Chiang Mai and Matt's Birthday

I think that sleeper buses should be renamed Zombie Buses because that is how I always feel when I get off. It took 14 hours, which was tough, especially for Mom and Dad who had just got off a 14 hour flight from the UK, and was made worse by the fact that it was a backpacker bus. I ignored my own rule of always going to the bus station and bought the bus tickets from a travel agent. We weren’t too badly over charged (we paid less than half the price of some people on the bus) but we did end up on a backpacker filled bus where somehow it was decided that the best way to pass the time was to get drunk rather than sleep.

Sign in Chaing Mai

Lesson learnt we arrived in Chiang Mai to our free guesthouse pickup; it never gets old having your name on a board. Our rooms were not ready so we checked out the morning market and had a sleep by the pool, very weird for me, as I never sleep in the day. After a nice shower we wandered into Chiang Mai’s walled old town, drank coffee, enjoyed the atmosphere and checked out a bit of the architecture. In the evening we went to one of the night markets and sampled a massive range of dishes.

Good Morning Chiang Mai

Enjoying the night market

The next day was my 28^th birthday, what a way to spend your birthday I’m not going to forget this one. First up was breakfast with very unexpected presents and cards from England! It was nice to get the messages all the way from home and a few new clothes without holes in never goes down too bad either, thank you so much to everyone who sent a message; paper or electronic. With a new t-shirt on next up we went to the beautiful and peaceful Wat Phra Singh where we spent a few hours learning and reflecting. After the mental relaxation of the temple I got another birthday present of a Thai massage to relax my body.

For Aimee's Mom!

In the town they were in the process of removing the Loy Kratong
decorations from last week. 

 We finished up the day with a delicious meal at Whole Earth Restaurant. A huge selection of veggie dishes and a table on the balcony of a teak house, what more could a birthday meal ask for? What a way to cap off a great day…

Whole Earth restaurant. 

Except that was not quite it, Aimee had one more surprise up her sleeve. We were all off on a night safari. The tuk-tuk that we took to get there was a bit surreal, the driver insisted on singing Happy Birthday to me while driving on the wrong side of a four lane highway.  I think late at night mom still has flashbacks of it now!

Feet on solid ground we waved good-bye to our kamikaze tuk-tuk driver and made our way up to the entrance of the night safari. This was a really fun experience, the animals seemed to be well looked after and in suitable enclosures. The cooler temperatures and nocturnal habitat of the animals meant that a lot of them active. 

Cheeky deer

Now we know where Matt gets it from!

Collective Ahhhhhh

Bangkok

We have had a busy few weeks since our last blog post. After watching the coverage of the floods in Bangkok on the news we travelled to the city with some apprehension. As we neared the outskirts of Bangkok, there were certain tell-tale signs; hawkers selling rubber dingys, the normal t-shirt sellers selling waders and at the market, instead of the familiar walls of flip flops there were wellington boots.

On the way to Wat Arun

 And then we had our first glimpse of what we had been watching on the television; brown smelly floodwater, around 2 feet deep. Amidst all this however, people were getting on with their daily lives, using the afore mentioned rubber dingy to hawk food as opposed to the trusty motorbike. Luckily for us, the water was no match for our packed out mini van and we made it safe and dry through the water. 

Even for Bangkok the traffic was bad and movement minimal. Fortunately we started to notice familiar landscapes and as chance would have it we saw Jim’s apartment block (aptly named ‘The Mansion’). Due to the non-moving traffic we were able to jump out in just the right spot.

Many buildings succumb to the water

After checking into our rather swish hotel it was time for a little family reunion. The last time we saw Jim was last year at our wedding when he, rather heroically, flew half way across the world to share the day with us (just the one day mind.) It was fantastic to meet up with him and have him show us around his hometown, including delicious food and local drinks of whisky and coke. Needless to say a good evening was had by all.

Slightly worse for ware, the next day was spent in the refreshing air con of the many Bangkok malls doing some Christmas shopping, which was a strange experience when its 35* outside. Then it was time for a bigger reunion, as Matt’s mom and dad joined us in Bangkok.  There were a few tears at the airport and even jetlag could not stop the reunion party.

