Friday, November 26, 2004
Aussie Bureaucracy
Phill: Sydney, 24/11 to 3/12 - So, just when we thought we'd done all the hard bits, we just had the Road Traffic Authority (RTA) to deal with. We'd bought a New South Wales (NSW) car, so getting it changed into our name here in NSW should be a doddle. Oh no, no way at all! Get this - to own a car in NSW, you need proof that you live in NSW. So, despite the fact that Ren has Autralian Residency, and that we have a mailing address in Queensland, Oz (thanks to Ren's sister's extended family), we still can't own a car. They also would accept Ren's passport, bankcard and Australian Visa as proof of identity - but because her American passport only has an official name-change stamped into it, they would only register the car in the name of Voran. It was one of those "I'm sorry madam, but I have to copy the details from this page, and this page only"-moments. Other choice quotes included "We don't recognise the USA's authority to change your name", and "That Australian Visa was issued in Perth, Western Australia, and we don't recognise them here in NSW". Classic!
So, to save you the long version, they were happier for us to register the car in a false name, and to a false address than to use a little common sense. So, if anyone's looking for us - our official residential address is a plot, on a camping site, in Lane Cove National Park!
So, to save you the long version, they were happier for us to register the car in a false name, and to a false address than to use a little common sense. So, if anyone's looking for us - our official residential address is a plot, on a camping site, in Lane Cove National Park!
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Small World
Phill: Sydney, 23/11 to 02/12 - So, after many administrative tasks we finally get to wander around Sydney and do a bit of sight-seeing. It was a beautiful blue-sky day, so I got some great photo's of the Opera House as we took our own walking tour of the city and all in all had a great time, it really is a gorgeous city (well, the centre is, at least). I'd just been telling Ren that I used to know a guy that worked in Sydney, but that I'd lost contact with him about 5 or 6 years ago, and that I was pretty sure he was back in the UK by now. Later that day, we got lost looking for a camping store, and were wandering along the street when a voice calls out "Excuse me, is your name Phill?". I turned around, and sure enough, my old-friend Dugald is standing there looking remarkably unchanged. He had only moved back to Sydney a month before, after trying to live in the UK for 18 months, was only on that street because the pedestrian crossings had led him that way on his homeward walk, and was only there at that time of day because he's left work early because their container of belongings had arrived from Britain that day. You know, sometimes you just get that feeling that there's no such thing as coincidence... it was spooky, but very cool. So we swapped phone numbers and later arranged to meet up over the weekend, so we could meet his wife, and
It was bliss to wake up after an undisturbed night in a comfy bed in a proper house for a change - even if I did have a huge "where the heck am I?" moment when I first opened my eyes (awakened by the hilarious sound of Thomas singing!). Dug and Linda kindly let us just hang-out while they did a bit of unpacking, and later we went for a really good breakfast at their local cafe. Aussies do a really good line in cafe-eating... and the eggs benedict and museli yoghurt was once again superb.
The time had come to say goodbye, so the guys dropped us at the shopping-mall, where we checked out some camping gear before heading back into the city. Another beautiful day led us on a pleasant detour around the botanical gardens which I wouldn't advise if you have a fear of bats, because there are swarms of flying foxes there (bats about a foot long), but I don't, so they were lovely. We finished the evening with a long awaited trip to a proper cinema to see "Hero".
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
New Country, New Blog Style
Phill: 23/11 - Well, we made it out to Australia, which I've discovered isn't techinically on the opposite side of the world to Britain - so all those tunnels we dug as kids would actually have come out in the Pacific Ocean somewhere. The Thai airlines flight had good food, drink, and service, but only having one shared movie-screen - the view of which was blocked by a man with the biggest head in the world - left something to be desired. Oh, and if anyone asks what could be worse that having a hyperactive kid sat in front of you, tell them: "Hyperactive, undisciplined twin-kids in front of you".
Reaching Western society again was something of a shock - and made us realise how affected we'd become by our travels. Firstly, everything is really expensive. I know someone out there (Owen) that would agree with me when I say that hotels really are ridiculously over-priced when all that you want is a bed and a toilet. We also were berating ourselves for falling for a taxi-scam at the airport when someone told us that there was no airport-express bus anymore and we believed them. It was days of us being annoyed at our own "travel-naiveity" before we found out that he was telling the truth. We also discovered that staying at the heart of backpacker-central means that you stay in the Sydney equivalent of all the bad parts of Soho and Peckham combined. The place is called King's Cross, and it's not unlike the one in London - let's just say that within 12 hours of arriving, I'd seen 3 people talking loudly and openly to themselves in public.
The other difference that we discovered, is that unlike our previous travels, each day here wasn't going to be filled with interesting tales. A seemingly simple trip to the shops was just that, and this means that we'll be making differently styled blog entries from now on. They'll be more town/event/subject based, rather than like a daily diary - shouldn't affect anyone, but I just thought I'd mention it.
