halong bay
Hue
Hoi An
Saturday, February 28, 2009
It's not the journey...it's the destination.
travelling is really not just about going from place to place and ticking off the sights....often, as the cliche goes, it is the journey, not the destination, that makes the experience one which makes you fall in love with a country or, alternatively, fall in love with your own country all over again.
we took another overnight bus last night from Hoi An to Nha Trang...a seaside resort town, with a beautiful beach and a westernised night life i believe. I say 'I believe' cause it's bucketing down outside and, since there's not much point exploring a beach in the rain I must believe the lonely planet guide....always a slightly dangerous item to put one's trust in, i find.
It seems that the concept of suspension in vehicles is one that has not yet been fully embraced by the vietnamese. Neither has the concept of paved roads on highways. both of which together make for an overnight ride much resembling a night spent on the spin cycle of the washing machine. I'm quite sure i was airborne much of the time. However, it's the experience isn't it...? it's vietnam.
Whilst on the subject of experiences...a word about toilets if i may? and i warn that my observations may not be for the faint of heart. Squat toilets don't bother me. I mastered the technique whilst under the influence of alcohol at a party in Turkey last year and now consider myself quite the expert. It's the western toilets which have the ability to bother me here....and one that i used at a roadhouse last night is a good case in point. The toilets themselves are always soaking because the Vietnamese do not use paper - they wash themselves. At least I hope that's why the toilets are wet. The floors are caked in mud and dust and what i hope is just water, and, if you don't roll up your trousers, so are their hems. The toilet i used last night had the added bonus of being completely infested by bugs of all types...on the floor, on the seat.... The light did not work...only the thin strip of light from above and below the door lit the way. The smell in these places is indescribable. The sink was caked in years of dirt and grime...there was no drain which i didn't realise until the water that i ran to wash my hands also splashed all over my feet. There are no magical solutions other than to hold your breath and put it down to a 'traveling experience'...however I do have a few hints for the next time you are in the orient. antibacterial hand sanitiser is your friend. It goes everywhere with me and i use it generously and regularly. However, it is like gold dust and I have not seen anywhere to buy more so, much as i'm tempted to lather it all over my body after using a toilet like this, i can not. Toilet paper is an even better friend and is also my constant companion...there is very rarely paper in public toilets. I have also recently become a friend of wet wipes in the absence of a shower...one swipe and you go from smelling rancid to smelling of baby powder and soap...breath deep....
it is hard not to become disillusioned with vietnam i find. The people here are hard. and justifiably so....they have been through so much in both recent and not so recent times...much of it at the hands of westerners. They blame the west entirely for the recent tragedies inflicted by the war here only 40 years or so ago...they hurt still...but they must let us in....we have money. they do not. and so we walk down the street with store keepers constantly yelling out...'you! buy something.'...grubby fingers reach out to pull our sleeves and draw our attention to the pineapple they are selling...or the beer nuts. but yesterday, an event restored my faith in the friendliness and resilience of the vietnamese. Sitting in a little cafe with half an hour till our bus was to leave, we gulped down some fried rice. getting up to pay and leave a young girl approached me and pressed an origami paper swan into my hand. It was, her friend translated, made just for me because she thought i was very beautiful. Touched and flattered, with tears welling in my eyes, i thanked her profusely. She did not want money. She was just being sweet and generous...i will treasure that little paper swan.
So now we are in a party town and might just let our hair down a bit...which, to be honest, we did on our last night in Hoi An too - with some friendly Spaniards and a great deal of 25p beer. it will be nice to chill out a bit as we've been going pretty hard. a couple of days here and then we move on to Saigon.
stay tuned. xxx
we took another overnight bus last night from Hoi An to Nha Trang...a seaside resort town, with a beautiful beach and a westernised night life i believe. I say 'I believe' cause it's bucketing down outside and, since there's not much point exploring a beach in the rain I must believe the lonely planet guide....always a slightly dangerous item to put one's trust in, i find.
It seems that the concept of suspension in vehicles is one that has not yet been fully embraced by the vietnamese. Neither has the concept of paved roads on highways. both of which together make for an overnight ride much resembling a night spent on the spin cycle of the washing machine. I'm quite sure i was airborne much of the time. However, it's the experience isn't it...? it's vietnam.
Whilst on the subject of experiences...a word about toilets if i may? and i warn that my observations may not be for the faint of heart. Squat toilets don't bother me. I mastered the technique whilst under the influence of alcohol at a party in Turkey last year and now consider myself quite the expert. It's the western toilets which have the ability to bother me here....and one that i used at a roadhouse last night is a good case in point. The toilets themselves are always soaking because the Vietnamese do not use paper - they wash themselves. At least I hope that's why the toilets are wet. The floors are caked in mud and dust and what i hope is just water, and, if you don't roll up your trousers, so are their hems. The toilet i used last night had the added bonus of being completely infested by bugs of all types...on the floor, on the seat.... The light did not work...only the thin strip of light from above and below the door lit the way. The smell in these places is indescribable. The sink was caked in years of dirt and grime...there was no drain which i didn't realise until the water that i ran to wash my hands also splashed all over my feet. There are no magical solutions other than to hold your breath and put it down to a 'traveling experience'...however I do have a few hints for the next time you are in the orient. antibacterial hand sanitiser is your friend. It goes everywhere with me and i use it generously and regularly. However, it is like gold dust and I have not seen anywhere to buy more so, much as i'm tempted to lather it all over my body after using a toilet like this, i can not. Toilet paper is an even better friend and is also my constant companion...there is very rarely paper in public toilets. I have also recently become a friend of wet wipes in the absence of a shower...one swipe and you go from smelling rancid to smelling of baby powder and soap...breath deep....
it is hard not to become disillusioned with vietnam i find. The people here are hard. and justifiably so....they have been through so much in both recent and not so recent times...much of it at the hands of westerners. They blame the west entirely for the recent tragedies inflicted by the war here only 40 years or so ago...they hurt still...but they must let us in....we have money. they do not. and so we walk down the street with store keepers constantly yelling out...'you! buy something.'...grubby fingers reach out to pull our sleeves and draw our attention to the pineapple they are selling...or the beer nuts. but yesterday, an event restored my faith in the friendliness and resilience of the vietnamese. Sitting in a little cafe with half an hour till our bus was to leave, we gulped down some fried rice. getting up to pay and leave a young girl approached me and pressed an origami paper swan into my hand. It was, her friend translated, made just for me because she thought i was very beautiful. Touched and flattered, with tears welling in my eyes, i thanked her profusely. She did not want money. She was just being sweet and generous...i will treasure that little paper swan.
So now we are in a party town and might just let our hair down a bit...which, to be honest, we did on our last night in Hoi An too - with some friendly Spaniards and a great deal of 25p beer. it will be nice to chill out a bit as we've been going pretty hard. a couple of days here and then we move on to Saigon.
stay tuned. xxx
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Hoi Hoi Hoi
It confuses me that most vietnamese cities on the backpacker trail begin with H...we are moving so very quickly that i often find myself wondering exactly where i am...but then, let's face it...i'm quite easily confused at the best of times, let alone when my brain has been unused, on the whole, for 4 months!!
Actually, we are in Hoi An...and, suddenly, I am in love with Vietnam. This town is exquisite...it's a magical mixture of shopping and the beach...alongside teeny tiny orange cottages and french colonial architecture....wondering around the old town last night i was transfixed by chinese lanterns lighting the quiet streets and atmospheric little bars inviting us in for local beers costing 25p....
