Funky Patrol Girls

Gallery: Dubai!

eva_and_sian — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:57:00 GMT

woopwoop

Dubai!!!

eva_and_sian — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:45:00 GMT

Dubai:

Met Dad and his fiancee at the airport, and on the drive home we got our taste of Dubai.

We went down Sheikh Ziad road and looked at all the amazing tall buildings. Its the main arterial route for the whole of Dubai. The arabs love having the biggest and the best things in the whole world. They have more Guinness book records than any other country. We drove past the tallest building in the world, The Burj Dubai, which is due to be opened in january 2010.

The next day we went to Atlantis, which is situated on the man made island shaped like a palm and is veiwable from space, The Jumeira Palm. Atlantis is a big complex whioch includes a water park, an aquarium, hotel and a mall. The aquarium was set up like Atlantis the old myth of the lost city. They had every fish you could imagine, including a whale shark!

Afterwards, we went to a souq (arabian marketplace) where we had lunch. We also also had a ride on a traditional Abra (traditional boat) around the water ways of the complex.

Then we went to a Salon and got a manicure. After that we had a ride on the brand new metro computerized monorail. I also met Rosannas daughter Pian who was lovely.

The day after we went for a trip down to a secluded beach an hour out of Dubai called Umm Al Quwain for some fishing and a picnic. We caught one fish but it was way too small to eat so we put the poor sucker back. Just

relaxed on the beach on the beach and soaked up some sun. Then we went to a near by water fun park. We went in the wave pool and heaps of other different rides. There was one pool called the dead sea, because they filled it with so much salt that you can float without doing anything. And its impossible to touch the bottom. So I thought I would try, and got so much salt in my eyes that I cant even explain how much it stung my eyes. Almost like two bees stung my eyes.

On our drive back home we stopped at the sand dunes and saw some wild donkeys. Dad let me drive the car for a bit which was scary but once you get the hang of it, it was really fun. It feels good to be in control of a car and 4 people.

The next day we drove to a place in the mountains near Al Ain, called Jebel Hafeet which was almost to the border of Oman, the next countrie. We went for an explore up the highest peak of the United Arab Emirates. Then we went down the bottom of the mountains for a picnic. The mountains were amazing, the whole area used to be under water so the mountains were formed underwater from layers and layers of debris and animals falling to the bottom of the ocean.

On out last day me and my dad went out fishing on this beautiful beach on Dubai main strip. We were fishing for ages with nothing but a few bites. Then all of the sudden my fishing rod gae a massive jerk and I almost let go of the rod for the fear of falling forwards and crashing into the water. After some pulling and manouvering there turned out to be a massive stingray on the other end of it. It was so big, and its stinger kept flipping forward when we were trying to get the hook out. We didnt eat it, because theres no meat on stingrays, only cartilage. Afterwards we went home, packed and got driven to the airport and said goodbye to dad and rosie. Dad had tears in his eyes when we hugged. Even though I was sad to leave, I was so exited to go home!

THE END

Gallery: K.L.

eva_and_sian — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:48:00 GMT

Kuala Lumpur

Gallery: india

eva_and_sian — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 16:47:00 GMT

Gallery: indonesia

eva_and_sian — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 16:17:00 GMT

pixx

INDIAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

eva_and_sian — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 03:24:00 GMT

Chennai (old name is Madras)

We arrived in Chennai at night time, got a taxi to a hotel, any hotel we could get at that time. We only spent one day driving around in a little three wheeler “auto”. The first thing that struck me was the smells. Literally, it smells like curry and piss. But you learn to love it after a while. I also noticed lots of families just sleeping on the pavement which shocked me. And also the stray cows just hanging about everywhere! Saw the fort that started the whole city when the British took over, and inside where original portraits of queen Victoria just hanging in this smelly damp little room. We couldn't believe it! Then while we were still looking around, this Indian woman came up and starting chatting to us. She was so lovely, and took to a little place for some local Indian food. She then invited us back to her house for some dinner, and kept inspecting me to make sure I was healthy and smart. She was saying, “ my new daughter! “.

A very cute lady. We exchanged numbers and promised to go to her house one day.

Got an auto to a little beach town two hours from Chennai called Mamallapuram And went to this little guest house 5 minutes walk from the beach, with an okay but cheap room. On our first night we went out and got the most beautiful fresh seafood dinner and this small restaurant call the rose corner. We met some other travellers there and ended up being mates with them for a few hours. The day afterwards we went to all the famous touristy things to do around. We went to this place called Krishna butter ball, a rock the shape of a ball just sticking out of a hill. The story goes that all the kings and all the emperors brought elephants and hundreds of men to try and move that butterball, but to no avail, there is still stands today. A 17yr old boy came up to me and we got chatting and he wanted us to walk around with him so he could practise his English. We went to these carved temples right near to it. Massive big slabs of rock had been hand carved and formed 2000 years ago by some Hindus. The temples are all vines around with trees and carvings of all the Hindu gods. The boy explained all of the gods and everything to us. Very interesting. We looked at some other temples, and even though they are beautiful, after a while when you've seen one temple you've seen them all. We stayed there another night and then early the next morning got a taxi to the airport on our way to Delhi.

