My Travel Journal

Singapore - 16th June 2009

rebecca_fardoe — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:10:00 GMT

Got up early and finished packing up. Said goodbye to Shona - quite sad! We've been travelling together for 4&1/2 weeks and have seen so many sights together. But she's off home and a move to Oz which she is very excited about and I've still got 2 months to enjoy my freedom!!

So arrived at the airport with plenty of time, checked in and then had to pay $25 departure tax!!! I am not impressed with this at all. Not least because I am running out of dollars.

Have a quick breakfast and treat myself to a copy of the international Observer from last Sunday! This was amazing. I read it almost cover to cover. Still can't bring myself to read the Sport section. $6.50 but worth every penny. Particularly after the flight was delayed for approx 2 hours. Budget airlines - you've got to laugh else you'd cry. Which means I've got a very very quick changeover in KL.

After rushing around like a lunatic in KL, ie. trying to check in for my flight in the domestic area of the airport. Running with 13.5 Kg on my back is not funny. Flight to Singapore was ridiculously quick about 45mins and arrived in the world best Airport on time. Apparently CHangi Airport in Singapore has been voted the best in the world but its easy to see why. Very organised, free internet terminals all over the building and easy transport connection. I got the train straight to my nearest MRT stop City Hall and from there it was about 5 mins walk and a very helpful man pointed me in the right direction.

So I'd decided to treat myself to a little bit of luxury and found a good deal on expedia with B1G1F nights at the Conrad Centennial hotel. I didn't realise I'd booked an executive room! Which basically means you have all day access to a lounge similar to that at the airport only nicer with free booze, snacks etc. It even had seperate check in on the exec floor. Check me out. Feeling just a little out of place though. Wish I'd keep hold of some of the clothes I had made in Hoi An but 13.5 kgs is plenty for me.

Somewhere on my way to Singapore I had decided that I desperately needed to start exercising again. Its probably something to do with out small all the Asian women are. And I'm starting to feel like a big lumpy giant in comparison. So on my way out tonight, after free red wine and cheese!!! Irony is not lost on me, I bought some running shorts.

I then went to wonder around Esplanade on the Bay, a big theatre similar to the National theatre on the South Bank and then for a Singapore Sling in Raffles. Lovely lovely lovely. Had a few monkey nuts and threw the shells on the floor. Great start to a healthier new me.

Got back to my hotel room and noticed that they'd turned down with a box of chocolates! Yes -This hotel deal was amazing, they even had a little teddy to keep me company.

Gallery: Angkor What?

rebecca_fardoe — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:05:00 GMT

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat - 15th June 2009

rebecca_fardoe — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:35:00 GMT

Hey,

So the big day. We got up at 4.20am and were collected by our tuktuk driver plus Emily and Rhiannon at 4.40am. Arrived at Angkor Wat in plenty of time to get a prime position on the left side in front of the pond to see the sun come up. We were a little bit unlucky and it wasn't a particularly spectacular sunrise but still pretty impressive.

We then explore Angkor Wat itself, Bayon, Ta Phrom and another one I can't remember - I'll get some photos up as they say it all really.

We actually wimped out a lot early than we were planning because it was so hot and there are only so many temples you can take a real interest in. Our 1 day ticket was $20 and a 3 day ticket was $40 and I can see why people spread it out over a few days.

In the afternoon when we got back we tried to sleep but couldn't so just chilled out. Went to the pool played on the internet!

It was my last night in Cambodia, plus Shona and I would be going our seperate ways in the morning so we went out to try and sing Karoke, another failed attempt - there have been many - Chiang Mai, Sapa, Nha Trang to name but a few! We actually called it a pretty early night after some more great Khmer food!

Got the same taxi driver to pick me up in the morning at 6.45am for my 8.30am flight to KL and then straight onto Singapore!

Gallery: Cambodia

rebecca_fardoe — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:51:00 GMT

PhnomPenh to Siem Reap 13th & 14th June

rebecca_fardoe — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:21:00 GMT

Saturday 13th June Woke up at around 8ish, we'd booked the bus to Siem Reap to pick us up at 11.30am. We walked down the road to get some noodle soup for breakfast.Shona and I are now completely addicted!!! After breakfast we got a TukTuk to take us to the Toul Sleng Museum. This was the old prison of Khmer Rouge. It used to be a primary school and high school- but all the old classrooms were turned into cells and interrogation/torture rooms. There were lots of photos of all the old prisons, all but 7 of all the prisoners who came here were killed! The photos and the stories were obviously very upsetting. We left about 11am and got the tuktuk back to the hotel to check out and get the bus. The bus journey to Siem Reap took about 6 hours and was probably the worst one yet!! The roads are fairly bumpy so it was not a smooth ride. Plus we had two stops in fairly dodgey looking places. There are lots of people who beg you for money wherever you go in Cambodia. Which can be very heartwrenching and also upsetting. We arrived in Siem Reap and went to Shadow of Angkor guesthouse, which had been recommended by some British guys we met on the bus to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Unfortunately they didn't have any rooms but the Shadow of Angkor 2 guesthouse just across the river did and its probably the nicest guesthouse I've stayed at since I left Bangkok.$20 a night but it has a nice balcony,pool and good clean room!! With TV!! We had dinner on Pub St, which is a bit like the Khao San Road of Siem Reap all the restaurants and bars are there! We actually bumped into the Dutch couple we met at and played I have never with in CHiang Rai. Its a small travelling world. Had some fantastic Khmer food for dinner, I had Khmer Curry and Shona had Amok Fish,which was super incredible. No drinking because I was still feeling rough. Went back to the guesthouse and watched possibly the worst movie I've seen in ages - a vampire movie with Jon Bon Jovi? Any ideas what it was called? Answers on a postcard to me please??

