It's been over 5 weeks since I wrote a journals entry..long overdue for all you devotees who are simply glued to your chairs in anticipation of what will happen next.
We have been travelling through Thailand for the past 5 weeks, landing first in Chiang Mai. Everyone told us we would hate Thailand, that it was ruined and had nothing left to offer...But we have loved every minute of it. Flying from Laos to Chiang Mai was like entering another world. There were shopping centres and cinemas and real supermarkets and everything was soooo easy. I think we saw two movies in the first 4 days we were here. It all made us realise that no matter how much we loved the simplicity of Laos and Cambodia and Vietnam, is sure was nice to have an easy life for a while.
Chiang Mai is such a great city, It is actually a really good mix between western comforts and Asian delights. great shopping centres but also full of quirky street stalls, temples and markets. from Chiang Mai we headed up to Pai in the Northern Thailand mountains for 4 days. It's a lovely little artists village set on a gorgeous river and surrounded by jungle, hilltribes and mountain villages. We hired a motorbike for a couple of days and headed up to the hills to see some waterfalls and small village. We got offered opium but being so clueless I just thought the locals villages were desperate for a smoke. I don't think Jen has laughed so hard for quite some time. After the isolation of Pai we made the mistake of flying to Koh Samui in search of some beach action. If your ever contemplating a Thai beach holiday give Samui a miss - its foul, over crowded, it smells and there is really only one decent beach. We hated it!
But of course things always get better and we found our isolated Thai beach paradise on Koh Lanta in Krabi province. We spent 8 glorious sun drenched days there at a beautiful secluded resort that felt like it had been built by people who were ship wrecked there and just decided to build a resort to pass the time. We walked on the beach watched the sunset everyday while quaffing a beer or two. We had a fire on the beach and swam in ocean. We lounged by the infinity pool and ate incredible Thai food. We had a BBQ banquet on the beach and played with the friendly resident dogs. We combed the beach for starfish and shells and walked through the national park searching for wild monkeys. We felt rejuvenated and serene. It was divine. We could have stayed a month... We should have stayed a month.
The last 6 days we have spent in Phuket at Bang Tao beach in a luxury villa with a private pool. We decided that we would spoil ourselves this final week of our adventure. The weather here has been terrible. Monsoonal everyday.. Except for today of course.. because today is our last day!! It has been great having our own space where we can cook for ourselves and not have to go out. We leave for Bangkok tomorrow, 4 more sleeps and we will be home.. Our South East Asian Odyssey will be over. It has been such a tremendous experience but after nearly 5 months we are both excited about going home and seeing our families and friends and our country. We miss it. Travelling has made me realise how unhappy I was before I came and how I never want to go back to the life I had. But as Jen says to me .. You never have to. Stay tuned because when we get back our "OZ Odyssey" kicks off.
So if you are ever contemplating throwing the plasma TV away, selling all your belongings to travel the world, or even just your own wonderful country, Do it Do it now!
I think Mark Twain says it best
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do, then the ones you did.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream....”
