we could go out on it snorkelling if we liked.
We stayed at Dano's for the 6 nights we were there. The food wasn't great but everything else was spot on. We had our own beachside bungalow with bathroom, 2 single beds pushed together and even a cupboard to put our clothes in (a luxury!). It was bang on except for the first 4 days I had the squits. I reckon we probably saved ourselves a bit of cash but it wasn't pleasant.
The last 2 night James and I went out for some great meals and on the last night made the most of the cheap San Miguel and rum. We went to a 'pub' during happy hour. Our 8 drinks came to 3.50 pounds!
Coming back to Manila we did the whole journey in reverse. Today we are at the Mall of Asia. I have been soooo excited about coming here. We've splashed the cash today on needles and thread, pens and moisturiser. Oh, and some funky undercrackers for James. We've just been to Starbucks and soon we're off to the cinema to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. This mall is enormous. It's got everything you'd ever need
The more I am away the more I miss England. We were watching Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall in telly this morning. He was making elderflower champagne. How British.
We have 2 more nights in the Philippines and then it's back to KL to meet up with the Ma and Pa Peebles!
We'll try not to leave it so long next time.
xxx
Here goes the update...
From Kuching we flew to the Philippines. The flight took 2hrs and the journey on the coach through the traffic into central Manila took 3hrs. I forgot I had any legs. They'd become numb. The traffic is mad and progress is slow, there is lots of honking of horns but it's all very good natured and people just accept that that's the way it is. Very wise.
We stayed in Ermita for that first night. Was an eye opener. Most of the western men have a young lady on their arm. There don't appear to be too many of us 'regular' tourists about in comparison. We walked to JollyBee, a chicken and spag bol combo fast food place. The food was as awful as it sounds. Never had worse chicken in my life. We picked our way through the streets, over mothers and babies lying on cardboard on the pavement; children and smaller children begging; things sticking out of the pavement, like pipes; and big holes. If you end up in the road you have to be aware of the taxi's and jeepneies flying past. Organised chaos. Manila is grubby and loud but the people are great.
Security guards are everywhere. They are heavily armed and open the door for you when you go into a shop or restaurant. Some of them even appear responsible for a spot of light cleaning duty.
We flew the next day (Thurs 25 Feb) to Cebu. An island in the Philippines with Malapasqua at its northern tip, where we were aiming to end up. For the first time we hadn't booked any accommodation on the island in advance.
We stayed that night in a lovely B&B in Cebu City and crashed on the next morning to get the 4hr bus to Maya, at the north of Cebu island. We were on a bangka boat by 17:30 and on the island by 18:30 just as the sun was setting.
Seesan met us straight off the bangka and helped us find somewhere to stay. He described himself as a sort of unpaid unofficial tourist guide, he had a boat and we could go out on it snorkelling if we liked.
We stayed at Dano's for the 6 nights we were there. The food wasn't great but everything else was spot on. We had our own beachside bungalow with bathroom, 2 single beds pushed together and even a cupboard to put our clothes in (a luxury!). It was bang on except for the first 4 days I had the squits. I reckon we probably saved ourselves a bit of cash but it wasn't pleasant.
The last 2 night James and I went out for some great meals and on the last night made the most of the cheap San Miguel and rum. We went to a 'pub' during happy hour. Our 8 drinks came to 3.50 pounds!
Coming back to Manila we did the whole journey in reverse. Today we are at the Mall of Asia. I have been soooo excited about coming here. We've splashed the cash today on needles and thread, pens and moisturiser. Oh, and some funky undercrackers for James. We've just been to Starbucks and soon we're off to the cinema to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. This mall is enormous. It's got everything you'd ever need
The more I am away the more I miss England. We were watching Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall in telly this morning. He was making elderflower champagne. How British.
We have 2 more nights in the Philippines and then it's back to KL to meet up with the Ma and Pa Peebles!
We'll try not to leave it so long next time.
xxx
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