Wayne's World - Thailand & Malaysia

KL

2009-03-18T10:49:00.001Z

Penang

We spent Monday around the pool, nothing much to report, apart from my back massage for £6!! It was also Penang food festival but we didn't find out about it until we were leaving on Tuesday.

Penang to KL

Forget any 6-7 hour bus journeys, flights are only £30 and with only two days left it wasn't worth it.

KL

We arrived at KL and did the same bus journey and sky train from a previous post to our hotel - which by the way is another 5 star corker!!!!

We already booked club lounge in the hotel so we've got really REALLY good rooms facing the petronas towers and breakfast, afternoon tea & evening cocktails in the club lounge.

We caught the evening cocktails then headed to China Town where the shopping is excellent. I don't even remember getting back to the hotel, I was still wrecked from the free bar - dredding opening the shopping bags & seeing what I bought :-/

Today

This morning we headed to the Petronas Towers but didn't make it out of the shopping mall at the bottom.. Shopping is cheap over here.. Just hope the luggage allowance is too.

We made it back for afternoon tea and now, on our last night, are about to head for dinner at the top of KL Tower.

Just need to pull ourselves away from the free bar, let's hope our driver is late - they have been every other time!

Penang

2009-03-15T10:13:00.001Z

Penang (Batu Ferringhi)

All the travelling finally caught up again, so it was a day around the pool. We're staying in a small seaside resort which is 20 mins away from Georgetown - the main town. It really is a town too - you name it, it's got it, including all the usual fast food chains. I was dreading the whole of Penang being like that, but it wasn't.

Our resort reminds me of Bouganvilla in Mallorca, so it took me back to childhood a little bit. (Somewhere we spent summer as kids). It's family orientated, but pretty and has everything you need (like a bar in the middle of the pool!!!).

We had a stroll down the beach, but you can't go in the sea as it's full of jellyfish, there's also a huge rock in the sea, like a mini island, which the resort is named after - Batu Ferringhi - which means 'foreigners rock'.

We've just got back from the night markets - it's 4 ringgits (I keep calling them rupees to wind Bev up) for a dvd!, which is 80p and our dinner of Penang style chicken & prawn rice plus drinks was 6 ringgits - about £1.20!

I think we should all spend the recession in Asia!

Haunted Hotel, Highlands & Penang

2009-03-14T19:12:00.001Z

Haunted Hotel

I had the worst night sleep last night in our rickety old run down hotel. As we came back from eating the steamboat, and walked back to our hotel, which is on top of the hill, lightening struck behind it and bats flew from the belfry setting the scene. It's like the shining. Our room even comes complete with blood stains on the carpet.

There's also a strange convent in the village that's owned by 3 American families that live there and come down into the village to eat with their student au pairs who stand around the table whilst the families eat. It's like earie Indiana (google it) or the twilight zone with a secret cult that runs the town.

By the way last night was Friday the 13th.

Malaysia as a country is very green, it's also very wet. The sun shines up until around 5-6pm and then it pours down none stop all through the night with Hollywood style lightening.

Cameron Highlands

BOH Tea Plantation
Bee Farm & Markets
Butterfly Farm
Strawberry Farm
Rose Garden
Buddhist Temple

BOH Tea Plantation

Another early start. First to the tea plantations where we stopped half way up the mountain for photographs of the stunning views. The pyramid hills blend into each other for miles and look like someone has come along and dropped a velvet jade blanket over them. We then got taken for a tour of the little factory and then had teacinos on the viewpoint (big wooden balcony that struts out over the tea plantation.

Bee Farm

The sign reads "the bee farm will not be responsible for any injury caused entering these premises" and if that isn't enough to put you off the bee hive boxes have neon orange stencils of bees on them to warn you.

Butterfly Farm

There was an additional entrance fee for the butterfly farm, and the last one we went to in Chiang Mai had 3 butterflys in it, so we didn't bother, we went shopping instead. There were also snakes & scorpians. Having said that we got to see all the butterflys and scorpians in the end - they were all pinned up & framed, ready to buy in the souvenir shop!

Strawberry Farm

You could pick all the strawberries you wanted and pay for them by weight - if only they weren't green and had finished growing. The little cafe made a really nice strawberry ice cream and the views from the roof top terrace made up for it.

Rose Garden & Buddhist Temple

Again there was an additional charge for the gardens, so we didn't bother. I should point out we wasn't being tight with our money (not that it's a bad thing if we were) but, we were more interested in the rice paddy fields across the road.

