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Published: March 5th 2009
Steph: Well here I am sat in a little restaurant in Chaing Mai, pondering on where to begin......Unfortunately I am alone with curry and Singha beer as poor Bo has been struck down with a fever and generally feeling rubbish, all part of the process I guess? Bodies getting used to the different foods and bugs we think. I feel horrible sat here without him but I know he is in the best place and we have stocked him up with potions and fluid to get him better asap!
To begin the blog I think I need to begin here....I think we mentioned we thought that the work on the flat and packing wouldn’t be that rushed.....we were very very wrong. Well say no more, after many hours of hard work from Sid, mum (thank you soooooo much xxxxxx) and ourselves, we did it. Got to the airport in time, said the dreaded goodbyes.....Love you all sooooo much (you know who).
With a huge mixture of emotions we left, just the two of us, at the beginning of our adventure together.
Two very happy hearts, Two gin and tonics, two beers, two in flight meals, four films, 40 winks, one transfer in Doha and we were there Bangkok!!!!!
Both excited, tired and apprehensive we stepped out of Bangkok airport and headed straight for our first stop, The Landmark Hotel. Probably not the usual backpackers stopover, but we had decided that we wanted to spoil ourselves for the first few nights as we knew this would def not be happening again during our trip. We defiantly weren’t to be disappointed, (thank you Miss Lightbody, you legend!!) Amazing, extravagant, probably a little over the top but worth every penny that’s for sure.
That evening to ease ourselves in slowly we took a hilarious first ride in a taxi to the famous Khosan Road. Although very touristy and manic a great place to visit, we eat our first pad Thai and green curry and went for our first massage. Stocked up on some cheap clothes and bits we needed for our onward journey.
Dave: The following day we decided to watch the famous Mai Thai Boxing held at the Lumphini Stadium, Bangkok. I was really excited at the opportunity of seeing this old, very traditional sport. We decided on getting ringside tickets, not wanting to miss any of the action. This
was also a great chance to test out our new camera!! There were ten fights being shown that night, what surprised us the most was how young some of the boxers were, in the early bouts they must have been no older than 12-14yrs old. Before each fight begins both fighters would move around the ring performing a series of routine moves with traditional music playing, this continued during the fight. Most of the fights were fairly evenly matched; despite this we did see some blood during one fight?!! There was nothing stopping this bout either, both fighters were covered in blood. It was also really fascinating to see the crowds of Thai people at the back betting amongst each other before each fight, arms waving and lots of haggling noises.
New Years Eve...Bangkok
We had booked ourselves on a river boat cruise (down the Mae Nam Shao Phraya River); we were told this was to include an International buffet, traditional dancing, a singer and views of the fireworks at midnight?!! Well, I suppose most of it we got?? We climbed aboard the river boat, we were shown to our seat and the boat promptly left. It was
if somebody onboard had shouted “GO” as everybody swarmed the food, fighting for a place in the so called line. We waited very patiently as there seemed to be no order whatsoever. The food unfortunately didn’t live up to what we expected; needless to say we made the most of it. As for the dancers, they must not have boarded the boat in time; the singer however did turn up....unfortunately??? But he did give it his best, wearing the campest attire you could ever imagine he danced and sang the night away!! We saw New Year in together with the most spectacular firework display either of us had ever seen. It went on for about 25mins...covering the Bangkok skyline. The rest of our new year was spent in an area called Nana Plaza, well known for its Lady Boys, Ping Pong shows and general sleaziness!! It was hilarious and much fun to watch all the goings on. We must admit though, we dearly missed our families and dear friends....Happy New Year to you all xxxx
“One bus ride to Chiang Mai, Two cramped seats, Two roadside food tokens, two Goose stews, One restless night, Nine hours later, Dave shitting for England”
Chiang Mai = Imodium
Steph: So back to the beginning of the blog......curry and Singha, alone with no Bo. The fever cleared and we could now begin what we considered the beginning of our travels.....we hoped????
