Posh Backpackers On Wheels

Back in Rio – our second home!

entertainers — Mon, 1 Mar 2010 19:56:00 GMT

Wrecked from our flights back from Salvador, an 8 hour journey, we arrived back to Alfa Hostel to be reunited with Leo. We headed for Ipanema to show off our tan, no longer would we blend in with the sand!! Met up with James, our travel companion, and Simon, and spent the day chilling at the beach. Went for cheap local meal in Botafogo, at a street restaurant, absolutely the best way to eat!! Cheap and delicious!!

The following morning we decided to get closer to the action and the beach, so moved to Wave hostel in Ipanema. Chilled at Ipanema all day, met up with more of the crew, stayed till sunset and clapped with the locals and Gringos… Later we hooked up with our team Alfa and went for a doner kebab before getting the train to Lapa for some serious fun.

Every other pub had a live band, so we sat down and ordered our caipirinas enjoying the music from the streets. Moved away from the Gringo section and went deeper into Lapa and mixed with the locals. Everyone was chilled out except for one, she got a panic attack saying this was unsafe, but the posh backpackers disagreed we said ’we are perfectly safe, sure there are armed police just across the street’|…..hahahaha

A bit damaged from the Caipirinias the night before, the three soldiers, us and James, decided we needed some divine inspiration, so we headed on our pilgrimage to see Jesus. Waiting for our train to heaven, we bumped in to an Ozzy boyband we’d met in Salvador, called The Heroes, and decided to get a bus to heaven with them instead of waiting for the train. Made it up to Jesus, he’s still there watching over Rio, tourists swarming around him, and Bob the Builders making sure he’s kept in shape. The view was as amazing as 2 years ago, and happy out, the three soldiers made their way back down to Rio, and back to Ipanema beach, where we’d arranged to meet Natasha (MT’s friend from Norway).

Had a few hours at the beach, and were invited to Natasha’s dad and stepmum’s place for dinner. It was a beautiful appartment on the top floor, with the most amazing view of Rio and the most stunning art work and sculptures covered the appartment, We sat admiring the view, while sipping champagne, The posh backpackers were in heaven!! We had a beautiful dinner with Natasha and the family, and headed back to the hostel to pick up James for another night of Lapa. Partied our night away in Lapa, sipping caipirinias, since it was our last night in Rio, the Posh Backpackers got back from Lapa, and headed for Ipanema for one last time, at 4am. We wanted to see the sunrise, James went off to bed, but we met up with a few friends on our way to the beach and dragged them along. It was our last night, so we thought, why go to bed at all???? Waiting for the sunrise, the clouds appeared and the rain came, so we went for a swim instead and never witnessed the sunrise. We wrapped ourselves up and headed for the hostel at 7am while stopping at our local for a coffee and a packet of Ruffles (crisps). We decided to forget bed and wait for breakfast.

That day Rio cried it’s eyes out for us, and we were as sad!!! Had our little going away party with Froggy, Thijs and James, and devastated we said Ciao Ciao to Rio, we’ll be back next year!!

So now we are in London at Siri’s place.

It’s been a lovely weekend that tried to ease us back to European ways and WEATHER (brrrrrr)… Rugby night out with Brian in Richmond, Camden Markets Starbucks and laughter, it is now time to part ways – Irlanda and Noruega here we come…So until next time…. Valeu Valeuuuuuu!!!

Photos: Imbassai 2010

entertainers — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:53:00 GMT

Post-Carnival Relaxation

Carnaval Madness In Salvador

entertainers — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:35:00 GMT

The two posh backpackers arrived to the madness of carnival in Salvador da Bahia, traffic was mad and the party animals were rocking, when we arrived late into our alpha hostel. We were tired arriving into this mentalness, checked in and everyone were so far gone, so the two posh backpackers took off to explore into the electric site of Barra on their own. Stepped out of the hostel into the madness and bedlum of carnaval of Salvador. Streets were jampacked, the party was on fire, people everywhere and music pumping. The attraction was instant, the movements, the music, the dancing, the costumes, the SKOL (beer) was all that was needed. Wao wao wao!!!

Joined the parades, and instantly found new friends, a group of Argentineans, got into the swing of things instantly, the vibes seduced us and we were taken!!! … we partied into the wee hours. Fell into our sweatbox and snored our heads off. Woke up in a bath of sweat, ventured down to breakfast and were greeted by what was soon to be TEAM ALFA! Headed off to top up our tans at Barra beach, which was the public toilet the night before, so it stank of urine, but it didn’t face the posh backpackers, they were determined to get their morning swim. After more parades during the day, arrived back at the hostel where Team Alfa welcomed us as the new gals and we all, 5 taxi loads of us, headed to Peluorinho (the old town) for dinner. After we joined the street party, and Rick the Kiwi (travelling photographer, journalist and character) aka Ossy Osbourne lookalike, took us under his wings. And there’s where the fun and craic started. We samba’d the night away into the the third day of carnival.

beach'))

Luckily we’d consumed a lot of SKOL (beer) for sleeping purposes only, and we woke up in another bath of sweat. Headed down for breakfast where we made arrangements for the day, got a group together: James (NZ), Fadi (USA), Thijs (NL), Nick (NZ) and us, and got a bus to another beach, Jardim de Alah, to escape the smell of piss of Barra Beach. Recharged our batteries in the sun and sea while sipping on a few bevvies and got ready for the final fling of Carnival!!! Started the night at Alfa hostel with a few beers, and stories were rampant about robberies and pick-pocketing, so the posh backpackers were taking the piss saying ”we were robbed” laughing saying we were robbed of a beer and a ligher.