Delhi:

We checked into our hotel and then went to our first meeting for the Intrepid tour. We met all of the other people on the trip and went out for dinner and just got to know everyone. The next day we got up bright and early and did a walking tour through old Delhi . The markets and streets where crazy! Nothing like I had ever seen before in my whole life. Just so many people all crammed into one street. The traffic is crazy in Delhi! The roads there just aren't made for cars. And the tooting would drive anyone onto the edge of insanity. We went to a Sikh temple, and saw how they worship and provide homes and food for the homeless and disabled. Its really quite nice because we saw heaps of people just sitting around making Chapati (flat bread) voluntarily. After that we visited a Muslim mosque Qutub Minar, the biggest one in the whole of India. It was quite beautiful and old.

That night we went out for a walk to the streets where we could see and hear the main fireworks coming from.. It was Divali, the Hindu 'festival of lights'. There were so many crackers and fireworks going off it was like we were in a bomb zone, we couldn't walk one metre without some kids lighting a cracker. Really scary! Everyone was really friendly though, we had families and children coming up to us saying “happy happy Divali!”. Really nice.

Agra:

Got up early for express train for express train to Agra. After we got off the train, we got taxis to this place called Red Fort or Agra Fort. Such a beautiful place! Got heaps of pictures, and had a tour guide , which was kinda boring for me but the oldies loved it. Interesting to find out all the history of it though. Went back to hotel and had some yummy traditional Indian lunch. In the afternoon we were on our way to the Taj Mahal! When we got there it was breathtaking! Took five hundred million pictures, then lined up in a massive queue to look at the tomb of the old Maharajah and his dead wife. Soooo many families and people came up to me asking for pictures. They just love the blonde hair. One guy asked for one and as soon as he walked away another one jumped in and it just kept going. They were all standing around giggling and stuff. It was really funny.

Madhogarh

The morning after got on a bus for 5 hours to go all the way down to Madogarh Fort. Such a sweet place. We were welcomed with a prayed and some ochre paint on our forehead. And the fort itself was just stunning. So old, but restored so beautifully. The king (Maharajah) of the area owns the fort, and his forefathers lived there also. He welcomed us to, and was a really nice guy. He sorts out all of the village problems. Afterwards, we went on a village walk, and all of the kids came out and were loving all the attention. They just loved getting photos taken of them, we got about one hundred of little kids just mucking around. So cute. We then stopped at a jewellery making factory in the squashed back of someone's house and saw all these beautiful ladies in this cramped room sanding beads all dressed up in stunningly vibrant saris. We bought some pretty beaded necklaces. We stopped at the local chai man and got some cups of the best chai (Spiced tea) we have had so far. Just delicious. We then stopped at the bangle shop, and saw how they melt the resin and stick in the jewels and the paint . We bought a ridiculous amount of bracelets. Even now as I'm typing its going jingle jangle jingle!

That night they dressed us all up in traditional gear and gave us a bindii and had some classic Rajasthani musicians playing some music. We had a little dance lesson and all got up and had a go. We ate some beautifully cooked food and sat around and chatted all night. It was really fun.

Jai Pur:

The next morning we jumped into some Jeeps and on the road we were again. We arrived in Jai Pur, also known as the pink city. All the buildings, palaces and shops are all painted a rusty pink colour. We went to this place called Janta Manta observatory.. It was an ancient astronomic site, with big instruments that they used to calculate time in other countries and cities. It was also home to the worlds biggest sun clock. All about three hundred years old. With all of these instruments they can calculate the latitude and longitude of other countries, and how high the sun would be on that side of the world.

Also giant horoscope instruments used for understand and working out each months star signs.

The next day we went for a walk around the city, and saw the city palace. They had a museum inside full of all the old maharajahs clothes and old war weapons. Pretty cool to see some of the weapons they used. Some of them wear seats with cannon holders made especially to go on top of a camel, horse or elephant.

Then we went to the biggest cinema in India, holding almost 900 people in the one movie. We saw an Indian blockbuster film called “Blue” which was pretty cool but I couldn't understand a word of it because it was all in Hindi, the most widely spoken language in India. On out way back to hotel I was in tears. Riding in the rickshaw I saw mums and there babies just asleep on the pavement. I couldn't believe that they would even have children knowing that that's the life they were going to live too. The beggars really get to me too. Scruffy 15yo kids with babies at there hips. And the babies are all floppy with glazed eyes. So unhealthy. And there's nothing you can do, I mean, giving them a few rupee wont save there lives and for all you know they're druggies who don't even care about there kids and only use them as begging tools.

