THAILAND - The North

BANGKOK

My bum hurts! Well it did do after a full day of cycling (in Cambodia) followed by a long bus ride from Cambodia to Thailand. After the tedious boarder crossing we weren't sure what to expect from the capital city,Bangkok. We had heard mixed reviews: some brilliant and some horrific! So Caitlin and I were looking forward to making up our own opinions. It was getting dark by the time we had reached the city center and were getting off the bus. We were hit by the noise from the crowds, the strange smells from the street food stalls and the neon lights from Khao San Road... and we absolutely LOVED it!

The next day we made our way across the city trying out the different modes of transport: the river boat taxi and the BTS Sky Train, to reach the monstrous "BMK" shopping mall. I was on the hunt for a new digital camera. After a successful shopping trip we headed back to the centre to go to Wat Pho, the temple that houses the enormous Reclining Buddha. After wards we went to check out the Grand Palace. On entry we were given a long list of clothing that we were not aloud to wear, confused and unsure of what we were aloud to wear we decided to do a U-turn and quietly back out!

During the time we were in Bangkok, Thailand was in full swing of a national holiday to celebrate the Queen's birthday. But fear struck when loud booms were heard and the floor beneath us shook. Bangkok was being bombed, we were terrified and needed to find shelter. However it turned out to be the Royal Family firing cannons -all part of the party. PANIC OVER!

CHAING MAI

The old city of Chaing Mai is a neat square bounded by a moatand remains of a medi-eval style wall built 700 years ago to defend against Burmese invaders. Inside the old wall is a district of narrow streets that lead to a quiet world of family run coffee houses, leafy gardens and friendly smiles. After getting off the over night bus ride from Bangkok we soon found a room to stay in at Mr. Whiskey's guest house.Later that afternoon Caitlin and I were out about the town when I heard another TukTuk driver trying to to get our attention. It was strange on this occasion because they knew my name... we turned round and saw Bex, a close friend from college, and her travel buddy Rosie. It was odd "bumping into" old friends 1000's of miles from home! We joined them for coffee to swap stories and arranged to meet later for dinner and explore the Chain Mai Night Bazaar (street market).

After a good nights sleep i was feeling like a culture vulture and so signed myself up to do a cookery course with Baan Thai Cooking School. That morning I met my group and we headed to the local market with our wicker baskets to collect our ingredients for the day. Throughout the day I learnt to cook 5 different traditional Thai dishes:

Pad Thai

Thai Fish Cakes

Tom Yum Soup

Green Thai Curry

Deep Fried Battered Banana

Of course we got to eat everything that we cooked and it was also great trying the other different dishes that had been cooked in my class. I had the best time and met a fantastic group of people!

PAI

Pai is slightly further north than Chaing Mai and the dusty little town is found within a picturesque valley. The stress reducing setting appealed to Caitlin and I so we decided to give Pai a try! The afternoon the we arrived we went out to explore the town, taking pictures of the funny road signs and farm animals, and enjoyed the bohemian way of life adopted by the locals.

During our time in Pai we went to visit a couple of the temples in the surrounding mountains, went to an elephant camp, saw Pai Canyon, swam at Mo Paeng Waterfall and spent the evening trying out local delights, my favorite was Panang Curry followed by pancakes!

Our last day in Pai we decided to move accommodation and found budget huts over looking the river and mountain scenery. We wanted to spend the day relaxing and sunbathing on our balcony but once again had to change our plans due to the continuous rain! Getting restless inside our hut we stuck 2 fingers at the weather and went on a Wet'n'Wild adventure...

The morning we left - of course the rain had stopped by now!

We are now back in Bangkok for one more night in the city before heading south to the islands... :)

CAMBODIA

PHNOM PENH

The journey into Cambodia was beautiful. We decided to cross the boarder from Vietnam by boat - up the Mekong River, in total we were on the water for about 7 hours! Along the way we saw everything from women doing the washing up at the water edge to farmers bathing their cows to children playing in the river and making use of the steep banks as mud slides!!!

(Caitlin taking in the river views on the boarder crossing)

It felt like we had been on the move for a long time so we spent our day in the city at our own pace...SLOW. We enjoyed most of our day reading in hammocks over looking the Boeng Kak Lake, but we did make an effort to check out the Psar Themei Central Market and the impressive Silver Pagoda. That night we met up with a couple that we had met whilst in Vietnam, Orla & Chris, to go out for a traditional Cambodian Khmer meal.

