After a gruelling 26 hour bus journey, where we only stopped for food once and went through a 3 hour border crossing, we made it to Hanoi. We were absolutely starved, so we had a quick shower in the hostel and went in search for food. We found a little restaurant on a busy street (every street in Hanoi is busy) and sat outside. We were joined by Tom and Marie, a couple from Belgium whom we met on the bus (Tom is 6ft 5 so he struggled with the sleeper bus beds designed for Asian men)! Nearing the end of the meal, Nat had obviously had too many cans of coke because he toppled backwards off his chair and flat on his back!! The owner tried to catch him but with no avail and instead snapped the chair leg clean off... An interesting first meal!
We've found that the main mode of transport in Southeast Asia is a scooter, Vietnam is no exception! The roads are more like rivers, with constant flows of mopeds, you have to be on your guard when crossing. Before arriving in Hanoi we had been advised on a technique for crossing what seems to be a wall of traffic, go slowly, steadily and don't stop! Crude we know, but it has been some of the best advice we've had.
At the centre of Hanoi City is a lake called Hoam Kiem. From here most of the interesting streets branched off, subsequently encircling the watery hub of business and nightlife. We stayed near the old quarter, which was the entire city in the early part of the 20th century, containing only 50 to 60 roads. Now it's the place to go at night for dinner and a few drinks, you can even get a beer for 5000 dong (about 15p!).
Our first bit of site seeing was Hoa Lo Prison Museum, built by French to contain Vietnamese political activists, it was later over turned and used as a POW camp. Nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by US POW's, it was used mainly to keep airplane pilots who had crash landed on their bombing missions. The place has a dark and eerie feel, with wax figures clamped in iron, one of the two original guillotines and some pictures of heads in baskets, you get a real feeling of the atrocities that must have gone on there.
The highlight of Hanoi was undoubtably the water puppet theatre. We weren't sure what to expect, but it seemed like a fitting place to go for Lots birthday. We booked tickets with our Belgian friends for that evening. Even though we went at 9 PM it was packed, mostly with tourists. It began with traditional Vietnamese music and swiftly moved on to six short ancient stories all portrayed with the water puppets. Before each story a lady explained what the story was about, luckily she was translated on a big screen and we had English programmes. The puppets were manoeuvred with amazing skill, attached to large wooden poles and moved by wire and handles. You can't see the poles easily as they are underwater, it takes a while to realise how it all works.
Overall Hanoi was great - slightly hectic but great. So we decided to go to Cat Ba Island next to see some rustic countryside and the renowned islands of Halong Bay.
See you soon!
Tuesday 30 April 2013
Monday 22 April 2013
Laos "Sabaidee Pimai"
The journey to Laos was interesting to say the least, 20 hours in a mini van with the Thai Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. Lets just say it was an experience! Luckily we were getting off at the first stop Vientiane.
Vientiane is the capital of Laos and is only separated from Thailand by the river Mekong. We booked four nights here mainly to sort out our Vietnam visa. The visa turned out to be a piece of cake involving filling out one form and collecting it the next day, at a price of $65 each however.
At this point Nat was still unwell so we decided to find a doctor for him. The Australian embassy in Vientiane have an in-house doctors surgery which is available for British nationals to use also. We rang up and got an appointment for 20 minutes time! After a consultation and a blood test it transpired Nat had Dengue Fever. Lots of rest and sleep were the doctors orders.
It's clear to see the French influence on Laos, there are many cafes all serving croissants and baguettes, as well as pretty decent coffee! Something that was almost impossible to find in Thailand.
After a couple days rest, a large quantity of baguettes and some interesting nights wondering a vibrant night market we hopped on a VIP bus to Vang Vieng. Don't let the companies fool you, it was a fairly run down bus with some suspicious smells.
After a very scenic journey through countryside villages and mountainous passes we made it to Vang Vieng. We arrived during the height of Songkran, a water festival celebrating the New Year in most of the south east Asian countries. It starts when the sun transits the constellation Aries and marked the start of the year 2556 in Laos. We have been to the future!
