Queenstown,NZ –
So a big thanks go out to the Australian tax man, you have paid for my trip to New Zealand, you don’t get that in the UK.
So myself and the little man, Wee Lickham flew from Melbourne to Christchurch where we would grab a connecting flight to Queenstown the next morning.
We land in Christchurch and wait for the bus, 20 munutes later we throw our bags on and drive about 20 meters to our hotel, if we knew this we would have walked to the bloody hotel – no beers as sleep is a must, the next day I feel will be epic.
Sleep for 4 hours and an early start, you know what they say, early bird and all that. We grab the early morning flight to Queenstown, Wicko is a sleep within 2 seconds of sitting down, I couldn’t sleep as to the right of me was the most spectacular view above the clouds I have ever seen. The sun was beaming in the distance and the white tipped mountains were something else. Before we knew it we were landing.
We grab the bags and dodge the security dog then shoot through security checks and boom were out, out in the fresh, rather cold New Zealand air. The views of the mountains are unreal, and to think that we will be carving this powder up over the next 7 days!
We jump in a cab and head for Bass backpackers, about 20 minutes from the airport, our Taxi driver was a hero, he gave us local facts about the town which had us both amazed. He even took us up on one of the mountain roads to get some pics of the lake. We gave him a tip and bundled our kit in to the hostel.
We were staying in room 116, an 8 man dorm, located with some sick views of the wall to next doors hotel. Ace!
Wicko and I had to wait for the others, Si, Chris and Gem so we took a walk around the town and stopped off for a few beers, mind you it was 11:30 am so we both knew this would be bad!
Si turned up and we let him sleep as the old man needed his rest, we stayed out and got on it with a brief nap to enable us to stay out for the remainder of the first night. We picked up our boards and the rest of the kit we didn’t bring with us and then planned our first day.
Next morning…… Wicko is not in the best of shapes but makes a great recovery in the car. The rest of us are ok and eager to get on the slopes – baby slopes for me and Wicko.
The Remarkables/ Cronet Peek and Cardrona -
The three skiers hit the slopes and myself and Wicko had a lesson to get us started, the lesson went well and the instructor was pleased with our progress, he gave us some things to work on and then we were off on the green slopes!
The day went well, many falls but nothing bad, we were progressing well and hitting all types of slopes by the end of the first day. I decided to get a few quick runs in as my confidence was high, little did I know what was about to happen…….
So this cute Aussie chick opens up a one set and is giving all kinds of i.o.i’s, I continue to chat and state she may want to be careful as she exits the ski lift as I am still a beginner, she laughs, I laugh, followed by an almighty scream when I exit the lift and the front of the board digs in to the snow and twists on its end with my leg twisting with it, the pain was unreal and I couldn’t move, the girl laughs, I cry and she buggers off. I roll my pants up and cover my leg in snow for 20 minutes before limping down the slope to a hero’s welcome – well not quite, more like everyone laughing at me. Ha
My knee was in real pain and I decided to take the next day off. The rest of the crew hit the slopes and I stayed in the dorm and tried to give the girls in our room some banter.
Wicko and Si return and state how good the day was, all I wanted to hear, thankfully my knee was feeling better, $60 leg support and 20 pain relief tablets later and I am sorted.
Wicko gives me some guidance as he had a second lesson the day before, “so Steve, ill show you what I was instructed and just follow my steps yea?”, “yea sure, go down and ill follow”. Wicko jumps to his feet, spins the board round 180 degrees and then heads down the slope….. Towards the fence, and in to the fence! Ha, I guessed this is not what he was taught and made my own way down.
Second day went well and we hit the green slopes in the morning with the intention of hitting the intermediate blue slopes in the afternoon. This plan worked and we smashed the slopes, wicko took some big falls and I too had a few big rolls. Wicko was in some serious pain and decided to hit the smaller slope to pick up some much needed confidence. I was talked in to going off pieste with the pro’s Si aka Grandad and Chris. This was to be a massive learning curve and an amazing experience, we hit a mini half pipe and hit some epic verticals, the sweat was pouring off me and it took a lot of concentration but it was worth it. What a rush!
The next few days we spent hitting the slopes and gaining speed and more confidence. In the evenings we dropped the kit off and hit the cold shower, not out of choice but this is all we had. We then hit the world famous Ferg Burger – these are the best burgers I think I have ever had, I am sure many people say this which is why the place only closes for 3 hours a day and they sell over 5,000 a day!
Once the food was in it was time to hit the beers, X and Golden were both dream beers and for some reason gave you no hangover – must be the crisp air, that or the litre of fruit juice we smashed each night before bed to try and reduce the 6 am hangover.
