Chiang Mai

Decided to get the train to Chiang Mai, considering our lack of luck with busses this trip, but even that ended up taking forever! It was well worth the journey though, our 5 days in N. Thailand were brilliant, we did so much and had such a great time. The city itself was really lovely, lots to do and lots of things to see, there were loads of temples there but as we have been in Asia for 3 months now, we were a bit templed out! The markets were pretty fun in Chiang Mai, so busy though, the Sunday walking street market was insane no one could move!

One of the days here I really wanted to do a Thai cookery course, it was absolutely amazing! I had no idea I could cook that well, all the food was so tasty, and I made spring rolls from scratch! So everyone is invited for a Thai extravaganza round mine when we get home! Ben on the other hand didn’t want to join me in my uber-fun cooking class so he had a “Boy Day” – he rented a big motorbike and went for this 100 mile ride through the nearby mountains and played golf, he had a really good day but I personally think he missed out. It’s probably so I have to do all our cooking when we get home!

On New Years Eve we had one of the best days ever – elephant mahout training! It was so amazing, we had an elephant each, a big girl called Toka and her gorgeous 4 year old son called Dodo. They were so beautiful, at the beginning we were a tad scared just because they were so big and powerful, but it didn’t take long at all to get used to them – especially with little Dodo giving you kisses all the time!

We spent the whole day with them, learning how to ride and command them, they were so well trained and really well treated – no hooks or anything were used just voice and leg controls, it was really lovely. We took them for a ride through the jungle (stopping to eat every 2 mins because those things can eat like you wouldn’t believe), then at the end of our little ride we took them to the river for bath time, it was unbelievable, my favorite part of the day. They were so beautiful in the water, and little Dodo was playing with Toka squirting water out his trunk at us, he was such a character, just like a naughty little 4 year old!

It was horrible at the end of the day; I didn’t want to leave them at all. I could have happily stayed there for weeks with them, they were just so beautiful, really was one of the best days of the whole trip.

The rest of our time in Chiang Mai we did a few half day trips, we went to this place called Tiger Kingdom where you could go in with the tigers and hold them etc. Ben and I chose to go in with the baby tigers, they were so cute and fluffy and had these big paws to grow in to. We only had about 15 mins with them but it was really fun none the less.

One day Ben convinced me to this stupid motorbike ride he did the other day, it was ok but the actual riding I could have done without! We did stop at these cool waterfalls though which were really nice, loads of different levels and cascades you could walk up to (all the Thai’s were picnicking there, it was a really beautiful setting).

Bangkok - Part 1

No big surprise that our 5 hour journey to Bangkok took 10 hours, but we did have a bus crash so I can’t complain too much! Bangkok is absolutely massive; we haven’t been in a city like this since Beijing so I was really excited. We found a pretty decent hotel and as it was late we grabbed a quick bite to eat and called it a night, lots more exploring to do in the next couple of days – we’re only having a 2 day stopover this time though before heading to Chiang Mai, when we come back from Laos we will stay much longer!

We spent the two days basically getting to know the city, wandering down Kohsan Rd and exploring the different markets (sussing out what to buy our next visit!). We went out with a couple of friends we made on Koh Chang in the evenings, which was really nice, there are so many good places to eat in Bangkok, it is definitely not the holiday destination if you are on a diet or are a recovering shopaholic!

Christmas on Koh Chang!

After a nice 14 hour ride we finally arrive in Koh Chang (Northern island in the Gulf of Thailand). It was quite late at night so we just made our way to our bungalow in the area of Bang Bao, really beautiful spot over looking the sea but the bungalows were so so so basic, no bathroom, just basically a wooded shack with a bed in it, pretty funny!

 

We had 2 nights booked here but I decided I needed at least a bathroom in my room so we went looking for more suitable accommodation. We met a nice Polish couple who were also moving from the bungalows and they gave us the information for this place 10 mins up the road called Gu’s Bay. So we went to check it out and it was just what we wanted, even with a pool!!! Great vibe there too, loads of backpackers just having a ace time, it was really cool.

 

We went on a ‘Gu’s Bay Boat Trip’ one day, which was a really cool day. The snorkeling was really impressive, loads of fish – scary! We then stopped at this deserted island and swam to the beach, white coral sand beach and turquoise waters, it was really beautiful, met some cool people on the trip who were staying at Gu’s, had a great Koh Change family vibe for the rest of our time on the island.

 

It was Christmas while we were on the island, which was lovely. We managed to have two Christmas dinners, one on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas day, the one on Christmas day was so good – all the trimmings including cranberry sauce! We had a big night out on Christmas Eve thanks to me looking after our money and thinking ‘buckets’ were a good idea! It was a great night though topped off with a moonlight dip in the pool.

