Last week in Thailand

I cannot believe it. It does not seem real. This is our last week in Thailand. I almost don’t want to say anything, every time we leave Bangkok we say this is the last time we will be here on this trip. And yet here we are again, in the air-con heaven that is Siam Paragon- shopping utopia.  We originally only intended to spend one month in Thailand. That month has quickly become three, we have welcomed in the New Year (both Gregorian and Chinese), met some of the most incredible people at Isara in Nong Khai and strangely I feel that I am better at navigating my way around Bangkok than Birmingham. Having been here so long, there are certain things that no longer seem odd or strange to me, here are a few that Matt and I were thinking about yesterday as we found some shade in the beautiful Lampuni park (for all you Brits reading, its 33* and sunny all the way here!)

Random dogs, often with missing limbs… everywhere.

The legend of the hot shower. Hot water in a shower is a privilege; water pressure is something I vaguely recall from my youth. Oh yeah and 9 times out of 10, the toilet is going to be in the shower. Great for those early morning showers where you’re not quite ready to stand. Not so good if you forget to remove the toilet paper.

Food being available 24/7, any cuisine, very cheap.

Going to an ATM and withdrawing thousands of Baht and feeling like Richie Rich.

Driving down a road, and a group of people are moving a marquee, do they stop and move out of the way? Hell no, they lift it higher and continue to walk up the freeway so the cars can drive through it!

A motorbike with less than three passengers and a dog on it is a waste. 

If I have to wait longer than 5 minutes for my train, it is a national outrage.

Electrics, if it doesn’t visibly and audibly spark when you plug something in, do it again, it must be broke.

Massive lizards everywhere!!

Anyone that has been to Bangkok has mastered their own 7-11 dash, the quickest way from the MRT to your apartment via as many air-con soothing 7-11s as possible!

Too hot? Go inside. Too cold? Go outside.

Not understanding any billboards or television programs. Ever.

Asian pop music, strangely the songs will get in your head and you start to think that liking Girls Generation is acceptable!

The daily assault course that is the sidewalk. Vats of boiling oil, holes in the ground and low lying electrics. Walking in the road is actually safer.

So Thailand, we are going to miss you and your ways. It will be strange no longer sawadee ka-ing' and 'kop kun ka-ing' people. But for now I better finish my coffee and enjoy my last Bangkok food court. Tomorrow we head to Hong Kong. And we all know what that means… Disney Land Hong Kong! 

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.

Teacher! Teacher!

We are now into our second week of teaching and volunteering with Isara here in Nong Khai.

Pink school

 We are working 3 days a week at a local government school, teaching students from 9 to 13 years old. The school is two doors down from our apartment and is a lovely shade of flamingo pink. On our first day, as we walked down the driveway of our apartment block we could hear children’s laughter, we glanced over and there was a group of  girls playing what appeared to be tag on the roof of the 5 storey building! Lets just say discipline at the school is quite lax.

All together now.... ch!

Saying this, the students are all very respectful and respond well to us (we have not needed the cane that was handed to us on day one). Our lack of Thai and their lack of English hasn’t been a problem and already we have seen progress from the students. Now when we walk down the street it is to a chorus of ‘Teacher, Teacher!’.

Teacher Matt in action!

Ruling with an iron fist. 

Both at the government school and during our afternoon classes at Isara we have mainly been focusing on Phonics. I have found it fun to think of activities and games to  engage the children and Matt is loving his time in the classroom, after years of hearing 'I don’t like children', Matt is a natural in the classroom, and I think it helps that the young adult class all tell him he is handsome!

We also have been enjoying our Thursday afternoon art class. I had the genius idea of making salt dough with the children, it was a great fun activity, although I didn’t count on the most humid weather I have ever encountered hindering the actual drying process, turning the artistic ducks and flowers into a beige mush!  

Not too sure about salt dough.....

clearly loves it!

Lets just hope I can fix the finished products....

If you have time, check out the Isara website, you may even spot a few pictures of us participating in manual labour! 

Siem Reap to Phnom Penh

We found ourselves drawn to Siem Reap; the history, the restaurants, the chilled out bars and the most welcoming people since Texas. 'Just one more night' we would say when we returned to our hotel. But eventually the time had come to move on. We booked our seats on the morning bus to Phnom Penh through our hotel (which of course was also a travel agents!) and were told a mini van would come to pick us up at 7:30 am to transfer us to the bus station. 

At 7:30 on the dot the hotel staff called us and helped us load our luggage into the already rather full mini van, as Matt and I clambered into the back seats. The driver starts the engine and performs an impressive 3-point turn and pulls up on the opposite side of the road for his next pick up. 3 girls helped by the driver manage to just about cram their luggage into the back and climb in, by now we are very cosy (9 people in a 7 seater + luggage!). The driver jumps in, and we’re off, well 40 meters up the road, and he pulls over. Everyone on the bus looks at each other thinking the same thing, where on earth is he going to put anyone else? The driver jumps out and pulls open the door ‘Ok, were here!’ he shouts to which every person in the van bursts out laughing. As he struggles to unload the backpacks I can actually see the staff at our hotel still waving us off. At times like this you realise, you have to love Asia.

