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.....

Sleepless Nights

We spent the day in Siam on Monday, the metropolis of Bangkok, more designer shops than you can imagine (you would LOVE it Dee) ! We had a "fat burning" shake in the Paragon (see picture)after having had a Starbucks (yes very Thai we know). Having arrived at around 19.00 in Ayuthaya on Monday we made our way straight to the guesthouse, which was recommended by the Lonely Planet. We had to take a boat to the main island and when we pitched up, it looked really nice from the outside. But.......when we were shown the room it was a bit of a different story....you couldnt swing a kitten in it and it was like a sauna as there was no air conditioning. Also no mosquito net. So we consequently spent our night in terror that some massive beastie was going to kill us or at the very least crawl in our ears or something. I then told Silvia someone could break in with the rubbish lock we had and that was the end of that. No sleep was had by us both. We promptly bought our own mosquito net the following day :) The hostel did have a lovely terrace though, where we shared our dinner table with some very friendly lizards on the night of arrival.The temples at Ayuthaya were

amazing however (see pictures) and the sun was shining all day :) We took tuk tuk's to get around and wrote some postcards in between. After the temples we made our way to the train station to catch our train to Chaing Mai, the Thai "national treasure" and "symbol of nationhood". When we got on the train we were served by the most hilarious ladyboy ever - he was lovely! He told us "I want your happiness!", so he gave us two Singa beers and we were indeeed very happy :) We shared the cabin with another 30 people, so another sleepless night ensued - because apart from all the people, the noise from our rickety train was unreal - and this was first class! It was amazing to watch some of the families, and see that this was a big occassion for them to be on the train, the ladies were putting on their makeup and doing their hair, and us, well we looked exactly the opposite...... Anyway, the best thing had to be the breakfast in the morning, our little guy brought us sandwiches, french fries and pineapple - wierd combo, but strangely, very nice!! We arrived in Chiang Mai at 7.30 and went to the guesthouse which has been a welcome surprise. The lady at the desk is mental and has been talking to us all day, she's like our mum or something, she has arranged trips for us and massages (which we have just had by the way - looooovely) , she is laughing all the time. In fact, all Thai people laugh and smile all the time, they are the happiest people we have ever met - must be the Buddism or something......So hopefully tonight will not be another nuit blanche for us :P

P.S. Amy lost her credit cards... would you believe it??? After a moment of panic, they were found in the thai massage place, and the girl took them back ... pfiu!!!!!!!!!!! Ah, also to be mentioned that the hairdryer was finally found and tonight we could finally look nice!!!! (speak for yourself Silvia), we went for a beer ... many actually ...in a MEXICAN restaurant!!!! hihihi and then to the only rock bar in Chiang Mai, the only one without prostitutes!!!!!!!!! Though we think many people thought we were as we were sitting outside like the rest of them :(

In realta', ci stiamo divertendo un sacco, davvero. Forse stasera riusciremo ad avere la prima notte di sonno decente da quando siamo partite, domani ci aspetta una lezione di cucina thailandese e poi un altra sessione di massaggio... stavolta piedi e testa!!! Torniamo come nuove!!! Venerdi si parte per il Laos, in autobus e in barca, speriamo di non perderci!!!

Buddhas, boats & a blog

Today we slept until 14.00 and then headed into town to see the Royal Palace...only to be told theat it closed at 16.30 so we only had half an hour.... and after Silvia had put on a stylish skirt and everything, in order to be allowed in :)

So then we went to the reclining Buddha, which is the the biggest one in Thailand, and the only one which is lying down. Its all made of gold. Very impressive. While we were there we were told that we had to put pennies in about 100 buckets for good luck, so everyone has good luck coming their way hopefully, as I, Amy, did one for each one......unfortunately Silvia couldn't as, obviously, Silvia being Silvia, she ran out :) So she stole some of mine. So thats less good luck for you guys as she told me she didnt make any wishes for anyone! Not even herself. Anyway.... (Thanks Amy for being this sincere with our friends!! - Silvia) We went to get the boat to Chinatown after that and saw some of the cutest cats ever (see pictures), I wanted to put one of the kittens in my pocket. We then went into Chinatown for a look around but as it was a national holiday there wasnt really much going on so we went by Tuk Tuk to an Italian/Thai restaurant (wierd combination or what? dont find many of them in St Gery) in the posh Night Plaza area next to the Thai - Belgian bridge (of course!). The Tuk Tuk was an experience anyway.....its driving 3 people on a motorbike engine, death was imminent many times. Anyway the food in the Italian/Thai place was great, especially as all we had eaten was a melon, a banana and a grapefuit between us all day. Unfortunately though, the spicy food Silvia orderd was a bit too much!!! (see picture) Then we had a foot massage for 3 euros (3 euros!) and headed home to the hostel to write this blog....

So off to Ayuthaya tomorrow, the ancient capital of Thailand, after visiting Siem, the newest area in Bangkok..........

P.S. Just a copule of things that my dear travel buddy has forgotten to say ...

Number 1: She has forgotten the hair dryer!!!!! How can I possibly straighten my hair?????

Number 2: After a philosophical discussion she said (let's say around 4 in the afternoon, after a day we were here) : I know that I'm here, but I'm not sure where I am!!! Can someone help me with the translation of this????

Takeoff

Hello everyone! So, since this is our big trip, which we have been looking forward to forever, we decided to create a blog to make sure we remember everything and so that, if anyone cares, they can keep up to date with what we are doing! So here we go...........

After leaving Manuel and Chris at the airport we boarded our nice Etihad Airways plane. We couldnt believe our luck, just a little bit swankier than good old Ryanair!!! It had pillows, socks, earplugs, eyemask, earphones, you name it- we almost thought we were on the wrong one. Dinner was served at 00.30 and breakfast at 3.00. We were so excited to arrive in Abu Dhabi to connect to Bangkok, we had heard the airport was amazing......however, about 30 minutes before landing we were told that we had to land at some airstrip in the middle of the desert instead, because Abu Dhabi airport was closed because of fog and that we would be really lucky to get our plane to Bangkok - score! Anyway, we stayed there for 3 hours, in the sweltering heat in as the air conditioning stopped working, people were dropping like flies! We thought we may have a mutiny on our hands at some point, some girl with a louis vuitton handbag was getting really mad and waving it about... anyway, we finally took off and after a 10 minute flight, we landed and prayed that our flight to Bangkok had also been delayed. We were DELIGHTED when some guy asked us "Singapore, Delhi, Bangkok?", and we proceeded to run to the gate. So thankfully, we were away......

We arrived in Bankok around 21.00, which was around 17.00 Brussels time, though it felt like about 3.00 in the morning. Thankfully they let us into the country.... we got into a taxi and the taxi driver put on Jason Donovan "Sealed with a kiss" and we knew from then on......that everything would be ok :)

The first thing we noticed when we arrived in the hostel was a massive cockroach, but fortunately there weren't many after that! We then decided to go and get something to eat and we think the pictures speak for themselves. Check out Silvia's face..... yum.

Anyway, we had some liquid bread to make up for the lack of a decent meal and went to bed listening to the rain absolutely lashing it down....we felt right at home. Anyway that was day one done, over with no major (well not really) disasters :)