Some of the sights at Wat Arun

As Jim had work the next day (poor Jim) we went to visit Wat Arun with Ann and Clive. Matt and I visited the temple last year but we can honestly say that it was even more impressive than last time and definitely one of our favourite places in Bangkok. From the tranquil gardens to the bells ringing in the wind and continual smell of incense.

The temple is decorated with elaborate mosaics made from Chinese porcelain, a left over from Chinese Ships who used the pottery as ballast. From afar the Khmer-style tower looks tall and impressive but on closer inspection you are taken aback by the sheer detail on every inch of the temple.

In bustling central Bangkok you would not think that just a few miles out people are living with 2-meter high floodwater. Our only indication was on the way to Wat Arun, reaching the water taxi involved wading through some unsavoury water (although two hours later on the way back it was all clear) and what appeared to be gallons of water being pumped out of the temple grounds and climbing over strategically placed sandbags.

After another great meal we hopped on a northbound sleeper bus without Jim, who had to work again and headed towards Chiang Mai. 

Phetchaburi

We only decided to stop in Phetchaburi on a bit of a coin toss, there were three towns jostling for the position of 'place to stop on the way to Bangkok' and we found accommodation in Phetchaburi first.

What a stroke of luck!

The town will forever go down in Matt and Aimee history as the place where Aimee stopped loving monkeys. The town was overrun with the hairy vagabonds and eerily like a scene from Planet of the Apes. Even a simple task like buying a bottle of water from the local 7 Eleven meant running the gauntlet of hairy thieves eyeing you up ready to snatch your belongings at any moment, It was even worse than Los Angeles!

The Khao Wang National Park more than made up for this however. After a short but steep tram ride up the mountain we followed the winding cobbled paths up to King Mongkut Palace. The impressively airy palace provided us with a spectacular panoramic view of the city while the building itself was modestly grand. Down another cobbled path through ancient looking gardens we arrived at Phra Nakhon Khiri Palace where we found yet more cheeky monkeys making a play for our belongings!

At the palace we were able to climb the stairs to the top of the stupa and again we were awarded a fantastic view of the Wat sprinkled skyline.

Before we knew it our time in Phetchaburi was over and we headed for Bangkok to meet up with Matt's brother. After watching the flood reports on the news we headed to the coach station with some trepidation, would there be any buses heading that way?

Out of the south

We have had a very eventful time since the last post we are now in Chaing Rai northern Thailand with Matt's family but we need to do a catch up on how we got here.

After sunning ourselves and relaxing in Railay we jumped on a couple more boats to get to Phuket town on the island of Phuket. Phuket is mainly known as a beach and party place but it is so big that we didn't see the sea after we got off the boat. We spent a couple of days exploring the old town's history and enjoying the great priced food and accommodation.

Phuket old town has an interesting china town vibe with rows and rows of shop houses selling everything imaginable.

Having made the long journey from the Andaman coast to Bangkok in one night last year we decided to breakup the trip this year. After seven hour bus journey from Phuket we arrived in Chumphon. There was not much to see here so we only spent one night and enjoyed a meal in the night market. The next day we had planned to use the train to get to Phetchaburi but the floods conspired against us and we had get another bus. There are so many buses roaming around Thailand that it is possible to get to most places from most places if you ask. Our main tip would be always go to the kiosk at the bus station, you get a better price and normally a much less crowded bus (more on that in another post).

Petchaburi was a real surprise so I will leave that for the next post.

Spider Matt

As promised a quick post about my climbing in Railay.

A long time ago I had done a bit of climbing and really enjoyed it but never carried on with it, then last year we sat and watched groups of people climbing the cliffs near the beach and I was determined to get up there myself this year. I had 2 half day sessions of climbing instruction with Hot Rock climbing school, I would have done more if my arms weren't so feeble. I may not actually be spider man yet but it was an amazing feeling to scramble up the cliffs.

The 2 instructors that I had from Hot Rock were great, they went through the safety stuff and provided all the gear including the super tight climbing shoes. I learnt how to tie the knots and be the safety man on the ground with the rope (known as belaying).

Then I got on with the amazing climbing up the rock part, as I was just starting out there was not too much teaching here other than suggestions on where to look for hand holds or places to jam my foot in.  Anyways enough waffle here are the pictures of me looking hot and sweaty.

