JimandKaz

No more sunshine!!! Well, we’re nearly there. Our final country, our final journey, and now our final blog!! After a long but uneventful overnight train journey from Vientiane to Bangkok, immediately followed by a posh mini-bus from Bangkok to Ko Samet, we were looking forward to our final 2 weeks of globe-trotting, which would be spent topping up our tans, and getting well and truly sickened by Thai food! We weren’t immediately impressed by Ko Samet. After rave reviews by friends and travelers we were expecting another postcard perfect desert island (ala Ko Lipe), when we arrived off the ferry I immediately looked for my mark of a quality island - tropical fish swimming in crystal clear-blue water underneath the pier, only to be surprised at the reality of plastic bags and oily grey water, ... read more

Ever been on a bus for 6 hours over mountains with steep winding sides holding onto your stomachs, with armed 14 year old militia with AK47s waving at the bus as you go past? We have!!!! We had a lovely time!!! Arrived in Vang Vieng, a typical tourist spot lodged between beautiful carst limestone valleys. Booked into one of the best value and well furnished guest house/hostels we have stayed in, for the equivalent of 2.50. Well comfy bed, air conditioning and a HOT SHOWER!!! Nothing much to do in the town except watch movies in one of the generic cafes serving pizza, burgers and sub-standard thai food, unless you choose from the "other menu" which consisted of opium, magic mushrooms and weed. Magic, if your into that kind of thing... we opted for the ... read more

So as previously mentioned, we made it up to Chiang Mai on another sleeper train, and another 18 hour journey. Seems easy now! 2 hour European flights will be a breeze... Spent the first day getting our barings in the city. We quite like Chiang Mai, for a city of its size, its fairly relaxed. Not quite as manic as Bangkok! A moat envelopes the old town district, with more of the commercial markets and businesses further out to the east. Made a quick scout of the tailor shops to see where James was to get his suit made, before visiting the night bizarre. Were quite looking forward to looking round the night market, as we had heard it was a great place to do some shopping, however, we were quite dissapointed, as it seemed to ... read more

Well, we both had big smiles on our faces when we arrived in Lipe, we found our paradise!!! The longed for white beaches, clear green waters, and Thai hospitality which we so loved last time we were here, were evident minutes after crossing the border from Malaysia... An ill James, and an eager to leave Karen got the minibus from Penang - Malaysia, across the border to a hub city called Hat Yai, where we changed and journeyed on an open back taxi, followed by 3 hours worth of local buses, followed by another open back taxi to a port town called Pak Barra, where we overnighted before a 2.5 hour speedboat to our final destination - Ko Lipe. Quite a mission, but it went unbelievably smoothly. It was as though they knew we were coming ... read more

Welcome readers... we aint to sure where January went to... hmmmm. So after our trip down the east coast of Australia, its nice to get somewhere a little more culturaly different. Arrived in Singapore after an easy 9 hour flight, caught the MRT (tube) to our rather bizarre hostel called 'Hawaii Hostel'. Strange place, no hot water, full of chinese and Asian families who all seemed to share on room. Asian ladies in full Sari type outfits happily sitting chatting on the stairs, and topless old fat chinese men watching tv... not quite what we had become used to in Oz, but we fun all the same. Basic room, with the coldest aircon on earth... opened the fridge to warm the place up. First day in Singapore, we decided we should bite the bullet and buy ... read more