Malaysia - Sabah (Island of Borneo)

(Pic: Orang-Utan "Man of the Forest")

We landed in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia on Tuesday last. Sarawak and Sabah are the two Malaysian provinces on the island of Borneo. It's a big place, so we decided to concentrate on the Sabah side and even then, we are doing a whistle stop tour of the area!


We stayed with a friend's family (the Liau family), who looked after us very well for the few days we were in Sandakan, including treating us to some proper home cooked chinese food! During our time there, we went to the Sepilok Orang-utan (which means man of the forest) to see these endangered animals. Truly a privilege that they came out at feeding time: we saw two adults and one baby. The rehabilitation centre takes in orphaned babies and rears them until they can fend for themselves in the wild (all depends on the individual, some of them take 6 years, some take 10) so the work being done there is amazing. You can support this centre through Orang-Utan Appeal UK if you are interested!

(Pic: Mt Kinabalu - when it's not raining...)

From Sandakan we made our way by bus - it's been a while ;o) - to Kota Kinabalu further west. This journey took us over the mountain range and past Sabah's number 1 tourist attraction, Mount Kinabalu, which is the highest in South East Asia. Unfortunately, as we neared the mountain it got really misty and then we hit major downpours so we couldn't see it at all. Good thing we caught a glimpse of it on the flight into Sandakan! An hour into the journey, the bus started to heat us and we all started to drip - the AC had gone on the blink - so we eventually ended up pulling in to a truck stop and waited for an hour or so before another bus arrived. This truck stop was interesting and we were obviously VERY interesting to the locals - I'm sure two ladies of the paler variety are not frequent visitors to that cafe. Anyway, after an hour of not trying to make eye contact with everyone there, we left again and reached KK about about 17.00. KK is located in a very scenic spot - even more scenic if you could see the mountain ;o) - right next to the sea, with some lovely islands off the coast. Sadly the rain means we are seeing more of the local shops and restaurants than the islands! The shopping experience is somewhat painful - how does a girl walk past the Marc Jacobs sunglasses without at least trying them on!!

Malaysia - Perhentian Islands

On Monday last (19 June), we left Thailand to head for Malaysia. Once again ( ahem, taking the road less travelled by backpackers), we availed of the services of an airline and flew to Kota Bahru on the northeastern side of peninsular Malaysia (see map in "Where we are now"). From here, we made our way by boat to the smaller of the Perhentian islands, where we basked in the sunshine and blue, blue waters. It's high season on this side of the peninsula as it's not really their rainy season (though it doesn't stop the rain coming down in buckets!).



(Pic left: Long Beach)












Anyway, we hopped off the little speedboat, straight into the water, backpacks in tow and set off on the beach to find suitable accomodation. Now you can imagine our standards following our stint at 5 star level! Sufficit to say "chalet" usually conjures up images of some sophistication, or at least decent loo facilities. But not really the case in this instance for us. A chalet, a bed and a mosquito net is what you get for a steep 65 ringits per night (high season! some people end up sleeping on the beach on night one!!). So we landed ourselves in Panorama Chalets right in the middle of Long Beach on Pulau Kecil. Over the coming days, we snorkelled, tanned and I (Sancha) decided to sign up for a diving course. Kind of scarey at first getting used to breathing only through your mouth, taking your mask off underwater and then having to clear it - you know - that kind of thing! Anyway, it was all worth it in the end cos I got to see lots of Nemos and some other cool aquatic life such as Hawksbill turtles, stingray, small sharks, zillions of very colourful fish, brightly coloured corals etc . (Pic: Sancha found Nemo!)

So while I was off scaring, testing but ultimately feeling very proud of myself, Michelle was keeping the local sun-umbrella-supplier in business. Roles will reverse when we get to New Zealand: Michelle will be skiing while I'll be nursing a hot toddy "apres ski". Those of you who know Sancha well will know of my terrible state of balance and history of accidents resulting from same ;o) so it's safe to assume Michelle will be whizzing down the slopes without me!

Oh yeah. The mozzies got really acquainted...sigh.....

Phuket - Thailand

Phuket

Pic (our rather well appointed hotel)

We are taking a little holiday within a holiday to indulge in some well needed rest and sunbathing. Our location is Kata beach on the south west corner of Phuket island. Kata town is 5 minutes walk away, Kata beach is 5 minutes walk away , everything else is within arms reach.

Our rather nice hotel is on the headland overlooking the beach and is equipped with everything (pools, jacuzzi, sauna, spa, gym - everything a true backpacker needs !).

The hotel boasts many services, one of which is the free loan of a DVD player for the length of your stay - just what we need to watch our knock-off DVDs - purchased in Vietnam for the bargain price of $1 per DVD with the added extras of Vietnamese voiceover (one lady covers all ages and genders) or Russian subtitles - all new releases too.

Something new that we haven't come across before are signs on the beaches indicating Tsunami evacuation routes (inland and to higher ground) and other signs further inland indicating Tsunami Evacuation Rescue points.

We intend to lounge here until Sunday 18th June and will surface again once we have completed our restoration process of facials, chocolate body wraps and massage.

Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon

L-R: Michelle Fitzgibbon, Ho Chi Minh, Sancha Mulcahy

Presidential Palace, Saigon, Vietnam 10.06.2006 (ap: Reuters)

Thursday 8 June

We flew Vietnam Airlines from Danang (30 km from Hoi An) to Saigon on a superb Boeing 777 400 !! We got a taxi from the airport into the backpacker area of the city (probably got ripped off but we did go to the official taxi rank ! anyway). The guesthouse was a small place but the room was fine - AC and TV ! The Guns'n'Roses bar next door shut at 11.30pm so we could actually get a decent nights sleep although going to bed any earlier was useless unless you actually liked falling asleep to "Sweet Child of Mine".

On Friday we did a scout of the area and planned our exit out of Vietnam - the aim to get a cheapish flight from HCMC to Phuket for a well deserved holiday within a holiday. ( I know the remarks we'll get for that but we have been doing some serious siteseeing and travelling - we need a rest !). After visiting numerous agencies and checking online airlines we sorted our flights ( now with Thai airlines) and organised a city tour for the following day. I also managed to find a very cool website called latestays.com - gives discounted short notice prices for very nice hotels in south east asia.

The city tour on Saturday 10 June took in some temples (one buddhist and one chinese) - the Giac Lam pagoda and Thien Hau temple, China town, Binh Tay market -the local wholesale market where they literally sell everything in bulk - eg. plastic bags, cardboard boxes, clothes of all kinds, electronics, food, clothes pegs, flowers, DIY stuff, motor engines and accessories. The afternoon trip brought us to the War Remnants museum, the Reunification Palace and the Notre Dame Cathedral (more french influences).