Sunday 14th June A day of rest.Woke up late at 10am- amazing lie in. Then caught up on the internet for a bit and had a late brunch at 12pm. I had a huge american breakfast $3.50. Food here seems to be a lot more expensive than Laos and Vietnam. Walked back via the market where I bought more postcards,I hope you guys have received some of the previous ones I've sent? Also bought a Angkor Wat T-shirt for $1.50 Went back to the guesthouse for a swim and a chill out. We arranged a TukTuk to take us to the temples for SunSet. Because if you buy your ticket for the next day after 4.45pm then you can go to the Sunset that night as part of your ticket. We hooked up with some Australian girls, Emily and Rhiannon and we all went along together. We watched Sunset and got the TukTuk back to town to have dinner and we watched some traditional Cambodian dancing.

We ate some more amazing Khmer food -I had Beef Lok Lak with Salad and Tomato. Eaten with Steamed Rice!

We are leaving at 4.40am tomorrow to go to the sunset at Angkor Wat. Very excited! Night Night x

HCMC to Phnom Penh via the Mekong Delta - 11th & 12th June

rebecca_fardoe — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:49:00 GMT

Hello - I know I've missed a bit, but I want to keep up to date and hopefully I'll fill in the very busy Vietnam time shortly. Thursday 11th June We had organised a tour with Delta tours to go to Phnom Penh with an overnight stay in the Mekong Delta. Bus picked us up at about 7.30am and we drove out to some of the islands in the Mekong Delta and had a tour around on a slow boat. It was nice because there were only about 7 people on the boat - Not like our last Mekong Slow boat in Laos! After lunch we were supposed to have a bike ride but the bus on the way to the islands had gotten delayed in some road works - so no time. We headed back to our bus and then to a fast boat which took us to our hotel for the evening, a floating hotel in Chau Doc. The floating hotel is really more glamourous sounding that it is. I couldn't really tell we were floating on water! We met some Australian guys, Brad and Jeremy from Melbourne, and we all went over to the busier side of Chau Doc. We got the car/motorbike ferry over and nearly got run over in the charge to get off. It was very Vietnamese and we didn't see any other westerns. Also it was interesting to see some Muslim Vietnamese. Had dinner at a cafe with a few beers. Shona noticed that the travel agents downstairs at the cafe were the same tour company and asked them about the last ferry back. They said they would get a boat to take us directly back to our floating hotel. Fab. When we were on the boat Shona realised that she'd left her camera so she had to go back again. Meanwhile I was getting lots of tips on Singapore from Brad, who works there. [Sorry - just realised most of you won't know but I had a bit of a change of plan in HCMC - I decided to travel to Cambodia with Shona and then go to Singapore and get the train back up to Bangkok making a few stops in Malaysia on the way, probably KL and Penang but I've still not decided - but I'm definitely going to Singapore on Tuesday as I've now booked my flight] Another quick beer and then off to bed. Shona and I went back to the room to find a Cockroach party! Not very pleasant, went back to get some bug spray to fummigate the room. Industrial stuff not nice. Room was hot as no A/C - but was pretty tired out so not to long before I fell asleep. Friday 12th June In order to get an extra hour in bed, yes I am that tired out, we opted to miss the early morning fishing village trip. So our fast boat left for the Cambodian border at about 8.15am. I'd changed the last of my dong into US dollars after breakfast. Not a very good exchange 19,000 dong for 1$. Boat to the border took about an hour, First we had to offically leave Vietnam and for those who were getting Visa on arrival to get the Visa here. One girl in our group had a problem as she had been issued a Vietnam visa at home in Oz and had glued it into her passport and the officials weren't happy but we didnt really understand what the problem was but we were there for about an hour. Then a very short 5 min ride in the boat to get stamped into Cambodia. My passport is starting to look pretty exciting now! Back on the boat it was another hour or so before we were transfered to a bus to take us the final 45 mins into Phnom Penh. Cambodia was not what I was expecting. It was very green in the countryside along the river, but the houses looked very poor. From the road we noticed how really flat the country is. Driving into Phnom Penh it was a lot more developed than I think I had imagined. Quite a busy city with lots of Cars and motorbikes on the roads. We stayed at the Royal Guesthouse, we were still with the Australian guys and decided to hire our tuktuk to take us straight out to see the Killing Fields. I don't know how much you know about Cambodian modern history but this is probably one of the most disturbing and immediate places I've ever been to. Approx 20,000 people were killed in Choeung Ek and put into mass graves. You can still see human bones and rags all over the site. There is Stupa built as a memorial which is filled with human skulls from the sight. It sounds really goulish and it is but I believe its important to see it, though I was in tears and fairly overwhelmed.

We all felt like we needed a drink so we got the TukTuk to drop us off directly at the FCC, Foreign Correspondence Cluc, which has happy hour (5-7pm) with half price cocktails. We got there at just after 5 and managed 4 drinks. Not to mention that Shona and i felt really out of place in a fairly nice bar with our sweaty shorts and tops on. It is so so hot in Cambodia.