We had lunch and then decided to go out for a shop. We met this handsome young auto rickshaw driver named Risky who offered to take us to his Guru who was helping him train in reading people and healing. We agreed, but first had a cup of cha and he took us out to all of these warehouse places for clothes. The clothes were nice but when you are there you kind of feel obligated to buy stuff. We probably paid way too much, but got a few tops and a dress. Afterwards we went and saw his Guru. He said I was too young to read but he took Mum into a separate room and told her all this crazy stuff. She didn't talk about it on the way back, I think she was in shock or something.. We went back to the hotel and dropped her off because she wasn't feeling well, and then me and Risky chatted in his rickshaw. He was really nice, and had just got married to an American girl who he met driving the rickshaw. After a bit I went back to the hotel and ate.

Ranthambhore:

In the morning we got up soooo early to get a taxi all the way to Ranthambhore National park . On the main street away from the national park we were staying in the cutest resort with a swimming pool and a lovely garden, and our room was like a beach bungalow overlooking the green garden. Then we left for a Jeep safari through the national park. We saw a tiger and some samba, a black crested serpent eater, quails, languors, crocodiles and heaps of other birds I don't know the name of. The other group saw two tigers and a leopard! We were so jealous, but at least we got to see one tiger.

Bundi

We went to this little town called Bundi and stayed in a palace heritage hotel which was really nice. We walked around and checked out the local village and went to the palace which is big and old and isn't touristy so its falling apart. Its a really cute village. We went to this guest house for dinner run only by women which is really unusual for India/. When there husband died they had to make money somehow so they turned their house into a guest house.

Near Bijaipur:

We went down to this massive lake and camped. But the tents aren't like normal camping tents, they're giant permanent ones with heaps of room and lots of furniture and a bathroom situated right on the lake. We sat around the camp-fire listening to music and watching the birds go past. The lake is full of water chestnuts and fish and lotus's which the locals come to farm and make a living on. We went for a walk around the village close-by and all of the children went crazy. They love having their photo taken but as soon as you take it, they all stampede you to get a look of the picture. They were the cutest kids, and we were happy to find out that they get free schooling, free lunch and school and free uniforms. The incentive for the parent to send them is the free meal so that's one less mouth to feed per day. Got in a Jeep for a few hours, our driver was really nice and showed us the henna plant, moonshine plant, the leaf used for making bidis ( a type of cigarette) and all sorts of other local uses for plants and trees.

Arrived in Bijaipur:

Such a beautiful palace (belongs to the Maharajah, king, of the region) with a warm welcome of drums and clarinet, a red bindi painted onto you, and a necklace of flowers. We went for an explore and found the nicest pool ever!

I got henna patterns done on my hands by two sisters from the local village. They did a really good job. They said it was the local style of henna for that region that their mother passed onto them before she died. It made me feel quite special actually! Then we went for a horse-ride around the villages and farms. My horse tried to buck me off a few times and was really nervous the whole time so I couldn't really relax but it was still a nice way to see the countryside. It kind of felt a bit demeaning to the village people. I mean, lets go for a trot in your village, look around, take a few pictures and then strut back up to our palace, harrumph. It was still nice. In the evening I did an indian cooking course, learning how to add all the right amounts of masalas and chillis and all that sort of thing. I can make a mean Chai now. (Spiced milky tea).

Udaipur:

We said goodbye to all the residents, jumped in a car for a few hours and ended up in Udaipur. A nice little town also by a lake. A little bit touristy for us though, but still nice to check it out. We had to change hotels like three times but when we finally got one, we went for a walk around. Some people went to the city palace, but I am so sick of palaces and forts that I convinced mum to just go shopping. Bought some new silk dresses and a leopard print pashmina and silk scarf which is really pretty. Had dinner on the roof top, looking over the water and the city, The next day we did a river cruise and some shopping and basically just relaxed.

Pushkar:

We woke up early for an AM train to Pushkar, where the biggest camel fair in India was taking place. We stayed in a little village of tents on the sand called the Royal Desert Camp. Soon after we arrived we had camels waiting out the front to take us on a safari through the fair. I felt like a maharani! (queen) Up so high! When we got to the actual fair we were breathtaken. Thousands upon thousands of camels just lined up in the sand. Some painted, some shaved in cool ways, some covered in bells and pompoms, some baby ones. Some were for sale, some for were shows, and some for rides. Every year, Thousands of Hindus also make a pilgrimage to Pushkar, to go to its holy lake. In the Hindu legends, when lord Brahma (creator of the universe) was making the world, made an extra puddle which fell down by accident from the sky and landed in Pushkar. Something like that anyway. Not only were there camels, there were donkeys, cattle and horses EVERYWHERE. Also the fun bit is in the other section its also a fair so there is rides and games and shops and fairy floss and everything a kid could dream of. So I had heaps of fun.