Our final stop was at the Buddhist temple. Even though I still felt templed out, it was still very impressive. There were roof slates with prayers on them stacked up against the side of the wall, I assume the monks will make them waterproof and eventually place them on the roof. (Or wash them clean for next years tourists).

We made it back in time to catch our 2.30pm bus to Penang (which turned up at 3).

Penang

It's taken 6 hours by bus to get to Penang, hence the long post..

On our journey to Penang I said to Bev I thought someone was standing near the bedroom door back at our spooky hotel. She said she did too but wasn't going to mention it. But then she also said the strangers from the convent probably come and do experiments on us in our sleep.

At least we made it back down the mountain in one piece!

Not to mention...

2009-03-13T09:31:00.002Z

Not to mention the tops of trees that have snapped off. Wonder what fell on them...

Malaysia

2009-03-13T09:26:00.002Z

KL

Yesterday we went for a walk through the city forest and headed to the KL tower. We didn't go up the tower because we're having dinner up there on our last night.

Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent arranging our trip & accommodation in the Cameron Highlands and relaxing in the spa at the hotel. We treated ourselves to food at Hard Rock and had a drink back at the hotel (which cost us £40 for 2 drinks, but let's not mention that). We were going to go clubbing but had to get up early because...

Cameron Highlands

...after a 4-5 hr bumpy coach ride up to the mountains, we're now in the Cameron Highlands where the tea & strawberry plantations are - exactly as you see them in the documentaries.

The views are amazing and so were the sheer drops above the tree tops as our bus speeded it's way around the narrow windy road - after an hour of gripping on to the edge of my seat my hands are still numb.

We're in the sleepy town of tanah rata, it's towards the border of Thailand, very Indian, very high up and cloudy. The weather is like an English summer (just like Chiang Mai), it's the first time I've worn my hoody!

Can you believe they have a starbucks in the middle of the tea plantations, where we're sat having American cheesecake and using their free internet. Although, back to culture, we're going for a steamboat across the road after this. A steamboat is the local speciality, it's like a spicey broth of noodles, veg, meat & fish which you cook (chuck everything in and let it boil) yourself and have yourself a mini feast!

We're up early again in the morning to visit the tea plantations and then catch the bus for another 5 hour journey to Penang.

The worst thing about travelling up the mountain is you have to get back down again, if you could see how much all the crash barriers were missing and bashed in from being hit, your hands would still be numb too.

Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

2009-03-11T23:26:00.000Z

Ao Nang & Krabi

The bus (£3 each) from Ao Nang took 1hr to get to Krabi airport and although we were told the flight would take 2 hours to get to KL, it took just 50 mins...

Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)

Upon landing in Malaysia, We jumped on another bus (£1.75) to KL Central then on the sky train (45p) to Bukit Bintang, the area we're staying in KL.

By the way, we passed some fantastic buildings on our journey, some like gigantic space ships on the top of hills. The Malaysia we saw was pretty modern & futuristic.

So far so good, then...

It just got better! Our hotel is amazing. I've stayed at some fantastic hotels (and some pretty posh ones too!) but the place is top notch and right in the heart of KL. When they say 5 star, they mean 5 star. It was also a bit of a wake up call back to reality - it's £5 for a bottle of water! (Although there's a massive plaza across the road with every kind of food for about £2 per meal).

The hotel has everything and everyone running after your arse - you know the kind of people that permanently live in hotels.. I now know why!

I've told Bev she can go explore the Cameron Highlands and I'll wait here.

The maid will have to clean around me ;-)

Goodbye to the land of little people.

2009-03-10T10:58:00.002Z

Today is our last day in Thailand, we fly to Malaysia in the morning.

Today we went shopping, I mentioned in an earlier post it's better to barter during the day, what I didn't mention is that once Bev gets going there's no stopping her! We got some proper bargains! Here's how you play the game - you see something you like, they approach you with a calculator with the price on - it's then up to you to put in the lowest price you think you can get away with, they then type in prices and you repeat the process until you end up back at the price you originally wanted to pay!

How we're gonna get everything home I have no idea...

We've just come back from seeing more monkeys! These live at the end of Ao Nang beach where we're staying - there's a bridge that leads up to a mountain path they all play on. They're pretty tame and not shy about jumping on your back or sitting on your head.

When I'm home I'll try linking some video within the blog to show you!

So it's goodbye to the land of the little people (even I'm taller than them!!), where even the chocolate bars are sold in party size - no family bars here!

See you in Malaysia!!

Walking on water & The 4 Islands of Krabi

2009-03-09T22:32:00.000Z

Poda Island
Chicken Island
Tup Island
Pranang Caves

Today, we island hopped by long boat. It's a lttle bit slower than speedboat but all the islands are close together and the sea was calm.

