Trains, Trains and Fuji San

We have so many things that we want to do in Japan that it is hard to choose what to do next, we have also slightly moved our date for coming home which gives us less time. We wanted to go and see the monkeys lazing about in the hot springs but just couldn't find any accommodation for the dates we were after so decided our next stop would be Fuji San. Here I made a slight calculation error on how long it would take us to get north from Nagasaki. We had 11 hours of train rides and 5 train connections to make, and make them we did.

It is very early

I could go into super detail about the trains but I think anymore train talk and I will lose a lot of readers so I will leave it at it was a long way and we never waited more than 20 minutes in between trains, I am amazed by that.

Fuji San (Mount Fuji) has a reputation for being a bit shy which is why we decided to say in the area for a couple of nights to give us more than one change to catch a glimpse. As it turns out we were really lucky, on the train from Osaka to Tokyo we got a perfect blue sky and a totally uninterrupted view of this beautiful peak. Fuji is so symmetrical that it looks like it has been sculpted by an artist, the snow white peak against a blue sky is one of my favourite views from the trip. We had this view off and on for over 2 hours as we traveled from the east, south of Fuji to Tokyo on the west and then from Tokyo to our hotel north of the mountain. Unfortunately my camera was too deeply packed away to get a good shot but my camera phone was on had to help out.

Fuji from the train

After all of that excitement we went straight to bed after tea ready for an early start.

The next day we went up to Kawaguchi-ko to get a closer look at Fuji, the day started out very clear and we got some great views but by the time we were off the train Fuji decided that we had had too much luck and turned the sky grey. We could still see the mountain but it became impossible to get a good photo.

Fuji is hiding there in the middle

Aimee hiding from the wind and Fuji hiding from us

Fuji in a grey mood

We had a really fun time walking around the lake and eating oranges.

We have to count ourselves very lucky that we had two days with such great views as today it is drizzling and we can't see the next hill over let alone a glimpse of Fuji from the train. We are spending the night in Tokyo so we can try and get to the cat jazz bar that we have been aiming for then tomorrow we are off to Hiroshima.

It seems very real now that we have fixed our date home we will be back in sunny Brum before the post cards get home, lets see what else we can cram in before then. 

7 minutes in Laos

Last Wednesday our Thai visa exemption ran out:

Option 1: Get out of Thailand
Option 2: Go to Laos and get a new one

So we went to Laos. This might sound like a bit of an ordeal but it is actually about an hour and a half round trip from our apartment.

We ate breakfast, jumped into a tuk-tuk and within 10 minutes were out of Thailand. The bus over the Mekong took 5 minutes. It was all going too well.

We picked up our Laos visa application form then realised that there were no pens to be found and we had forgotten ours. How after all of our border crossings were we lacking a pen, I'll never know. No problem, there was a sign 'Pens 2000 kip'. So I went over to the pen sellers window, it was closed, I peered in, the lady was very carefully counting and marking off receipts. So I waited.... and waited.

After 5 minutes I went back over to Aimee who had spotted a local lady who was filling in her application. After some odd hand waving she let us borrow her pen just long enough to fill in the first sheet of the four. So I went back to the pen seller. Ten minutes later she was still counting the last few receipts but the end was in sight. I think my face probably did a spectacular about turn from delight when she got to the end of the pile to despair when she started to carefully select pairs of receipts, meticulously line them up then staple them. I gave up!

I was just lining up a Russian lady to ask for her pen when the receipt lady opened the window and 50 pence later I had a pen. In total we were waiting over half an hour for a pen. The wait to get the visa back was about 5 minutes, probably expedited by the $35 each processing fee.

We walked into Laos queued for 3 minutes to get an exit stamp and within minutes were back on a bus to Thailand, filled in the usual entry card, queued, got the stamp and were in a tuk-tuk back to the apartment.

Moral of the story, always bring a pen.

Cambodia - Siem Reap, the temples of Angkor

Back in 2004 I visited Cambodia with my friend Gary, I fell in love with the country and the people straight away. Cambodia was very poor, very bumpy, very dusty but also very beautiful, very funny, very friendly and rather peaceful. It was hard not to bring these expectations with me when we returned a few days ago. I was in for a few shocks but now both Aimee and myself love it here. Cambodia is still poor but the economy is definitely moving, it is still bumpy but definitely less so and still very dusty. It is also still very beautiful, very funny and very friendly but it also now very busy.

