http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/LittleGidding/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from LittleGidding en-us Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:11:57 +0000 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:11:57 +0000 Ko Chang II is a tiny island almost in Burma and our last last hurrah in the Thai isles http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Ko-Chang/blog-382087.html Southern Thailand and Malaysia by rail more text to come.... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Southern-Thailand/Hat-Yai/blog-382091.html Can you guys read this We laughed....nervously. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Johor/blog-382095.html Come back later for some writing about Kuala Lumpur here's some pics http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-382096.html Oh Lordy so sorry we have been so incredibly behind in uploading pictures never mind a word or two about our travel. I'll probably end up filling you all in and finishing this blog from good old NH. Nevertheless here's a few more pics for you http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Otago/blog-388952.html We spent a lovely ten days at Windward Farm near Governor's Bay south of Christchurch. The MahyStowell's quickly became our surrogate NZ family More later.... http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Banks-Peninsula/blog-376544.html After we left Christchurch we spent two days in Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula before heading to our first WWOOFing site. More history later... http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Akaroa/blog-376537.html We've made it to the Antipodes and now get to wax nostalgic about the days when we had to carry everything on our backs. Now we have our own little pack mule our first elephant our golden gorse crusher ERAWAN More Kiwi info and pics soon as soon as we get some down time right now we're felling wattle trees and getting used to life in a family of seven http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-371471.html Our last day on Ko Tao we hired a longtail boat with our friend Fiona to explore snorkeling sites around the island. Unfortunately we didn't have an underwater camera but our trusty page the internets machine helped us round up photos of just some of the different types of fish and coral that we saw Off to Ko Phayam a kangarooshaped bit of land nearing Burma's waters and our last island... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Tao/blog-365049.html Photos from Ko Tao our latest island adventure http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Tao/blog-364500.html We took an overnight sleeper bus from Vientiane to Pakse a dusty again town in Champasak a southern Lao province. A sleeper bus This was such a luxury albeit one that probably defies most modern safety regulations. Not that that's any different from most travel here. The bus had wide bed berths on either side. You climbed into bed under your provided blankets and pillows and snuggled in for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Tat-Lo/blog-357852.html We loved our time on Don Det one of the 4000 islands near the LaoCambodian border. We had little electricity but lots of time. Lots of puppies kittens children baby chicks buffalo calfs every form of life possible seemed to be hatching scurrying across sandy bike paths only roads on the islands and napping in the bushes underfoot. Saw roaring rapids and melted into hammocks. Played Sc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Don-Det/blog-357879.html No time to write about Angkor yet but here are some pictures http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-357892.html Christmas for us we were on Si Phan Don 4000 Islands on the ever widening Mekong for Xmas eve and we walked around past little Thai riverside restuarants filled with Westerners in Santa hats and shiny trimmings having piggie bbqs. We hung out with some drunk Thai and Japanese kids for a while who sold us some books. The next morning we got up surly and went to the tip of the island to board l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-357889.html After two full months on the move we are starting to experience serious travelersrsquo fatigue. When a purported fivehour boat ride turning into ten hours parked next to the open engine fumes no longer seems charming but simply migraineinducing when at the end of each day the dust which coats your clothing shoes and skin could house an entire termite colony when facing incessant swarm of t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-360654.html Irsquove always felt pity for people puking in public but it sure felt good. I felt a momentary pang of guilt regarding the negative publicity I was unleashing on the cafrsquos terrace but those potted ferns sang to me of bilious liberation and I didnrsquot care who saw. Half an hour later the cool tiles of the bathroom floor felt almost as delicious.The majority of our time in Vientiane http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-357824.html Long ago two great gourds grew at Meuang Thaeng now Dien Bien Phu Vietnam. As the gourds grew in size sounds could be heard from inside their thick rinds. Khun divine rulers pierced the skin of one of the gourds with a redhot poker and out of the charred hole poured the darkskinned Lao Thoeng Upland Lao. The khun employed a knife to slice a hole in the other gourd through which march http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-353570.html After a day of wandering around Luang Prabang we took an overgrown path at the end of the peninsula that led down to the Nam Khan Nam means water in Lao and Thai or river so saying the Nam Khan is like saying the Khan River. The mud on the banks was cracked like honeycomb and there was much activity on the river men and children on the opposite banks fishing with nets small boats chugging h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-353577.html We decided to come up for air for a bit from our torrid love affair with the river and venture further out into the countryside. We rented mountain bikes and bumped our way over gravelly potholed roads through beautiful karst scenery. We went to Tham Phu Kham a cave hollowed out of the limestone karst 1000s of years ago and met some travelers and cavephiles from Austin Texas who gave us some http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-353374.html Here's some photos from our two day voyage down the Mekong River from the ThaiLao border at Huay Xai to Luong Prabang Our boat was a rollicking overcrowded vessel full of goodnatured partiers. There was a young Dane playing Johnny Cash favorites to drunken applause people perched on rice bags car seats and cushions and amazing scenes of untouched jungle. We made some friends on this boat t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Ban-Houayxay/blog-353356.html