Hanoi and Halong Bay

After being on a bus for 24 hours it was quite daunting to arrive in a city with 8 million people. We successfully managed to avoid being run over by a motorbike on the quiet back streets of the old quarter and made it to our hotel, Hanoi Guesthouse.

The warm welcome we received from the staff was heavenly after our "frosty" reception in Laos. I already had the feeling we were going to like Vietnam and its people!

Hanoi is impressive from the outset, there is so much to see and do here! Although you have to have your wits about you if you want to arrive anywhere in one piece as crossing the road is "challenging". I generally followed the locals past the traffic or just closed my eyes and let the motorbikes avoid me. By the third day it was a breeze and I felt like a local!



On the first day we visited the Womens Museum - the fact that a whole museum has been dedicated to the female war effort / child bearing / fashion and their lives in general also made me realise that women are held in much higher regard here than in certain neighbouring countries ; )

It was interesting to read about the women who travel from the countryside to work in Hanoi and make whatever living they can selling fruit and cakes etc. They work from 2am when the markets open until they have sold every last item in the evening. From the moment you arrive in the city you are hounded by these ladies, however it does pull at your heart strings so I got talked into buying some donuts I didn't want which were more expensive than our evening meal (5 dollars), hardly daylight robbery! However they have become wise to an easier way to make a quick buck - Nat got caught offguard when one lady gave her the fruit basket to carry and demanded a photograph in return (in exchange for money) we successful avoided this scam -although it was mildly amusing to watch the others who didnt and ended up being chased down the street for money!

The next day we visited the infamous Ho Chi Minh house on stilts and mausoleum. Pictures of "Uncle Ho" can be seen everywhere in Hanoi but unfortunately his story is not told in any kind of logical order in the museum so we still have a bit of a hazy picture of this section of Vietnamese history. It is clear that his communist ideals have helped to achieve a lot in this country and his aim for Vietnam to become an industrialised country by 2020 is clearly going to be achieved as most of Hanoi and the outskirts of the city is one giant building site. Piles of bricks line every street and even in the space of time we were here we saw new buildings go up in days! Even our guesthouse was joining in on the act as they decided "out of the blue" to rip out the downstairs toilet and replace it - all in one days work! I admere the entrepreneurial spirit of the people here.



During our stay in Hanoi we took a two day cruise to the Halong Bay, which despite the unfortunate cold and cloudly weather was beautiful. The Vietnamese are trying to have the Bay named as the 7th Natural Wonder of the World and it is clear why, however it isn't quite the idyllic picture postcard you would hope for as your boat is followed out into the bay by about 50 other cruise ships. The first stop is at the most "amazing" cave - yep that's what it is called! Some of the charm of the amazing cave is taken away when about 600 other people are all squashed inside. The tour guide didn't help lift this feeling as he pointed out which rock shapes looked like monkey's, feet, two chickens kissing .....I mean really? Can't we just appreciate them for the rocks they are and not reduce it to kindergarten entertainment! (Sorry after the 100 time he pointed out a shape it wore a bit thin and as most of our group was made up of Brits we were all completely cynical and sarcastic which was far more entertaining!) The caves were lovely though.



Following this we were given our very own kayak to go exploring in the caves around the bay - inbetween some very large cruise ships. This is quite an adrenalin rush as you dodge the larger boats who are frantically beeping at you to move out of the way - don't you just love the health and safety precautions here - oh wait we were give a life jacket ; ) In all seriousness Kayaking was great fun. Then it was back on the cruise ship to watch the sun go down - oops missed it, its too cloudy....well to watch the scenery as night falls.

We had a delicious evening meal on board and chatted to some nice Australian girls, who very kindly gave me a cocktail, and a lovely family from London who were away with their 3 sons. Following dinner we were all geared up for the fishing and karaoke but unfortunately the tour guide conveniently disappeared (I think he was sick of us for not joining in the rock shape game). We played cards instead.

Next day we cruised back to the mainland and on to Hanoi again.

