http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/dephil13/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from dephil13 en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 09:37:54 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 09:37:54 +0000 21st November 2009 Chiang MaiSeems that there are many variations of how to spell English versions of Thai names here Saturday we took a tour to see the elephants up country. The tour guide said her name was ... something I could'nt understand.... but she said Call me Miss Bo pronounced boo and call the driver...... Mr driver.....OKWe chose this tour because it did NOT go to visit a hill http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-455009.html Chiang Mai 19th to 23rd November 2009Took a flight from Bali to Bangkok then straight on to Chiang Mai arriving at 8.30pm. AirAsia is a great airline and the prices are amazing but the food is ...... something else. Sadly we had prebooked and even more sadly paid for a cooked meal on both legs of the journey We would say no more except that we have another to look forward to on the way home http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-454373.html Bali 6th November 2009Having 'done' Myanmar David decided to look at where AirAsia fly to from Bangkok. Bali came up as ridiculously cheap so we just had to go. Added to which Ann wanted to be somewhere exotic for her 60th so Bali seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Overnighted at the very comfortable if strangely named Great Residency airport hotel at Bangkok we arrived in Bali to yet another h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Sanur/blog-453001.html Yangon 2nd Time Around. 3rd Nov 2009Flew back to Yangon we now know you pronounce it Yango from Bagan. Plane landed at Mandalay Heho and then Yangon. Average flight times 25mins each Bit like a bus really. At Heho everyone got off except us and a monk then it filled up again. Yangon International airport is very new and plush but the domestic terminal is something else Like a rugby s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Yangon/blog-452994.html Bagan....30th October 2009We had a bit of an adventure leaving Mandalay. The taxi we paid 13 for turned out to be a shared taxi which should have been half that price That wasn't too much of a problem but the taxi driver left us alone in the taxi for 20 mins while he went somewhere turned out he was collecting the 3rd person we were sharing with. Now the problem was that we had 35 mins to mak http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Bagan/blog-450618.html Mandalay hellip.28th October Arrived in Mandalay on Sunday. Peacock Lodge very nice thought the room is a bit basic and old fashioned. The owners Chitsu and Tun are very nice and all the staff friendly and helpful. Unfortunately for us anyway the place is quite away away from any sites so we have to take a blue taxi to go anywhere. They do have a resident driver here called Sein. I don't know http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Mandalay/blog-448830.html Nyaungshwe ..hellip..Inle Lake hellip.Myanmar 21102009Wednesday we flew from Yangon to HeHo by Yangon Air. First time we have been in an 80 seater but everything went smoothly.... we even had cakes and coffee on board Took a taxi for the 45min journey to Nyaungshwe which is the main town on Inle Lake. If you don't stay here you can stay at a hotel resort on the lake and be stranded there http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Burma/Inle-Lake/blog-448826.html Yangon Myanmar 19th Oct 2009Hotel Classique Inn is true to it's name a classical house in a very nice area called Golden Valley Rd. Somewhat out of the town but in amongst some beautiful houses hotels and art galleries. The area probably reflects Yangon in that it is a mix of old dilapidation and stunning wealth. Having left our hotel in Bangkok at 4am yesterday had a few hours sleep when we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-447200.html BANGKOK. Hot and steamyBangkok is much as we left busy hot full of traffic and people only this time it is very humid too. This time we are staying in Banglamphoo which is the old town area near the river We have a really nice hotel called the Navalai River Resort and really spookily it is right next to the river boat pier where we got off last year when we went looking for the Khoasan Rd. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-445735.html 10102009 BirminghamWe left our home in Spain last Thursday to begin our next epic adventure ie our trip to Thailand Burma or Myanmar as it is properly namedand Bali. Once again we are flashpacking around SE Asia as part of our Gap Year for Oldies. We didn't have the opportunity to do it when we were young so now we are retired we plan on seeing as much of the world while we still can. Ho http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-443781.html Allepey to Kochi...................10th to 12th NovemberCaught the public bus from Allepey to Kochi. Fast and FuriousArrived at Le Royale to discover that what we had booked was a magnificent mansion Talk about from the sublime to the ridiculous or vice versa actually. It was a really beautiful house. There was a guard at the gate house a cook and a houseboy to look after us and one other http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-346261.html Kollam Kerala ................34th November 2008Took a morning train from Ernakulum Town Kochi to Kollam proper name Quilon which is midsouth of Kerala. It took a good hour to get off the island of Fort Kochi due to the heavy traffic but still arrived in plenty of time for the train. This had come down from Bangalore so there were lots of people who had slept in the bunks before we got on. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-344488.html Bundi to Kerala ............. 30th OctoberTook a car from Bundi to Jaipur at 6.30pm so that we could catch the 12.50am to Delhi. We had heard that road travel at night was not for the faint hearted and so it proved. Not only did our driver have to contend with overtaking the many lorries on the road but also we had to run the gauntlet of teenagers letting off small sticks of TNT otherwise known http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-341045.html Chittorgarh Bassi and Beyond 26th October 2008251008 Our last night at Udaipur was spent cooking with Shashi in her humble but spotlessly clean kitchen just below the Sunrise Rooftop Restaurant at 18 Gangaur Ghat Rd www.shashicookingclassesblogspot.com. Foolishly we had a snack at 4.00pm because you get to try to eat the food that you cook and there was a tonWe made masala http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-340530.html Udaipur 21102008Have I mentioned..... masala chai .... masala omelettes.... banana pancakes........ Indian eagles....... the stink of urine and open sewers........ speed bumps in the road that are enough to break your axle as well as your back.....throat clearing and spitting........squirrels that look like little chipmonks......cow dung...... Having hired a taxi to get us to Ranakp http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Udaipur/blog-337984.html Ranakpur 2010008 With hindsight we probably spent a day too long in Jodhpur and by the end the dirt and the incessant noise was getting us both down. Also once you had seen the major sights in a couple of hours there wasn't that much to do so we were glad when our taxi arrived to take us on to Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur. We started the journey on a major road then turned off onto what can http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Ranakpur/blog-336950.html Jodhpur 16102008 Took the 4.00pm train to Jodhpur which was on the platform when we arrived and left on timeSat next to a very nice Spanish couple from Majorca. They were travelling all over India in 3 weeks. From Nepal to Kerala They were meant to go to Srinagarh but were advised against so they went to Kerala for 3 days instead Leide had a sister who worked at the Spanish Em http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-336377.html Jaisalmer 13th to 16th October 2008Caught the overnight sleeper from Bikaner to Jaisalmer. Once again delayed by 1 hour. This meant we didn't leave til 12.30am. The platform was full of people sitting on the floor waiting and the usual collection of helpful people and serial starers A nice lady brought her daughter over to us obviously to practise her English and later she http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-334622.html Bikaner Rajasthan 10th to 12th October 2008Today we moved on to Bikaner which is probably the nearest we get to the Pakistan border 100k away. The desert to the north is now a restricted area.Met 'Henry' our fellow guest at the Vinayak Guest House at dinner tonight. He is from New York and is researching genetics at the Centre for Reseach on Camels which we are visiting tomorrow. Going to get a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Bikaner/blog-333968.html Apani Dhani Nawalghar 7102008We decided to treat ourselves to a taxi ride to Nawalgarh from Jaipur. These backpacks do seem a lot heavier than when we came and I have only bought a pair of sunglasses so far. The journey was really pleasant once we had cleared Jaipur and a major crossroads town called Chomu. It was really nice to see the countryside and people working in the fields etc. I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Nawalgarh/blog-333125.html