F*&%ing Good Birthday Bucket

On Friday we were delighted to find out that the Irish couple, Justin and Veronica, had, by coincidence, arrived in Ko Pha Nagn and were staying in the same apartments as us. After our emotional reunion, Silvia and I went to the beach we had been on with the sunset on our first night for the last time (boo hoo) and soaked up every minute of it. By this time it had really become real that we actually had to leave Thailand some time, whereas before it had felt like we had all the time in the world......

Justin and Veronica met us for some beers at sunset where Silvia got very friendly with a dog (see picture)!!! We all sat on the beach and watched the sun go down.....it was just as beautiful as the first night :) After some good banter and a couple of Changs (6.2% thank you very much, whoa, almost like Belgian beer!) we headed into town on Justin and Veronica's motorbikes for a cheap dinner (we had to be careful as our funds were dwindling and we had to save money for the night's drinks as it was hoped it was going to be a big one for my birthday.... 28 after all!!!).

After the meal we went and had a "Bucket" (see picture) (you choose a quarter bottle of any spirit and team it with any mixer, its huge, a bucketfull, in fact!) on the Full Moon Beach. Justin and Veronica bought me the "Birthday Bucket", which was lethal (as far as I know it was Thai whisky, red bull and something else), and Silvia bought me some orchids (see picture). Apparently you can't leave Ko Pha Nagn without having a bucket or a garland, its a crime. A t midnight, Justin got the bar staff to come and sing happy birthday to me, although they weren't happy about it, they looked positively terrified!!! I appreciated their efforts though!!!!

We returned to our apartments only to find it looking like an MTV Spring Break Celebration. Girls in their bikini's at the poolside with beers in their hands. As Silvia and I are a little more reserved, we opted to jump into the pool with our clothes on after having guzzled a beer (see picture post jump). Aftersome dancing (and more beers) we decided to go for a swim in the sea... probably not a good idea given the amount of alcohol we had consumed, but it seemed like a great idea at the time! I ended up with pins and needles in my hands and feet, but it was worth it. Went to our beds at 5 and slept through to 9.30 due to the fact that we had to get up to catch the ferry to the mainland to make our way back to Bangkok. Given the previous nights shenannigans, I spent the first few hours of being 28 feeling positively wretched and throwing up in the toilet on the boat - horrendous is the only way to describe it. Quite a contrast to the night before :) Hello year 28.

Beach Babies and Film Buffs

On Tuesday night we walked into town to check out what Ko Pha-Ngan - tho it wasnt easy, we must have asked about half the people in the hostel how to get there and they just kept on telling us that the restaurant was in the hotel, it was like the twilight zone - had to offer. Finally we found an English speaker who told us we could walk it in 10 minutes so we headed off along the dirt track in the dark (yes, very safe!) and into town.

After thankfully arriving on the Full Moon Beach safe and sound we went in search of something to eat, and found that every restaurant was playing movies and even more exciting for me, Friends non stop (see picture) !!! So we settled in a restuarant which was playing "Knocked Up" and had dinner. We went for a massage afterwards, which turned out to be one of the best ones we had had on the whole trip. After that we went back to watch "The Breakup"at 23.00 in the same bar (as we had been being grandmas for the past few nights and figured we could stay up past midnight and not turn into pumpkins) Although we figured that they didnt really want us to be there as the barstaff kept on talking really loudly and we had to move 3 times so that we could hear the film!!

On Wednesday we decided to go to the Full Moon Beach during the day as it had seemed so beautiful the night before. We weren't disappointed (see picture). Its amazing, clear blue water, soft sand and cliffs as the backdrop. Its a wonder how they keep it so nice with all the parties that go on there..... We had breakfast in a cafe that showed Friends non stop and ended up staying for about 5 episodes as its so addicitive....

After the beach we went to watch another film (we were really getting into it - film buffs now!) but couldnt find anything we wanted to watch and ended up being lured into a bar with buy one get one free cocktails on happy hour (although it was happy hour all night, so I dont think you can really call it happy hour - more happy night) which was playing films, but they were all really rubbish. We ended up spending 1200 Baht, of which only 120 was for food. You can only imagine the consequences (see picture).

