Land of Smiles

Well I need to finish this chapter

kimbobimbo — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:17:00 GMT

Ok well we are now back in England and I have read through my journal and realised that about half the story is missing. I think the easiest explanation is that we ended up taking on a thai style cha-cha approach to life but I have realised that I need to write everything down now so it's not forgotten.

My last day of the dive course was even better than previously. Got up super early to get a lift to get the dive boat out to Sail Rock. As we approached this tiny bit of boring rock sticking up out of the massive ocean I wondered how it could possibly be so popular. It didn't take long to see that this place was beautiful and perfect for diving and snorkelling. The water was so so clear and you could see shafts of light going down into the water even when you were standing on the boat, let alone once you were underneath.

Went down and I wished I could have stayed there forever. It's like another world. Massive massive shoals of different types of fish and tiny animals that you don't notice unless you look really close. We saw massive barracuda and large angel fish. And we saw one really big moray eel...evil looking thing that somehow managed to be beautiful too.

Oh and there was a lovely little family of saddleback fish living in a little patch of anemone. A Daddy, Mummy, big sister and little brother and Mum and Dad were pretty fierce in their protection of their patch, darting out to try and scare off us big ugly divers.

Saw some more baby stingrays which are just so so sweet.

So in short diving was a success and I can no longer remember why I ever thought skiing was a good thing to do...I now have a preferred expensive sport/hobby/obsession?

I felt really sad when I finished diving but was really looking forward to seeing Sarah and her thai family so we got a taxi down to Ban Tai and settle in to our massive bungalow on the beach.

Safia's addition to Many Moons Later

kimbobimbo — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:59:00 GMT

Hello,

Well I just wanted to add few details to waht Kim has already written. For example, so that you can comprehend the scale of the waterfight yesterday, you may like to know that the local fire engine got involved and went cruising around the town (that incidentally has the only set of traffic lights on the island) dousing everyone in the street with water.

We are continuing to enjoy ourselves, even though we have picked up battle scars along the way, with the leech attack, sunburn, Kim's welts from the plankton stings whilst diving, etc!

It seems very sad that in a week we will be back, but we're going to make sure that we milk every last second of the holiday!

love Safia

Many Moons Later

kimbobimbo — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:55:00 GMT

Hi everyone. Phew well we finally have a bit of time to use the net and update you all on our travels.

Well we last wrote a detailed log back in Ayutthaya which was a week ago. We have navigated across Thailand using multiple forms of transport since then. We got the overnight train down to Surat Thani (a busy port town) and then a public bus (avoiding all the touristy minivans for 4 times the price and fourtimes less interest) to the Khao Sok National Park. That place was amazing and we stayed in a beautiful tree house which was basically a hut on stilts with a mosquito net and little bathroom complete with very fat cute toad.

The following day we got an early car with a Finnish family to Cheow Lan Lake (formed when a dam was built in 1982)which is incredibly deep - up to thirty metres in parts but the landscape is truly incredible. We trekked through the jungle and got a bamboo raft to a cave. It was fab to see a cave without tonnes of lighting and concrete pathways through the middle. We stayed in a basic hut with smelly mattress but this didn;t matter because the hut was built of bamboo and was floating!!! In fact everything was floating except the toilet which was on a hill at the end of the floating walkway. Incidentally to get to the toilet we had to cross one section of bamboo that was rotten and whilst it seemed to hold up well under Thai body weights it didn't fare quite so well once us farang (foreigners) had a go and Safia put her foot through twice! I will point out the only reason I didn't was that I developed a beautiful flat footed approach where I turned my feet out across a number of strands of the bamboo!!

Anyway we also did a couple of safari's in the long tail boat and whilst the night one was spectaularly spooky it was rather devoid of anything visible. The early morning one more than made up for this though as we saw some pig-tailed macaques, birds of paradise, otters (!), a white/grey small bird of prey and the most amazing family of Lar Gibbons - I never thoughjt I;'d get to see one of these amazing animals in the wild but it was truly beautiful.

