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Published: September 25th 2009
So much to say, hope you don't fall asleep........................
KRABBI - BANGKOK
After leaving the girls in Phi Phi, it was weird thinking about traveling alone as since arriving in Asia I had been lucky and met so many people. I arrived at the bus stop after the ferry from Phi Phi and need not have worried as I instantly started talking to a German girl traveling to Bangkok also, this conversation started over a request for toilet paper!!........ Anyway, we were on the same bus and ended up getting shoved into the lower part of the bus (double decker) which seemed like a great place at first as it was more of a VIP lounge area but didn't have individual seats, more of a couch. It only occurred to us that it may be a problem when about 8 other people got shoved in there and as it was an overnight bus journey, not very comfortable for any of us. There were legs and arms all over the place and I hardly slept, p[lus we were next to the toilet so you can imagine the smell. We got to Bangkok early - about 5.30am, just in time
Bangkok
Tuc Tuc?????to see some Bangkok lady boys coming back through Koh San Road. By this point we had joined forces with another German girl and had decided to all get a tuk tuk to the train station to see about our onward journeys (they were both going to Chang Mai) - I was going to the Laos border. We all decided to get night trains to save on accommodation!!! This was great, however meant another 15 hours in Bangkok after no sleep. It didn’t take long though to wake up after being in the hustle and bustle of the city. I must admit, I am not enamored with Bangkok and will try to venture a bit further out the city when I visit again!!!! My best find was a Boots (the chemist), which I was amazed about. It was all the English brands and exact layout of Boots at home, without the Meal Deals unfortunately!!!
BANGKOK - VIENTIENNE (LAOS)
The train to Nong Khai (Thai border) was fab, I loved the train, probably because I paid for a sleeper, which meant I had a bed. I think I deserved that after over 24hrs of no sleep!!! The journey was
Bangkok
Best hawker Stall ever - The Best Iced Coffee in Bangkok another 12 hours and I arrived in Nong Khai at about 9am. I slept really well and had a comfortable bed and some goodies I bought at the station as well as a new book so I was perfectly happy and slept most of the journey. Crossing the border was fine, although cost about 30quid for the Laos Visa!!! I got the bus into Vientiane and found a guest house - Siri 2. This was out of the Lonely Planet guide book and it wasn’t the best I have to admit but it was so hot walking around with my backpack and I was on my own so decided to just stay put. I didn’t feel comfortable here and I think Joe got bitten by bed bugs I have later found out here so I was glad we were only there for one night. I spent that afternoon wandering around and waiting for Joe. He was traveling up from Vietnam - his bus journey was 22hours!!!! He arrived about 5pm and it was great to see a familiar face. Some of his old school friends had also arranged to be in Vientiane. It was Joes birthday and we all arranged
to go out for dinner. He was 21, bless! We ate in a fantastic French restaurant after having a glass of bubbly to celebrate in Camille and Ella's room. It was two floors and we sat out on the open veranda having an lovely dinner, we all had steak (best meal for a long time). We even had a firework show - there was lots of lightening and it was a great spot to watch it. I think this was one of my highlights of my trip, it was just quite an amazing place to sit and eat.
The next day we decided to catch the bus to Veng Vieng, it is a small town and is famous for the river activities and Tubing. We were surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery but Veng Vieng town wasn’t at all a pretty place - apart from the river. We sat by the river at the Sunset bar for a while in hammocks contemplating whether to all try Magic Mushroom shakes, we had to move on as they had run out. We searched a few other places and it seemed they all had a “Happy Menu”. We decided to share 2
Bangkok
Waiting for the train shakes between 4 of us. It wasn’t pleasant and it didn’t do a thing. Joe decided to have another on his own, a decision he was later to regret!!!! It didn’t seem to affect him that evening but during the night and the next day he was feeling very strange......he felt dizzy, nauseous and as if his body didn't fit his skin, oh and there was a pink moon too!!! As a result he stayed in bed the next day and I went tubing with Camilla and Ella.
TUBING??? I will explain for everyone who has no clue what I'm talking about...............
Vang Vieng is all about the Tubing and so we HAD to take part!!! It is basically floating down the river (Nam Sohng) in a tyre inner tube which you rent for about 5 quid. Then it was just you, the tube and the river. There are quite strong rapids and it can be quite dangerous. Basically there are bars dotted all along the river and people through out rubber rings or empty plastic bottles on ropes to pull you in, then you are in a bar a bar full of lots of other people getting
pissed and having lots of fun, jumping into the river on rope/zip swings or big slides. It really is good. There are lots of mud pools too to roll about in, however I had enough of mud at the V festival last year so I stayed away from this area!!!. It was utter madness. I realized how regulated and protected life is at home and in general in Western countries. It really is difficult and requires a certain amount of stupidity to hurt yourself or do something stupid. Rules, organizations, and people are constantly telling you what to do and pressuring you to comply.. Here it was truly unsupervised and unregulated. Partly why it was so fun of course!! However, tubing back to end in the dark after a few drinks wasn’t fun, it was very very scary!!!