BATTAMBANG
Caitlin and I opted to get the bus to Battambang, which was fine until we drove into the monsoon and the bus started leaking above mine and Caitlins seats! When we got off the bus we thought it would be a good idea to go for a coffee, but ended up getting in a riff with the waiter who tried to short change us (80p!).

The next day Caitlin and i got carried away and took a ride out of town on a TukTuk. We were taken to Phnom Sampeau, set upon a high limestone outcrop. We were dropped off at the bottom and walked up to the top with one of the kids from the village to point us in the right direction. Halfway up we stopped at the Killing Caves. It was an eerie place with a gruesome tale to tell of the power struggle between the "Khmer Rouge" and the people of Cambodia.

Making our way to the top we wondered through the complex of temples (and monkeys) and took in the spectacular view from the top that seemed to stretch out for miles. On our way back to town we stopped at Phnom Banan - exactly 358 steps to reach the 5 towers. Locals claim it was the inspiration for Ankor Wat!Battambang was an elegant river side town that was able to charm both Caitlin and I but also chill to the bone.


SIEM REAP
Getting of the bus at Siem Reap we were harassed my too many sweaty, male TukTuk drivers, we eventually were able to make an escape and track down a nice hostel - Garden Village with a $0.50 beer roof top bar. We went into town for the rest of the afternoon and had a great lunch in the middle of the market, Cambodian pancakes filled with bean sprouts and shrimps and lots of salad :)We couldn't resist not looking around the market and ended up spending much more money that intended! Feeling tired we got chatted up by a friendly (and younger) TukTuk driver and managed to score a free lift home! That night we we needed to be in bed early for the following days adventure...

ANGKOR WAT
It was 4.00am and our alarm went off! Today was the day of Angkor Wat. We got up early so that we could cycle (YES CYCLE) to the temples in time to see the sun rise. The ride took us about an hour to get there and it seemed strange cycling through the city in the pitch black as most parts has no street lights, but it wasn't much of a struggle as the land was so flat. It was well worth the early start as the sight when we got there was great!

After a banana breakfast we carried on cycling around the rest of the archilogical sight to see some of the surrounding temples, including Bayon and Ta Prohm- the set for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider! The sights were extreemly impressive and it was a fantastic day out... I definitly slept well that night.

VIETNAM

HANOI
Our train arrived at Hanoi, the capital city if Vietnam, at 5am! We managed to avoid the taxi scams ($10 for 2km!) - waited for the first bus into town and checked into one of the many grotty backpacker hostels. After we re-cooperated some energy we went for lunch by the lake with some girls who were staying in our dorm and spent the rest of the day sight seeing around the "Old Quarter" of town, including the Hoa Lo Prison where we saw the horrible conditions the old Vietnamese prisoners were kept in and the Doam Xuan Market (and got a new bag). The following day we got up early for a trip to see the temples at Hoa Lu and Tam Coc, we had a funny tour guide who's favorite phrase was "And now we go into...DISCOVERY!". As we were having lunch it began to thunder.... just in time for the river cruise! Luckily we were bombarded by a mob of women selling disposable rain macs! Aside from the rain we had a fun afternoon and the scenery was beautiful- clean, wide river with huge limestone pillars jetting out from the ground. That evening we feasted on heart and kidney with noodles and pig brain soup, we were both in agreement that the noodles were okay but the pig brain soup did not go down well!!


HUE
Our next stop in Vietnam was Hue, which was a small sweet town divided in two by the Perfume River running through the middle. On the afternoon we arrived we visited The Forbidden Purple City and went shopping in the market. Our second day was spent entirely on the river. Caitlin and I found a boat to take us down the Perfume River to see the temples and pagodas that have been built on the banks. Later on that evening we had dinner on the river, eating out on a floating restaurant! That night frog was on the menu, which i would happily eat again- it was actually quite nice!

Hoi An
Hoi An was the next stop, we arrived early afternoon and headed straight for the beach!

white sands - CHECK, blue seas - CHECK, palm trees - CHECK

By now we have been away nearly a month and I can't believe it has taken us this long to find a place to lay in the sun! We left the following day free of plans to do exactly the same as the day before- lie on the beach with no interruptions, only to be woken by the tropical storm that had rolled in over night....brilliant!