When we arrived back at Khao Sok National Park we decided to go for a trek which was quite an effort as the path was virtually nonexistent. Of course we got the standard 3 o'clock rain which made it rather more tricky and so we turned back but Safia got 3 leeches on her stomach and I got a couple on my ankles through my socks. When I got back to the treehouse I took my boots off and found another 8 crawling around inside (fortunately I got rid before they could take hold of my skin).

Anway eventually went back to our treehouse and the fat toad and stayed one more night before we got the bus back to the port to catch a ferry to the island of Koh Phangan.

The ferry was surprisingly comfortable and took just 2 1/2 hours on the calmest sea ever seen. We had nice views of some of the other gulf islands and the turquoise sea before we arrived in the main (and only town) on the island. We then commandeered a guy to take us to our hotel and knocked his price down to a reasonable amount but after dropping us off he then tried to get more money - let's just say he picked the wrong two tourists and skulked off with his snake tail between his legs.

The bay here at Mae Haad is beautiful but pretty tricky to get into deep water as there is only one channel through the coral reef and the water is rarely deep enough to swim over that part of the coral at this time of year.

The dive instructor is really good and she's been great at adapting the course to fit us etc. Unfortunately Safia and diving didn't get on once we moved into deeper water - quite sensibly she realised that she didn't need to swim 10 metres under the water when she could see lots of pretty fish and coral from the surface. I love it quite enough for both of us - be warned folks, it is entirely possible I end up becoming a dive instructor and living in Australia or Thailand or somewhere like that.

Only bad thing about diving is that I appear to be allergic to the plankton in the water here and have developed very very itchy welts across all parts that were exposed to the water except my face. But it's worth it.

Yesterday was New Year here and so there is a massive water fight everywhere - you have njo hope of staying dry unless you are a monk (and even then you may get hit accidentally). The Thais also like to add food colouring or prickly heat powder to the water and either carefully pat some onto your cheeks or pour it all over you. It was an amazing experience ad one we are unlikely to ever experience again.

Finally met up with Sarah and went back to her resort for some food and drink before we came back home in time for the start of diving again today.

Hopefully be in touch one more time before we come home. Plans are for me to finish my dive course tomorrow (going diving off a boat in middle of ocean somewhere called Sail Rock) and then we are getting a taxi down to our final stopping place in Ban Tai with Sarah for our final days. We'll hire a jeep for a day or so, and visit a few quiet beaches etc.

Hopw you're all well

Kim

Sorry - only quick one

kimbobimbo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:05:00 GMT

Hi Everyone! SOrry only short one but internet very slow and bit pricey here. Now on Koh Phangan (island) and we're starting our dive course tomorrow morning. Both alive and well though recovering from a few over friendly leeches we encountered yesterday on a walk through rainforest. We've seen and been to amazing places and can't wait to tell you about it...stayed on a raft house in middle of rainforest, got bamboo raft, hike through cave, stayed in tree house too. Phew.

Anyway hopefully will find better place and fill you in.

xxx

Kim

What Wat is what?

kimbobimbo — Sun, 6 Apr 2008 20:03:00 GMT

Hello,

I just wanted to add to Kim's entry to say that the weather here is lovely and hot, and we hope you are all suitably envious!

Enjoy the snow!!

love Safia

What Wat is That?

kimbobimbo — Sun, 6 Apr 2008 16:54:00 GMT

We started the day yestrday with a very very early start so we could cycle 6 kilometres in the dark (sorry Mums) with no helmet and one reflector between the two bikes so we could watch sunrise next to a buddha at the top of a steep hill. But it was so worth it and I may even try to sell some of my photos when we get back.

Got back in time to have brakfast at half 7 and were able to lounge by pool for few hours before packing up and saying goodby to Paulo, our very eccentric but charming host who wrang my hand with great vigour when we said good bye.