Reaching Western society again was something of a shock - and made us realise how affected we'd become by our travels. Firstly, everything is really expensive. I know someone out there (Owen) that would agree with me when I say that hotels really are ridiculously over-priced when all that you want is a bed and a toilet. We also were berating ourselves for falling for a taxi-scam at the airport when someone told us that there was no airport-express bus anymore and we believed them. It was days of us being annoyed at our own "travel-naiveity" before we found out that he was telling the truth. We also discovered that staying at the heart of backpacker-central means that you stay in the Sydney equivalent of all the bad parts of Soho and Peckham combined. The place is called King's Cross, and it's not unlike the one in London - let's just say that within 12 hours of arriving, I'd seen 3 people talking loudly and openly to themselves in public.
The other difference that we discovered, is that unlike our previous travels, each day here wasn't going to be filled with interesting tales. A seemingly simple trip to the shops was just that, and this means that we'll be making differently styled blog entries from now on. They'll be more town/event/subject based, rather than like a daily diary - shouldn't affect anyone, but I just thought I'd mention it.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Phuket Town
Phill: 21/11 - We awoke to a shocking hangover and we both pretty sunburnt - how unusual on a transfer-day! After getting ready, and realising that we'd lost Ren's watch in the previous night's swim, we took our boat trip around to Phuket. As usual, every tuk-tuk driver was trying to rip us off to varying degrees. It took us ages of wandering in the noon-day sun to find any decent accommodation - not what you need when you're dehydrated, but it paid-off as we found somewhere for a good price that was lovely enough for us to just hang out, watch TV and recover all day. After another impossible to find LP restaurant recommendation, we eventually ate a nice meal, caught up with emails and crashed out.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
First Ever Snorkelling
Phill: 20/11 - So, we figured that Jill was a posh-packer too, and that it's a lot better to hire a boat and driver for the day than it is to get on board one of these large-group tours that run. It's the same price but you get to say where you go and for how long. To spread the cost a little, we wandered around the restaurant at breakfast, seeing who else was interested. We only managed to find one other - an Aussie bloke called Simon - but that was enough for us, so we hired a boat, some snorkelling gear and after a bit of a wait for our new compadre, we set off. We had a simply amazing day - pulling up to other islands, snorkelling our way into the beach, walking the beach a little and then snorkelling back. Anyone that has ever been snorkelling over coral that's just below the surface will know just how amazingly colourful and alive it all is down there. I was completely awestruck. Highlights included Monkey Beach, snorkelling in Maya Bay (where the film "The Beach" was shot), a peaceful lagoon, some amazingly clear water and great coral, Viking Cave and sitting amongst a school of fish that were jumping out of the water in droves around us. The only real low point was the litter in the water in overcrowded places (Maya bay in particular), oh and "The Beach" itself is pretty ordinary. We finished our trip with a lap of Phi Phi Don island, to see the whole of where we were staying followed by some sunset beers.
A great day like this should only end in a few ways - this one ended with us going out for some food, followed by loads of drinks at the Tiger bay, which was selling reasonably priced buckets of Vodka Red Bull and lot of dancing. After all that exertion, we had to cool off with a brief 3am swim before passing out upside-down on the bed with half our clothes still on.
A great day like this should only end in a few ways - this one ended with us going out for some food, followed by loads of drinks at the Tiger bay, which was selling reasonably priced buckets of Vodka Red Bull and lot of dancing. After all that exertion, we had to cool off with a brief 3am swim before passing out upside-down on the bed with half our clothes still on.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Relaxing With The Hippies
Phill: 19/11 - Sure enough Jill was waiting in reception for a room to become available at our resort, so we made arrangements to meet her for dinner, and spent a wonderful day on the beach. Sure, we did some research on the prices of boat trips, and on where to go, etc... but really we just relaxed in the most beautiful place that we'd been in Thailand. Of the places we went, it'd still be our recommendation I think. We were a little late down to our rendezvous, because there was this awful (but strangely compelling) movie called "Who Wants to Marry Ryan Banks?" on the TV - which incidentally is the first time I've seen Jason Priestly do anything since Beverly Hills 90276534251, or whatever is was called!
That evening, Jill wanted to meet up with some guys she'd been kayaking with, so we walked around to Hippies Bar at the other end of the island. It was a pretty cool place, with good food, and an impressive seafood BBQ on the go. They had a fire-show on that night, including acrobatics and some magic too - which meant that there was a huge crowd of people on the beach (and the obligatory half-moon party). Jill didn't stand a chance of meeting up with anyone in that crowd, but the shows were very professional and impressive, so we just had a cool evening by ourselves.
That evening, Jill wanted to meet up with some guys she'd been kayaking with, so we walked around to Hippies Bar at the other end of the island. It was a pretty cool place, with good food, and an impressive seafood BBQ on the go. They had a fire-show on that night, including acrobatics and some magic too - which meant that there was a huge crowd of people on the beach (and the obligatory half-moon party). Jill didn't stand a chance of meeting up with anyone in that crowd, but the shows were very professional and impressive, so we just had a cool evening by ourselves.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
"Phi" is for Paradise
Phill: 18/11 - So, the time had come for us to leave Krabi, and a huge bus came around to pick us up - I say "bus", but of course I mean huge open back truck with benches. We got to the boat, and it's one of the little long-tail boats that took us out to Rai Ley beach the other day... it's a sure sign that we'd been in SE-Asia too long when we both shrugged and resigned ourselves to a choppy and much longer boat ride than expected. For a change, we were wrong - the boats just transfer you out to the deeper water where a proper air-con ferry is waiting... amazing!