We also spent Christmas in the city, unfortunately, as inevidently happens on these trips, I become very poorly with a stomach bug on Christmas Eve and so we missed all the celebrations as I had to stay in bed. About 10% of the population are Catholic so some people do celebrate Christmas and there was a nice atmosphere outside the Cathedral on Christmas Day. We listened to some Vietnamese carols but otherwise it felt like a normal day as the city was just as busy as normal and all the shops were open so we went to the cinema and watched Mission Impossible 4 (surprisingly quite good) and then went for a turkey dinner at a Belgium restaurant ....as its just not the same without turkey!

After having such a great time in Hanoi we decided to head further south to the coast and took a flight (a treat as its 15 hours by train) to Da Nang.

The road to hell....

So, after a generally not great time in Laos (see Jane's previous posts) we decided a sharp exit was in order, on the slowest most tortuous bus ever. As a final thank you, Vientiane granted us our worst and final bus journey out of the country - on a VIP luxury express sleeper...

These VIP sleeper buses have three aisles with a bottom and top bunk. As the buses are made in Vietnam, they are clearly made for people with the same frame as Kate Moss. We turned up at the bus station nice and early to take our seats / beds and the bus was half empty... great!!

Five minutes before we were due to leave the bus was three quarters full... and then a minibus carying 20+ backpackers pulled up.

For the next two hours the mix of Canadian/English/European backpackers debated whether or not they could face 24 hours sleeping in the aisles. In the end, they decided they could...

As seems to be customary, all of the 6 foot Western blokes were lumped together at the back, some in beds and the rest in the aisles - which is were they stayed for the next 24 hours. Oddly, spare beds were kept for the half dozen locals that we picked up on the way.

As soon as we set off, the mandatory Lao kareoke went on full blast - this time with video accompaniment. They seem to be about 4 hours long ànd have the same beat throughout, the emphasis doesn't sêem to be on the quality òf the singing either. This ísn't really very effective in helping you to drift off.

We drove until we reached the border town at around 2am and once there the driver parked up and went into his mates house, leaving everyone else on the bus. He reappeared at 6.30am and we drove to the border.

The Lonely Planet describes Cao Treo as "one of the most challenging crossings into Vietnam" and I cán see why. We were up a mountain in the middle òf nowhere with hundreds òf other people - most òf whom looked at ús like we'd just stepped off a space ship. Fair enough really, given the state of us.....

It took two hours to be stamped out of Laos and stamped into Vietnam and I think the whole thing would be impossible if you were travelling alone. One benefit of the bus then.

For the remainder of the journey we were treated to what seemed like a Chinese version of the Oscars but with the same amount òf "singing". Needless to say we didn't sleep very well, the journey felt more like an endurance exercise. Most of the people on the bus were really nice though, especially the poor girl who slept on the floor next to the toilet all night, so it was quite entertaining in an irritating sort of way....

Once we arived in Hanoi, a random guy got on to our bus to offer us all a mini bús to the city centre for a dollar each. Despite reading about numerous Vietnam scams and to be wary of all things vietnamese, all the backpackers (including us) followed him like sheep.

We were pleasantly sủrprised when (after turning down his hotel) he gave us a map and drew on dỉrections for the place we'd already booked. When we turned up at our gúesthouse, they offered us a 'free upgrade' to their sister hotel. Despite our fears for the worst, we were moved to a much nicer hotel which turned out to be the best we've stayed in so far....

Hanoi is an incredible city, with really friendly people and 7 million môtorbikes. I think somewhere along the way Lonely Planet has got confused and mistaken Vietnam for Laos in all it's descriptions....

Goodbye laos...Hello Vietnam!!

(Notice that I resisted the urge to say 'good morning Vietnam'). Final thoughts on Laos...

Beer Lao

Ubiquitous in Laos, from tiny villages to the main towns, everywhere you go Beer Lao is present. It seems that they even sponsor companies, restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, you name it....Every restaurant and guesthouse has the same sign with the name of the establishment and the Beer Lao emblem.

To be fair, it's one of the best beers I've tasted and it's the same price as a coke......hence, hard to resist.

