Well we finally got out of India without contracting aemobic dysentry which is amazing considering the filthy state everything is in. Kinda summed up by our sheer joy at getting to Macky Dees in Delhi on the last day :) We got on the plane after 2 months of pretty hardcore travel and felt like it was time to split. We flew into Bangkok and were greeted at the Airport by my good friend Paul. We stayed with Paul, Tracey and little Josh for a couple of days in their lovely apartment, 17th floor overlooking the Bangkok skyline.
Man, that first beer on the balcony watching the sun go down was just perfect :) After India, Thailand seems so immaculately clean I think we spent 2 days just grinning at everything and eating everything in sight ! Paul introduced us to the Singha Tower - 3 litres of Bangkok's finest poured into a tube with a central ice core and a tap at the bottom.
It was great to be in a proper home' again and fun to watch little Josh (whose nickname in Thai is Little Elephant). He is such a cute baby and already attracting attention from all the Thai ladies whenever he heads out of the door.
Tracy took Diane to a luxurious spa where they both were pampered and enjoyed a fabulous massage which cost buttons (Diane now wants to live in Bangkok!)
After topping up on all the lush thai food and getting all our gear clean again we sorted out our next little jaunt, a couple of weeks in Laos then back to Bangkok for a long weekend in Ko Chang with Paul and his family.
We left by overnight coach to Chiang Mai, really great place, way smaller than Bangkok with great day and night markets. After a tour of the town and a good nights kip we hired a scooter and blasted into the hills; really awesome forests and hills and real wilderness, we were crouched over the scoot crawling up the hills, willing the thing not to conk out but it was worth the effort. Diane was over the moon to find a fantastic local bakery and we worked our way through cinnamon whirls, coconut rolls, croissants, pineapple upside down pudding!
We got a minibus up to Chiang Kong, on the border with laos. First view of the mighty Mekong River !!! Really conjures up images of all sorts of films you've seen and more, so beautiful and yet the events of the past are there in the background.
We met a great bunch of people in the guest house who were all on the slow boat to Luang Prabang, a town 2 days ride down the Mekong. It was a real early start and a couple of Aussie lads Jez and Adam looked like they were gonna ensure a real enjoyable 2 day boat party and they didn't disappoint. What a laugh everyone stacked up on beer lao and spirits once on the Laos side and we were all knocking it back by 10.30 in the morning waiting for the boat. Once everyone piled on the boat, that was it, we just floated down the Mekong laughin and jokin, watching the world go by. Every now and then a speed boat would shoot past, this was basically a small missile shaped long tail with a V8 strapped to the back, taking 6 intrepid passengers with helmets on clinging to their seats (and their dear lives!)
On the boat was a young American Opera Singer (a real luvvie character with a huge smile) and he kept us entertained joined by 4 Argentinian girls who played guitar and sang along with the everpresent Ozzies who got everyone to sing their National Anthem. It was like a floating cabaret.
We stopped off in the evening and clambered up the bank into a little riverside place whose name escapes me (Pak Beng, thank you Diane). All the power was from little gennies that chugged away at the back of each guest house, i was pretty tired from the all day sesh on the boat so a papaya salad and a coconut curry was as much as i could do before me and di crashed out. We left the Aussies in the bar.
Morning saw a mist over the river that slowly cleared and by 9.30 we were off again. Surreal watching the landscape slip by, thick jungle giving way to cultivated fields, people panning for gold on the sand banks. Rocky cliffs and caves, with waterfalls and forested hills everywhere. We arrived in Luang Prabang at about 5 and eveyone piled into the town. Got a lovely guest house and headed for food. This place is like something out of disney world, so picturesque with temples, markets, resturants and bars, all the streets with little lights twinkling so peaceful. We had a good next day walking around the town and ended up down on the riverside, nice to get some peace and quiet, the locals' veggie patches all along the river, chaps fixing their boats, all the day to day river action - really sweet.
It is bringing back lots of happy memories for Diane of her travels with Martine a couple of years ago and yes Martine the 'sticky rice and mango' and 'banana pancakes' are still delicious :)
Everyone from the 'boat party' met up on the top temple at 6 to watch the sun go down, panoramic views all around and you really got the feeling that actually you're in the middle of bloody nowhere !! the forested hills with a mist drifting off the Mekong and the sun just dropping off the edge, you get the picture( you will when i post it !)