Now,listen to this girls...Hoi An is famous for its custom made tailors and, as we have made our way down the coast of vietnam all anyone talks about when discussing Hoi An are the suits and the shoes they have had custom-made....the proceedure goes a little something like this....you duck into one of the many little shops along the street...sitting down comfortably with a cold bottle of water and the most recent Next catalouges (for the aussies Next is a very popular High Street shop in the UK....) Flicking through you point out the style of the clothes you want before picking out the materials from a large range on their shelves...less than 48hours and one fitting later you have yourself a custom made item...just for you....
As you can imagine, i could well have gone a little crazy here....however I (read matt)have managed to control the purse strings and have settled for a stylish business suit to win me (hopefully) a brilliant job in my first interview back in England (well, one can dream) and a pair of blue jeans without the gaping hole at the back which always seems to be my problem when buying off the shelf...Moving on the to shoe shop I was measured up for a gorgeous pair of black leather boots - riding boot style - which will be a perfect replacement to the pair I wore out last winter in England. I'm in heaven...
And while in Hoi An, while one's wardrobe is being improved, one can rent oneself a scooter and motor on down the 2kms to the beautiful, white sand beach with it's multitude of palm trees and chilled out vibe...we spent today there...taking a well earned breather and soaking up some vietnamese sun over a glossy novel before spending 75p on some seaside grub.
tomorrow we head on down the well trodden backpacker trail on another overnight bus...ending up in Nha Trang for more beach therapy...and maybe a party boat or two?? Who me?? ;-)
stay tuned. xxx
Actually, we are in Hoi An...and, suddenly, I am in love with Vietnam. This town is exquisite...it's a magical mixture of shopping and the beach...alongside teeny tiny orange cottages and french colonial architecture....wondering around the old town last night i was transfixed by chinese lanterns lighting the quiet streets and atmospheric little bars inviting us in for local beers costing 25p....
Now,listen to this girls...Hoi An is famous for its custom made tailors and, as we have made our way down the coast of vietnam all anyone talks about when discussing Hoi An are the suits and the shoes they have had custom-made....the proceedure goes a little something like this....you duck into one of the many little shops along the street...sitting down comfortably with a cold bottle of water and the most recent Next catalouges (for the aussies Next is a very popular High Street shop in the UK....) Flicking through you point out the style of the clothes you want before picking out the materials from a large range on their shelves...less than 48hours and one fitting later you have yourself a custom made item...just for you....
As you can imagine, i could well have gone a little crazy here....however I (read matt)have managed to control the purse strings and have settled for a stylish business suit to win me (hopefully) a brilliant job in my first interview back in England (well, one can dream) and a pair of blue jeans without the gaping hole at the back which always seems to be my problem when buying off the shelf...Moving on the to shoe shop I was measured up for a gorgeous pair of black leather boots - riding boot style - which will be a perfect replacement to the pair I wore out last winter in England. I'm in heaven...
And while in Hoi An, while one's wardrobe is being improved, one can rent oneself a scooter and motor on down the 2kms to the beautiful, white sand beach with it's multitude of palm trees and chilled out vibe...we spent today there...taking a well earned breather and soaking up some vietnamese sun over a glossy novel before spending 75p on some seaside grub.
tomorrow we head on down the well trodden backpacker trail on another overnight bus...ending up in Nha Trang for more beach therapy...and maybe a party boat or two?? Who me?? ;-)
stay tuned. xxx
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Hue's view
vietnam is looking up...Hue is a pretty city in central vietnam on the banks of the Perfume River (which couldnt smell less like perfume) and with gentle, tree-lined streets sporting little bars, cafes and restaurants.
yesterday, jumping a ride on a colourful dragon boat we cruised our way down the river, visiting temples, pagodas (the 2 are different - the vietnamese respect their national heroes in temples and worship their gods in pagodas) and the beautifully landscaped tombs of a past emperor...one who is famous for sleeping with five of his wives in one night with 3 of them falling pregnant. I guess he needs a tranquil resting place after that performance!
It was a relaxing day but we pulled out of seeing any other tombs and came home....i am sick you see. struggling with a lingering cold picked up on the junk boat in halong bay. a few nights of little sleep and some incredibly hot weather (37 degrees) are also helping to make life a little less fun...so i spent the night in bed feeling miserable while matt went out to play.
Pretty as Hue is, there is not too much to do here, so today we are outta here...heading further south to Hoi An which is known for its tailored made clothing and pretty old town....
stay tuned. xxx
yesterday, jumping a ride on a colourful dragon boat we cruised our way down the river, visiting temples, pagodas (the 2 are different - the vietnamese respect their national heroes in temples and worship their gods in pagodas) and the beautifully landscaped tombs of a past emperor...one who is famous for sleeping with five of his wives in one night with 3 of them falling pregnant. I guess he needs a tranquil resting place after that performance!
It was a relaxing day but we pulled out of seeing any other tombs and came home....i am sick you see. struggling with a lingering cold picked up on the junk boat in halong bay. a few nights of little sleep and some incredibly hot weather (37 degrees) are also helping to make life a little less fun...so i spent the night in bed feeling miserable while matt went out to play.
Pretty as Hue is, there is not too much to do here, so today we are outta here...heading further south to Hoi An which is known for its tailored made clothing and pretty old town....
stay tuned. xxx
Monday, February 23, 2009
saying Halong to a bay and goodbye to Hanoi
Halong bay, to the north east of hanoi, is purely majestic. A unesco world heritage listed site, the bay is filled with hundreds upon hundreds of limestone islands jutting up from clear blue water. The 'must do' on any trip to Hanoi, we found, is to jump a ride on a junk boat, sailing far into the bay and spending the evening over a cocktail watching the sun sink behind the islands before slinking off into your little cabin to be rocked to sleep by the waves. in our case, unfortunately, there wasn't much sun to speak of....in fact it is the first time since we left NZ that we have actually been cold (sorry to my dear friends in the UK....i'm afraid i couldnt resist the gloat!) but actually the fog and mist gave the bay a haunting beauty of its own. Hopping into kayaks on the first day we got down closer to the action - paddling gently (well, gently after matt had broken 2 oars by paddling not so gently...a very good way to piss off the kayaking powers-that-be we found...oops!) into a little section of the bay, surrounded by islands, greenery, monkeys....i felt like we could have been somewhere completely undiscovered. the silence was deafening.
Day 2 dawned with no electricity for a hot shower and an irrate vietnamese tour guide banging on our door demanding we show up for breakfast. oopps...in trouble again! but you take the good with the bad and really enjoyed our night floating on the seas. Our second evening was spent on Monkey island...we were the only group of people there, a deserted beach which just happened to sport lovely little bungalows and the best vietnamese food i've eaten yet. By this time we were tight with our fellow adventurers and we spent a very pleasant evening munching on vietnamese cuisine, chatting and sipping the odd vodka...in between shooing territorial monkeys from our front porch...
It was a relaxing few days away from the hussle and bussle that is hanoi....as we arrived back in the city the craziness of the place hit us again and we couldnt wait to get out....so we jumped straight on an overnight bus to Hue...
Overnight buses can be an oddity here in indochina....'sleeper buses', slightly more expensive than the normal version but infinitely more comfortable, contain rows and rows of bunkbeds....you literally can lay down almost horizontal and dream vividly of horns beeping and swerving motorbikes as you make your way down the country.