I then wobbled back to the hotel to get showered and changed to go for dinner. We hadn't eaten anything since breakfast! We went to a Thai/Khmer restaurant called Lemongrass, just off the river which was absolutely fantastic exactly what we both need. Thai & Khmer Curry - Awesome.

Went to bed with a hangover from my earlier drinking on an empty stomach!

We did also decided that we would go to Siem Reap tomorrow that we could have a rest day on Sunday before doing a full on Angkor Wat day on Monday.

Trekking in SAPA - 28th - 30th May

rebecca_fardoe — Sun, 7 Jun 2009 20:31:00 GMT

Thursday 28th May

The train arrived in Lao Cai station at around 4.40am! This was very very painful. There was a minibus there to meet us at the station but we had to wait around for the next train to arrive. We eventually left around 5.30am. Sapa is just over an hour drive from Lao Cai so I caught up on a little extra sleep!

We arrived at the Sapa Summit Hotel and there groups on Hmong women waiting outside of the hotel eager to find out all about us. We checked in had a shower, had some breakfast and set off on a short trek at about 9am. The same ladies who we had seen at about 7am were waiting for us! They seem to pair you off with one of the Hmong women so that they can try to sell you soveniers later on!

The weather in SAPA is a lot cooler and quite cloudy but the rice paddies are still pretty impressive!

We had a morning walk then back to the hotel for lunch. Absolutely enormous portions of food. I think they think all westerners are very greedy?! Of course I still managed to eat nearly all of it. No chance of me losing any weight.

In the afternoon we had a bit of a snooze and had a wander round SAPA town and the Market.

We were in a group of 6 with one guide though a lot of other people were there as well with different guides/groups. There was a French couple and the Deborah and Maddy, the Oz mother and daughter we had met on the Halong Bay trip. They are really good fun and we all had dinner together at the hotel in the evening - more very generous portions.

Off to bed for an early night as the next two day trek will be harder work and we are all still tired from the train.

Friday 29th May - Sapa

We started off at about 9am and trekked through till about 4pm. Stopping for another generous lunch at a little cafe/restaurant on route. We opted to stay at the homestay for the second night and although it was more like staying in a basic hostel with about 12 other people it was good fun and we did get to meet lots of other travellers who had travelled from the South to the North so we got lots and lots of good guesthouse and travel tips. A really good mix of people. We all had dinner together and after dinner we were treated to lots of the homebrew - local rice wine! Potent stuff but it helped us all to get to sleep. It was actually quite cold in the evening! Welcome relief.

Sat 30th May

Everyone was up realitively early and no one really had a hangover which was a pleasant surprise. They made us pancakes for breakfast with lots of bananas, pineapple and honey - absolutely fantastic. We trekked for the morning to a beautiful waterfall, had a quick lunch and were picked up and taken back to SAPA town. I had a really good coffee and tart whilst by boots were being cleaned! How lazy am I but it was very muddy as it had been raining quite a bit.

We got a minibus back to Lao Cai in time to get the overnight train back to Hanoi. This time we were on the same train as the rest of the people we had met and swapped so we could be in the same cabin as Deborah and Maddy. Early to bed again as the train arrives in Hanoi at about 4.30am! Argh.

Love to all x

Gallery: Vietnam

rebecca_fardoe — Mon, 1 Jun 2009 16:55:00 GMT

Hanoi & Halong Bay - 25th May - 27th May

rebecca_fardoe — Mon, 1 Jun 2009 16:21:00 GMT

Monday 25th May,

Had a bit of lie in after my late night out. Shona got up early to go back to the market and buy some more presents.

Had a breakfast at a local bakery with Anika and Kate. The flight to Hanoi was at 14.00 so we checked out and got a Tuk Tuk to the airport. It was a bit sad leaving the Anika and Kate, the 4 of us had had such a good week in Laos. Plus quite sad to be leaving Laos which was so much better than I had expected.

At the airport there wasn't really a great deal to do. So once we'd checked in we spent the last of our kip as you can't change the currency out of the country. I'd already changed most of my money into US$.

The flight was very quick only just over an hour and the airline was very good. A little bit noisy in a much smaller plane than I'm used to. But we even got a little meal!

Hanoi airport on the other hand was a rude awakening. In Laos the people are very respectful of your personal space and don't like to be touched. In Vietnam however they have no problem grabbing you, quite literally.

After my bank had failed to allow me to withdraw any Dong, luckily I had the dollars which are widely accepted we caught the airline minibus to the old city. $2.

Hanoi is crazy!!! Imagine a sea of motorcycles, bikes and cars all of whom use only the horn as a way of communicating with other road users. They ignore nearly all the traffic signals and zebra crossing are totally redundant. You have to be very very brave and hold your nerve.

Well of course I was suffering slightly from the late night and a hangover in Hanoi is not pretty. As soon as we arrived we made our way to the backpacker street/alley where the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel is located. This placed was absolutely heaving with travellers. Mainly ones we just wanted to get pissed! We checked into the hostel $7.50 (expensive) for an 8 dorm bed. YES I did it I stayed in a hostel. At least it was clean and the shower was decent.