Nha Trang
We got the night bus to Nha Trang and prayed for good weather all the way there- even though heavy rain had been forecast for the next few days. When the bus arrived at 7am we could not have asked for a better wake up call than the clear skies we were greeted by. We decided to have breakfast on the beach and spent the rest of the day sun bathing on the white sands and swimming in the sea :) The following day I did exactly the same, unfortunately Caitlin did not make it out of bed due to the antics of the night before, when we went for a heavy night out with a group of guys we had met on the night bus. I came home to meet her later with a sun burnt knee! It was agreed that an early night was in order due to our early bus departure in the morning.


DALAT
Dalat is situated in the central highlands of Vietnam and prides itself on its rebellious spirit! The weather is spring cool instead of the tropical heat, the town is dotted with elegant french villas and the farms around are thick with flowers and strawberries- not rice! Dotted with lakes and waterfalls and surrounded by evergreen forests, Dalat is nicknamed The City of Emerald Spring. After our first night we woke early again for our french baker breakfast- banana bread and pain au chocolate. Then went to meet our "Easy Riders"- a witty and knowledgeable crew of local motorbike guides who were about to take us around Dalat and its surroundings. We got going and straight away were hit by the breath taking views of the farm land. Shortly into our journey we took a break from the motor bikes to make a short, but steep, ascent! It was worth it tough as a panoramic view of the land was waiting for us at the top. Back on the bikes we drove around the mountains stopping at a flower farm, a silk far and introduced to a family who had a coffe plantation. The main event of the day was seeing The Elephant Waterfall. We saw it first from the top and was able to scramble down the side to see it from the bottom- at its best! Back up top we were spoilt with a real feats of Vietnamese food. That evening we met up with some people we had previously met in Hoi An who had invited us to there hotel to use the sauna and hot tub on the roof terrace! This was one of my favorite days since I have been away, doing the Easy Riders tour was such a great way to see the REAL Vietnam. I had an amazing time and Mr Hung, my guide, was able to take our sleeping bags (which we had not used once since being away- I don't know why we took them with us) and give them to a family in the very rural areas of Dalat as the nights are much cooler in the highlands.


HO CHI MIN CITY (SAIGON)
We had only a short stay in HCMC and spent most of it outside the city. We went to visit the Cu CHi Tunnels. It was fantastic to see how the people of Cu Chi survived attacks of the USA by living underground and interesting to learn all about their survival e.g. the air holes built in termite hills and tiger traps. We even got to go in the tunnels, since 1960 the tunnels have been widened so that fat westerners can fit down them!!

MEKONG DELTA
Our last few days in Vietnam were spent on the Mekong Delta. After a short drive, including a stop at The Giant Buddha we got on board a river boat with our tour guide JJ (short for James Bond!) and cruised along the Mekong River and seeing the 4 islands- Dragon, Phoenix, Tortoise and Unicorn where we stopped to talk a walk through the village and went to see the coconut candy workshop. That night Caitlin and I did a home-stay and spent the night with a Vietnamese family. To get to the family home we were dropped of by taxis on the side of a motorway (by the way by this time it was way after dark!) and we had to walk down a very muddy and a very slippery track, luggage and all, down to the river. The last part of our journey was a ride on a very rickety boat that took us to our accommodation for the night. The ride down the river was beautiful, even thought it was pitch black, the trees on the river bank were lit up by thousands of fire flies - so pretty. We arrived at the home-stay quite late and s had dinner straight away, where we made our own spring rolls with the family. It was a lovely evening spent with the family and meeting there children and their pets!
Caitlin and I had a little cabin top share that was made out of bamboo and had a balcony which over looked the river. In the morning we were able to take a better look around the place in the light. That day we visited the Cai Rang Floating Market. It is quite an interesting concept! Most of the produce that is bought there is later taken to sell at markets on land. That evening we went to Sam Mountain (it's a hill really) where we could see Cambodia in the distance once at the top. That night we slept in a small town called Chau Doc before we crossed the Cambodian boarder the following day.


Vietnam is a beautiful country with so much to see, if you blink you miss something special! But my favorite thing about Vietnam is... withdrawing cash!!!! The exchange rate is ridiculous, 1 British Pound is equal to 30,000 Vietnamese Dong, so on my first day there I felt like a millionaire when taking out 5,000,000 Dong! But seriously I loved my time in Vietnam! It's a shame we only got to spend 2 weeks there as it did not seem long enough at all.

