We're HERE!!

Hello everyone!

We arrived today at 15:30 (Thai time) in Bangkok on a cloudy, humid day. With traffic and taxi haggling we were in the city centre by 18:00. We headed for T.A.T. (on Cheevers' advice). TAT is the Tourism Authority for Thailand. For once Cheevers' advice paid off!

The nice lady booked us 2 nights here in Bangkok, a bus to Chang Mai (North Thailand), a 3 day trek while there plus accommodation and also transport to Laos' capital (which I forget the name of atm).

So we have our next 2 weeks planned. She is also gettting our VISAs sorted for Vietnam. Only downside will be a 8 hour slow boat in Laos but they no longer do the "fast" ones due to the safety hazards involved in that form of transport.

Off to try some food and have a look at some shops, we'll try and get a pint somewhere too!

Thanks to all that gave me a call/text or came out for a drink before I took off. It was tough leaving y'all!

Talk to ye soon, YES YES!!

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Tuk Tuk & Baht Baht

Right the Tuk Tuk is the first mention in this post. What a vehicle!! We should get these in Ireland without a doubt. They fly (or "bomb" as Brian calls it) around the place. If you pay more than 100 Baht anywhere across Bangkok then go ahead and write sucker on your forehead.

We had one guy who drove us around in a circle 3 times yesterday... Eh, what do we look like? Idiots? They are the coolest way to get around. Tuk Tuk one and two are below. We ran outta battery in Tuk two... You can hear me saying, "the battery is flashing" at the end of the the second vid, roffles.

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We haven't a lot of pics cos we bought a charger yesterday but then had to charge the camera last night. Today at 18:00 we head for Chang Mai by bus. Not looking forward to that (approx 10 hours) but we'll be sleeping some of the way hopefully.

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Flying VIP!

Just a quick post. Heading down with two couples, Irish and Dutch, to the night spot in Chiang Mai. We're up at 8:00 in the morgen so won't be a late one. We have a three day trek now so thought I'd post really quickly so you guys wouldn't think I'd disappeared!

Had a good bus journey to Chang Mai. Took 9 hours but it was on a great bus. Will post photos, most pimped out bus ever! Beats CIE hands down... Looking forward to the trek, going with 4 Irish girls, a Dutch couple, an Irish couple and two Welsh girls.

Today was very hot, no sun burn though :) Missing everyone loads but the sun, the faces, the smells, the food, the exitement of what we'll be up to tomorrow is driving us both on.

We have a new plan too. The plan changes everyday. Will reveal all soon. Stay safe as Rainbow would say, YES YES!

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Tah Blu Rasta!! (Thank You)

Saturday morning at 8 bells we got up to head to the mountains. Two guides, Tarzan & Promise, were leading us to some villages that were part of their White Caen tribe. They are not Thai, they speak their own language. Villagers from these tribes speak no English, and no Thai in some cases!

The Trek was unbelieveable! Very hard in searing heat and heavy humidity. We trekked upwards for 4 and half hours. For the last 200 hundred yards it started monsooning as it does every evening. If it was "I'm a celebrity get me out of here" we'd have been screaming "Ant or Dec get me outta herre!@!!!@! "

It was brilliant though. Villagers were really nice and what an experience with no electricity or running water. The two guides cooked for us and it was amazing. Very spicey but still very tastey. We stayed up till 12 (yeah early but it gets dark at like 7 o'clock here and we have to get up at 7:00 on treks). We drank and listened to stories about the tribe from Tarzan (not his real name of course, but they pick names that are easy to remember. Promise's Thai name is Sighh Aah, so his village name must be impossible to say!).

In the morning half the group split as some were only there for one night. Four of us, Brian, I and two girls, trekked on. The goal was a waterfall further up the mountain.

We stayed in Promise's Uncle's village for lunch, it also rained pretty heavy, and then headed on to the waterfall. Arrving at the waterfall it was amazing. The river looks exactly like Rambo 2 on the rocks , the scene when he shoots the guy with the arrow. There were lots of tourists but by 7:00, and dark, they had left. Promise cooked again and it was the best oriental food I've ever had. We chatted agina till we got tired, 9:00 this time! All the trekking, heat and early starts takes it out of you. We slept at the base of the waterfall just the 5 of us. I didn't get a wink, crashing water and heat do not equal to sound sleep.

The last day was elephant riding and white water rafting. Both were really fun. Although it monsooned on us as we were on the way in the back of an open top pickup truck going to the elephants. With ponchos we still got soaked, that's how hard it rains! We arrived back an hour ago with a ton of laundry. Head for Laos tomorrow, It is one of the poorest countries in the world and is a communist state. There may not be internet at all there so I'll post some pics in the morning to look at till we get to Vietnam. There'll also be new galleries added so have a look.

We head out tonight with the guides (we promised to buy them beer but they get locked on only a few beers so shouldn't cost much) and some the other backpackers.