On Thursday we went to the Full Moon Beach again and to the same place for breakfast and Friends and then went for one beer (which was difficult given that we had drank the bar dry the previous night) at this chill out bar after our tanning. The owners were all totally stoned, but very nice nevertheless :) We then went and watched Juno, covering our eyes as we passed the bar with the happy hour cocktails. A quiet night, but all in good preparation for birthday night and the pool party at our apartments the following day....

The three S's......Sunburn, seafood and sunsets!!!

On our first day in Ko Samui on Friday we just chilled out, slept a bit and went for a nice dinner (see picture). We scouted the main street for bargains initially, but settled on a rather pricey seafood menu, as we felt that we had been through the mill to get there and that we deserved it. We were served by the nicest waiter, from Burma. He was so sweet. A bit different from the Belgian customer service we're used to!!! We had lobster, king prawns, crab, squid, clams, red mullet and a few carafe's of white wine - was amazing!!! After that we just had a beer to round off the night and went to bed - all that eating and drinking took it out of us!!

On Saturday morning we had breakfast by the sea and hit the beach. It was boiling and it became apparent by about 16.00 that I, Amy, was EXTREMELY burnt. I rushed to a cold shower to minimise the damage and Silvia got some aftersun. You could have cooked eggs on my thighs. While I was suffering, Silvia was socialising with some French guys we had met on the beach. They said that they were going to a party on the beach later that night so we met them after we had dinner. I was still very much in pain but I persevered for the sake of a bucket of red bull and thai whisky :) Silvia didnt sleep a wink that night as a result of all the caffeine!

I spent a sleepless night that night on account of my sunburn and stayed in the room all day the following, watching channel V (asia's MTV), while Silvia stayed on the beach with the French guys. It was lucky we met them- especially as they gave me some super powerful cream for sunburn which I think really saved me from it being much much worse!

On Sunday night we went for dinner on the beach with the French guys. It was so picturesque. We had tiger prawns and squid, which was weighed according to how much we wanted. During the meal we were under attack from some idiots setting off fireworks however, so it wasnt quite as relaxing as we had hoped! There were also little mini crabs running about our feet.... I thought they were quite cute, but Silvia was not so impressed :)

After our meal we went to the market, where you can buy all sorts of crap and tat, but we didn't buy anything, we were just there for the snakes. Big massive phythons, which somehow, impossibly, Silvia did not see and asked where they were afterwards......

The night was rounded off with a Singha beer in an Irish pub (see picture), accompanied by live music, such as "Zombie" and "Dont Look back in Anger". Oh so exotic.

We were meant to travel to Ko Pag Nan on the Monday but as my sunburn was still pretty painful, we decided it would be best to stay another day. Luckily the French guys were still there, so Silvia was not left on her own on the beach :) Luckily for her though, the French guys spotted a famous French TV chef (whose name unfortunately escapes us) presenting on the beach by our hotel. We were clearly staying in a very classy establishment :)

As the burn was getting better though, we went for lunch, played a few games of cards with Sylvain, one of the French guys and took some pictures of the beach (see picture). Once they left we decided to have a little swim. This was the first time in the water for me, Amy, since that fateful Saturday..... and it turned out to be our most favourite moment of the trip so far. The sunset was beautiful and the atmosphere like nothing we had experienced before. Very magical! After that we went for a cheap dinner, but which was possibly one of the best we have had in Thailand up until now. It looked like the Thai version of a European beer hall and was packed, but the food was amazing. Although once again, the food proved to be too spicy for Silvia's delicate stomach :)

We set off for Ko Pag Nan on Tuesday morning. It took only 30 minutes and we were on the beach by 14.30. We had a lilttle bit of beach all to ourseleves, which had one fo the best sunsets we have ever seen (see picture). Watching it, we had a beer and marvelled at the sight. Our accomodation is on Sunset Beach (hence the sunset!) and is a bit shabby, but full of young people and has good food and even holds pool parties :)

Farewell Mekong, Hello Samui!