Mumbai (old name Bombay)

The next day we hired a taxi to take us to the train station a few hours away for our overnighter train to Mumbai. We booked a first class air-conditioned Coup, a little private cabin with bunk beds just so we could have out privacy while we sleep. 20 hours it took us, but you hardly notice once you sleep. The first impression of Mumbai is more modern than the rest. Girls wearing singlets and not saris was the biggest shock for me. But it made me feel like I could relax a little more. When we got off the train we jumped in a cab and came straight to our friend Ruchi's apartment. When she was studying in Melbourne, we took her in as a paying guest in out flat. So I guess its her turn. The place is a little poky, but cosy and relaxing.

For the next few days we didn't do anything too much. Just relaxed, went shopping and Ma got her teeth done at the dentist. A couple of nights we went out, either to see a movie or go somewhere for a dance. The nightlife in Mumbai is pretty good. So far Mumbai streets seem pretty clean but still polluted.

We went to the city and saw old Bombay, Victoria station and Colaba the shopping street. We saw the Taj Hotel, which got bombed one year ago, and also a cafe which got shot up by terrorists around the same time. They kept the bulletholes in the wall as a memorial to the people who where killed.

The last day we went shopping at some mall, and went for a nice walk on the beach and visited Ruchi's work, a film production studio, then went out for goodbye dinner and drinks at a pub.

We said goodbye to Ruchi and Vishal and got onto the plane to Dubai to see my dad.

Indonesia

eva_and_sian — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 03:22:00 GMT

Surabaya:

We only stayed in Surabaya one night, because I was not feeling well due to my lip piercing getting really infected and sore, but the day afterwards we went to the local cigarette museum. The local smokes are call Sampoerna and they are 60 percent tobacco and 40 percent cloves. The locals believe that they cure asthma and are soothing for the throat. Afterwards we got onto a rickshaw, which is like a carriage with a seat on the front of a push bike. We road around the main city, looking at all the local warung (small roadside eateries) and little houses and shops. Everyone STARED at us. Literally. Mostly men would smile and say things to us. And it was strange because we didn't see one other Caucasian in the whole town. It was kind of like being a celebrity.

Bali, Legian & Kuta

As soon as we jumped out of the plane, we could feel the humidity sticking to our skins. We jumped in a cab, and headed towards a resort where my other family on my dads side happened to be. My other grandma, uncle aunty and cousin were all staying there. When we got there I called them from the hotel lobby as a surprise and they came down to see me. It was really cool to see them again! We ended up booking a room at the same resort and just soaked up the sun. On our first proper day we were just chilling on the beach, you cant go two minutes without someone coming up saying “sunglass miss?” or “Massaaggee? Maniceewwrre?”. You just have to be polite and say maybe later, but they take you up on it and make you promise them you will come back, and if they see you again then they will run up and say “YOU PROMISE YOU BUY FROM ME!!”

On our second day we went down the main street shopping and glaring at other tourists resembling lobsters with Bintang singlets stuck to them with sweat. Little did we know that would be us by the next day!

I was sitting out side the internet cafe in Legian when this girl named Emma came out of it in this pretty dress. I asked her where she got it and we got chatting and as it turned out she had two spare beds in her room and we were looking for a room. So off we went to her little bungalow.

We went out for some fresh lobster, prawns and fish. Soooooo yummy! We went to this place afterwards called the Bounty Club playing awesome music and had a foam pit! A giant pit of foam next to massive speakers and crazy lights. Me and the girl we met, Emma, jumped in and started tripping each other and sliding around in the foam. So much fun.

The next day we hired a taxi to go up to this little quieter village town called Ubud. We stopped on the way at a safari park and saw heaps of interesting animals. We also stopped and went for a walk to this old as temple next to the beach. We stayed there for a couple of days. A nice relaxed atmosphere, which Mum loved. We visited this place called the Monkey Temple which is this old as temple in the rainforest. The monkeys there where really aggressive and had bitten and attacked some of the tourists. One massive one jumped straight onto my head from no where and gave me the biggest fright ever! It grabbed my whole bag of bananas and then ran away. Cheeky things. I'm lucky I didn't get bitten though, I definitely don't want rabies!

After Ubud we went back to Legian again for one night, seeing as the airport is way closer for the plane the next morning.

Stopped off at Singapore for a few hours, just for a transit and so we could post some clothes we bought in Bali.

Kuala Lumpur

eva_and_sian — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 03:17:00 GMT

When we arrived it was sometime in the afternoon. We went straight to our guest house called “Tropical” and just galumphed onto out beds straight away. The next day we went to this big plaza in the main city to buy a camera. Its a pretty good camera, and we only paid the equivalent of 100$ or so. I also went into this little Malaysian hip-hop store and bought a nice funky T-shirt. On our last night we decided to go party, seeing as it was out last night and we probably wouldn't ever go there again. First we got a dinner consisting of ginger frog, seafood clay pot and some strange green vegetable in this weird tasting sauce. So we went to this place called the Beach Club which was great. There was heaps of lady-boys there though, you should see 'em. Some of them are actually hot! Anyway we danced and stuff and had a real good night. In the mid-morning we got the plane to Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia.