Si was given the name Grandad whilst in NZ based purely on the fact that I have never seen someone moan or not control their guts so much in one week. He does know women though so we will give him that one. On a daily basis we were reminded that we were picking women up in the wrong way, “I tell ya lads you won’t get nothing there”, “remember friendly face the first night then make the move the second night” “ don’t just dive in on the first night”, ahhh so that’s where I have been going wrong all these years. Myself and wicko laugh like schoolgirls and carry on giving the girls in our room banter, they hated it but it made us laugh!
A few more days of epic boarding and we were on our last day, what a day. We hit the slopes early and for some unknown reason the slopes were quiet, this was great we had one run to ourselves for most of the afternoon and had a few runs where we were the only two on the run – epic!
We pack the kit in the car and head back for the last few beers of our trip, we make it a good few beers and say our goodbyes then the next day we head back to Melbourne!
I must say this was the most beautiful town I have ever been and I hope to return again soon!
Monday, 9 August 2010
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Koh Samuai
Phuket-
We took a bloody long bus from Bangkok to Phuket which lasted a total of 21 hours and several pointless stops but this became the norm back in Thailand. We checked in to My Thai guesthouse which was run by an Aussie called Darren and his Thai mrs called Nut. The rooms were good and the daily banter with Darren and the many drinking partners he had in the reception/bar made the time there very enjoyable. We were staying on Patong beach just 5 minutes walk from Bangla road – Bangla road is similar to Walking street in Pattaya, busy, prostitutes everywhere you look and old boys getting involved (if you know what I mean). We spent about a week here getting on the beers (Chang) and “mixing with the locals” .
Myself and Olly took a trip to Coral Island which is roughly an hour away on a speed boat – just south of Phuket. The Island it’s self is a gorgeous palm tree covered island surrounded by crystal white sand and a coral reef just feet away from the shore, it was the first opportunity for us to snorkel so we got in and explored all afternoon.
Our visa’s only allowed us to stay in Thailand until 18th December so we had to shoot on a plane to KL (Kuala Lumpar) – this meant we could extend our visa’s for another 30 days and not the standard 14 you get when crossing by land. KL – another Asian city that we didn’t want to be in. Apart from the Protronas towers there is nothing to do. We stayed in China Town , right in the local district which was an experience, our room had no windows which meant we could waste time sleeping for 13 hours – one way to kill time I guess. Back to Phuket…………..!
We flew back in to Phuket again for a few extra days on the beach before heading to Koh Samui, this is where we would be spending Xmas and catching up with Drage.
We took a bloody long bus from Bangkok to Phuket which lasted a total of 21 hours and several pointless stops but this became the norm back in Thailand. We checked in to My Thai guesthouse which was run by an Aussie called Darren and his Thai mrs called Nut. The rooms were good and the daily banter with Darren and the many drinking partners he had in the reception/bar made the time there very enjoyable. We were staying on Patong beach just 5 minutes walk from Bangla road – Bangla road is similar to Walking street in Pattaya, busy, prostitutes everywhere you look and old boys getting involved (if you know what I mean). We spent about a week here getting on the beers (Chang) and “mixing with the locals” .
Myself and Olly took a trip to Coral Island which is roughly an hour away on a speed boat – just south of Phuket. The Island it’s self is a gorgeous palm tree covered island surrounded by crystal white sand and a coral reef just feet away from the shore, it was the first opportunity for us to snorkel so we got in and explored all afternoon.
Our visa’s only allowed us to stay in Thailand until 18th December so we had to shoot on a plane to KL (Kuala Lumpar) – this meant we could extend our visa’s for another 30 days and not the standard 14 you get when crossing by land. KL – another Asian city that we didn’t want to be in. Apart from the Protronas towers there is nothing to do. We stayed in China Town , right in the local district which was an experience, our room had no windows which meant we could waste time sleeping for 13 hours – one way to kill time I guess. Back to Phuket…………..!
We flew back in to Phuket again for a few extra days on the beach before heading to Koh Samui, this is where we would be spending Xmas and catching up with Drage.
Bangkok pt deux
Thailand part deux –
We flew in to Bangkok international for the second time with ease and hit the bus direct to Koh san road again. We checked in to the Green House hotel and dropped the bags of and hit the glorious bars of KSR.
Chang has become our best friend now as it’s so bloody strong and does the job a lot quicker than tiger or Singha. We ended up at Gazeebo roof bar and listened to a Thai band bang out western tunes whilst smoking sheesa and more chang. The bar had a disco so we hit it until the early hours – very early hours. We seem to be attracting a lot of attention from the locals as our style of piss take dancing seems to go down rather well.
