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Published: January 5th 2010
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Christmas day
A quick dip before dinner!! Hi everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!!
We're now in Asia for the whole of January and it's a tad different to our previous destinations to say the least - it could be challenging for those that are claustrophobic/crowd-o-phobic, noise-o-phobic, particular about hygiene or paranoid about road safety. Western rules don't necessaily apply here, but then if you're travelling to see different cultures, 'it is what it is' and you deal with it. Harry would sometimes like to be staying in better accommodation and I'm looking forward to drinking copious amounts of English tea with cows milk. If you would like to see our itinerary, Google 'Intrepid's Indochina Loop'.
On the subject of Intrepid, we have a fantastic guide called Sa-wat (as in cat). He's Cambodian and a real sweetie and he looks after us incrediby well. He has 12 of us to round up and he does it brilliantly and without fuss. The 12 of us consists of 6 males and 6 females, as I've said. 5 of them are teachers and a further 3, including Harry, have been in positions of authority, but no-one is bossing anyone else and Sawat is definately in charge. The
Water taxis in Bangkok
Crowded and manic but a 'must do' and really cheap. ages range from me, the oldest, to an 18 year old and we all get on fine, which is just as well because a month would be a long time if you didn't.
We're really pleased with Intrepid thus far. Their deal is to give you real life experiences where you get to know the locals, do what locals do and have an adventure, so the accommodation is fairly basic, but the idea is to support local business and not the multi-nationals. If we describe anything in what appears to be a negative fashion, it's not meant to discredit Intrepid or their organisation, it'll simply be that sometimes it's perhaps a bit too basic for us. Having said that, we always knew it was going to basic, but on the upside we've also been pleasantly surprised.
Our journey so far is this: 2 nights in Bangkok - a teeming mass of humanity, but we'd been to Bangkok before so we knew what to expect. Incredibly hot and busy. Everything ridiculously cheap by our standards. We went on a longboat tour along the klongs (canals), visited Wat Pho to see the world's largest reclining Buddha (enormous and gold plated)
Bangkok
Chaotic wiring - which is in keeping with chaotic Bangkok and we walked for miles in order to organise currency and things for our trip. Then we decided that we both deserved Thai massages which we had at Wat Pho temple - very civilised.
Third night was a sleeper train to Chiang Mai which was like something out of the 1920's, but not in an Orient Express way. Basic but okay - sanitary arrangements rather amusing as long as you kept a sense of humour. Within about half an hour of arriving at Chiang Mai we did a 4-hour bike ride which was peaceful and, more importantly flat. It included a local lunch so we weren't actually cycling for 4 hours fortunately. We did a temple trip in the evening to Doi Suthep and then ate in a local square with a cabaret of sorts which cost about 2 US dollars apiece.
The next day we took a 7-hour mini-bus trip to Chiang Khong on the North East border where we crossed by river boat to Huay Xai in Laos . Never seen a border crossing like it!!! Hilarious really. Guest house was not to our taste. Harry not happy, but it will certainly be a New Year's
Eve to remember.
The next 2 days we travelled down the Mekong in a houseboat, which was decked out with car seats and a dining area. We stopped overnight at Pak Beng where the accommodation was much better so Harry was happier. The houseboat was comfortable and clean and the Mekong is amazing, but two days was plenty.
We are now in Luang Prabang for three nights. I'd never heard of the town before, but it's actually a UNESCO World Heritage site, so I don't suppose it will be long before it's well and truly on the tourist map. The hotel is the best so far. It's in a dear little street in the Old Town area with lots of atmosphere , which is the bit that's protected, and it's almost next to the Mekong with its fabulous views and riverside cafes. It's all French colonial architecture and so very pretty, but I won't go on too much about it because you can always Google it and see for yourselves if you wish. The bestest thing about this stop is that we've got time to get our washing done which is great because things are getting somewhat critical.
On the subject of critical, Harry's been confined to quarters for 2 days on a water diet, but he is much improved today. However, I'm doing my best to keep a boiled egg down.
Enough of that. We're off to Vientienne in a short while, so here's hoping we get some pictures up before then.
Love to all - Harry and Angela xx
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Peter and Evelyn
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We think you are very brave, and you were worried about the flies in Perth! Good Luck Pete and Evelyn