Chiang Mai....is apparently the place to go trekking, so we had booked ourselves in for a two day trek. Hoping that this would be a good introduction and fitness test for the Big One in Borneo......my word or as they say in Thailand “ohhh my Buddha” this was to be much more of a hard core training session than we bargained for! It did turn out to be an amazing experience from start to finish. From being picked up, we meet a lovely couple named Anthony and Lilly from New Zealand. Whilst getting to know them we had the job of comforting ten abandon puppies the driver had rescued. They were so adorable you should have seen them. The driver stopped off in a tiny village, picked up supplies for our lunch and dinner and on we drove to the Elephant camp. Can you imagine I was sat on the back of the elephant on a tiny metal seat and
Dave on his head!!! Great fun!! Had our lunch at a gorgeous waterfall where we swam to cool off. We then continued our trek, uphill in the sweltering heat for 3 hours, bodies weak we dragged ourselves to the top, the guide’s village and home awaited us. This is where we were to spend the night, such an eye opener, with the most basic facilities we had our dinner cooked by candle light, sat and eat looking out to the stars. The little children from the village sang songs to us, which was very moving and really brought home how lucky we are. What was not so moving was when we were asked to sing a song to the entire village, sheer cringe factor!! On the spot we just could not think of what to sing....was so funny you really had to be there. We all decided that Wonder wall by Oasis was the song to sing....all countries new the words!! We couldn’t contain the laughter..then Dave had the bright idea of singing the “the hokey Cokey!!! You should of seen us all....all holding hands round the fire....Dave leading the way.....giggling away...a must admit I was very proud of him!!
We did it the crowed were entertained, they loved it!! We spent the rest of the evening chatting on the balcony, our guide who was a bit of a real life Bear Grills decided it was time to bbq the frog he had caught earlier on the trek. For such a tiny thing it took ages to cook but actually was delicious and, rather like chicken!!! The following morning after a cold nights sleep we heading down the mountain for the bamboo rafting down the river to the end of our trek. Despite the dry session and the slow river flow, Dave still managed to fall in being given the controls at the front!! Hitting a rock square on and going straight overboard, to the amusement of the entire group!!
We got back to Chiang Mai in need of a new room and hot shower. Then the following morning....The dreaded dodgy belly took over my whole body....cut a long and icky story short, the Imodium was a life saver for me. On recovering a day later we hired a scooter and headed out of town to the Tiger Kingdom. Was an hour drive out of Chafing Mai, great drive
and we were both on a high as it was the first time we both felt back to our normal selves. Parked up and got ready to go in.......suddenly realised that we had left the battery charging back at the guesthouse.....elks after some serious cursing, we decided to head back and get the battery as we figured it would be criminal to not have pics of us with the tigers. The pictures do not do the whole experience justice. They were looked after so well and in immaculate conditions. They are such incredible creatures in the flesh. You can’t quite believe how we were able to be so close to them. Nearby was an orchid farm which luckily we stumbled across, as one of my favourite flowers it was jaw dropping to see them growing in their home country.
We had been in Chiang Mai for a couple of days and decided it was time to head further north to a place called Pai, we had heard many good things about this place and new it would be our cup of tea.
“Pai in the Sky” Dave: One very windy bus ride, two back seats, two very numb
bums, Many amazing views later, one German man puking, one very fast driver...we were there, Pai!!
We had heard many great things about this small town located about 3-4hrs (this depends largely on the speed of your bus driver) north of Chafing Mai way up in the mountains, its journey is long and very very windy, not recommended on hangovers!! However, as soon as we stepped off the bus, we both had this feeling that we had come to the right place, we were not to be disappointed!!
After grabbing some food, we hired a scooter and headed off to find somewhere to stay. On crossing a very hairy bamboo bridge we found ourselves a lovely little hut on the river front with awesome views both up and down the river. We had found ourselves our very own little paradise. Pai is really small, quirky, laid back and bohemian town with one thing in mind.............chilling out!!
Steph: We spent out days mainly exploring the area, adventures to find waterfalls, a canyon, hot springs and chilling by a pool that we found.
In Chiang Mai we had met a wicked couple called Ben and Katie from London, ended
up meeting up with them on a number of occasions and hanging out, loads of fun and lots of laughs. The bars in Pai had a wicked vibe and lots of Live Music venues. Ended up meeting quite a few locals and travellers felt a bit like home from home after 6 days, really could see yourself getting very comfortable there and before you know it a months passed by!! As we loved it so much we ended up moving around staying in 3 different guesthouses around town some near the river and others in the countryside just outside town. Mostly really basic but one was a bit of a treat....at £12 a night, simply gorgeous and very tranquil...the photos will probably say it all.
By this stage both of us had most definitely got the old appetite’s back from the dodgy bellies in Chiang Mai, found scrummy little eat outs for ridiculously cheap money, One of the favourites was the curry shack, The best Massaman curry in North Thailand so far!!! Worked out we were eating out for a £1 each.....crazy!! We can honestly say that Pai was just what the doctor ordered.
With all our other
plans ahead of us, it was time to move on. Our next stop was a brief return to Chiang Mai for a few days, in order to get our heads together, book some onward flights, and more importantly get some Shopping in!! With its abundance of silver and all the market stalls it couldn’t be missed that’s for sure!