A few more nights of Bangkok and we take the 2 hour “easy” bus ride down to Pattaya. We arrive in Pattaya and first impressions are that it’s massively westernised with KFC’s, Maccer’s and Pizza Hut’s all lining the huge over the top hotels.
We are getting much better at finding good guesthouses – or so we thought…….
…… we dropped the bags off at a local guest house and went for food. We returned to freshen up and noticed that the street we had chosen to spend the next few nights on was “boys street”. You learn quick in this part of the world so we just laughed and made sure that when we left the guesthouse each night that we picked up the pace to dodge the lady boys who lie in wait for the fresh meat!
We met one of Dale’s dad’s friends from home (Allan) who was playing tour-gide for our duration in Pattaya, Al lives in Pattaya for half the year and told us that this experience in Pattaya will be an “eye opener” – oh god!
“Alright boys were hitting the Go Go bars” – We started towards our first bar and the crazyness starts. Girls line the street and shout in a wining tone “Weeeelcooooome” and grab all parts of your annatomy to try and get you in to their bar. Once inside you are greeted with unlimited bar games – this sounds like Cambodia again. We get the beers down and head to a few more bars, Al walks a few paces behind with a grin on his face – “welcome to the dark side boys”!
A few days later and we decide it’s time to leave. I am glad I experienced Pattaya but I would never go back. Taxi to Bangkok please!
We flew in to Bangkok international for the second time with ease and hit the bus direct to Koh san road again. We checked in to the Green House hotel and dropped the bags of and hit the glorious bars of KSR.
Chang has become our best friend now as it’s so bloody strong and does the job a lot quicker than tiger or Singha. We ended up at Gazeebo roof bar and listened to a Thai band bang out western tunes whilst smoking sheesa and more chang. The bar had a disco so we hit it until the early hours – very early hours. We seem to be attracting a lot of attention from the locals as our style of piss take dancing seems to go down rather well.
A few more nights of Bangkok and we take the 2 hour “easy” bus ride down to Pattaya. We arrive in Pattaya and first impressions are that it’s massively westernised with KFC’s, Maccer’s and Pizza Hut’s all lining the huge over the top hotels.
We are getting much better at finding good guesthouses – or so we thought…….
…… we dropped the bags off at a local guest house and went for food. We returned to freshen up and noticed that the street we had chosen to spend the next few nights on was “boys street”. You learn quick in this part of the world so we just laughed and made sure that when we left the guesthouse each night that we picked up the pace to dodge the lady boys who lie in wait for the fresh meat!
We met one of Dale’s dad’s friends from home (Allan) who was playing tour-gide for our duration in Pattaya, Al lives in Pattaya for half the year and told us that this experience in Pattaya will be an “eye opener” – oh god!
“Alright boys were hitting the Go Go bars” – We started towards our first bar and the crazyness starts. Girls line the street and shout in a wining tone “Weeeelcooooome” and grab all parts of your annatomy to try and get you in to their bar. Once inside you are greeted with unlimited bar games – this sounds like Cambodia again. We get the beers down and head to a few more bars, Al walks a few paces behind with a grin on his face – “welcome to the dark side boys”!
A few days later and we decide it’s time to leave. I am glad I experienced Pattaya but I would never go back. Taxi to Bangkok please!
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Cambodia
Cambodia - We arrived at Phnom penh after a quick visa check. The frenzy of Tuk Tuk drivers at the bus station was controlled by 12ft high sheets of metal, i guess this is to protect the westerners??? We grabbed the bags and a Tuk Tuk to Angkor International - yet another cheap and clean place to stay. Our driver (Sam) spoke almost perfect English which was strange, I even had to ask if he was Cambodian.
We met Sam again the next day and asked if he could drive us to the killing fields to continue the native learning. A 20 minute ride and we arrived, wow! Sam told us the story of the Khmer rouge killing members of is family which really made us stop ad think. We visited the fields and local detention centre, not the nicest of trips and we had been warned that it was very graphic but we felt we needed to do it.
That night we went out and got on it - shock! We ate like kings again and drank Angkor beer for 30p. We moved from bar to bar and bumped in to a group of Hawaiian's we had met in Na Trang and spent the night getting smashed with them. Myself and Skip ended up in what we thought was a local bar but soon realised it was the local prostitute hide out. Both of us being so smashed we stayed for a bit as it was so funny, Olly and Dale caught up with us and a quote from Olly made the night "i entered the bar to find Skip with 3 local (very good looking women) surrounding him and Steve sat at the bar having the time of his life playing mini pool and connect 4 with Cambodian prostitutes". We soon realised they can't have been prostitutes as they weren't very forward, either that or they were very bad.