Bus journeys

In Laos there are three types of bus:
Local bus
Express bus
VIP bus

General rules of thumb:
If you are a westerner, you will sit at the back.
If there are no seats left, people can sit in the aisles.
If there is no space in the hold, chickens etc can sit in the aisles.
Most of the seats are reserved for goods to be transported between towns.

Local bus = stops every five minutes to pick someone up at the side of the road. Stops for a smoke break for the driver. Stops for food. Stops for no reason. Generally takes roughly two hours more than advertised.

Express bus = as above but costs more.

VIP bus = as above, most expensive but has an on board toilet!! (the toilet is out of order).

Even though most of our bus journeys were hard work, it was a great way to travel and for the most part the locals were really friendly. I was intrigued at one rest stop by the road kill that was for sale; dead birds were draped over the top of a cage that had either live giant rats or voles in (it was hard to distinguish...). I was quite intrigued but needless to say my minimal knowledge of Lao didn't stretch to asking for an explanation. I presumed they were for sale to eat but wondered what happened if you bought one? Do you take it away live on a lead or would they kill it for you... I think one of the Laos guys on the bus read my mind - he pointed at the cage and shrugged, think he was none the wiser too....

Anyway, probably the most memorable bus journey had to be our final one - a 24 hour drive from Vientiane (Laos) to Hanoi, Vietnam..... It seemed like a good idea when we booked it....

Killing time in Vientiane

The plan to get our Vietnamese visas pronto and get the hell out of here has not really materialised as we forgot that it is the weekend so our visas can not be processed until Monday!!

We are leaving for the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi on Tuesday night (as we can get the Vietnamese sleeper bus with proper beds and a toilet rather than the Laos bus which is falling to bits and takes ten times longer - not that anyone told us this we had to do extensive research ourselves).

So we have 3 more days to kill in the most boring capital in the world (sorry). There really isn't a lot for the tourist to do here as, unlike the rest of Laos, it lacks any real beauty. There are a lot of good restaurants however and for the first time on the trip we treated ourselves to some western food by having a delicious steak in a French restaurant - Laos food is really quite bland compared to Thai food so I had exhausted all the other options!

We have a nice balcony in the IHouse Hotel though:




On the bright side the people here are much friendlier and it is great to be in a proper city mixing with the locals: some old guys asked us to play cards with them yesterday and some others danced with us in the street. I feel a bit mean for my rant the other day now as all the women, children and some men have been friendly (most men are still stoney faced though).

We visited the COPE exhibition yesterday.COPE provide prosthetic limbs and rehabilitation for civilians who have been injured by cluster bombs. It is really quite frightening how heavily bombed Laos was by the USA during the Vietnamese war - they dropped at least 280 million bombs on Laos and they believe at least 80 million cluster bombs did not detonate on impact and so remain in the ground today! Children are often the ones who are fatality injured as they find them and play with them or they collect them as scrap in exchange for money. We talked to one 19 year old boy at the centre who had lost both his arms and was blinded on impact. I am pleased to say that the UK has signed the petition to stop the use of such bombs but sadly the US has not and it is the Australian and Japanese governments who provide most of the aid for this centre. We gave a donation and also donated some extra by buying a few books for the children but it seems very little given just how many people are affected.

So it is with mixed feelings that I leave Laos - on the one hand I have been dazzled by just how beautiful it is, on the other I have been a little disappointed. I will always remember the nice moments such as the monks chatting us up at the border (very entertaining as they were only 15),the lovely sandwich lady in Vang Vieng and the public bus journeys where we saw all the road kill being eaten at the side of the road and the locals laughed at use for eating crisps and we at them for eating raw potatoes. Despite sounding quite negative about Laos at times it has been a great experience .

Luang Prabang to Vientiane

After 7 hours on another bumpy bus journey we began to make our descent from the steep mountain roads into Luang Prabang Province. Suddenly the bamboo huts, which we had seen precariously balanced along the roadside for miles, were replaced with lush french villas. The contrast is remarkable and it is evident how much money has been invested here.