“To the border and onto the next “.... After our business was done in Chiang Mai, we jumped on a bus heading for Huay Xai, on the Thai border. From here many travellers cross the border into Laos, our next destination. This sleepy town consisted of one long road, in fact it felt a little bit like the end of the road, with many of its visitor’s coming and going by sunrise.
We were heading for Luang Prabang, there are two ways form here onwards; 2day Long Boat or a 1 day suicide speed boat, we opted for the first. Having heard some really bad reports on the safety of the speed boats we opted for a 2day slow boat along the Mekong River with a night stopover in a tiny place called Pak Beng. We
booked this with a very friendly guy at small bar opposite our guesthouse and had a quiet night before our early start in the morning.
We were both up before sunrise and ready to go, the chap we had booked with advised on buying two of the cushions many people sell to relieve your bums on the hard wooden seats of the boat. After a spot of breakfast we were taken to the crossing point, given a stamp on our passports and ferried across the water before discovering the general confusion of how things sometimes seem to work in Laos. We then had to contend with the many people all piling in to get the visa, after getting through that we were then taken by tuk tuk to board our Long Boat, we were officially in Laos. This is when the real confusion started, there seemed to be more and more people arriving. What then followed was this incredible speech by one of the Lao organisers, he began to tell us how unsafe the boat was, how anything we had heard about the timescale of the journey were lies, how it was likely we would have things stolen
on the boat and at our stop over. It was amazing, I have never seen so many people with a look of complete fear across their faces, and even I was pretty concerned. The organisers solution was simple, u could take a bus or VIP bus which would get u there same day in 8hrs. Hang on; I thought.........whats the catch?!! Off course, it would cost you extra for that, quite alot extra!! After chatting to a few people we had just met we decided on sticking with the plan, getting the boat, it just didn’t seem to add up, this was surely a con!! After much confusion and chaos a load of people filtered off to get the buses on offer before we all boarded the boat. Sure enough, they were hard wooden seats, the people kept coming.......and coming, we were like sardines on the boat!! There were people everywhere, on the floor, at the front, in the back with the engine, it was hilarious, and you wondered how the boat was still actually afloat??
When the boat finally left, everyone had settled down, we opened a beer and got ready for the journey ahead, we had always
known it as 6hours one day and 6hours the next. However, after our talk we were to believe it was 9hours. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the amazing scenery along the Mekong River not worrying about how long it might take. We had met some people before boarding the boat and were all able to get seats together. We spent the journey getting to know them. We finally arrived after just under 6hours, as we suspected it was all a big ploy to make more money. We had also been told there was limited accommodation and it was all expensive, as we soon found out there were lots of rooms available and there in fact as cheap as anywhere else, in fact some were cheaper. This really was a small place, we had dinner with a bunch of the guys we met on the boat which was a great laugh, during my meal I think every waiter offered me “weed, opium, u want something to smoke”. We also had our first experience of the curfew they have throughout Laos, this one was 11pm, and in fact the whole town was run on generators which we discovered went off at 10pm!! So after
a not so late night we got on the boat for day two of the journey. I forgot to mention, the day before the entire boat had been slowly aggravated by a group of very stereotypical English guys on the boat, who just got more progressively drunk as the day went on, they couldn’t have made us more embarrassed to be English. You could see any other English person around turning away in shame, you may wonder why I mention this but you will find out later on. The second day was much similar but without the rowdy louts as someone had told them to button it, they didn’t seem too happy for some reason. In fact it was really enjoyable, the scenery was stunning from start to finish, and I would recommend this to anyone. We arrived in Luang Probang in 8hours, the daylight was fading fast so I scrambled to the back of the boat to get the bags whilst Steph with some friends and our small rucksacks. The bags were hidden under the deck and it was pretty much pitch black at the back of the boat, so it took a while to get them, plus there
was once again know organisation. As I finally clambered to the front of the boat I had to make my way across what looked to be two very unsteady planks to the shore. After making my way over safely I clambered up the hill to meet Steph and the rest of our group. It was only after a while I noticed a somewhat stunned look on Stephs face..not only that she was drenched from head to toe!!!??? Ahhhhh what happened I asked?? Whilst our friends around us couldn’t decide whether to laugh or keep a straight concerned face!! “Bo....I fell in” she replied “everyone from the boat saw me”....Steph had managed to step on the one plank which was unstable and flipped over, landing face first in the Mekong river...camera, computer and all!! After a hot shower, a cold beer, computer and camera safe and dry...we had a good old laugh about it!!! Hilarious...what a day, it was a classic we won’t forget that in a while!!!