The next day we chilled before an 8 hour bus ride to Sihnookville, this was soon to be the best place i think i have ever been to date. We arrived at a $2 guest house which was ok bar the 2 beds we had to share between the 4 of us - hey, you get what you pay for.
The break down of the day goes like this..... Wake up at 11:00 and head for the beach, sit outside "Small but Sweet" bar and chill out to the sound of crashing waves, eat fresh sea food and the best battered chips, then chill before 30p beers and more food, get drunk with Dara (the owner) and repeat for 6 days. I can honestly say this was bliss and both myself and Dale are thinking of going back and working there on or return from Oz.
Dara is a small fat Cambodian with a soprano style tash, he spoke great English but even better was his western style banter. He totally understood our jokes and joined in at any opportunity.
Next day we took another 10 hour bus to Siem Reap where we had been told to visit Angkor What - the most famous temple in SE Asia and built by the Khmer Rouge a while ago. We woke up at 5am to watch the sun rise over the temple from a hill in the distance which we all said was worth getting up for. We chilled in Temple Bar for the next few days playing endless games of pool and drinking local beer. Angkor What bar is crazy and they give you pens to write your name on the wall, at this point i jump on Olly's shoulders to try and get pole position as high as we could, this then turns out to be a war between us and another bunch of lads - a male show of character in front of a group of Aussie girls! We won!!!
We head back to Phnom Pen for a day as we have a flight the next day back to Bangkok, goodbye Cambodia, you have been amazing!
We met Sam again the next day and asked if he could drive us to the killing fields to continue the native learning. A 20 minute ride and we arrived, wow! Sam told us the story of the Khmer rouge killing members of is family which really made us stop ad think. We visited the fields and local detention centre, not the nicest of trips and we had been warned that it was very graphic but we felt we needed to do it.
That night we went out and got on it - shock! We ate like kings again and drank Angkor beer for 30p. We moved from bar to bar and bumped in to a group of Hawaiian's we had met in Na Trang and spent the night getting smashed with them. Myself and Skip ended up in what we thought was a local bar but soon realised it was the local prostitute hide out. Both of us being so smashed we stayed for a bit as it was so funny, Olly and Dale caught up with us and a quote from Olly made the night "i entered the bar to find Skip with 3 local (very good looking women) surrounding him and Steve sat at the bar having the time of his life playing mini pool and connect 4 with Cambodian prostitutes". We soon realised they can't have been prostitutes as they weren't very forward, either that or they were very bad.
The next day we chilled before an 8 hour bus ride to Sihnookville, this was soon to be the best place i think i have ever been to date. We arrived at a $2 guest house which was ok bar the 2 beds we had to share between the 4 of us - hey, you get what you pay for.
The break down of the day goes like this..... Wake up at 11:00 and head for the beach, sit outside "Small but Sweet" bar and chill out to the sound of crashing waves, eat fresh sea food and the best battered chips, then chill before 30p beers and more food, get drunk with Dara (the owner) and repeat for 6 days. I can honestly say this was bliss and both myself and Dale are thinking of going back and working there on or return from Oz.
Dara is a small fat Cambodian with a soprano style tash, he spoke great English but even better was his western style banter. He totally understood our jokes and joined in at any opportunity.
Next day we took another 10 hour bus to Siem Reap where we had been told to visit Angkor What - the most famous temple in SE Asia and built by the Khmer Rouge a while ago. We woke up at 5am to watch the sun rise over the temple from a hill in the distance which we all said was worth getting up for. We chilled in Temple Bar for the next few days playing endless games of pool and drinking local beer. Angkor What bar is crazy and they give you pens to write your name on the wall, at this point i jump on Olly's shoulders to try and get pole position as high as we could, this then turns out to be a war between us and another bunch of lads - a male show of character in front of a group of Aussie girls! We won!!!
We head back to Phnom Pen for a day as we have a flight the next day back to Bangkok, goodbye Cambodia, you have been amazing!
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Vietnam
Right here we go, deep breath.............
We had planned to take the epic bus from Vientiene to Hanoi but after chatting to a few people we decided to take the more expensive option and fly like high rollers. We booked the tickets and within 2 hours we were 30,000ft above Laos and heading for Vietnam.
It seems like a lifetime ago that we were deep in the Thai jungle trekking but that thought was soon brought back to reality when in the seat in front of us were the dutch couple Leoni and Martjin. We now understood that we would bump in to the same people again and again so we traded stories and enjoyed the easiest flight ever.