(See also updates under Siem Reap & What's Hot, What's Not)

Hoi An

Pic: The beach outside Hoi An - our view for three days, sigh....

Saturday 3 June
Our journey took us on a 5 hour bus trip south to Hoi An ; spectacular scenery on the way down the coast with stunning beaches, lagoons and mountains. Our bus made several stops on the way down at some of the beaches, the Marble Mountains and China Beach (as of the old US TV series). China Beach was actually used by the US army during the war as part military hospital and part respite area for soldiers.

On arriving in Hoi An, we were sheperded by our tour bus to a hotel called "An Phu" - the prices given were within our budget but the existence of a swimming pool sold it for us. It was probably the nicest place we stayed in since Bangkok. So what you gonna do when you get off a bus after 5 hrs, its 38 degrees outside and its still only 2.30pm ...... hit the loungers at the poolside.

That evening when the temperature fell to a "cool 28 degrees" we decided to venture out and explore the town. We weren't long on foot when we were accosted by a girl who practically dragged us to her sisters shop to check out the clothes. I must explain - Hoi An is famous for its tailoring shops - thats all thats in the town other than the gorgeous beaches. We picked out the styles and the materials and the clothes were ready for final fittings the next day at 4pm - there is a 24 hr turnaround time on most items ! Very quick , impressive work and most importantly - very cheap.

The next few days we divided our time between the pool and the beach. We rented bikes (mine had seriously steering and questionable breaks) but we got on fine and were flying around in no time like the other psychos on mopeds on the dirt roads around the town.

Hoi An is a beautiful spot - a combination of chinese, vietnamese, french and european influences. Even though we were hassled like crazy by sellers of all ages and all levels of english. One funny american (!) aptly named walking down the main street like "Running the Gauntlet".

We did make friends though with some of them on the beaches - Lina, Qin, Binh number 1 and Mango. As a result of the french influence there was plenty of cafes and bakeries selling baguettes, pain au chocolats and other french delights !

Hue

Wednesday 31 May

Today we left Hanoi and flew with Vietnam Airlines to Hue. I must say Vietnam Airlines is an impressive airline even if it was an airbus we were flying in (the author is not a fan of the airbus - much prefer a boeing) - cheap yet very professional with lots of leg room. As we had prebooked our accomodation in Hue - they had a car waiting for us at the airport - nice one ! The guesthouse we were staying at was central (as recommended by the LP) and was more than adequate. We organised a tour of the city for the following day, had dinner in a place called Mandarin cafe (lots of local cuisine) , polished off by a few Tiger and Saigon beers in "Cafe thru Wheels" later.

The following day we were up bright and early checking out the local royal tombs ! The tombs were build for the Emporers of the Nguyen dynasty who ruled from the early 1800's to about 1945 - interstingly enough none of them lived very long (all died before they were 50 ) - too much of a good life it seems ! (that was our history fix for the day !). We stopped along the way to see incense making and the famous conical hats of Vietnam. Sancha couldn't resist and purchased a little set of conical hats (the "easy to post" kind) .
After lunch we headed to the Forbidden Purple City (royal palace and temples) and the Citadel (scene of major offensive during the Vietnam war 1954 - 1975). The area itself was very impressive but as the temperature at 2.30pm hit 38 degrees - we started to wither slightly.

(Pic, dragons decorate the river for Hue's 2006 Cultural Festival)

We struggled on and went to see a pagoda down river - nice scenery - you can see the mountains which border Laos from Hue. We finished the evening in "Cafe thru Wheels" with Graham and Yvonne where Tu (the owner) played "Ireland music" all evening - first U2 then the Pogues !

Friday 2 June - had a well deserved sleep in and spent the afternoon sorting travel arrangements for our onward trip south. We treated ourselves to a haircut - the first in two months and badly needed !! The cut turned out fine in the end however it was an interesting experience. First she washed the hair, then she blow-dried it, then she took out the hair straightner and spent 25 minutes straightening every strand in my head (with the occasional smell of singed hair!) and finally she took out the scissors ! Trying to explain that we cut after washing and before drying was a futile excercise.

There is an obvious difference between Vietnam and other SE Asian countries (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia) in that we see very few monks here - confuscist religion here and there are no problems here with PDA ( Public displays of affection).

Hanoi - Ha Long Bay

Monday 29th May and we are back in Hanoi after completing our 3 day trip around Halong Bay.

(Pic: Hanoi street near where we stayed; fancy a toy?)

We left Saturday morning bright and early at 7.30am (a common wake up time these days) and had a 3 hr minibus journey to Halong city. Our group was thankfully small - just 5 others , 3 americans and 2 canadians. We had lunch in Halong city then took a junk boat from the harbour out onto Halong bay. We spent most of that afternoon on the deck of the boat - it was overcast, but still hot and humid. At one stage we were transferred to a small motor boat (that's the fancy name for a rowing boat with a motorised rudder) and were shown some caves in Halong Bay called "The Surprising Cave!! ... don't know where they get the names from. We had dinner on the boat that night and slept there too in little cabins - quite comfortable.

Day 2 Sunday, we were awake at 6am - between the noise and the heat its hard to "sleep in". Breakfast was at 7am and then at 7.30 we all went kayaking around the little islands and limestone karsts of Halong Bay. At that hour of the morning, the heat wasn't an issue thankfully. We were out on the water going in and out of caves and lagoons until 9.30am, then back to the big boat again. At this stage our group split as we were doing the 3 day tour and everyone else was on a 2 day tour so we transferred to another boat. Even though there was only myself and sanch on the 3 day trip, the tour company still provided a decent boat - we felt like queens !! there were about 7 guys working on the boat and just the 2 of us !!! So at 10am - we got back into the kayaks again, this time just us and the tour guide called "Tu". Another hour of kayaking around the bay in and out of lagoons, the scenery was gorgeous and it was very quiet on the water. Nearing the end, our arms were feeling the weight of the oars and were glad when we saw our boat in a little inlet.

As we neared the boat, we saw that they had anchored near a little beach and there was a beach umbrella, a table and chairs and a place setting for two on the little beach!! That was our lunch. We brought the kayaks ashore, Sanch went for a quick dip. Michelle was enjoying the setting for lunch when it started to rain so everything had to be moved back on board - bad one. It did clear up 20 minutes later but at that stage it was too late. After lunch we sat on deck in the sun; the boat was heading for Cat Ba island and we arrived at Cat Ba harbour at 3pm. We didnt get up to much in the afternoon and were rounded up by our tour guide again for dinner at 6pm. We were staying by the harbour (looked a bit like Cape Clear harbour) but the town Cat Ba town (a beach town - looks like Bray!) was about 2km inland and that's where we headed for dinner.

