Welcome to the jungle!!

O my Buddha - what a week this has been! I have seen a totally different, more beautiful, side to Thailand, having left Bangkok and headed for the hills of Chiang Mai, and have experienced so many new things.

We had a small introduction to the Thai countryside on a fantastic day trip to Kanchanaburi (afew hours west of Bangkok) where we visited the Bridge over the River Kwai, Sai Yok waterfall and had a rickety train journey through the Kwai valley. Our guide was extremely camp and kept calling us, and the only other western girl on the trip (everyone else was Japanese), 'sexy ladies' and asking us to marry him. Difference in colour still seems to cause abit of a stir here despite the wide-spread tourism, as I experienced first-hand during the trip. I was having a nice cool off in the waterfall, surrounded by local kids playing in the water, when a Muslim family decided that my pale skin was some kind of mircale and proceeded to make me pose with each member of the family for, what felt like, hundreds of photos. Very embarassing!!


I am currently in an internet cafe in Chiang mai, which is about to close, after moving from our nice posh hotel, included in the trek, on one side of the moat, to a very cheap, but not totally disgusting, guesthouse on the other. The jungle trek was absolutely amazing!! Our guide, Luke (not his real name) picked us up from the airport and from then on I felt we were in safe hands. He came from one of the hilltribes and has been leading treks for 7 years. He spoke English, Thai, Spanish and some Japanese, aswel as his own tibal language. I think I'm slightly in love. Haha. The truck ride to and from the Mae Ping area we trekked in was pretty terrifying - Mum would have had a fit!! The actual walking was hard work, up and down hill, but atleast the air was abit cooler up there. It even got quite cold overnight at the first village where we stayed in a hut on stilts. The food was fantastic - lots of interesting curries and fruit and veg, and village life was so beautifully simple - showering in the streams and going to bed by candlelight. The elephant ride was alot of fun (and no I didn't cry like I did on that horse in America). We named our elephant Jack, and Louise got to ride on his head because she is a crazy kid! I think the best part of the trip was the bamboo rafting on the last day. Despite being totally petrified before I got on I actually enjoyed the rapids we went through (literally went through upto our waists, not over) the most. I got to hold onto the tripod for the bags which meant I also got to try fishing with Luke's home-made rod. Haha. No luck, I'm afraid!

Cookery lesson tomorrow and the amazing Chiang Mai night bazaar again tonight, as we loved it so much the first time around.

Next stop Laos, following a three day journey on the Mekong river!

Here is the first lot of photos I have managed to put onto Picasa, let me know if you can't see them.
https://picasaweb.google.com/115396624801108203436/BangkokKanchanaburi#

Sandbags everywhere!

So, i'm in Bangkok, sponging off our last hostel for free internet- now in a pretty awful guesthouse on the next street - and the sandbags have definitely started to multiply!! Eeeek! Definitely ready to move on now, Bangkok has been great but having had to fork out for a flight to Chaing Mai for Tuesday as the floods have written off both train and bus routes, we are starting to feel very strapped for cash and tourist attractions are not cheap here. The tuk tuks and clothing, however, can be if you haggle hard enough.

I have walked a fair bit to reduce transport costs, around markets and various streets selling wierd-looking food, birds in cages and car engines. I have seen small buddhas, tall buddhas, gold buddhas, sitting, reclining and standing buddhas. I have met a pirate, an earwigging Irish architect and the crazy kids (Zoe and Frankie - from uni) and lots of other fun people. The thai massage last night evoked a mixed reaction - i was interested by the techniques but most of them felt like torture!! I have eaten surprisingly little but, bar the first day of pizza and pink donuts, I think we have been reasonably adventurous eating street food including pad thai, mango and rice and chicken scewers. I have enjoyed the ridiculousness that is Khao San Road with its neon signs, blaring music and street kids selling flowers and charging you for thumb wars. Haha. They are so cute though so I didn't mind losing!