Gooooooooooooood afternoon Vietnam!!! (yes I actually said that as we landed) We scrambled in to a minibus full of tourists and headed for Central Hanoi.......... Honk Honk bllody Honk! That was the first and last memory of Hanoi, well most of Vietnam it seems. There doesn't seem to be any logical traffic system in place in Vietnam and Hanoi clearly displayed this. The traffic was something to just sit back and embrace, hundreds of motorbikes scream past with inches to spare. We just sat in amazement and watched with our mouths wide open.
We were dropped off at St Andrews church and walked for 2 minutes when we bumped in to another couple we met (Orrin and Emily - an Aussie couple who traveled with us in Laos for about a week). We dived in to Hanoi Central Backpackers and raced to find the best bed in a 16 bed dorm.
Hanoi is crazy busy but amazing to watch which is what we did from the roof of a bar overlooking one of the main junctions in the city center. The following night we hit the water puppets, yes this does sound as strange as it actually was to sit there for an hour and watch puppets race around a pond. The following day and we started the first of our many 13 hour night buses, fist stop was Hue and this was soon to be one of the funniest places so far.
We stopped at Hue early morning and headed straight for a guest house that had been recommended to us. We dropped off the bags and decided this is where we would hire out mopeds - this has got danger written all over it!
Bikes arrive and everyone shotguns the one's with the cool racing stripes, this left Dale with the rather large flower print girls bike. We have a quick lesson and then head off in to the danger zone. Not more than two seconds have past and Dale is in the middle of the road with half the bike on one side looking back at us. Not far off a Jeremy Clarkson lookalike this had to be the single most funny experience we all had since going away, ok we dodged snakes and took on dog season but this was hilarious! The rest of the day was fine bar some minor petrol station crash (Olly) but we all survived and can't wait for the next session of moped madness.
We then endured our next night bus to Hoi An which is the world capital for suit shops. We only spent the day there and headed on the next 13 hour bus ride down to Na Trang.
Na Trang - We checked in to our guest house at 9ish so had most of the day to explore. The beach was no more than 30m from our reception so we stayed stuck on the beach working on our super tans for 7 days - the dream! The local night life was amazing and we mingled with the locals and danced the night away at Sailors Club with hands full with buckets (buckets for anyone that doesn't know (mum) are a small sandcastle like bucket filled with Vodka and a tiny dash of orange). We met Bret and Beth an Aussie couple and hung out with them for most of the night - good laugh, and hope to meet them again in Oz.
Our second to last night at Na Trang was the highlight as Sailors Club were throwing a big beach party. Hands full of beer - we spent the night dancing with a group of Aussie girls we met, Clare, Dee (pole dancer- get in) and Carla. It wasn't long before a dance off broke out but was soon dominated with the Russian Dance, and for good measure a quick tea pot to finish it off, 1-0 to England!
Sigon - Another epic 12 hours on the bus and we hit the busy city of Sigon (HCM) where we chilled for 3 days and did the touristy stuff. We spent the best part of one day at the War museum learning about the Vietnam war which was a real eye opener. Next stop is Cambodia and a quick 4 hour bus ride to the border for visas took up most of the day, bring on Cambodia!
We had planned to take the epic bus from Vientiene to Hanoi but after chatting to a few people we decided to take the more expensive option and fly like high rollers. We booked the tickets and within 2 hours we were 30,000ft above Laos and heading for Vietnam.
It seems like a lifetime ago that we were deep in the Thai jungle trekking but that thought was soon brought back to reality when in the seat in front of us were the dutch couple Leoni and Martjin. We now understood that we would bump in to the same people again and again so we traded stories and enjoyed the easiest flight ever.
Gooooooooooooood afternoon Vietnam!!! (yes I actually said that as we landed) We scrambled in to a minibus full of tourists and headed for Central Hanoi.......... Honk Honk bllody Honk! That was the first and last memory of Hanoi, well most of Vietnam it seems. There doesn't seem to be any logical traffic system in place in Vietnam and Hanoi clearly displayed this. The traffic was something to just sit back and embrace, hundreds of motorbikes scream past with inches to spare. We just sat in amazement and watched with our mouths wide open.
We were dropped off at St Andrews church and walked for 2 minutes when we bumped in to another couple we met (Orrin and Emily - an Aussie couple who traveled with us in Laos for about a week). We dived in to Hanoi Central Backpackers and raced to find the best bed in a 16 bed dorm.
Hanoi is crazy busy but amazing to watch which is what we did from the roof of a bar overlooking one of the main junctions in the city center. The following night we hit the water puppets, yes this does sound as strange as it actually was to sit there for an hour and watch puppets race around a pond. The following day and we started the first of our many 13 hour night buses, fist stop was Hue and this was soon to be one of the funniest places so far.