(Pic right: view from Suprising Cave)

For anyone who has been to this part of the world, you will know that the main mode of transport is the moped / motorbike. So we got a "backer" from our guide and another local guy to the town itself. Same mode of transportation on the way back even though the bike Michelle was on had a bit of a kamakaze driver - I was shouting at him to slow down - nothing doing then I tried "Doucement" (french for slowly or softly) - that didn't work either - he just laughed at me! In the end I gave up. The locals here could ride mopeds and bikes blindfold with one hand tied behind their backs.

(Pic: the beach where we had lunch)

We got home on Sunday night very early and were in no mood to turn in so we popped into the local bar next to the hotel - made friends with a few locals who although had very little english were friendly and tried to converse with us. In the end they found a common mode of communication - the karaoke song sheet. The boys in the bar were taking it very seriously and were giving it their all singing Vietnamese songs, then the "english girls" - as we were known were asked to participate. After sampling the local brew - vodka shots with lime - we agreed and did some highly shameful renditions of "Save the Best for Last (Vanessa Williams)", "Strangers in the Night (Frank Sinatra)", " Nobody does it better" (Carly Simon) and "Because I love you (Shakin Stevens) - we got a further request to sing this song again! And of course Dancing Queen by Abba. Please note that some of the songs were actually requests from the local lads who joined in. The local granny put a stop to the singing about 11pm and the bar duly cleared out.

Day 3 Monday, we were up for breakfast at 7.30am and got the boat back at 8am. The boat ride back to Halong city harbour took 3 hrs and another 3 hrs on a minibus back to Hanoi.

So I have now updated you all on our adventures over the last few days. Tomorrow we will be making plans to move into central Vietnam and have to go check bus / train times etc...

(Pic: Heading back to Ha Long City on day three - looking out to the South China Sea)

Siem Reap & Angkor

Pic: Michelle and Sancha at Banteay Srei Temple, Angkor.

A picture tells a thousands words, so we could probably put nothing but photos of Angkor on here. Sufficit to say, the temples and ruins at Angkor are truly some of the world’s greatest sights to behold. You see the might of the buildings and then imagine them bejewelled, maybe even carpetted, the paint restored etc. We’re surprised no one has made a "Gladiator" type Hollywood blockbuster to recreate what it must have looked like! Films have been made there of course – you may have heard of "Tomb Raider" and "Two Brothers".

Anyway, we arrived into Siem Reap after a very civilised bus trip from Phnom Penh (not counting the opportunity to snack on sun-dried crickets and cockroaches at the halfway stop). The countryside on the way to Siem Reap was very flat and open, with sparse plantings of palm trees etc. You’d wonder how much of the land has managed to be cleared of landmines. After visiting the museums and reading through the few books we have bought and read on Cambodia’s history, it’s makes you (1) feel very lucky to be able to travel in the first place and (2) meet such wonderful people there who smile so much despite all they and their families have been through.

Siem Reap was hot. Might we inform those who are not aware that is it " low tourist season" in South East Asia because it is the hot season and now approaching rainy season in most countries! And we were lucky! We visited all of the main temples and most of the "2nd tier" temples over a three day period and enjoyed occasional cloud cover and even some rain. When it rained, we just let it rain on us… Chien, our tuk-tuk driver was all trying to get us to wear rain ponchos which we reluctantly wore for about 5 minutes. He thought we were mad; we were in our element…

We were also in our element in the foodie sense. Siem Reap has lots of good food of all origins. We managed to tuck into a variety of local foods, pastas (with blue cheese, heaven! It tasted like we’ve never eaten blue cheese before!), fab little pastries in a place called the Blue Pumpkin. Anyway – temples by day, great food and cocktails/beers by night. By the way, try this one, it’s called the "Tomb Raider": cointrea, lime and soda. Supposedly Angelina threw this together in a place called the Piano Bar when filming said film. It tastes goooood!

Even though it is low season, Siem Reap and the temples were still pretty busy - mostly tour groups from other asian countries. The number of large 4 and 5 star hotels in the town however is staggering and felt odd to see considering the surrounding poverty. We contributed in as many ways as possible to the local economy! This included buying Coca Colas for $1 per can (we know!! "Plus one for your driver lady!!"), cotton "fishermens" trousers, postcards, photographs, cards and all the other bits and bobs that the cute little kids and convincing ladies can sell one!

The children were great craic though, we had fun talking to them. Their english is so fluent. A typical conversation went like this (note, not exclusive to Cambodia):

"Lady, you want to buy my postcaaaaarrd?"
"No, thank you"
"Look, I got lots of postcard, you see, they are good quality"
"No, thank you"
"Why not?"
"I don’t need postcards"
"Why not?"
(Silence, note this is most often taking place whilst walking somewhere)
"Where you from?"
"Ireland"
"The capital is Dublin. What is your name?"
"Sancha/Michelle"
Then, that’s it – you’re scootered. Ten minutes later, you got postcaarrrds….

Si Phan Don to Phnom Penh

Enough of island living and mad heat! On to Cambodia and mad heat!! ;o)

We knew we had a mad journey ahead of us - Cambodia's roads are notorious. But I don't think we ever thought how bad it could be. People on their travels longer said it was the worst journey they had ever taken - so this is reassuring us now.

We left Si Phan Don at 8am on Tuesday 16 May and got into Phnom Penh at 2am on Wed 17 May. It is around 350 km from SPD to PP. We all bundled into a boat again, the onto a large tuk-tuk - this ended up carrying about 25 of us down to the Laos/Cambodian border - or rather 4 km short of it, where we stopped in the middle of the woods and this guy pops up to say he is our guide through the border. He split us up into those who had visas already and those who hadn't (we were in the "hadn't group). He then asked for $2 to sweeten the Laos guys as a depature tax, $20 for the Cambodian visa, $1 for the Cambodian visa guy, $1 for the Cambodian immigration guy and another $5 to ensure speedy visa and immigration processing - which we are 124% sure went to him and no-where near an official of any kind....

(Pic: Cambodia side of the border. Note the road looked like this for about 3km)

Lots of standing around ensued once we got to the Cambodian side. Then 15 of us were all thrown into a minivan for 11 people, where we were ferried down to a place called Streung Treung - out we hopped again on to a boat to cross the river (bridge crossing the Mekhong will be finished in about 2 years). The roads we experienced to ST gave us some hope that perhaps our Lonely Planet was out of date on the "state of the roads" info. Alas, it was not.