We walked over the Thai-Cambodia border at Poipet having decided to spend the night at the Thai border town rather than do the insanely long Bangkok-Siem Reap journey all in one day, in that journey lies madness and a sore rear! The border crossing was painless and we even managed to slip past the touts undetected. We hopped in a shared taxi at the Poipet train station which is just outside town down a nice new smooth road; this new road was a massive shock, the last time I came past this way it was a bright orange dust road that was more rutted than a ploughed field! This same smooth road whisked us to Siem Reap in just 2 and a half hours, rather than 6. 

In Siem Reap I had a bit of a shock, that took a day to get over, it was a city not a town now. I should have expected it really, Siem Reap is the gateway to the amazing ruins of Angkor which rightly deserve to be visited by lots of tourists but the last time I had been that was not the case, Siem Reap was a quiet town with almost no traffic that was easy to walk and cycle around. There are now more motos, tuk tuks and cars than there were people on my last visit.

We found our hotel down a familiarly bumpy road that was being dug up as we arrived. Next door a building was being demolished, but inside the hotel was rather swish with loads of solid polished wood everywhere.

We spent the first day relaxing after the border crossing and exploring the new Angkor National Museum, which is genuinely educational and interesting, it was like doing early Cambodian history 101 with and interesting teacher, Ace.

We decide to get up at 4am the next morning to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat at the recommendation of Nuria and Jochem who we made friends with in the Cameron Highlands (they are doing the near reverse of our trip).

I think I will let the pictures do the talking for the rest of the next two days.

First light - this was incredibly magical

Just as the moon was setting

Me shooting a few more frames

It was very early 

Health and safety seems to be reaching Cambodia, a lot more areas were closed off

The light was amazing I couldn't stop shooting

After our early start we went for breakfast in a French style cafe before meeting our Tuk Tuk driver for the next few days, Batman. Batman took us round several more of Angkor's beautiful structures.

Me in Batman's Amazing Tuk Tuk

I ended up taking a lot of shots through windows

See what I mean

The amazing Bayon - probably my favourite Angkor site 

This lucky couple were having their wedding shots done at the Bayon 

The completed jigsaw - the Baphuon was in pieces the last time I saw it.

There are always some bits left over when you do DIY

The next day Batman came to pick us up again and take us to a few further away sites.

Banteay Srei is always crowded

For good reason it has amazing carvings ...

and sculptures. Many are still intact

Aimee took this great shot of a kid playing with his mom

After a couple more sites Aimee didn't fancy climbing up the 7 tier Bakong in the heat

The Bakong is another of my favourite sites ...

Probably something to do with all of the elephants

Asia route map

For anyone who finds geography easier when looking at a map, like me, here is our Asia route so far.



View Asia Map in a larger map

Park life

It did not take us long to see why Chiang Mai is dubbed Thailand’s capital of culture. Strolling along the laid back streets we spotted temples and stupas on every corner and in every style. We frequently observed young Buddhist monks learning from their elders and teenagers rushing past us on motos to get to university. It is the perfect place to relax with a glass of iced coffee, just ask Matt’s mom!

Coffee - Chiang Mai style

On our second day in Chiang Mai we decided to visit Doi Inthanon National Park. We hired a car and a driver for the day as the park is a few hours from Chiang Mai, not only did it make getting around a lot easier but it saved us money! We didn’t get to do as much walking as we would have liked because the park was so big but it was beautiful and spectacular.

Weirdly this sign was not actually at the highest point!

Driving through the park we were able to enjoy the wilderness surrounding us. Amongst dense forest, that appeared to go on forever, there were small villages full of people going about their daily lives. At the top of the mountain we emerged into a welcoming and blissfully chilly day, Matt was even able to wear the scarf I brought him for his birthday! It was the perfect weather for our trail through the mossy forest.

Mossy

Following this Ann was able to get her coffee fix as we enjoyed a coffee at the highest peak in Thailand and Matt experienced lens envy watching all of the wildlife photographers.

I wonder if that lens would fit in my backpack

Next up on the trip were two monumental stupas built in honour of the King and Queen’s 60^th birthdays.  The stupas were surrounded by picturesque gardens that even Disney would be proud of. Inside of the stupas was even more impressive; the walls were decorated with mosaic patterns of the Buddha’s life and his teachings and surrounded an impressive stone Buddha. Not to be outdone, the view from here was incredible, we were lucky that it was a clear day and we could see for miles.

His ...

and hers

Last stop on our trip was a short walk up the Nam Tok Wachiratan Waterfall, a great way to end the day!

