Hi from Chiang Mai!
08 Feb 2006
Hi there folks!
Well what to write and what to leave out...there's already too much to say...
We caught a sleeper train up from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (13 hours) which was an interesting experience sleeping (or trying to) on the train - also the mozzies were really enjoying my sweet tasting flesh and certainly had their fill. Chiang Mai is an amazing place with the central city surrounded by a moat and parts of the old city wall remain. There's a wicked Sunday market where you can buy anything - the jewellery and clothes are amazing here and SO DAMN CHEAP!! The temples are unbelievable with statues of elephants around them and golden buddahs in the middle. We've met more interesting people here than you can imagine - all independent people with loads of stories - its great - lots of people travelling alone too.
We went on a trek for 3 days (just got back) which was uber fun. 10 of us in the group, led by a guy who was permanently drunk and so crazily funny - he was excellent!! He also had his 'medicine' which he claimed was ginger and other things, but it really made him speed up the hills, so who knows! We hiked up the mountains and stayed in a village for the first night. Most incredible place but got quite cold at night as we were high up. Great to get some exercise and stretch our legs and amazing jungle views. The insects in the jungle at night sound like a car alarm and the dogs and chickens were very noisy too - calling all night but really getting going at about 4 am!! Luckily for me I brought a sleeping mask and ear plugs - but it still didnt ensure I slept more than 2 hours! The rest of the group suffered too but we're all getting used to sleep deprivation now. The village was beautiful and there were so many baby animals - chicks, baby boars (so cute) and .......lots and lots of PUPPIES!! They're so cute and just hang with us for hours (mostly because we feed them constantly!) I've taken so many baby animal photos! (I will send some pics soon). Everyone we have met and come across are so friendly and love to chat with you. The second night we stayed in a bamboo hut next to a waterfall surrounded by terraced rice paddies (not used at the mo) and the jungle with exotic trees :-). Each day we hiked for 3 or 4 hours through the jungle and had our showers in waterfalls along the way - I mean if this isn’t paradise then I don’t know what is!! We went for elephant rides which was wicked fun and down a river in bamboo rafts - which was also great as we had water fights - very refreshing in this heat. It was a really great trip and the people were excellent (I did think the Canadian group would really get on my nerves on first impressions, but they were the best of all!)so thumbs up all round!
Back in Chiang Mai for the next few days before we head south and we're spending today recovering from our hike - massage and body scrub then in the pool then a few beers - its a hard life!!
Love to you all, and thanks for your emails too, Fi xxxx
Dad - have a great trip in Kenya, I look forward to hearing about your stories too xx
Mum - I hope Josh is looking after you!? :-)
Kate and Mike - yep we've had a foot massage - very nice as its more pressure points than trying to tickle you - although Jemma was screaming like a girl through the whole thing as she has excessively sensitive feet!!
Hey from Koh Tao
19 Feb 2006
hey you guys,
well we're in the south of thailand now. Its obviously rained alot recently as all the rice paddies now have water in them with buffalo and egrets feeding amongst each other and the palm tress...lush. We headed out to Koh Phangan by boat and as the little silver fish jumped along the sides of the boat and beautiful islands were in the distance, we knew we were heading into paradise!! Well thats my romantic description, and now on to the full moon party, which was absolutely awesome...loads of people just dancing on the fine sand and buckets of cocktails with whiskey, coke and a red bull type drink (which seemed a bit deadly). We met 2 Brit girls who were bonkers and really up for a laugh too. I parted from our 4some and met loads of cool people...everyone just up to chat and dance. By the end of the night we ended up covered from head to toe in fluorescent body paint and quite pie eyed...quick swim in the turquoise sea as the sun came up to reveal a mess of dancers and people asleep on the sand :-) back to our bungalow (on the other side of the island with its own beach :-P) at 10 am and shattered!!
We hung out for a bit (recovering and snorkeling) before making it over to Koh Tao (Turtle Island) which is so beautiful...and beautiful people to match!! We're doing a open water dive course (allowing me to dive to 18 metres) which is great (had the exam today and its like being back at school anticipating the results...). We've been on a few dives and the group are all really nice...we have a really big crowd of us going out together now..ever increasing numbers. 2 Austrian girls..one looks like the french girl off the film 'The Beach' (for those of you who have seen the film will understand that she is gorgeous!!) Diving is absolutely great...we've seen some incredible fish that are so interested in you and swim right up to you (although the little cleaner fish that insist on nibbling at you can get a little annoying)...we're finding nemo
tomorrow at another dive site :-) final 2 dives tomorro before receiving our certification..then a piss up, then Jem, me and an OZ girl we've picked up are heading over to Koh Phi Phi (where they filmed 'The Beach'...so much to do!!!
