Mandy goes somewhere different

This will be my final blog - I am writing it from my parent's house in Swansea, where I have been getting pampered while getting over the jetlag. Anyway, we were just about to head over the Thai border at Chiang Kong... Very straight forward this time - I don't even think they did more than glance at my picture. We are all completely exhausted after the boat ride and are looking forward to returning to land-based travel. Some of the group are staying in Chiang Mai, so this is our last night together as a group. Our hotel is nice - my room is a bit odd, its right next to the store cupboard and I feel like I'm sleeping in there! We head straight out for dinner as soon as we've checked in and ... read more

Arrival in Laos and a new bus is boarded, our driver is of the non-smiling concentrate on the road type - which is fine by me because the roads are littered with obstacles. Other than the motorbikes and cyclists that enjoy using the entire width of the road until a friendly toot moves them back to their side, they are laden with all sorts… pigs, chickens, huge boxes and one even had a wardrobe balanced on the steering wheel! As we drive along there are tens of thousands of butterflies fluttering by - all pale yellow and quite beautiful. Not so beautiful are the signs outside cafes advertising the sale of dog… it’s an expensive meat here and only eaten on special occasions. Stock is transported over the Vietnam border and we were lucky not to ... read more

At 6pm I am sitting in the lobby of the Royal Palace hotel and there are lots of people milling around. There are two GAP tours departing tomorrow morning and our tour is rounded up by our tour leader, Derek. There are 15 of us and 2 leaders Derek and Dyap (excuse the spelling, I never saw it written down) who is in training, is Thai and is friends with Wasa! The group is a mixed bag of couples and solos. Alex and Annica are from Manchester, Rory and Katie are from Southampton, Andrea and Martin are Austrian. The singles are Anna, Gussie, Vicky, Chris, Alexa, Abby, Theresa and Johnny. All are Brits except Abby who is Australian, Alexa who is American and Johnny who is from Hong Kong. After filling in the necessary forms and ... read more

Air conditioned - 24hr internet cafe... so here goes! The phuket part of my trip was incorporated into my itinerary to give me some down time between tours. My hotel is very luxurious and on arrival I am greeted with a cold drink and a refreshing hand towel - very nice. After catching up on sleep and having a lazy evening in front of the TV, I head out in the morning and collect a bunch of leaflets from the many tour operators along the main strip. I book myself on 3 trips and allow myself alternate days at the pool. Well, don't want to over-exert myself! Day 1 - Pool day... I sit in the sun, I swim and I read my book. The Beach, Alex Garland. Day 2 - James Bond Island... 7.20am start ... read more

Sorry guys, I've been having too much fun to write... Anyway, I was getting on the train to Bangkok. The train station was busy and it had an air of expectancy about it. On board the sleeper bunks hadn't been made up - I had been alocated a baottom bunk - which was said ti be darker, warmer and most definitely the preferred option - last time I was on a top bunk I could't get down! The train was delayed for an hour so we had some extra time to buy snacks from the dtation shop and get settled in. We played cards and chatted and soon the train was moving. It was dark when we stoppped at stations along the way - they seems remote , although in truth they probably weren't. The stewards ... read more

So.... getting into Thailand! The passport officer was sooooooo serious - I felt guilty just standing in the queue! He certainly took his duties very seriously - for each person he spent a good 5 mins checking and re-checking the information. looking at the photo.. then us... then the photo... then us - its a weird feeling trying to look as much like yourself as you can! Eventually we all made it through and then it was just a few more hours on the bus to Surat Thani. We stayed there for 1 night before heading to Koh Samui in the morning. It was a small place with not a lot to see or do - we had dinner in the hotel restaurant and all headed to bed early. We were all looking forward to the ... read more

Helloooo, Aren't you lucky that where I am staying in Phuket is rubbish and I am happy to spend hours at a time in internet cafes. Honestly its not the Thailand I got to know and love on my trip so far... anyway... back to Malaysia. The bus journey from Singapore to Melaka, our first stop is long - 6 hours. It was broken up by the immigration necessities getting on and off buses and toilet stops and the bus is comfortable - a bit like National Express without the in-seat service! Our arrival in Melaka conincides with the clouds getting heavy and just as soon as we are checked in and are settled having some lunch in a local restaurant the heavens open and stay that way for the rest of the day. lunch was ... read more

Thanks for being patient... I've been having so much fun, the thought of sitting in an internet cafe for more than 15mins was just too much to bear. I understand that I have a duty to all you avid readers to forsake an hour or two of sunbathing and let you in on my Asian adventures... so sit back and if you're reading this on the tube (Louise) I recommend you try and move from under someone's armpit... you won't be able to hold your breath long enough! The flight from Hamilton to Bangkok was pretty mundane - I sat in one place - then it was time to move and sat somewhere else. This pretty much continued all day, not exactly enthralling reading and absolutely nothing at all interesting happened en route... except that my ... read more

Sorry about that - it took me a while to find a stable connection. Had to go to Malaysia! Anyway - this is what I've been up to: After a few hours watching the surfers, swimmers and posers doing their thing on Bondi, I headed up to the promenade to grab some late lunch. I ordered mussels and fries in 'Nicks' which overlooks the beach. The idylic setting and gorgeous food was offset by a 'band' sitting behind me. No idea who they were, but they quite clearly felt that they were 'somebody' - all they did was yap yap yap about how great they were and told 'top that' stories. Clues to their identity don't add up to much - American, $20 a night tickets and maybe had an album called 'The Circle' which they ... read more