We arrived in Nong Khai on Thursday and took a tuk tuk straight to our guest house. Sadly our first impressions of of the place were less than good. It seemed to be a bit of a dump and we found ourselves wondering why the Lonely Planet had told us that it was a "charming place where travellers find themselves staying longer than expected". Fortunately however, when we arrived at the guesthouse we were pleasantly surprised :) The staff were lovely, the accommodation and food were cheap and it lay right alongside the Mekong River (we will never be rid of that river.....). We had to move rooms to start off with though as they seemed to be building something right outside our window, and after the night we had just had on the bus we really needed some well deserved shut eye! We were later allocated a super romantic, beach-type shack with a four poster bed :) Bit more expensive (8 euros) but it was worth it! And it had a mosquito net! Good job though, as as it was we got eaten alive - we had about 20 bites between us by the time we left....

Our one night stay in Nong Khai consisted of not very much. It rained on our first afternoon (see video). We ate, slept, drank beer, talked to these two German girls we met, Elke and Anna, and went on a few walks up the promenade (see picture). There was a 21st birthday party on for one of the girls who worked at the guest house and we were invited, but we were so shattered we just went to bed - we are party central. We were just looking forward to getting on the overnight train to Bangkok the following day in order to take our flight to Koh Samui :)

We arrived to catch our train at 19.00 at just after 18.00 only to find out that the travel agency in Luang Phrabang had told us the wrong time of the train. We were really anxious so we thought we better just get on the train; it had already arrived. However, the guard took one look at our tickets and refused to let us on. He said we should have got on in Vientienne in Laos, at the border. We pleaded and pleaded with him to let us on, saying that we had paid almost 4000 Bath for the tickets (around 80 euros, which is A LOT of money in Thailand) we were both almost crying (Silvia did an especially impressive performance - I, Silvia, was born to be an actress ...), but he just said no. In the end a random guy said he would help us and got us two tickets, and we jumped on the train not with a second to spare.

When we looked at the tickets he gave us we discovered that we had two different ones, one 3rd class (you are practically travelling with the animals) and one 2nd class, which was a bed. We were so depressed. We had another 13 hours to go on the train and we didnt want to split up and go in separate seats. 3rd class was actually quite scary and we couldn't have slept because we couldn't leave our stuff because it could have got stolen. It was the lowest moment of the trip. We just felt ripped off, empty and tired. I just wanted to go home.

After a while of just staring out the window at nothing in particular, we decided to try and speak to someone about what had happened. We took our stuff to the 2nd class and found a guard, who luckily spoke some English and was willing to listen to us. We were outraged that there were two beds sitting there in 1st class with our names on, but that we just weren't allowed to get on because we didnt get on in Laos.

The guard let us sit in the little compartment between the carriages and listened while we told him what happened. Then another person came along, and another, and another. It seemed the whole train knew what had happened to us. We couldnt understand what they were saying, but we got the gist. Or so we thought. The guard then went on to tell us that we had been ripped off by the travel agency that we had bought the tickets from in Luang Phrabang. Our ticket wasn't real and they had told us the wrong time of the train so that we would have missed it and never been any the wiser, because we would never have tried to get on the train. We were gutted. There was no bed for one of us. In the end the guard told us we could share one bed if we paid him about 5oo Bath. We accepted as we already felt awful and squeezed ourselves into a bed less than the size of a single one. The night was helped along by a few Singas and tiredness, but we were so upset about the whole situation it took us a while to get to sleep.

We thankfully arrived in Bangkok safe and sound however and made our way to the airport in what can possibly be described as the most terrifying taxi ride of our lives - seriously this guy was a car crash waiting to happen, I was RAGING at him, especially considering the events of the past evening.

Once we arrived in Koh Samui we had left our troubles behind (see picture). The flight was great and the airport is amazing. It has only been open for 2 weeks. Our hotel is amazing, everything is amazing! We are right on the beach (a bit pricy but we think we deserve it!). See the picture for the towels arranged on our bed when we arrived!

Just a quick note on the flight: the service provided by Bangkok Airlines was excellent, we could wait to check in in the lounge area, with internet connection, papers and food (I, Silvia, ate so much, while Amy was staring at me wondering how I could possibly feel hungry after the slice of panettone and 2 sandwiches with cappuccino I had had at the train station .... ). For the first time in my life I could see Amy happy about flying ... Actually the flight was just 40 minutes, just the time to eat (again!!) and we were there already :)

Meltdown

Amy has decided to empower me and here I am, giving my contribution to this blog. Till now, Amy was the poet and I was the photo reporter, but now the roles have apparently swapped!!! Amy has actually discovered the wonders of video taking and she seems to enjoy herself with this, even when she takes videos of the rain!! Although, I must admit that the torrential rain deserves to be reported!!