Team Alfa went off to the Lighthouse area in Barra, where we started on Caipirinias to get us in the mood for Samba and Carnival. Sure they were so tasty we had to have a few… Samba’d and sang, and then Wham Bam!!!

We started dropping like flies. James was the first to drop, off to noddyland he went, MT was the second escorted back by a limp English man who found it hard to walk on a wounded ankle, let alone helping a damsel in distress. Nick was next to drop, and Grace escorted by her bodyguard Ozzy Osbourne stayed on to party, and was pick-pocketed twice (by the same person!!!!!!!!!!) walking back to the hostel… But Platina’s no fool… she’d put her big money in her sweaty bra. So we were only down a fiver at that time, but there was a surprise waiting for us a couple of days later.

Having a wee little break from our Alfa family. We took time out to meet up with two Cahersiveen boys, Adam and Paul, we had a good catch up, and the laughter could be heard all over Peluorinho.

When scooba steve staying at our hostel annouced his credit card had been scammed, we were like ’ah what a shame’. We felt sorry for him, but it went over our alcohol infuced heads, until Inspector Gadget checked her emails to be greeted by a friendly email from her bank saying they were trying to contact her regarding her visa card…. T’was like a red signal and we both got on to our banks, only to find out BOTH our credit cards had been scammed, Platina was down 400euro and The Inspector Gadget was down 600euro. Our cards were blocked!! But luckily the Inspector travelled with an extra card, so we continued our journey and left our financial worries to our banks.

Team Alfa had some characters. One of them in particular kept coming out with the funniest comments, she didn't even realise it herself, so we nicknamed her Dollars based on her first comment... and here are some of her best ones...

1 Dollars: What is the currency in Australia?
Ozzie girl: Australian Dollar
Dollars: Why did they call it dollars?....

2
Dollars: Why is the Coca Cola label on your bottle so yellow? It should be white!

3 Dollars: I wonder why cant humans eat raw meat???
Everyone: THEY CAN!!!!!

4
James: Look, those are the turtle nests there (marked with white plastic poles).
Dollars: How do the turtles know how to go to the white plastic poles?
James: (looking like a questionmark) They don't!! They are put up there after...

Dollars: I wonder what a turtle egg omelet would taste like?

5
Dollars: Can anyone tell me some countries in South Africa?Everyone: South Africa IS a country!!
Dollars: WHAT?? South Africa is a country? But I hear about so many people travelling in South Africa...

6 Dollars: Doesn’t anyone remember reading Jilly Cooper books I loved them when I was 13 especially the food they ate and the clothes they wore, I remember a women that wore snake skin britches ….what are britches? Arent they those trouser things you where when riding? No theyre called jodphurs, oh yeah wonder what britches are then.

7
Dollars: Thanks I already feel ugly, but I know Ive got a great personality!

Priceless!!

The following day we bussed it to a beautiful beach town called Imbassai, 1 hour north of Salvador, for a bit of detox and beach life after carnival. Team Alfa couln’t let us go, so 10 of them followed our tracks, we all got a bus together and found our tropical hostel in Imbassai, where the monkeys were part of the hostel charm. Had one day of detox, spent the day at the beach and the nights down at the beach turtle hunting. The second night we met two chileans while cooking soggy pasta in their kitchen. They came turtle hunting with us that night, one being a marine biologist, so we we thought we’d definitely see the turtles that night… But we had our own plans to get them out, we thought we’d sing them out of their nests in our softest voices ”Teenage mutant ninja turtles…teenage mutant ninja turtles….tinage mutant ninja turtles….heroes in a half shell – TURTLEPOWER!!” After a few hours of looking for turtles, we came across a dead little turtle. Finished off the night with a funeral for the ninja turtle.

Spent another day on the beach chilling, the detox was over, we managed one whole day of it, so enjoyed a few skols on the beach, and decided to have a cocktail night with cachasa and fresh fruits up at the hostel, us, Team Alfa and the chilenos. Had a sing song and finished off the night at a samba club where we danced the legs off us.

Woke up the next morning covered in mosquito bites, counted 128 of them on MT’s legs. Had a few hours at the beach before we bussed it back to Pelourinho (Salvador) with James, met up with the Cahersiveen boys for a few hours, we said our farewells and told the boys to be good, and headed to the airport at midnight. Sat down to have a coffee and to write the blog. ”MT let’s have a laugh now writing the blog”, but within a couple of seconds Platina was headbanging in Noddyland. She fell asleep drinking her coffee, queueing for check-in, sitting on the trolley, on the flight and on the bus when we finally arrived in Rio. She was fantastic company. Zzzzzzzzzzz…………

Stay tuned for our last days in Rio!!!

Photos: Salvador Da Bahia 2010

entertainers — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:24:00 GMT

Carnival Madness!

Sao Paulo and Flopatropolis

entertainers — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:33:00 GMT

It was a sweet reunion with Macaco boy and Kris, Sunny Sao Paulo!!

Apologies as we write this, there’s a few internal jokes, we are shattered from all the
busses, Parties and the odd Caipirinia hahahahahahahah (Get it) Our day in Sao Paulo started with the hunt for a natural sandwich, we searched up high and down low and eventually had to agree to share half an unnatural one… After an unnatural sandbo Macaco took us for a ride on Harley. We finished off the night with bevies and food in the local…. Back on the bus, Headed South for Florianopolis, for sunshine and fun!!! Twelve hours later we arrived at sunset backpackers with no reservation, but sure who wouldn’t want the Posh Backpackers staying at their hostel, we checked in, headed for the beach to check out the surf….. Later we arrived back at the hostel timed well for our free Caipirinia!!! Met some new friends and went for diner with a Yankee Doodle from Philly and a Firefighter from Canada….. Danced the night away at Samba/Forro club by the beach…..