Not long after, we arrived at Ko Phi Phi - which luckily we'd been warned looks fairly ugly on the dock-facing side, and as soon as we got off, we headed straight for the opposite side of the island (a ~500 metre walk). In usual Thai fashion, we were harassed to take about 20 people's lodgings, but we pushed on. One guy in particular followed us for quite a long time, and nothing seemed to shake him, until I snapped. "I've already told you, in polite Thai that we don't need accomodation, so how come you haven't understood?" I asked him bluntly. He just kind of looked at us for a second, the huffed like it was our fault, and went back to harass someone else. Well, at least he left.
The other side of the island is lovely - it's bloomin' expensive (which means 4 times the usual rate - $40 for an air-con ensuite double 30 metres from the beach, but PP Charlie's resort was just too idyllic to miss. We met an Jill, an American girl that was looking a little bit lost, so we helped out, and when she saw where we were staying she said she was going to leave her place and come back there after the first night! We settled into what you do in any paradise - nothing! - and grabbed some lunhc, walked the majority of the pedestrian-accesible island and it's beaches, before a bad TV-movie and dinner. The bay is huge, beautiful and shallow, and I think the resorts must force the hawkers away, because on that side of the island, no-one sells you anything. Verrrrrry relaxing! Later that night, we finally got to watch "Supersize Me" a documentary movie that we'd been itching to see since we'd heard about it - it was really good, and should be enough to put most people off ever eating McDonald's with any frequency.
Not long after, we arrived at Ko Phi Phi - which luckily we'd been warned looks fairly ugly on the dock-facing side, and as soon as we got off, we headed straight for the opposite side of the island (a ~500 metre walk). In usual Thai fashion, we were harassed to take about 20 people's lodgings, but we pushed on. One guy in particular followed us for quite a long time, and nothing seemed to shake him, until I snapped. "I've already told you, in polite Thai that we don't need accomodation, so how come you haven't understood?" I asked him bluntly. He just kind of looked at us for a second, the huffed like it was our fault, and went back to harass someone else. Well, at least he left.
The other side of the island is lovely - it's bloomin' expensive (which means 4 times the usual rate - $40 for an air-con ensuite double 30 metres from the beach, but PP Charlie's resort was just too idyllic to miss. We met an Jill, an American girl that was looking a little bit lost, so we helped out, and when she saw where we were staying she said she was going to leave her place and come back there after the first night! We settled into what you do in any paradise - nothing! - and grabbed some lunhc, walked the majority of the pedestrian-accesible island and it's beaches, before a bad TV-movie and dinner. The bay is huge, beautiful and shallow, and I think the resorts must force the hawkers away, because on that side of the island, no-one sells you anything. Verrrrrry relaxing! Later that night, we finally got to watch "Supersize Me" a documentary movie that we'd been itching to see since we'd heard about it - it was really good, and should be enough to put most people off ever eating McDonald's with any frequency.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
In the village, the Jungle Village, the Renee sleeps tonight
Phill: 14/11 to 16/11 - Ren was pretty darn ill by this stage, both with flu and a stomach upset, so not a lot went on over these few days. Niels drove me to a pharmacy, with a little guided tour of Ao Nang, and we ate several delicious meals at JV (his Thai wife is a chef). The pool was gorgeous, and open all day and night, and the internet access was cheap and sufficient - it really was like staying at a "resort". Once Ren was feeling a bit better, we took a boat over to Rai Ley - a beach on the mainland that can only be reached by boat, and spent the day there and on the surrounding beaches. It was a scorcher of a day, and there are a lot more people on short breaks in Southern Thailand, meaning it was so painful watching all these very white people frying themselves red in the space of 20 minutes! Some people never learn I guess. We finished the night off with a few drinks and a couple of games of pool at JV's free pool table. What a cool place - check it out here if you like.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Serendipity
Phill: 13/11 - Sometimes you just have a lovely string of luck don't you? I think it's just all the good Karma we've got coming from being too honest, but hey, let's not brag, eh? We had a bit of a lie-in, which was badly needed, especially as Ren still wasn't feeling well. We checked out, and as we walked out to lunch, we bumped into Jenny and Jez that we met about a month ago in Vietnam (Blog Entry). They were on their way to our hotel to see if they could catch us before we checked out, but had set off a bit late, so it was pretty lucky that we bumped into them. We had lunch and swapped tales before saying goodbye as we had to get online to try and book accomodation for that night (not fancying traipsing around in the dark with our packs). We couldn't find anything online, but we did bump into Chelsa and Shaina, giving us a last chance to get their email addresses - so that was fortuitous too.