We had a baguette (can't escape them) at Richies "No MSG" Restaurant. We think we saw Richie, if that were he with the McGyver hair and flicked yellow shirted collar. Finally our luxury minivan to take us to PP showed up.. Luxury is in fact the complete opposite to what it really was. Haven't seen anything like it since the 70s in Ireland!! We found out afterwards that the owner / driver paid $4000 for it!! he is trying to get started in the tourism sector. No matter how bad we felt for him, it didn't help us get over the trip. But I did feel like giving him an extra $20 for getting us to PP in one piece despite the roads, the animals, the motorbikes and especially the one headlight that was the strength of candlelight.... Apart from this, words fail. This trip deserves a blogsite all to itself.

We changed at Kamphong Cham - those going to Siem Reap had to stay overnight, the rest of us headed straight on to PP where we were brought to a guesthouse we didn't particularly want to stay at, but who's going to argue too much when knackered, hair is mattered, white top has now turned to red from the dust (have pic, will post asap), bruised, hungry etc. We slept 6 hours, then woke cos the fan in the room had gone off and we had started to drip! Along with a couple we had journeyed with, we moved to another guesthouse where we have been staying for the last few days. Lovely family run, friendly plance with most importantly AC and TV. We felt like treating ourselves ;o)

Our guesthouse shows the Killing Fields most nights for the guests, so it was good to get some context that evening (once we had spent another 4 hours in jet lag type sleep recovering from the 18 hour journey). The following day, one of the lads from the guesthouse brought us to all the must-see places including one of the Killing Fields Memorials, S-21 Prison, Royal Palace, National Museum, markets etc. The whole experience of seeing the Killing Fields and the prison was very moving.

Phnom Penh is certainly "bustling" as LP calls it. Once we get used to driving into oncoming traffic, we'll feel just at home!

(Pic: View from the back of our tuk-tuk in Phnom Penh; our driver was such a sweet kid, he bought us masks for the dust! all part of the price I'm sure however...look closely, you can see us - just! - in the rear-view)

Now, where to find a pub that is showing Munster V Biarritz tonight!!

On to Siem Reap and the might that is Angkor tomorrow...

(What's Hot, What's Not has some interesting updates)

Vang Vieng to Si Phon Don

Pic: Si Phon Don



We left Vang Vieng on a Thursday morning, arriving into Vientiane (capital of Laos) just around lunchtime. We sauntered into the guesthouse just across the road cos we didn't fancy going any further in the heat.

We got out and about pretty lively however, as we needed to pick up our passports which had been sent on from Luang Prabang to the Vietnamese Embassy to process our visas (required three working days). Decided to walk it and of course, we were sweltering within 10 minutes. En route we saw the "Arc de Triomphe", which we contemplated for all of 30 seconds before moving on. It is set at the top of a very nice boulevard however.

Collected the passports, then headed back to find a few nice spots as recommended by the Lonely Planet. This time we more than agreed with their recommendations; some of which have made it to our "What's Hot" section. After sheltering from a downpour in the Scandinavian Bakery (where we sampled excellent coffee washed down with chocolate and carrott cakes!) we headed back towards the river for a very nice sunset bevvie.

The following morning we busied ourselves with getting cash for the next week or so and arranging the bus trip for 8pm that evening to Si Phon Don. Sancha treated herself to a rather fabulous head and back massage before heading off on the overnighter.... Arriving at the bus station, we were soooo happy when we saw the VIP bus (air-conned, reclining seats, WC, eats provided etc). Finally! We get the bus we always see on the road and wonder why we didn't get never managed to get one before! It wasn't long before our hopes were dashed.

We obviously drew the short straw. Or annoyed somebody's karma somewhere.

Never EVER accept seat numbers 15 and 16 on a VIP bus in Laos. There's twice more room on Ryanair.

We couldn't believe it. Looking around all we could see were locals who are so much more petite and neater than us in these enormous spaces. HOW we ended up with seats that can only be described as childrens' car seats is beyond us. Once the people in front reclined their seats, we were actually wedged into position. Some comfort was achieved by reclining ours, throwing one set of legs into the aisle and the other under the other person's legs. On our 10 hour overnighter, we were lucky if we got 1 hours sleep.

We broke the back on the journey through Laos significantly though. This bus journey brought us right down to Pakse (about 600km from Vientiane), where we arrived around 6.30 am. Then straight onto another bus with took about 3 hours to bring us to Nakasang, one of the "ports" for the Four Thousand Islands (Si Phon Don). The Mekhong widens significantly and there are literally islands of all sizes in this very pretty part of the world. We took a boat over to Don Det where we basically stayed for the
next three days. The heat was unreal however, it's one of the hottest places in the country. One girl travelling on the bus with us, from the US, was leaving the following days and wanted to fit in a tour of the area that afternoon, so we managed to convince one of the local tour guys (everyone here is one!) to bring us on a spontaneous trip! You've got to hand it to people in this part of the world, they are very obliging and will accomodate you pretty much any time.

So we headed off for the afternoon and saw the large waterfall (Khone) apparently the largest one by volume in Asia. Then we were fortunate enough to see the rare freshwater Irrawaddy Dolphins. We probably saw about 6 of them while we were standing on a rock in the middle of the Mekhong - not every 'tour' does that I'll bet! The next two days basically saw us cycling around Don Det and Don Khon (connected by the first bridge ever built in Laos; by the french). Really, very, very pretty spot. If you have the stamina to get here in the first place, you should get here! Will get the pics up here as soon as we can! It was pretty quiet when we were there, hard to imagine it in high season; glad we weren't visiting it then!

Vang Vieng

Hello from Vang Vieng, the wild wild west town of Laos!

We landed here on Monday after another long journey from Luang Prabang. The views on the way have to be some of the most spectacular we've ever seen - giving the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa a serious run for the money. We crossed over so many mountain ranges, no wonder it took 5 and a half hours to get about 200kms perhaps. Not far out from Vang Vieng, the minivan drew to a halt and the driver started gesturing to us to get out. Just in front of us was a bridge which was completely blocked by what looked like a massive generator on its side. The truck in front had clearly lost its cargo after a bump on the bridge. Well to see two lots of people from two minivans trying to push this thing back up on it side was hilarious and the only practical person appeared to be a guy from Alaska (used to this kinda thing?). Even the drivers of the truck reduced themselves to the not so well thought out plan of just dragging it along until it almost fell apart, but it was off the bridge. Anyway, mini drama over.