We stopped at Hue early morning and headed straight for a guest house that had been recommended to us. We dropped off the bags and decided this is where we would hire out mopeds - this has got danger written all over it!
Bikes arrive and everyone shotguns the one's with the cool racing stripes, this left Dale with the rather large flower print girls bike. We have a quick lesson and then head off in to the danger zone. Not more than two seconds have past and Dale is in the middle of the road with half the bike on one side looking back at us. Not far off a Jeremy Clarkson lookalike this had to be the single most funny experience we all had since going away, ok we dodged snakes and took on dog season but this was hilarious! The rest of the day was fine bar some minor petrol station crash (Olly) but we all survived and can't wait for the next session of moped madness.
We then endured our next night bus to Hoi An which is the world capital for suit shops. We only spent the day there and headed on the next 13 hour bus ride down to Na Trang.
Na Trang - We checked in to our guest house at 9ish so had most of the day to explore. The beach was no more than 30m from our reception so we stayed stuck on the beach working on our super tans for 7 days - the dream! The local night life was amazing and we mingled with the locals and danced the night away at Sailors Club with hands full with buckets (buckets for anyone that doesn't know (mum) are a small sandcastle like bucket filled with Vodka and a tiny dash of orange). We met Bret and Beth an Aussie couple and hung out with them for most of the night - good laugh, and hope to meet them again in Oz.
Our second to last night at Na Trang was the highlight as Sailors Club were throwing a big beach party. Hands full of beer - we spent the night dancing with a group of Aussie girls we met, Clare, Dee (pole dancer- get in) and Carla. It wasn't long before a dance off broke out but was soon dominated with the Russian Dance, and for good measure a quick tea pot to finish it off, 1-0 to England!
Sigon - Another epic 12 hours on the bus and we hit the busy city of Sigon (HCM) where we chilled for 3 days and did the touristy stuff. We spent the best part of one day at the War museum learning about the Vietnam war which was a real eye opener. Next stop is Cambodia and a quick 4 hour bus ride to the border for visas took up most of the day, bring on Cambodia!
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Laos
Not sure where I left off but we were in Thailand and heading towards the border at Chaing Kong. We spent the night in some plush villa style sheds and then set off for the epic 2 day slow boat down the Mekong river.
We met some great people on the boat, 2 girls called Tracey and Rachel and a couple, Orren (Aussie) and Emily. The slow boat was great and the views from the vally were like something out of Jarassic Park - epic! We stayed in Pakbang for a night then hit the Thai Wisky on the boat for the second day - very wrong but verry funny.
We hit the shore of Louang Pabang (spelling is wrong) and drank with the girls and played pool by the river, very peacefull town and the Laos people really take care of you. We chilled out here for a couple of days and took a trip to the local waterfall, what can I say...........amazing! (starting to overuse this word now)
The waterfall spring is located 60m above the lime stone cliff and drops in to a series of plunge pools which act as a cool spa. Hours were spent here diving from a smaller 5m cliff (rock) and swinging from the rope swing.
Vang Viang -
After a 5 hour bus ride (which is nothing now as we are hardened travellers) we hit the crazy town of Vang Viang!!!
This is the tubing capital of the world (please youtube it) and it's the most fun we have had so far. You are given an old tracktor innertube and take a short tuk tuk ride 4km up the river to the first bar. You drop your tube at the side and set down the river. We had been warned of horror stories from locals about drinking and tubing (sounds strange i know) but that didn't stop us from getting smashed on Beer Lao and Thai whisky. We swang from the trees with beers in hand and hit the warter with force. Lao locals swing ropes out in to the river and pull you in to their bar. You drink, dance, dive back in the river and off to the next one. Dale is still covered in bruses and I swear the cannonball from the 30ft dive board has broken my coxix. It hurts soooooooo much!
We loved tubing so much that we cancelled our bus ticket and stayed another night and did it again the following day, hung over but still game. Myself and Olly decided to just swim thistime, how hard can it be if you have a beer in your hand???
I found out the hard way and consumed about my body weight in Mekong river water. Thankfully Eve, a northern stranger from the drak saved me. Oh when i said saved me I kind of dominated her tube and kicked her out. She made the final part of the day as I had almost thought it couldn't get much more entertaining.
Note= drinking and tubing adfter dark results in river snakes swiming no more than 10ft past you! - shit!
We now deserve a break from the beers so end up chilling in Vientiane which is the capital but not much to do, avoid coming here if you don't want to shop.
Next stop is Vietnam, we are moving quick and covering a lot of ground but so far it is working out ok.
