Langkawi - with plenty of sunshine!

Well after our moaning about the rain we've had beautiful sunshine for the past few days! Due to the fantastic weather we don't have a lot to report as we have pretty much bummed around on the beach, sunbathing, swimming and playing frisbee. In the evenings we've been spoilt with some excellent food and stunning sunsets!

We did try to explore more of Langkawi but needed a motorbike license which obviously neither of us have. So reluctantly we went back to the beach for more sun worshipping!

Tommorrow we get the ferry back to Penang where this time we are definately meeting up with Stu Balfour and spending the next week with him, Clara and Alex (wife and baby daughter) in Penang and then KL.

Hope all is well at home.

Love from

Rach & Mark - bronzed and happy!!!

xxx

Langkawi - If this is the dry season.....whats the monsoon like!

We took the ferry to Langkawi and Malaysian timings are just like Thai timings! We were told it would take 2.5 hours - 3.5 hours later we arrived and yep it was raining.

We checked into our hotel but had to wait a couple of hours for the key so we explored the surroundings. We're staying on Cenang Beach which is on the West side of Langkawi. The accommodation is slightly disappointing for what we've paid but Mark managed to get some money back today after explaining to the Manager he wasn't happy! Despite that, the place on the whole is ideal; a long golden beach, a good selection of bars and restaurants to choose from and when the sun is shining we're happy beans. We spent the remaining part of yesterday getting our bearings, doing some washing and managed to speak to most of the family members which was great. Calls from Malaysia are very cheap despite it being on the mobile - good news! That evening we had an early dinner and a drink and were ready for the sun tomorrow.

This morning it was overcast but like tough Brits we hit the beach anyway determined to enjoy the weather. Our determination paid off as within a couple of hours the sun came out and we felt the warm rays on our backs. Sadly that didn't last long and while Mark was walking down the beach the heavens opened. In response we headed back to the hotel, got changed and went for lunch. With it still raining we decided to visit the local aquarium which was quite good really. It did, however, sell very unusual gifts in the shop - fags, alcohol and a a lot of fish based snacks!

When we left the sun was out so we headed for the beach again to soak up the last of the days warmth and watched the sunset with a drink. Tonight we're going Thai and may play a couple of hands of cards before bed. Tomorrow subject to the weather we may hire a motorbike and explore the island further but if the sun is out the topping up of tans will be the order of the day.

Love to all at home. Thanks for all the messages - keep them coming.

Mark & Rach. xx

We're back on the Indian Curries - blame the Irish!

Sadly we had to leave Ko Phangan and in fact Thailand early due to our visa expiring which made us quite sad really as we'd enjoyed the tranquilty of Ko Phangan and the fact we didn't do anything but chill out and read. The journey to Penang took over 15 hours (boat, coach and 2 mini-buses) but we arrived safely last night at around 9pm. Fortunately we'd shared some of the journey with fellow travellers (1 guy from Bath and a couple from Ireland). Apart from the occasional concern due to the drivers forgetting they were in minibuses and thinking they were in a Ferrari the journey was uneventful and again it was raining!
Not having anywhere to stay (due to a miscommunication with Mr Balfour) we walked around the city for an hour trying to find somewhere. After trying five places we went back to where we were dropped off right outside a guesthouse - convenient hey (driver commission)! So bored with hunting we decided to drop our bags at the Banana Guesthouse (not the best but it did the job), grab a quick beer, talk about the trip down with the other travellers and then go for a bite to eat. The Irish couple mentioned they fancied an Indian curry and because we haven't had one since leaving India we also thought why not. Taking the recommendation from the guesthouse we ambled down the road and tucked into a mixture of dishes (no beer though).
Being tired from the long journey we returned with our bellies full and hit the sack.
Apart from being woken up at 04:20 due to someone calling the UK outside our door we slept well. To be honest it was a blessing in disguise really as Mark had fallen asleep with his contact lenses still in - idiot!
Waking up later at a more reasonable hour our main objectives for the day were to find another place to stay as the Banana Guesthouse could only put us up for one night, get a Malaysian SIM card for the phone, see if we could book an extra days stay in Langkawi and then book a boat for the following day to Langkawi! By lunchtime we'd completed all our tasks and deserved a spot of food - an Indian again!
Luckily a number of the tasks meant we had to walk around a fair bit of Penang. Most of it was around the Chinatown and Little India districts (near the port). You can tell that Penang used to be a very important place for the East India Company when the British Empire was alive and well with some very impressive colonial buildings (now looking worse for wear). Tonight we plan to frequent a drinking establishment (might not need food after our big lunch) and people watch.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Langkawi and hopefully we'll be lucky with the weather. Another couple of days chilling by the beach!
Love to all and remember - someones got to do it and fortuntately it's us!
Mark & Rach. xxx