On arrival in Vang Vieng, we laboured with our backpacks down to a lovely spot called Riverside Bungalows - a paradise spot. Beautiful views of the limestone karsts that make the place famous. Anyway, we opened our door to the mad miaowing of a pretty mangey looking kitten. Now that we know him and his entire family quite well, we know this mad miaowing is neither special nor unique, nor anything to worry about. He must have been there for a while though, the poor little guy was parched. (Pic, view from our chalet)

We had read much about Vang Vieng and it's spectacular location, but the town itself is something to behold. A muddy/dusty street - depends on whether its dry or wet season, or if there has been a downpour! Many many restaurants and bars line the main street, all blaring out music and loud tv. We, along with nearly every one else, succumbed to watching some eventually.

So what to do in Vang Vieng? Well the town is most known for two things: caves and tubing. Well actually it's famous for three things, but the Laos police have clamped down on the third thing big time. So we decided to do a little of both - caves and tubing that is - yesterday. (Pic, downtown Vang Vieng)

We started off first however, with breakfast (that did not involve a baguette thankfully - see What's Hot, What's Not!). Michelle found herself victim to a deranged bottle of ketchup, which exploded all over her on opening. There was ketchup everywhere from most of her to the wall to the table to the bag - somehow the explosion avoided Sancha - considering it got everywhere else, this is something of a wonderment to us...The owner/manager seemed mortified but unless he forgot about the price of one cup of tea, maybe not mortified enough when it came to giving us the bill.

So off we went in the afternoon, about 15km towards a small Hmong village, where we saw one of the caves called the Elephant Cave. Then we walked on a good bit to another cave, which had a river running through it, so we were able to tube through that, which was great craic. Little batteries hanging off us, little lights on our foreheads, tubing/hand paddling our way through the river in the cave. Lights out, pitch black of course! Then once we drip dried, we walked on to another Hmong village where we came across about 10 young women and one young man stitching cloth which we were told was going to be sent to the USA. They were all giggling and laughing and it took a while before Sancha realised it was her they were laughing at. They told our guide that I obviously didn't work in rice field cos I was so white. They kept staring at my legs because quite honestly, even though tourists pass through there every day, they probably really haven't seen anything like that kind of "luminous" white colour... I told them we had no rice fields in Ireland, which he translated as "she comes from a cold country". Our two guides were great craic.

The last two nights have been noteworthy also for the crazy thunderstorms that have blown in. The first night we arrived, we essentially were locked in cos of the thunderstorm, lightning and mad hailstone that drove us right to the back of the restaurant to seek shelter. It was cool really! No hailstone last night, but some pretty loud thunder all the same. Walking back down the muddy street in the dark (powercut) after was like walking with cement blocks on our feet cos the earth was so sticky on our flip flops.

Luang Prabang - other thoughts and comments

(1) Music from the band "Blue" seems to follow us everywhere.
(2) Our tan levels are slowing improving, even though we reckon we are still the palest human beings ever to set foot on this continent.
(3) Mozzie Count: after a victorious start for the bug species, we seem to have dropped off their interest radar. Mozzie counts are low, but the scars are holding tough.

Sunday, 7 May 2549 - did you know the calendar is 543 years ahead here?

Today we escaped the heat for a few hours by taking a trip to Kuang Si Waterfall. The trip out only took about 40 minutes, but it wasn't long before the road turned to gravel and we saw real life in northern Laos - not as glossy and pristine as Luang Prabang.

The waterfall itself was very picturesque and the whole area very scenic. The nicest part was the line of turquoise pools leading away from the waterfall, which we were able to slide in to (muddy silt made things slippy!) and cool off in.

While Sancha enjoyed a mid afternoon siesta and Michelle was enjoying some fresh air outside the guesthouse, pondering the existence of a rather flash silver Mercedes parked just across the road (which would stick out in Bangkok, not to mind Luang Prabang), Mick Jagger was enjoying his Beerlao at the local restaurant. Rumour has it that he left just a drop, but the english lads sitting near him managed to keep the label from the bottle he drank from - we cannot confirm who got the the bottle itself.

What's Hot, What's Not

As a insight into our travelling lives and as a great way for us to reminisce in the future, here is the definitive list of the likes and dislikes of our trip. Please feel free to check this list frequently as we will be adding and editing as we go along :o)

Best All-Round Cafe
Jack´s, Cuzco, Peru

Best Oasis
Hucachina, Peru

Best Filet El Bife
La Taverne Restaurant, Sucre, Bolivia

Best Alpaca (like a llama)
avec winter berries, Puno, Peru

Best Olives
everywher in South America as we have experienced to date

Best Dutch Bossche Bol (chocolate desert)
Joyride Cafe, Sucre, Bolivia

Best Desert
Atacama, Chile

Worst Experience of desert and other low humidity areas in south america
the constant need to blow one´s nose

What is with the "place your own order at the counter" culture in Australia? Not hot....

Questionable Fashionable - Commentary
Has the 80's regained the most popularity worldwide in Australia, or did it just NEVER leave? You tell us, how bad is the fashion craze for 80s in Europe /US right now?

Coldest Accomodation
New Zealand - use central heating, double-glazing, thick quilts etc! They do exist!

Best All Round Food Locations (ie never disappointed)
Hoi An, Vietnam
Singapore

Best Local Dish
Beef Pho Noodle, Hanoi, Vietnam
Crocodile Nuggets, Daintree, Queensland, Australia
Alpaca, Peru

Best Hailstone in a Thunderstorm
Vang Vieng, 8 May 2549

Best Club Sandwich
Lasi Cafe, Luang Prabang, Laos
Best Breakfast post longhaul bus journey (overnighter)
Darling Harbour Cafe, Sydney

Michelle's (and sometimes Sancha´s) Fan Club
1) Japanese Tourist requests picture of her at Si Phon Don Khone Waterfall
2) 6 Cambodian Boys discuss with her the value of drink cans, jostle for her two Werther's Originals and diss Brazilian footballers at the Fields Memorial outside of Phnom Penh
3) Same location; our guesthouse tuk-tuk driver takes snap of her with one of the boys with his camera phone
4) Sancha comes out of her shadow and is included in a request by monks to stand in for a photograph with them at the Royal Palace, Phnom Penh. Note: it is usually tourists who ask monks for photos rather than the other way around. We were most flattered.
5) Both asked to stand in for photo at Tu Doc Tomb by one of Hue's festival organisers
6) Michelle requested to stand in for photo with little boy by local vietnamese family.
7) Michelle asked to join Italiano on bike ride from Alaska to Argentina - Puno
8) Sancha breaks heart of restaurant touter, is described as "winter" princess - Cuzco
9) Michelle turns down flower offered by boy on church steps - Cuzco.

