Oh did i mention we have a 24 hour bus ride to takle first....... it's fine we are hardened travellers! fingers crossed the bandits don't demand money!!!
We met some great people on the boat, 2 girls called Tracey and Rachel and a couple, Orren (Aussie) and Emily. The slow boat was great and the views from the vally were like something out of Jarassic Park - epic! We stayed in Pakbang for a night then hit the Thai Wisky on the boat for the second day - very wrong but verry funny.
We hit the shore of Louang Pabang (spelling is wrong) and drank with the girls and played pool by the river, very peacefull town and the Laos people really take care of you. We chilled out here for a couple of days and took a trip to the local waterfall, what can I say...........amazing! (starting to overuse this word now)
The waterfall spring is located 60m above the lime stone cliff and drops in to a series of plunge pools which act as a cool spa. Hours were spent here diving from a smaller 5m cliff (rock) and swinging from the rope swing.
Vang Viang -
After a 5 hour bus ride (which is nothing now as we are hardened travellers) we hit the crazy town of Vang Viang!!!
This is the tubing capital of the world (please youtube it) and it's the most fun we have had so far. You are given an old tracktor innertube and take a short tuk tuk ride 4km up the river to the first bar. You drop your tube at the side and set down the river. We had been warned of horror stories from locals about drinking and tubing (sounds strange i know) but that didn't stop us from getting smashed on Beer Lao and Thai whisky. We swang from the trees with beers in hand and hit the warter with force. Lao locals swing ropes out in to the river and pull you in to their bar. You drink, dance, dive back in the river and off to the next one. Dale is still covered in bruses and I swear the cannonball from the 30ft dive board has broken my coxix. It hurts soooooooo much!
We loved tubing so much that we cancelled our bus ticket and stayed another night and did it again the following day, hung over but still game. Myself and Olly decided to just swim thistime, how hard can it be if you have a beer in your hand???
I found out the hard way and consumed about my body weight in Mekong river water. Thankfully Eve, a northern stranger from the drak saved me. Oh when i said saved me I kind of dominated her tube and kicked her out. She made the final part of the day as I had almost thought it couldn't get much more entertaining.
Note= drinking and tubing adfter dark results in river snakes swiming no more than 10ft past you! - shit!
We now deserve a break from the beers so end up chilling in Vientiane which is the capital but not much to do, avoid coming here if you don't want to shop.
Next stop is Vietnam, we are moving quick and covering a lot of ground but so far it is working out ok.
Oh did i mention we have a 24 hour bus ride to takle first....... it's fine we are hardened travellers! fingers crossed the bandits don't demand money!!!
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Asia - First week!
Flight was amazing!!! Qantas you provide the best rug to keep me warm whilst I sleep for 9 of the 12 hours we flew - good times! Landed at Bangkok International and from the second you get out side the sweating starts. Jumped on a bus and headed straight for Koh San Road and found a $6 a night guest house, its not that bad honest (we are looking for cheaper) we even had air con (cheating a little I know).
Breakfast - walked the length of Koh San Road and couldn't decide where to eat........so we found the worst place ever and decided to eat. WARNING! - Do Not Eat Eggs! - so Olly got stuck in!
Subsequentially he then spent the next few days in the toilet (both ends) enough said!
Beer time and at 80p a pint you can't go wrong - hangover to follow!
Spent day 2 nailing it arount Bangkok on tuk tuk's, traffic is crazy but the most fun to be had in smelly, over polluted Bangkok! Weather is mentaly humid and sun was hidden for the most of our time here but this was a good thing. Hit the beers loads and had some funny nights out, crazy festival which ended in us all having our faces projected on a screen to a packed Koh San Road, drunk and dancing like a fool, all fun. Beers finish and noodles on the way home (no Chick O Land for me) and the prospect of 3 hours sleep befor our fist of many trains!
Woke up at 5am and had to get to the train station. Train lasted 1hr 30 and then stopped Ayutthaya where we had 12 hours to kill. WORST TIME SO FAR!!!
We drove around the city and did about 5 temples (all templed out now) we now had about 9 hours to kill but were not counting. Spent most of it at the train station stairing at the clock covered in lizards and playing cards (woo is useless).
Trying to keep cool and the day was sooooo sweaty, sun was out and humidity was at it's peak. We found a small bar down the road and the Thai bar owner was amazing, gave us a good laugh playing tricks on Dale and Skippy!
All aboard the night train!!! - managed to get on the night train and travelled 13 hours to Chaing Mai, it's so much nicer up here, still hot but bit more of a breeze as we are up in the jungle style mountians.