End of a long but great day

Beach hopping

We have spent the last few days on the beach hopping between islands, sunning ourselves and relaxing.

We spent a couple more nights on Ko Lanta enjoying the really peaceful resort that Aimee mentioned in the last post, we decided that if we didn't leave soon we would never reach the north in time to meet mom and dad so we booked ourselves onto a boat headed for the famous Ko Phi Phi. Famous because it was 'the beach' in The Beach but unfortunately also because it was badly affected in the boxing day Tsunami. The boat to Phi Phi was pleasant, fast and cheap, although we did have to climb over 2 other boats to get to it.

Ko Phi Phi was devastated by the boxing day tsunami but is back to its best now there is everything you could need for a good time at the beach.

We only stayed on Phi Phi for 2 nights because the accommodation was a bit pricey, it was nice to have a change of pace for a couple of days and if you are looking for a party then Phi Phi is the way to go. There are also lots of other beaches on Phi Phi that might provide that paradise feel but we decided to head back to Railay where we went last year instead (I fancied doing a bit of climbing, more of this in the next post).

Very good advice

So we got ourselves onto another boat bound for Railay, this time no clambering over other boats as Phi Phi has a nice concrete pier. We knew that we would have to transfer to a smaller long-tale boat to actually get to Railay as the beaches are rather isolated and there is no pier but after all of our boat trips we are salty sea dogs now.

As we set off from Phi Phi, on time rather than Thai time, the weather was beautiful, there were even people sunbathing on the roof.

As the journey continued the sky slowly got darker and darker until we started to see flashes of lightning in the distance. Then the rain started, a light English style shower to start then progressing through heavy rain all the way to stormy seas. The waves got bigger, although they stayed a beautiful green and we kept thinking, this will pass by the time we have to get off.

Then we saw a couple of limestone Karsts that we recognised and the weather was not letting up. Then sure enough came the cry "RAILAY, RAILAY," we were the first to get up as everyone else going to Railay seemed to be English and therefore pronounce it Raylee. The rain was so bad that even with the boat stopped all that we could see was emerald green waves and the dark shapes of the Karsts off in the mist. We were rather glad when we were ushered into the warm of the engine room out of the rain although this did mean we missed the first round of long tales to the beach. As soon as we stepped back onto the deck we were soaked right through again, we were glad that we had put the rain covers on the back packs before we started out.

A long-tale pulled up along side the small ferry that we were waiting on and was tied off. The boat driver, I know driver is the wrong word for a boat but it really is the only way to describe the way a long-tale moves in the water, hauled our bags down then we jumped down ourselves followed by eight other people. At the best of time a long-tale with its massive car engine balancing on the back has a pugnacious relationship with the water in front of it, pushing it out the way rather than gliding through it, however with the larger stormy waves the boat felt as if it were trying to rip a hole in the very fabric of the sea - and winning. The rain and the spray were indistinguishable, the boats canopy no protection at all. We were wet before we got on the long-tale but after it looked like we had had a fully clothed swim in the sea.

We jumped out of the boat when we got to the shore and waded the last couple of meters to the beach. Even after all of that it was worth it, the sand is soft, the scenery spectacular and our accommodation had a sign out welcoming us.

Railay maybe a bit awkward to get to, the food and accommodation is a bit more expensive but it is our favourite place in Thailand.

Always a nice welcome your name on a board

Dissolving trousers: Arriving in Kuala Lumpur

The days highlight - Indian sweets

We are currently enjoying the sites and sounds of Kuala Lumpur (KL to its friends) after arriving here a couple of days ago. As one or two people may know I came here a few years ago and there are plenty of things that I remember but most of it is just as new to me as it is to Aimee (I do have a very poor memory).

We arrived in KL on the bus from Melacca costing us the princely sum of RM12 each (or just 5 of your British pounds sterling) for two people to do a two hour bus trip. This was not a pickup truck with wooden benches and live stock; although the outside of the coach could have used a wash inside was very clean and included the delights of Under Siege 2 to entertain us, we even had armchair reclining seats with lazyboy style footrests.

We were dropped off at KL's new integrated bus terminal which makes The Jetsons look a little bit stone age; each bus bay has its own escalator to move arriving passengers to the air-conditioned main concourse which is well signposted in four languages and has information desks with real live staff and regular train connections to the rest of KL. If you are a public transport geek like me this place is a very shiny toy. It shows the best of what a growing economy can do when the need/money/red-tape triangle does not get in the way.