Our stay in Luang Prabang began on Sunday. We found a lovely guest house where the owner spoke perfect French (Laos used to be a French colony) and he seemed really glad to have us around just for the chat. Within a couple of minutes he had told us his life story. We had a fabulous dinner (see picture) at the restaurant in the main - and really, only - street, I (Silvia) had the biggest fish ever and it was extremely good!!! All for less than 10 Euros (ah, I forgot to mention before, in Laos the money is really weird, we keep on having to calculate over and over again what is what and this is crazy. 1 Euro is 50 Bath in Thailand and 1 Euro is 12000 Kip in Laos … it is sooo confusing and banknotes are soo dirty, honestly you have to wash your hands every time you touch one. They look like they were issued in the 1800s or even before!!!).

Anyway life in Luang Prabang was really cool, just all about walks, relaxing, massages and a bit of stress when booking flights/trains! We had a bit of a hassle trying to get back to Bangkok, which was not welcome after having to cancel our trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia due to the flight from Vientienne to there being fully booked. We were told that all the overnight trains to Bangkok this Thursday night were fully booked and, according to a travel agent, we would have had to stay in Luang Phrabang until next Monday … no way! We can't wait to get to the beaches so that would have been terrible!! So, luckily after some negotiation with another travel agent, we booked flights to Bangkok, the overnight train from Nong Khai to Bangkok and, the most terrifying, an overnight bus from Luang Phrabang to Vientienne.

As Luang Prabang is really small, so we went for a walk on the Monday (see picture) and discovered a lovely side of the town, with plenty of colonial buildings, lovely colors, and nice cafes, such as one called Tamarind, which served traditional Loatian cuisine, really nice. I had a refreshing tea (Amy had a watermelon and chilli drink thing - differrent anyway....) and then climbed up the hill to the top of the village from which you can admire the Mekong River at sunset. Really really nice … apart from the fact that on the way down we bumped into the biggest scorpion even seen on Planet Earth!!! (see picture). I am not really scared by these animals ... I mean, I am, but I do not really get mad ...on the contrary, it is quite hard to decribe Amy's face when she had to pass next to it ... but with all the reasons, as the animal was HUGE indeed. And probably very dangerous!!! After our walk we did some crazy shopping, buying all kinds of presents for friends and family and then we met Noeami, a friend of my (Silvia) friends Agnese and Federica, who is currently undertaking an internship in Luang Pragbang. She came with some colleagues and friends and we went for dinner together! That was really nice, Lao food is great, it tastes better than Thai and the sticky rice is lovely!!! Justin and Veronica, the Irish couple came with us.

After dinner we decided to go to the Lao DISCO!! (see picture) The four of us (me, Amy and the Irish couple) went by tuk tuk 10.30 p.m. as discos close at 1 at the latest. When we arrived at the disco, called Daofa night club, I thought for a moment that something was wrong … people looked like teenagers and there was a girl on the stage singing some horrible and boring music … Oh my god! And, on top of that, the pannel at the entrance said "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!". Which was confirmed by the fact that the room was covered with panels advertising "Malasya 2007" … Bizarre! Anyway, after the four of us putting the last of our Kip together we were able to have a beer Lao each and then … some good music started!! Honestly, the music was great!!!! Amy can tell you!! We even had a bit of a dance and it was good fun!! Well, we can say we have been at a disco in remote Lao at least!! On the way back, we said our goodbyes to Justin and Veronica as they were leaving the following morning, while we would spend an exta day in Luang Phrabang before taking our bus at 7 p.m.; Destination Vientienne.

No major events happened on our last day in Luang Phrabang following day, apart from a massage session that has almost killed Amy as she still feels in pain.