So we picked a place at random out of the Lonely Planet, and rang them to book a room - but something had got messed up in the LP, and the number they printed was actually for a place called Jungle Village. The guy sounded pretty nice (like telling us about the mis-print for starters) and even though the place was quite a way from the beach, the price was right and we figured it was just for a night anyway. We'd booked the taxi to the airport through our hotel - and instead of a cramped mini-van, it was a luxury air-con taxi-van that was bliss. I'm not sure what's going on with flights these days, but all of ours seem to run late - which is no fun when you've got a very short connection time in Bangkok. Turned out nice though, as it meant we had no wait-time in BKK, and just got straight on the plane to Krabi. The owner of Jungle Village (JV), was an easy to spot Danish fellow called Niels, and the lift from the airport to JV in his enourmous 4x4 was really lovely - not least because he told us so much stuff about the area of Krabi.
When we got to JV, we couldn't believe our luck - the place is an absolute oasis of calm in the craziness of SE-Asia. It's in a gorgeous setting, and feels like a 5-star resort with it's immaculate lawns, gorgeously lit pool and palm trees, and a wide-open bar and restaurant - where Niels gave us a complimentary welcome juice. He then showed us to the "little" bungalow that we booked - and it was by no means little. It had enough room for a full-size fridge (with mini-bar at supermarket prices), a nice corner-sofa, a silent air-con unit, really nice furniture and furnishings and a lovely, huge bed. We couldn't have been luckier - it was just what we needed.
So we picked a place at random out of the Lonely Planet, and rang them to book a room - but something had got messed up in the LP, and the number they printed was actually for a place called Jungle Village. The guy sounded pretty nice (like telling us about the mis-print for starters) and even though the place was quite a way from the beach, the price was right and we figured it was just for a night anyway. We'd booked the taxi to the airport through our hotel - and instead of a cramped mini-van, it was a luxury air-con taxi-van that was bliss. I'm not sure what's going on with flights these days, but all of ours seem to run late - which is no fun when you've got a very short connection time in Bangkok. Turned out nice though, as it meant we had no wait-time in BKK, and just got straight on the plane to Krabi. The owner of Jungle Village (JV), was an easy to spot Danish fellow called Niels, and the lift from the airport to JV in his enourmous 4x4 was really lovely - not least because he told us so much stuff about the area of Krabi.
When we got to JV, we couldn't believe our luck - the place is an absolute oasis of calm in the craziness of SE-Asia. It's in a gorgeous setting, and feels like a 5-star resort with it's immaculate lawns, gorgeously lit pool and palm trees, and a wide-open bar and restaurant - where Niels gave us a complimentary welcome juice. He then showed us to the "little" bungalow that we booked - and it was by no means little. It had enough room for a full-size fridge (with mini-bar at supermarket prices), a nice corner-sofa, a silent air-con unit, really nice furniture and furnishings and a lovely, huge bed. We couldn't have been luckier - it was just what we needed.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Wats Cooking
Phill: 11/11 - We were up early-ish to do our cooking course. This began with our group (of around 16) taking a trip out to the markets to see what the ingredients look like before they're chopped/peeled/etc. It was an interesting trip, with a few added highlights such as people eating grasshoppers, tasting smelling and feeling things, and grabbing a fresh passion-fruit juice drink (which was quite bitter, but different). The guys that ran the course were all really funny, and they've got their "show" down to a fine art. The day is superb fun, where you look at your cookbook, and they talk you through the ingredients and their proportions. Then they demostrate how to make the dish, then you each go to your own wok and make it, with them supervising. All the boring chopping and washing-up is done for you, so you only spend your time cooking and learning. It's a fantastic experience.
The first 5 courses you cook, you eat for lunch... and then while you're recovering they let you have a little time-out at the tables by teaching you how to carve some things out of vegetables. Then it's back over to cook the last three courses, which you get to take away with you in styrophome containers. We really can't recommend it enough, if you ever get the opportunity, do it - and we can vouch for "Gap's School of Thai Culinery Art".
With all of us that went (C&L, Paddy, plus us two) totally stuffed full to the brim, we skipped dinner, and went to the night market bazaar that is held in Chiang Mai. It's much better than most of the markets we've been to in SE-Asia, in that the selection of things is wider, and you don't get 3 stalls all in a row not just all selling T-shirts, but all selling the same T-shirts. Ren got some replacement sunglasses, we saw a lot of cool art, and went for a bit of ice-cream indulgence at Baskin Robbins. Ren had started to feel a bit ill (cold-like symptoms), and I was suffering from my ususal "country-change belly-upset", so we dashed back a bit early and crashed out.
The first 5 courses you cook, you eat for lunch... and then while you're recovering they let you have a little time-out at the tables by teaching you how to carve some things out of vegetables. Then it's back over to cook the last three courses, which you get to take away with you in styrophome containers. We really can't recommend it enough, if you ever get the opportunity, do it - and we can vouch for "Gap's School of Thai Culinery Art".