Went surfing in the morning and later joined the gang for Samba school, where they were getting ready for Carnival, We danced the night away and sweated like dogs (attractive)….. The sober nannies headed back to the hostel after, while everyone else continued to party at another club….

The next day we went to see a waterfall, similar to Iguazu falls hahahahah

We dragged Philly and a new Canadian with us on the boat, the boys were in their element at the waterfall, thinking they were models and us their agents, Calender coming in 2011….. On a tight budget, we decided to cook some noodles for diner, instead of joining the Barbeque, As we were cooking the staff came in and gave us a yummy plate of barbeque food, guess who were their favourites!!!!! Later, all set for a beach party that never materialized cause of one problem there was only two up for going down (the two sober nannies) We chilled at the hostel instead and caught up with new friends, one being a birthday girl from Chile called Paola, in our finest Kerry accents we gave a fabulous rendition of Happy Birthday, the next was a girl called Kelly and she was a gal with the most interesting rules when out looking for a man,

Pink Jobs (jobs for the ladies)CookingCleaning Hoovering (you have to take off the nuzzle and hover the skirting, men never do that)Ironing
BlueJobs (Jobs for the boys)Putting out the binsFixing the car Car tax and InsuranceCarrying heavy bags

Most importantly of all, men aren’t allowed to do any pink jobs at all. Another girl to chat to us all the way from Perth Australia, was Lea, she had some wild stories, one being her shaving her Fathers eyebrow while he slept!!!! We laughed so much all we were picturing was doing it to Paddy Frank and James King… hahahaha watch out papas!!!

Spent the next day at the beach waiting for the bus to Sao Paulo. On the 12 hour bus from Florianopolis to SP we were just taking out our sheets to have a little cat nap, we decided that later on when everyone else were sleeping we would put the sheets over our heads and turn into ghosts and walk up and down the aisle of the bus going “hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”Were meeted and greeted by Macaco Boy. Picked up Kris and headed to his open air office where we chilled for the afternoon. Then the posh backpackers were cheuffered to a bloco (a party on the street) where we met Googoo and Co.

(This one's for you Joana...)

Had some gorgeous feijoada, drinks and danced samba before going to the open air bar with the most fantastic view of Sao Paulo...

so we felt like really posh backpackers sipping our caipirinias on the roof. So hopped on our bus for our next CARNIVAL adventure…so STAY TUNED!!!

Here We Go Rio!!

entertainers — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:36:00 GMT

As we landed in Rio the princesses looked for their Frog, Mr Amance. Made our way to Botafogo and tracked down our Frog and got the party started in Rio. Our queen sized blow up bed was waiting for us in Froggy’s apartment. Went for a bite to eat with Froggy and his flatmate Patrick, back to the apartment and ten boys arrived for a big sing song, normally for us it’s the women that do all the singing, but there wasn’t a woman in sight apart from the two caspers. The party continued in Pista 3 (Rock club in Botafogo) where we danced the night away!!

Headed to Ipanema the following day where the two Caspers blended into the sand, it was only luck that people weren’t walking on top of us. Met up with Froggy’s German friends who we immediately nicknamed Tschussie and Germany… We love to give our nicknames. We were lucky that customs hadn’t taken our sunblock, as it was well up in 40 degrees. In panic of turning into lobsters, we were covering ourselves in factor 30, and a random Brasilian guy told us the SECRET TRICK of getting a good tan, we were all ears listening for this Brasilian secret, which was:

For the first week wear factor 30

For the second week wear factor 20

For the third week wear factor 10

And remember to always moisturise with aftersun!

WAAAAO, we were just amazed, what clever advise…

The carnival celebrations were starting around us, and after a day at the beach we met up with Leo and Angela, friends from our first trip. Went to a cocktail party in Angela’s hostel, where we made more friends, and we all went to Yellow Submarine (nightclub), and as we had nicknamed Froggy, Germany and Tschussie, we decided to give nicknames to some of the others too: Naked and James Welsh. At the end of the night Tschussie got very upset when we got mixed up with the names and called him Germany, when he corrected us and said ”I’m not Germany, I’m Tschussie”…

The Caspers, desperate for even a sign of a tan, went back to Ipanema beach the next day for round 2. Carnival celebrations were getting more intense, and the dollies decided to go for a wander, leaving Froggy on the beach, and got lost in the crowds while getting 5 engangement offers each, we were flourescent, and stood out like a shiny new pin among all the beautiful Brasilian people… As promised to feed our Frog, we returned an hour and a half later armed with a hotdog for the starving Frog. He was nowhere to be seen… He had leapt off the beach and frigged off home, where he was waiting patiently for his princesses to return.

We left for Sao Paulo and Florianopolis the following day… Stay tuned for more craic from the Posh Backpackers.

Photos: Sao Paulo 2010

entertainers — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:34:00 GMT

Photos: Florianopolis 2010

entertainers — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:33:00 GMT

Photos: Rio 2010

entertainers — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:43:00 GMT

Flying High

entertainers — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:07:00 GMT

Well hello everyone, we are delighted to be back in action!!! And of course, as last time, we want to share our adventure with ye all... It started with a flight from Cork and a flight from Stavanger that would reunite the Posh Backpackers at Gatwick airport.

We arrived at Gatwick with our trolly dolly backpacks (half full) and to go with that we also had matching shoes. Whilst passing the "casino" in Gatwick, there was this vision in front of us... A dressed up businessman with a gun in his hand shooting at a video game...BANG BANG BANG.

And we were cheering him on like he was a jockey "GO ON BOY! GO ON BOY!!!"...