Our day began from Ao Nang beach...

Poda Island

By the time we arrived at Poda the sun was already high and it was only 9.30am - perfect for a little snooze, I mean sunbathe... This island also has monkeys but they hadn't come down from the mountains and anyways they're also really wild and pretty nasty, apparently.

Chicken Island

Chicken island, as it's name suggests is not full of chickens, but in the shape of one! It's got a head & beak formed by the cliffs, a body and wing shaped by the mountains. We stopped in the sea for snorkeling (at which point I shredded my hands on the oysters when I tried to grab a rock as a wave went over my head, slipped & twisted my toe climbing back up the ladder onto the boat and fell and banged my knee - all the bad karma catching up with me for being grumpy at breakfast). We also went to the beach on Chicken island but walked across the sea from the next island, let me explain...

Tup Island

Tup island was actually two little islands connected together by a gorgeous little beach which forms when the tide goes out. It was like being back in the Maldives. The sea is light blue and clear and the colourful schools of fish swim circles around you in their large numbers. You can also walk on water!!

You can walk across the sea from Tup Island to Chicken Island. Under the sea, a natural sand bank has formed with coral walls each side allowing you to walk across the sea between the two island!

Pranang Caves

The final stop before heading back. The Pranang caves are on the same coastline as Raleigh beach. Our tour guide took us through the caves - what he didn't tell us was that it was pitch black in the middle and you litterally have to crawl under some tiny openings to get back out. Thank god for the good old iPhone flashlight!! Visions of a few bumped heads, with nobody telling you where you can walk & where you have to crawl, they didn't provide torches so you either have to feel your way or be lucky enough to already be carrying a light source.

We made it through safe and sound. A bumped head trapped in a cave would have just been my luck and a great way to end a day full of cuts & bruises!

Sun, Sea & Night Markets

2009-03-08T22:02:00.000Z

I don't know wether it's because I've slept in 7 different beds since I've been here (with another 4 to go) or the amount of exploring, but today I'm shattered!

We headed for the 'white sandy beach' this morning (how else do you describe white sandy beaches?), but it wasn't very white and only a little bit sandy. There was another monsoon in the night which had dredged up all the palm leaves on the beach. The only good thing about a monsoon in the night is that it clears the air for a blazing sun sorched day - bring on the tan!

Oh and whoever said tsunamis only happen every 1000 years needs to come look at the records in our hotel, which logs them almost every 50ish years from the 1800's (not on the scale as the 2004 tsunami) and the aftershocks can keep forming waves for several months after!

Night Markets

Neither of us bought a single thing. Zilch. Zip. Nada. Mainly because we don't need carved elephant ashtrays, carved soap or tailored suits (that haven't changed style since the 70's). Plus you get a better deal bartering in the day rather than the night because there's hardly anyone around shopping.

What we did though is grab some beer (still only 25p a bottle!) and sat at the food stalls trying all the dishes for the grand total of 70p each!

Good job it's all healthy we'd both be looking like lucky buddahs by now!

Thought of the day

2009-03-08T05:15:00.001Z

Wayne hopes there is a Pepsi shop in KL and wishes he would have bought that lovely shirt in the Siam centre :-(

Funny what pops into your mind when you're staring at peach iced tea & day dreaming...

Thai Cookery

2009-03-07T14:06:00.002Z

Krabi

It really was a monsoon last night, all of our stuff was soaking wet through. And by all our 'stuff' I mean the 5 dresses Bev bought when we went shopping before bed. (I admit it, I bought a few things too - god damn those cheap fakes!!)

Thai cookery course

I couldn't believe it either, but I have video and photographic evidence - Bev actually cooked (and her food tasted great too!).

We got picked up from our hotel and headed towards Krabi town, and after all the jokes about cooking dog our group (6 of us) cooked 7 Thai dishes in total, including spring rolls, salad, soup, rice, curry paste, curry, noodles and dessert. I know that's 8 but you can't cook curry without curry paste.

It was such a great, although hot & sweaty, day, I just feel bad that after a full day of tasting Thai food, herbs, spices & sauces, all I could think about was a big fat portion of fish, chips, peas & gravy.

Home run & no photos

2009-03-06T23:06:00.000Z

I forgot to mention when we arrived in Krabi, we also begin to conclude our adventures in Thailand before heading over to Malaysia.

Also I still can't post any photos because we're still using free wifi at coffee shops & wherever else we can find it.

Krabi

2009-03-06T22:52:00.000Z

We're now in Krabi (in case you hadn't guessed from the title).