CHINA

I am so pleased Caitlin and I have made it out of the country and finally made our dreams a reality!! Sorry that this blog is a little later than I intended; China has blocked and banned my blog site from use!

BEIJING
This was a great city to start in, we had so many things to do. We spent most of our time exploring the city and seeing the sites which included Beihai and Jingshan (the city parks), the Temple of Heaven, some of the 2008 olympic stadiums, The Forbidden City - where Caitlin and I were reminded that China has the largest population in the world as we were hearded round like being in a cattle market!

My best day in Beijing was our trip to The Great Wall!!! We went to the Badaling section which is particularly (unknowingly) steep. I managed to climb and complete a section of the wall which I am proud of myself for doing in the 42 degree heat!! Especially as Caitlin's legs could only carry her up 10 steps, apparently her legs are too short!?

The rest of our time was spent checking out the street food zoo and other traditional dishes when we were taken out by our room mate Dickson to try the infamous Pekking Duck.

XI'AN
After a long train journey we arrived at our second destination, Xi'an. We only had a short stay here so we sussed out the city on our first day wandering the streets and markets and visited the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. The Bell Tower was rung at dawn and it's alter ego The Drum Tower marked night fall. On our second day we took a bus ride out of town to see The Terra Cotta Warriors; a life size army of thousands built to protect the Emporer from the evils in the afterlife. It was amazing to see that each of the soldiers was completly unique from each other!!


CHENGDU
Chengdu marked the half way point of our trip over China. On the train journey to the city we shared a cabin with a chinese couple who seemed to take great pride in telling us how to make our pot noodle dinner! The city had a more "English summer" like climate which was welcomed after the heat and humidity we had previously been put through.

On arrival we checked out the Tibeten Quarter of the city and the Peoples Park to find the locals singing, dancing and practicing Thai Chi. However at times Caitlin and I felt like the stars of thwe show becasue of the amount of camera lenses pointed in our dirrention. The photographers are not as sublte and discreet as they think! But I think that it was indeering.

The next day we got up early and spent the day at The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. The panda were so sweet, obviously, but it was strange to see them so captive. On the way home we snacked on bean curd pastries and fat flechy litchies. When we got back to our hostel we were greated with a treat from our room mates who wer two chinese girls.....DUCK NECK! Then spent the rest of the evening getting lost in translation.

KUNMING
Kunming was our penultamate destination in China and we were introduced to the city after a TWENTY HOUR TRAIN JOURNEY! This was another city of sight seeing; Green Lake Park, The Golden Temple (where I became Caitlin's personal trainer to get her to the top of the 1000's of steps!) and taking the danger bus up the mountains to see the Buddist Monks at The Bamboo Temple. We took a day out of the city to visit The Dian Chi Lake and The West Hills. It was good to get away from all the smog and air pollution of the city but we were disturbed by the opaque pea green color of the lake which of course was the result of more pollution.

That evening we tried the local speciality "Across the Briodge Rice Noodles". This dish resembles findu, where we were given a hot bowl of stock which we had to crack an egg into and add meat (chicken, fish, beef and pork), vegetable and of course rice noodles to cook itself in the heat of the stock!

On our last day we strolled the streets of The Flower and Bird Market, the market is now not exclusive to just flowers and birds and also has stalls devoted to selling mushrooms, tea, jewellery etc. and chewing gum! With my last few hours I spent my time in a free tea drinking seesion at the hostel and taking full advantage of the the fact that no money was being exchanged!

NANNING
Arriving at our last stop early in the morning we were able to find our hostel only a short walk away from the station. As we got hungry it decided to rain - absolutly pour down! We ran into a chinese fast food joint, soaking wet, and managed to get oven more funny looks than usual. The rest of our afternoon was fun as we found the Farmers Market, where we saw the head of a fish (that was cut away from the body) gulping for air!? and the Peoples Park "Enjoying the fish at Dragons Lake". That evening we headed to the Night Mraket for dinner. We came out with our tummies full of interesting things... roasted sparrow, crocodile, dove and other ambiguous dishes that we had no idea what was in them. Felt like we definitly earned some back packers credentials!!! On the way home we walked along the Chaoyang stream through Chaoyang Gardens and whitnessed crazy local line dancing type moves all over the place along to dodgy electric pop music, worth a watch!

We are now in Vietnam, I'll let you know how it goes! xx