As soon as we had gotten into Hanoi we wanted to leave again asap. So after walking round to about half a dozen different travel agents at 9pm we booked a 2 day 1 night tour of Halong Bay to leave the next day. $28.

So pleased that we would be being picked up in the morning at 8am we went to get an early night in the dorm.

Tuesday 26th May

Halong Bay is about a 3 hour drive outside of Hanoi. We arrived on the dock/pier, which weirdly looks like its sponsered by Pepsi! Boo!, at around 12pm and got on the boat to have lunch. We were really pleasantly surprised by the standard of the food and the boat. We are feeling very smug with our bargain tour when we found out other people had paid a lot more for the tour. After we had eaten we did a tour of the cave and cruised around Halong Bay it is absolutely beautiful. Later we went Kayaking which was hard work on the arms but great fun.

Just before sunset we all jumped off the boat to go swimming. Amazing! Dinner was really good. There was about 16 of us on the tour. An Oz mother and daughter, Deborah and Maddy, 2 candadian coulples, a couple of French guys and some British guys. It was a really good group. We all had a few beers and enjoyed the crew singing Vietnamese Karoke!! Bryan Adams - Everything I do I do it for you!! Very very Funny.

Wednesday 27th May

After a very good sleep we had breakfast and slowly cruised back to the Halong Bay pier. A very slow 3 hour journey back to Hanoi, before we left on Tuesday morning we decided to book a tour to Sapa. We had hoped just to organise it ourselves but after looking in to it it was actually cheaper to do the tour. 4 night (2 overnight train journey, 1 hotel stay and 1 homestay) 3 days Trekking. This meant when we got back to Hanoi we had to have a shower at the travel agents and went to have some dinner before they came to pick us up for the overnight train.

Shona and I seemed to be on a different train to everyone else but we didn't mind when we realised that it was a really nice sleeping train and we had the 4 berth all to ourselves. On our way to Sapa brillant!!

Gallery: Laos

rebecca_fardoe — Mon, 1 Jun 2009 16:02:00 GMT

Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng and Vientiane 21st May -24th May

rebecca_fardoe — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:54:00 GMT

My first truly bad breakfast! We thought we'd try somewhere different and went to a little restaurant overlooking the river. Well we must have been paying for the view because the food was bad!

A lazy afternoon after checkout just mooching about and I swapped a new book. (Sarah will appreciate this one - Reading Petals in the Wind by VA!) Reminds me of you sis!!

We caught a minibus from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng at about midday. The weather here has just been so so so hot! Plus i think my anti malarial tablets have made my skin more sensitive to the sun so I have started to go brown without really being in the sun at all!

The minibus journey was 110k Kip about 8.40 pounds. It took about 6 hours on very twisty mountain road! Started to feel a little bit sick my the end of the journey. But I was distracted by a fairly cute guy from Leeds who sat next to me.

Arrived in Vang Vieng at about 7ish. Vang Vieng is basically a party town. Travellers stop off here because you can tube down the Nam Khon River?? Its such weird tourist town. A mix between, an 18-30 holiday in Greece (Lynsey & Harriet - you know what I mean!!) and freshers week!

So we found some very cheap accomodation -30k Kip a night for the room 2.30 between two of us!!

Had some dinner and caught an early night.

Vang Vieng - 22nd May

Most people don't start the tubing until about mid day so we decided to walk to a cave in the morning where you could also go swimming. This was really pretty actually and at least we got a glimpse at the other side of Vang Vieng, as it really beautiful down by the river - with stunning mountains.

At about midday we went tubing. The four of us - Shona, Anika, Kate and I all bought the same sunglasses to take tubing as we've been told we'd lose anything we took with us. Big Blues Brother style (ripoff) raybans.

So we hired tubes and got dropped to the first bar on the river. Whiskey shots before we even got into the bar plus we had our names written on us in permanent marker. At this point we decided to embrace our inner teenager and go with it.

To cut a long day short we drank far far too many Whiskey buckets and copious free whiskey shots. They have huge slides at all the different bars and you can just float down between each one. After about 6pm the memory goes a bit hazey!

Managed to stay out until about 12pm. Each of the bars during the day is affliated to a bar in town and they give you wrist bands. When we went to the bars it meant more free whiskey buckets, Argh!

Vang Vieng to Vientiane - 23rd May

Woke up rather predictably with a monster hangover. But this place is set up for hangovers with all the bars playing Friends/Family Guy DVDs and bed seats with lots of pillows.

We caught the bus to Vientiane - should have only taken 3hours took 5 as the bus broke down and had to go soo slowly.

So we arrived feeling worn out and still hangover. We found a really nice guesthouse and decided to treat ourselves. First night with AC and a TV what a treat!!

Vientiane - 24th May

We all decided that 160k kip a room was too expensive so we moved to the guesthouse we had been trying to find the night before.

Caught a Taxi out to the Buddha park. A really strange gothic mix of Hindu and Buddist statues!! Weather is so scorching hot!

We had lunch at the park overlooking the Mekong River to Thailand it was awesome.

For dinner and our last night in Laos we decided to treat ourselves to a lovely French dinner, red wine and steak! Beautiful - sat outside the restaurant in a little square with a fountain. We could have been in France except the meal was probably a fifth of the price.

Off to Hanoi tomorrow.