With all of us that went (C&L, Paddy, plus us two) totally stuffed full to the brim, we skipped dinner, and went to the night market bazaar that is held in Chiang Mai. It's much better than most of the markets we've been to in SE-Asia, in that the selection of things is wider, and you don't get 3 stalls all in a row not just all selling T-shirts, but all selling the same T-shirts. Ren got some replacement sunglasses, we saw a lot of cool art, and went for a bit of ice-cream indulgence at Baskin Robbins. Ren had started to feel a bit ill (cold-like symptoms), and I was suffering from my ususal "country-change belly-upset", so we dashed back a bit early and crashed out.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
The Last Big Temple Tour
Phill: 10/11 - Chiang Mai is famous for two things in particular - it has more than its fair share of temples, and it's one of the places known for cookery courses. This day, we did our temple tour - for a change planned by me, instead of Cam. Ren and I particularly enjoyed the temples here, there just seemed to be a lot going on, with stupa's and outer buildings and changes in style and other little "diplays" that kept it interesting. The best for us was Chedi Luang where we took a lot of photo's and spent a fair bit of time, because it was simply beautiful. Not to be outdone, there was a temple with it's own strange proverbs here - but they'd gone one better with "Today is better than two tomorrows". See, that showed those crazy optimists in Chiang Rai!
Along the way, we stopped at a place called something like "Organic Coffee Coffee Coffee" which did these amazing frappe drinks. Ren and I had to move our flights, so we all took a sawngthaew to Thai Airways, and ate a a great place next door called "The Amazing Sandwich" where you filled out a form with the bread, ingredients and all the seasonings you wanted, and out it came - excellent! After lunch we saw two more wats, which was for most of us one too many, before heading back to the hotel. All except Cam of course, who went to another 3 or 4 temples before he was done. The man is a machine, I tell you!
The guys were going for a massage, so I skipped the pain and went for a haircut. I figured that with the heat, I'd join Cam and Paddy in the "no hair" look and took a grade 1 - aaaah... that's better, been waiting for a haircut for weeks! The guys came back from their massage in high spirits, Cam had suggested that Ren let out a "Yahoo!" should she get her pectoral massage again - and although she didn't yell out, she had cause to do so - I wonder if they're just fascinated? We also met a guy called Stuart that we'd met before in Laos. He's a nice enough guy, but his cat's blacker, if you know that expression. If you don't, it's simpler to give examples of how whatever you do, he did something better - such as the temples in Chiang Mai being rubbish, or the speed-boats up the river not being noisy, or the place he's staying in being better than the place we're in (with pool and air-con) because it has good music and outdoor showers?!? You know the sort of person I mean?
Anyway... he was meeting up with Chelsa and Shaina, so that night all 11 of us went out to a slightly pricier restaurant called the Riverside, where the food was good (but not the best), but it's location overlooking the water was really attractive. After that most of us went on to a bar down the road that had some live bands on - Thai's doing mostly covers, but a few good numbers of their own, another tiring, but great day.
Along the way, we stopped at a place called something like "Organic Coffee Coffee Coffee" which did these amazing frappe drinks. Ren and I had to move our flights, so we all took a sawngthaew to Thai Airways, and ate a a great place next door called "The Amazing Sandwich" where you filled out a form with the bread, ingredients and all the seasonings you wanted, and out it came - excellent! After lunch we saw two more wats, which was for most of us one too many, before heading back to the hotel. All except Cam of course, who went to another 3 or 4 temples before he was done. The man is a machine, I tell you!
The guys were going for a massage, so I skipped the pain and went for a haircut. I figured that with the heat, I'd join Cam and Paddy in the "no hair" look and took a grade 1 - aaaah... that's better, been waiting for a haircut for weeks! The guys came back from their massage in high spirits, Cam had suggested that Ren let out a "Yahoo!" should she get her pectoral massage again - and although she didn't yell out, she had cause to do so - I wonder if they're just fascinated? We also met a guy called Stuart that we'd met before in Laos. He's a nice enough guy, but his cat's blacker, if you know that expression. If you don't, it's simpler to give examples of how whatever you do, he did something better - such as the temples in Chiang Mai being rubbish, or the speed-boats up the river not being noisy, or the place he's staying in being better than the place we're in (with pool and air-con) because it has good music and outdoor showers?!? You know the sort of person I mean?
Anyway... he was meeting up with Chelsa and Shaina, so that night all 11 of us went out to a slightly pricier restaurant called the Riverside, where the food was good (but not the best), but it's location overlooking the water was really attractive. After that most of us went on to a bar down the road that had some live bands on - Thai's doing mostly covers, but a few good numbers of their own, another tiring, but great day.
Monday, November 08, 2004
Right Chang-ed in Chiang Rai
Phill: 8/11 - The border crossing back to Thailand was crazy, as expected. The "ferry" is actually a collection of guys with long wooden boats that leave when they're full, and the border crossing is a single building by the roadside, which you could easily walk past. The harrassment didn't begin until about 2 seconds after we'd been stamped into the country, when the tuk-tuk drivers start harrassing you to take their tuk-tuk's to the bus station. Border-crossers are a bit of a captive market, so they bump the price up, and when we refused and decided to walk it (about 25 mins) - they started throwing around some pretty bad language.
Later with the help of the local nutcase (a guy who kept laughing like "ha-ha-ha-he-hello! Hahahahahaah!") we got to the local bus to Chiang Rai.