Going to the Thai boxing this eve and then up at 8:00 to go on a three day treck. We start at Chaing Mai and then shoot north in a truck with a load of other people, we then treck on foot for 3 hours and swim in the water fall. From here we treck some more and then crash in one of the villages in some small huts (please no spiders).
Return form epic jungle treck and what can I say, the people are amazing and hope we can see them again at some point. Treckking was hard but the rewards are swwet, swimming in the warterfall and diving off rocks made it all worth while.
Day two of the treck was the hardest but the views form our local Thai village shack were out of this world. Our vie across the mountians was something I won't forget in a while, we what seemed like the peak looking down over the valley, amazing.
Note= if you plan on the jungle treck then three days is the most rewarding however, do not go when it's "dog season". Female dogs come in to season and the village is a wash of dogs all looking for that piece of the action. The dogs howell and bark all night long, fighting underneath the shack as you try to sleep. 5 am and you think the music is over, jog on, it's time for the roosters to kick off the early morning wake up call,not fun!
Back in Chaing Mai and Maccers is the first stop, rice was good but 8 day of it have now pressured me in to this decision.
Oh my god! Maccers Thai style couldn't have been any more rewarding, quad burger with super fries.job done!
Following day and sleep is on the menu after our time in dogsville! Once awake it's off to the snake farm, trust me it's worth going just to see a grown man cry, well almost (woo woo).
We are off for a few beers this eve and an early night as we have a 5 hour drive to the border where we will then have a 2 day boat ride down the river in to Laos!
Breakfast - walked the length of Koh San Road and couldn't decide where to eat........so we found the worst place ever and decided to eat. WARNING! - Do Not Eat Eggs! - so Olly got stuck in!
Subsequentially he then spent the next few days in the toilet (both ends) enough said!
Beer time and at 80p a pint you can't go wrong - hangover to follow!
Spent day 2 nailing it arount Bangkok on tuk tuk's, traffic is crazy but the most fun to be had in smelly, over polluted Bangkok! Weather is mentaly humid and sun was hidden for the most of our time here but this was a good thing. Hit the beers loads and had some funny nights out, crazy festival which ended in us all having our faces projected on a screen to a packed Koh San Road, drunk and dancing like a fool, all fun. Beers finish and noodles on the way home (no Chick O Land for me) and the prospect of 3 hours sleep befor our fist of many trains!
Woke up at 5am and had to get to the train station. Train lasted 1hr 30 and then stopped Ayutthaya where we had 12 hours to kill. WORST TIME SO FAR!!!
We drove around the city and did about 5 temples (all templed out now) we now had about 9 hours to kill but were not counting. Spent most of it at the train station stairing at the clock covered in lizards and playing cards (woo is useless).
Trying to keep cool and the day was sooooo sweaty, sun was out and humidity was at it's peak. We found a small bar down the road and the Thai bar owner was amazing, gave us a good laugh playing tricks on Dale and Skippy!
All aboard the night train!!! - managed to get on the night train and travelled 13 hours to Chaing Mai, it's so much nicer up here, still hot but bit more of a breeze as we are up in the jungle style mountians.
Going to the Thai boxing this eve and then up at 8:00 to go on a three day treck. We start at Chaing Mai and then shoot north in a truck with a load of other people, we then treck on foot for 3 hours and swim in the water fall. From here we treck some more and then crash in one of the villages in some small huts (please no spiders).
Return form epic jungle treck and what can I say, the people are amazing and hope we can see them again at some point. Treckking was hard but the rewards are swwet, swimming in the warterfall and diving off rocks made it all worth while.
Day two of the treck was the hardest but the views form our local Thai village shack were out of this world. Our vie across the mountians was something I won't forget in a while, we what seemed like the peak looking down over the valley, amazing.
Note= if you plan on the jungle treck then three days is the most rewarding however, do not go when it's "dog season". Female dogs come in to season and the village is a wash of dogs all looking for that piece of the action. The dogs howell and bark all night long, fighting underneath the shack as you try to sleep. 5 am and you think the music is over, jog on, it's time for the roosters to kick off the early morning wake up call,not fun!
Back in Chaing Mai and Maccers is the first stop, rice was good but 8 day of it have now pressured me in to this decision.
Oh my god! Maccers Thai style couldn't have been any more rewarding, quad burger with super fries.job done!
Following day and sleep is on the menu after our time in dogsville! Once awake it's off to the snake farm, trust me it's worth going just to see a grown man cry, well almost (woo woo).
We are off for a few beers this eve and an early night as we have a 5 hour drive to the border where we will then have a 2 day boat ride down the river in to Laos!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)