Love to all R x

Luang Prabang - 18th-20th May

rebecca_fardoe — Thu, 21 May 2009 13:23:00 GMT

Monday 18th

We had a quick breakfast at the hostel and got down to the pier and the boat at about 9ish. At about 9.30 am we were on our way. This boat was a lot bigger than the one the day before and so we all felt like we had more space!! This was actually a really relaxing day. Taking in the scenary chatting to different people on the boat!

We got into Luang Prabang at about 5ish. Shona had been up really early in the morning and got talking to someone going the other direction who had just come from LP and he'd given her the name of a good/cheap guesthouse close to everything!

We walked to the guesthouse but they didn't have any twin beds, luckily there was another guesthouse right next door which was the same price and seemed pretty nice.

We got some dinner close to the guesthouse. We had a Lao barbeque. They take out a centre tile on your table and put a BBQ bucket in the middle, then they put a dish over the BBQ where you can brown the meat and cook a sort of soup in the rim of the dish with lots of veggies, garlic & chillies. This was fantastic!

We then went to the Hive Bar just next door to have more beerlao and meet some New Zealand girls that Shona knows from Queenstown. At about 10.30 I was feeling exhausted so we decided to get an early night. (Geek Fact - In Lao they stop serving Alcohol everywhere at 11.30pm, you are legally meant to be where you are registered to stay by Midnight! - Bit like Cinderella)

Tuesday 19th

Weather was pretty dull this morning so we wondered onto the main street to get some breakfast. There is a place called Swedish Bakeries in Laos which does great coffee and Croissant sandwichs for breakfast! Fabulous, 25,000 Kip for breakfast which is about 1.90

There is an amazing waterfall close by and as the weather started to improve around midday we decided to go there for the afternoon. Kuang Si Waterfall. Its about 30Km outside of LP so we got a TukTuk to take us there and wait. There were 6 of us in total.

Waterfall was fantastic. We walked to the top, not very far but quite challenging in just my crappy flip flops. Realised how unfit I must be now as I was sweating quite a bit(lovely!!) You can't swim in the waterfall itself but there are specific bathing pools near the bottom. Water was really really cold but this was so refreshing. Shona even jumped in for a rope swing. I'm way to pathetic when it comes to stuff like that!!

We hadn't had any lunch before we went in so I was starving, had a fried banana wrapped in a waffle - a healthy nutrious choice I'm sure you'll agree.

When we got back into the town we decided to walk to the top of Mount Phousi. Its quite a few steps up but gives a fantastic view out over the whole town. We stayed up there to watch the sunset, but it was a little cloudy so not much spectular colour to be seen.

Went back to the same restaurant for dinner but this time a tried a traditional Lao Stew with meat, Bamboo, Lemograss, Eggplant and Chillies. It was quite spicy but very very tasty. No Beers tonight as I decided it was making me feel really bloated. However they do have a little bit of a wine culture in Luang Prabang, the French did have a good influence on the bread, wine, coffee and architecture!! We found a little wine bar and had a fantastic glass of wine. 35,000 KIP about 2.70 - expensive for Laos but totally worth it. There was a little storm going off outside so we decided to get a tuktuk the very short journey home because otherwise we would have been soaked through. Again back home and in bed by 11pm.

Wednesday 20th

Shona woke up early again and her brain was wide awake by the time I got up. We decided to get organsied. We went to the tourist information and realised there was a Vietnam embassy in LP! Went to the embassy got an express visa which would be ready to pick up the following day by 10am. This meant that we were going to stay another day in LP. $50 US. We both really liked it here so that was fine, plus there were a few more things we wanted to do.

I got an amazing Lao Massage and after lunch we decided to go the grand palace/national museum. Very very pretty. We booked our minibus to Vang Vieng for 1.30pm tomorrow and also our flight Vientiene to Hanoi on Monday so this gives me 2 nights in Vang Vieng and 2 nights Vientiene.

The whole town here is just so lovely, butterflys floating everywhere, monks walking about in bright orange robes, very very friendly people. I'm glad I stayed the extra night here.

We went to the night market and I managed not to buy anything. It amazing how motivating having to carry everything is!!

Had a quick snack in the market and then a buffalo burger for dinenr in a local restaurant, surprisingly tasty meat! (Sorry Sarah)

Another really early night, in bed, no alcohol, light off by 10.30pm. I could get used to this Lao lifestyle.

Lots of love X

Chiang Khong & Crossing the Border into Laos - 16th/17th May

rebecca_fardoe — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:19:00 GMT

After quite a late night I got up a little bit late, around 9am, had some breakfast and met up with Shona.

Shona had done a bit of investigating and thought that it might be good to go to Chiang Khong that evening so that we would be ready to cross the border first thing in the morning and get the slow boat to Luang Prabang. It takes 2 days with an overnight stop in Pakbeng.

We had to do a few errands, like passport photos for the Visa, check the bus times, pick up Laudry etc. But we also decided we wanted to do something in Chiang Rai so we went to the hilltribe museum. This was actually really interesting. I had no idea there were so many different tribes in such large numbers.

We had some late lunch and caught to the bus at 4 from the old bus station which was easy because we could just walk there. The bus cost 65B and took around 2 hours.

We landed in Chiang Khong and found a hostel. Everywhere is so quite at the moment you wouldn't believe it! We found a hostel directly opposite the border crossing so we wouldn't have far to go in the morning. You can see Laos across the border as the Mekong River isn't really that wide.