So we are now in Hue....a much more appealing city than Hanoi....with a peaceful river and tree lined streets. Tomorrow we are off to see some tombs which, hopefully won't be as depressing as it sounds, and tonight a few beers and some fresh spring rolls should see us through the night.
stay tuned. xxx
Day 2 dawned with no electricity for a hot shower and an irrate vietnamese tour guide banging on our door demanding we show up for breakfast. oopps...in trouble again! but you take the good with the bad and really enjoyed our night floating on the seas. Our second evening was spent on Monkey island...we were the only group of people there, a deserted beach which just happened to sport lovely little bungalows and the best vietnamese food i've eaten yet. By this time we were tight with our fellow adventurers and we spent a very pleasant evening munching on vietnamese cuisine, chatting and sipping the odd vodka...in between shooing territorial monkeys from our front porch...
It was a relaxing few days away from the hussle and bussle that is hanoi....as we arrived back in the city the craziness of the place hit us again and we couldnt wait to get out....so we jumped straight on an overnight bus to Hue...
Overnight buses can be an oddity here in indochina....'sleeper buses', slightly more expensive than the normal version but infinitely more comfortable, contain rows and rows of bunkbeds....you literally can lay down almost horizontal and dream vividly of horns beeping and swerving motorbikes as you make your way down the country.
So we are now in Hue....a much more appealing city than Hanoi....with a peaceful river and tree lined streets. Tomorrow we are off to see some tombs which, hopefully won't be as depressing as it sounds, and tonight a few beers and some fresh spring rolls should see us through the night.
stay tuned. xxx
Thursday, February 19, 2009
good morning vietnam
hanoi, vietnam....fast, furious, filthy, fearless...
i wasn't sure what i would think of vietnam. we all know how enamored i was by the 'land of smiles', thailand, and how sad i was to leave that beautiful, friendly country. As always i have entered this new country with an open mind and an eagerness to see and experience everything i can in the short time we have here....but i'm afraid vietnam is going to have to do better than it did in hanoi to impress me....
People don't tend to stay here long...it is, for most travellers to vietnam, a jumping point to other places in the north - Sapa or Halong Bay...and now i see why.
the place is crazy...the roads chocka-block full of death defying vespa riders flying in all directions, each leaning on their horns as they join the other 50 or so commuters in the middle of the intersection dodging eachother, pedestrians, petrified tourists and the odd chicken. I think i have used up my 9 lives just crossing roads today! At one stage matt and i stood at a 'crossing' by the side of the road just watching a wall of traffic coming towards us for about 5 minutes until finally a local came along and showed us how it's done. The trick, you see, is to walk confidently and slowly in front of the oncoming mass of vehicles, parting the motorbikes, rickshaws and taxis like the red sea...yes, they beeped their horns fiercely at us but they were doing that before we walked out in front of them too...the first time we crossed a road this way i truly thought i would die....but after a day of stepping out carefully in front of fast moving traffic i am still wary but so far so good...don't try this at home kids.
the place is filthy...while having a shower this evening my legs actually changed colour as the dirt washed off....despite the fact that i was wearing trousers today. through a crack in the pavement as we skirted past women making their lunch on the street, matt pointed out a scurrying furry creature under foot...a rat....mmm. well, so long as he didnt end up in our dinner...!
Am i not selling you this city? Here's the crunch. Today we were robbed. Only of the equivalent of £2 mind...but it's the principle really. We are pretty cynical travellers actually - sometimes i think we are too cynical...until now we have never been robbed or scammed, touch wood....but, even though i'd been warned of the scams in hanoi, this time they got us. We had been wandering around the area near the Ho Chi Mihn museum...I had been keen to go in and learn about this man who, it seems, this whole country still revolves around...but the museum was closing in 20 mins so, disappointed, we wandered away, deciding to head back to the old quarter near our hotel and find ourselves some non-rat infested dinner. We were approached by a man offering a cyclo (rickshaw) ride. we bargained him down to 50,000 dong - still pretty expensive but we were too tired to argue any more. The next thing we knew he had grabbed his friend and 2 motorbikes were standing in front of us...some cyclo! still, it would save our legs so we hopped on...gripping on for dear life as our drivers expertly negotiated the suicidal traffic, i was quite relieved when they pulled over...
trick 1 - we had asked to be dropped near the lake....there was no lake in sight but we were told it was 'just up the road'....yeah like by about 2kms! we were nowhere near our destination!
trick 2 - matt offered his driver 100 000 dong whilst asking if he had change. Yes, said the driver before taking our money and speeding off down the road and into the traffic....we never saw our change. he had robbed us of £2 and we were nowhere near our destination. we were livid!
but we realise that we were silly. we let our guard down, and we learnt from the experience. It was just a little thing really but its put a sour taste in our mouth about this city. We are keen to leave and are glad we only decided to spend a day here.
Tomorrow we are heading to somewhere much more scenic and serene...Halong Bay with its limestone islands rising majestically from the sea...we will sail around on a junk boat for 3 days, spending one night on the boat and another in a bungalow on monkey island, near cat ba island....the days will involve sunbathing on the deck, kayacking, swimming, and generally chilling. Sounds much more appealing than coping with the hassle of hanoi right?! i agree...
stay tuned.xx
i wasn't sure what i would think of vietnam. we all know how enamored i was by the 'land of smiles', thailand, and how sad i was to leave that beautiful, friendly country. As always i have entered this new country with an open mind and an eagerness to see and experience everything i can in the short time we have here....but i'm afraid vietnam is going to have to do better than it did in hanoi to impress me....
People don't tend to stay here long...it is, for most travellers to vietnam, a jumping point to other places in the north - Sapa or Halong Bay...and now i see why.
the place is crazy...the roads chocka-block full of death defying vespa riders flying in all directions, each leaning on their horns as they join the other 50 or so commuters in the middle of the intersection dodging eachother, pedestrians, petrified tourists and the odd chicken. I think i have used up my 9 lives just crossing roads today! At one stage matt and i stood at a 'crossing' by the side of the road just watching a wall of traffic coming towards us for about 5 minutes until finally a local came along and showed us how it's done. The trick, you see, is to walk confidently and slowly in front of the oncoming mass of vehicles, parting the motorbikes, rickshaws and taxis like the red sea...yes, they beeped their horns fiercely at us but they were doing that before we walked out in front of them too...the first time we crossed a road this way i truly thought i would die....but after a day of stepping out carefully in front of fast moving traffic i am still wary but so far so good...don't try this at home kids.
the place is filthy...while having a shower this evening my legs actually changed colour as the dirt washed off....despite the fact that i was wearing trousers today. through a crack in the pavement as we skirted past women making their lunch on the street, matt pointed out a scurrying furry creature under foot...a rat....mmm. well, so long as he didnt end up in our dinner...!
Am i not selling you this city? Here's the crunch. Today we were robbed. Only of the equivalent of £2 mind...but it's the principle really. We are pretty cynical travellers actually - sometimes i think we are too cynical...until now we have never been robbed or scammed, touch wood....but, even though i'd been warned of the scams in hanoi, this time they got us. We had been wandering around the area near the Ho Chi Mihn museum...I had been keen to go in and learn about this man who, it seems, this whole country still revolves around...but the museum was closing in 20 mins so, disappointed, we wandered away, deciding to head back to the old quarter near our hotel and find ourselves some non-rat infested dinner. We were approached by a man offering a cyclo (rickshaw) ride. we bargained him down to 50,000 dong - still pretty expensive but we were too tired to argue any more. The next thing we knew he had grabbed his friend and 2 motorbikes were standing in front of us...some cyclo! still, it would save our legs so we hopped on...gripping on for dear life as our drivers expertly negotiated the suicidal traffic, i was quite relieved when they pulled over...
trick 1 - we had asked to be dropped near the lake....there was no lake in sight but we were told it was 'just up the road'....yeah like by about 2kms! we were nowhere near our destination!
trick 2 - matt offered his driver 100 000 dong whilst asking if he had change. Yes, said the driver before taking our money and speeding off down the road and into the traffic....we never saw our change. he had robbed us of £2 and we were nowhere near our destination. we were livid!
but we realise that we were silly. we let our guard down, and we learnt from the experience. It was just a little thing really but its put a sour taste in our mouth about this city. We are keen to leave and are glad we only decided to spend a day here.