We made one big purchase at Gatwick,3 bottles of sunblock, factor 15, 25 and 30, the CASPERS were ready for their sun destination. And we were off, the girls were on fire!! But that fire soon died out when we arrived at Porto airport for our 8 hour stop-over. We froze our asses off for 8 hours, after a bit of drama in customs over our 3 bottles of sunblock... We had it in our hands and going through customs realised we couldn't bring our precious sunblock through to arrivals due to liquid restrictions. So had to get our trollies off the luggage storage, bring them to customs to put in the sunblock, bring them back to luggage storage and bring ourselves through customs again. All the while the custom officers were looking at our matching trollies and shoes laughing. Ah we sure do love to make an impression... Tried to make ourselves comfortable on the freezing tiled floor at Porto airport, feeling very sorry for ourselves, when two Italian stallions arrived and gave us a blanket as we were dressed for sunny Rio.

Stay tuned for pre-carnival celebrations in Rio!!

PF - the scenic photos are being developed so hold on to your seat for breathtaking views!!!

Lao Lao

entertainers — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:30:00 GMT

Eventually arrived in Don Det (4000 islands in South of Laos). With no electricity on the island, apart from 3 hours in the evening, we chilled in the hammocks of our huts by the river, and got creative with a little jamming session. Daddy Science (Dan) and his 3 ho's! Had dinner and some drinks and lots of craic before we headed back to the hut, and the two nannies decided to sleep in the hammocks outside. And what a sleep it was while Kate and Dan sweated like dogs inside the huts, we fell asleep out in the cool Laos air to the sweet sound of massive crickets. Thanks to the hammock Grace even got rid of her Kankles that had been swollen for the last 3 weeks after arriving in South East Asia. It's all about the Elevation!!

Next day our destination was Vientiane. Got an overnight bus where there was a massive Quadruple bed layed out at the back of the bus for Daddy Science and his 3 ho's. We couldn't sit still with the excitement. Being a personal trainer in Canada, Daddy Science thought he'd try to get the 3 ho's into shape. So there we were at the back of the bus with our legs up in the air doing abs exercises and all the locals just laughing at us. Arrived in Vientiane the next morning and chilled at a resturant. The three ho's borrowed a guitar and were jamming for a few hours and singing 'Knocking on heaven's door' with rusty voices much to the amusement of passers by. Got on yet another bus to Vang Vieng, a town famous for backpackers for its TUBING. We checked in to 'Nam Song Garden Guesthouse' run by Norwegian man Arne (father of friend of MT's) and the following day we went tubing with Daddy Science. Hired out a tube each (old tire tubes) and sat on our tube down the Nam Song River to be pulled into different bars along the riverside, music pumping and bars packed with young backpackers. The music was flying as were the buckets. We finally gave in and drank our first MOJITO bucket (and boy did we get addicted...)and some shots of free Lao Lao. With a bit of Dutch curage we jumped off the 10-15m high swings into the water, and danced our socks off to 'Do Tam' by Job 2 Do - our new favourite tune!!!

The next day the two Nialls (Kerry boys) arrived, and the 4 of us started the 'Sakura Cup' - pool tournament, which went on for 5 nights. After too many White Russians and Mojitos (each team trying to get the other team more drunk) the jelly arms weren't able for the Sakura Cup, so we went off to Bucket Bar for more buckets. Day 3 we got on our tubes again, and MT, Grace & the two Nialls headed for the river, and had round 2 of more buckets, wings and this time MUDFIGHTS. We didn't feel a year older than all the 19-20 year olds - our wrinkles covered in mud sure did help! The nannies were the queens of the mudfights. That night we met up with our lovely new Vang Vieng family - Tom, Mike, Kate (British), Flo (German), Trevor (Irish) and Matt (Aussie) for some drinks, pool and beer bongs... Made our own entertainment with creative dance moves and a 3m long straw that we used to sneak into randomers buckets from behind their back in an attempt to get a few free sips of alcohol. Grace also decided to get behind the bar to DJ for a bit, until she discovered our favourite tune was not in the collection and lost interest. In need of a bit of detox we spent the rest of the week visiting caves, lagoons and local villages, often returning to the guesthouse as drowned rats - Oh how we love the rainy season!!

As most of our new family members were starting to leave Vang Vieng we decided to spend a few days rafting and kayaking... but we were informed there were no rapids anymore, so it put a stop to that idea and we decided to follow Tom and Mike to Luang Prabang.

In Luang Prabang we also met up with MT's study pal Maarten, Sofi, Wit and Romi, from Belgium, so againg we had a nice little gang. We all headed off to the waterfall which was just wonderful. Spent the day there swimming, jamming and jumping off cliffs into the water. After a hard days relaxing it was time for dinner and drinks at a bbq restaurant. As everything in Laos shuts at 11.30 at the latest, the 4 of us (MT, Grace, Tom and Mike) headed for the Bowling Ally as it's the only place open after 12. Full of backpackers, but not somewhere you'd be heading to if you're sober - which the nannies obviously were. Our final day in Luang Prabang we did a cooking class with Tom and Mike. Pad Thai, Tom Yam soup, Curry and a Fish dish were on the menu, and once again we excelled in the kitchen! Maybe the kitchen is where we belong after all. Come and get us HUNGRY BOYS!!!!

Did some speed shopping in the night markets, practicing our terrible haggling skills before catching the bus back to Vang Vieng with our new family. ONE MORE DAY OF TUBING BABY!!! The 9 of us got on the river the next day - another session 'in the Tubing'! More swings, mud and buckets of fun! That night we met Paul and Jesus, two British guys, who'd run out of money and been stuck in Vang Vieng for 2 weeks, eating only sticky rice and leftovers at restaurants. So we invited them for a beer, and they joined the crew...and so we were 11. We left the next day and headed for Bangkok.