Perth

eva_and_sian — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 02:32:00 GMT

We arrived at Perth airport, and my uncle David picked us up from the airport. When we got to there house we were in shock because it was sooooo nice with a pool and chandeliers and a plasma and all that jazz. David daughter Lilly was really nice and we got on well. She took me to the city with her a few times and I got to meet her boyfriend Rob, who was also really nice. Perth city is really small and quiet compared to Melbourne. No trams or anything interesting, just a few buildings and shops. Our week included going to the street art gallery, shopping, a bushwalk at my Aunty's work, family do's and going to the Perth Royal Show. At 4 in the morning, we were in a taxi to the airport, ready for our flight to Kuala Lumpur.

Phuket

eva_and_sian — Wed, 2 Jan 2008 02:54:00 GMT

PATONG BEACH

Where do i even begin to describe Patong? Its the main tourist beach where EVERYONE MUST VISIT whilst in Phuket. It’s very touristy, with guesthouses and hotels lining all of the back streets and clubs and bars lining the main street. Trust me, here you MUST have your radars on, as it’s so hard to tell whether a lady is a lady-boy or just a very good looking chick! Some of them go the whole hog and get there P**** removed and get breast implants. These girls are hot! Guys be warned!

Anyway we found a cool and cheap guesthouse to stay in just behind the main streets, and dumped all of our bags. Patong thrives on nightlife. Every one is there for partying in the night and relaxing on the beach in the day.

The beach isn’t that spectacular, but it’s the atmosphere that makes it fun. Every five seconds someone will come up and offer something or another. “Madam want massage? Madam want cocktail? Madam would like cold water? Madam would like pineapple?” and so forth. It’s sort of heard to relax, but it’s really quite fun to have everything brought to you.

We went to a lady boy Dance Show, see the pics for a further description. Some of them a really gorgeous, and others a just plain ugly! Keep in mind whilst you look at the photos that everyone (Except for me and mum) are men! How scary is that. Anyway, I met this nice boy name Ton, who i hung out with for a long time every night. He took me to the “discoteque” which wasn’t too bad except no one was dancing. I was so devastated when i had to leave him. What a sweet heart. Anyway, one thing that DOES stand out is the smell of the underground sewerage that wafts up onto the streets. Now we understand why people wear cotton masks to cover the stench. Ughh.

Gallery: Chang Mai

eva_and_sian — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:08:00 GMT

Loi Krathong & Trekking

Gallery: Cambodia

eva_and_sian — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:58:00 GMT

Gallery: Krabi

eva_and_sian — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:13:00 GMT

Gallery: Bangkok

eva_and_sian — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:51:00 GMT

Gallery: Phuket & Ko Phi Phi

eva_and_sian — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:04:00 GMT

Krabi, Thailand.

eva_and_sian — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 16:08:00 GMT

KRABI

We caught the ferry from Koh Phi Phi Island into Krabi provence and from there caught a public bus to Ao Nang, which has lovely beaches.

When we were on the ferry to Krabi we met a nice guy named Andreas from Sweden who showed us some cheap guesthouses for us to stay in, as he had been here before. Almost everything cheap was booked up! So we put together and got a nice guest house at 1200 Baht per night which is the equivalent of around 40$ a night. Out of our normal price range but good enough for one or two nights, us being exhausted from getting up early and luggin’ our heavy packs around.

Went to the beach on the first day, lay around and soaked up the sun. Beach was beautiful! Saw some crazy monkeys who we fed bananas. Got really close up to some of them, and some even climb on your shoulders! There really like smaller, hairier, flea ridden-er humans! We went for dinner and tried some new things including; fried squid with pineapple (“Ananas” In Swedish), “Tom Yum Goong” which means “Sour and Spicy Shrimp Soup” and Fried Prawn with Chilli. Eating here in Thailand is SUCH a luxury on the tastebuds.

Second day we booked a tour to catch a long boat (resembles a banana) around to all the tropical islands and caves. The water here is breathtaking! The first island we stopped at, we all jumped in for a bit of a snorkel in the aqua and emerald coloured water. Jumping in and finding that the water is NEVER cold is such a surprise! Saw some fish (Wushy wushy’s! as mum calls them) and jumped back into the boat to head to the next island. This island was beautiful! The water was so clear, and the tropical fish came up and swam around us. Took some photos, thank Buddha our camera is waterproof! Next Island we came to was called Chicken Island, as the island literally resembles the head of a chicken!

Perfect snorkelling opp’s here. Water is clear, coral reefs are so vibrant with sea life it makes you wish you were a local! Snorkelled around here for a while, and saw an amazing array of sea critters including; Clown fish (Nemo!), Dory fish, Sea cucumbers (SO CUTE!), Angel fish, Stripy fish, Crabs, Sea anemone’s , Urchins and these crazy territorial fish that come and have a nibble on your legs if you go in there territories.

Last but not least we came to a MASSIVE cave, named Panang Cave. The cave was so huge like a monster! Hard to comprehend... soaked up some more sun here, and heard about the story of the cave.