Luang Prabang immediately charms you, the pristine streets are lined with French colonial architecture, such a difference from the dusty,poverty stricken villages we had travelled through. It is hard to believe that you are not in a holiday resort somewhere in the South of France.




As we had spent 3 days travelling on local buses and staying in pretty basic guesthouses we decided to treat ourselves to 3 night in the Ock Pop Tok villa, a beautiful hotel along the Mekong river. It was well worth the money (still extremely cheap by our standards) and it was especially nice to be welcomed by the friendly staff with a drink and guided tour of our room - it was designed in tribal village style so everything in the room was made by local people. I was just happy to have a comfy bed at last and I slept like a baby!

View from our room:

We had such a lovely 3 days here, however i'm glad we stayed outside of town as if you didn't you would not see any of local life! Although I really liked the town I have never been somewhere which seems to solely be geared around tourism and in this way it seemed a bit soul-less. For instance if you sit in a restaurant or drink in a bar you never see anyone from Laos as the prices are all over inflated for tourism. I found this really bizarre and walking back each night to our neighbourhood, police lined the streets - not because there was any trouble (it seems the safest place i have ever been to) but I got the impression they are keeping the place in order very tightly and hiding some of the real Laos in some way.

Towards the end of our stay here I began to get a little irriated by the local men, unlike in Thailand where they seem to really respect women, here you get the impression they are laughing at you and talking about you as you walk past. Although they do not really say it to you directly I don't think they think a lot of western women and even a police man made some remark to me! They are quite reserved about it but it makes you very paranoid and I am really sad to say that I have not witnessed much of the infamous Laos hospitality - most people look at us stoney faced (except for the women and the hotel manager -although he was trying to sell me something everyday which really irriated me too) Also you seem to pay over the odds here compared to Thailand, which I can understand they are trying to make money from tourism but it really leaves a bad taste in your mouth eventually - for instance when a tuk tuk driver laughs in your face as he charges you a ridiculous amount. Anyway rant over...


From here we headed on to the infamous party mecca of Vang Vieng. We were tempted to miss this stop out all together but the scenery is supposed to be amazing. As we approached the town I was was glad we had chosen to give it a go as the mountains are incredible! We headed straight down to the river and saw the most incredible sunset I have ever seen (unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me and it was ruined by the Canadian men behind us who were talking about sleeping with prostitutes - perhaps a sign of things to come that evening..!!).



As it goes dark and the bars open the horror of an 18-30's holiday destination unfolds! I have never been so ashamed to be from the west. British, Australian, Canadian, American groups of 20 somethings come here to get absolutely intoxicated tubing all day and then party all night. I don't want to sound like a pensioner but I was horrified by their behaviour. They come back from tubing (which results in at least one fatality a year) absolutely wasted, high, dancing in the streets practically naked and this is all at about 6pm in a very conservative country. We were just tucking into dinner as they arrived back in town and couldn't believe it - one girl,who already had a broken foot from tubing couldn't open her eyes she was so drunk and was thrown in the back of a tuk tuk, another was covered in bandages down his leg - i'm all for a bit of fun but you had to see them to believe how awful they were!!

We went back to the hotel for some sanctuary and found that half of the idiots were staying there. As we sat outside talking to the only other sane people in the place, we witnessed the most disgusting racial abuse on a female member of staff at the hotel - some drunk Australian guy called her every name under the sun and tried to hit her all because she wouldn't let him check in to the room he had checked out of earlier that day (because we'd checked in). The manager stood back and did nothing as she had to listen to the most horrific insults. We felt terrible for her as none of the staff even flinched so we went over and asked if she was ok and if it happened every night. She said that they were staying there for 8 nights so she could not answer back to them as they bring money in and that it did happen often - it was at this point that we decided to make a stand and complain to the manager. We told him we didn't feel safe and there were no rules in this town and that if he couldn't even look after his staff member why would he protect us from that group of lads. Anyway we moved out of the hotel to a quieter one down the road - we had to pay for the priviledge though!

