Houay Xai, Pak Beng, Luang Prabang Jason & Kirstyn O After an amazing time on the Gibbon experience we had to come back down to Earth (excuse the pun) and spent a day in Houay Xai, mainly because Kirstyn had to continue her tour of South East Asias hospitals! Our original plan was for Kirstyn to cross back over to Thailand and get the shot there, but the border official made life difficult and insisted on keeping her passport or otherwise stamping out and paying to get back in! Luckily some local "falang" who we had seen [View Full Entry]

---

---

We made it across the border, with no problems after Kirstyn's second hospital experience post monkey attack for another vaccine shot! Very relaxed border crossing, although this was our very first. We did however have some dramas trying to get enough cash (especially the US dollars - the banks didn't want to part with small denominations) for the next few weeks as Laos apparently has no ATM's except Vientiane. All this aside we arrived in Houay Xai a bit after lunch and attempted to find the Gibbon Experience in the hottest part of the day carrying all our gear! Unfortunately [View Full Entry]

---

---

Chaing Mai to Golden Triangle Jason & Kirstyn O Left Chiang Mai behind and headed north to the region known as the Golden Triangle (the Golden Triangle Encompasses several countries....a rich opium growing region well known for a history of opium smoking and production). First night we spent in Chiang Rai. Great markets and had a lovely feast on street eats. The next day we caught the local bus up to Mae Sai....a lovely little town on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. Stayed in a guest house overlooking the river and M [View Full Entry]

---

---

Pai back to Chiang Mai Arrived in Chiang Mai in time for the beginning of Songkram...the crazy celebration of Thai New Year which involves seven days of water fighting! Found a lovely Guest House to stay at which was not charging special Songkram prices... Asia Guest House...highly recommended as a nice place to stay and feel at home. Luckily we found a nice place to stay as Kirstyn quickly developed a very unwelcome stomach bug that rendered her house bound (or tiolet bound) for the next three days! Jason did a great job of running to 7-11 to get water [View Full Entry]

---

---

Phitsunalok to Pai Jason & Kirstyn O Patience is a virtue was surely tested on our trip from Phitsanoluk to Chiang Mai. We decided to go 3rd class (aka cattle class) which involved hard plastic seats, no a/c and packed to the rafters with people. But hey it was cheap (65B each!) and we got there eventually, although 2 hrs late and 8 1/2 hrs later and the only foreigners stupid enough to do it. Found a small guesthouse with a concrete bed and the day was done. We booked a VIP mini-bus (I wonder why?) to Pai for the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Pak Chong to Phitsunalok/Sukhothai Jason & Kirstyn O After a great stay at Pak Chong it was time to brave the public transport system again, this time across and up to Phitsanoluk. While not that far in distance, it did take us all day to get there on our bus which was totally crowded but thankfully it had a/c (sort of) and we got seats. Found a great hotel which was cheap and had a TV (what luxury). Phitsanoluk was suprisingly a really nice place. It had a great night market which was very peaceful, not too touristy and a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ayutthaya to Pak Chong/Khao Yai National Park Jason & Kirstyn O Took another local train...this time with a lovely two hour delay at a small village while we waited for the oncoming train to come through. Not happy to sit in the heat but very happy that we didn't have to meet that train further down on the single track! Stayed at a great little Guest House in Pak Chong called Wildlife Safari which is run by a local family. Decided to take a tour into the National Park as we were not quite sure what to expect and we [View Full Entry]

---

---

Kanchanburi to Ayutthaya Jason & Kirstyn O Caught the local train from Kanchanaburi back to Bangkok then on to Ayutthaya. Thought we were going to get away with it cheaply but were charged the 'Foreigner' special price of 100B for our ticket out of Kanchanaburi. Locals pay only 25B!!! Decided that from here on in when we are charged more for being foreign we will just call it our little donation to a beautiful country! A long day of travelling on trains but a great way to see the scenery as the trains tend to bypass the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Spent three days out in Kanchanaburi which is a little town situated on the River Kwai. Stayed at a lovely little Guesthouse on the River which had floating raft rooms. From Kanchanburi you can explore the surrounding national parks as well as look at parts of the Death Railway which was built by POWs and slave labour (Burmese, Siamese etc) during WWII. Walked over the Bridge on the River Kwai made famous by the movie (we even watched the movie for the first time at a local pub....although the movie is apparently quite a grand embellishment on the true history!). Visited [View Full Entry]

---

---

Australia to Bangkok Jason & Kirstyn O We arrived in Bangkok in the early hours of Saturday morning...had booked one night at Suk 11 Guesthouse in Sukhumvit and crossed our fingers that we would be able to find our room key when we got there at 2am. All worked out fine and our first night staying in air-con with lovely sleep-in was great! The next few days were spent exploring Bangkok, getting used to sights and smells and traffic+++. Enjoyed wandering around the streets and even trying different tastes from both restaur [View Full Entry]

---

---