Well enough of that we got down from the temple and went for some street food, nice papaya salad, sticky rice and a whole fish spatch cooked on the barbie - just pukka with a big Beer Lao. We caught up with Alex and Adam who have continued drinking continuously for the past 3 days with no sign of a let up, thats my boys, i think they are just off to smoke a bag of opium so the morning will reveal their state, we're off to bed !!
Man, that first beer on the balcony watching the sun go down was just perfect :) After India, Thailand seems so immaculately clean I think we spent 2 days just grinning at everything and eating everything in sight ! Paul introduced us to the Singha Tower - 3 litres of Bangkok's finest poured into a tube with a central ice core and a tap at the bottom.
It was great to be in a proper home' again and fun to watch little Josh (whose nickname in Thai is Little Elephant). He is such a cute baby and already attracting attention from all the Thai ladies whenever he heads out of the door.
Tracy took Diane to a luxurious spa where they both were pampered and enjoyed a fabulous massage which cost buttons (Diane now wants to live in Bangkok!)
After topping up on all the lush thai food and getting all our gear clean again we sorted out our next little jaunt, a couple of weeks in Laos then back to Bangkok for a long weekend in Ko Chang with Paul and his family.
We left by overnight coach to Chiang Mai, really great place, way smaller than Bangkok with great day and night markets. After a tour of the town and a good nights kip we hired a scooter and blasted into the hills; really awesome forests and hills and real wilderness, we were crouched over the scoot crawling up the hills, willing the thing not to conk out but it was worth the effort. Diane was over the moon to find a fantastic local bakery and we worked our way through cinnamon whirls, coconut rolls, croissants, pineapple upside down pudding!
We got a minibus up to Chiang Kong, on the border with laos. First view of the mighty Mekong River !!! Really conjures up images of all sorts of films you've seen and more, so beautiful and yet the events of the past are there in the background.
We met a great bunch of people in the guest house who were all on the slow boat to Luang Prabang, a town 2 days ride down the Mekong. It was a real early start and a couple of Aussie lads Jez and Adam looked like they were gonna ensure a real enjoyable 2 day boat party and they didn't disappoint. What a laugh everyone stacked up on beer lao and spirits once on the Laos side and we were all knocking it back by 10.30 in the morning waiting for the boat. Once everyone piled on the boat, that was it, we just floated down the Mekong laughin and jokin, watching the world go by. Every now and then a speed boat would shoot past, this was basically a small missile shaped long tail with a V8 strapped to the back, taking 6 intrepid passengers with helmets on clinging to their seats (and their dear lives!)
On the boat was a young American Opera Singer (a real luvvie character with a huge smile) and he kept us entertained joined by 4 Argentinian girls who played guitar and sang along with the everpresent Ozzies who got everyone to sing their National Anthem. It was like a floating cabaret.
We stopped off in the evening and clambered up the bank into a little riverside place whose name escapes me (Pak Beng, thank you Diane). All the power was from little gennies that chugged away at the back of each guest house, i was pretty tired from the all day sesh on the boat so a papaya salad and a coconut curry was as much as i could do before me and di crashed out. We left the Aussies in the bar.
Morning saw a mist over the river that slowly cleared and by 9.30 we were off again. Surreal watching the landscape slip by, thick jungle giving way to cultivated fields, people panning for gold on the sand banks. Rocky cliffs and caves, with waterfalls and forested hills everywhere. We arrived in Luang Prabang at about 5 and eveyone piled into the town. Got a lovely guest house and headed for food. This place is like something out of disney world, so picturesque with temples, markets, resturants and bars, all the streets with little lights twinkling so peaceful. We had a good next day walking around the town and ended up down on the riverside, nice to get some peace and quiet, the locals' veggie patches all along the river, chaps fixing their boats, all the day to day river action - really sweet.
It is bringing back lots of happy memories for Diane of her travels with Martine a couple of years ago and yes Martine the 'sticky rice and mango' and 'banana pancakes' are still delicious :)
Everyone from the 'boat party' met up on the top temple at 6 to watch the sun go down, panoramic views all around and you really got the feeling that actually you're in the middle of bloody nowhere !! the forested hills with a mist drifting off the Mekong and the sun just dropping off the edge, you get the picture( you will when i post it !)
Well enough of that we got down from the temple and went for some street food, nice papaya salad, sticky rice and a whole fish spatch cooked on the barbie - just pukka with a big Beer Lao. We caught up with Alex and Adam who have continued drinking continuously for the past 3 days with no sign of a let up, thats my boys, i think they are just off to smoke a bag of opium so the morning will reveal their state, we're off to bed !!