Gallery: Laos

entertainers — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:41:00 GMT

Gallery: Cambodia

entertainers — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:53:00 GMT

All Bussed Out - Part Deux

entertainers — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:25:00 GMT

After two full days of traveling we finally arrived in Siem Reap in Cambodia. The roads from Thailand into Cambodia are basically dirtroads full of pot holes, so it was a slow journey, though not as bad as we'd been imagining. We were informed by our busdriver that the roads will not be improved because the Thai Airlines are paying the Cambodian government NOT to fix them, so that more tourists will fly from Thailand to Cambodia, though this also makes transportation for locals very complicated.

Coming from Thailand, Cambodia was more different than we'd expected. It reminded us of being back in South America the way we were welcomed to new places by friendly, smiley people. Also a lot less commercial and not as geared for backpackers as Thailand, though the level of English was very good. Food was just as delicious, especially the krickets we munched on on our bus journeys ;)

The first day in Siem Reap two local guys from the guesthouse took us on a tour to see the famous temples including Ankor Wat. They were absolutely amazing, though after every temple, the guys were like "waoo, so fast!", and said they'd never seen anyone go through the temples soo fast. They were stunning, all templed out we went to the lake in the afternoon together with our new friend and host 'Naked' (we later found out his real name is Veejeet), where we chilled in Hammocks eating roast chicken and drinking cold beers.

Then the two Nannies went off to see a traditional danceshow and filled their tummys with a delicious buffet. Back at the guesthouse the party was in full swing, they were downing Johnny Walker Black Label, and eating dog meat for dinner (which soon was splashed all over the ground when one of them got sick). We jumped on the back of Sighs' bike and headed off to the club, our first experience of a Cambodian nightclub. The Cambodian lovesongs were blaring and boys and girls singing along, but there wasn't much love in the air. "Stay one more day baby! Just one more day!" Naked begged, but we decided it was time to move on...

Back on the road again the following morning, we decided to skip Phnom Penh due to lack of time, so made our way up towards the border of Laos. Landed in Kratie that evening, wrecked from the travels, to be met by 6 local guys each trying to pursuade us to go to their guesthouse. We were surrounded by NON STOP YAPPING and couldn't hear ourselves think, so we both held up our hands and said "Stop it! Stop! Just stop talking." They paused for a second, laughed, and continued yapping. So we just went eenie, meenie miny mo, and followed one of them to a guesthouse. Later, relaxing with a fresh fruit shake (our new addiction) and planning a boattrip to see the dolphins the next day we got chatting to a Dutch couple. They soo kindly informed us that we would not be able the visa for Laos on the border, at all the other borders you can, just not the one we'd chosen, so we'd have no other choice but to backtrack to Phnom Phen to get our visas. So instead of Dolphin watching, we were back on the busses the following morning.

Arrived in Phnom Phen and went straight to the embassy and the visas were done in an hour. Then we went to Okay guesthouse where we met a great group of people and had a night out on the town. The next morning we were back on the bus AGAIN to return to Kratie, but this time accompanied by our new friends a Brit and a Canadian answering to the names Kate and Dan. Everyone being soo exhausted from the travels and the night before, we were all concked out snoring taking up double seats for most of the bus journey. Back in Kratie, the four of us were determined to go further to the next town, we'd been all hyped up for a pick up truck to take us there as there were no busses. But unfortunately, noone in the town were up for taking bribes, including a lovely man in a UN pick up truck. So we chilled out in the lovely town of Kratie, not another backpacker to be seen, and watched the world go by. The next day we were heading for Laos - finally. Back on the busses, oh how we love our busses. Stopped off in Stung Treng for a meal, and then the girls got all excited when they heard there was a market. Returned an hour later with new hats and sexy size 0 knickers that we were determined to squeeze into. We then hopped on the bus again and made our way to Don Det - 4000 islands in Laos.

The excitement was high over finally being in Laos, so stay tuned for the adventures of Daddy science, his ho's and lots of tubing in the rivers of Vang Vieng!

RTE correspondents in Thailand

entertainers — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:14:00 GMT

Finally the Posh Backpackers were on the road again! Yipppeeeee!!! Arrived in the middle of the night in Bangkok, yet again we were winging it. We had got instructions from 'Noodles' to go stay in Khosan road, we arrived to madness and insanity. The street was full of drunk backpackers ad 'Ladyboys' (as they's soo politely named the Thai transvestites) - AND the two combined - some guys were up for a big surprise in the hotel room. Eventually found somewhere to stay, then went for a stroll thrgough the madness, and to be approached by two young British guys who asked us to come for a drink. 2 minutes inside the bar and the AGE conversation came up... "WHAT?? You're 26??? What made you decide to travel later on in life?" After that they suddenly 'had to be somewhere' and the two old nannys were left sitting on their own and decided it was time for bed... Teenagers really aren't for us!!

Our second day in Bangkok we did some touristy things, went to the Tiger Temples and Floating Markets, and some late night shopping in MBK (Shopping centre). Really enjoyed Bangkok - the food was just delicious and people soo soo friendly. And we loved our Tuk-Tuk adventures around the city. They're all SAME SAME but DIFFERENT!

The day after we got an overnight train - off on our adventure for some chillout time on the islands. First Island was Phi Phi - met 3 English girls - they were 'Sex and The City' ALL the way. Funny at first but high maintenance. Phi Phi was beautiful but very touristic. Went on a boattrip around to Monkey Beach, Maya Bay (where 'The Beach' was filmed), went snorkling and kayaking, what an amazing day!! Watched Thai boxing in the Reggae bar at night, very entertaining! The backpackers treated themselves to a bit of a waxing session and purchased a couple of sexy knickers while they were at it - they were more like NANNY panties to be honest! So away with the Nannies to Ao Nang the next day.