Best "Belgian" Fries
Don Det, Si Phon Don, Laos - served up by odd Belgian guy
Best Bacardi & Coke
Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC), Phnom Penh
Least Tastey National Dish
Pork Laap, Vientiane, Laos
Worst Journey
Si Phon Don to Phnom Penh (the telling of deserves a blog all of its own)

Best Scams
(1) Need a taxi from Bangkok to et? 5 dollah....
(2) $5 for "speedy" visa and immigration processing from Laos into Cambodia
(3) Being charged as a "foreigner" to get into the local temple (wat)
(4) renting t-shirts even when a scarf will cover your shoulders- Royal Palace, PP
(5) stamps at Siem Reap airport - cost at the postoffice 1200 riels - at the airport: $1, double!
(6) +++ in Singapore
(7) bus ride from Arequipa to Nazca, paying 15 soles more than required...

Best Latte
(1) FCC Club, Phnom Penh (note Sancha has only had about 4 on entire trip to date!)
(2) Australia & New Zealand in general, therefore latte quantity has now regained momentum
(3) Back to Asia status, lucky to get a decent one however one can be found in Jack´s Cafe, Cuzco, Peru

Worst Latte
Baguette & Chocolat, Hanoi (pity, should have known better - the place is renowned for its pain au chocolats!)
Craziest Traffic
Drive on any side or direction you like, even into oncoming traffic, Phnom Penh & Hanoi
Best Sandwiches Full Stop!
Sticky Fingers, Vientiane, Laos

Best Coffees
(1) Scandinavian Bakery, Vientiane, Laos - this would beat most we have EVER sampled, anywhere! Went awfully well with carrot and chocolate cakes....
(2) Lasi Cafe, LP, Laos
(3) The Blue Pumpkin, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Best Coffee Location
Riverside Bungalows, Vang Vieng, Laos

Best Tea Location
On the "Defender" Tallship, sailing round the Whitsundays.

Best Fresh Springroll
Don Det Island, Si Phon Don, Laos
Best Breakfast
Bus Station Cafe, Pai, Thailand

Worst Food Offering in Laos
Baguettes: for breakfast; lunch; dinner; even with other bread, enough of the baguette! And there's more to cheese than La vache qui'rit!

Best Stir Fried Chicken
Bus Station Cafe, Pai, Thailand
Best Apple Martini
Hong Kong
Best Pillow
Bel Air Princess Hotel, Bangkok
Best Pizza
(1) Shek-O, Hong Kong (2) Ecstatic Pizza, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Most Uncomfortable Seat
(1) Slowboat to Luang Prabang (2) VIP Bus from Vientiane to Pakse

Worst Night's Sleep - Sancha
Si Phon Don, Laos. High humidity & 25+ at night; Just a mosquito net; tonnes of bug spray and DEET spray; mad noises in the night that seem like giant lizzards are in the bed with one.

Best Beer
Beerlao
Best AC Moments
(1) Khem Khong Guesthouse LP

Best Random Moment
(1) Munster beating Biarritz!
(2) Munster Thrashing Leinster
(3) Winning!!!!

Best Random Missed Moment
Finland winning Eurovision
Best Eurovision Song Reinvented
Dana's "All Kinds of Everything" done reggae style, Dope Bar, Pai, Thailand
Best Banal Classic Moment
Penelope Pitstop coordinated green clothes; green moped; green scenery; camera at the ready
Worst Hair Day
All to date bar 3 days in Pai (cooler clime)
Best Hair Day
In Phnom Penh cos of a drop in temp & 24 hours after hair straightening, Hue, Vietnam
Most days in Australia, cos of temp drop! Yay!
Best Band Impersonation
"Busted Reinvented" group of 19 yr olds boarding speedboat to Luang Prabang

Best Exclusives
Missing Mick Jagger in Luang Prabang local restaurant by 15 minutes, BUT we did spot his fancy silver Merc beforehand and pondered it's existence as we would any large flash car in these parts....


Sighting of rare Irrawaddy freshwater Dolphins at Si Phon Don, Laos

Luang Prabang

So we have arrived in Luang Prabang. Only took us three days to get here....

We left Chiang Mai on Tuesday morning. We had booked the entire trip through our trusty guesthouse owner. Sure enough, we found ourselves getting on to the type of hiace mini-van we have become accustomed to for our travel needs! Scanning the list of those who had already boarded and signed in, we noticed the names of two english guys and 2 irish guys. At the next stop, we picked up 2 irish girls, followed by a scottish couple! So off went the United Nations of Great Britain and Ireland (even though, it really felt like Great Britain and Cork as the two other girls were from Cork also). Much banter and wit followed, as you can imagine.

It took about, hmm, say 6 hours altogether to get to Chiang Khong via Chiang Rai. Look at your map of the world now, find Thailand, then find northeast Thailand and you may find it there along the river Mekhong. Probably because of the hours the border guys work, we had to stay a night here by the river. What to do eh? Well thankfully a rather nice bar across the road allowed us to watch "Old School" and "Wedding Crashers' (our fix of the Wilsons and Vince Vaughan now good for another few months) for the evening. A film! Except for the racket of crickets and paranoia that we were being eaten alive by mosquitos, we almost felt at home... ;o)

Up pretty early the next morning to go through a very straightforward Thai departure process, onto a boat that was 1 person wide and about 50 long! We were ferried across the river to the Laos border. All was very well handled and we had our visas stamped and money exchanged in no time. Then we had a bit of a waiting game where we were asked for our passports another time, off by taxi to the port, then another passport check. I suppose we finally left the port of Huay Xai at around 11.00.

The breeze blowing in our hair; the beautiful scenery around us; the now well-established conversations with complete strangers about all the various itineraries and experiences we have all had. We felt like we had more than enough to entertain us for two days on the boat. Now we reckon it's about 350km from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang, so we knew we were in for a bit of a haul. MP3 players well fueled, plenty of water and tissue paper (those who have travelled in this part of the world are now nodding their heads...), some crackers etc. We knew it was going to be somewhat uncomfortable , but after one hour of straight up, hard backed and hard seated wood, we were sore. And another 13 hours of this to face!! The well-travelled amongst us had soft cushions that work for bums, necks and heads on boats, planes and buses. Must find some..... ;o)

We spent a night at a place called Pak Bheng, literally on the banks of the Mekhong - stunning location - basic accomodation. Most of the people we knew from the boat ended up in the same restaurant, drinking Beerlao until the power went out at 23.00 (quite common here apparently). We were lit up by a few candles which of course attracted the attentions of all kinds of weird and wonderful bugs, who kept diving for the light and burning their wings. It wasn't long before we were run out of the place by them!

Day two was pretty uneventful, spent mostly sizing up the other passengers, trying to identify nationalities and developing slang words for the nationalities in question. Any time we stopped at a port, be it a small town or large one, all the passengers came alive. It was like being in a zoo, watching people watching you! And most of all, day two was spent trying to get some relief from the hard wood....