Local legend tells;

Once there was a man and a wife, and they were fisherman. They were married for 10-15 years, and still had no children. So they talked and decided to go to the sea serpent (VFEBV), who has many powers. The fishermen asked for a daughter, just one, and the serpent said “Yes.. on one condition, you promise to let my son marry your daughter when the time comes.”. The fishermen agreed and as the years went by, the family soon forgot about their promise to the serpent. When a prince came through the cave and saw the daughter, he asked to marry her immediately. The family said yes, naturally, as the Prince would one day become a King.

After a few years of marriage, the serpent became very angry! He brought in an army, and a big war broke loose in the cave. After years of death and disaster, some Hermits appeared from there caves.

With their big bushy hair and beard they called “Stop this war!”. Nobody listened to the Hermits, and the war went on. As the Hermits grew angrier and angrier they worked there special Hermit magic and turned everyone into the landscape around them. People became mountains, Chickens became islands (CHICKEN ISLAND) and everything turned into something.

And thats the story of the Panang Cave.

On our third day, we moved to a nice cute little bungalow for me and mum to share. We hung around the main beach of Ao Nang, had a picnic then decided to catch a long boat to a beach called Ton Sai, which is meant to have great rock formations and caves. We got stuck in some quick mud, but we ended up finding a table and mat to lie on, situated right on the beach. The Sunset was amazing! It was Cool seeing the sun go behind all the rocky formations, took heaps of pics. Then we Caught another long boat back to Ao Nang beach, in the dark. The combo of the fresh sea breeze and the big caves and rocks lit up at night was just breathtaking.

On the Fourth day we booked a tour to go kayaking for the whole day. They picked us up early (yawn) and twenty or so of us squeezed into the back of a truck. We jumped into the kayaks and went mangrove exploring. Mum spotted a water dragon! We Went into some canyons, and explored some awesome mangroves. The guide took us into this AMAZING 1 ½ km long canyon, whose plants and water were so still. Absolutely huge! So peaceful though, practically untouched. We saw some of those spider crabs, who have two eyes poking out the top of their heads like in the cartoons! Then stopped for lunch and were herded back into the truck like cattle and brought to the next place called the “Emerald Pool” You can see why it gets its name, 200m deep, it comes straight of the mountain (FREEZING) and has so many minerals from passing down the mountain and being so far underground which make it literally emerald!

Chiang Mai, Thailand.

eva_and_sian — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:06:00 GMT

CHIANG MAI

When we arrived in Chiang Mai, we really got a good impression. It’s up the very north of Thailand, near all of the hills tribe minorities, so it is full of ladies with their crazy outfits on. It’s a pretty happening city, with bars and restaurants lining the streets. We mainly hung out in the old city centre, which is surrounded by an old moat which used to separate the town. We were lucky enough to arrive in time for “Loi Krathong” which is a festival in which you let off lanterns and firecrackers to send all of your bad luck and sins away. I tell ya what; it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! A massive parade, lanterns dotting the sky like stars, firecrackers and fireworks exploding every two seconds and thousands of people crowding the city central. We let off a little ‘krathong’ thing, with flowers, candles and incense into the river with hundreds of other people, representing letting out bad luck and bringing in good luck. The parade was gorgeous! Beautiful floats holding beautiful ladies wearing the traditional Thai costumes.

Next we went on a mountain trek into the hills tribe minorities. Now; this was NO ordinary trek through some mountains. This was a twenty kilometre trek up a vertical mountain with virtually no path and surrounded by complete jungle. Well as most people may know, I’m not into sport at all and haven’t really ran anywhere/walked anywhere in a LONG time. So you can imagine how difficult it was for me. OH MY GOD I will never forget that, but darling, I swear it was worth it to get to the top! The hills tribe village was lovely, and a nice cold coke was perfect. Probably THE BEST coke in history. We slept in a bamboo hut propped up on poles, (The Bamboo Hotel!?) and literally slept on the floor with one sleeping bag.

We made some friends around the campfire, Kylie and Melissa. They were really awesome girls! And our tour guides were the wackiest things around, dancing and playing funny songs. They spoke pretty good English but the main things they said were “Why not, You like jungle OK” which was hilarious.

We also got offered to try opium (no thanks), but it is the traditional way of life up in the hills tribes. A couple of the other tourists tried it, but we just hung around and watched.

The next day we walked some more through the jungle (AHHHHH!!) and stopped every now and then for a drink and a swim at a waterfall. We stopped at this one waterfall that was really nice and cool, and we relaxed for a while. Then we walked downhill some more until we came to another waterfall which we had to cross. IT was pretty difficult to get across so they made a quick bamboo handrail for us to get across. A few of us jumped across until the guide realised there was a snake on the three above him. You should have seen him yelp! He jumped 3 metres in the air and looked up again. He told us that it was the most poisonous snake in the whole of Thailand! And it was right above his head! He said that if it had of bitten his head/neck then he would have died in one hour! That was quite a shock, but we moved on and ate lunch at this beautiful village with its own waterfall. From here it wasn’t that far to the main road so we hiked down and went for a walk to the river camp. This camp wasn’t much better than the other one, except it was on flat ground (woop) and beside this magnificent river. The most daring ones went in for a swim, but most of just stayed knee deep, thank you.