Went for dinner and met Rocket (50 year old redneck Aussie who'd fallen for 'Chicken' a prostitute in Bangkok "Kust because i Paid for her doesn't mean it didn't mean anything"), and a South African hippie couple Caroline and David. We spent the night screaming with laughter. The following day it was time for more adventures. Hired motorbikes (Scooters) and off we went to explore the inland. Rocket on one bike, the two Nannies on the other and Mann - our local tourguide leading the way. What a fab day. Went to the Hot Springs and a Tiger Cave - oh how we love our tigers and monks - raooooorrrrr!!! On our way back we stopped for petrol and MT managed somehow to lock the keys under the seat - we sat on the bike ready to leave, then "Shit the keys!!"... Looked like we'd have to stay the night at the petrol station. But E.T. (aka MT) to the rescue! MT managed to slide her rubber fingers into the box and get the keys. Wooohooo - on the road again. Later we did a bit of shipping, and our bargaining skills had just about improved, we'd managed to bargain our shopping down to 750BHT and were happy with that result. Grace at the back of the shop trying on a dress asked the lady in the shop for the TIME. A couple of minutes later she came back and said "It's 9.40". MT nodded and said thanks, next thing Grace roaring from the back of the shop "920!!!!!!!!!!!!!" thinking we were still bargaining. MT going "Grace, shut up Grace, she's telling us the time..." and the 3 of us erupted with laughter.

Next destination - Ko Samui to prepare for the fullmoon party. By chance we met two English girls at breakfast that we'd met on the train from Bangkok, Lily and Hana. All excited to see eachother again we planned our trip to Ko Pangang together for the fullmoon, and an hour later we were off on the boat. On Ko Pangang we had falaffels for lunch and mojitos for dessert, while the rest of the backpackers were downing their buckets (They sell these buckets with a bottle of vodka,whickey or whatever, and a can of coke, you mix it in the bucket and drink with a straw...). Later in we went down to the beach which was PACKED with young backpackers and dance/trance music blaring from every pub on the beach. The two Nannies lost the others, we were more interested in the amazing fireshows by the locals, and sat for hours watching and slowly sipping our beers. Grace at one point said "MT do you ming if I have a little nap?" And as the transe was pumping around us and amazing fireshow in front, Grace went off to dreamland for half an hour. After her 40 winks she woke up refreshed and the backpackers were full of ideas. We were going to make a documentary about the drunken backpackers and their buckets at the fullmoon party. We told everyone we were from RTE (Irish tv channel). FILM COMING SOON ON YOUTUBE!! STAY TUNED!!!

Our experience of the fullmoon was somewhat different, but we had the most fun and met some really great people! To try to get away from the trance madness and decided to check out the mushroom bar up on the hill. Nice and chilled, but we decided we needed all our concentration for the documentary for RTE so we skipped the magic mushroom shakes. Then found a reggae bar and got chatting to the bartenders, continuing our documentary. All of a sudden the sun was rising and the party calming down. The beach was full of lifeless bodies spread around in deep alcoholic sleep. We walked along the beach with a beer - decided we derserved it after our busy night. Chilling on the beach we witnessed the FUNNIEST fight ever between a bunch of pissed guys who were flying up in the air like ragdolls, throwing punches with jelly arms and us Nannies laughing our asses off sitting comfortably in our seats. Free entertainment!! We'd had a fun night but one fullmoon party is more than enough.

Our last night in Thailand we went to a local buffet restaurant where we cooked everything ourselves, lovely atmosphere, people and jaaaayzuz are we good in the kitchen!! YUMMMMMMMM!!

Stay tuned for more from CAMBODIA!!

xxx

Gallery: Thailand

entertainers — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:17:00 GMT

Leaving Oz

entertainers — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:01:00 GMT

LEAVING OZ
It was time to say our farewell with Oz. Had a wild leaving party for The Goochenator the week before we left. Our last week MT received sad news that Fr Billy (granduncle) passed away, so emotions were running high and it was a very sad time to be so far away from family and friends. Our last weekend was calm and we had some social drinks with our friends - the people that had touched our lives whilst living in Australia. Decided to have our last lunch in Quay Bar the day we were leaving, and of course got carried away in conversations, and were rushing around like headless chickens when we thought we'd miss our flight. But as always the Posh Backpackers made it just in time. Are now in Thailand and will update soon, stay tuned!!

The Backpackers On Yet Another Tour

entertainers — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 15:12:00 GMT

It was time to see more of Australia, but first we had to have a going away party.... we were going to be away for a whole week after all...

We dollied ourselves up and headed off on yet another session, with a big dance off planned. Had a few cheap drinks in crystals practising our dance mooves and continued on to the bright lights of Sydney city. We started in the Coronation on our new poison of vodka and cranberry. Continued on to The Brooklyn ready for a night of dancing. We had our two South Kerry boys on toe, Paddy and Noodles (Noddy) and we were out to live the dream. To pump ourselves up for the dancefloor and to get into the spirit of things had a few posh cocktails. We danced the night away and went back to Crystals a few hours before our flight that morning. We snored our heads off for an hour and then Crystal spent the next hour trying to wake us. Eventually the two backpackers arose Grace screaming "MT I CAN'T BELIEVE IT...WE'RE 26 AND WE WET THE BED"..... but Crystal informed us "I was spashing water on you for ages trying to wake you"... And us classy things didn't feel a thing.

