Travelwash - Gordon and Sue Hall

Why Travelwash? It's our own soap...there will be a new story each time but with the same main characters.
The story so far...
It is funny how life sometimes takes a hand in sorting out your plans. My name is Gordon and my wife Sue and I were convinced we would go travelling before we had children. We were then certain we would take them with us. The kids left home, we sold the house, we were going to move to France and rebuild a barn but that could take up a lot of time. So I bought Sue a book called 1000 places to see before you die which sounds a bit final so we are going to see how many places we can visit and work in whilst we still have some spring in our step!!

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Joined on: September 19th 2008
Last Login: November 2nd 2009

Blog Entries: 39
Photos: 476

TB Code: [blogger=92469]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Travelwash, order by Date newest first.

By Travelwash
August 4th 2009

A ship without a sail Europe » France » Centre » Tours

After a brief visit to England to pick up our camper van we are now working in France. It occurred to me that our journey was similar to an old time voyage and that is where the idea of "The ship without a sail" was born. A SHIP WITHOUT A SAIL Gather round me hearties while a story i'll regale Bout a daring voyage a motley crew and a ship without a sail Twas the end of last September when Jack and Jill set to Gordon the Grey a pirate and his first mate Saucy Sue In the garb of simple [View Full Entry]

By Travelwash
April 22nd 2009

Moon Song Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Ko Pha-Ngan

Night fishing
Art from a shaky hand

Well it's April and the end of the journey is in sight. Met up with George and Sadie, then Steve but Jonno suffered a delayed flight and couldn't join us for the bus/boat to Koh Phangan. However with a bit of help from Robert he was on the island not long after us! When you step off the ferry at Thon Sala you are surrounded by leaflet wielding promoters trying to sell you a room, it seemed that the area around Haad Rin was booked up so we chose to stay at Haad Yao. After rejecting 2 rooms we ambled off [View Full Entry]

By Travelwash
April 13th 2009

Wat...on earth? Part Two Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap

Angkor Wat
Classic view

We left early the next day and headed by bus to Siem Reap and the ancient remnants of the former Khmer empire at Angkor Wat. When we got off the bus we were met by a tuk tuk driver who drove us to our hotel and then negotiated a deal to be our transport around the temples for the next 3 days. Siem Reap is a small clean town on the banks of a river. It is tourist orientated and you can be forgiven for forgetting exactly where you are in the evenings when the bars are busy and foreigners occupy [View Full Entry]

By Travelwash
April 9th 2009

Wat...on earth? Part One Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh

Balanced diet
Cambodia street seller

We left Ho Chi Minh City at 9.00 am for the 6 hour coach ride to Pnomh Pen in Cambodia; daylight hours allowing us to watch the countryside unroll outside the bus window. The landscape is flat with patchwork fields of rice and a host of other crops in shades of brown and green. Random groups of buildings of wood or brick construction appear, cattle, pigs and chickens scratch and snuffle around as farmers wifes and children play or laze in hammocks away from the heat of the sun. Whilst the landscape remains the same as you drive into Cambodia the [View Full Entry]

By Travelwash
April 9th 2009

Good Morning Vietnam! Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Hoi An

Scents and colours
Incense sellers stall

It was raining when we left Vang Viang that lunchtime, the weather gave a physical attribute to the dampened spirits we experienced leaving George behind. The Gods contrived to spoil our best laid plans meaning we were rushed into (or onto in my case) a tuk tuk to meet our bus before the alloted time, as soon as we arrived at the travel agents office, and before I had a chance to pick up some US dollars to smooth our passage from Laos to Vietnam. I was left hanging onto the back of the tuk tuk complete with rucksack for the [View Full Entry]

By Travelwash
March 26th 2009

Laos Riders Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang

Laos lady
Waiting for the boat

In Thailand everything is negotiable we had haggled for books, food, clothes and we haggled with the tuk tuk driver to take us to the station, it is all good natured fun. Our train was due to leave at 10 p m we arrived in good time and trooped along to the platform to find the train waiting and empty. We were immediately befriended by Tony an effeminate Railway waiter who minced off with our bags, showed us to our seats and took our drinks order including “one for me?” before sashaying off to get them. It is fair to say [View Full Entry]

By Travelwash
March 16th 2009

Patt Trang Bang Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Trang

Cityscape
Reflections of Bangkok

I think this is the 4th or 5th time we have landed in Bangkok. You feel more at home after so many alien airports and landscapes. We changed spare Singapore and Malaysian currency into Baht checked the exchange rate at around 50 to the £ about 30% less than 4 years ago and looked for the cheapest ticket into town. The air conditioned airport bus is only 150 Baht so we clambered aboard and after 45 minutes were deposited a short walk from the top of Koahsan road (police station end!). Despite my optimism we found most hotels either full or [View Full Entry]

By Travelwash
March 6th 2009

Some enchanted island Asia » Malaysia » Pahang » Pulau Tioman

Boat rope
Just liked it!

Everyone in India has moustaches it seemed to me it's just that the men make more of a spectacle of them. Consequently, when we arrived in Goa I let my face hair grow until I settled on a natural bushy top lip and a semi Brazilian bottom lip. As time progressed I found that the length allowed me to twist the ends at the corners of my mouth achieving a kind of Salvador Dali effect. Sue didn;t like it and when George first saw me she laughed but I soldiered on. With no forward travel booked we arrived in Singapore early [View Full Entry]

By Travelwash
February 27th 2009

A taste of Tamil temples Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Pondicherry

Palace domed ceiling
Beautifully restored

We arrived in Madurai at 6 in the morning tired and moody, We found a room at the second attempt, on the 3rd floor of a hotel that had seen better days, it had a double bed with an extra mattress squeezed on to the floor beside it, we dumped our gear and fell asleep. Sue woke us at 2.00, which after a second check turned out to be 11.00 and we set off to see the Meenakshi temple, unfortunately it is shrouded in bamboo scaffolding and woven palm leaf panels while remedial work is completed and will not be revealed [View Full Entry]

By Travelwash
February 27th 2009

A tate of Tamil temples 2 Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Mamallapuram

Fable freize
Ornate rock carvings

Pondicherry when we arrived was quite different again to the other towns visited on this leg of the trip, the riksha drivers tried to charge well over the going rate and there seemed to be more people begging. The Park House hotel belongs to the Sri Aurobindo Society the body formed to run the Auroville project. Our room and the hotel proved to be an oasis of calm by the sea after haggling and battling our way there. The hotel is run by the Ashram and has well kept lawned grounds you are encouraged to walk barefoot upon; the room was [View Full Entry]

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