After we got off the bus, it was a short tuk tuk ride to the hostel. Even though the ride took approximately 3 minutes we still got soaked form head to toe by locals enjoying the festivities.
We spent the next day trying to manoeuvre around the town without getting a drenching. The locals take no prisoners, if you are riding a moped down the street they will stand in the road, forcing you to stop, subsequently chucking a bucket of water down your neck!
One day we decided to bite the bullet and rent a moped to see the caves and lagoons in the mountains. The bike was geared so it took Nat a while to get used to it, we drove up the road on the left hand side before we remembered they drive on the right, whoops!
We started off at a tourist hotspot called the 'Blue Lagoon', but found it was really busy and dirty. After making a quick exit, we met Kathy, Anja and Rawad, two Germans and a Canadian. We then decided to team up and explore the rest of Vang Vieng's incredible surroundings.
Our first stop was a secluded lagoon which was peaceful and succeeded in giving us a relaxing rest bite from the dirt track roads. As we were leaving we came across a deaf and dumb Laos man who was pointing ecstatically for us to follow him up the side of a mountain. Dubiously we followed him, which turned out to be the best decision of our visit to Vang Vieng. We followed him until we came across a cave about a hundred metres up a rocky path. Slowly we made our way into the dark abyss. It was incredible, full of stalagmites, glittering rock formations and the odd creepy crawly. This led to a few screams from the women!
The final part of our Vang Vieng experience was a bit of tubing down the Mekong. As the water was low and the tubing scene has some what evaporated after the deaths of drunk tourists last year, we ended up paddling at a leisurely pace down the river. It was pretty relaxing, but if we were to do it again we would hire a kayak. The trip is longer and there's no bobbing around.
The next and final stop on our journey through central to northern Laos was Luang Prabang. We decided to jump on another VIP bus and arrived about 7 hours later in the world heritage city. First impressions mean a lot and Luang Probang offers bundles of beauty, although this comes at a bit of a price. It was the most expensive place we've been in so far during our whole trip, but our favourite in Laos. We spent our first day chilling around a pool with a submerged pool bar and went out for a nice meal in town that night.
On our second day we met up with Simon and made our way to Kuang Si Falls with our German friends on a 32 km tuk tuk ride. After some great bartering, knocking off a whole dollar $8 (8000 kip) from the total trip we made it to the waterfall. The water was an amazing shade of blue and very refreshing to swim in. There was a rope swing and a mini waterfall that you could jump off. We made it to the top waterfall after what seemed like a mini trek, especially with flip flops on!
That night we all went out for a traditional Laos meal, followed by a game of pool and some drinks. Because of the 11.30 curfew the Laos government impose, all bars close early apart from one place... Luang Prabangs one and only bowling alley. Situated in what seems like a warehouse, slightly outside of the town, sits a state of the art bowling alley. Full of Westerners, it was great fun, if not slightly surreal!
The next day it was time to leave Luang Probang to journey to our third country, one month into our trip. Many thanks to Simon for letting us chill out at his hotel pool and use his room to get ready for a gruelling 24 hour bus journey to Hanoi, Vietnam.
Sabaidee Pimai, Happy Laos New Year!
Vientiane is the capital of Laos and is only separated from Thailand by the river Mekong. We booked four nights here mainly to sort out our Vietnam visa. The visa turned out to be a piece of cake involving filling out one form and collecting it the next day, at a price of $65 each however.
At this point Nat was still unwell so we decided to find a doctor for him. The Australian embassy in Vientiane have an in-house doctors surgery which is available for British nationals to use also. We rang up and got an appointment for 20 minutes time! After a consultation and a blood test it transpired Nat had Dengue Fever. Lots of rest and sleep were the doctors orders.
It's clear to see the French influence on Laos, there are many cafes all serving croissants and baguettes, as well as pretty decent coffee! Something that was almost impossible to find in Thailand.
After a couple days rest, a large quantity of baguettes and some interesting nights wondering a vibrant night market we hopped on a VIP bus to Vang Vieng. Don't let the companies fool you, it was a fairly run down bus with some suspicious smells.