Back to Amy now: As Silvia said, we booked a bus to go from Luang Phrabang to Vientienne on Tuesday night so that we could cross the border back into Thailand and make our way down to islands. We were really dreading it though, but we thought that nothing could be as bad as our trip along the Mekong in THAT boat or our trip on Eurolines to Copenhagen with no toilet for 13 hours. We were wrong. Obviously. Just to be on the safe side, before we got on the bus, we sang "The final countdown"and did the Haka, but it didnt make any difference..... We got on the bus and next to us was this guy, only to be described as a total psycho, who had just bought a new mobile phone, it was enromous, and he wanted to use it. He had no credit so he kept on lighting his lighter to see the numbers on his card so that he could put them in the phone (the driver put the lights out in the bus at 8 o'clock) and we thought he was going to set us all alight. He then called what seemed to be everyone in his phonebook, with the loudspeaker on, so we could hear both them and him shouting at each other. Everyone on the bus were ending themselves though, as it was pretty funny. He obviously hadn't heard of bus etiquette.

We were glad that the bus went at night though as we could tell that we were hanging off the cliffs - I, Amy, didnt sleep a wink as I was sure that death was imminent. Not sure what difference it would have made in me staying awake though :) At 4 in the morning pyscho guy decided to play music, which can only be described as cats being murdered, blaring on his phone. Silvia asked him to turn it down a bit but he flatly said "no". Nice :) So we drifted in and out of sleep for the last two hours as we literally couldnt keep our eyes open out of pure exhaustion.

We arrived in Vientienne around 6am and made our way to the bus station to catch our bus to the Thai border and further on to Nong Khai. Immigration went smoothly apart from the fact that we were shitting ourselves that we would be stuck in Laos coz we mixed up our departure cards and couldnt tell which belonged to who. We discovered that they dont really care though - it seems most of the paperwork just goes into a basket and straight into the bin.

We got a tuk tuk to our guest house in Nong Khai, which is lovely and peaceful.We had a romantic bedroom, with a four poster bed :) And a nice lizard to keep us company. The rain was LASHING it down last night though. Silvia told me in the morning that she thought at one point that people were coming to take us away to safety as there was a hurricane (there was a bell at about 4 in the morning). I just told her that it rains all the time like Scotland, so I wasnt bothered. I'm hard, me, so I am :P

Today we are going to visit some ancient sculptures made by some Laotian artist (can tell we are riveted) with some German girls we met last night who seem really nice. We had a beer with them, which seemed to make us feel better, as yesterday it became obvious that the travelling over the last week and a half had taken its toll on both of us, and we felt really sick. We were in our beds by 23.00.

Next stop, Bangkok and then Koh Samui. Cant wait :)

Stories to tell the grandchildren.....

We were picked up by the bus to go to Huay Xai, the point for crossing the border to Laos at 10.30. We were squished between the bags at the back of the van (of course) which meant we had one and a half seats for the two of us :) We stopped somewhere to get something to eat and met Graham, an Australian man who was on our bus and was travelling across the world by land to met his family in Toulouse. We had a nice chat about how travelling used to be - he had travelled when he was in his twenties, which would be about 30 years ago now, and he said that things were so different without phones and internet - he said that once he had to book a week in advance to make a phonecall in Israel. How times have changed. Anyway....we stopped again at a market for 15 minutes and had a look around. Some of the stuff was SHOCKING, like live frogs being suffocated in a plastic bag in the baking sun (see photo) Can't stop thinking about it :( Poor little things. They also had barbecued ones - they look like they're just whacked on there alive to to cook.....eeeek.

We got to Huay Xai at about 17.00 and were shown to our guesthouse, which was even more shocking than the frogs. You couldn't even call it a 'guesthouse'. There were millions of insects and the toilet and shower were outside, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE JUNGLE. There was a massive, massive spider in the toilet. Luckily however we met a great couple from Ireland who we had dinner with and some beers and they helped us to attach our mosquito net to the roof by sticking the metal pins into the roof and secruing it with their roll of elastoplast (see picture) - thank god! But it was still a terrifying night - we slept (well kind of as we were bunched up in the middle of our two single beds pushed together) with the light on and were so glad when it ws time to get up, especially when we heard some kind of animal scratching about inside the walls. Never ever again.

We crossed the river to Laos the morning after, which took only a couple of minutes, but it took about 2 hours to get over the border crossing because they want to check your passport about a million times, despite the fact that the immigration point looks like a beach hut. We hung about a bit after getting through and were taken to a cafe (see picture) to wait 'while the police checked our passports' AGAIN. We have our suspicions the tour group were just making fast copies of them though..... at the cafe there was a shop which sold whisky with scorpions and snakes in it - the stuff they eat here just gets wierder and wierder.