There wasn't much to say about Koh Lanta - it's probably more of a
honeymoon destination, and we stayed in the resort for food too.

Side note - we've eaten in the nicest restaurants and spent a load of
money on really bad food and eaten in the most basic dirty run down
sheds and the food has cost peanuts and been out of this world.

Wise Buddah says "Dont judge a book by it's cover." ;-)

Krabi

After the sleaziness of Phuket, the noise of Phi Phi and the quietness
of Koh Lanta I feel like goldi-travel-locks, Krabi is just right. It
has the perfect mix of day & night life without being too
commercialised and has a beautiful White sandy beach. There's also
some great cheap food stalls.

And the best bit...

... I've talked Bev into a Thai cookery course tomorrow (should be
fun, she hates cooking!). Tell you more tomorrow - the rain is coming
and it's like a monsoon out there.

Phi Phi to Koh Lanta

2009-03-04T23:19:00.003Z

I enjoyed Phi Phi, although the Ibiza bar would drive me mad if I was
there for any length of time - when you need to sleep, you need to
sleep.

We took the ferry from Phi Phi pier and 1 hour later arrived in Koh Lanta.

Koh Lanta

Moonlight bay to be exact. Were staying in some little forest
bungalows on the riverside, it's got a little lagoon pool and a
private beach. It's a proper sleepy resort with nothing to do except
catch up on sleep, sunbathe and go for strolls on the White sandy
beaches.

On the downside there aren't any of the little food stalls and street
restauants, but we're only here for a few days as a stop over on the
way to krabi.

Time to catch up with some sleep!
(and a decent shower and air conditioning that works - there were no
hot showers on Phi Phi and air conditioning was a crappy fan).

That evil Ibiza bar (part 2)

2009-03-03T22:11:00.001Z

So I fell asleep in the sun and burnt my shoulder - god knows how you
burn one and not the other :-/ on the bright side, I woke up feeling
great.

Bev stayed in bed all day and came down to the pool full of life "Do
you fancy following the tsunami evacuation route to the top of the
island?"

Me "I'm not sure, shall we do it tomorrow?"

Bev "it's only 350 steps".

Yeah well what they don't tell you is it's 350 steep steps to the start
of the path which then leads to the top of the highest view point. I
was dripping, it took about 30 mins to get there - pretty scary if you
consider it only took 6 mins for the tsunami to wash out the island.

Once I'd collapsed at the top of the mountain (there were loads of
people around sat peacefully on top of the rocks) I looked out and was
like - wow. It was well worth it, you can see all over the island,
it's really high up above the tallest trees. We'd also just timed it
to catch the sun setting over the opposite mountain.

I could end the day there but not without mentioning the cats that
sleep in the refrigerated drinks cabinets to keep cool! I saw a young
boy playing with a cat hanging out of the fridge, which I though he'd
locked in, only to realise the cat was crying to be let in with all
the other cats!

That evil Ibiza bar.

2009-03-03T15:58:00.002Z

I know I know... It's self inflicted, no sympathy etc., but I swear
that lbiza bar is evil.

To back track, last night we decided if you can't beat them, join
them. It didn't help that a friend of ours was over from Ibiza dj'ing
at tiger bar (here on the island) so we went to see him and discovered
they were doing 2 for 1 buckets.

When they say buckets, they literally mean filling your bucket with
ice, redbull and vodka and sticking a straw in it - then there were
the free buckets at 12am. Rat arsed isn't the word, we then went on to
the beach party and headed back when the sun came up at 5am.

So I'm sat having a moccha frappucino (how gay does that sound!) and
not moving from the pool with a promise never to do it again...

...until next time.

The islands of Phi Phi

2009-03-02T20:46:00.001Z

...but not the hangover, especially when you've got to be up for a day
of Island hopping.

Phi Phi Don

- Ton Sai Bay

Otherwise known as monkey bay. Remember the wild monkeys in a previous
post? Well these monkeys are nothing like them. They're so used to
tourists they come and take banana from your hand. The baby monkeys
make you want to put them in your pocket (and carry them around like I
used to with my dwarf rabbit!) but if you go near them the mother
monkeys come screaming at you - best to avoid them.

Phi Phi Lay

Viking caves and sea swing
Pi-leh bay snorkeling
Loh Samah Bay
Maya Bay (The Beach) picnic & snorkeling

Firstly the snorking was amazing - the sea is surprisingly warm, and
when you're free floating at the top of the deep blue and green water
you see all the caves and underwater mountains that go so far below
you they dissapear into cloudy deep blue inky water. The colourful
fish don't compare to the Maldives, although you can still see the
stripey clown fish and parrot fish which have beaks! You might also
have to avoid the occasional sea snake which have such tiny mouths
they don't bother with you - probably a good job since they're amongt
the most poisonous in the world.