After a very scenic journey through countryside villages and mountainous passes we made it to Vang Vieng. We arrived during the height of Songkran, a water festival celebrating the New Year in most of the south east Asian countries. It starts when the sun transits the constellation Aries and marked the start of the year 2556 in Laos. We have been to the future!
After we got off the bus, it was a short tuk tuk ride to the hostel. Even though the ride took approximately 3 minutes we still got soaked form head to toe by locals enjoying the festivities.
We spent the next day trying to manoeuvre around the town without getting a drenching. The locals take no prisoners, if you are riding a moped down the street they will stand in the road, forcing you to stop, subsequently chucking a bucket of water down your neck!
One day we decided to bite the bullet and rent a moped to see the caves and lagoons in the mountains. The bike was geared so it took Nat a while to get used to it, we drove up the road on the left hand side before we remembered they drive on the right, whoops!
We started off at a tourist hotspot called the 'Blue Lagoon', but found it was really busy and dirty. After making a quick exit, we met Kathy, Anja and Rawad, two Germans and a Canadian. We then decided to team up and explore the rest of Vang Vieng's incredible surroundings.
Our first stop was a secluded lagoon which was peaceful and succeeded in giving us a relaxing rest bite from the dirt track roads. As we were leaving we came across a deaf and dumb Laos man who was pointing ecstatically for us to follow him up the side of a mountain. Dubiously we followed him, which turned out to be the best decision of our visit to Vang Vieng. We followed him until we came across a cave about a hundred metres up a rocky path. Slowly we made our way into the dark abyss. It was incredible, full of stalagmites, glittering rock formations and the odd creepy crawly. This led to a few screams from the women!
The final part of our Vang Vieng experience was a bit of tubing down the Mekong. As the water was low and the tubing scene has some what evaporated after the deaths of drunk tourists last year, we ended up paddling at a leisurely pace down the river. It was pretty relaxing, but if we were to do it again we would hire a kayak. The trip is longer and there's no bobbing around.
The next and final stop on our journey through central to northern Laos was Luang Prabang. We decided to jump on another VIP bus and arrived about 7 hours later in the world heritage city. First impressions mean a lot and Luang Probang offers bundles of beauty, although this comes at a bit of a price. It was the most expensive place we've been in so far during our whole trip, but our favourite in Laos. We spent our first day chilling around a pool with a submerged pool bar and went out for a nice meal in town that night.
On our second day we met up with Simon and made our way to Kuang Si Falls with our German friends on a 32 km tuk tuk ride. After some great bartering, knocking off a whole dollar $8 (8000 kip) from the total trip we made it to the waterfall. The water was an amazing shade of blue and very refreshing to swim in. There was a rope swing and a mini waterfall that you could jump off. We made it to the top waterfall after what seemed like a mini trek, especially with flip flops on!
That night we all went out for a traditional Laos meal, followed by a game of pool and some drinks. Because of the 11.30 curfew the Laos government impose, all bars close early apart from one place... Luang Prabangs one and only bowling alley. Situated in what seems like a warehouse, slightly outside of the town, sits a state of the art bowling alley. Full of Westerners, it was great fun, if not slightly surreal!
The next day it was time to leave Luang Probang to journey to our third country, one month into our trip. Many thanks to Simon for letting us chill out at his hotel pool and use his room to get ready for a gruelling 24 hour bus journey to Hanoi, Vietnam.
Sabaidee Pimai, Happy Laos New Year!
Tuesday 9 April 2013
A slice of Pai?
Highly recommended by friends doing a similar route, we decided to head off in the wrong direction to a little town called Pai. We travelled by minibus, full of travellers stuffed together, breathing heavily; this combined with windy roads left Lottie feeling slightly queasy! (Nat slept like a baby all the way).
When we arrived in Pai we were met by a sea of tourists/ex-pats, the majority being very hippy! Even so we could instantly tell there was a great atmosphere. After a bit of wandering around we eventually found our 'hut'. Surrounded by plenty of greenery and intertwining streams it offered a serene atmosphere yet we were still located in town. That night we sampled the local entertainment... Chelsea vs. Sunderland.