Ko Phangan - Haad Salad

The last couple of days we have been relaxing in Ko Phangan on a beautiful beach called Haad Salad. We are staying in a little bungalow just off the beach and have a stretch of sand almost to ourselves of about 150 meters. We are, however, sharing the beach with a number of rather loving dogs who are quite content to share our towels whilst we're reading. We got up to go for a wander along the beach today and came back to find a dog stretched out across the towels fast asleep. This is real paradise for Rach (dog lady) who just encourages them more! She's even started to name them!

Where we're staying is the perfect size and has not yet been made too commercialised. The beach front has a couple of bars and restaurants, just enough to stop you needing to go elsewhere but not too many and certainly no places advertising 'Fish & Chips' or 'English Breakfast' like we saw a lot of in Ko Samui.

Unfortunately our little bit of paradise hasn't been quite perfect the last 2 days as we've had a lot of heavy rain showers. Not so bad though as it gives us an excuse to go to bar (no alcohol though)and wait for it to stop.

On Friday we are getting a boat and minibus down to Penang where we are meeting up with Stu (a hockey friend) for what will probably be a messy weekend on the beers before going to Langkawi for a few days to recover. From there we head down to Kuala Lumpur where we meet up with Stu again.

Hope all is good and love to all.

Rach & Mark. xxx

Our last night in Bangkok, the early flight and the sick bag!

Our last day in Bangkok involved us extending our visa so we could stay in Thailand longer only to find out we could only have another 7 days due to coming in overland - gutted but there you go. The plan for the evening was to meet up with Jo, go to a skyrise bar for one drink then head home for dinner which Rach cooked and then a relatively early night seeing we had an early flight the next day. Well - all three stages happened, however, we stayed longer at the Vertigo bar drinking and admiring the striking views of Bangkok and secondly Jo wanted to show us a bit more of Bangkok after dinner. So after a bite to eat we went to the Pang Ping area of Bangkok with Jo and her friend Jenny. Several Sambucas were consumed and while Mark watched tennis on the TV the girls danced away until the early morning! We got home around 2am and needed to be up in 3 hours! Rach took herself off to bed (fully clothed) while Mark finished the Baileys she had asked for and chatted to Jo.

The next morning (3 hours later) we were up and finished the packing. Fortunatley the taxi ride to the airport didn't take long and we'd already checked in on-line the day before. With no time to spare we walked straight to the gate and boarded the aircraft. As we took off Rach reached inside the pocket in front of her to get the sick bag! She spent the majority of the 45 minute flight in the toilet not feeling her best! We arrived in Ko Sumui and got a taxi to our hotel. We are staying in a resort just away from the one of the main beaches that has a beautiful pool. Unfortunately when we arrived we went straight to bed and didn't surface until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The much needed sleep was just what Rach needed and despite still feeling a bit ropey she was feeling up for a walk and explore. We went down to the beach and sat of the white sand watching the sun set. After dinner despite the daytime sleep we hit the sack early determined to make more of the next day.

Left over pizza from last night was the mornings breakfast! We then headed down to the front to hire a moped to explore the island. Ko Samui is relatively small so we made our way round stopping off at various beaches until it was time for lunch. Some of the beaches away from the main tourist areas are beautiful - the tourist areas reminded us of Benidorm! After returning to the hotel we spent the rest of the day chilling by the pool - very relaxing! Tonight we again went out on the moped and headed for the centre of Bo Phut, finding a quiet restaurant on the beach we sat and gazed out across the sea looking at the sparkling lights of Ko Phangan - our next destination. We head there tomorrow lunchtime on the boat.

Love to all at home.