Next we had a transfer to the real bus station (or big bus station, as they are often called) a nice coach before joining the bus that would take us to PP. After a rather long (7 hours) bumpy journey, which saw us driving past flooded fields, rice paddies and vast country side on mostly dirt tracks, but also one rather new and impressive bridge we arrived in Phnom Penh. As soon as we were off the bus we were swamped with Tuk-Tuk drivers wanting to be our driver. Here we met TK, we liked TK for two reasons 1. He didn’t try to rip us off 2. He has the same name as Matt’s beloved VW Golf! TK is a great driver, which was reassuring on the chaotic roads of PP. The traffic here makes Bangkok traffic look organised, there is not really a right way to drive, I would say the majority drive on the left, but there is a significant minority that drive on the right as well! We were glad that all the bars and restaurants were within walking distance of the hotel. It was definitely time for a well-deserved drink!

Dusk mask definitely required!

Traffic 

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

Fairy tale of Bangkok

Fired up after our amazing experience at the cooking course we were very sad to leave Hua Hin and head back to Bangkok. This was made all the worse as Jim had to go back to work so our little group lost a member on Saturday.

Not sure how C never ended up in the group photos - guess we will have to do it all again.

To help us get over our blues at Jim being back at work and Mom and Dad’s part of the trip nearing its end we decided to have a couple of days of retail therapy. On Saturday we visited the amazing Chatuchak weekend market where we managed to finish our Christmas shopping and get me a much needed new pair of trousers. It was really nice to have C with us who found lots of small cool stalls that we might have missed.

Bangkok is really going for the Christmas decorations this year

Unlike my photography which is getting worse - boo

On Sunday we found our way to Bangkok’s air-conditioned heart, at the huge malls around Siam Square. We relaxed with a few cups of coffee and enjoyed the Christmas decorations that have been put up. Not buckling to nagging but rather realising that having long hair in the tropics is like wearing a woolly hat in the summer I decided to get a hair cut. It did not go entirely to plan as rather than getting a dashing Jake Gyllenhaal hair do, I ended up with the regulation Chinese ½ inch all over. Never mind hair grows.

Conscription haircut 300 bhat

To celebrate our last evening together in Thailand before Mom and Dad flew home we went to bar 55 on the roof of one of Bangkok’s taller hotels. We enjoyed a nice cocktail while enjoying the view and the soft jazz band.

Roof top bar - don't mind if I do

The last few weeks have been brilliant filled with some of the best experiences of the trip and amazing company, thanks so much to Mom, Dad, Jim and C for being part of our journey.

Sukhothai

Nice pool

After another long bus journey from Chiang Rai we found ourselves in Sukhothai at the Ruean Thai hotel. We can't really say enough good things about this hotel, the rooms were some of the cleanest we have stayed in in Asia and beautifully decorated, the shower was even separated from the toilet by a curtain. The height of luxury. The rooms we stayed in were in a wooden building surrounding a really nice pool. Even better than the hotel rooms were the staff who could not do enough to help us, ferrying us back and forward to the bus station so that we could go and see the sights and suggesting places to eat and helping out with travel information. The hotel restaurant was nice as well. All round a great base from which to explore.

Fancy wooden hotel

After a very nice restful evening we got ourselves over to Sukhothai's main attraction the historical park. Sukhothai historical park is a complex, of mainly Buddhist, monuments that is being preserved. The 20ish sites in the complex are spread over an area of around 5 km and date from one of the earlier Thai kingdoms around the 13th and 14th Centuries.

Main temple at Sukhothai

We hired bikes and spent the day exploring the main park, it was really nice having everyone together as a family.

We don't look too much like trouble

Offerings at Sukhothai

Typical of a Sukhothai style Buddha

After we had had our fill of the main park we decided to ride outside of the old walls to Wat Si Chum to see the large seated Buddha. This was something of a mission accomplished for me as I have wanted to visit this site since seeing a postcard of it on my first trip to Asia. For me it was worth the wait, the size of the figure was second to the beauty of the carving and the peace that filled the space.

Everyone feeling a bit of inner peace we cycled back to bus stop to drop off the bikes, somewhat to Mom's relief (at that point she didn't know we would be on them again the next day.)

We spent November 26th exploring Si Satchanalai-chaliang historical park, again by bike. The park is similar to Sukhothai and from the same period in Thai history but the neat park areas and open spaces of Sukhothai contrast with the slightly wilder feel of Si Satchanalai and give you more of an explorer buzz. A huge flock of, I think, storks flying over the park added another twist. The ruins were again spectacular and as the park was quieter we largely had them to ourselves.

Dad and Jim do their best Atlas impression

Inside of of the Chedi

I think they are storks

Aimee and Mom helping out the local economy

We spent our last day in Sukhothai enjoying the pool and relaxing with a drink.