The next morning we woke bright and early to hire a scooter and explore the surrounding area. We started off at a secluded waterfall and had a swim. The water was freezing, but a welcome rest bite from the morning sun. We stayed until midday and left just as the pool was getting busy.
After a few wrong turns, we made it to the viewing point, unluckily the surrounding farmers were (we think) burning their fields. The view was obscured in places, but the idyllic spot we found ourselves in was still a great place to relax and have our baguettes.
We visited Pai Canyon next, stupidly in the heat of the midday sun, Nat was feeling unwell so we headed back to our hut. The next day was spent hanging around as we thought he had sun stroke, although we found out that Nat had contracted Dengue Fever.. Damn mosquito's!!
When we arrived in Pai we were met by a sea of tourists/ex-pats, the majority being very hippy! Even so we could instantly tell there was a great atmosphere. After a bit of wandering around we eventually found our 'hut'. Surrounded by plenty of greenery and intertwining streams it offered a serene atmosphere yet we were still located in town. That night we sampled the local entertainment... Chelsea vs. Sunderland.
The next morning we woke bright and early to hire a scooter and explore the surrounding area. We started off at a secluded waterfall and had a swim. The water was freezing, but a welcome rest bite from the morning sun. We stayed until midday and left just as the pool was getting busy.
After a few wrong turns, we made it to the viewing point, unluckily the surrounding farmers were (we think) burning their fields. The view was obscured in places, but the idyllic spot we found ourselves in was still a great place to relax and have our baguettes.
We visited Pai Canyon next, stupidly in the heat of the midday sun, Nat was feeling unwell so we headed back to our hut. The next day was spent hanging around as we thought he had sun stroke, although we found out that Nat had contracted Dengue Fever.. Damn mosquito's!!
Sunday 7 April 2013
Naughty elephants, naked Frenchman and forest fires
Being the culture capital of Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai has a great amount to offer; nights out, good food, mountain pursuits and among other things an enormous walking market. We spent more time here than anywhere so far on our journey to the North, staying at a guest house called Parami that's owned by a Swiss man and his wife.
While chilling out in the garden, we met another travelling couple and later hit the town. We had started off in a budget Thai restaurant that was delicious and slowly worked our way up the strip bar hopping. We finished in a bar playing some locals at pool in a nail biting tournament that ended up with the locals winning the final match and the dosh!
Our second day was spent on a cookery course, you each choose six dishes to make. We had an energetic Thai lady as our teacher, she was great fun and made the course a fantastic experience. The first step was to make our curry paste, which is much simpler than we expected. We chose to make red and yellow curry between us, the only real difference was the type of chilli used and fresh turmeric was used to make the yellow curry. Bashing the paste into submission with a mortar and pestle was hugely entertaining, especially as our instructor was shouting exuberantly the word "harder" over and over again! We recommend going on a cooking course if you ever visit Thailand and we hope to bring some of our newly learnt culinary expertise back to the UK (Lots got the highest mark for her vegetable Tom Yum Soup so there are no excuses!).
Our next adventure took us on a two day trek into the local mountain regions to the North of Chiang Mai. We started with an Elephant ride, we weren't to sure what to expect after seeing the way they were treated in central Thailand, but they were well fed, watered and rewarded with a bath in the local river after each ride. For such cumbersome animals, they seem very happy in water. We saw this in the Elephant sanctuary outside Lampang, they use their trunks as water pistols and splash their fellow herd and anyone who foolishly gets too close!
We managed to get on the naughtiest elephant of the lot, starting in second place and finishing in last by some way. Within minutes he had gobbled up all of our bananas and then moved onto the surrounding shrubbery and trees.
After the elephants we went on a two/three hour track to a local hill tribe. We followed a narrow path weaving its way up the mountain, jumping obstacles and dodging over-hanging branches. We stopped off at a secluded pool, although the water levels are low at the moment, there was still enough for us to slide down the naturally made waterfall and into the cool waters of the pool. This was all well and good until the only Frenchman in the group decided to strip naked directly in front of Lottie which gave her a bit of a surprise.... Typical French!