Hope everyone is well, chat to ye soon!

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On the way to Chiang Mai, Thailand

Some pics for ye at last!

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Trekking!!

Trek north of Chiang Mai.

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Views so far

I haven't really had time to write any coherent thoughts about the places we've been yet because we have so little time. But we'll have a quick run through our experiences so far. Ray you might wanna note some of this for your trip.

We started in Bankok. We had no hotel booked and arrived at the airport fairly smashed after a long flight. Straight away we were getting shafted. When you arrive at Bangkok airport you have to go down one or two levels to get a taxi. The taxis are multi-coloured (pink or yellow/green), we hit the top floor which is the deleuxe taxis. A taxi to town should only cost 400 baht approx or else you are being ripped off!

On Cheevers' advice we hit T.A.T. (the "Tourism Board"), except there is two TATs... T.A.T., who are imposters, and TAT the real tourist board! We went to the former and probably spent 50-100 euro over the odds. We booked 2 nights in Bangkok, a VIP bus to Chiang Mai, 2 nights in Chinag Mai, a 3 day trek while there, our visa to Vietnam, and the slow boat to Laos for 2 days. All this cost 250 euro, not bad at home but you can always haggle! Ask to see the exact amounts and breakdowns and question them.

Bangkok is crazy, ping pong shows, Westerns and Thai girls, bars, scam merchants and expenisve shopping malls. It's an experience and aclimatises you to the haggling world and the seediness of the place.

So off to the bus station for a 9 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai, near the north border with Burma. We got the VIP bus which costs 800 baht. If the travel agent tries to charge more say no I'll get the ticket myself and ask for the whereabouts of the bus station.

Chiang Mai is nice and quiet. We had a nice place and it was cheaper than Bangkok. We hit an "Irish Bar" and the market while there. Nice enough to see. We then went on our trek. You can be lucky with the trek. The quality of the experience depends on so many things, the people you are with, the distance you cover, the weather, the path you take, and the guides. We got lucky, great guides, great people and the weather wasn't too bad. Ponchos are a must in this season! We also got elephant rides and bamboo rafting as part of the trek. All in all a great few days.

When we got back we hit the town with the trekking crew and one of the guides. We had the guide drunk after 2 pints and a whiskey and he was off home. We stayed out and hit a night club. Good craic, seediest joint I've ever been in. Somehow we managed to get 6 in a Tuk Tuk after and neary broke the thing. The guy was not happy.

Next day we were up early for the slow boat. Books, iPods, PSPs as well as cushions are a must. 7 hours the first day and 9 the next. Laos is a lovely country, a complete change to the hustle and bustle of Thailand. We haggled a VIP boat the next day for $200 amongst 15 of us. This was a great plan. We had airplane bucket seats and a cooler of beer. Made the trip fly and we arrived before the other 60 peeps in LuangPrabang and got the choice of hotels in the area. Paid 400 baht for a room with four of us (8 euro). Some of the crew hit the waterfalls and they looked spectacular here. Blue water and deep plunge pools that you can dive into.

We hired a "VIP" bus to ViangVien. It was hell! No aircon and a 5 hour ride with no leg room! ViangVien is the tubing spot. Best laugh ever! Will post pics soon as I get them off Dave the Kiwi who brought his camera. A waterproof bag is a must BTW. Very handy for waterfalls and rivers etc!

On to the capital of Laos then, Vientiane. Nice place. Not much to do and quite expensive to stay. We had to pay $15 dollars to stay in a place because we arrived at like 9 at night. We got a flight to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Beware, you have to pay to get out of both Vietnam and Laos, no cost in Thailand. We had spent all our Kip in Laos so had to take out dollars!

In Hue now, waiting to catch a bus to Hoi An. 12 hours to here only to be told to get off the bus and wait for a 2 o'clock bus to Hoi An, another 5 hours. Playing pool in a bar with some Vietnamese now. Good laugh to pass the time. Oh and it gave me a chance to write some collective thoughts about the last 2 weeks and 2 days... Mad, 3 countries in 2 weeks. Check out our progress on a map of Asia. We've nearly travelled around Ireland 6-7 times in the number of Kms now. Oh the joy! We're getting suits done in Hoi An for a few days. Mum there'll be some suits heading your way soon! Whether I'll actually ever be home to wear them is another story!

YES YES!! Bring on Natrang!

And yes in defence of the waterfall pic, we were there about 6 days most of which was on a bus and of not with factor 50 involved. We're not on package holiday, it's backpackers tan all the way; arms, face and tops of the feet only! Meath farmers would be so jealous!

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Good Morning Vietnam

Hey all!

Haven't posted in ages, so apologies all round. I haven't been online in a while for various reasons. First we flew back into Bangkok so I'll cover Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok first!