Tomorrow we are heading to somewhere much more scenic and serene...Halong Bay with its limestone islands rising majestically from the sea...we will sail around on a junk boat for 3 days, spending one night on the boat and another in a bungalow on monkey island, near cat ba island....the days will involve sunbathing on the deck, kayacking, swimming, and generally chilling. Sounds much more appealing than coping with the hassle of hanoi right?! i agree...
stay tuned.xx
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
of chiang and chang...
we have had so many new experiences in the past three days in chiang mai, north thailand, that I hardly know where to begin...
Chiang Mai is somehow of a different breed to bangkok....it's still a large city...frantically busy, crammed with tuk tuks and taxis and fabulous night markets. but somehow it is more chilled out and the people are a million times friendlier...
we have been relishing thai cuisine for the past 2 weeks...i have, quite seriously, lived on pad thai and could do so for several more weeks quite happily....and yesterday i learned how to make my own so that i can continue with my latest obsession in the comfort of my own kitchen...in fact i think a thai party might be in the cards if anyone fancies it??!! under the tutorship of a thai chef we visited a local market in the morning....inhaling the scents of barbequed fish and fresh fruit and veg, we learned about the more obscure of thai ingredients before heading back to Perm's house to cook up some delish dishes...alongside my (rather yummy, even if it didn't look conventional...!) pad thai I made some of my other faves - thai green curry, chicken and cashew stirfry and coconut soup while matt whipped up an amazing red curry, big fat noodles and sweet and sour stirfry...it was such a fun day - we met some great people and had a laugh, learnt a lot and played with food....what's not to love?
and today we traded saucepans for sneakers and woks for waterfalls as we trekked high into the mountains...another activity that Chiang Mai is famous for...travellers come from all over to spend 1, 2 or 3 days hiking in the hills around northern thailand to see what the jungle holds....does the lion sleep tonight?? but, since damaging my foot whilst dancing in the sand (as you do) i felt I could only cope with a couple of hours walk, a decision i was grateful for as travel hasn't exactly increased my fitness levels!!! The day began by leaving the walking to dumbo...magnificent creatures, the elephants plodded along while we rode high on their backs like kings....our 'chang'(thai for elephant) was a cheeky fella, preferring to throw his trunk back for any wayward bananas we might have in our possession than concentrate on keeping up with the others...quite often we had the baby trailing along beside us...only 2 years old he is about to be sent to a conservation camp to be trained but in the meantime he likes to play with the tourists...almost barging me over as i tried to pose with him for a photo....you'd think that, being as cute as he is, he might be used to the paparazzi!
after that magical experience we walked a way to visit a hill tribe...primitive villagers living in the hills around chiang mai...in the past they survived by trading opium. Nowadays the King of thailand has discouraged drug use and has encouraged other forms of agriculture which the villagers trade while their children go to school. Hot and bothered after trekking through thai dust we stumbled across a waterfall and took the opportunity for a swim in the fresh mountain stream before checking out another (more advanced) hill tribe village - that of the Karen tribe who migrated from burma and somehow, despite their simplicity, have satelite dishes and electricity set up in their little timber huts....
After a spot of lunch the final item on the agenda was a float down a river on a bamboo raft....not unlike punting down the oxford river but a tad more primitive...the raft is literally a few bits of bamboo strung together, controlled by a punter front and back...matt happened to be driver on ours which was slightly concerning but we quietly sailed down little rapids and slid between jutting rocks, watched by elephants on the side of the stream and surrounded by jungle....it was all rather idealic and dreamy and a perfect end to a brilliant day full of new experiences....
It will be sad to leave thailand...i have loved it here and i see myself coming back for more exploring (read 'shopping'!) sometime soon. But tomorrow we move on to Vietnam...Hanoi to be precise...a new and exciting country where lots of new adventures lie just around the corner...
stay tuned. xxx
Chiang Mai is somehow of a different breed to bangkok....it's still a large city...frantically busy, crammed with tuk tuks and taxis and fabulous night markets. but somehow it is more chilled out and the people are a million times friendlier...
we have been relishing thai cuisine for the past 2 weeks...i have, quite seriously, lived on pad thai and could do so for several more weeks quite happily....and yesterday i learned how to make my own so that i can continue with my latest obsession in the comfort of my own kitchen...in fact i think a thai party might be in the cards if anyone fancies it??!! under the tutorship of a thai chef we visited a local market in the morning....inhaling the scents of barbequed fish and fresh fruit and veg, we learned about the more obscure of thai ingredients before heading back to Perm's house to cook up some delish dishes...alongside my (rather yummy, even if it didn't look conventional...!) pad thai I made some of my other faves - thai green curry, chicken and cashew stirfry and coconut soup while matt whipped up an amazing red curry, big fat noodles and sweet and sour stirfry...it was such a fun day - we met some great people and had a laugh, learnt a lot and played with food....what's not to love?
and today we traded saucepans for sneakers and woks for waterfalls as we trekked high into the mountains...another activity that Chiang Mai is famous for...travellers come from all over to spend 1, 2 or 3 days hiking in the hills around northern thailand to see what the jungle holds....does the lion sleep tonight?? but, since damaging my foot whilst dancing in the sand (as you do) i felt I could only cope with a couple of hours walk, a decision i was grateful for as travel hasn't exactly increased my fitness levels!!! The day began by leaving the walking to dumbo...magnificent creatures, the elephants plodded along while we rode high on their backs like kings....our 'chang'(thai for elephant) was a cheeky fella, preferring to throw his trunk back for any wayward bananas we might have in our possession than concentrate on keeping up with the others...quite often we had the baby trailing along beside us...only 2 years old he is about to be sent to a conservation camp to be trained but in the meantime he likes to play with the tourists...almost barging me over as i tried to pose with him for a photo....you'd think that, being as cute as he is, he might be used to the paparazzi!
after that magical experience we walked a way to visit a hill tribe...primitive villagers living in the hills around chiang mai...in the past they survived by trading opium. Nowadays the King of thailand has discouraged drug use and has encouraged other forms of agriculture which the villagers trade while their children go to school. Hot and bothered after trekking through thai dust we stumbled across a waterfall and took the opportunity for a swim in the fresh mountain stream before checking out another (more advanced) hill tribe village - that of the Karen tribe who migrated from burma and somehow, despite their simplicity, have satelite dishes and electricity set up in their little timber huts....
After a spot of lunch the final item on the agenda was a float down a river on a bamboo raft....not unlike punting down the oxford river but a tad more primitive...the raft is literally a few bits of bamboo strung together, controlled by a punter front and back...matt happened to be driver on ours which was slightly concerning but we quietly sailed down little rapids and slid between jutting rocks, watched by elephants on the side of the stream and surrounded by jungle....it was all rather idealic and dreamy and a perfect end to a brilliant day full of new experiences....