Rushed to the airport in a taxi, still a little "dizzy", and just in made it in time for check in. To wake ourselves up we thought we needed a coffee, two lattes and a chocolate muffin. Got to the customs and they said "STOP.... you can't bring the muffin through...you'll have to put it on the belt". We went through the scan, all excited waiting for our muffin to come through the machine. The security guy watching the screen nearly pissed himself laughing when he saw the muffin on the monitor, while MT, Grace and the rest of the security guards were weak laughing too. We decided not to consume the muffin thinking it was full of x-rays.

Passed out on the flight and woke up in Cairns. Hired a car which was to be our cama (bed) and restaurant for the next week. Spent the first couple of days exploring Cairns -The Crystal Cascades, beautiful beaches and Cairns city. Booked a daytrip to go to the Great Barrier reef, which turned out to be the highlight of our week. The boat was full of young backpackers and had the most amazing day snorkling, singing, eating and drinking. Wrapped up in our Brazilian wraps, the lead singer of the band on the boat kept referring to us as the BRAZILIAN BRIDES.... much to the annoyance of a true Brazilian stud sitting next to us. Sure we were delighted.

Drove down to Mission Beach, taking use of the public bbq's along the beaches. Final stop was Airlie Beach. Lounging around for the day by the lagoon we came across a tattoo and piercing parlour. We were like "should we go in for a look"... And we came out of there with a big dragon tattoo each on our left breast. We decided it was time for an image change.

Next day we headed off on a daytrip to the Whitsunday Islands... Booked the cheapest trip thinking it would be another backpacker trip, only to get there seeing geriatric after geriatric boarding the boat. But we decided to have fun with it and made some new friends... Asked if we wanted to wear stinger suits, we didn't want to hide our new tattoos and said "no bikinis will do us" we wanted to show off our new body art.

On our last night bbqing down on the beach we met two Ozzie sailors. While they were practising the wheel of goon, we were being more sophisticated with a bottle of vino. Sang danced and laughed the night away.

Returned to Sydney with only $30 between us. Couldn't get a lift from the airport so we hopped into a taxi, and we were straight out to the taxi driver and said this is what we have, how far can you bring us? he said because you're so honest I will get you home to Strathfield. 3 kilometres away from Strathfield he must have though to himself "feck this" and he booted us out of the car, and we had to walk home with our luggage laughing all the way at what had happened.

Oh yeah by the way, MT got an ear piercing and Grace a belly ring.... We'll save the dragon tattoos for the next trip!!!

Hasta Luego!
xxx

Rocking in Sydney

entertainers — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:43:00 GMT

The excitment leading up to the Birthday girl's Mystery Tour!! Bebo and Facebook were being stalked to see if there were any clues as to where we were going!! but being the mighty organizer that Grace is, Mt had to wait till the day. Birthday Morning: We arose with the lark before anyone else was up, to spend a bit of quality time together........... The Birthday breakfast was tidy due to an empty fridge, but the presents made up for the lack of food!!! To start with Mt got posters with Pictures from our travels, The 2nd was a fantale (chocolate toffee sweet robbed from grace's work) and then Grace asked Mt to get a galss from the cupboard where the main gift was waiting for her, Inside the birthday card were two tickets to go and see Matchbox 20 Baby!!!!! All excited we jumped around in circles in the kitchen and woke the whole house......... Chilled out with beers by the pool, getting excited for the evening ahead!!!! one of the boyzz rocked into the house after being away working all week and made an announcement "What time are we going to the Casino" Grace having had a pain with two weeks, bursting to tell her only secret from Mt, was left speechless for once........... The birthday cake was produced, Mt blew out her candles and we all bundled into taxi's and headed for the Casino in Star City............

we started the session on the 17th floor of the Casino in the Oh soooo posh Astral Bar, We were boozing out in the balcony over-looking the Beautiful view that Sydney has to offer..... Lost a few of the guys walking through the Casino and most of them were the South Kerry crew!!!! Mt and Grace kept the few cents they had and posed for photographers...... The photo shoot ended before it got started, Security were onto us!!! Mt crying out "but it's my Birthday" and Grace saying "Let her pose if she wants to" We eventually made our way to Paddy Maguires on the first floor of the Casino and took up a few high stools. The Entertainment was flying with the Goochenator singing his Rooster song, a man walking by eating chicken on a stick told him to 'Shut up or I'll throw this chicken in your face" Everybody erupted laughing.......... Decided it was time to move on. We made our way to the Courthouse 24 hour bar!! Drank the night away!!!

The following weekend, We had a visit from Pato (a friend from Cahersiveen). We all had a funfilled weekend of laughter, chats about the good auld days and a visit or two to the pub!!!!

We had finally found a way to cope with our different shifts during the week... The two ships in the night hardly saw eachother during the week apart from one lunch in the Park which turned out to be a rather unusual one!!! while waiting for Grace, Mt gave $2 to a homeless guy!! A couple of minutes later he returned with a little bouquet of flowers picked from the park, when Grace arrived she got one too because we were "equally beautiful" Three more of his friends joined us for lunch. They had a liquid lunch and we had a home-made sandwich lunch, Bob asked "do ye like to dance" and gave Grace his number..... To be continued............... James and Kitty - Grace is bringing home a Bob............ he he he he!!!

Our new routine is Mt arriving home from work at 3am, Grace pausing her dreams for half an hour, so we can catch up on the days gossip and laugh ourselves to sleep!!! Mt is now working at a celebrity haunt...... Busy breaking glasses on a quiet Tuesday night, Keanu Reeves rocked into Quay Bar for a drink!!! the celebrities continue to come and go in our lives. Struggling to breathe she served the star her best pour of Coopers Pale Ale. She ran into the kitchen to call her partner in crime "Grace guess who the fuck is in Quay Bar........... Keanu Reeves Baby. See Ya!" She made sure to bring home a souvenier for Grace, the glass with Keanu's DNA on it!!!!