“Baguettes, bakeries and Laughing cow!”
Steph: So after getting over that wee hiccup we had found ourselves in Luang Prabang. To be honest we were a little ignorant to the history of
the area. But we liked the feeling of the place as soon as we settled into our guesthouse. The streets peppered with shuttered French Mansions, Orange robed monks , stunning temples, fantastic bistros, trendy bars you really had to questions where you were at times. The guys we met on the bus and boat ended up staying with us which was lovely and great to meet such a lovely group of people. We ended up going for another meal together that night . Lots of laughs were had together, we went to a random bowling alley one night, the only place in town with a late licence!!
The highlight of our time in Luang Prabang was visiting Kouang si waterfall, we had seen a few by now so when we arrived we were blown away by the beauty of this one! We hung out here for a few hours swimming and jumping from the trees into the pools, freeeezing cold but so much fun. We also climbed the side of the waterfall to the top and over the lip back down the other side.
So far we had both been very laid back to how and when we
were going to get down to Cambodia , we had done very little planning so we go our heads together and mapped out our dates and route to take. We were running out of time so we said our goodbyes packed up our bags and took a bus with Jo and Simon from London to Vang Vieng.
“Tubing, friends and Simpsons”
Steph: Another incredibly windy long bus ride, one puking scouser, and we were there, in the most unusual of towns Vang Vieng. We were lucky enough to find a basic but gorgeous guesthouse with stunning views off the beaten track. As for the town, well it was defiantly the strangest place we had visited to date!! Consisting of very ratty looking bars dedicating themselves to playing Friends, Simpsons and family guy round the clock! The town has been built up around one thing, TUBING!! Well we decided if you can’t beat em, join em!! So we did....gathered our troops, hired our tube and in we went. What lay ahead was a day of Lao whisky shots, buckets of booze, rope swings and waterslides, as we floated from bar to bar in our rubber ring. Health and safety
would have a field day that’s for sure!! Unfortunately we have not evidence of this day as cameras weren’t really an option??. Probably a good thing!!
It was time to leave, a bus ride to the capital Vientiane where we prepared for a first overnight sleeper bus! A 12 hour journey was to take us to Pakse southern Lao. We had met two Canadian girls which had met previously in Vang Vieng, they happened to be on our bus too and by this point we were the best of buddies so we stuck together as we were following the same trail.
Didn’t stop long in Pakse got a bus heading straight down to Four thousand Islands.
“ Hidden paradise”
Dave: The name as it suggests, is a collection of sandbars and rocky islets dotted on the Mekong river. We had arrived in our own little paradise, this place was stunning with no busy roads and busloads of tourists. The first island we visited was the largest of them all , Don Khong, we found the cheapest accommodation yet...a massive 3 pounds a night and really not bad at all. We met couple who had ridden around the
island that morning on Bikes so we decided to do the same. Hired our bikes and off we went! To give you an idea of the size of the island, it is 18km long and 8 km wide....but we were ill informed and thought as that other pair had only taken the morning to round. We figured this would be a casual afternoon ride??? How very very wrong we were!! The first two hours were pleasant passing through many villages greeted by excited children shouting Sabadeeee!! (Hello) Although sweltering hot and one gear on our push bike we were enjoying the experience. However after 4 hours and two sore bums later we were not as amused!! But kept plodding on! Finally we got back to the bike hire place in time for the darkness to come in. We only just discovered that it was a 30 mile round trip!! That explained Steph’s Bruised tail feather!! After some well earned dinner we had an early night in readiness for our next boat trip early the following morning. We had booked to go to a smaller island called Don Det. This island had no roads, just dirt and gravel paths and all
its guest houses were on the water front, it was just stunning. We had views looking out across the Mekong River. We had also read about the very rare Irrawaddy Dolphin which can sometimes be spotted just off a neighbouring island called Don Kon. A bridge links these two islands, the best way to get around was on push bike. However, due to Stephs even sourer tail feather we were on foot. This turned into another mammoth day walking for 3hours in the midday heat to the southern point of Don Kon. Here, we paid for a local to take us out and try to spot the dolphins. We arrived at this vast open spance of the river with the neighbouring Cambodia in front of us. From a large rock used as a viewpoint we looked and listened intently for these dolphins. Sure enough they appeared, just briefly they would emerge from the water in the distance. Although they were viewed from a far it was just incredible to be like a fly on the wall witnessing them in their natural environment. It was a fantastic experience making the day so worthwhile.