We rapidly left the space age as we got off the MRT in China Town, a metal walkway ushered us over a river of questionable aroma and out onto a chaotic intersection. With the road in near gridlock, buses and cars weaved slowly to get to their destination whilst mopeds squeezed through any available space. In typical Malay style the taxi drivers and guest house touts asked us politely if we required a lift anywhere and if we had a place to stay but did not push when we said that we were OK, one of the touts even pointed us in the right direction as we were puzzling over our map at a confusing intersection.

I think that we can be forgiven a slight amount of puzzlement as it is not often that your hotel is literally in the middle of a busy market. After being pointed in the right direction by the tout we made our way to the cross roads in the middle of the street market, stalls covered every inch of pavement and most of the street - pilled high with designer(?) watches and bags, gadgets and fruit. Behind the stalls were more shops and restaurants selling everything you can't get on the market - no sign of a hotel. Then I looked up, way up, and spotted a small sign in-between several large shop signs. Anyone who has had the misfortune to do anything strenuous with me will testify to the fact that by now I was actually dripping sweat to the point where my trousers were becoming transparent and sliding off. Navigating towards the sign whilst wearing a 22kg backpack, loosing ones trousers, through a crowded market place whilst being offered DVD's of questionable authenticity felt like a fiendish challenge from the Crystal Maze - at any second I expected Richard O'Brien's glimmering head to appear and offer some witty repartee to try and distract me from the task at hand. But we did make it to the sign, and then it pointed into a shop.

Market stalls with shops behind

So next we squeeze past a couple of racks of clothes to a glass door with the hotels name above it in beautifully polished letters. We open the door and our prize is a blast of chilly refrigerated air with the subtle sent of lemon cleaning products. The lobby and then our room are immaculate, the staff friendly and it is even possible to sit on the loo and have a shower at the same time (not that we have tried it but it is nice to have the option I guess). Cleaned and refreshed we headed out to find some food. Little India is not far so we got ourselves a curry fix before calling it a night after an eventful day. 

Me after shower and curry - notice the satisfied grin of a man with sweets in his bag

Malacca: Selamat Datang!

From Johor Bahru our next destination was Malacca City. Our journey started with an interesting ride on the local bus to the main bus terminal. The bus journey was surreal for two reasons;

1. Everybody on the bus appeared to enjoy staring at me ‘the tall white girl’ as if I was from out of space and 2. The bus was playing Marilyn Manson very, very loud, transporting me back to some shady clubs I used to frequent in my youth, Eddies being the first to spring to mind. But if that was not bizarre enough it was nothing to the sensory overload that is JB bus terminal.

Destination: Malacca

There appeared to be hundreds of people either hawking their goods, haggling loudly, eating at the many food stands, running to their buses or just sitting around enjoying the exhaust smoke atmosphere and of course the touts who just want to get you on their bus. Saying this the whole process was very smooth and much more organised than certain bus stations at home *cough* Digbeth coach station *cough*.  Within 30 minutes we had brought our tickets, enjoyed a refreshing ice tea and got on our very comfy Malacca bound coach. Two hours later we arrived, greeted by a giant Tesco superstore.

The controversial sky tower overlooks the city. 

As it was so hot we took a taxi and 10 minutes later we arrived at our hotel. After a quick shower we headed back out to see what Malacca had to offer. On first look it would appear that the answer was busy roads, no pavement and everybody’s favourite- open sewers! Hurrah. Quickly becoming tired of avoiding cars and motorbikes, which could drive any direction they chose, we headed to Chinatown.

Trishaw in Chinatown.

Ahhh, pavement! Well sort of, there were still those damn bikes. But we both thoroughly enjoyed the market- all the smells and the noises and just a really good atmosphere. We decided that tonight was a sit in a bar kind of night, it was fun to just relax and watch the locals and tourists at the market.

Cute doggy in Chinatown

We awoke the next day refreshed and ready to face the day. We grabbed breakfast from a Chinese bakery and it was delicious, but I couldn’t really tell you what was in it!

That day I saw Malacca in a different light, from the ornately decorated trishaws to the quirky Mediterranean feel to the place, Malacca had a lot to offer. I am even starting to get used to people asking to have their photo taken with me, I might even start charging!

Funky trishaw

That evening we noticed that the city was even more beautiful at night... and not just because it was easier to see the cars coming at you!

Electrical storm

Beautiful sunset to end our day.