Lynette and I in front of the famous towers of the Bayon Temple.17-Dec-2009 04:41, Panasonic DMC-TZ6, 4.5, 4.1mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 80
We’d arrived back in Roof View Place, Bangkok, after our whistle stop tour of North Thailand to happily find our Vietnam and China visas nestled inside our waiting Passports, the ink still slightly damp. Excitingly, our next stop was the ruins of Angkor; more than one thousand temples spread over 3,000 square kilometres including the largest religious temple in the world, Angkor Wat itself. Interestingly, we’d decided to devote just a day to these magnificent ruins, and that to make life extra difficult we’d cycle the entire thing. Was this an exercise in sheer madness? Would the ancient ruins live up to their impossible fame? Would we even be allowed to cross the border? Continue reading Gallery: What? A Wat? In Angkor! Angkor Wat?!…
We were rewarded four our efforts with a final soaking before drying off!11-Dec-2009 09:33, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D80, 4.2, 32.0mm, ISO 400
Our last stop in Thailand is Pai, a bohemian town with allegedly lots to offer including copious amounts of live music, jungle trekking, fishing, massages and a generally chilled out stay. Except for the one week we were there. Would we find a hostel during the King’s Birthday? Would we see a ‘hilltribe village’? Would we stay on the elephants? Are all Finns called Antti? Continue reading Gallery: Playing about in Pai!…
A friendly chap who spoke excellent English, not sure what his favourite colour was.03-Dec-2009 11:45, Panasonic DMC-TZ6, 3.8, 7.9mm, 0.04 sec, ISO 400
Our continuing route North (saving the sun and beaches for our return in a few months time) took us through Ayutthaya for a bit of ruined Wat exploration by bicycle, before a pit pause in the inevitable city stop of Chiang Mai, a place where experiencing almost any element of Thailand is possible. Back in the stride of things, and ready for our traditional first night bus of the country, we set off for the next two stops. Could we spend another day among ruins without falling asleep at the wheel? Would a Thai cookery course unlock great mysteries in the art of making a green curry? And where in Thailand can you find the best fish and chips around? Continue reading Gallery: Cycling Wat Ruins in Ayutthaya and Bashing in Chiang Mai!…
The expiditionary crew for the day, wearing trendy leech protectors.23-Nov-2009 02:00, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGIT, 10.0, 30.0mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
On 18th September 1962, Khao Yai became the first national park of Thailand, and at only four hours from Bangkok one of the most popular. We’d been in cities for a while again now, and with a thirst for wildlife decided for a brief stop here on the way back from Surin. No three day hikes, just a day and a half tour, we hopped off our bus at 14:45 immediately meeting a lady on her first few days of selling tours. After a quick bit of bargaining, we managed to arrange our tour with Bobby’s Accommodation and were on our half day starting trek by 15:00 with bags in rooms. Not bad going, but was the trip itself going to be any good? Would we see the fabled Gibbon monkey? What does bat pee smell like? Continue reading Gallery: Trekking in Khao Yai and the Bridge over River Kwai festival!…
On our way out we were kidnapped by school kids interviewing farangs for their school project. A friendly bunch, we were even given a present to say thanks for participating!21-Nov-2009 05:13, Panasonic DMC-TZ6, 4.0, 4.1mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 80
Our arrival in Thailand conveniently (and completely unintentionally) coincided with the annual Surin Elephant Roundup, a huge event for the area apparently. A chance to see some local excitement and our first elephants outside of a zoo sucked us across to East Thailand to Surin in our first Thai train, armed with nothing more than our guidebook and a smile. On our way we met a documentary crew hoping to scratch the festival’s surface, discovered why Wikipedia describes Surin as having a ‘substantial population of expatriate westerners married to local women’, and saw an elephant commit a blatant ‘trunk-ball’ without even receiving a yellow card. Continue reading Gallery: The Tourist marvel that is the Surin Elephant Roundup!…
Lynette and I in front of Chakri Maha Prasat Hall.26-Nov-2009 09:23, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGIT, 20.0, 28.0mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 200
After the rib tickling gut punch from India and a growing rose tinted fondness for South America, we were looking immensely forward to Thailand. It heralded the start of our South East Asia journey, and we arrived with high hopes propped up by more recommendations that any other to date. Plus, we had timed our arrival to overlap with Dave and Emma’s departure, so with a bit of knowledge transfer, and beer, our arrival in Bangkok had the potential to be quite wonderful. Was the capital of Thailand just another big stinky city? Would the locals be pleased to see us? Just what do cockroaches taste like?