We had already decided to fly across
to Siem Reap, Cambodia instead of our other option of a 2day minivan drive. We returned to Pakse, due to the flights being fully booked we had to hang around a couple of days before leaving. Steph was really in the wars, a mosquito bite on her ankle from 2weeks ago had started to swell up. We eventually went to the hospital where we somehow managed to communicate with one of the doctors, “no problem” was the result and he demonstrated sticking his leg in the air. With some cream and the doctor’s advice it seemed to do the trick!! We were ready for Cambodia.
Tuk tuk Mr???
Dave: It was so easy, after all our lengthy bus rides this short flight was just a breeze, we were there in about 3hours, door to door. We had done very little research into our trip to Cambodia, so had no expectations. Despite our visit being limited to four days we felt it would certainly be worthwhile. With all its history of neighbouring countries chipping away and slowly occupying parts of Cambodia and more recently, of its civil war we felt it would be very under developed in comparison
to where we had been already. What we in fact saw is a country really booming with its tourism, there were modern buildings, swanky hotels, a whole range of restaurants and very friendly inviting people. With its currency being the American dollar, it really showed some American influence with its ice cream parlours and burger bars. However, amongst this all there are still very poor people here who are still recovering from its recent history. It was desperately sad to see the many amputees there are, so it felt to great to see its tourists giving something back to this beautiful country.
Siem Reap is the visiting place of the most spectacular temples and the heart of it all Ankor Wat. Not knowing quite what to expect we booked a tuk tuk driver for the day, only 12US Dollars and headed out to see some of the temples, a short 20 minute drive away. We were greeted by temples that were both glorious in scale and beauty. We visited a number of different temples before working our way up to the very famous Ankor Wat, the largest religious temple in the world. I cannot begin to describe these magnificent
temples to you so hopefully some of the photos will do it a bit more justice. On our second day we got up at 5am to watch the sunrise from Akor Wat, we were told by many this was simply a must do. We were surprisingly spritely considering we had been up late the following night watching Liverpool against Chelsea, a great result I must add, come on the Reds!! Needless to say, it was worth the experience, we visited another three more temples before our batteries completely run out and we headed back to the guest house around 11am. Later that afternoon, after some rest our driver, Mr Pretesh (only about 17, Steph I think was quite taken by his handsome charm) took us on a small tour of Siem Reap which was great. We really sad to say goodbye to the girls Jamie and Jenny who were heading for the beaches, after spending 5days together we grew really fond of them. Playing to party on the islands with them. With the imminent trek in Borneo, we chilled the following day before our flight out on Feb 4th to Kuala Klumpur.
“One night in KL”
We
love Malaysia!! Having been there myself about 12years ago, it was great to return, KL being a small city it seemed quite familiar. With little time, we checked into our worst accommodation to date, in China Town, not fussed though as it was cheap and only for the one night. We visited the Patronas Towers, unfortunately we were unable to go up but it was awesome to see. We wondered round its swanky designer shops before realising it was not really in our budget (Mrs Greenham you would have been in heaven!!). The heavens opened as we were leaving the towers, we jumped on the underground and headed back to China town for some grub and a shisha at a cool regga bar. Up early before our flight, with a couple of hours spare we took a bus to Pudu market, well known for it’s unusual and exotic delicacies...mmmmm wearing flip flops was not the best option!! Im pretty open minded to knew foods, but we def draw the line at a good old pigs penis!!!??? Shocking!!!!
“Hey guys...in the present now! Hope this blog finds you all well and happy. We are loving every minute that passes although
missing home dearly!!!! We hope this fills you in on our adventure so far, we arrived in Borneo Yesterday, found a great little backpackers hostel. Its been Raining since the minute we got here, seriously lashing down. We have moved rooms already due to leaks with rain running down the walls!! Looking out the window now we are not quite sure when the rain is going to end??And with our mountain climb approaching we are unsure if it will actually go ahead and what to expect. Still we are in good spirits and making the most of chilling out and obvouisly finishing this blog!! ( the bain of our trip so far!!), as you can imagine!! .......
One month on from updating the blog, even more to write about but we are going to save all the stories for the next blog. We have added just a handful of pictures for you all to see from our trip to Borneo!! We are now in Thailand again with our Friends Tina and Knighter, having a ball!! Just to say we are so excited to be seeing our friends and family in Japan in a couple of weeks!! Easy and Ericko
hope all the plans are going well for the wedding...thinking of you!
We Love you all sooo much and can’t wait to hear from you all and how you all are”. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
“Borneo to be continued......”
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Ken
non-member comment
Your holiday
Great to see you're having a good time. Keep safe. Ken