Waking up the next day it was hard to believe the carnage of the night before as the view from our hotel was breathtaking, however the night before and some of the comments from the hotel manager had left a bad taste in our mouth so we decided to see the sights and get the next bus out of there to the capital of Laos, Vientiane.

So that is where we are now as I write this blog. After another horrible bus journey with men looking us up and down and being once again dropped off miles from the town so you have to pay a ridiculous amount for a tuk tuk.

Yesterday we were really disheartened by the behaviour of the other tourists and also sadly by the local people as generally we have not been made to feel welcome here at all. Maybe we have just been unlucky or maybe the behaviour of those tourists in VangVieng are to blame but despite the beauty of Laos I find myself wanting to leave. I appreciate that this is a poor country but I do feel like a walking cash machine at times here too.

We are going to change our route and head to Hanoi in Vietnam on an overnight sleeper train ready for Christmas!

Laos border crossing - journey to Luang Prabang

We made the 6 hour minibus journey to Chiang Khong in North Eastern Thailand to cross the border into Laos. This was the most pleasant journey to date with a smaller number of bends and the comfort of a luxury minibus, with a stop for lunch at a cashew nut factory and a temple visit thrown in along the way!! - this added at least an hour on to the journey but here everything is done at such a slow pace.

Upon arrival we decided to cross the border straight into Laos as we had a lot of travelling ahead over the next few days and knew we had to be on the bus early the next morning for our next stop.

It was already about 4pm and I envisaged queues of tourists waiting anxiously to cross the border before the gate closed at 6pm (we had seen so many buses on route). When we arrived at the crossing there was just a small hut and two people in the queue - you could barely tell it was a border at all and I doubt anyone would have noticed if i'd just wandered through! There was no signage or explanation of where to go next so we wandered down the track and spotted a tiny boat ready and waiting to get us across to the other side of the river - after hours of being on a hot bus you can enjoy a nice cold shower on the boat as it soaks all the passengers and gives the impression that it could sink any minute as it is weighed down by so much luggage!! (not mine!)


After disembarking at the border- ie: jumping off the end of the boat onto the sand and going to another hut with an equally short queue, paying for the visa - you are into Laos!! We immediately became millionaires as we exchanged our Thai Baht into Kip - it's about 10,000 kip to 1 dollar!!

Having read some terrible reviews we were very pleasantly surprised by the border town of Huay Xia, Laos. Although only made up of a couple of streets, it has beautiful steps up to a temple and some pretty descent guesthouses along the river front. We climbed the steps to the temple at 5ish and got to see the most beautiful sunset, this, coupled with the lovely border staff, made us feel really positive already about our time in Laos. We were also delighted to find that the food was just as yummy here!!



We got up bright and early the next day to begin the two day journey to Luang Prabang. We had two options here: a) take the slow boat with all the other backpackers along the Mekong river which has an overnight stop in a not so pleasant sounding town or b) take the public bus to Omdomxai,stay overnight there and then take a second bus the next day to Luang Prabang. We opted for the supposedly shorter bus route rather than following all the other back packers like sheep, although Omdomxai is a complete dump!!

Whether this was the right decision we will never know but I would warn anyone going to Laos that overland road travel in Laos is hard going so be prepared for some painstakingly slow journeys - especially on public buses! I am not exaggerating when i say that the first bus reached a top speed of 30 miles an hours and a 33okm journey took 7 hours!! Up hill this dropped to 10 miles a hour (which is most of the way). Also be warned that every bus is packed full and I don't just mean with other passengers - they use the rickety old buses for transporting deliveries so we were surrounded by bags of grain, boxes of toiletries, you name it. We had our bags on top of us and a guy picking his feet and peeling oranges all the way!! Infront a girl was being sick into a bag for 5 hours and then tossing them out the window!! This is not a one-off as I have read that chickens are usually brought on the bus too. If a time is quoted then add at least two hours for toilet stops, lunch breaks where they tucked into some delicious looking grub, random breaks when everyone piles off the bus buys a bag of potatoes and then gets back on again then eats the lot raw. There is never a dull moment I can assure you but be patient. Fortunately the first journey was on a road with tarmac (for most of the way) however the second day was on very steep mountain dirt track roads with no barriers and some steep drops. That said the drivers do go very slowly and the scenery is stunning!!