A couple of days after we left Veng Vieng, rumors quickly spread about am Irish guy who was tubing the same day as us. He was found washed up on the river bank the next day. Apparently he wasn’t a good swimmer and was too drunk to swim anyway. Very sad as he was with his wife and friends who were searching
Vientiene
Joe's 21st for him during the night. A sad note, I suppose this is why we have such standards in the UK and countries alike. HmmMMmm.
BUS JOURNEY TO LUANG PRABANG
I left Joe in Veng Vieng for him to go tubing and headed to Luang Prabang on my own (I was getting adventurous!!). The bus journey was absolutely amazing and I saw some of the most beautiful, green lush scenery I have ever seen. The journey was over 5 hours and was actually a bit scary, we were travelling quite fast up these mountains and there were no barriers, all we had was a very very loud horn that was honked when going round corners!!! There were a few near misses with some other coaches and motorbikes!!! It was great to see the little villages at the side of the road that we came across every half hour or so. You could see them washing in the streams or outside showering as we went past. Children playing, women mending clothes. Leading a very simple life in a very beautiful place, although obviously very poor, it made me realise how much we over complicate our own lives. By this time
Vientiene
Joe's 21st I had got talking to a girl from Washington called Beth, we ended up sharing a tuc tuc to a guest house she had been recommended - Muonglao Guest House and cut a long story short ended up sharing a room which was quite random but saved some money so what the hell. That evening we were invited to join a birthday party of one of the girls who worked at the guest house, they cooked us food, gave us beer and whisky too!! Joe turned up the next night after his tubing experience!!!
Luang Prabang was great, it had a really nice vibe to the place, we had a great room and free internet so we were happy. We took a trip to a beautiful Waterfall, shopped at the night market and ate at the vegetarian buffet (30p) every night. There were quite a few other tourists here but it was still holding on to its own identity and was unpolluted by Western culture. it really does qualify to be the most photogenic city in SE Asia and I hope to visit again.
LUANG PRABANG - CHANG MAI
An overnight bus journey to Chang Mai from Luang
Vientiene
Joe's 21st Prabang must be the worst bus journey ever, it took us about 17 hours. The roads were absolutely terrible, there had been floods and we nearly got stuck quite a few times. I remember we spent about 1 hr actually just trying to avoid massive potholes in the road (if you can call it that). We stopped at a small village for food about half though the journey only to find it was a choice of fried rats / stir fried frogs / chickens feet / worms. We opted for fresh cooked fried vegetables and pringles!!!! It was never ending but eventually we reached the border and then it was another 4 hours until we reached Chang Mai. After an internet stop and a smoothies in what is now our resident chill out place we found a great guest house / hotel called The Green Tulip. It is amazingly clean and we get breakfast and free internet / air conditioning for about 4.50 each a night - oh and we also have a balcony in our room and a rooftop terrace. No pool unfortunately but you can't have it all I suppose.
I had hoped to do some elephant
Vientiene
Joe's 21st trekking or visit an elephant sanctuary here but it worked out very expensive so we went to the Night Safari (not as good as Singapore) although they did have an excellent musical fountain show. I also did a Thai Cooking Course yesterday (Thursday) with Scenic Kitchen which was brilliant. I have never really been a fan of Thai food but I am now after being here so long. I learnt to cook Pad Thai, Spring Rolls, Red Curry Green Curry and my favorite - Panang Curry (red curry with peanuts). We also cooked sticky rice in coconut milk with Mango which sounds weird but is really a taste sensation. I promise you all a Thai Feast when I get back so I will send a list of the required ingredients and the deal will be that I will cook as I will have no money to buy them ha ha!!!!
We are having a chilled out day today (Friday) and then leaving tomorrow for the South Coast of Thailand for a few days at the beach before Joe goes off and becomes a Ninja!!
11 WEEKS TILL I'M HOME !!!!..............Hope you're all missing me xxxx
PS. I
Vientiene
Joe's 21st am now up to date on the blog front. Phew!!
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Louby Lou
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I am still here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hey babe, sorry not spoke to you in a while. Have no internet connection in the house yet, am checking the blogs at work (my lunchtime reading) but it's been really mad so not been able to post any messages. Your time in Asia sounds brilliant, I only wish that I could have travelled to Laos and that way. But I know what you mean about Bangkok, although after a while I loved the crazyness of it! The house is coming along, the new bathroom is in and we had to fork out over a grand for a new boiler. It's not upto changing room standards yet but just love the fact that it's all ours. So you coming home for good at Xmas or is it only a flying visit? And of course we're missing you babe.