http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/KatandEd/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from KatandEd en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:25:47 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:25:47 +0000 We decided to take the budget option of getting from Koh Samui to Ko Phi Phi even after the warnings from other tourists of the hellish journey. We had to get from an island on one side of the mainland to another island on the opposite side of the mainland distance wise not too far but a good amount of effort required.We got picked up by a minibus at 6.30am taken to the ferry terminal where we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Phi-Phi/blog-414678.html We were so excited to arrive in Thailand again and just chill on the beach for a while. We left Siam Reap on another 6 hour journey back to Phenom Penh spent the night there then took 2 flights until we arrived in Koh Samui at about 8 at night. From the get go we had drama We had arranged to spend 7 days at a self catering apartment on the island so we could make some of our food and feel like w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/blog-413310.html Siem Reap is a good few hundred kilometres from PP so to get there we had to take you guessed it another bus. We used the same bus company we used from Saigon to PP but the bus was a lot crappier and less comfortable literal inches for the legs. The journey was long and bumpy interspersed by a couple of stops at a local markets. We stopped at one where at one a local girl was walking arou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-414691.html The CityWe arrived in the city not so fresh from our 6 hr bus ride from Saigon. The journey was reasonably comfortable and the bus had good AC leg room and even movies being played with English subtitles The drop off spot was the office of the travel company so luckily there were a horde of tuk tuk drivers on hand to take us to our hotel but unluckily they were 'unionised' and none of them wo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-414402.html Saigon Our Easy Riders were desperate to drop us in the city and get out before rush hour began. For the last 80 kms of our journey they really had their foot down and we each had a few near misses as they weaved their way through the increasingly busy traffic even driving down a 50m stretch of payment along with a horde of other motorcyclists to be fair at one point. We were really anxious t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/blog-411010.html We sat in anticipation in the lobby of our hotel in Nha Trang waiting for Danh and his partner to come pick us up on their bikes. Both of us were cautiously optimistic that theyrsquod show up as we gave them a 2500 dong deposit and had no real way of tracking them if they didnrsquot show. Standing outside our hotel we heard the roar of two Harley Davidson type bikes and made our way across the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/blog-408954.html We sadly left Hoi An on our first overnight sleeper bus in Vietnam to the coastal city of Nha Trang. The sleeper bus was luxury compared to our Indian sleeper buses but still a sleeper bus none the less. The seats were very narrow you could not be a large person and even fathom fitting in the seat it was slightly more narrow than an economy airplane seat. The seats were lie down seats with a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-403170.html HueWe left Hanoi in the early evening on the Harry Potterish named lsquoPumpkin Expressrsquo sleeper train south to Hue. The state train company runs the locomotive and most of the carriages a few private companies hitch on their own carriages which they market to foreigners. I've thrown in a couple of photos of what the dining car was supposed to look like and what it did in reality. Ed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northeast/blog-406855.html We left the chaos of Hanoi for the mountains of Northwest Vietnam. Sapa also known as the lsquoQueen of the Mountainsrsquo was formed in 1922 as a former hill station and is located near the Chinese border. We took an overnight sleeper train to reach Sapa which left Hanoi at 9pm and arrived near Sapa at 5am. The sleeper was reasonably pleasant. We shared our 4bunk cabin with a friendly olde http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Northwest/Sapa/blog-402969.html HanoiLeaving the clear blue skies and bright sun of Laos behind us we found rain and an ominous grey gloom when we touched down in the People's Socialist Republic of Vietnam. After filling in a form to certify that we hadn't got bird or pig flu for some reason I felt quite nervous as we approached passport control. We knew from our research that Vietnam is a far more 'edgy' and hazardous place t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-396678.html Vang ViengReluctantly we packed our bags in Luang Prabang and took a bus to Vang Vieng only a 5 hr trip away. We had booked a 'VIP' bus which essentially means you get some water AC and the chairs are a bit more comfortable. Within a few minutes of taking this trip the usual cheesy light rock comes on ie. Lional Richie its not just lightly playing in the back ground but blaring Ed quickly http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-394834.html We ended our tour of the Golden Triangle in Chiang Kong the main border crossing into Laos across the Mekong River from Thailand. We spent one night there in a lovely little teak villa that was situated on the banks of the Mekong. The villa owner was very sweet if not a bit crazy as soon as we checked in Kat went with her to look at the room while Ed guarded the bags. She was soon being felt u http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-394019.html LampangHaving recharged the batteries in Chiang Mai we headed for the city of Lampang a few hours south of Chiang Mai. As usual the bus station was complete chaos little english is spoken and notice boards and both unhelpful passersby are full of contradictory information We eventually got tickets and arrived a few hours later in this small quaint town. Both our reconnaisance and informat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Lampang/blog-393985.html A few hours north of Chiang Mai near Chiang Dao is a huge national preservation area home to a handful of hill tribes and a hell of a lot of trees. Our tour group picked us up at 7am at our guest house in the back of a local bus converted into the trekrsquos personal transportation vehicle. We were met by 4 other girls in their late 20rsquos from London who would be joining us for the next 3 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Dao/blog-387782.html The website had a technical error and deleted everyone's photos but now they have apparently been restored.... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-East-Thailand/blog-391968.html Chang Mai is Thailand's second largest city and lies to the north of the country not too far south of the borders with Myanmar and Laos. We decided to fly there and happily the airport was quick and efficient our bags appeared on the conveyor belt within about 20 mins of touching down why can't UK airports do this although there seems to be one person there who puts up advertising signs who http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-387776.html Heading to BangkokWe arrived at Chennai airport without incident and boarded our 3 hour 11pm flight to Bangkok. It seemed to be the equivalent of one of those Easyjet flights Canadians like Westjet to a package holiday destination other than Kat was the only female on board the flight was full of rowdy young men obviously off to Bangkok for the weekend. They were constantly walking around s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-385696.html EDIT Katherine thinks this is boring but Ed wants to mention that in Hampi previous entry he bought afried chilli from an impoverished looking street vendor one night which he spotted was wrapped in an page from Cosmopolitan magazine specifically an articel about what form of contraception women preferred. Contrasts everywhere....The journey to KochiFrom Banagalore we took the train south http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/blog-382483.html Goa to HospetWe left Goa and headed further down the south coast to the state of Karnataka. Our first stop was Hampi a lovely ruined city in the desert with what seemed like hundreds of ancient temples to see. The town that we arrived in Hospet was not so lovely filled with rudish people and a lot of cramped hustle and bustle. It was a big change from the tourist friendly locals of Goa to the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Karnataka/Bangalore/blog-382473.html We have finally left Northern India and headed South to the idyllic beaches of Goa. On the recommendation of fellow travelers we met is Jodpur we decided to head to Northern Goa to the beaches of Arambol this required us to land in Goa's capital Panjim before heading up North. Panjim was an ok city we stayed in the older part of the city with old portugese colonial styled buildings. We were so http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/blog-380430.html