It will be sad to leave thailand...i have loved it here and i see myself coming back for more exploring (read 'shopping'!) sometime soon. But tomorrow we move on to Vietnam...Hanoi to be precise...a new and exciting country where lots of new adventures lie just around the corner...
stay tuned. xxx
Monday, February 16, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
tuk tuk trouble
getting around bangkok is an adventure in itself. It seems that each mode of transport has it's own problems...the taxi's are reminiscent of the classic french movie, 'Taxi'...with their pink toyotas souped up to the max complete with spoilers and flashing neon lights, the drivers come with an extra dose of attitude. We have learned fast, mostly through experiences in bali, how to avoid being ripped off...often, im afraid, to the point of being unnecessarily suspicious when faced with a friendly thai...however when it comes to taxies, being ripped off seems par for the course. they refuse to go on the meter and bartering is difficult for a traveller with no idea where he's going...and when, as we did yesterday, you do succeed in getting them to switch on the meter, they rip you off anyway - driving miles in the wrong direction, hoping you don't notice.
The tuk tuk drivers are a breed unto themselves - simply crazy and often, it seems, with a death wish, for themselves, their passengers, and the chicken on the side of the road.. It is, I feel, a new form of high in Thailand as they get their kicks from driving down the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic....
and the ferries don't turn up at the port. We're not game enough to try out the buses!!
but so far we have survived with a few thrills and, once you do get to your destination, it's worth the ride. last night we turned up on khao san road...smack bang in the centre of the old part of the city, surrounded by quiet temples and the king's palaces, this henonistic road was the hippy hangout of the 60s. surrounded by hostels and cheap beer, things haven't changed that much. nowadays it's a tourist destination but you can still watch hoards of travellers arriving, packs on backs, to experience the bangkok vibe for themselves....and with its £1.50 cocktails and £4 buckets lining the street we played on that road for hours, meeting locals and travellers alike, perusing the markets and munching on spring rolls and pad thai for our midnight snack...
today, feeling slightly the worse for wear, we will pack up sticks and move on...this time to chiang mai in the north of thailand where we will learn to cook our own spring rolls, ride an elephant or two and cruise down a river on a plank of bamboo...
stay tuned... xx
The tuk tuk drivers are a breed unto themselves - simply crazy and often, it seems, with a death wish, for themselves, their passengers, and the chicken on the side of the road.. It is, I feel, a new form of high in Thailand as they get their kicks from driving down the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic....
and the ferries don't turn up at the port. We're not game enough to try out the buses!!
but so far we have survived with a few thrills and, once you do get to your destination, it's worth the ride. last night we turned up on khao san road...smack bang in the centre of the old part of the city, surrounded by quiet temples and the king's palaces, this henonistic road was the hippy hangout of the 60s. surrounded by hostels and cheap beer, things haven't changed that much. nowadays it's a tourist destination but you can still watch hoards of travellers arriving, packs on backs, to experience the bangkok vibe for themselves....and with its £1.50 cocktails and £4 buckets lining the street we played on that road for hours, meeting locals and travellers alike, perusing the markets and munching on spring rolls and pad thai for our midnight snack...
today, feeling slightly the worse for wear, we will pack up sticks and move on...this time to chiang mai in the north of thailand where we will learn to cook our own spring rolls, ride an elephant or two and cruise down a river on a plank of bamboo...
stay tuned... xx
Friday, February 13, 2009
temple tantrum
We have landed back in civilization with a thump....bangkok is a busy, dirty city but boasts some beautiful historical buildings and some great shopping! We are only here for 2 days and yesterday we felt the pressure to see as much as possible....so we started temple hopping...the grand palace with it's emerald budda temple (wat phra kaew)...the breathtaking reclining budda (wat pho)....by the end of the morning if I had seen another budda belly I would have screamed....
So we changed tact...hopping on a ferry we chugged our way down the dirty cho praya river towards the towering buildings of the modern city. skyscraper after skyscraper as far as the eye can see, bangkok is business central with many a shopping mall boasting shop after shop of designer goods...we mozzied round siam paragon, complete with a car showroom floor selling lamborginis, bmws and minis....
Our plan was to go back to our hotel for a shower before hitting kao san road - the famous backpacker hangout - but when we stumbled across a muay thai bout on the side of the street we were hooked and ended up watching an internatioal bout - thailand vs italy - for free! since we were still in town we decided to check out a night market and wandered around until our legs just simply wouldnt let us walk another step...
we will take it a bit easier today. we have discovered that, despite the hype, there actually isn't too much to do in bangkok and we will see what we want to see easily in the 2.5 days we are here. tonight we are hoping for those beers in kao san road and, beforehand maybe a touch of budda and a little bit more burberry...
stay tuned.. xx
So we changed tact...hopping on a ferry we chugged our way down the dirty cho praya river towards the towering buildings of the modern city. skyscraper after skyscraper as far as the eye can see, bangkok is business central with many a shopping mall boasting shop after shop of designer goods...we mozzied round siam paragon, complete with a car showroom floor selling lamborginis, bmws and minis....
Our plan was to go back to our hotel for a shower before hitting kao san road - the famous backpacker hangout - but when we stumbled across a muay thai bout on the side of the street we were hooked and ended up watching an internatioal bout - thailand vs italy - for free! since we were still in town we decided to check out a night market and wandered around until our legs just simply wouldnt let us walk another step...
we will take it a bit easier today. we have discovered that, despite the hype, there actually isn't too much to do in bangkok and we will see what we want to see easily in the 2.5 days we are here. tonight we are hoping for those beers in kao san road and, beforehand maybe a touch of budda and a little bit more burberry...
stay tuned.. xx
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Full moon magic
at the risk of sounding like a broken record, because i know ive said this several times before, one of my favourite aspects of traveling is meeting all sorts of interesting, fun, travel obsessed people from all over the world while on the road...sharing experiences, advice and a beer or 10...you can meet the world while seeing the world... And, since i have a very special talent for keeping in touch with new friends, it's not unusual for us to stumble across people we know again and again...if we're lucky each time in a new, exotic location...
and so it is with Em....a brissy gal who we met in Greece and who is now traveling with her mates Emily and Katie for 6 months round south east asia and india. Like all good backpackers they had heard of the magic of the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan and made tracks there pronto....
so on Monday, FMP eve, we all got together over pad thai to plan our attack on the party the next night before preparing our muscles for a full night of dancing with an energetic thai massage. fully cracked and pummeled we moved on to relax our brains back at the amsterdam bar....famous for it's chilled out vibe and breathtaking sunsets over the ocean...it was, we all decided, important to have an early night so we would be on our best form for the party. so we went our separate ways for pre-party sleeping. it cannot be said that we didn't strategise to the extreme for optimum full moon party enjoyment...!
FMP-day dawned on Tuesday and I was one very excited party animal. so excited, in fact, that I couldn't relax for my final planned afternoon sleep... Finally night fell, the full moon rose and our party night began. We went first to Em, Emily and Katie's resort and invited Mike, a swedish backpacker (the place was swarming with swedes who are prolific travellers) who we had met on our snorkelling tour a few days before. We had had a beer and a chat with him, discovered he was traveling solo and was a fun and funny guy and so included him in our plans. The resort had an 'all you can drink' deal which we made the most of...slurping down sang son, a potent thai rum, before moving on to 'buckets...the famous drink of choice at FMPs....basically a bucket like one a child might take to the beach, filled to the brim with alcohol....adults only thank you! Hanging out with another group of swedes who were staying at the resort it was aussie vs swede in an intense drinking game which took us close to midnight....and finally it was time to hit the beach...