Rach & Mark. xxx

Bangkok, Kanchanburi and the Monkey attack

We left Chiang Mai successfully on the night train and arrived in Bangkok late (2.5hrs) and made our way to Jo and Lukes place in Bangkok. Upon arrival Mark left the Lonely Planet book on the roof off the taxi but didn't realise until later! We are very lucky to have a place like this to stay (thank you Jo & Luke) and straight away used the washing machine to wash all our kit - quality! That evening we ordered take away Mexican and chilled out catching up on what we'd been up to since we last saw them. Luke is away again with work so it was just Jo.
The following day we had to be up early (05:30) to catch the bus to Kanchanburi. The first stop after our two hour journey was the Allied War Cementary - a immaculate place and a very special place to visit on Rememberance Day. The next stop was the actual bridge (see the film if you don't know), however, Mark was really disappointed due to sheer number of tourists and the loud music being played. Not what we expected and wished it was a place for reflection like the cementery. We were then taken to the Death Railway and spent an hour travelling on the railway, the demands put upon the POWs and locals to build this rail in such a short period of time are hard to fathom.
After lunch we spent time at Hell Fire Pass, the longest and deepest gorge the POWs had to cut for the railway. This is what we expected the bridge site to be - tranquil, solemn and a place for reflection. We then returned back to the river and found our accommodation for the night - a small raft room floating on the river! Very basic but adequate. The showers and toilets were communal and outside. In need of a shower Rach went to investigate - there were 3 shower options; option 1 - the shower knob was broken so you couldn't turn the water on but it had a lockable door, option 2 - the door had come off the hinges so wouldn't shut and option 3 - there was no shower head, just a hose! Rach went for option 1 but had to use the toilet hose! Mark went for option 2 and propped the broken door up. He also shared his shower with a frog! Feeling a bit cleaner we went for dinner, shared with a Polish couple and two Dutch girls. Unfortunately our Dutch and Polish is non existent and although their English was pretty good conversation was hard! After dinner we walked into town for a drink before bed. We slept suprisingly well considering the heat!
Our second day involved a 2km walk along side the Erawan waterfalls, an impressive 7 tiered waterfall with areas for swimming. We walked up the 7 tiers, all very unique and took some beautiful photos along the way. Very sweaty and in need of a swim so we descended back down to tier one, got changed ready for a dip. The pools were filled with fish like in Laos but this time much bigger, some a foot or more long which put Rach off a little. In fact she didn't go in but just paddled. Mark swam around and felt the little critters nibbling on his toes, fingers and even shoulder even when swimming! Rach was taking pictures from the bank and without warning was suddenly attacked by a monkey! We were told that they could be quite aggressive and to avoid them. This one must have spotted the food we had in the bag and in trying to grab it scratched Rach on the shoulder. She flung the bag of food at it to scare it and fortunately a local man threw a stone at it sending it up a tree. Rach quickly grabbed the rest of our stuff and moved away. The scratch was only minor and didn't hurt but had certainly taken her by suprise. Mark came out of the water oblivious to the monkey attack and we moved well away from the waterfall and monkeys! We saw other people throwing food at them and encouraging them so it's no suprise they are fearless. Rach hasn't had much luck aroundwaterfalls so far, what with nearing drowning in Vietnam, getting biten by a fish in Laos and now a monkey attack in Thailand!
After lunch at the waterfalls we then headed back to Bangkok and to Jo and Lukes pad. We did some more washing and had a Thai takeaway after Jo returned from netball. Today we plan to stay local and get ready for our departure tomorrow morning to Ko Samui.
Love to everyone at home.
Mark & Rach. xxx

Dao Nest and the Princess

Our first night here was pure luxury! Award winning Western food and the most comfy bed so far on our trip! Knowing we would be staying here to relax for a few days we reflected on where we had been (2 months in) and how amazing it has been - lucky people! We slept comfortably.
There is something magical about waking up to the cool warmth of the morning sun and mountains all around. Chiang Dao Nest is a very tranquil and peaceful place and we actually feel like we are on holiday rather than travelling.
After a lazy breakfast we decided to hire bikes again (the non powered versions) and explored the local area. The area is covered in dense jungle with the impressive Dao mountain standing 2,265m as the backdrop. You get a real feel for a place when you are out on your own following your noses with no real route planned. On the way back we explored the caves in Chiang Dao; legend has it a hermit lived there for a thousand years and left treasures inside. Compared to the caves on Cat Ba island this was a more geniune exploration. We had to hire a guide with a lamp burner and squeeze through several small holes to go deeper into the cave. The limited light created a ghostly effect and the damp air left us dripping.
After a hearty lunch we spent the rest of the day chilling around the pool and hut. That evening we decided to wander down to Chiang Dao Nest II to taste the Thai food served there. Before we left we were told that the King of Thailands grand daughter would being visiting Nest I for dinner that evening. A special area had been arranged for her and sectioned off from the rifraf like us. Who would have thought that on our travels we would be staying in a place fit for royalty!
With our new found knowledge of Thai food we opted for "farang" (foreigner) spicy and Wow - a bit hot but none the less fantastic! Walking back with our headtorches on we decided to stay and do some royalty watching which meant having a night cap - pity!
Today is our last full day here before heading back to Chiang Mai to get the train back to Bangkok so we just relaxed by the pool and tried to top up on the tans. We have discovered that you do not get the same tan as if you were on holiday so we have areas of deep brown , light brown and obviously the pasty white bits! Rach as ever looks like she has been here 3 months longer than Mark!
We have loved being here and will be returning no doubt!
Love to all at home.
Mark & Rach. xxx