Inside the bus is not so comfortable:

Roadkill for lunch anyone?

Anyway, although a little frustrated at times by the speed, we were glad we took this route as travelling through the mountains you see the highlands with all the hillside tribes - something I expect you miss out on on the boat. It is by doing this route that you realise why Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world - which arriving in Luang Prabang you would never believe!!

Pai

We took the 3 hour minibus journey through the mountains of Northern Thailand from Chiang Mai to the hippy mecca of Pai. Most of the passengers were nauseous throughout as it has so many bends (don't quote me on this but i believe there are about 1,800) !!

The scenery is a welcome distraction and I was lucky enough to sit on the back seat next to a Switz couple who were really lovely to chat to and practise my German on...Nat got the short straw as she was sat on the front seat sandwiched between the driver and a girl from Hong Kong and I think she witnessed the worst of the drivers manouvers! Having said this considering the number of bends overall the journey was fine.

As we hit the home straight and finally came off the mountains we saw Pai in the distance and the scenery immediately made the journey worthwhile - this is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. The village is surrounded by absolutely stunning mountains and countryside and the village itself is charming!

Reading about Pai beforehand we realised that it attracted a lot of hippies and you can immediately see why many arrive in Pai for a short holiday and end up staying indefinitely. We got the impression that it is the kind of place where anything goes and you could happily spend all day doing absolutely nothing except staring at the scenery - so we did just that for most of our stay.

We were staying in Baan Pai Village along the riverside in a very authentic hut. The guesthouse was surrounded by beds and water features and it was so relaxing that we just went for walks along the riverside, read our books and relaxed. I think it is at this point that we really relaxed into travelling and started to really really enjoy ourselves.

Our hut by the river:

On one of the days we signed up for a Thai Cookery Course which started at 9:30am with a trip to the local market to source ingredients , followed by a lesson in how to cook at least 6 Thai courses.

This was probably the best day of our trip so far as we were learning alongside three Italian men who made the whole experience very entertaining. Our teacher was brilliant too. After finishing each course you sit down and tuck in so by the end of the day we were absolutely stuffed! It was delicious though.

Evidence of the skills we learnt:

The only thing we didn't enjoy about Pai was the mosquitos - which are everywhere because of the river. Despite drowning ourselves in deet, having a mosquito net in the room and avoiding sitting by the riverside at night we still got bitten to death - although not until the final evening when we sat in a restaurant with water features listening to live music. ..... we didn't think much of it at the time but Nat came away with around 24 bites and I was the lucky one with just 8 (this was increased the next day when i stood in a fire ant farm and got 6 bites off them - i have to say that being bitten by these ant feels a lot like being mildy electrocuted like on the day in Chiang Mai ;) - it was dark what can i say)

Sadly we left Pai after three days and got the lovely bus journey back to Chiang Mai. It was a lot smoother this time although one girl was sick all the way.

We stayed just one night in Chiang Mai and went over to the wealthy student area of Nimmenheim Rd for drinks in the evening which was full of trendies and really cool (sam your vintage stuff would do so well here, it's all the rage!)

From Chiang Mai we took the five hour bus journey to Chiang Khong which once again was such a beautiful route and thankfully not as bendy!! From here we bid farewell to the land of smiles and crossed the border into Laos!

Chiang Mai

Despite the onset of 30 or so taxi drivers as we stepped out of Chiang Mai train station, we very intelligently decided to walk to the old town. Looking at the map it didn't appear to be all that far .....it turned out it was 3.5km!

With a heavy backpack and tired legs from the uncomfortable journey it felt like a lot further so near to the old town we finally opted for the sensible solution and jumped in a shared taxi.