We made it to the mountain village at about 7 pm and were showed to our sleeping quarters. We were sleeping on a bamboo floor, about three meters above the ground with a roof made of leaves. The villagers were friendly and all helped cook for us, there were dogs, pigs, chickens and a litter of newborn puppies running around us all the time which definitely provided us with entertainment. Surprisingly we weren't bitten by any Mosquitos that night too, result! One of the highlights of the camp was a local who was both deaf and dumb; he was keen on showing us his newly learnt magic tricks from previous visitors.
The next day we set off down the same track but were halted by a forest fire; although it was on the adjacent hill, the smoke and ash were spreading across our path so we turned back. It wasn't the end of the world as went down a new track, although it was mostly through smelly cabbage fields, it was nice to see some different scenery.
Our final part of the trek was white water rafting,even though it was incredibly tame, it was still fun. We went down with an Irish girl who was a great crack and our coxswain wasn't that proficient at steering (on more than one occasion we got stuck and had to jump up and down to get ourselves moving again). The highlight was bobbing past an elephant bathing as well as some locals climbing onboard to catch a free ride!
The final night was spent with Sharon, our Irish friend. We visited the night market where Lottie bought her first anklet (with some great bartering!). The night market in Chiang Mai is a must visit and is without a doubt the best one we've been too in Thailand.
That's it from us, next stop Pai where we will be staying in a bamboo hut! Adios Amigos! X
While chilling out in the garden, we met another travelling couple and later hit the town. We had started off in a budget Thai restaurant that was delicious and slowly worked our way up the strip bar hopping. We finished in a bar playing some locals at pool in a nail biting tournament that ended up with the locals winning the final match and the dosh!
Our second day was spent on a cookery course, you each choose six dishes to make. We had an energetic Thai lady as our teacher, she was great fun and made the course a fantastic experience. The first step was to make our curry paste, which is much simpler than we expected. We chose to make red and yellow curry between us, the only real difference was the type of chilli used and fresh turmeric was used to make the yellow curry. Bashing the paste into submission with a mortar and pestle was hugely entertaining, especially as our instructor was shouting exuberantly the word "harder" over and over again! We recommend going on a cooking course if you ever visit Thailand and we hope to bring some of our newly learnt culinary expertise back to the UK (Lots got the highest mark for her vegetable Tom Yum Soup so there are no excuses!).
Our next adventure took us on a two day trek into the local mountain regions to the North of Chiang Mai. We started with an Elephant ride, we weren't to sure what to expect after seeing the way they were treated in central Thailand, but they were well fed, watered and rewarded with a bath in the local river after each ride. For such cumbersome animals, they seem very happy in water. We saw this in the Elephant sanctuary outside Lampang, they use their trunks as water pistols and splash their fellow herd and anyone who foolishly gets too close!
We managed to get on the naughtiest elephant of the lot, starting in second place and finishing in last by some way. Within minutes he had gobbled up all of our bananas and then moved onto the surrounding shrubbery and trees.
After the elephants we went on a two/three hour track to a local hill tribe. We followed a narrow path weaving its way up the mountain, jumping obstacles and dodging over-hanging branches. We stopped off at a secluded pool, although the water levels are low at the moment, there was still enough for us to slide down the naturally made waterfall and into the cool waters of the pool. This was all well and good until the only Frenchman in the group decided to strip naked directly in front of Lottie which gave her a bit of a surprise.... Typical French!
We made it to the mountain village at about 7 pm and were showed to our sleeping quarters. We were sleeping on a bamboo floor, about three meters above the ground with a roof made of leaves. The villagers were friendly and all helped cook for us, there were dogs, pigs, chickens and a litter of newborn puppies running around us all the time which definitely provided us with entertainment. Surprisingly we weren't bitten by any Mosquitos that night too, result! One of the highlights of the camp was a local who was both deaf and dumb; he was keen on showing us his newly learnt magic tricks from previous visitors.
The next day we set off down the same track but were halted by a forest fire; although it was on the adjacent hill, the smoke and ash were spreading across our path so we turned back. It wasn't the end of the world as went down a new track, although it was mostly through smelly cabbage fields, it was nice to see some different scenery.