Eventually we made our way to Maya Bay where the beach was filmed -
anoher highlight for me! I was expecting to be dissapointed as I'd
been told it would be packed with tourists, but as we sailed between
the two rock formations the bay opened up and it was just what I'd
imagined, only better because it was pretty empty!

We stopped and had a picnic on the beach, some more snorkeling and
went through the little forest - you know the bit in the film where he
goes mad and runs through the forest like a video game? Well it's a
proper path you can follow, and as with most films the place is a lot
smaller than it looks on screen.

The rest of the day was spent snorkeling and subathing around the rest
of the bays and islands:

Monkey beach (more tame monkeys)
Nui Bay
Mosquito Island
Bamboo Island
Runtee Bay
Shark point

We didn't see any sharks but by this time the storms were coming down
from Bangkok and the speedboat was bouncing single storey heights on
the waves so we pretty much wanted to get back to the harbour.

Long beach.

2009-03-01T21:21:00.001Z

Phi Phi Don (Long beach)

We didn't get much sleep last night - someone has decided to build an
Ibiza bar which holds beach parties until 4am every night and you can
hear the music all over the island.

We jumped on a long boat around to long beach - really beautiful long
sandy White beach - for a day of snorkelling around the rocks and
sunbathing. The beach huts have gone since the tsunami and they have
been rebuilt up in the hills.

Returning to the main village, which by the way has no transport, we
went for banana and pineapple pancakes (and discovered melon shakes..
if you know me you know I LOVE melon).

I also love the mojitos at the mojito bar..

Phi Phi

2009-02-28T21:06:00.002Z

Phuket

We drove through the town to the pier and boarded the ferry...

...1 hour later...

Phi Phi Island (Phi Phi Don)

Phi Phi is made up of two islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Lay.
Everybody stays on Phi Phi Don in the middle (the island is shaped
like a bow tie). It has a very different atmosphere here like a big
meeting place full of travellers catching up with friends before
moving onwards. It's pretty bohemian, and everybody thinks they're on
the film 'the beach' looking to discover themselves.

I should mention too that since we arrived in Thailand everybody but
everybody eiher wants to sell you something, show you something or
find some other creative way of spending your money for you. In Phi
Phi, as soon as they hear your English accent, don't count on getting
a good barter deal.

Our accomodation was above the tsunami danger zone with a pool over
looking the sea. And if you're on the opposite side of the island
there's no point in following the tsunami evacuation route unless
you're good at climbing steep cliffs - it ends at a massive cliff face
next to the sea.

Tinterweb.

2009-02-28T06:30:00.001Z

We're riding on the back of free wifi signals on our iPhones whilst
we're down in the islands so there will be a delay with blog updates
until Krabi or KL & the formatting will most likely be all over the
place. The bad spelling is just me :-)

The islands of Phuket.

2009-02-27T21:26:00.001Z

Por Pier (1 hour from Patong)

Up to Por Pier and on to our speedboat for a day of island hopping. We
did a loop northwards along the west side of the island and back
southwards down the east, here's a summary of the day:

Panak island
Climb through the bat caves to the open lagoon in the middle.

Hong island
There's a rock on top of the sheer cliff that has been formed
naturally (a bit like stalagtights) in the shape of scooby doo!! No
kidding!

James bond island
Ok let's stop here a sec, this was one of the highlights of the trip
for me. The island has a proper name, which I can't remember, but
anyways, they renamed it the James bond island after the film.
Unfortunately it was full of tourists, and everyone but everyone was
doing the photo coming out of the water with the rock behind - so I
got mine too! There are more caves on the island and an internal sheer
rock face with buddist prayers carved into the rock. FAB.

Between the islands

Between the islands rainforest grows and a swamp in the sea with
lagoons and mangroves. We jumped on kayaks and got canoed through the
lagoon, monkeys live in the trees and feed on the walking fish you can
see crawling up from the external roots of the trees!

Panyee island

Panyee island is a colourful Muslim fishing village, it's tiny but we
docked here for a lunch break.

Lawa island

The last island on the list and a great place for snorkelling & sunbathing.

By the time we headed back to Por Pier, the monkeys had come down from
the forest, they're really wild around here so it's not wise to
approach them, not unless you want the females to attack you. We made
our way back to Patong - we've got plans to see the tame monkeys on
monkey island & in monkey bay in a future trip.