This was a wise move as it turned out no one in town could find our hotel (the taxi driver failed to find the right street, as did the tourist information stand and every other random person i asked). Fortunately our saviour was a lovely tuk tuk driver who was very strategically positioned to get us there in just a minute or two! As we jumped out she kindly told us that if we couldn't find it again then she would wait around the corner. Luckily we both mastered the art of navigating and got ourselves back to the Gord Hotel each day.

We were immediately impressed with the surroundings - our beautiful hotel was down a nice quiet side street with a cool cafe next door where we would have breakfast each day. Bliss after all the travelling and the chaos of Bangkok. The staff were extremely friendly and willing to help in any way they could. I really do love the Thai hospitality - they are so laid back but so welcoming.

We continued along the same vein as in Bangkok by walking and walking until we knew Chiang Mai like the back of our hand!

On the second day we used the free bikes at the hotel to explore the surroundings - well that was the intention but the front steering on both our bikes was a little unsteady so we went round in circles for a while before deciding to ride as slowly as possible to avoid an accident. Whilst taking in the beautiful countryside and the side streets around our hotel we took a wrong turn down a cul-de-sac which was lined with dogs of all shapes and sizes (this is something you get used to in Thailand as every area seems to have tons of what appear to be guard dogs). They appeared to be sleeping in the 35 degree heat so we carried on until one dog got spooked by the bikes and immediately began barking, this set all the others off and then they started to chase us - they looked quite fierce (even the tiny poodle) so we cycled as hard as possible back onto the main street with them (and the kids who found it hysterical) chasing us all the way!



Similarly a few moments later Nat decided to turn up a side road which turned out to be someones driveway with some guard dogs also - hadn't followed her up this one but she came back pretty promptly with some dogs in tow and i took this as my queue to start cycling! Shortly after this we took the bikes back and went for a drink!!

Chiang Mai has hundreds of temples to explore so we spent the next day seeing as many as we could. They are breathtaking and walking from one to the next was a great opporunity to see some areas we handed already been to. We tried to take part in the Monk chat but it was Sunday and we couldn't find any around.

Another great way to see the sights was to follow the Saturday and Sunday markets which are vast and have so many arts and crafts to buy. We decided to copy all the other travellers and buy some comfy baggy pants. It may be a coincidence but since buying these we haven't been asked once if we want to buy a suit so i think they now know we are penniless backpackers not tourists with loads of cash!

After another day of sightseeing and some chill out time we decided it was time to move on and explore Pai, further North.

The train to Chiang Mai

The train to Chiang Mai was great fun, we were sat in a carriage with lots of Thai families and couples, heading North for the King's Birthday. The seats were pretty comfy although we were concerned at the fact that old women on bicycles were overtaking us. Evidently the train picks up speed at night, when you're 'asleep'.

At 10pm our carriage guard made up the beds, top and bottom bunks with comfy mattresses and freshly laundered sheets. At this point the train was going pretty fast but was quite rickety -similar to Northern Rail's services. Lying down and sleeping felt a bit like trying to sleep on a mattress inside a shopping trolley while it's being pushed down a dirt track. We did get some sleep, mainly because we passed out, but woke up every hour or so as the train felt like it might be coming off the tracks!

In the morning, the beds were turned back into seats and we sat and looked at the beautiful countryside as we rolled into Chiang Mai. Overall, definitely better that Northern Rail and with much friendlier staff - plus a lot cheaper!!

Khao San Road, silk suits etc....

Despite the fact we were staying in luxury at Beth and Pete's place, we thought that no trip to Bangkok would be complete without a trip to the Khao San Road (Aka,the backpacker ghetto in Bangkok). In hindsight, I'm not sure why we thought this was a good idea....

The road itself is only a short strip, similar to any street you might find in Benidorm, complete with dodgy looking guesthouses, dozens of bars, 10 baht tuk-tuks and more offers of silk suits (not sure that a tailored silk suit would be the best attire for traipsing round Asia in 30 degree heat.... maybe they'd have more luck offering tailored shell-suits....).

Our trip to Khao San road lasted about three minutes.....