The week kept getting better... Friday came around and we were getting all excited and in the mood for Matchbox 20!!! We dollied ourselves up and headed for the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

The Concert started with Thirsty Rev, they looked like midgets on stage, We were no longer among the A-VIP crew, we were rowing with the rest of the slaves and couldn’t have been any higher up, but the sound was amazing and it sure was a fantastic gig!! Leaving the Entertainment Centre on a high, lighting on Vodka, we were ready for action down in Darling Harbour, Seduced by Latin Rhythems, our first stop was a salsa bar, Yeaaaahhhhh!!! We were back in South America, It didn’t take long before we were approached, in the form of two latin teenagers, METAL MOUTH AND MOTOR MOUTH. Their hormones were high, so we salsa’d our way down to Cargo bar minus the teenagers. Danced the night away and finished it off with a FAT vegetarian Subway Roll!!!

Bored out of our brains on Sunday, we decided to be creative and make a suggestion box. As the suggestions were being pulled out there was a lot of “Sleepy” and “Naked” suggestions by the lads: “Naked Sunday (females only)”, “Tell Grace and Mt to Fuck off”!!,
“Sleeping on the train going to Bondi” While we were looking for culture: “Busking”,
“Free Concerts” and
“Newtown”
So we decided on Newtown. The others unimpressed, stayed put and dreamed of “Sexy Time” Our first meeting in Newtown was a South American Gallery, owned by the most friendly Equadorian Artist. He took us around his Gallery, but unfortunately our wallets couldn’t stretch to buy any of the colourful artwork, just as we were leaving, he called us back, gave us both a warm hug and said “everybody loves you girls” We’ll definitely call again to Multicultural Newtown!!

The Squatters!!!

entertainers — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:58:00 GMT

It did'nt take us long to get settled in our beautiful humble abode, we said we're in here now, we're not leaving and after 3 weeks all the gang in the house "INVITED" us to stay, with ten and a half Irish in the house, there's never a dry weekend!!!

Mt and Grace being entrenpreneurs back home............... hopped from job to job like little kangaroo's, could not settle and did'nt like being told what to do!!! We faked our C.V.'s deciding that bar work would be fun..... we lasted half a training day in jackson's on George, Like we're here for a good time not a long time and who wants to work in a 24 hour bar only weekends!!!

Next Job: Schenker: Depression City Boring Boring Boring!!! but at least we got to work together and enjoy the FREE latte's and cappuccino's

Next Job: Quay Bar and Admin for the Dean

Grace's day consists of 5 hours on bebo and facebook and at the end of the day having soar fingers from all the typing and at the end of the day stealing sweeties for MT

Mt's day consists of Breaking glasses and tripping over customers and answering questions like "Dont ye have coffee machines in Ireland and coctails"?. Over-pouring wine much to the managers disgust, but keep rocking on MT..................

Sorry we've been so slow up-dating the blogbut we've been very emotional the last couple of weeks, cause of all the different shifts we're on. After living in eachothers pockets for the last 4 1/2 months "Literally". Jayzus this is a test to our relationship!!! he he he he....

So used to having Sugardaddy's to take care of us we wondered when the next one would turn up and as sure as God he turned up in the form of "The Goochenator" After getting the foot in the door and 3 weeks later we were still in his room, while he had the couch. We allowed him to stay in the room every now and then on the condition he does'nt snore too loudly, as amazing as his voice is, his snoring leaves alot to be desired.......

Paddy's Day: The Strathfield family had an early night the night before Paddy's to prepare for the day ahead, everyone was tucked up in their beds by 11.00pm. Arose fresh and ready and after a family breakfast we started on the face and nail paints. All the girls with green finger nails and toe nails and the boyzzz with their drinking hand only painted...... Headed for the city ready for war!!! watched a few minutes of the Parade and headed for the pub, Grace and Mt painted more nails and faces of random strangers and met plenty of admirers along the way. Mt and Grace left the family (who were in tears) to go off with 5 handsome Ozzies to a Rugby match, enjoyed somemore beers and Rugger Buggers chasing an oval ball in hotpants. Finished off the celebrations with more beers, Riverdance and lotsa the Music Man in Hero's bar and the Mercantile...........

Easter: Since our families back home did'nt send us an easter egg, we took matters into our own hands and organized Kris Kringle. All the family pulled names from a hat and bought eachother easter eggs. The eggs were placed under the Christmas Tree thats still up in the sittingroom.

Good Friday: We went to Manly to meet up with our amazing friend Skippy and other friends and had a beautiful diner with some Red wine over-looking the beach aaaaahhhh bliss......

Easter Saturday: Decided to have a sensible night out at the Bowling Alley with the famil, divided ourselves into two teams, the single ones and the couple's, our team being named "nobody wants us" and the couples being named "somebody wants us"...... Guess which one the entertainers were on!! But of course the singles have more fun and we became the champions in the bowling alley that night!!! our moto that night was "normally we're crap, but sometimes we just get lucky" Our sensible night ended up being a wild one back at the house, the music by DJ Smut and Riverdance by Grace and The Goochenator, Oh what a show!!! Michael Flately and Jean Butler eat your heart out......

Easter Sunday: started with a beautiful home-cooked roast beef diner with the family and then some drinks at the Opera bar with Skippy, Ciara and Dan with his rusty rope and continued onto a barbie/coctail party, where the Mo-Gee-Toe's were back in action yum yum!!!

Bye for now and we'll try to keep up the entertainment, which we're sure we will..............