The next day we went white water rafting down the big river. We were prepared to get wet and we did!. It really was very fun floating down white rapids in a rubber boat with six other people. It was pretty scary at some points though, we felt like we were going to tip right out! You should have seen all of our faces!

After the rafting we went elephant riding. Oh yeah that was really sweet, we got to sit on top of the elephants head on a little wooden saddle thing (if you could call it that) and then hike up some slippery mountain. Some of the trainers were like, really mean to the elephants, hitting them on the nose with this big, scary hook thing while others (ours too!) were really gentle. Our guy had a very serious relationship with his one, he gave it bamboo to munch and they exchanged kisses and he rarely ever hit it, and only smacked in gently with bamboo on its backside. After all this we caught the bus back to town. What an adventure! Mind you, I wouldn’t do it again. LOL.

When we returned from out trek, we rented out a nice hotel for a couple of nights to treat ourselves. We got a call from our Uncle Simon who wanted to catch up for dinner the next day. We also met Simon’s girlfriend Ma Li who is absolutely lovely. She taught me lots of Thai! We went for dinner at the gorgeous place by the river all lit up with candles and everything. The food was delicious! That was the best Thai food mum and i had ever experienced. Mmmmm my mouth waters just thinking about the flavoursome soups and prawns and...

The next day we decided to visit a bit Buddhist temple up on the hill called “Doi Suthep”. It really is quite beautiful, with golden statues and Buddha’s everywhere, I took quite a lot of pictures. We walked int a smaller temple, with a very big golden leafed Buddha. The monk offered to bless us and give us good luck. He sort of shook this water on our heads and said thinks in a sort of ancient Thai language. Then he wrapped a piece of white cord around our wrists and then said good luck for you. SO we were now officially blessed by the monk and said our thankyous and did our “Waii-ing” (putting your hands in an almost prayer like position above the ridge of your nose as a sign of respect for the monk) and put some money into the donation box, which is common courtesy of entering a temple. The whole temple is decorated with mosaics, and golden statues. We saw some nuns (monks are only men, women who devote their life are called nuns) we greeted in the traditional way and did our “Waii-ing’”. SO that was a great experience, and really made me think alot about Buddhism.

Cambodiiaaaa

eva_and_sian — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 15:49:00 GMT

CAMBODGE (Cambodia)

Where do i start? First of all we booked a bus to Siem Reap, the closest town to the famous temples of Angkor. The bus ride was terrible! It was an old rickety bus with absolutely NOOOO suspension! Ten hours of bumping around so hard, as there is no road. Rumour is that the government is paying Thai airways to not fix the road so that tourists more inclined to use aeroplanes. We were put on what is called the scam bus. Everyone else gets nice coaches (with suspension) and we ended up in he public bus which everyone else pays about 150Baht which is around five dollars AUD $. We payed around 18,000Baht (600AUD) for the crap bus and two nights’ accommodation at a cheap hotel, which was around 20AUD $ a night. We got ripped off major. They make you uncomfortable on the bus on purpose, turn up the aircon full ball and go very slow so it takes as long as possible and then when your very tired and uncomfortable they dump you at the hotel of your choice which they get paid to dump us at.

The temples of Angkor Wat are ABSOLUTELY GEORGOUS! We went the main big temple first (Angkor wat) which is massive and just covered heaps of intricate detail. Apparently when they first discovered all of the temples, they were covered with trees and forest and jungle but they pullet it all back for the tourists. The other temples are every impressive but after a while they all sort of look the same which sounds terrible as they are all very beautiful. After we went into all the temples, we were harassed by children overcharging us for postcards and water. They just would leave us alone! They have an American accent from the Yanks when they say “Dollar” in such a whiney HILARIOUS WAY you can’t help cracking up. This is done by children all over Thailand also, as the children believe that just because we are foreigners we must be rich. So what’s five dollars to us?

We met up with Pisey, a Tuk-Tuk driver who was recommended to us by a friend who stayed in Cambodia. He was really lovely! We had lunch together every day and he was very chatty and friendly. He drove us around to all the temples of Angkor, and he showed us the better side of Siem Reap. Siem reap is very different to Thailand, with rubbish and rubble EVERYWHERE. Pollution and dirt fill the air.

After a couple of days we decided to head over to the orphanage called Green Gecko that my mums friend Nikki volunteered at for 5 weeks. You couldn’t really call it an orphanage because it’s more of a place for street children to go to for support, peers, clean clothes, food and a place to belong. It’s also a school were volunteers from other countries come to teach English. Most of the kids are driven to the streets as they’re parents are either in prostitution or are unfit to work (landmine limb losses). This place is a safe refuge for the kids to go during the week, to get away from the streets and they’re parents.