Sensory overload...music pumping...bodies crashing past, dancing wildly....fire twirlers and fire rings....neon body paint...and a very full moon...
we tried to stick together but we had a big group of 10 including all the swedes and with thousands of revelers moving around on a small beach in the dark it was hard to even keep up with one friend....a few of us stumbled down the beach, making friends along the way before finding a bar playing music we liked and dancing, dancing on the sand...heading back up the beach again we miraculously ran into our friends the swedes, now covered with body paint and dancing ecstatically under the stars...the party was everything I had been hoping for and I had the time of my life...
but today we paid the price for our excess as we joined the hoards of hungover travellers, still in their sand coated party clothes and their neon paint, being herded onto the ferry and back to wherever it was they came from...our destination was bangkok...away from paradise and back to city smog...we could not have been in more different worlds....
It was sad to leave koh phangan...we had a great time there and I believe I have fallen in love with thailand. I could quite happily exist for the rest of my life on pad thai, chang beer and banana, chocolate and coconut pancakes that cost 30 baht(60p). But there is still a week left in thailand and many more adventures are just around the corner...
Stay tuned. xx
and so it is with Em....a brissy gal who we met in Greece and who is now traveling with her mates Emily and Katie for 6 months round south east asia and india. Like all good backpackers they had heard of the magic of the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan and made tracks there pronto....
so on Monday, FMP eve, we all got together over pad thai to plan our attack on the party the next night before preparing our muscles for a full night of dancing with an energetic thai massage. fully cracked and pummeled we moved on to relax our brains back at the amsterdam bar....famous for it's chilled out vibe and breathtaking sunsets over the ocean...it was, we all decided, important to have an early night so we would be on our best form for the party. so we went our separate ways for pre-party sleeping. it cannot be said that we didn't strategise to the extreme for optimum full moon party enjoyment...!
FMP-day dawned on Tuesday and I was one very excited party animal. so excited, in fact, that I couldn't relax for my final planned afternoon sleep... Finally night fell, the full moon rose and our party night began. We went first to Em, Emily and Katie's resort and invited Mike, a swedish backpacker (the place was swarming with swedes who are prolific travellers) who we had met on our snorkelling tour a few days before. We had had a beer and a chat with him, discovered he was traveling solo and was a fun and funny guy and so included him in our plans. The resort had an 'all you can drink' deal which we made the most of...slurping down sang son, a potent thai rum, before moving on to 'buckets...the famous drink of choice at FMPs....basically a bucket like one a child might take to the beach, filled to the brim with alcohol....adults only thank you! Hanging out with another group of swedes who were staying at the resort it was aussie vs swede in an intense drinking game which took us close to midnight....and finally it was time to hit the beach...
Sensory overload...music pumping...bodies crashing past, dancing wildly....fire twirlers and fire rings....neon body paint...and a very full moon...
we tried to stick together but we had a big group of 10 including all the swedes and with thousands of revelers moving around on a small beach in the dark it was hard to even keep up with one friend....a few of us stumbled down the beach, making friends along the way before finding a bar playing music we liked and dancing, dancing on the sand...heading back up the beach again we miraculously ran into our friends the swedes, now covered with body paint and dancing ecstatically under the stars...the party was everything I had been hoping for and I had the time of my life...
but today we paid the price for our excess as we joined the hoards of hungover travellers, still in their sand coated party clothes and their neon paint, being herded onto the ferry and back to wherever it was they came from...our destination was bangkok...away from paradise and back to city smog...we could not have been in more different worlds....
It was sad to leave koh phangan...we had a great time there and I believe I have fallen in love with thailand. I could quite happily exist for the rest of my life on pad thai, chang beer and banana, chocolate and coconut pancakes that cost 30 baht(60p). But there is still a week left in thailand and many more adventures are just around the corner...
Stay tuned. xx
Monday, February 9, 2009
just another day in paradise
what a busy and adventuresome couple of days it has been here in koh phangan....this island is relatively small and still fairly undeveloped as far as tourism goes though they are catching on and the days of 100 baht cabins on the beach are long gone. there is no airport and only a few roads....but there are an overwhelming number of beaches on which to chillax. the locals around here zip around on little scooters....so on saturday we figured 'when in rome' and got hold of a little vespa ourselves...skitting around the island we went first to haad rin, the venue for the full moon party (FMP) tomorrow night. this is definitely the commercialised, touristy part of the island and the beach was already swarming, the music already pumping...all pre 12pm and with the party still days away - it's going to be mad!
after a swim and a drink and a fair amount of people watching we moved on through the main town of thong sala - a rather depressing port town - and stopped for lunch on haad yao...with its swanky resorts this seems to be the domain of the richer, older tourist - mainly germans it seemed to me...moving swiftly on we ended up in mae haad where, when the tide is low, you can walk across to the teeny tiny island of koh ma. word on the street was that the place to be at sunset is 'amsterdam bar'...high in the hills near haad plailaem....a stoner's paradise definitely but the view of the sunset was to die for....
zooming back to our hotel via a thai bbq for dinner (where you cook your own food on a stove on your table) we encountered 'Arm' a very enthusiastic staff member at our resort who had promised us the day before that he would 'make on the beach' meaning, we figured out eventually, that he wanted to set up a table on the beach for us. we had forgotten, but he had not, and we walked down to find a candlelit table complete with carpets, flowers and a sign that read 'just for you...' so sweet! the least we could do was have a couple of beers for his efforts so we sat there contentedly, at our table on the beach, listening to the waves...
Yesterday was another day of exploration...joining a tour group we were promised a day discovering the island...first stop was an elephant sanctuary where we cuddled dumbo and fed him bananas....next we climbed a mountain....ok probably more like a hill....but it almost killed me just the same....it was jungle, no track, just stumbling over tree roots and trying not to fall down waterfalls - you know how it is....but it was worth the trauma - the view from the top was breathtaking
we recovered over lunch before checking out a chinese temple complete with budda, and a thai temple also complete with budda, but apparently a different budda....yeah- i didn't quite get that....finally we all jumped into a long boat and motored around the island to do some snorkelling amongst the stunning coral and pretty little fishes of the tropical reef before heading to bottle beach for a beer and some downtime chatting to our new friends - german, swedish, aussie and canadian - all here, of course, for the FMP.
today is a little more chilled. but tonight marks the warm up to the party....we are meeting with our friend Em and her travel buddies for lunch to plan our attack on haad rin tomorrow before heading back to amsterdam for another beautiful sunset....
stay tuned. xxx
after a swim and a drink and a fair amount of people watching we moved on through the main town of thong sala - a rather depressing port town - and stopped for lunch on haad yao...with its swanky resorts this seems to be the domain of the richer, older tourist - mainly germans it seemed to me...moving swiftly on we ended up in mae haad where, when the tide is low, you can walk across to the teeny tiny island of koh ma. word on the street was that the place to be at sunset is 'amsterdam bar'...high in the hills near haad plailaem....a stoner's paradise definitely but the view of the sunset was to die for....
zooming back to our hotel via a thai bbq for dinner (where you cook your own food on a stove on your table) we encountered 'Arm' a very enthusiastic staff member at our resort who had promised us the day before that he would 'make on the beach' meaning, we figured out eventually, that he wanted to set up a table on the beach for us. we had forgotten, but he had not, and we walked down to find a candlelit table complete with carpets, flowers and a sign that read 'just for you...' so sweet! the least we could do was have a couple of beers for his efforts so we sat there contentedly, at our table on the beach, listening to the waves...