The southern islands.

2009-02-24T21:52:00.002Z

Phuket

Patong beach
Bangla road
Patong bayshore
Rat-u-thit 200 Pee road food Market

A 1 1/2 hr plane ride and we arrived on the island of Phuket. On a
side note Thai airways are one of the best airlines I've flown on!!

But I digress..

As we drove through the busy island I got a gut feeling the busy
streets and bars around us were not about to get any better - even
more so as they became English and Irish bars of late 80's holidays
long past.. but there's always a bright side, and that came in the
form of our hotel, a proper little oasis with a lovely pool in the
middle of what could be any bar resort anywhere in the world.

So for the next two days we pretty much stayed around the pool, we did
spend a morning on Patong beach and go to see the lady boys on Bangla
road in the evening (the 7-11 is the local pick up joint).

I may as well mention at this point we have eaten every Thai dish on
the menu, in the most basic street stalls and it's all been really
nice, really cheap and not a belly ache in sight (for now).

Sawatdee krab (hello/goodbye) (girls end with kah)
Kaup khun krab (kah) (thank you)

A quick Thai lesson from the lady we book our island trips with, but
more about that tomorrow.

Sawatdee krab!

Chiang Mai National Park.

2009-02-23T21:23:00.001Z

Wachirathan waterfall.

Highest peak in Thailand which...

...is also the beginning of the Himalayas! (The gateway).

You've seen the washing powder advert?

The King & Queen pagodas, this is the Queen pagoda.

Doi Inthanon (2hr drive from Chiang Mai)

Wachirathan waterfall
Highest peak in Thailand
Gateway to the Himalayas
King & Queen Pagodas
Royal project rainforest and waterfall
Karen hill tribe village

We spent today travelling arounf the huge Doi Inthanon (national park) of Chiang Mai. If you haven't gathered already it is also the gateway to the Himalayas, which explains why it was much cooler up there.. think English summer..

The highest peak is where the last ruler of Chiang Mai is buried, but then we were taken on a short ride to an amazing mountainside park, containing stunning gardens and the huge pagodas commemorating the King's 60th birthday (to the left) and 5 years later the pagoda built for the Queens 60th birthday. They're huge and what makes them special is the modern take on traditional temple's and archtectural influences. The views alone are fantastic.

Next on to the royal projects - the rainforests here were originally the opium gardens way back when. The projects aim is to teach the people of the mountains new ways to make money through agriculture and education, it was originally subsidised so they made the same amount of money as when they sold opium! They now have a booming business in organic products and food.

Not far from the royal projects live the Karen hill tribe.. similar to the tribe we met previously, but their main source of income comes from weaving. They also have a 'guard pig'.. lol.. it's the only pig Bev has ever met that growls and barks at you if you try to stroke it (as she soon found out).

Later on in the evening - beer from 7-11 (by the way it's 25p for a beer over here!!) and food from the night bazaar, but this time eating where the locals eat.. total cost for 2 meals = 40p.. real cost = "happy days" :-)

On to Phuket tomorrow so the blog might fall behind a little as we go exploring the islands and rest our tired feet! (Very excited).

Elephants & Ox Carts...

2009-02-22T20:06:00.001Z

Elephant painting.

Me & Bev with the elephants (which we got to ride later on - show you the pics when we get home!)

Riding the Ox carts to see the Lisu hill tribe people.

Maetang

Elephant show
Ox-cart riding up to the Lisu hill tribe village
Elephant riding
Bamboo rafting

After driving an hour up into the mountains we reached Maetang, where the elephants play football and paint pictures of other elephants (apparently they dont like the jungle anymore *cough* and have a good relationship with the people *cough* *cough*).

Mum, look away now - we then jumped an ox cart ride over to the Lisu hill tribe village, looked like a film set and pretty hard to imagine people still live in a traditional wooden hut.

Mum, ok to look now (she once had an "adventure" with an ox cart up a Greek mountainside, lets not mention any more.. apart from you should have taken the horse!).

The elephants took us through the rainforest, mainly so they could stop around every corner and eat the bananas! Then dropped us off for bamboo rafting along the river and rapids.

10min drive later...

Chiang Mai

Orchid & butterfly farm
Back to hotel for swim & steam
Dinner at the night bazaar food market
Muai Thai cocktails at the Imperial

The orchid farm wasn't much to shout about, and the butterfly farm had at least 3 butterflys. There was also snake and monkey shows.. I don't think they liked the jungle any more either *wink*. Back at the hotel and a quick swim and chill out in the steam room, we decided it would only be right to finish the day with a Muai Thai at the Imperial Mai Ping Hotel in the centre of Chiang Mai.