After finding some suitable accomodation, we got some food in a Thai place - excellent food, and very cheap, then we began our whirlwind tour of the town. This took in it's usual share of temples, with nothing amazing, and the most pathetically small clock tower - it was about my height! What did make the temples interesting was that at one of them there were signs with proverbs translated into English. Sometimes they made no sense, sometimes they made perfect sense - and sometimes they were just plain strange - such as "Today is better than tomorrow". I mean, what??? Very odd. I've taken pics of them which I'll post eventually.
One of the oddities for Thailand, was the presence of a large Christian church on a street corner. We'd intended to meet up with AM a bit later near the river for beers - but then we discovered that the "river" was actually just a dried-up muddy stream and that there weren't exactly going to be any "waterfront pubs"! So we grabbed AM, and found the nearest bar for a few Changs before heading to one of the Thai noodle-soup cafes. These places are cool - they have a big pan of piping-hot broth on the go, which they spoon into your bowl and add your choice of ingredients - fish cakes, dumpling, noodles, etc. These places are always jam-packed with locals, an impressive feat, considering each person only stays for about 15 mins. I just did my favourite trick of handing our bowls to the woman in charge and letting her choose for us. It was about a dollar each including drinks, and deliciously tasty, although I had a noodle accident that flicked dried-chili into my eye... unbelievably painful - one of the waitresses (bless her) dashed over with a glass of cold water and some serviettes.
We then ducked into a German bar for a few more drinks before bed, which turned into quite a few beers as we got talking to the owner Klauss and some random Autralian called Dan who managed to speak English using little more than vowels ("Aaawwoigh maaaaay', IIII'm Daaaaaan, ooooowaaaaa yooo?") - he might've been drunk, but Klauss (and his Thai wife) said he always talks like that. The girls said there was a bit of a "boys atmosphere" and turned in for the night, and they weren't wrong - before long we were arm-wrestling for free shots, shouting rubbish and singing at the top of our lungs to ZZ-Top and U2. Klauss locked up, played some more 80's rock, and kindly gave us a beer on the house before we stumbled home.
Later with the help of the local nutcase (a guy who kept laughing like "ha-ha-ha-he-hello! Hahahahahaah!") we got to the local bus to Chiang Rai.
After finding some suitable accomodation, we got some food in a Thai place - excellent food, and very cheap, then we began our whirlwind tour of the town. This took in it's usual share of temples, with nothing amazing, and the most pathetically small clock tower - it was about my height! What did make the temples interesting was that at one of them there were signs with proverbs translated into English. Sometimes they made no sense, sometimes they made perfect sense - and sometimes they were just plain strange - such as "Today is better than tomorrow". I mean, what??? Very odd. I've taken pics of them which I'll post eventually.
One of the oddities for Thailand, was the presence of a large Christian church on a street corner. We'd intended to meet up with AM a bit later near the river for beers - but then we discovered that the "river" was actually just a dried-up muddy stream and that there weren't exactly going to be any "waterfront pubs"! So we grabbed AM, and found the nearest bar for a few Changs before heading to one of the Thai noodle-soup cafes. These places are cool - they have a big pan of piping-hot broth on the go, which they spoon into your bowl and add your choice of ingredients - fish cakes, dumpling, noodles, etc. These places are always jam-packed with locals, an impressive feat, considering each person only stays for about 15 mins. I just did my favourite trick of handing our bowls to the woman in charge and letting her choose for us. It was about a dollar each including drinks, and deliciously tasty, although I had a noodle accident that flicked dried-chili into my eye... unbelievably painful - one of the waitresses (bless her) dashed over with a glass of cold water and some serviettes.
We then ducked into a German bar for a few more drinks before bed, which turned into quite a few beers as we got talking to the owner Klauss and some random Autralian called Dan who managed to speak English using little more than vowels ("Aaawwoigh maaaaay', IIII'm Daaaaaan, ooooowaaaaa yooo?") - he might've been drunk, but Klauss (and his Thai wife) said he always talks like that. The girls said there was a bit of a "boys atmosphere" and turned in for the night, and they weren't wrong - before long we were arm-wrestling for free shots, shouting rubbish and singing at the top of our lungs to ZZ-Top and U2. Klauss locked up, played some more 80's rock, and kindly gave us a beer on the house before we stumbled home.
The Totty Table 2
As another giggle, here is our current (joint-opinion) league table of women around the world:
1. (-) Russian
2. (-) Japanese
3. (*) Vietnam
4. (3) Thai
5. (4) Chinese
6. (*) Laos
7. (5) Cambodian
1. (-) Russian
2. (-) Japanese
3. (*) Vietnam
4. (3) Thai
5. (4) Chinese
6. (*) Laos
7. (5) Cambodian
The Lao/Laos Thing
Phill: 8/11 - Just a quick note on the disappearing "s" in the word Laos. The natives there spell is as "Lao", pronounced so that it rhymes with "how". When the French came along and colonised Lao, they couldn't bear to see a word spelled that way, and decided to add their silent "s" to the end (in French, you generally don't pronounce an "s" at the end of any word). This means that the spellings Lao and Laos are interchangable, but are pronounced the same. That's the end of today's Facts With Phill.