 

Koh Chang was a really fantastic place to have Christmas, it’s a really lovely island, and we had such a great time there – I was really sad to leave!

Siem Reap and Angkor!

Siem Reap was really amazing – I can see why it’s the number 1 tourist destination in Cambodia. The town itself has such a good vibe, there is loads going on and excellent restaurants, the only drawback is that it’s a little bit expensive, but then what can you expect. Ben and I spent a couple of days cycling and wondering around the town, including visiting the markets to buy each other secret Christmas prezzies. There were loads of places to get cheap massages so we had a foot massage and a back massage - we also both got fish massages! It was so funny, such a weird sensation to have fish sucking at your feet, we were both in hysterics!

 

The temples of Angkor were absolutely amazing! We started off our temple tour the night before where we were taken to this temple on top of a hill to watch the sunset, it was really busy but worth it. Then it was the real deal the following day – We started with the biggy, Angkor Wat. It was as spectacular as I expected, we had a great few hours exploring the temple, then in the outer grounds Ben get attacked by a monkey (I know I shouldn’t have laughed but it was hilarious!!!).

 

We then spent the rest of the day visiting the other main temples in the complex, Angkor Thom and the Bayon temple was great, enclosed in these huge walls and most of the temples had faces carved in to them – all the main temples were really unique so it was really fun exploring the different layouts etc.

We saw a few other smaller temples that day and one last big one, which was my favorite of the whole lot. The temple itself wasn’t the impressive thing it was all the mangrove trees which have grown up and over the temple giving it a really mystical and jungle feel about the temple. It looked so impressive, and it was where they filmed Tomb Raider so I felt just like Lara Croft!

"Give me money mister!"

That was our last stop in Cambodia unfortunately and we decided to have a big change of plans, instead of going in to Laos from the South, We decided to do 2 weeks in Thailand first then go in to Laos from Northern Thailand – So next stop Koh Chang, Thailand.

Phnom Penh

After another slow bus ride we arrive in the capitol of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Unfortunately we only had 1 full day to spend here, we would have liked to have stayed longer but we had to move on. So we decided to spend our day visiting all the Khymer Rouge sites in the city, a really tough day, such a sad history and to think it was only the 1970’s that all this terror happened. We started by going to the killing fields just outside of the city – it’s hard to imagine that so many people were killed in this quiet field with old orchard trees growing everywhere, although it’s a brutal visit I’m really glad we went to remember all the victims. We also visited the S-21 prison in the city, an old school turned in to a prison and torture centre by the Khymer Rouge, very sad and eerie place; it was a really brutal day.

The rest of our time in PP we just wondered around the city and looked around some markets etc and we saw an elephant walking down the road in the evening – I was very excited! PP was a really nice city, great architecture and culture; I would definitely recommend staying a couple of days there.

Sihanoukville

We ventured down the Cambodian coast to the seaside resort town of Sihanoukville. Really nice place but so many people, tourists everywhere and loads of locals selling stuff on the beach etc, not the ideal place if you wanted a quiet time. Ben and I liked it a lot though, we got massages on the beach and Ben got a manicure and pedicure (hehe)! We were staying in a really nice guest house ran by British people with some great food, so we had a really nice few days there.

The beaches were really great, we went to a quieter beach one day and we also did a one day boat trip to a few different islands, on our way we saw some dolphins and flying fish – they can fly for ages! The snorkeling was really cool, Ben took the piss out of me because I wanted to use a life jacket but I was having a whale of a time bobbing about on top of the sea watching the fish (pun slightly intended)! It was a great day and after a sufficient amount of sunburn we headed back for ample aftersun applications and dinner. We really spent the rest of our time on the beaches and swimming – although we did find a place that did great fish and chips, British style!

Special!

Kep and the start of Cambodia!

So our first stop in our third country - Kep, Cambodia. We arrive there after a long and painful border crossing and a near death mini bus experience with 2 cows and come to this quiet tranquil little town, nothing like I expected. It is such a chilled out little place on the sea, we were staying in these bungalows over looking a beautiful sunset, a really nice place to spend a couple of days.

 

During our time there we mainly relaxed by a pool or on the terraces, we found the people to be so friendly though, it was amazing - everyone just kept saying "Welcome to Cambodia", it was really nice. We also did a lot of driving around on the moped to see all the old french villas that were bombed in the 1970's war, we also drove 20km or so to the next town, Kampot - we really had to do this as it was the closest ATM and we needed money but it turned out to be a really nice drive. All over SE Asia they have these make shift petrol stations on the sides of the road with petrol in Pepsi bottles etc - really cool:

Cambodia's high-tech petrol stations!