So we finally saw a change in the river and the scenery about an hour outside Luang Prabang. Once we docked, we hiked off and found ourselves a very "splurge" guesthouse in comparison to what we've had over the last three weeks! My pillow has never been so soft, a bathroom never so plush, bed linen never so clean!! We felt like we were in heaven.

Luang Prabang is a very, very pretty spot; easy to see why it has been given world heritage status by UNESCO. The people are also so hospitable and friendly. We wandered around a bit today, climbed up to a small wat high up on a hill in the centre of the town. It started to thunderstorm and fork lightning crept up on us. And where are we? At the highest point, in an open space with a spire sticking up into the sky. At least our shoes have rubber soles!


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Pai

Pai is a small town north of Chiang Mai in the mountains - about 4 hours in a bus and described as "a mountain paradise of easy living". Its a lot cooler there (25 degrees) and a higher chance of a downpour ( frequent occurance) .

On Friday we took a minivan to Pai, I (Michelle) was stuck on the backrow of the minibus with the sourest pair of Aussies I have ever come across. They didn't say a word the whole trip either to each other or to anyone else, even when the bus stopped for "toilet breaks" did they engage with anyone else. Of course, the few days we were in Pai we kept running into them as its such a small town and can be walked in a matter of minutes.

Our accomodation comprised of a little chalet on the banks of a river - simple bedroom with ensuite ( we're using that term very liberally !) - but it was cheap and cheerful and mosquito free ( v. important) although the entrance to the chalets was quite mucky and turned into a veritable swamp after a downpour but the flip flops survived and dried easily afterwards.

We hired mopeds on the second day and just travelled around visiting temples on hills, canyons, elephant camps, hot springs (strong smell of sulphur) and generally spinning around the countryside.

I (Michelle) had never ridden a moped before and it was some craic initially "test-driving them" - they were automatics so that made it easier but when you are passed out very closely by a 16 yr old kamikaze driver on a motorbike - it tends to freak you out a bit.... felt like the lads on Dumb and Dumber riding the little scooter with the seriously unflattering helmets that also gave you bad helmet hair !! Sancha on the other hand LOVED the moped and fancied herself as a veritable biker after 2 hours on our chicken chasers. A pink motorbike will be bought in Santry on our return and will be seen most mornings tearing through the traffic in Ballymun/ Port tunnel heading for Earlsfort Terrace !!



We enjoyed the locals and their music in the local hotspot "Be-Bop" where local bands played till 12pm then the amercians took to the stage for an hour ! The after hours drinking location was a place aptly called Bamboo - a large bamboo hut complete with bar and food. We tucked into Singha beers and PhadThai at 3am !! well that was the local equivalent of the chipper !!

Back in Chiang Mai today ( Bank Holiday Monday) and are heading to Laos tomorrow, we are getting a bus to the border at Chiang Kong; probably an all-day bus trip then the slow boat the following day down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang - that's a 2 day boat ride !! We had better charge up the ipods. We had the option of getting a speed boat that would only take 8 hrs but after taking to other travellers it seems its very dangerous and high crash rates !! well its not as if we are in a mad rush either so its the slow boat to Luang Prabang... we can work on our currently non-existant tans (bar the freckles of course) on the deck !!

Chiang Mai - the trek !

Monday saw us start early (up at 6.45am) and drive north for about an hour through windy mountain roads in a minivan with 4 others - 2 Japanese girls who were highly excitable and a english guy and his mother. Our guide was nice, friendly and spoke very good english.

We were turfed out at a layby and, with our guide, we started walking uphill through what looked like a forest.... it was quite warm even at 9am but we soldiered on. I ( Michelle) took off like a bullet full of energy in the morning but was stopped in my tracks about 15 minutes into the trek when I came across what can only be described as a Indiana Jones style shakey bridge across a gorge !! I looked back to see the other gaining on me so I decided - bad and all as it was crossing the shakey bridge alone - it would have been a lot worse with people behind me on the bridge. The bridge was made of bamboo and didn't feel very stable crossing it - I had got about half way ( needed to go slowly as had to watch my footing) when I felt the bridge shaking .... the others had started to cross....kept the head up so as not to look down and made it across in one piece .. Phew !!
I (Sancha) loved shaking Michelle on the shakey bridge ;o) so apparently I have no problem with heights from above (see elephant piece later) but have a problem with heights to above, if you know what I mean. No? Let's just say I won't even be a Lisa Madden and conquer Aconcagua or Denali ;o)

We continued climbing ( and in Sancha's case, wheezing) for another 45 minutes, finally reached our destination - a tribal village high up in the mountains. We took a rest for 20 minutes, walked around the village, took photos and drank litres of water before making our way back down along the same route. Sancha felt victorious after the monumental climb and felt the need to reward herself with a handmade turquoise material bag. Totally useful aswell of course, most non-native girls in these parts have one right?

Our next stop was an elephant farm where we could have partaken in elephant rides ... most did including Sanch - I declined the kind invitation (big, smelly, not the friendliest looking animals) and instead sat under the shade and watched Sancha throw her leg over the side of the elephant's back, settle in and then saunter off into the woods. Indeed, I (Sancha) did! The trepidation and apprehension! It felt weird to be pitched on top of this beautiful but very high animal! They were very gentle, so once I got used to feeling like I was going to fall off every time he took a step, I actually got into it and managed to take note of the scenery etc. Three adult elephants with 5 people and one baby elephant headed off into the bush. Our "drivers" were people from the Karen tribe, originally moved from Myanmar about 200 years ago. They spent all the time shouting instructions to the elephants, shouting to each other, shouting at the people trying to flog bananas to us to feed the elephants and saying nothing at all to us. The one time I saw any form of expression on my driver was when a cute girl on a moped drove by.... They did manage to have a break however and rolled themselves some rather large smokes, if you catch my drift...

After the elephants, we stopped for a traditional thai lunch. We then headed to another tribal village of the Karen people where the local women hand weaved all the clothes. The day trip also included a stop at a waterfall ( not that spectacular to be honest...... nothing on Torc) and then onto the bamboo rafting which turned out to be the best fun.