We went to the tunnels and war museum in Saigon. A great experience. Some gruesome pictures at the museum but the tunnel were cool. Myself and Brian had a quick fire of some AKs and M16s as we wouldn't be heading to Cambodia. The pics are fairly self explanatory. We saw the traps, walked through tunnels and met a Vet. The tunnels were so warm, how 15,000 Viet Kong stayed down there all day and night is unbelievable.

We flew out looking forward to meeting the lads for the first time in 3 months! It was nice coming in to Bangkok with a better understanding of what to expect and how to deal with it. The boys had a place on Koshan Road so we joined them for a night. We also met Will form Laos and partied all night! The lads were in great form but it was time to get to full moon so the train and Ko Pha Nang beckoned the next day...

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Sunrise, Sunset

Night train time, the day after the night before! So we got to Chumpon train station at 3 in the morn and got a 4 hour ferry to Ko Pha Nang. We headed to the far side of the island opposite the Full Moon beach, which is known as sunrise beach. Each evening on our beach we watched the sun go down before heading to the other beach, and if it was a really good night you'd see it rise again at 7 the next day!

We got to Ko Pha 4 nights before Full Moon, the place we stayed in was the best place I've been in my life. It was so chilled! We played pool all day and met so so many cool people. We stayed there night and day and then headed to the beach party! This place is the reason I haven;'t been online in over a week.

We eat, drank and danced every night at pool parties or on the beach to the wee hours. We had a ball. After like 3 nights of partying the lads, Ian and Brian, decided on the spur to head to Indonesia! Myself and Joe wished them luck and they quite literally headed the next day. The beauty of this place is you can up sticks and go anywhere... With the lads gone, Joe and I were determined to pick the pace up even more. We had another good night and then got ourselves ready for Full Moon.

To be quite honest I thought I would hate Full Moon. We were told by nearly everyone in Vietnam etc that the lead up was the best and the night itself was too busy and too commercial. But low and behold, we had the greatest night of our lives. We started at our Seaside resort at 5 in the evening with the Americans, and the English lads. Happy hour came and went, Killer games of pool with the whole pub involved came and went, and then came the Congo line! We were dancing, smiling, partying and we hadn't even got to the Full Moon yet.

We arrived on the beach at midnight and immediately I lost everyone. Not to worry I thought. The lads had challenged me to play "United Nations", basically get a piccy with as many nationalities as possible (bonus points for weird and exotic countries and of course beautiful ladies). Off I went, results are below. I think, from what I can remember, I met Dutch, Irish, English, Thai (obviously), Icelandic, Italian, French, German, Americans, Aussies, Spanish, Scottish and Northern Irish! 13 isn't bad!! It's hard when half the beach is fecking Irish!!

We finished at 9 in the morning and the best day, and possibly week, in our lives. Cheers to the lads, Gaz and Paul, the Yankees, the lads from Bath and the girlies from Manchester for a quality week and Full Moon. Oh and Yao, the coolest dude in Ko Pha Nang!

In Ko Tao now, Joe and I have booked diving and we're off the sauce for 5 nights! Balls of steel as Duke would say...

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Dive the live long day

We're still in Ko Tao. Both Joe and I passed our Open Water PADI so we are oficially dive extaordinaires! Joe decided that wasn't enough though so started the advanced course the very next day! I did the deep dive and will be doing the night dive too but not the whole course. Both of us will be certified to dive to 30m in Open Waters.

It has been pretty tough few days. Up at 6 in the morning, maybe 3 dives a day, plus the theory. It takes it's toll and we've bee in bed nearly every night before 10. I found it very tough, what with all my allergies, asthma and eye problems. Thanks to our quality instructor, Zoe, we nailed everything and got 98% on our exams (geeks!!). Here are some pics of last day and a few nights out.

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Samui my Seediness

We're no longer in Koh Tao. We headed to the travel agent 2 days ago and asked for a train to Singapore. It turns out a train to Singapore would take almost 36 hours traveling and hanging around train stations. Joe and I had been pretty much diving our asses in Koh Tao so didn't fancy a hell of alot of hours couped up on the train, only to arrive in Singapore and get on a plane! We booked a flight from Samui to Singapore and grabbed the morning boat yesterday.

This place is garbage! If anyone ever recommended I come here, I'd probably never speak to them again. It's dirty, smells and is so seedy. Joe and I had a bit of craic last night in between gropes. We leave in an hour after our 3 Burger Kings in 2 days. It's crazy we're leaving Thailand. We've had so much fun.

Looking forward to meeting the lads again, sharing stories and experiences before hitting Melbourne and getting setup for the settled down period between now and Christmas. If you guys read this, Joe and I will be in Singapore tonight, the 8th, and we'll book the hotel for 4 on the 10th. Pints are on you's. Here's some more Koh Tao piccies from Tim our Aussie mate's Facebook. YES YES!! No Koh Samui pictures I'm afraid, there just would be no point!

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