A Long Old Trek

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Sorry it's been a while since we last wrote on our blog but lots has been happening so bear with us or just amuse yourselves with the photos!

We spent three days in the Jungle in Northern Thailand with 8 others. We spent the days trekking through the Jungle and at night we stayed in wooden huts in small villages and were looked after by the locals sampling their local delicacies.
The trekking wasn't too challenging but it was extremely hot and hilly! We got to see some fantastic waterfalls along with some amazing views, it wasn't quite like the jungle book (no bears or snakes etc) as I had expected but we both enjoyed immensely.
We had a really good group of people from different countries, backgrounds and classes but everyone gelled really well which just added to the experience!

We came across some weird and wonderful insects and creatures, but I think I slept next to the weirdest of them all at night!
We had decided that it would be a great idea to eat cloves of garlic to keep the mosquitoes away......... but all it did was make us smelly and we still got bitten. So that myth isn’t true.........

We trekked past a school on one of the days and stopped there for a break, not knowing it was just in time for the kids lunch break too and sooner than you could blink there was a serious football match commencing. Andi and the jungle crew verses the 6 year old boys...who I have to say were extremely good!!!!! I will let Andi talk in more depth about this as I won't be able to capture how he really felt about it but he thoroughly enjoyed it!!!

The last day was definitely the best. We trekked in the morning then spent an hour elephant riding, which was just amazing; I even got to ride on its head!!!! From there we went rafting on bamboo down a river, it ended up a huge water fight and we were all soaked apart from Andi (guess who was splashing the water!) He soon got his come upence when he pushed from a tree and ended up in the river (he he)!

Oh....Andi also found a huge cliff to jump from into a pool of water, hoping that the other guys would follow him so I wouldn't have to. Silly me....I ended up on the top of the cliff and after a fair few minutes deciding whether to jump to my death (35 ft) I was dragged off the top by Andi holding onto my wrist!!!!

Anyway I will let you view the photos of the trek for yourselves!

The night we got back from the trek ended up a late one or should I say half past six in the morning it finished and we had booked a cooking course......the last thing we wanted to do at nine in the morning was stand in a hot kitchen and eat lots of food.
It was good though; we learnt how to make some traditional dishes and got to eat them..and survived. We were definitely ready to go by three though absolutely stuffed and needing some sleep!!!

From there we travelled across to Laos where Andi will go from.
Sorry it’s a quick run through but I don’t want to make this too long for you to read.

Take care

Lesley



Hey Everyone, a long one but please read on, I promise it's worth it!

It's been a real mixture of a week for us, stressful but rewarding and ultimately the most exciting!

As Lesley has already mentioned the football was fantastic! Made all the better because this wasn't something the tours usually get to do, this was illustrated by the fact that I was the only one really interested until JJ (our guide) pulled the rest of the guys off of the benches to play!
These little kids were great and not at all scared to hack us to death, to be fair though, they were also a country mile better than any of our team were at their age! And when you take into account they played in bare feet on a clay pitch, it was quite an experience, thouroughly enjoyable and I really didn't want to stop. That was the football! It was brilliant, something I never dreamed of doing and will stay with me forever (no I didn't nick their football, I mean the experience!)

First test of the week was negotiating the border crossing between Thailand and Laos.
Now, to a novice this would seem a pretty simple task, bearing in mind they are only separated by the Mekong River. No. No, no, no...

Despite the fact that this is crossed hundreds of times a day by thousands of people a year, they've made crossing the border at this border an art form! It's ridiculous, it's boring so I won't go into it, trust me though, it's far from a frisk at Hanover airport or a passport query in Calais, not only do they take your passport for the "policeman" to look at, you also have to pay an "overtime" rate for him to do it because it's Saturday!

So what do a sweaty stressed out Man and a shining Lady need after that? To be shoved onto a boat with a load of Chavs of course! A two day boat ride (yes two whole days on the slowest boat on earth!) was in store for us next and it wasn't magical or spiritual it was pooh, ok! It was the worst transport I've ever been in, there was people have to sit in the engine room, not me; I'm not that stupid, but there simply was not enough space and to boot there was a huge group of drunken city Chav travellers, or Chavellers as I call them, looking for the next bar or beer outlet!

Finally the pain was at an end and the tide turned as we got to Luang Prabang, easily the nicest city we've been to so far!
On the first day we visited an amazing golden temple situated on the top of a hill in the centre of the city (the Capital of Laos until the Communist Revolution) which was quite stunning.
We soaked up the atmosphere and headed down again.
Now for those of you who thought Buddhist Monks were the last people on Earth who really knew how to act properly, I have some bad news. They don't. Not only did we see one riding an old French Gattling gun, we were also greeted by Brother Flabby Monk, whose man boob was hanging out of his robe as he smoked a fat one..

Nothing though could prepare us for what we were about to see..

After a couple of days of tuk tuk drivers (little minicab things named after the sound of the engine) telling us about some waterfalls we decided to give them a go. After being let down by all of the Thai delights, we didn't expect much..
After passing a reserve for endangered Bears and a rescued Tiger we came to the most spectacular sight I have ever witnessed! It was as if the trees parted and they said Here you go guys! Enjoy this, you deserve it and with not one Chaveller in sight either!
I can't quite explain just how amazing this place was and even if I could, I still wouldn't do it justice! It was simply incredible and those of you who know me know that words don't often elude me! Pools of crystal clear, turquoise water cascading into a seemingly never ending amount of Lagoons, with over hanging palms and vines, with jumps and the refreshing cool water to boot, this is the closest place you will ever come to paradise, absolutely no joke!
No-one came to any of the Lagoons that Lesley, myself and Richard (a really sound guy we met on the Trek) went to, they were virtually private!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH it was AMAZING! Everything your mind can imagine and more, that's not an exaggeration!
I don't know if this shaky internet connection will let us download any photo's, I know, I know, how typical! But we promise we'll find a way if it doesn't work out, just check the Gallery icon to check if we made it or not!

So we left Luang Prabang the next day (today) and travelled down to Vientiane to meet some friends, the bus driver must have literally been smoking crack as he drove, along cliff faces with 1,000ft drops, on his phone in the rain... Because could barely keep up with our
game of chess! (joke)

We got here in one piece and tomorrow we hope to hit the Vientiane district Lagoons, could be a let down but so far Laos has delivered where Thailand spectacularly failed!

I hope you've enjoyed this one, keep your messages and comments coming, they really do make our day!
Thanks for reading!

We miss you all but don't want to come home yet!

Take care

ANDI

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Comments

[Lauren Gray]

VERY Jealous
Hi guys, sounds like your having a fantastic time! Keep the travel blogs and the pictures coming - I love reading them! Everything is same as usual here. Miss ya loads! Lots of Love Lauren xxx

[Mum and Dad]

WOW
Hi Lesley and Andi. So nice to see your photo's,and here what you have been doing, you sound like you are having a great time,what an experience for both of you,something to always remember and tell your Grandchildren.The photos on the computer have come out really well,and we are sure Andi's family have enjoyed seeing them to. It's so much better than having to wait for a boring old postcard.When Hannah and Paris come around we will show them as well. Paris will enjoy seeing you both. Paris had her sports day yesterday and it poured of rain when they had just got the games under way, Paris had only run one race,and it had to be stopped due to bad weather.It was a shame because they held it again this morning but me and Hannah had to go to work,so she had no one there to watch her.Not much going on here ,no water falls or lagoons for us to swim in,not even much sunshine.Look forward to seeing some more of your photos.Take care of yourselfs. Love as always. Mum and Dad xxxxxx