Then walked about 1 km with our packs on - I'm so glad I'm not carrying a 75 litre rucksack round!!! - before catching the public non-aircon bus. Thyank god they don't have health and safety here as we would have died if the doors weren't left open just by our seats. Again sorry Mums.

Sat in train station in baking heat but fortunately shade for about 3 hours

Well we finally arived in Ayutthaya last night 2 hours later than planned due to Thai Railways being reliably 1-2 hours late with apparently every journey...

Once we were finally on train managed to get off at the right station!A miracle as most stations are not written in English and I am still no better at reading Thai...hehe

Got our first Tuktuk as a major thunder storm loomed and we arrived at our beautiful little bungalow at 9pm ish.

Slept really well and packed up and left our luggage with another lovely Thai man and his ultra cute 7 month old poodle puppy Kuki whilst we cycled around Ayutthaya. These bikes weren't quite as good and so we wobbled rather more, but fotunately brakes and tyrs held up under torture.

We love this place and wish we had longer here to explore, maybe I will come back one day. We had lunch at a 'Muslim estaurant' where we payed 1 quid each for goat curry, rice and a big bottle of pepsi. Mmmmmm tasty though we were a little shocked to find a whole eyeball complete with membranes and optic nerve in my portion! And then we played the game 'What Wat is That?'. There are so many here and they are all so old and ruined but truly amazing. Dad you would seriously love it here - screw the ancient egyptians and columns, you wanna learn about chedis and wats.

Saw some beautiful Asian elephants walking round the streets (really well cared for) and Safia managed to get some sly photos of some monks walking around the walls of a Wat (girls can't speak to them so we can never ask if it's ok to take a photo...)

Just a little note to say that I haven't forgotten how to spell but the 'e' and 'r' letters on this keyboard are completely unreliable.

Be in touch soon

xxx

Kim

How can so much happen in just 2 and a bit days?

kimbobimbo — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 19:46:00 GMT

Hey everyone - you may have noticed that Safia is also enterng stories on here so don't be confused if I suddenly seem to start talking about myself (it's probably her). She's likely to talk more about nasty animals and food than me!

Ok, so when Safia last wrote on here she was waiting for me to sort out my finances as I had been to a couple of ATMs to withdraw money and it hadn't worked so I ended up having to ring my bank from Bangkok to tell them again that I am in Thailand and that I need to be able to use my bank card here. Even though I called a few weeks before we left so I wouldn't have this problem. Anyway they sorted it for me and so I got money out at the next available cash point. Only problenm was after I put my money away I realised that the machine was overlooked as it was in a multi storey open plan sort of shopping mall and that a man had walked away writing something just as I finished with the ATM....hmmmmmmmmm I thought and so got another chunk of money out from another machine and then called my bank again to get them to cancel the card as I probably have enough money now with cash and my traveller's cheque. Decided it wasn't worth the risk.

Anyway eventually we managed to get a private longtail boat round the canals on the side of Bangkok noone usually visits and persuaded the driver not to stop at the nasty tourist stops. So we ended up seeing some tiny little shanty type 'houses' and some quieter residential areas from the water. We finished off at a Wat on that side of the river even though it was closed by that time and took lots of photos through the gate. Again we were quite proud of ourselves as we then took a cross river ferry (not a farang/foreigner in sight) and then caught the express boat back to catch the sky train to a night bazaar that we visited for the first time the night before.

It was so mahhisive that we hadn't managed to walk round half of it before we had to leave the first time and so we went back to try to buy some things we refused to pay for the first time. So have a few more gifts to lug round in our bags now....