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Big Batch of Photo's
Hi all... those of you with keen eyesight may have noticed extra links appearing in the photo's section over there on the right sidebar. We've uploaded, resized, rotated, and captioned another few batches of pictures, namely:
Thailand(2) - Out time in Bangkok
Cambodia - Temples Angkor Wat, Royal Palace, Killing FIelds and S-21
Saigon (HCMC) - Cao Dai temple, Cu Chi Tunnels, War Remnants Museum
Dalat - All the sights of Dalat in one day
Central Highlands (1) - The first 2 days of our trip through the mountains
Central Highlands (2) - Kon Tum and the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Thailand(2) - Out time in Bangkok
Cambodia - Temples Angkor Wat, Royal Palace, Killing FIelds and S-21
Saigon (HCMC) - Cao Dai temple, Cu Chi Tunnels, War Remnants Museum
Dalat - All the sights of Dalat in one day
Central Highlands (1) - The first 2 days of our trip through the mountains
Central Highlands (2) - Kon Tum and the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Building Good Karma
Phill: 6/11 - We grabbed a take-away brekkie from everybody's favourite, and ran quickly up to the "Last Wat" from the previous night in the daylight. It was worth it - it was one of the most beautifully coloured and decorated ones in Laos. Soon after we went down to the boat-dock and bought our tickets for the trip (saving about 20% off the agency price!) which amazingly set off on time. It looked like it was going to be a pretty good trip as there was enough space for each of us to have 2 seats each, enough room to wander around, and even the toilet was surprisingly pleasant! For the next 9 hours, most people on that boat did a lot of reading. We talked a fair bit too, but every now and then you had to stop while one of the speedboats went past - they were so noisy, you could hear them before you could even see them on the horizon!
We made it (just) in time to the halfway point, a little place called Pak Baeng which was frankly rubbish. We'd been warned that the overpriced hotel nearest the boat dock was one of the only ones that wasn't rat-infested, so we gladly settled on $10/room for the night. We could probably have got away without paying at all though, because the owner was so drunk that we were surprised he was concious. It took Ren & I about 30 minutes of long hard sign-language to get him to take our money and give us a receipt. Our meal that night was ok, although it was another one of those "one wok" places it seems, as it took about 1.5 hours for the food to come. We continued our policy of building good karma though, by honestly pointing out that they'd left our beers off the bill. It shocks some people when you're that honest, but both Ren and I are just like that, but we also believe that to some extent, what goes around comes around - let's hope so, another day to spend on a boat yet!
We made it (just) in time to the halfway point, a little place called Pak Baeng which was frankly rubbish. We'd been warned that the overpriced hotel nearest the boat dock was one of the only ones that wasn't rat-infested, so we gladly settled on $10/room for the night. We could probably have got away without paying at all though, because the owner was so drunk that we were surprised he was concious. It took Ren & I about 30 minutes of long hard sign-language to get him to take our money and give us a receipt. Our meal that night was ok, although it was another one of those "one wok" places it seems, as it took about 1.5 hours for the food to come. We continued our policy of building good karma though, by honestly pointing out that they'd left our beers off the bill. It shocks some people when you're that honest, but both Ren and I are just like that, but we also believe that to some extent, what goes around comes around - let's hope so, another day to spend on a boat yet!
Friday, November 05, 2004
Nothing but Night Markets
Phill: 5/11 - We had a pretty quiet day following a lie-in and brunch, as most of us were pretty "toured out". That night others went to eat at the night-markets, but Leah, Ren & I didn't want even the slightest risk of a dodgy stomach on the boat for 9 hours, so we went and got a pizza. While we were near the markets we stocked up on the obligatory "Beer Laos" T-shirts before Cam tells us that he has one last wat for us to see. It turned out to be very cool, another one of Cam's little things we might've missed had he not been so hyperactive. Just to kill the last hour before bed, we stopped for some drinks outside a deserted convenience store.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
The Irish Rovers
Phill: 4/11 - We went to meet Paddy and AM for brekkie, and decided to go over what we discussed when we were drinking the night before, to see if it was a crazy or sensible idea. They were going to spend two days travelling back to Bangkok, just to take a train all the way back up North to Chiang Mai. When, for the sake of a few dollars, they could just take the boat up the Mekong and over the border. It would take longer, but they would get an extra day or so in Luang Prabang and get to see the beautiful scenary along the river. They were sold, and in a moment of wonderful spontenaeity they decided to stay. Boy, did we hope we hadn't let them in for a rough-ride.
We spent that day following COWPAT (Cam's Openly Warlike Policy of Aggresive Tourism) as the 6 of us climbed the hill in the town to see the wats, stupa and views that it offered. There was an old Russian anti-aircraft gun on the hill top, so Ren and I decided to do as the LP claimed the locals kids do and ride it like a merry-go-round for a bit... very amusing! It was all pretty cool, and the views of the river and the town were well worth it - but I think that when Ren, Cam and I went on to explore the cave and to have a look at Buddha's footprint - it was too much for the others, and they headed off for lunch. The 3 of us managed to get a little lost and it took us ages to get to where we should've been, but that didn't stop Cam heading off for "one more temple" while Ren and I walked through the blazing noon heat to meet the others for lunch.