Chiang Mai & Dao

We are now in Chiang Dao after spending two nights in Chiang Mai. We took the sleeper train from Bangkok on Tuesday night and this time both of us managed to get some sleep which was good! - no grumpy people! It's a great way to travel and so different to our Vietnamese experience - no old man poking you with his cane!
We stayed in a place called Julies Guesthouse in Chiang Mai, a real backpacker place but cheap ($6) and clean. They even picked us up from the train station which avoided the usual tuk-tuk haggling. Spending the first day wandering around the town and stopping at some of the Wats we looked at other activities to do the following day. We eventually plucked for an all day Thai cookery class - something different! That evening content with our plan for the following day we went to the river for a refreshment (beer) and then mooched around the night bazaar which is endless. On the way home we broke with tradition and ate Italian food!
The next morning we were picked up from Julies for our all day cookery course. We were in a small group of 7 people and our teacher was a chap called R. Before the cooking commenced we were taken to the market to buy some of the ingredients that we would be using. We had to carry little wicker baskets which made Mark look at bit camp!
During the day we make 6 different dishes and to get the most out the day we selected different ones so Mark made dishes that involved red curry paste and Rach made dishes with the green. After cooking each dish we then sat down and ate them - some more successful than others but we're sure after a bit of practice we'll be experts. We enjoyed the day, Rach especially as when we got back to the room she said it was nice to apart from each other for the majority of the day! A nice change!
That evening we hooked up with a Canadian woman called Jen who was on the cooking course and was also staying at Julies. We didn't need any food that evening due to basically eating all day so went to the night bazaar again and stopped occasionally for a drink. Back at the guesthouse we shared stories and travel tips as Jen was travelling through Laos & Vietnam next and she'd come up from the south of Thailand so we got suggestions on the islands.
Today we left Chiang Mai for Chiang Dao, a 60km journey made easier due to the place we were staying (Chiang Dao Nest) picking us up from Julies!! Something we weren't expecting and it saved us having to travel by local bus. Arriving we sensed a more laid back atmosphere and were greeted warmly. We are looking forward to exploring around the area and chilling for the next couple of days before returning to Bangkok on Monday.
Hope all is good at home.
Love
Mark & Rach. xxx
P.S - Sorry no pictures, the camera USB is playing up. We have plenty but can't get them onto the computer at the moment!

Cabbages and Condoms!

Last night we met up with Jo and Luke for dinner. Rach spoke to Jo over the phone earlier in the day but it was quite noisy where we were and she thought Jo said that the restaurant was called 'Cabbages and Condoms' which Mark found hilarious. It turned out Rach was right! We met Jo and Luke at Cabbages and Condoms which is a charitable restaurant with the proceeds going towards an AIDS Awareness charity. The food was great and the decor interesting with models, flowers, lampshades and lots more made out of condoms. At the end of our meal instead of getting the usual after dinner mint we were given a condom! We had a great night catching up with Jo and Luke and boring them with stories of our travels. We leave Bangkok tonight but when we pass back through we're going to stay with them in their swanky apartment in the business district.
Tonight we are getting the night train up to Chiang Mai where we're staying for a couple of days before having some chill out time in Chiang Dao. After that we return to Bangkok in order to do a 2 day trek around Kanchanaburi (Bridge over the River Kwai) before flying down to Ko Samui for some more relaxation but this time on the beach.
Today we've had a day of planning and feel happy that we're a bit more organised!
Hope all is good at home.
Lots of love
Rach & Mark. xxx

Back in Bangkok - for 36 hours anyway!

Hello followers!
We are now back in Bangkok after taking the night train from Vientiane which was great fun! Unfortunately our time in Laos got worse since our last post - our phones were taken from our room along with a small amount of Thai baht! So we will be getting a Thai (pay as you go job) phone today. Due to the phone incident we couldn't phone people as we said we would -sorry about that.
Tomorrow we're taking another night train up to Chiang Mai and plan to spend a week there which we're really looking forward to.
We promise a more interesting update soon.
Lots of love.
Mark & Rach. xxx