Good Bye Bangkok.. Hello Chiang Mai...

2009-02-21T21:51:00.004Z

The ancient wall surrounding Old Town Chiang Mai.

We left for Chiang Mai at 10.30am...

or at least that was the plan but the taxi didnt turn up until 10.45am

... and then we got trapped around the University because the bloody graduation was still going on (apparently the King makes an appearance) - not good when your flight gate closes at 12pm and it takes about an hour(ish) to the airport.

Chiang Mai

Having arrived and checked in and nicely wheeled my trolley over some poor backpackers foot.. I think we managed the ultimate walk around Old Town Chiang Mai and Downtown Chiang Mai,

The pace is much calmer than Bangkok and it feels more like a holiday resort.. the prices are also double Bangkok too..

Pira Singh (main temple).

Stack of cow pats with a mini Buddah on.

(Not really.. apparently it's the grave of the guy who built Chiang Mai).

Thapae Gate
Ratchadamnoen Road (Street Market)
3 Kings Monument
Chiang Mai Art Museum
Pira Singh (main huge temple)
Silver Temple (Srisuohan)
Wua Lai Road Saturday Street Market

..finally arriving 4 hours later (with a very sore arse and legs from all the walking) at Changklan Road - otherwise known as the Night Bazzar.

Changklan Road (Night Bazzar)

Red coconut lemon grass curry at 'Lemongrass'
Far too many temples to mention...

..I think I'm about templed out.. where's the bar?

The little white pig dog (part 2)...

2009-02-20T22:48:00.001Z

There really was a little pig dog .. see...

The little white pig dog

2009-02-20T22:22:00.001Z

Floating Markets.

Ok so it was an early start.. way too early by my standards (more than one 6 o'clock in the day?).. and after 1 and a half hour drive from Bangkok, we arrived in Damnoensaduak.

Damnoensaduak

Floating Markets

..great little boat ride down the river and into the markets where you can buy every kind of taky souvenire you can imagine.. along with some dodgy food - the coconut drinks are nice though, they chop the tops off and hand you a straw.

...then another 1 hour drive until we reached..

Bridge over the river Kwai.

Kanchanaburi

Bridge over the river Kwai
Kanchanaburi Allied War Museum
Kanchanaburi Cemetary

Famous for the film 'The Bridge Over the River Kwai'. You can walk over the bridge and step out on to podiums over the river - good job too because trains still use the tracks!, there's also the Kanchanaburi Allied War Museum and the cemetary. Thousands of prisoners of war from Britain, France etc., died building the bridge under terrible conditions - hard to imagine when the place looks so beautiful.

...2 hrs later and we were back in Bangkok...

Dusit Zoo & Park (The photo doesn't really do it justice).

Ratchadamnoen

Anatasamakhom Throne Hall
Dusit Zoo & Park

Little did we know it was graduation day for the University and the park was heaving with people dressed in cap and gown, a lot more colourful than the UK version, the park is also home to the worlds only male Albino Barking Deer (or as I like to call it, the little white pig dog).

...tuk tuk to Khaosan Rd..

Khaosan

Back to Khaosan Road for more food (Villa Cha Cha) - well do you blame us when it only cost 1.50p for beer and a full Thai meal!!
While we were at it, we went for another foot massage and decided since it was only 3.00p to have our backs done too :-)

Be careful what you do in the back of a tuk tuk!

Tour of Bangkok City

2009-02-19T21:34:00.007Z

I won't bore you with the full details, but let's just say - I think we covered it!

Ampitheatre

Khosan
(Around the corner from our hotel)

Phrasumain Fortress & Ampitheatre, Santichaiprakarn Park & Rama VIII Bridge
Taxi boat to Thawang Rd

Tuk tuk.

Steps (lots of) leading to the Golden Mount.

Temples inside the Grand Palace.

Rattanakosin

Wat Po (a temple)
Tuk tuk ride around the city (including the Golden Mount & Wat Indrawihan "lucky Buddah"*) not for the faint hearted, and you're likely to get ripped off - but not the Pretl's - we got a tour and said good bye to an angry tuk tuk driver who wanted to show us his jewellery and tailor shop.. (only cost 40p!).
Grand Palace & Emerald Buddah (Wat Phra Kaew) and caught the changing of the guards (bit camp if you ask me).
Sil Pa Korn University
Military Buildings (Sanam Luang Royal Grounds)
Taxi boat from Na PhraLan Rd to Ratchawong Rd)

China town.