Yesterday we travelled from Bangkok to Sukhothai by train, bus and lots of walks with our backpacks on. Fascinating and also gave us an idea of the sort of carriage we are going to be in on our overnight train down south in a few days (there weren't any sleeper spaces left!!!!). Richard Branson needs to visit the trains here - we got drinks regularly and two meals on a 4 hour journey and a little guy mopped and swept the aisle a number of times during the journey)

The guesthouse we are staying in is amazing. We've got a little bungalow with a four poster bed and muslin curtains to keep mozzies out, air con and there's a hot tub (not hot obviously) and some lovely hammocks too.

Sukothai is amazing - I've never seen so many interesting ruins in one place and we've only seen about 6 out of 50 in the area. We hired bikes and have apparently not forgotten how to ride, though we are both wobbling far more than we did when we were kids.

Tomorrrow we are going to get up at 5 to cycle (dewspite having sore bums from the bike seats) to a hill 5 kilometres away in time to catch sun rise. Well that's the plan anyway and then we'll be able to get back to the guesthouse in time for breakfast. This morning we got beautiful little apple bananas (I got double as Safia doesn't like bananas) and a piece of honeycomb complete with bees still in it!!!).

Anyway, will let you know how it goes but it may be a few days til we can write on here again. Missing you all loads.

Time to go and pack up again....only fits in one way now!

xxxx Kim

What happened next

kimbobimbo — Wed, 2 Apr 2008 15:46:00 GMT

Well we are now on our last full day in Bangkok before we head north to Sukothai. We have used the time wisely by returning to have lunch at Cabbages and Condoms, and eating more delicious food there. Kim decided to write on the comments card because we were so impressed with the food. It asked which dishes we had liked best, but we had tried so many we didn't have time to write all the names in, so ended up just having to write "EVERYTHING".

We spent yesterday wandering around Chinatown, the Indian area and the flower and fruit and vegetable markets- it was good to see places that aren't on the usual tourist route, and at the risk of sounding cliched, being able to see a bit more of the real Bangkok. Anyone who saw us probably thought that we were two rather hopelessly lost tourists who had strayed of the temple-and-palace trail, but hey!!!

We also went to an amazing night market last night- we hadn't realised quite how vast it was, and so are returning tonight to make sure we don't miss anything as we only managed to get through a fraction of it!!

We are getting more familiar with Bangkok's transport and have managed to use the underground metro, overground skytrain, bus and river ferries fairly seamlessly (apart from me setting off alarms at the metro, and both of us walking masively long detours to find metro stations or bus stops that we had walked past without noticing, despite being actively looking for them...............). We are refusing on principle to use tuk-tuks in Bangkok after so many tuk-tuk drivers tried to convince us that Wat Pho was closed when it blatantly wasn't- harsh is this revenge we wreak on them!!!

Kim has just finished sorting out problems with her bank, which cunningly prevented her from withdrawing cash, despite the fact the she had given them advance warning of the fact that she would be here and would be wanting to withdraw cash here. But fortunately that is all sorted now, and you have had the plesaure of me writing you an entry while I waited!

We will update this journal wherever we can, but as we are now leaving Bangkok and heading to random places, we may not be able to use the net as often as we have been.

Sawadee ka!!!!

Safia's additions to Kim's story

kimbobimbo — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 01:42:00 GMT

Having read Kim's story below, you may feel that we have been slightly extravagant in having three massages and a pedicure in the space of less than two days, but allow me to say in our defence that this is our equivalent of the hard partying that we are not doing because of our middle-agedness (refer to Kim's entry below). We feel that these activities highly enhance our Thai experience.

This experience was also added to by one of the touts who Kim mentioned below, who was trying to convince us that things were closed when they weren't- he was so enraged that we didn't fall for his ill-disguised lies that he shouted "STUPID" after us in venomous tones as we walked away. The tosser also wrote in my book in ink! Another notable experience was walking along, trying to eat squid noodles with chopsticks out of a plastic plate on a bustling road (and chopsticks are not my forte anyway....) when I noticed a large rat running along the wall parallel to Kim, at head height- charming.

