enroutetooz

After 7 weeks in Thailand the heat and the grubbiness were getting to us to be honest. Thailand is a great place and the people are really friendly but you definitely notice it is not as Western as many of our destinations. All that rubbish by the roadside really doesn't smell good in 35 dgrees C heat! We saw some interesting jobs on the internet and so decided to take a trip to Oz to check it out. In the end we took a mini bus to Hat Yai and then caught the train to Kuala Lumpur (overnight). The train was pretty good, this time we managed to get a private cabin, still only about £10 each with a drink and cake thrown in; bargain! We spent the day in KL, taking in the Petronas ... read more

Thailand “Land of Smiles” returns. After leaving Khao Sok we spent the rest of the day heading to Ranong - this time on a local bus where our belongings were safe! The main reason for going was a ‘visa run’ to Myanmar as our 30 day tourist visa was soon to run out. The people we met in Ranong were totally friendly and we did a visa run with Pon’s Place who were amazing and really kind and helpful. The trip itself was about ½ hour in a longtail boat across the bay to Myanmar and back. It was a totally comical situation, loads of people doing the same. So there we were, on a little longtail boat crossing into Myanmar huddled under an umbrella to shield us from the sea spray! We got to the ... read more

From Bangkok we took a mini bus to Kanchanaburi site of the famous 'Bridge over the River Kwai' Another Thai travel experience, we were picked up from our Hotel (obviously expecting the mini bus to be outside!) then had to follow the guy for about 20 min, with our backpacks in about 30c heat whilst he did a tour of all the guest houses to pick everyone up. Eventually everyone was loaded in, with all the luggage and we set off. After about 30 min., we had left Bangkok and were on the highway when all of a sudden the driver turned round. Next thing we know we end up right back where we started to "pick up one more!" Only in Thailand would this happen, 11 people kept waiting to pick up and a young ... read more

Yet another wildlife experience, of course in Thailand it had to be elephants. Elephants are working animals here, originating with the Karen hill tribes in the North of Thailand near the border with Burma. Originally used for logging, this is now illegal so the elephants are used for hill trekking and unfortunately some are used as performing animals. We decided to visit the Elephant Nature Park which has been set up by a Thai woman ‘Lek’ in order to rescue elephants. Some of the elephants there have had very traumatic experiences including one that has half a foot missing because it stepped on a landmine. The elephants are allowed to roam free during the day and visitors can help feed them and bathe them in the river. It was a really great experience to be so ... read more

We eventually left the chaos of Bangkok and took the overnight train to Chiang Mai. We slept second class air con bunks (for about £10 each). The service was pretty good with a meal served to you seat (150 baht, about £2 each for soup, curry, chicken stir fry, rice and pineapple). Chiang Mai is much more laid back and has a more Burmese influence. We noticed this in the produce in the markets which were hill tribe handicrafts. There are several hill tribes in the area around Chiang Mai and you can do overnight treks to the villages. There are also lots of elephant trekking etc. Chiang Mai is also well known for cooking schools (more about this later) and massage spas (mmmmmmm). ... read more