LuangPrabang - Vientianne - Koh Chang
Left Hilster and took the bus to Vientianne. Bus dated from the 80's with frills!!!
We both felt really sick as it was up and down and swerving around, we were tired and it went to quite a high altitude - not great but we arrived safely. Scenery was really beautiful though! Had a bit of a palava when the driver decided to change bus at lunch stop and we lost our fleeces which were still on our seat in the original bus. Still Vientiane was cool and we stayed there for one night to see if we could get our fleeces back. The Laos bus people kept nodding and promising but nothing turned up - hey ho!
Were going to take the night train straight to Bangkok so had little local currency, only Thai baht. We were told locally and from the Lonely Planet that being Saturday eve the exchange places were closed for the weekend and there were no cashpoints. Were concerened about where we would stay with no money! We met a really encouraging family coming out of Joma's (of LP bakery fame!!) who directed us to the local exchange. They kindly offered to give us a few dollars but we couldn't really take it from them. Nat said "don't worry God will have a plan". Then as we went round to the exchange place to find the opening hours for Sunday they pulled up in the car, said that they were Christians (which we thought) and were sure they had heard what Nat had said correctly and could they pray for us. How cool! As it turned out this exchange place had just had two cashpoints put in, one of which was international so we could get money out - probably one of the first cp's in Laos!! God answers prayers!
Enjoyed the night train very much!! Clean, cool and slept quite well balanced above Thais on a foam 'ledge'.

In Koh Chang for relaxing
Has rained but is brightening up! Really beautiful. Splashed out in swanky hotel for Nat's b'day last night. Beach bung with sea view only 12 feet away - beautiful. Swam and swung on coconut trees. Ate tea in our own little terrace looking out over lights round the bay!!

The Laos experience!

Well so much has happened since we last posted a message. And it has all been Jolly exciting.

Monday 12th
Left Chaing Mai with Hilster ready for an adventure. We journeyed to the border in a minivan and stayed in a delightful hostel - not really, it was smelly, the toilet water sometimes flushed the floor and it was pretty basic. The beds were clean however!

Tuesday 13th
We had two choices both seeming to us a little hairy. We could either take a slow boat to Luang Prabang which would take two days or a speed boat that would cover the same distance in only 8hours. Although we usually like the speedy option that wasn't the choice we took after seeing what the speed boat looked and sounded like. Seven people squashed in a little boat with helmets on and ear defenders to cut out the din of the engine! Hilster and I (Nat) thought that not being able to talk for 8 hours might be an issue!!! So on Tuesday we boarded the slow boat and enjoyed a bottom aching journey for 7 hours. woo woo woo! The views were stunning, really, really beautiful! We arrived at our destination and stayed in another beautiful - not really, place of accomadation. I then vowed that I'd pay whatever it took to no longer stay in places like that, gone are the days where I'm willing to slum it!

Wednesday 14th
The adventure continued with us embarking on another bottom aching journey surrounded by bags of rice and other goodies and fellow backpackers bound for luang prabang. Our journey began at 8am supposedly! But we spent an hour watching the locals loading and unloading the same boxes for no apparent reason - welcome to Asia we thought! Again, the scenary was spectacular!
On arrival we were mobed by friendly locals either offering us very 'cheep cheep' accomadation or very 'cheep cheep tuk tuk' (All said very quickly!!!) After keraning form experience the toilet water expereince fresh in my mind that it was okay to shop around and choose the accomadation we liked. Hillster, Jon and I all enjoyed acting like hotel guide shoppers!
Luang Prabang is awesome!

Thursday and Friday 15/16th
Hired bikes (one speed) and Jonny tweaked the brakes as they were non existent! After tweaking still pretty non existent but learnt to brake in advance! Cruised the enchanting streets snapping as we went moving from one cafe to the next! Jonny took his "angels" on a magical mystery tour - off road biking on pot hole tracks! The locals pointed and smiled encouragingly as they shot past on their motorbikes! Jonny was in his element and it was better than any aerobics class!!!
After all the cafes, our money was running low and in true Asia style it took us several hours to find a bank who didn't have any random excuse for not giving us money!
Friday was spent travelling by truck through jungle clad hills, rice paddies and Laos villages to reach the most amazing waterfall - the hidden Victoria Falls!! Jonny's attempts at taking a photo of Hillster and me under the waterfall resulted in us being absolutely drenched. When we arrived back he had the cheek to ask how we got so wet!! Jonny enjoyed pretending he was James Bond as he swam, climbed and explored the waterfall!

Wow - what a week!
The last few days have been quite action packed (apart from Monday).

Monday 5th ...
Lazy day. Knackered. Wandered around the city!