One of the other sites we found in Madurai… a Sci-Fi themed bar in the Supreme Hotel!14-Nov-2009 17:15, Panasonic DMC-TZ6, 3.3, 4.1mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 100
Our penultimate stop in India, Madurai; the oldest inhabited city on the Indian peninsula. Home to the magnificent Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple it was definitely one of those places we picked almost purely based on the photo of the humongous Gopuras stretching to the sky like a scene from Blade Runner. The entire time we were there we saw hardly any other travellers, and even then only on a package tour. It certainly wasn’t set up for backpackers to visit en masse. This was made very evident when a quick forage for some emergency toilet roll (often not supplied with the room) turned into an unsuccessful ninety minute sprint around the town just to find it simply isn’t for sale! How did we find the elusive bum paper? Was the temple everything it promised? Was anything else squeezed in before we headed to Thailand!?
The awesome Virupaksha temple rearing up from the centre of Hampi town.11-Nov-2009 06:04, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGIT, 5.0, 38.0mm, ISO 800
Having escaped the threat of a torrential ten days in Goa, we arrived late afternoon in Hampi, a famed area chockablock with ruins and history, as well as being a chilled out spot that allegedly some find very difficult to leave. I expected swathes of dry desert liberally sprinkled with boulders; we actually found grass, palm trees, great bushes of flowers, and of course rocks and sand although this wasn’t immediately obvious as we arrived to blackened clouds, torrential downpour and no power to the whole town. From the relative safety of a candle lit roof top restaurant, only the occasional fit of lightning reminded us that if the world was coming to an end, it still existed for now. Did the deluge of water stop? Would our successful run of no Delhi belly continue? Would I eat something that didn’t involve a curry?
Lynette and I going for a Brucie Bonus.06-Nov-2009 13:58, Panasonic DMC-TZ6, 3.3, 4.1mm, 0.25 sec, ISO 400
After our first overnight bus in India, we arrived in Goa. Heading first for our chosen section of Goa in the South, Agonda, which the guidebook reliably told us had a hostel with Wifi, we found the hostel was undergoing renovation and there was absolutely nothing to see or do, including no other people. We quickly revised plans to go to Palolem, a slightly bigger area of Goa beside Agonda and hitched a taxi there. Would we find a hostel with wifi? Which film does Palolem beach appear in? Who is Polish nappy man? And NO MONUMENTS TO TALK ABOUT – YAY!
Another family who wanted a group photo with us involved, the situation completely spun on its head from other countries we have visited.31-Oct-2009 07:42, Canon Canon EOS 400D DIGIT, 6.3, 28.0mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 800
After our marathon first twenty four hours in India, we pulled up in Jalgaon train station – our launch pad for the famous Ajanta caves, Buddhist monasteries carved out of the vertical rock face of a horse shoe shaped gorge. Thirsty for more, our next stop would be Aurangabad and the renowned Ellora caves, a fusion of over thirty Hindi, Buddhist and Jain caves signifying the religious harmony that has sporadically yet rarely in India’s history. They are both beautiful for different reasons, and represent something we hope to find more on the second leg of our travels; a completely different approach. Did we avoid getting fleeced by local touts? Were we victim to the notorious Delhi belly after our first Thali? Would the locals go as far as actually asking for our autograph?
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