Yesterday was another day of exploration...joining a tour group we were promised a day discovering the island...first stop was an elephant sanctuary where we cuddled dumbo and fed him bananas....next we climbed a mountain....ok probably more like a hill....but it almost killed me just the same....it was jungle, no track, just stumbling over tree roots and trying not to fall down waterfalls - you know how it is....but it was worth the trauma - the view from the top was breathtaking
we recovered over lunch before checking out a chinese temple complete with budda, and a thai temple also complete with budda, but apparently a different budda....yeah- i didn't quite get that....finally we all jumped into a long boat and motored around the island to do some snorkelling amongst the stunning coral and pretty little fishes of the tropical reef before heading to bottle beach for a beer and some downtime chatting to our new friends - german, swedish, aussie and canadian - all here, of course, for the FMP.
today is a little more chilled. but tonight marks the warm up to the party....we are meeting with our friend Em and her travel buddies for lunch to plan our attack on haad rin tomorrow before heading back to amsterdam for another beautiful sunset....
stay tuned. xxx
Friday, February 6, 2009
just a touch, a touch, of paradise...
allow me to describe the view i have as i type out this rambling entry to you...a hammock swings gently on the front porch of our tiny, thatched roof cabin under palm trees heavily laden with ripening coconuts...i can hear the tiny waves lapping on the shore and gentle, chilled out music from the speakers by the pool...if i manage, in time, to rouse myself from the crisp white sheets of the bed i will only have to step from our front step to the pool, i will pull one of the poolside chairs into the sun and read my novel...or write...10 steps more and my toes will be digging into white, glowing sand....deserted ban tai beach on the thai island of koh phangan...i would share the little thatched shelter on the sand with a cute white dog...presumably a stray but a friendly one nonetheless and hope he doesnt have a taste for cocktails...surely this is as close to a tropical paradise as one is ever likely to find in this day and age of beachfront highrises and commercialised coastlines....
we arrived early this morning after a 6am flight from bangkok - hell for poor matt who had met a thai speaking, nottingham born, indian guy in a bar near our hotel and had been shouted to one too many whiskeys last night (not too much sympathy from me i'm afraid!) ....but we made it with much less hassle than i thought we would....
i have just scoffed the best pad thai i have ever tasted and downed 2 beers...i'm full and relaxed in paradise....i am considering a swim....perhaps a nap....life is good and I wish we were staying here longer. the end of our time here will be given to hedonistic partying....the backpacker's ultimate party - the Full Moon Party on Haad Rin beach - about 15 minutes from here....even today the plane to samui and the ferry to koh phangan were filled to the brim with backpackers arriving for this mecca...many an aussie accent amongst the americans and europeans....many have obviously been on the road for a long time...tattered clothes and well used backpacks, messy dreadlocks...woven bracelets and charms bought in the asian cities where they have stayed for a day or two, perhaps even a month or two...they are the hippies of the noughties and we see them everywhere when we travel...but particularly here, following in the footsteps of the ones that paved the way in the 60s, 'finding' this island and trancing out for the first time under a full moon....then there were the fresh faces of the boys from sydney who chatted to me excitedly....they had only just arrived and will be heading back to sydney after the party...they have come all this way just for a few beers on a beach....but what a memorable few beers it will be....
until then, we shall enjoy a touch of paradise. Tomorrow we might rent scooters and dart round the island exploring....maybe hire a jetski or 2...or do a little snorkling....anything is possible in paradise...
xx
we arrived early this morning after a 6am flight from bangkok - hell for poor matt who had met a thai speaking, nottingham born, indian guy in a bar near our hotel and had been shouted to one too many whiskeys last night (not too much sympathy from me i'm afraid!) ....but we made it with much less hassle than i thought we would....
i have just scoffed the best pad thai i have ever tasted and downed 2 beers...i'm full and relaxed in paradise....i am considering a swim....perhaps a nap....life is good and I wish we were staying here longer. the end of our time here will be given to hedonistic partying....the backpacker's ultimate party - the Full Moon Party on Haad Rin beach - about 15 minutes from here....even today the plane to samui and the ferry to koh phangan were filled to the brim with backpackers arriving for this mecca...many an aussie accent amongst the americans and europeans....many have obviously been on the road for a long time...tattered clothes and well used backpacks, messy dreadlocks...woven bracelets and charms bought in the asian cities where they have stayed for a day or two, perhaps even a month or two...they are the hippies of the noughties and we see them everywhere when we travel...but particularly here, following in the footsteps of the ones that paved the way in the 60s, 'finding' this island and trancing out for the first time under a full moon....then there were the fresh faces of the boys from sydney who chatted to me excitedly....they had only just arrived and will be heading back to sydney after the party...they have come all this way just for a few beers on a beach....but what a memorable few beers it will be....
until then, we shall enjoy a touch of paradise. Tomorrow we might rent scooters and dart round the island exploring....maybe hire a jetski or 2...or do a little snorkling....anything is possible in paradise...
xx
Thursday, February 5, 2009
one night in bangkok makes a hard man humble....
we have stumbled into thailand today and, to be honest, i am quite glad to leave bali behind us....it has it's charms - friendly people and interesting scenery (when you get out of kuta town) but i found that i could not have taken too much more of kuta itself - the humidity, the rain, the hassle of the storekeepers...if we were to go back we would stay elsewhere...and if we were to go back it would be with plenty of money and an empty suitcase to stock up on D&G and Jimmy Choo handbags and quicksilver shorts....
I do try to be openminded about the places we visit and i am aware that i have travelled in western europe for many years - i know asia will be so very different and it is these differences that I am interested in discovering....but kuta (and i deliberately say kuta rather than bali...) just wasn't for me this time....
but now we are in thailand...in bangkok for less than 24hrs...apparently, according to the song, one night here makes a hard man humble....we'll see - it will definitely make us tired as we get up in the wee hours tomorrow and make our way to koh phangan....to white sandy beach and a little bungalow and a big, crazy, drunken party under a full moon...
stay tuned.... xxx
I do try to be openminded about the places we visit and i am aware that i have travelled in western europe for many years - i know asia will be so very different and it is these differences that I am interested in discovering....but kuta (and i deliberately say kuta rather than bali...) just wasn't for me this time....
but now we are in thailand...in bangkok for less than 24hrs...apparently, according to the song, one night here makes a hard man humble....we'll see - it will definitely make us tired as we get up in the wee hours tomorrow and make our way to koh phangan....to white sandy beach and a little bungalow and a big, crazy, drunken party under a full moon...
stay tuned.... xxx
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
bloody cheeky monkeys...
we hit the town last night....in a quiet kind of way really in bali terms....but i wanted to check out at least one of the cocktail bars in kuta so off we toddled to dine in a Mediterranean restaurant (when one is travelling in asia for 3 months one doesn't feel the need for EVERY meal to be rice based...) followed by a bali long island in 'maccaroni'...featured in my lonely planet guide this bar is everything you might find in london's west end....with prices to match....but we felt right at home as the DJ spun his stuff and we people watched to our hearts content....