Our final part of the trek was white water rafting,even though it was incredibly tame, it was still fun. We went down with an Irish girl who was a great crack and our coxswain wasn't that proficient at steering (on more than one occasion we got stuck and had to jump up and down to get ourselves moving again). The highlight was bobbing past an elephant bathing as well as some locals climbing onboard to catch a free ride!
The final night was spent with Sharon, our Irish friend. We visited the night market where Lottie bought her first anklet (with some great bartering!). The night market in Chiang Mai is a must visit and is without a doubt the best one we've been too in Thailand.
That's it from us, next stop Pai where we will be staying in a bamboo hut! Adios Amigos! X
Wednesday 3 April 2013
Flying vegetables and historical parks
From Nakhon Sawan to Phitsanulok on a 2nd class train, we're moving up in the world! After using the Thai public transport system, you come to realise that bus and train timetables are only rough guides (and that's being generous!). Nevertheless, it's a great way to get around and our total bill has come to less than £20.
Phitsanulok is our first Northern city, we've now left central Thailand and are getting more and more eager to reach Chiang Mai. Phitsanulok is the home of the flying vegetables, we weren't quite sure what this meant but soon found out at dinner. A drum role and flames shooting in to the air are the signs to get ready; experts field with a plate and beginners have to catch their flying supper with a dustbin lid.
We only used Phitsanulok as a stop over and were soon in Sukothai. We stayed at a place called At Home and it was great. It had a really relaxing feel with a large garden and plenty of shaded areas to chill out. In the evening we went for dinner at a place called the Dream Cafe. It was full of western antiques from gramophone's to church pews. It was our first time eating fish, it was a risk that paid off! The menu explains the etiquette of eating in Thailand and both the waitresses bowed every time they walked past. All in all it was the perfect start to Sukothai.
We woke up bright and early to get to the historical park, which was a 12 km journey from new Sukothai where we were staying. The park itself is magical. It's incredibly well kept and boasts some phenomenal architecture. We spent almost the entire afternoon there until the heat got the better of us and we decided to go in search of a nearby waterfall. Unfortunately our efforts were in vane, but we did get to see some of the local life outside the tourist parts. We saw people working the rice fields and a few local monasteries; all of this within a valley between jungle covered mountains.
After our intrepid adventure into the wild, we sprawled out in the air conditioned room for a few hours - you can tell we are no good in a 40 degree climate! That evening, as it was our last night we sampled 'Sukothai noodles' in a restaurant called... Poo. They were delicious!
Next stop, Lampang, ciao!!
Phitsanulok is our first Northern city, we've now left central Thailand and are getting more and more eager to reach Chiang Mai. Phitsanulok is the home of the flying vegetables, we weren't quite sure what this meant but soon found out at dinner. A drum role and flames shooting in to the air are the signs to get ready; experts field with a plate and beginners have to catch their flying supper with a dustbin lid.
We only used Phitsanulok as a stop over and were soon in Sukothai. We stayed at a place called At Home and it was great. It had a really relaxing feel with a large garden and plenty of shaded areas to chill out. In the evening we went for dinner at a place called the Dream Cafe. It was full of western antiques from gramophone's to church pews. It was our first time eating fish, it was a risk that paid off! The menu explains the etiquette of eating in Thailand and both the waitresses bowed every time they walked past. All in all it was the perfect start to Sukothai.
We woke up bright and early to get to the historical park, which was a 12 km journey from new Sukothai where we were staying. The park itself is magical. It's incredibly well kept and boasts some phenomenal architecture. We spent almost the entire afternoon there until the heat got the better of us and we decided to go in search of a nearby waterfall. Unfortunately our efforts were in vane, but we did get to see some of the local life outside the tourist parts. We saw people working the rice fields and a few local monasteries; all of this within a valley between jungle covered mountains.
After our intrepid adventure into the wild, we sprawled out in the air conditioned room for a few hours - you can tell we are no good in a 40 degree climate! That evening, as it was our last night we sampled 'Sukothai noodles' in a restaurant called... Poo. They were delicious!
Next stop, Lampang, ciao!!
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