There was 3 people per raft with a local guy steering with a long pole. I ended up with the two japanese girls who couldnt stop giggling and laughing . There was several other daytrippers at the launch site so there must have been about 20 rafts in a line heading down the river. The river wasnt that deep at all - just above waistline in most parts. It started off as a gentle, civilised float down a green waterway. Pretty butterflies adorned the air. Then it got kinda messy:

Down river, the local kids along the river back decided to soak everyone as they passed so a waterfight ensued with rafts against the kids. Then a group of 4 Aussie guys who were also rafting decided to liven things up by firstly trying to jump from raft to raft usually capsizing the unfortunates they landed on and then attempting a coup by throwing overboard the local guys and taking charge of the rafts themselves and then ramming each other. When faced with puzzled expressions, they simply said "we're from Australia", which to be fair was a perfectly viable explanation! By the time we got to the end of the line, everyone was drenched through - had a few Singha beers at the riverbank and attempted to dry off before all piling into the minivans for the drive back to Chiang Mai ( over an hrs drive).

We had a big feed of pizza washed down with local beer that evening.
Pic: View to Chiang Mai from Doi Suthep

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Fashionistas in crisis

It's hot, it can be humid. You don't have any of the vast array of skincare products, cosmetics, hair straighteners, CLOTHES, earrings (big issue for Sancha) - ok, so you have a picture. One of the biggest fashion issues on the road in these circumstances is of course, the hair; how does one keep it from frizzing, curling and generally looking like Bridget Jones after her trip in the country?

Tips great appreciated. Though not appreciated if it means purchasing a large bottle of product cos we don't have room in our bags for large bottles.... :oP

Chiang Mai - Book your date now...

..for a thai dish. Now that we have mastered the art of thai cooking, you are cordially invited to dine with us in late 2006/early 2007 to sample the delights of freshly prepared red curry paste, fish soup, chicken with cashew nuts and so on.





Well we hit the cookery school on Sunday where we met a handful of other ladies from europe, korea and canada. Hands up who knows how much effort goes into making a red curry paste by hand? Our biceps and triceps got a great work-out! We are now excellent candidates to be thai wives apparently, as we kept on smiling as we were cooking and we did not tire when challenged with the pretty intense task of chopping red (hot!) chillis and seeds down to a pulp - try that without a Kenwood!! We will not reveal secret ingredients, tips and tricks unless you wish to part fund our trip...


The best bit was eating our own nosh and being amazingly surprised at how bloody good we were! Michelle marvelled at her own delicious chicken & cashew nut and sticky rice & mango dessert. Sancha meanwhile enjoyed her spicey fish soup chilli-ed to perfection. Now the challenge back home is to find all the wonderful ingredients.

Northern Thailand

We took the train from Bangkok to Phitsanulok - the express train that stopped about 20 times and took a little over 5 hours to get to our destination, at least we booked an air-conditioned carriage. The trip itself was a bit boring to be honest..... at least we had ipods, books and nibbles. The ticket we bought surprisingly included free soft drinks and a meal - which we passed on as it didn't look to appetising; instead we munched on crackers and museli bars ! We finally arrived at our destination and got a tuk-tuk (a pickup version of Del and Rodneys 3 wheeler van) to the hostel. We were the only people there the first night ... The place was v quaint ... but the rooms were clean. We spend that evening wandering around the town and had dinner on a river boat (under 8 euros including beer !!! bargain).

The next day we took a 1 hour bus trip to Sukhothai (where the ancient city is) and rented bikes for the day ...cycled around the ruins all day....checked out all the buddhas, museums etc... it was another scorcher of a day but very quiet tourist wise which suited us perfectly. Back on the bus home for another hour. I must say the bus drivers and locals even with minimal english are very helpful with directions, bus times etc.....

Friday morning, we took a bus from Phitsanulok to Chiang Mai (further north again) - well we got on the bus at 9.15am and didnt arrive at Chiang mai until 4pm... the bus made some stops where we could get off for 5 minutes and grab a bottle of water etc.... but the trip was a bit of a killer and we were shattered upon arrival. It didnt help that the bus driver at certain stages thought he was a formula one driver !

Chiang Mai is a lovely city..... our hostel is very centrally located and there are plenty of pubs and restaurants in the area. Sunday evening was spent enjoying the views of Leinster being thrashed by Munster! We were checking out the signs outside the Irish pub every time we passed it to see if they were going to show the match, which thankfully (a bit late notice mind!) they did. There must have been 12 irish people there and not a ONE was supporting Leinster.

Other acitivities in Chiang Mai during the first few days: wandering around more temples (lots of big gold giant buddhas) in another scorcher of a day, the heat is unreal during the day. We went to the huge flower market down by the river and wandered around a few general markets also. We decided to get a bit organised today too and have booked a Thai cookery course for tomorrow (am loving the chicken and cashew nuts here, Gert-Jan - I'm actually loving the food - shock horror !!) and a day trip on Monday that includes a trek in the mountains, a visit to a really quaint tribal village, elephant rides (??) and bamboo rafting.

It's a lot cooler in the evening once the sun sets and thats the way we like it. Patrick our mascot was very impressed with all the buddhas and temples but he's getting a bit bored with them now and fancies a change of scenery.

Bangkok

We flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok on Saturday last (Easter Sat). Its hot here also but less humid than HK. We arrived in the middle of the Thai New Year celebrations. One of the traditions is a water soaking festival.... as a results all the kids and some "older kids" simply throw water (sometimes water mixed with talc !) at passing buses, cars, bikes and pedestrians. There was a great party atmosphere in the city and everyone had a water gun (some with backpacks !). Sancha got baptised twice on the first day. It was hilarious.... just the thing though when its mid-30's outside.

As well as many street vendors and markets (as far as the eye could see), we have seen 3 elephants with minders wandering about..... they make money from tourists by allowing them to feed the elephants and take photos.... the elephants even have reflectors on their back two legs - as they are walked up and down the streets in the evenings.

We toured some temples (wats) on Easter Sunday and saw a giant golden buddha.... so while everyone else in IRL was coming home from easter sunday mass to tuck into their cadburys easter eggs... we were sheltering from a thunderous downpour (with lightning and thunder - that would wake the dead) with only a pack of yellow M&M's ( Ah.....) I did miss the Butlers easter egg this year !

Over the past two days we have got drowned in serious down pours and then 40 minutes later - the sky clears ad the temp rises to 35 again !! We found the "Groovy Map of Bangkok" a god-send - pointing out all the nice places to eat and visit ; took advantage of the new metro line in the city - it took 6-7 yrs to build and is v. impressive - a scout from the Luas works would learn a lot here.
We had a very civilised dinner on a traditional Thai boat last night with Thai dancers as after dinner entertainment. It provided some lovely photo ops of the city by night.

Tomorrow (Wed 18th April) we take a 5 hr train trip (apparently on the express train !) north to Phitsanulok to travel to Sukhothai - spot where there is a ancient city !

Dublin - Hong Kong - Thailand - Laos - Vietnam - Cambodia - Malaysia - Singapore - Australia - New Zealand - Chile - Bolivia - Peru - Argentina - Brazil - Dublin