We were quite impressed with everything we managed to do today though- we were even more impressed by the reclining Buddha (we have tried to take photos so that you can appreciate the scale of it) and the vastness of the palace and temple complex that houses the emerald Buddha. And being us, we managed to find lots of food that impressed us! Highlights include prawns in a tomotoey sauce with cashew nuts served inside a coconut, and betel leaves stuffed with ginger, coconut, peanut, lime, shallott, dried shrimp and a sweet kind of sauce. We apologise in advance for all the photos of food that we will make people look at on our return!

We shall keep you informed of our adventures!

love Safia

3 massages, 2 Wats and a pedicure later....

kimbobimbo — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 01:04:00 GMT

Well since I updated this journal yesterday we have had an oil massage at a very posh spa, had a pedicure at a salon that was definitely not posh in any way and today we had a thai massage and a reflexology foot massage. And this was in between eating lots of incredibly cheap food and walking round the royal palace and Wat Pho. Both amazing buildings but with completely different atmospheres! Will show you the photos asap. Safia also bought some stylish glasses and we finished the day off with a meander down Khao San Road. We both decided that we are too old and geriatric to have stayed there (for party animals only...most of them 18 or wishing they were).

We avoided touts who kept claiming the attractions were shut and that we should see the standing buddha instead (of course this entailed a tuktuk ride at a special price). And we managed to find and get on and off the right bus to take us all the way across town - this did take about an hour to find but hey we did it all by ourselves and kept to our plan of avoiding stinky tuktuk drivers.

Yesterday we ate at a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms. Weird sounding but actually run by a charity that encourages use of condoms throughout Thailand and supports women with AIDs/HIV etc. Amazing place - we ate outside under massive trees with drooping vines and lights everywhere.

Tomorrow we are planning on walking around Chinatown and finding a nightmarket as well as booking our train tickets for the next week or so.

Safia is going to write a story on here now as well

xxx

Kim

The End of one VERY long journey and the beginning of another (this one is far more exciting though)

kimbobimbo — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Well we are here and both alive and in one piece. Safia somehow ended up staying up for 38 hours with no sleep - I'll let her explain why when she gets home. We both managed to get a couple of hours on the plane and have had a couple of hours nap at the hotel before coming out to explore local area and find internet cafe, exchange place and somewhere to get a massage and pedicure.

Journey went smoothly and luggage arrived at the same time as us! We managed to find the right bus and to get to the hotel without being talked into anything.

Hotel is just like the photos we saw. Air con is bliss and sheets perfectly clean. It's an amazing building.

Still learning how to buy things and not get fleeced! I just went to a pharmacy (to buy an antiobiotic in case of traveller's tummy) and ended up buying 3 tablets instead of 2...you live and learn (fortunately just cost me slightly over a quid extra). Hehe. The pharmacist accidentally misunderstood the numbers - even though he probably trained in USA or UK. Next time will check what he has given me before I pay and expect change. :-)

Anyway, got to go and get some more baht. Hopefully will be able to update the journal regularly as there are internet cafes everywhere.

Hope everyone is doing good at home,

xxx Kim

Preparation

kimbobimbo — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:40:00 GMT

Well welcome to my journal. Only 7 sleeps until we begin our journey!!! Short compared to most backpackers but long enough to get a real taste and have lots of fun along the way. Who knows maybe this will give me the bug for life?

If you know me well you know that I started preparing for this trip within an hour of opening my present (the flight) on Christmas Day. And I have bought new toys for the trip virtually every day since then.

I started packing my bag a month ago and in the past couple of weeks have packed and repacked it many many times. Well I have to check I have everything don't I?

I've got a real need for this trip - it marks a very new and scary beginning for me. I really hope it helps me put everything that's happened recently into perspective and that I can lose some of my sadness and anger and that it will give me confidence to get out there and make a new life for myself.

Ok - better get off and go and check my lists again.

xxx

Kim