Walked back into town, it really is only 1 road, and got some dinner. After which we got surrounded by some angry dogs which we had to shout at loudly to get to go away. It was a little bit scary. Guesthouse room is ok, rooms are getting progressively worse from the Intercontiental HK!! Only 250B for both of us though.

Sunday 17th May

We got up early, had breakfast at the hostel. They also made us a packed lunch as there is no fresh food on the boat and you don't stop on the way. We got stamped out of Thailand and then you catch a little boat across the river to arrive in Laos. This was also pretty straight forward although it was really busy with tour groups!! You have to pay $36 dollars for a 30 day visa from the UK an extra $1 because it was Sunday!!

It took about half an hour to get it all sorted. Then boat pier is about 500m/1Km from the border crossing so we decided just to walk it. Am getting a little bit tired of being harrassed by TukTuk drivers!

Bought the tickets at the pier for 900B.

We basically had to wait for the boat to fill up with all the people crossing the border so we didn't get going until 11.30. This boat was tiny and probably had about 100 people on it. Seriously no leg room or breathing space!

We arrived in Pakbeng in Laos and it was chaos! All of our bags were in the back of the boat. People from the village came on to the boat to get ours bags off so they could get some money and it was so jam packed. Getting off the boat was also difficult as we were basically standing on rocks! Not fun at all.

We went into the first guesthouse we saw which was actually quite nice and only 200B! The Laos currency is Kip but most places accept Thai Baht and US$.

Had dinner early in a restaurant with possibly the most bugs I've ever seen. But had my first BeerLao which is really good. Everything stops here at about 10pm and the electricity goes off shortly afterwards!

Nothing to do but an early night. x

Crickets in Chiang Rai - 15th May 2009

rebecca_fardoe — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:57:00 GMT

So I woke up in the morning and decided I was definitely going to go to Chiang Rai.

I checked out of the hostel and caught a lift with them to the bus station. I was going to walk but it was pouring with rain!

Got to the Chiang Mai Arcade bus station at just after 11 and there wasn't a spare seat until the 14.15 bus! So I had to wait around for 3 hours! Caught up on quite a bit of reading and listening to podcasts.

The bus took about 3 hours and cost 132B. Arrived in Chiang Rai and got a bus to the old bus station which is in the city centre. The Canadians are still in Chiang Rai for one night and staying at a guest house called Baan Bua. It was really nice actually and only 200B for a room.

We decided to go out to the night market and Alex was very keen to eat some of the local insects. (Geek note, the edible bug industry in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia is the same as the Pizza industry)

They had met a really nice Kiwi girl called Shona who came out with us. She is also planning to go to Laos so we decided to go together and make a plan in the morning.

Back at the hostel there were lots of travellers from all over the world, Oz, Taiwan, Holland, Canada, French, Japanese, Italian. British and Kiwi. We played the biggest game of 'I have Never'! We were up drinking until about 1.30 when the security guard came and told us we were all being too loud!!

Love to all x

Cooking and the rain came tumbling down - 14th May 2009

rebecca_fardoe — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:29:00 GMT

Thursday 14th May

My final day of cookery school. There were a few more in the class today, a couple of candadians, south americans and some dutch (who didn't talk to anyone and just smoked cigarettes at every available opportunity!)

Today we cooked,

-Thai Hot and Sour Prawn Soup - Wow this was fantastic! I am loving making things myself so I can make them spicy but not blow the roof of your mouth off and I can enjoy them!!

- Thai Style Fish Cakes - So easy to make - you guys are definitely getting some of these!!

- Green Curry with Chicken - Not a fav, too sweet for me really.

- Thai Fried Noodles - Phad Thai! Need I say more? Stupidly good fast food.

- Minced Chicken Northern Style

- Desert - Water Chestnuts with Sugar Syrup and Coconut Milk. These were a little weird but nice enough.

Wow - I've learnt so much over the last 5 days I can't believe it! I loved nearly every minute of it. I have to say the staff at the school are brilliant. Very patient and very knowledgeable about adapting to ingredients we can get at home and, in my case, how to make spicy but not too much. Aom in particular was great.

After the Thai cookery school I got back to the hostel and started to think about what to do next. Many of you know I was planning to go to the Spa for 8 days but somehow it doesn't feel like the right thing to do. After talking to so so so many people about all the places they've been and are going I decided that I want to get on with - and I really don't have that much time so I decide that I will go to Chiang Rai tomorrow, spend a few days there, maybe do a trek before I cross into Laos maybe on Monday?

Yeah - I feel like a proper traveller now!!

I went to get some dinner locally as it just wouldn't stop raining really hard. Lots and lots of bugs came out to play! Just one thing to note, Thais love Whiskey! In the restaurant where I had a snack dinner last night, the table next to me had ordered a bottle of Glenmorangie, fairly decent Scotch I think and they were drinking it with Coke? Is that normal?

Anyway got an early night and started on some of the planning I need to do.

love to all x

Cooking & Canadians - 12th/13th May

rebecca_fardoe — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:12:00 GMT

Tuesday 12th May

Day 3 of the cooking course - Course 4

We started with shopping at the local market. We were each asked to find an ingredient. I lucked out with an easy one - Coriander!!

Today we cooked the following

- Yellow Curry with Chicken

- Steamed fish in Banana Leaves - mine was a bit too dry and tasted like Fish bread!!

