Well time has come to face up to the fact that the dream is over and real life has to take over again. Lots of questions remain unanswered but even more have been answered. Life all of a sudden becomes more real and seems to make a hell of a lot more sense. Things seem to be put in to perspective. Don't know what I am talking about? Try taking a period of time out of normal every day life and take a step in to the big scary old world and you may start to comprehend where I am coming [View Full Entry]

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As some of you may know we are now home. .......or at least back in the UK. We had a fantastic trip, but we did cut it short. We decided to come home as I was home sick and had had enough of being part of this machine that is tourism.... I became very jaded with the whole thing and needed to come home and feel more grounded. Living out of a suitcase for 6 months is hard work and when you are a family of 4 it's even harder..... To say it is intense is an understatment. I dont know [View Full Entry]

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As Russ said before as we landed Ellie said it looked like we were back in New Zealand. Laos is like all the best bits of New Zealand and Bali all in one. The people are the most welcoming we have experienced, they bend over backwards to make you happy. and the land it's self is beautiful. As we flew into Luang Prabang we spotted little settlements on the top of the mountains. Little clearings of mud huts, with long winding tracks going on forever. A lot of people have said there is a lot of logging going on, but we [View Full Entry]

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When we walked across the runway from the plane Ellies first comment was "It's just like New Zealand but warmer" The flight from Vientiane was short and sweet in another turbo prop. The views of the little mountain villages were fantastic. We had bought some warm coats in Vientiane, due to the cold weather there and expecting it to be a bit cooler in the evening in the mountains. Shame really cos it was shorts and t-shirts all bar our last da there. We got to the hotel and then went for a walk. Getting lost was all part of the [View Full Entry]

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Well we arrived and Ellie's first comment was that at least its not to hot. The following two days it rained solidly. That's a bit of an exageration but it was cold and very drizzly. It reminded us of England!!!! Not a lot to report really except that we found the place a little dull with not a lot to see or do. Went to the museum for a few hours, which was quite an eye opener. Laos is the most bombed country in the world. It has had a very turbulent history and struggled long and hard for its independence. [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Bangkok, got ripped off for a taxi ride to the train station via the hospital. I queued for a ticket for the train to Ayutthaya and paid a total of 60 baht for the four of us. There is approx 62 baht to the pound. When the guy gave me the tickets he said that we needed to be quick as the train was going to leave in 1 minute. So off we go at high speed, well as fast as you can with 40 kg’s strapped to your back, to the platform, only to watch the train [View Full Entry]

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We completely wore ourselves out seeing Angkor Wat. So we didn’t get up so early the next day. Mr. Sith came to get us at about 9.00 and we went off to see Preah Khan which is one of the furthest Temples on the royal circuit (as they call it). Preah Khan is a huge sprawling complex that was once a Buddhist University. With over 1000 monks in it’s walls. It goes on and on and some of the carving and stone work are amazing. Some of the buildings have fallen down but again there is a lot of reconstruction going [View Full Entry]

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The temples were amazing but, as Chloe mentioned, very hard work. Boy it was hot, which makes traipsing around really tiring. And the hawkers just don’t seem to get that fact that people get really pissed off with them and consequently don’t buy anything. A couple of times we saw people get hassled to buy cold water and then go to the one stall holder which wasn’t shouting. It doesn’t matter how much you tell them they just don’t seem to get it!!! It is quite amusing the first time you are surrounded by kids asking where you are from and [View Full Entry]

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Well I thought Angkor Wat/Thom needed there very own Blog…. If nothing else to get al the pics on… Or at least some of them as we took over 200 photos of Angkor Wat alone…. Not mentioning any of the other temples… We arrived in Siem Reap and was met at the airport by who would become our trusty Tuk tuk driver for the next 5 days. Russ has already Blogged about our escapades on the quads so I wont repeat him… but it was lots of fun…. ;) We arranged to go to go to Angkor Wat next morning as [View Full Entry]

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Well it took us the entire time that we were in Phnom Penh to get our heads around the place. I am not a city boy at heart so found it difficult but also very interesting and entertaining. The temples fantastic. The palace is something else, the architecture is wonderful but it is an oasis of opulence in a desert of poverty. The day before our leaving we had to convince the girls to take their malaria tablets. If it was me watching and not doing it would have been hysterical. It was almost a scene from a sitcom. The amount [View Full Entry]

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