The worst however was still to come; the trip along the Mekong river to Luang Prabang, stopping by Pak Bang, which took 13 hours in total. There were around 120 of us (mostly young people - see picture) packed onto this boat from 10.30 in the morning to 17.00. We are surprised it didn't sink under the weight. It was rickety, deafening because of the engine, and not enough seats for everone. The seats were just hard wood. Luckily though we got a seat for the first leg and we had a cushion each, which were advised to buy at the 'guesthouse' in Huang Xai. Silvia's said "Happy Holiday" on it.....oh the irony.

The scenery was beautiful, really amazing (see picture), but after about 2 hours it does kind of cease to have the 'wow' factor anymore. We made a short stop to let some kids on to sell us stuff, they all came on with baskets of pringles, pineapple, juice, beer etc, but the boat sold all that anyway (although we were told at the cafe that it didnt and that we had to buy LOADS of food and stuff there to survive the trip) so people didnt really buy anything, which was kind of a shame:)The kids were about 10. Or younger.

After having a few beer Lao and a few games of cards with the Irish couple (we created a little 'bar area' at the back of the boat), we arrived in Pak Bang around 17.00 and were greeted by loads of guesthouse owners wanting us to stay in their apartments. We had decided as soon as we left the previous 'guesthouse" that we would get a nice place, and luckily it was really nice, and for just 2 Euros each! We had dinner with Graham, Walter (a 75 year old English retiree who is travelling the world for 18 months) and the Irish couple, and incidentally the restaurant was manned by the same guy who sold us the room (see picture), everyone just seems to swap round what they do..... the electricity in the village went off at 10.30 though so we just had to go to bed!!! So there was no fan :( Boiling.

We got on the damned boat again at 9 o'clock, (after a pain au chocolat - would you believe it? It has reached the Lao jungle?!) only to find there were no seats. We thought we were going to have to sit in the engine room, but luckily we found a seat by the toilet. I, Amy, was sitting in a plastic seat right next to the door - I looked like Madame Pipi in the Pullman, sitting there chatting to people as they went in. Didn't get any money but had some nice chats though :) The ordeal was over after 6 hours 30 minutes. Justin, one half of the Irish couple, actually kissed the ground when he got off the boat and we were running around with our rucksacks, sooooooo glad to be released.

We all found some accommodation close to each other in Luang Prabang and met up for beers once we had recovered. The curfew in the city is midnight so you have to be in your room by then or the police will send you home (which is of course a bit strange for us). Luang Prabang is lovely though, it has been in the world heritage list of Unesco since 1995, due to of its collection of French colonial architecture. it really is beautiful. It is very laid back and quiet, you feel like you can really relax here and take it easy....... The people are lovely too :)

Fanny Thai in Chiang Mai!

Finally we have had a proper sleep! (maybe to do with the amount of alcohol consumed last night we suspect though.....) Although we did have to get up early this morning to go to our Thai cookery class! (yes, Silvia cooking! would you believe it?!).

The cookery school picked us up at 9.30 and took us to the market to show us all the stuff we would be working with; Thai basil, sweet basil, holy basil, kafir lime leaves, lemongrass etc..... There was lots of wierd stuff there that neither of us would touch though, such as fried bamboo worms - mmmmm!

We got to the school and got ourselves ready -the guy teaching us was lovely, and we met a great Malaysian/Canadian family who were also paticipating, which made it all the more fun:) Between Silvia and I we made: hot sweet and sour soup, chicken and coconut soup, papaya salad, chicken and lime salad, spring rolls, thai basil and chicken stir fry and chicken and cashew nut stirfry, so we can try that out on everyone when we get home! We have a certificate and everything! The food was mega mega spicy though, chillies in everything, and the food was even too spicy for the Malaysian family! (and especially for Silvia who somehow has even managed to get her finger BURNED by a chilli).

It was raining furiously this afternoon so we stayed in for a bit after having our head and foot massage from the same place as yesterday and then headed into town for some Mezze (and more beer) at a Greek restaurant. I, Amy, also had a medicinal Thai whisky though, as I have a stinking cold and needed a wee pick me up :)


We are heading to Laos tomorrow, going by minibus to the border and then spending one night on the Thai side and two days on a boat to reach Luang Prabang, the second largest city in the country and its meant to be beautiful.....