- Chicken with Cashew Nuts - Amazing!

- Fried Big Noodles with Sweet Soy Sauce

- Spicy Prawn Salad North-Eastern Style (Absolutely fantastic!)

- Bananas in Coconut Milk

Today was good fun, met some very sweet Canadian girls from Toronto, Rebecca and Riley. Sebastian gave me a recommendation for somewhere to go in the evening as it was Alex, Alessia and Steph's last night in Chiang Mai. The Riverside. The young canadians also said they might drop by.

So I met A,A&S at their hostel in town where they were chatting to a couple of guys from the US. One of the guys, Lucas - from NYC, decided to come with us. Riverside is a bar/restaurant, predictably overlooking the river and we sat on the terrace. Food was nice and we had a big tower of beer. Then Rebecca & Riley showed up. There was live music playing in the bar so we decided to go upstairs to hear the music. I had such a great night. Steph and I were drinking beer with Thai whiskey shots! Oh! I was in full on party mood. We all wanted to sing Karoke but didn't know where we could find a bar! Suddenly at about 1am I hit a wall, metophorically not literally and I had to go home - Right away! Said goodbye to the guys - who I am really going to miss as we'd all spent the last 4 nights together. Part of me really wanted to go with them but I need to follow my own plans at the moment.

Wednesday 13th May

All mighty hangover. I woke up with comedy hair all sticking up in the air. It seems I decided to stick my head in the shower the night before to cool down! Anyway this morning was painful but I woke up early because I was thirsty. Had some breakfast and started to feel human again.

There were only 4 people at the cooking school today, me, Sebastian, Isobel from Swizerland and Abi for the US. We started, before cooking, with some food carving to decorate the plates, Tomato flowers and tomato lotus with Carrot leaves. This just wasn't happening! My carrot leaf was pathetic but in the end the tomato flowers were really quite good in my humble opinion.

We cooked

- Clear Soup with Minced Pork - Loved it - I have a consumme obsession.

- Spring Rolls - Deep fried amazing hangover food!

- Red Curry with Roast Duck - Hot but totally totally my favourite so far. It has tomatos and pineapple and grapes in. I think I'll be cooking this at home for a few of you.

- Chicken with Ginger - one of my favourites

- Chicken in Pandanus leaves - incredible street snack food

- Mango with Sticky Rice - OMG! really really

The food gods were looking after me today and nursing me through my sore head and lack of brain function.

I went into town after the class to go to the second hand book store but also to ask one of the hundreds of travel agents about getting to Laos and my Vietnam visa. All seems straight forward so I will do this on Friday/Saturday.

Also went into the Elephant Nature Park office and saw some of the work they do. Looks incredible so Abi and I decide we want to do this on Friday?

I had a Thai Massage, my first in Chiang Mai, it was wonderful, also great for my hangover body to help me force out all the toxins.

Met Abi for a quick drink and snack in town. I could only manage one beer then I was home for an early night.

Miss you all x

Cooking in Chiang Mai -10/11th May 2009

rebecca_fardoe — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:14:00 GMT

Sunday 10th May 2009

So I remembered to set an alarm to get up at about 8am. This gave me time to have some breakfast at the hostel and wait for my pick up at about 9.30am. They pick everyone up from the different hostels and hotels and we meet at the main office in Chiang Mai. They then take us out to the school which is about 6k outside of the city.

Sunday was Course 2 - Making Curry Paste

We cooked the following

- Panaeng Curry with Pork, with the curry paste made from scratch this was absolutely amazing!

- Fried Fish with Chilli and Basil - too spicy for me!

- Chiang Mai Curry with Chicken

- Sweet & Sour Vegetables

- Spicy Glass Noodle Salad

- Black Sticky Rice Pudding

It was such a good day, definitely a highlight making fresh curry paste. Particularly as you can see all the ingredients going in and frind them altogether using the pestle and mortar. Met lots of nice people, a really nice couple from Birmingham, Kate and Richard, they were doctors and Richard was a native Welsh speaker from Carmarthen. He sounded just like Phil, one of Sarah's friends from Cardiff Uni.

Got back to the hostel early, around 3pm so had a swim and read my book in the shade. Got a Tuk Tuk back into the centre to meet Alex, Steph and Alessa again for dinner. They was this amazing walking market which just went on for, what felt like, miles and miles. We found the food area and ate for street vendors, Pad Thai, Mango Sticky Rice, Mango smoothies, kebabs and Papaya Salad. Fantastic and all cost about 2 pounds.

We went for a few drinks later on at this rooftop bar which seemed a little bit trippy?! But we had a few beers and I met a random Welsh guy from Neath who used to live in Walter Road. Its a small world!

Monday 11th May 2009

Found it difficult to get up and out of bed. Decided to opt out of breakfast as I knew how much food I would be eating during the day.

Course 3 - Tour of the local market

Today we started with a tour of the local market which was very interesting. We also had a lesson in Thai vegetables, spices, herbs and noodles etc. I wasn't too bad but felt a bit like those children in the schools Jamie Oliver used to go to when they didn't know what a potato was!!

We cooked the following

- Chicken in Coconut Milk - My favourite dish of the day!!! Amazing.

- Red Curry with Fish - Too spicy for me!!