Ren and I did some internet stuff that afternoon, including researching the fact and fiction of the boat ride - because we'd heard quite a few horror-stories on our travels. It seems that the stories only apply to the more popular (and quicker) downstream journey (brand new scams it seems), and that the only catch going upstream is that it takes 9 hours per day, for 2 days.
The evening we managed to fulfil our mission of getting a Beer Laos and watching the sunset over the river, then we headed over to "Cam's extra temple" to watch the monks praying - which was quite eerie if a little "smaller" than we'd been led to expect. It didn't matter though, as we were also heading to the Red Cross over the road, where the LP advises getting a massage. Pretty good, but nothing special... then again, for $5 - who cares?! We finished with a pizza and some quiet-time.
We spent that day following COWPAT (Cam's Openly Warlike Policy of Aggresive Tourism) as the 6 of us climbed the hill in the town to see the wats, stupa and views that it offered. There was an old Russian anti-aircraft gun on the hill top, so Ren and I decided to do as the LP claimed the locals kids do and ride it like a merry-go-round for a bit... very amusing! It was all pretty cool, and the views of the river and the town were well worth it - but I think that when Ren, Cam and I went on to explore the cave and to have a look at Buddha's footprint - it was too much for the others, and they headed off for lunch. The 3 of us managed to get a little lost and it took us ages to get to where we should've been, but that didn't stop Cam heading off for "one more temple" while Ren and I walked through the blazing noon heat to meet the others for lunch.
Ren and I did some internet stuff that afternoon, including researching the fact and fiction of the boat ride - because we'd heard quite a few horror-stories on our travels. It seems that the stories only apply to the more popular (and quicker) downstream journey (brand new scams it seems), and that the only catch going upstream is that it takes 9 hours per day, for 2 days.
The evening we managed to fulfil our mission of getting a Beer Laos and watching the sunset over the river, then we headed over to "Cam's extra temple" to watch the monks praying - which was quite eerie if a little "smaller" than we'd been led to expect. It didn't matter though, as we were also heading to the Red Cross over the road, where the LP advises getting a massage. Pretty good, but nothing special... then again, for $5 - who cares?! We finished with a pizza and some quiet-time.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
The first quiet bus-ride of Team-Chill
Phill: 2/11 - Well, in typical style, a few of us weren't feeling too clever the next day - Cam, Annemarie (AM), and Paddy were all suffering the "unhappy" after-effects of their "happy" shakes from the night before, so it was a quiet trip to Luang Prabang. It's way too much in SE-Asia to expected any sort of organisation, and after 2 visits each by 3 different mini-buses to our hotel, they eventually realised that they couldn't fit all of us on any of them, and then they spent ages trying to find a configuration that suited. Well, by "trying to sort" I mean just looking around helplessly - until Paddy agreed to get on a bus on his own and the rest of us squeezed onto one. I say squeezed because I spent the first leg of the journey crushed into a tiny seat. The journey took so long, because the driver insisted in stopping every hour - we also perceived it as taking a long time because the driver was so bad. He was eating, spitting, wiping his hands, bumping Ren or Leah's leg every gear change (and those gear changes he certainly did not select from any sense of automotive understanding, let's just say he was pretty obsessed with 3rd gear). His cassette player was also faulty, making it stretch the tapes with a high-pitched squealing that only those of you born before the invention of the CD-player will understand! It was really pretty funny watching Renee finally lose it and forcibly eject the tape and confiscate it from him for the rest of the journey - much to the cheers of the rest of the bus! The journey had the usual waves and "hello"s from the children by the roadside, but also had a srtanger element of heavily armed (and young) soldiers every so often, to whom the driver threw sweets and cigarettes - very suspect.
We eventually arrived in Luang Prabang, to the usual bus-trick of taking us to a guest house way outside of town. For a pleasant change, our fellow travellers were a bit more clued up than normal, and together we demanded to be taken to a more central location. A short power struggle ensued, but we got at least to the edge of town, and fortunately very close to our only hotel recommendation - Hoxieng Guesthouse. For a change, Cam and I went to check it out, whilst the girls had a rest - it was fine, although Paddy and AM stayed at a place around the corner through lack of available rooms.
That night we went to the nearest restaurant - a French/Asian affair - where most people had mediocre meals, and mine was pretty good. We took a stroll through the pretty big night markets, had a chocolate fondue, and then hit the sack.
We eventually arrived in Luang Prabang, to the usual bus-trick of taking us to a guest house way outside of town. For a pleasant change, our fellow travellers were a bit more clued up than normal, and together we demanded to be taken to a more central location. A short power struggle ensued, but we got at least to the edge of town, and fortunately very close to our only hotel recommendation - Hoxieng Guesthouse. For a change, Cam and I went to check it out, whilst the girls had a rest - it was fine, although Paddy and AM stayed at a place around the corner through lack of available rooms.
That night we went to the nearest restaurant - a French/Asian affair - where most people had mediocre meals, and mine was pretty good. We took a stroll through the pretty big night markets, had a chocolate fondue, and then hit the sack.