Anyway thats enough rambling for now...did I mention that our dive instructor is hot??!...so generally having a fab time, loads of great people, diving and working on my tan :-)
Keep the emails coming everyone!!!
Loads of love, Fi xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi from Thailand and Malaysia
27 February 2006
Hey all,
Well to carry on from my last email...we finished the diving course on Koh Tao - our last 2 dives were totally amazing and a videographer came along with us, funny watching ourselves over again.??Long night out that night to celebrate..another couple of buckets which?kept us up til 10 am again?but got to watch an amazing sun rise so that made it all worth it!
We headed off to Koh Phi Phi with Holly the OZ on an overnight boat -?a metre head room and everyone had to crawl in and find a place to lie down - mostly just wooden boards to sleep on..long night!!? Koh Phi Phi?was totally scorching by comparison to the east coast so unfortunately we spent a whole day just lying on the beach and swimming in the sea - tough I know!? Its so beautiful here but from the pictures dotted around, it was even more lush before the tsunami...the middle section of the island with beaches either side was hit quite badly and used to be covered by palm trees and bungalows...now its fairly baren with just a few trees and lots of construction going on.? Apparently the Thai government is going to re-build multi storey apartments on the beach instead of the bungalows which seems a shame.? We met a dive instructor who was diving at the time of the waves and his story was incredible and must have been a weird experience.
Anyway, seeing as we're professional divers now (he he) we did 2 more fun dives on Phi Phi.? Somehow we managed to get the guys to take us out in the afternoon which they dont normally do because the morning boat was quite busy, so it was just us girls and 2 instructors with the whole boat to oursleves (how useful sometimes to be female!!)!!? The diving was incredible...so many fish and coral reefs of all colours...angelfish, butterfly fish, lion fish, moral eels, hundreds of shoals that you can just float through...and black tip reef sharks..amazing.? We hired a digital camera and took some wicked pictures (unfortunately there isnt a CD facility here so you'll have to wait for the pics).
Another heavy night out on the beach drinking buckets and meeting people,?dancing, fire shows etc...back at 7 am and up at 8 to go on a boat!!? [note to self...never again will you drink heavily, not sleep and go on a boat the next day]? needless to say, I spent most of the day looking at the horizon!? Our boat trip was around the islands, stopped at a few coves to snorkel (incredible) and visited Maya Bay (The Beach) which was beautiful.? Somehow I managed to hit the bars again that night...only because it was our last night on P.P?i think :-)
We were quite sad to say our byes to Holly and the strays we collected along the way, they were great...but onwards...boat, bus and boat trip into Malaysia.??Our first?culture shock...the heat is totally different (much more humid) and having left our little touristy islands, we arrived in the busy city of Penang where we were the only westerners we saw all day.? Headed up Penang hill to look over the city and visit a temple, ate lots of food from street stalls...mmm curry..things are even more cheap here than Thailand.? I had a curry, coffee and bottle of water for 50 pence!!
We then headed inland for Cameron Highlands...beautiful hills with farms..lots of tea and strawberries...we're going for a wander tomorrow.? Its so refreshing to have a cooler climate and not be hot all day and night :-)? anyway, I must stop typing now and sink a beer....
Love to you all, Fi xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I LOVE CAMBODIA
18 Mar 2006
Hi everyone!
More notes...from Kuala Lumpur I flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and met a guy in the airport (which was great as we were the only westerners on the flight so we made a bee-line for each other) and it also meant that it halved the decision making! Stayed in a really great guesthouse, only paying a quid a night - winner. Its confusing changing currencies so often - here they use US dollars and their own 'Riel' for smaller denominations so i'm now dealing with 2 wads of notes! grrrr
I jumped on the back of a motorbike and went around town: the traffic lights, zebra crossings and road markings are all there for decoration and mean nothing!! Needless to say, I was pleased to return alive. I met a guy from Canada and we spent the following few days doing the ''touristy'' things ...hmmm....we went to the S21 prison/genocide museum and the killing fields - very tough morning learning about the shocking and brutal things that happened here only 30 years ago, made worse by landmine victims begging outside the gates (not exactly a nice topic for this email but its important so there it is). Fact: Cambodia is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world with 4-6 million in the countryside. Anyway, tough morning so we went shopping in the Russian market, went to a shooting range and shot Tommy Guns and then ate happy pizza.
