Saffas, Luke and Natalie, set off for a 6 month tour of South East Asia. The planned route: Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and maybe, just maybe, Borneo for good measure
We spent a couple of days in Vang Vieng where the highlight of our time had to be tubing down the river! There were swings and bars every 300 metres or so and much fun was had by all! The rain let up and we had a perfectly sunny day to boot! Unfortunately cameras were left at the hotel (for obvious reasons) so we have no photos! We pushed through to Vientiane by bus on Tuesday and, much to our relief, experienced none of the famous flat tyres that are par for the course in Laos! Vientiane does not quite have the charm of Luang Prabang, but none the less is a nice place to visit. We have spent a few days walking around visiting its temples and imitation "Arc du triomph" (spelling?)... read more
Phonsavan, Plain of Jars. We left Luang Prabang and headed on down to a little dusty town where, scattered in the surrounding highland hills, lie huge jars that where carved from heavy stone boulders and somehow dragged to these sites and left to rest on these evergreen grassy hill sides. It is amazing that these jars survived the Vietnamese / American war, as over 2 million tons of ordinance was dropped on Loas during this time - more than what was dropped on Germany and Japan in WWII - and most of the world never knew, go figure. We took these sites in with a few other couples: Irish, American and British. The day was one of interest and wonder as we were transported from site to site in our super swift van. Locals always know ... read more
Loas - the Asian country that has been least explored by tourists, or so we are told. We hit the land of Loas on the 18th of July. This meant crossing the border at Chiang Kong (Thailand) to Huay Xai, on the Loas side. This was done in pelting rain, so fun was had by all. Once on the other side of the mighty Mekong River, the tourists are all shoved into a slow boat, a very long and un-water-tight vessel that boasts really hard seats, to be shipped down the muddy Mekong to a small town called Luang Prabang. On the way to Luang Prabang, however, we had an overnight stop at a small town called Pak Beng. Nats and I checked into our room and took in the veiw of the Mekong as it ... read more
After Chris said her good-byes, and we wished her well on her merry way back to SA, we decided to see a little more of the North of Thialand. Just South of Chiang Mai you find a great little town called Lampang. We decided to head down for a night or two to take in the sights - meaning temples - as well as visit the local elephant sanctuary. It was a great way to waste a bit of time before we cross over into Laos, and enjoyable as we were lucky enought to spend a night in an amazing guest house just off the river. Nats and I hired a bike and set off to the Elephant Sanctuary, some 30 odd Km's away. Upon arrival we were treated to an elephant bath, and then on ... read more
Pai, a beautiful little town set against the back drop of pristine lush mountains, rushing streams and a people that are all smiles. Nowhere in Thailand have we been where the climate is so favourable, the food so cheap, the accomadation cheaper and the views stretch on forever. Pai is one of Thailands jewels, and lucky for us, the town suits us just fine. Whilst we have been here we have taken to motor bikes, as it is a much easier way to get around town and the surrounding hillside. Pai is also close to Burma, so this gives us a small taste of what we would expect if we were to ever visit the place. Please remeber the photos will not capture Pai, not even close.... read more
The photos we have attached are of one of the surrounding temples in Chiang Mai, the two day hike we did as well as some interesting festivals. There have been huge celebrations for the King's 60th anniversary of his accenssion to the throne...one of the photos depict the Thai's en masse march to celebrate this day- they walk all the way to the local Chiang Mai palace.... read more
We said sad good-byes to the beautiful beaches of Thailand and finally headed north. Chiang Mai was our first stop. We booked ourselves onto one of the you-have-to-do-this-when-you-are-in-Chiang-Mai cooking courses and wowed ourselves by making (and eating) spring rolls, green curry, chicken with basil leaves, green papaya salad, pad thai and fried banana and toffee icecream! We had to be rolled back to the hotels for an afternoon nap so that our stomachs could recover...but it was well worth it! We toured around the town and visited many wats...maybe too many wats...but its all good.... read more
We took a day trip from Bangkok up to Kanchanaburi to have a look at the famous bridge over the River Kwai. We made a stop at the war rememberance garden where soldiers from both sides were buried. It was quite an emotional place to visit. We also caught a train ride, lucky enough we caught it with a school outing, which was loads of fun, thai kids everywhere. The train ride over we headed on over to a local water fall to take in the sights.... read more
We finally arrived in Phi Phi and were surprised to find that there is still much that needs repair after the tsunami (which was almost 18 months ago). Some of the stories and pictures we saw of the island from that time are truly frightening. None the less, Phi Phi is still a beautiful and vibey place to go. We all put our newly aquired diving skills to good use!!!... read more
We left the east side of Thailand behind and headed off to Krabi arriving on the 13th of June. Krabi is found on the West coast and this coast line is made up of beautiful Karsts and forests. We took a day trip to some of the smaller islands/karsts and really enjoyed the day. ... read more