Journey to Bangkok

We said to send out a search party if we hadn't written our first entry by Friday so here we are pleased to report that we've made it safe and sound!! (just)

Not that we have any concept of what day or time it is as we've just stepped off a 'sleeper' overnight train journey from Bangkok to Changmai! A comfortable way to spend the night this is not...as we crawled out of Bangkok with cars (and even pedestrians) overtaking us it was clear why the journey can take anything from 12 to 15 hours! I think its about 5 hours by car but we're not ready to brave that!

Despite reading up on the journey we really weren't prepared for when the rickety old train picked up pace and we experienced a night being thrown about on what felt like a mattress strapped to the back of a lorry! - anyway more on this later let's start at the beginning!


Journey to Bangkok! Insomnia part 1

We boarded the 'world class' Emirates airline flight to Dubai a bundle of nerves and excitement!

Despite my own levels of anxiety it seems that some were even more nervous than me as to my delight I discovered that the seat I was already sitting on was drenched in liquid! Now I won't go into too much detail here but whilst rubbing what I believed to be 'water' from the back of my trousers I discovered that it was something else entirely!! I jumped out of my seat immediately, at which point the
steward came over and half the people around me stared as I told him there appeared to be someone else's urine on the seat!!!Now i'm not a prude but i would expect better from a no frills airline never mind Emirates.

Whilst I ran to the bathroom the 'helpful' steward came back with a nice blanket for me to sit on for 7 hours!! We seized the opportunity (well Nat did) to try and get an upgrade but that got us nowhere (despite several other passengers agreeing with us) so in the end we gave in and opted for a new cushion on the chair!

Upon arrival in Dubai for our two hour stop over, my trousers had dried and i'd made it through a succession of all the in flight films whilst Nat slept..

Landing in Dubai airport I realised exactly why i never want to spend a sustained period of time there although the airport was like a palace. A quick stretch of the legs and it was on to the onward flight. It got off to a slightly smoother start although we were delayed by an hour whilst the paramedics boarded for no clear reason and we ended up sat next to a German bearded lady who practically slept on my shoulder for the entire flight and never seemed to stand up although i was desperate to!!

Sleep count: 2 minutes for Jane, at least two hours for Nat.

Bangkok - Insomina Part 2

Upon arrival we headed straight for Beth and Pete's apartment. Taking in the sights by taxi it was already clear how vast the city is. We knocked on Pete's door and eventually he came to open it - he was settled in watching TV believing we were due the next day -oops this is why we need a new laptop that actually sends messages!!
Their apartment block is amazing, look at the view:

We spent two days in Bangkok - in our usual holiday fashion of walking and walking until your legs give way! We were immediately impressed by Bangkok and charmed by the locals who seemed to stop and chat to us on practically every bend - it was only when we noticed a pattern of people mentioning suit shops that we realised the subliminal messages being sent ! Their sales technique is excellent despite being reasonably wise to it! We did initially love the fact that everyone said how beautiful our pale skin is before attempting to rip us off but it got a bit tiresome on day 2. There were however some locals who generally wanted to stop us and chat - mostly about football - it is lovely how welcoming they are and proud of their country.

Beautiful park where everyone runs in circles despite the scorching heat. They all stop at 6pm whilst the National Anthem is played:

On the second day we went to the Grand Palace and decided to take a look at the backpacker central district of Khao San Road - staying in the luxury apartment block across town was such a blessing (thanks beth and Pete) as i never want to set foot on the khao san road again!! (everything i hate about Brits abroad!)

Sleep count: 3 hours for Jane, 30 minutes for Nat - Jet lag has set in!!

Bangkok is amazing and so crazy but after two days we were ready to head off into the countryside for stop 2: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand!

Train to Chiang Mai

The sleeper train has fold out beds which a steward puts down at 7:30pm for you and you are stuck on them until 7am the next day. They're actually pretty comfortable but like i said earlier the bumper trackers are not and it is like experiencing a series of earthquakes - thankfully there is a seatbelt for the top bunk!!

Follow us as we leave the daily grind behind for three months of cheap beer lao, thai curries and absolutely no work whatsoever!! Plus a few 'near misses' thrown in for good measure....


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