The limestone features around Railay are often nicely textured so there is lots of places to hold on.

At the top of the first climb, it was a brilliant view but I was sweating rather profusely.

Shirt off for the rest of the climb; it was much cooler, but I am a tad battered now.

Nearly there. I did 10 climbs in total on different routes.

Very pleased with myself that climb was tough, it was my last of the first day, my arms were so tired and there was a slight overhang on the route that I had to pull myself over.

Me on the left sweating so much I look like I have just washed my hair. My instructor Boy congratulating me, although his face does look like he is laughing at me.

We were both very sad to leave Railay yesterday it is our favourite beach area in Thailand, hopefully we can go back in a few years when I have got bigger arms and I can do some of the harder routes.

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

Malaysia-Thailand

Since our last post we have had a busy few days, which started with a short ferry journey from Penang to the island of Langkawi. The crossing was fun, we bumped into a few familiar faces and strangely the entertainment on the boat was a collection of high octane, violent action films. We spent 3 days in Langkawi relaxing, enjoying the beach, spectacular sunsets and fake meat curries! Seriously, the fake meat here (which is actually tofu) is incredible.

There were many beautiful beaches to choose from, this beach was a popular choice for water sports in particular Banana Boats- always humorous.

Langkawi was to be the last stop in Malaysia on our trip. The month has passed quickly and we have visited many weird and wonderful places. Malaysia was nothing like I expected it to be, every time I thought I had the country sussed along came the next city, which brought with it something completely new that blew me away. When I look back on our time in Malaysia I think that I will remember the incredible food, welcoming friendly people, a wonderful mix of cultures and of course, my first squat toilet!

Terima Kashi Malaysia!

 Sà-wàt-de Kâ Thailand!

From Langkawi we embarked on our journey to Thailand. This journey made me feel like I was in the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles. First we caught a taxi from the hostel to the ferry terminal where we boarded our ferry to Satun, Thailand. After a quick and painless border crossing we knew we were officially in Thailand when we were greeted by our first Tuk-Tuk. The Tuk-Tuk dropped us off at a bus station in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere, just as I was beginning to wonder if we had been duped a lady waved us over to what can only be described as Barbie’s tour bus.

This photo did not capture the true brilliance of this bus!

The bus was bright pink- not just the exterior paintwork but the interior carpets and curtains. The roof was decorated with quilted leather and diamantes. At the front of the bus was a 40 inch flat screen with surround sound- that’ll be us then listening to Thai rock music for the remainder of the journey. Yes, we had arrived in Thailand, how we had missed it!

The Barbie tour bus took us to yet another middle of nowhere bus station. 15 minutes later a mini van arrived to pick us up. No pink curtains or quilted leather here,  just a driver who had a penchant for gangster rap- particularly the Eminem variety. Give me Thai rock and roll any day!

The ferry crossing took around 15 minutes,  we then drove through Ko Lanta’s smaller island to another ferry which again was a quick crossing. Safely in Ko Lanta we were dropped in the middle of the town. Now we just needed somewhere to stay. Who better to trust as your accommodation guru than a man with a motorbike and sidecar? (Unfortunately I was so taken aback by this there is no picture but I promise I will post one next time we catch one.) This was no ordinary motorbike and sidecar. This one had a roof. Within that roof the driver had an array of brochures for different accommodation in the area, which he proceeded to pass to us and read as he drove along, to think 30 minutes ago I was concerned that matt had no seat belt on the mini bus. Funnily enough we choose one of the closest accommodations, which has proved to be a good choice.

Our bungalow on the right.

We have a little bungalow with the most amazing swimming pool, adorned with elephants shooting water into the pool and we are right on the beach.

Again we have spent the last few days relaxing at the beach or enjoying the swimming pool and as always trying the local cuisine!

Petrol for sale- 40 Bhat (90p ish a wine bottle size!)

 On a final note, this week has not only been a busy one for us but also (and more so) for my 

cousins who I want to say a huge congratulations to on the birth of their absolutely gorgeous daughter Mei-Li, she is literally a little pretty.

Congratulations to Darren and Wei!