...stumbling back to our hotel we passed a teeny tiny reggae bar off the beaten track....cannabiez (sound it out...there you go!) featured a dreadlocked band pounding out marley hits with fervor so we stopped for a beer and a listen...'hello my brother, my sister' welcomed the frontman when the song was finished and when his set was done he sought us out and joined us for a drink....telling us that we should be 'shhhh' if smoking marijuana in bali (um thanks....we would prefer to go without the death sentence so might steer clear) and warning us about the 'bloody cheeky monkeys' that we would be seeing on our day trip around the island today. apparently the little rotters like to steal children's glasses and break them....nice....
but today was everything i'd been hoping for out of bali....hiring a guide and his car off the streets of kuta we arranged for him to take us around the island. unfortunately it was raining but thankfully that didn't dampen our spirits too much as we visited the sacred monkey forest with no adverse affects from those 'bloody cheeky monkeys'...in fact they were very cute. we saw wood carvers at work, silver and gold manufacturers and drank real balinese coffee....we donned a sarong and wandered around a temple with its 'magic' spring waters and viewed a smoking volcano from a restaurant with a birds eye view.
today changed my opinion of bali. if you get out of the touristy areas full of hawkers and aussies (!) you see a different island. a beautiful one....
we have one more day here before we head to thailand...
stay tuned. xxxxx
...stumbling back to our hotel we passed a teeny tiny reggae bar off the beaten track....cannabiez (sound it out...there you go!) featured a dreadlocked band pounding out marley hits with fervor so we stopped for a beer and a listen...'hello my brother, my sister' welcomed the frontman when the song was finished and when his set was done he sought us out and joined us for a drink....telling us that we should be 'shhhh' if smoking marijuana in bali (um thanks....we would prefer to go without the death sentence so might steer clear) and warning us about the 'bloody cheeky monkeys' that we would be seeing on our day trip around the island today. apparently the little rotters like to steal children's glasses and break them....nice....
but today was everything i'd been hoping for out of bali....hiring a guide and his car off the streets of kuta we arranged for him to take us around the island. unfortunately it was raining but thankfully that didn't dampen our spirits too much as we visited the sacred monkey forest with no adverse affects from those 'bloody cheeky monkeys'...in fact they were very cute. we saw wood carvers at work, silver and gold manufacturers and drank real balinese coffee....we donned a sarong and wandered around a temple with its 'magic' spring waters and viewed a smoking volcano from a restaurant with a birds eye view.
today changed my opinion of bali. if you get out of the touristy areas full of hawkers and aussies (!) you see a different island. a beautiful one....
we have one more day here before we head to thailand...
stay tuned. xxxxx
Monday, February 2, 2009
the rain in spain falls mainly in bali
it's the wet season at the moment in bali....tropical storms bucket down...heavy, soaking rain...two or three times a day. we have taken refuge from the current deluge in a small restaurant boasting free wifi...we scoff fried noodles and orange juice for breakfast...an unusual combination but somehow it works here....we try to eat as the locals do.
we planned to sample the bars along JI Legian - the main street of kuta - last night but instead we found ourselves drinking copious amounts of bintang whilst huddled around a small and flickering tv in the corner of our hotel's outdoor bar, with a dozen or so other guests from all over the world, to watch the men's final of the australian open. barracking for federer i texted my parents who i knew would be doing exactly the same. The world is a small place really...
...i'm bored of kuta now. over being hassled into buying more stuff i don't want with every step i take down a dirty, soggy street.... i can't understand why so many australians come here instead of our own, much more beautiful and accomodating east coast. perhaps this is asia and perhaps i will have to learn to accept it with 10 more weeks to go...but for me, kuta is too touristy, too commercial....this can't be the real asia. tomorrow we will explore the rest of the island...bring me monkey forests and hindi temples and beautiful sunsets. that, surely, is the real asia.
stay tuned. xx
we planned to sample the bars along JI Legian - the main street of kuta - last night but instead we found ourselves drinking copious amounts of bintang whilst huddled around a small and flickering tv in the corner of our hotel's outdoor bar, with a dozen or so other guests from all over the world, to watch the men's final of the australian open. barracking for federer i texted my parents who i knew would be doing exactly the same. The world is a small place really...
...i'm bored of kuta now. over being hassled into buying more stuff i don't want with every step i take down a dirty, soggy street.... i can't understand why so many australians come here instead of our own, much more beautiful and accomodating east coast. perhaps this is asia and perhaps i will have to learn to accept it with 10 more weeks to go...but for me, kuta is too touristy, too commercial....this can't be the real asia. tomorrow we will explore the rest of the island...bring me monkey forests and hindi temples and beautiful sunsets. that, surely, is the real asia.
stay tuned. xx
Sunday, February 1, 2009
kudos to kuta
as this is my first time in asia (other than countless hours in airports between brisbane and london...)i'm not sure what i really expected from bali. a culture shock certainly... a lower standard of living perhaps....a bit of dirt and grime amongst the palm trees and the rolling waves....my expectations are not, as perhaps some westerners are, for paradise on a deserted tropical island...i have, after all, carefully read the guide books....
we are staying in the thick of it all...near kuta beach, on the indonesian island of bali....it has long been a surfer's paradise...a backpacker's mecca....full of shops selling rip off D&G handbags and billabong boardies...cheap as chips hotel rooms...hawkers on the streets trying anything to sell you their wares. most of them have perfected an aussie accent and, as they see you coming from a mile off they yell out....'gday maaaaaaaaaate...how you going? cheap sunglasses...we have shirt in your size...you want?' on the whole they seem friendly, the balinese, with their big smiles...they are just doing their job, just trying to make a living...
our accomodation must be cheap and cheerful as we have another 3 months to make our money last....but we have managed to find a room with an ensuite for £15/night...it is basic, but clean and, most important, boasts an efficient air conditioner. I was not prepared for the heat...so humid that it takes your breath away as you step outside. I have given up wearing makeup - there's no point if it slides off your face the minute you walk out the door. our shower has cold water only but we dont mind....it helps us cool off.
the nightlife here is legendary but potentially dangerous. 7 years ago 2 nightclubs were blown up and 88 aussies died amongst many indonesians and tourists from other countries. this morning we saw the memorial....the australian government, even now, warns against us playing amongst other westerners on the main streets of kuta....so we are keeping our heads low...a few drinks tonight perhaps but we will be in bed early...this is a holiday. a time for us to get our heads together before our whirlwind tour of asia....we will spend the days wandering the streets, palming off the hawkers, drinking bintang (indonesian beer) with our satay at lunch and swimming in the luke warm waters of the hotel pool....
kudos to kuta...
stay tuned... xxx
we are staying in the thick of it all...near kuta beach, on the indonesian island of bali....it has long been a surfer's paradise...a backpacker's mecca....full of shops selling rip off D&G handbags and billabong boardies...cheap as chips hotel rooms...hawkers on the streets trying anything to sell you their wares. most of them have perfected an aussie accent and, as they see you coming from a mile off they yell out....'gday maaaaaaaaaate...how you going? cheap sunglasses...we have shirt in your size...you want?' on the whole they seem friendly, the balinese, with their big smiles...they are just doing their job, just trying to make a living...
our accomodation must be cheap and cheerful as we have another 3 months to make our money last....but we have managed to find a room with an ensuite for £15/night...it is basic, but clean and, most important, boasts an efficient air conditioner. I was not prepared for the heat...so humid that it takes your breath away as you step outside. I have given up wearing makeup - there's no point if it slides off your face the minute you walk out the door. our shower has cold water only but we dont mind....it helps us cool off.
the nightlife here is legendary but potentially dangerous. 7 years ago 2 nightclubs were blown up and 88 aussies died amongst many indonesians and tourists from other countries. this morning we saw the memorial....the australian government, even now, warns against us playing amongst other westerners on the main streets of kuta....so we are keeping our heads low...a few drinks tonight perhaps but we will be in bed early...this is a holiday. a time for us to get our heads together before our whirlwind tour of asia....we will spend the days wandering the streets, palming off the hawkers, drinking bintang (indonesian beer) with our satay at lunch and swimming in the luke warm waters of the hotel pool....
kudos to kuta...
stay tuned... xxx
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