A few days later I head NW to Siem Reap to visit the Angkor Wat temples...got a 3 day pass and needed it. Driven around on a moto to visit the temples - its a a big place and some are 40km away (great views of 'communities' en route). The temples are the most incredible thing I have ever seen (Pyramids close second) if you havent been here watch Tomb Raider!...Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world and is amazing but my favourite had ancient trees growing around the temple and it was umbe..fecking..believable (i'll send pics when i've decided which ones out of the 100 I took are the best!!). Got up early 2 mornings to watch the sunrise from Angkor Wat - amazing, and watched 2 sunsets too. Got followed around alot by kids (Pied Piper style) selling stuff or giving the most detailed history in perfect english (then wanting a dollar) which I occasionally gave in to. Guesthouse is great and chilled out (probably due to the amount of dope people are smoking) and toads come onto the patio outside my room at night to cool down :-)
I have to say, Cambodia is my favourite place so far, the people are so genuinely friendly and the country is beautiful...i met a girl who is doing some voluntary teaching at a local school, which sounds great, so thats my next adventure for my next trip :-)
Head down south to Sihanoukville to get a couple of beach days in...wasnt too impressed with the place as there are so many local kids constantly climbing on me and grabbing and poking me, which got really exhausting after a while. They love white skin! Had an awesome night out with 2 of the funniest people I think i've ever met, sunrise swim in the sea and bed by 7am.
Going over to Saigon, Vietnam tomorrow....
Good morning Vietnam!!
01 Apr 2006
Hey peeps!
Well the journey from Cambodia to Vietnam went smoothly (apart from the road bumps and pitt holes and our bus caught fire so we had to wait for a replacement!). I met a few other solo travellers and we stuck together in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - Saigon is wonderful and really great to wonder around - we seem to get alot less attention here so it feels more comfortable and safe. Although the streets were a real hazard to cross....walk slowly and hope for the best. Legally they're allowed 2 people on a motobike, but they still have a family of 5 (baby under arm and steering with the other!). We hit the local market and had the most amazing noodles with veg and spring rolls (the assortment of seafood, eel, frog, turtle or rat didnt really appeal!!).
The 5 of us (Swiss dude, UK police bird, and an OZ and Kiwi couple) visited the Cu Chi tunnels that the guerrilas used in the Vietnam War and was told completely false, anti-Amercian stories about the war. Went on a 2 day trip down the Mekong Delta....half the tour was a bit touristy and we were hurried, but we travelled down a wonderful stretch of river with huts on stilts and wooden boats steered by ladies with triangular straw hats on, which was great. Great group too and lots of giggles!
Running out of time before needing to get back to Bangkok for my flight to Singapore, so booked a flight from Hanoi to Bangkok...which means i'll miss out on Laos this trip (but i'll be back!!) and also means we need to get moving to make it up to the far north of Vietnam in a week for our flight!! Lots of 6 and 12 hour overnight bus trips ahead....
Caught a late bus to Mui Ne...hired bicycles for the day and visited a beautiful waterfall that runs over red sand...the water is low at this time of year so we walked up the stream in red flow on soft sand and soaked in the waterfall. Also cycled through a fishing village where fish were laid out in the sun to dry and then we head over to some huge red sand dunes (Vietnam's own Sahara!). Long day and sore bums from biking, we lay on the beach the following day.
Caught an overnight bus to Nha Trang (no sleep as it had tiny, sweaty, plastic seats and no space) and went straight out for a boat trip. Had an awesome day snorkelling and pratting about....they set up a floating bar which we swam to and were rewarded with an endless glass of red mulled wine...highly unsafe in the sea but we had lots of fun!! Went for 2 fun scuba dives (it was only 16 quid!) less fish than previous dives, but the coral was incredible and we saw a 2m long spotted moray eel! Had a coughing fit and nearly died but didnt :-) Spent the afternoon in the mud baths which was hilarious.
Another 12 hour overnight bus journey up to Hoi An - beautiful town with old architecture and lots of art and tailors shops...ended up getting some shorts and a top tailor made for me for 7 quid...Emma bought loads (sucker)! The locals here have a wicked and cheeky sense of humour, its very entertaining. Excellent food and beers for 20p :-)
Vietnam is such a long country, the temp can be a difference of 10 degrees between the N and S; we started to feel the cooler evenings as we progressed north (mid 20s at night) - really nice change from the constant hot temperatures!!
Another bus journey, to Hue, only brielfly there and went on a rubbish boat trip (luckily the day only cost us 70p otherwise we would have moaned!): more temples and not much to do other than that! Beautiful scenery though - tree covered hills and meandering rivers.
Our last bus trip took us for 13 hours up to Hanoi where we wandered around the town during the day...the most interesting thing about the city is that each street has a particular type of shop: so one street will sell tin, another silk and another herbal medicine - quite cool. Flying out of Hanoi tonight, quick stop in Bangkok then flying to Singapore........
I'll stop typing now!! Hope you're all well, love Fi xxxxxxxxxxxx