Tuesday 6th ...
Still tired but a bit more adventurous.
First stop the zoo. This was not the cleanest and best maintained but was interesting all the same.
Then after some bartering with the Seangtaew drivers (70 bart each / 210 for the 3 of you/70 bart each/ok 210 for the 3 of you) we headed up to Doi Sutep. This is one of the biggest Bhuddist temples in Thailand. Its quite pretty and you get a great view over Chiang Mai.
The whole place is wrapped in superstition and 'task' orientated worship. The Bhuddists are very vague about quite who they worship and there is a huge discrepancy between Thai practices and Bhuddist beliefs. They are very wrapped up in their tasks but can't really give answers as to the purpose and benefits. Its a bit strange and quite sad really.
As Nat put it "really challenging".


Wednesday 7th ...
We hired a Seangteaw (taxi) for the day which took us up to an Elephant camp.
On arrival we were taken on a 30 minute ride through the forest. Our 30 year old Elephant was amazingly sure footed although it was quite steep in places and the rain had made the ground quite slippery underfoot. Our guide was kind enough to stop the Elephant and take some photos for us with our camera. With a shout the Elephant lowered his head and held out his trunk for the guide to use as a step.
The Elephant show was amazing too. Playing football, stacking logs, generally showing off and even producing little paintings! Afterwards the Elephants come over to the visitors and allowed us to take photos whilst they gave us a hug!!!
I've got some small video clips on our digi cam which are quite fasinating.
Nat said this was the best thing she had ever done!!! - so far!!! After all Elephants are one of her favourite animals and she found it put her mind at rest that the animals were really well cared for after the experience of the zoo.
The whole experience was very invigorating.


Thursday 8th ...
Thai cooking course today!
This is one of those tourist things that you just have to do. Thai food is just the best and its great to be taught how to use the various ingredients. It was out on a Thai organic farm and all the produce was picked fresh. We were shown round the farm and the market. Our cook told us about all the differences between rices and veg and pastes. Very interesting.
We made red curry paste, Thai red curry, spicy papaya salad, Pad Thai (noodles) and sticky rice with Mangos. This is gorgeous - even I like it and I think rice pudding is gross!
The food was delicious and we were given a cookery book so we can continue with our recipes when we get back to the UK. We'll cook you somthing when we're home.
Tonight - its Kareoke night, Thai style!!!

We've Arrived - !!!
Thursday / Friday ...
The 13hour flight went surprisingly quickly. Soon after take off we had a bite to eat and watched "Mr & Mrs Smith" for a couple of hours. Then it was lights out, sleep in small bursts, awake for breakfast and within an hour or so were approaching to land. We both felt pretty groggy during the night, Nat more so than myself. At one point she popped to the loo and passed out on the way back. I think it was a combination of tiredness and lack of sleep from the past week. Unfortunately everyone was asleep so she just picked herself up and sat back down!


Bangkok airport was bustling and we sussed that we could walk to the domestic terminal in only 10 mins rather than take the 100baht shuttle bus. The Thais are very friendly and helpful. Then after 90mins wait we boarded a flight to Chiang Mai. The starter motor on the aircraft was a bit dodgy but after 8 attempts the plane finally jerked into life - not good for Nats stress levels!
It was great to be met by Sarah and her side-kick Fon at the airport.
Our accomodation is simple but clean and we have an en-suite bathroom so we are happy.
Nats wrecked and again we sleep in moderately small bursts.

Saturday ...
The morning was spent lying in for a bit and then catching up with Sarah as rain stopped play. During the afternoon the husband of our guest-house owner, Nouie took us around the Bo Sang craft village where they make silk items, silver jewellery and traditional umbrellas. Tes had to ride in the back of the pickup as there was only room for four passengers in the cab. Nat had a butterfly and flowers painted on her trousers in waterproof acrylic.

The painters are very artistic and produce their work so quickly. Nouie was very interesting and funny. He entertained us with a running commentary of the history of Thailand and kept us amused with his jokes. Mr Robert from the umbrella factory told us that it is lucky not to be a Muslim. This was because the price of pork would be higher if not for them!!!!

Thai life is very chilled. There appear to be few rules of the road so traffic is quite unruly but is not fast so it dosn't feel too dangerous. Lots of mopeds - few helmets. The Chiang Mai night bazaar is a bit weird as there are so many tourists trying to bag the bargin of the week and thus I think the locals have got quite hard to the "farang" (foreigners) - not a good impression.
Thai food is lush! - I have got to do one of those cooking courses.
Thai weather is hot and humid although bearable - in any case there is lots of air-con around.
Slept well tonight.

Sunday ...
Thai Church was great. Christine and Ranulph from Trinity Chelt were their at the start of their 3-month Chinese orientation training. The Patterson's were also their and Ros spoke a great sermon from Jonah.
Just had lunch and think we will be going to the pool in a bit.

I'd love to get some photos on here but need some webspace assitance from Matt.
Sawadi krap,