- Fried Mixed Mushrooms with BabyCorn

- Fried Big Noodles and Thick Sauce & pork

- Papaya Salad

- Finally Steamed Banana Cake - Wonderful.

I met more really nice people today, Sebastian , French but lives in Spain a chef who is doing the full course as well. Doug and Kim, a teacher and a nurse from Brisbane who were working in Chiang Mai for two months. Hannah, from South Korea, who was training to do Thai massage.

Was so hot and full and tired when I'd finished the course that I went back to the hostel and had a bit of sleep for a few hours before I went to meet the guys in town.

We were all so tired, they'd been out seeing Elephants & white water rafting during the day! Very energetic compared to the fact that I was just cooking and eating! We had a quick dinner, some coffee and I went back for an early night.

Gallery: Cooking

rebecca_fardoe — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Chiang Mai

Some Like It Hot! Bangkok to Chiang Mai 8th/9th May 2009

rebecca_fardoe — Sun, 10 May 2009 18:13:00 GMT

But I do not!

8th May 2009

Bangkok is hot hot hot! After another great breakfast at the hotel, I packed up my stuff and checked out. Left my backpack and went back to Khao San to go to the hospital. Nothing wrong - but I needed my 3rd Shot of Hep B to be properly covered. The nurse told me I was very brave and that lots of girls cry! I'm beginning to worry about my lack of girly pathetic - ness!

Treated myself to another Thai massage. This one was even better than the first, the guy was amazing. All for 4 pounds.

Went back to the hotel to collect my bag and jumped in a cab to the Hualompong Station to catch the overnight train to Chiang Mai. Arrived in plenty of time so picked up some snacks and beer for the train. Have developed quite a taste for beer - bad - as its so much cheaper than anything else.

Met some really nice Candadians from Toronto who befriended me! Steph, Alex and Alessa. I had dinner on the train which was surprisingly good.

Time for bed and the lady train assistant put up these beds in an amazing quick time and it did end up looking like the film ' Some Like It Hot ' Only without Tony Curtis or Marilyn Monroe and no late night drinking!

9th May 2009

Woke up to see the jungles in northern Thailand and it was quite spectacular. Glad I took the train option, cheaper more relaxing and saved paying for an extra night in a hostel - its all about the budget now ladies!

Got the bus/taxi to the hostel 20B, approx 40p. It was about 8am when I got to the hostel and I couldn't check in until 12. So got some breakfast and hung out my the pool. The hostel Imm Eco has the most amazing pool. Very quiet and chilled out. It was so hot yesterday it was 39/40c.

So had a very lazy morning reading and listening to the ipod. Actually felt like I was on holiday. Checked in and a very basic room which is supposed to be shared but no one so far? Had a shower to wash off the Bangkok and train and hot Chiang Mai morning that was stuck to my skin.

A lazy afternoon and then I went into Chiang Mai to meet up with the Canadians for dinner. We had a quick dinner and wondered around the night bazaar and had so more snacks and drinks in the food market. Had a little tropical downpour and got soaking wet. Had another quick beer by which time it was somehow just before 1am. Got a TukTuk back to the hostel and managed to slip in my wet flip flops on the wet floor of the TukTuk and whacked my knee! Ouch Ouch Ouch. Got back to hostel and fell fast asleep!

Khao San and Hugh Jackman with Thai Subtitles - 6th/7th May

rebecca_fardoe — Fri, 8 May 2009 12:46:00 GMT

The hotel serves an organic vegetarian breakfast included in the price! On Wednesday this was spring rolls, Som Tam salad and Mango Sticky rice - it was fantastic. Can't wait to learn how to make all this stuff myself and feed it all to you guys when I get home!

Am already wishing I had slightly less time in Bangkok, the heat and humidity are a bit of a shock to the system as well as the mosquitoes. So with not much really planned for the next couple of days decided to try and chill out! I have been to Bangkok before about 5 years ago so I have seen some of the sights, Wat Po, Grand Palace and Jim Thompsons house etc. Just in case you were wondering.

First stop Thai massage. 180B for an hour. It was fantastic albeit quite painful!!

Was then on a roll so had a facial - pretty sure some of the techniques employed on my face would be illegal in the UK. Burning my face off then hoovering up the skin then something indescribable with a sharp implement to poke about in my pores! I definitely deserved a beer after that.

Wandered around for a bit, Khao San area is so busy and very tacky!

Had dinner at this really nice vegetarian restaurant closer to the hotel called May Kaidees - i think they also have a cookery school. Had my first full nights sleep in ages!

On Thursday after breakfast I caught the river express boat south to Central pier which connects with the Skytrain. The Skytrain is an airconditioned heaven above Bangkok! I went to Siam, where predictably there is quite a lot of shopping. After some lunch and aimless window shopping I decided to go to the cinema. Went to see Wolverine! Hugh Jackman is a gorgeous man in any language! (Film was still in English but with Thai Subtitles!) The cinema was totally immaculate and the only other noteworthy difference was that they play what I assume was the national anthem and everyone in the cinema has to stand up.

Got back to the hotel and had a quick beer and sprayed a lot of insect repellent. Then I headed back to the Khao San Road to grab a quick dinner. Its hard to explain but its a bit like a cross between the Stag and Hen party street you get in every city but the people are slightly less urgent, more mellow. A bit more like a permanent freshers week for all ages!

Looking forward to getting out of Bangkok tomorrow x