Bangkok

eva_and_sian — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 04:01:00 GMT

BANGKOK

We arrived in Bangkok in the evening, and headed straight for Khaosan Road, as we heard it’s easy to find cheap accommodation there and a fun place to hang out. Khaosan is so full of people trying to sell us stuff e.g. some women from up in the Thai Hills Tribes that wear funny hats or headdresses who come down to Bangkok to sell their goods (hand made bracelets, wooden implements, bangles, etc). It was so loud and busy, it being the most famous street in Bangkok!

Anyway we found a nice guest house with a nice room and decided to crash for the night as we were very exhausted from the nine-hour flight from Melbourne.

Nice room, nice guest house. Haha.

We were woken up at four o’clock by a loud banging near our wall.

It got louder and louder and louder.

That was when we discovered that we were sleeping in the room next to a 7-11 building site.

Next morning we checked out early (thank God) and found another cheap guest house to dump our heavy travelling packs.

We wandered up and down Khaosan Road, browsing and haggling.

As we wandered some more, we were stopped by some nice ladies who offered to braid my hair.

It sounded pretty cool, so we picked out black and blue for the colours. They did my whole head, it took almost three hours, but we waited patiently and in the end it was definitely worth it because it looked rad (icool)

One day we took a Tuk-Tuk (strange vehicle, like a motorbike with a cart thing on the back that is used to get around the city quick, for short distances.) to the Grand Palace.

You can’t go to Bangkok without seeing the grand palace!

The palace is a collection of temples covered in gold leaf and mosaic. I reckon it was really over the top, and seriously, it isn’t really anything compared the ancient temples of Cambodia. It was all golden and that, which is beautiful in its self but I really wasn’t that blown away. The only thing that was really special was the sacred Emerald Buddha.

After Grand Palace, we caught a taxi to Pantip Plaza (the biggest electrical complex in the whole of Thailand) to buy us a laptop and a camera.

We looked at all of the laptops until we came across this beautiful one. We knew it was love!

After we finalized the laptop and had it securely strapped on to us, we headed over to iPod store to buy an iPod and then bought a nice camera. Shockproof and it takes pics underwater too!

We caught the taxi back home and discovered that our taxi driver was a bit of a freak, he kept repeating himself and wouldn’t take no for an answer .

He took us to some random travel agent, as some taxi/Tuk-Tuk drivers are given commissions for bringing in customers. On the way home was really weird as he was asking which hotel we were staying in and asking for our room number and kept saying I should be a model on the Thai catwalks. It’s made me feel nervous and scared and I was really relieved when he dropped us at our hotel.

Today we booked our trip up to Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand.

Afterwards we decided to go for a walk from the end of our street to the Ciao Praya river.

We caught a river taxi; a big ferry boat used by the locals to get around, and took it all the way up to Wat Arun. Wat Arun is an old and very tall temple with heaps of detail and mosaics. The very intricate designs must have taken hundreds of years to build. We climbed right to the top of the extremely steep stairs , carefully of course, and took lots of awesome pics. After we caught the taxi back home, we hung around the pool at our new hotel and sunbathed for a while, soaking up the sun.

Today we got up really early to take the bus to the Floating Markets. The floating market is in Kanchanaburi ; two hours out of Bangkok. The markets were originally created when the Chinese community settled in the area. Apparently the REALY market runs before 7 and the rest is for tourists only and you could tell it was set up for tourists. We bought a coconut and drank it; the coconut juice was really sweet and delicious.

After floating markets, we hopped back onto the bus and drove for about another hour and a half until we came to the Bridge on the River Kwai on the Death Railway. The Death Railway was set up when the Japanese invaded and started to build a railway right through the middle to Burma, for carrying goods and exports directly to other countries. The Japanese used the captured soldiers and prisoners of war as slaves in terrible conditions, and over 100,000 people died in the process, including many Australians, and many from other countries. We caught the train across the bridge and spotted some elephants (heffalumps!!). We headed over and fed the elephant’s sugar cane, and got to touch their trunks and took some cool pics with ‘em.

The next destination we headed for was the Tiger Temple. The Tiger temple was first started when a temple full of monks were brought a hurt tiger whose parents were killed by poachers. After that, the monks were brought so many more animals, that they set up an actual animal park.

We were able to go up to the baby tigers and take photos and pat them!

After we saw the baby tigers, we headed over to the great tiger canyon and waited in line for a picture with the great cats. In the end our battery ran out (OH NO!L) so we bought a disposable camera. The tigers were massive, and we got to have their head on our lap! The only reason we were able to have the tigers on our lap is because they all sleep in the afternoon.

Also in Bangkok we got a Tuk-Tuk around the city, and stopped to eat at maccas. The Thai Mcdonalds is same same but different!! The soft serves here are gross as! It’s pretty sad that we were eating maccas in THAILAND of all places but we wanted to see if it tasted any different.