Chinatown (Yaowarat)

Ratchawong Road, Sampenf Lane (which is the heart of China town - stinks like wet dogs and they probably sell the meat from them too!!) narrow alley big enough for just 2 people which used to be the old opium dens, Charoen Krunf Road & Yaowarat Rd.
Club 25 cocktails on the 25th floor of the Grand Chinese Princess hotel - revolving restaurant and lounge which overlooks the whole of Bangkok City
Taxi boat to Centralo Pier & Somdet Phra Chao Taksin Bridge
Sky train to Siam (passing Lumphini Park & Royal Bangkok Sports Club)

Siam Centre.

Bangkok Arts & Cultural Centre.

Jim Thompson's House.

Crazy talking birds.

Samyan

Siam Centre.. ultra modern shopping centre full of every high end retailer you can think of - Gucci, Prada, D&G, Jimmy Choo (managed to hide that one from Bev) etc., you wont find H&M in here!) Felt like we'd stepped in to Tokyo!
Soi 2 - funky streets off the Siam Centre - we even stopped for a vanilla milkshake at Hard Rock Bangkok!
Bangkok Arts & Cultural Centre
Jim Thompsons House (we went down the wrong street and found some talking birds outside the Samyan Kitchen!! .. even managed to get them to say hello before we left!!..) (Yes we tried fuck.. but they just didnt get it.. lol!!)
Skytrain and water taxi back to hotel

View from the river taxi.

*By the way there's no such thing as a lucky Buddah!

You may notice a theme forming here.. our advice for Bangkok is forget taxis, unless you really need them and jump up and down the river on the riverboat taxis (very very cheap) amd it links to the sky train - covering pretty much the whole of Bangkok (think london underground on water).

The Nicest Thai Food in the World...

2009-02-18T21:19:00.005Z

Khaosan Road.

So after departing a dreary Manchester airport and a short stop over in Abu Dhabi, we finally made it to Bangkok...

Aside from the heat hitting you like a ton of bricks (and the hairy taxi ride into the city), the place stinks like rotting eggs. However the lovely Thai food on Kraisri road (the next road along from the famous Khaosan Road - backpackers road) made up for it!!

The nicest food on Kraisri Road (Pad Thai & Chicken fried rice to be exact)..
Khaosan Road
Foot massage on Jakra Pong Road (1.50p for half an hour!! - bargain, and a great just before bed, and after a few singha's - beer :-) )

Oh.. and elephants walking around the streets - feed them peanuts and they will cross their legs and take a bow!

Elephants in the street.

City of Angels

2009-02-18T21:05:00.001Z

Bangkok has the longest place name in the world.

Krungthepmahanakhonbowonrattananakosinmahintaraayutthayamahadilkpopnopparatratchathaniburiromudomratchaniwetmahasathanamonpimanavatansathirsakkathatityavsnukamprasit.

Or in English..

Great city of angels, city of immortals, magnificent jewelled city of the God Indra, seat of the King of Ayutthaya, city of gleaming temples, city of the kings most excellent palace and dominions, home of Vishnu and all the Gods.

known locally as 'The City of Angels'.

Itinerary...

2009-02-13T15:41:00.000Z

5 days to go and I can't wait..

Me (Wayne)

A graphic designer, currently going through the downturn that's happening throughout the UK and decided to turn the whole thing into a positive and go travelling (in the hope that I'll come back refreshed and fully inspired for all those lovely creative projects!!).

My sister (Beverley)

A conveyancer, organiser and in need of a break from work and study! Talking of which, she handed me our itinerary the other day (told you she was an organiser)...

ITINERARY

17th Feb

Fly out of Manchester 8pm (7 hrs flight).

Short stop over in Dubai before boarding our connecting flight to Bangkok (5hr flight).

18th Feb

Arrive in Bangkok at 6.45pm.

3 nights in Bangkok.

21st Feb

Board flight to Chiang Mai (1hr flight).

3 nights in Chiang Mai.

24th Feb

Board flight to Phuket (1hr 50min flight).

4 nights in Phuket (and island hopping).

28th Feb

Ferry to Phi Phi Island

4/5 nights in Phi Phi (and island hopping).

4th March

Ferry to Lanta Island

3/4 nights (and island hopping).

7th March

Ferry to Krabi Island

4 nights (and island hopping).

11th March

Board flight to Kuala Lumpur

2 nights in Kuala Lumpur

4 nights / 5 days into the mountains, over to the coast and also to Penang.

17th March

Back to K.L.

19th March

Depart K.L. and head on home.

Did I mention... I CAN'T WAIT!!!!???