This city has taught me many things already; about Bangkok, about travelling and about myself. I have found out that I am not always good at reading maps when in Chinatown or finding a way out of the airport, but that I am quite a good actress when it comes to pretending to want to buy a dress in a tailors shop in order for the tuk tuk driver to get his petrol paid. When travelling one should always wear trousers out at night (to avoid insect bites), flip flops when visiting temples (for ease of removal) and no make up (just too much hassle). Bangkok is energetic to say the least, with jostling streets around every corner as the shops burst onto the road. The contrast between rich and poor is quite shocking: corragated shacks huddle under huge shining modern skyscrapers and beggars sit outside posh boutiques or the sparkling skytrain stations. But I suppose I can think of some European cities with similar characteristics e.g Naples.

Really need to go and find some food, if we can get over the mountain of sandbags outside this hostel, as I have eaten extremely little (for me), probably due to the heat.

Hope all is well back home - and not too cold!!!

Jumping in at the deep end!

I was going to name this post 'thrown in at the deep end' but then I realised no one is making me do this, I have only myself to blame!

I am still optimistic that no blaming will be necessary but after seeing footage on the news, last night, of Bangkok surrounded by huge lakes that are definitely not on the map, I was starting to think it might be. I don't have much affection for large amounts of water, expecially when it is not where it is supposed to be, the river at Goldrill was traumatic enough for me. However, after a sleepless night and a very productive morning - and alot of help from Dad, making phonecalls to various Thai girls- I now feel much better about setting off into the unknown. The diving board has atleast been lowered slightly.

I've had a fantastic last weekend at home, including my favourite roast dinner (Mum's roast beef and yorkshire pudding), cocktails with Jade, and two hilarious games of croquet with Becca and Mark. I finally finished work - NO MORE POTATOES!! I certainly won't miss the monotony of watching potatos wizz past me or the smell of the rotten ones, the dirt in my eyes or the cold wind. I will, however, miss the fact that my fantastic Daddy would come and takeover my shift for me when I had to be somewhere. Infact my parents are definitely going to be missed the most. Despite not having much to do this summer I have loved being at home with them. It's like my very own live sitcom! I don't think they ever intend to be funny but I am often in fits of giggles in their company. Although having slightly gone off potato in all its forms recently, Mum's roast potatoes will be up there on the list of home-cooked food I am surely going to pine for. I look forward to noodles and curries, and trying new exotic delicacies, but I'm aware that the novelty might wear thin quite quickly.

Packing has gone quite well considering I only properly started last night, probably due to the elaborate list I have been developing over the last 4 months. 'When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money, then take half the clothes and twice the money' - a brilliant piece of advice which I have attempted by working this last few weeks to earn a little more money, but by no means doubling it. I think I symbolised halving the clothes by removing one pair of shorts. Sorry Patrick!

Gona miss my train, gotta go, see you all in afew months!

The Plan, Stan!

One week to go!!!

Thought I'd post a factfile just so you all know roughly where I might be, when, and how to get in contact.

This is the planned itinerary for the whole trip, all 7 months of it. The flights are in bold as they are slightly more definite dates (still subject to change ofcourse).

17th Oct depart Heathrow - 18th Oct arrive Bangkok
18-24th  - Bangkok and around inc. Kanchanaburi and Bridge over the River Kwai
25-28th - Chiang Mai hill tribe trek (elephants, river rafts, general jungle-iness)
28-30th - more time in Chiang Mai for a spot of Thai cooking
31st Oct-2nd Nov - 3 day journey to Luang Prabang in Laos via the Mekong river
3-10th - roughly 1 week in Laos for tubing, caving and presumably some temples
11-25th - 2 weeks in Vietnam from top (Hanoi) to bottom (Ho Chi Minh City or 'Saigon') with trips to Halong Bay and Hoi An along the way. Will hopefully find some tunnels and museums about the war.
26th Nov-3rd Dec - Cambodia - Pnom Penh (the capital), Kep/Kampot/Sihanoukville (southern beaches) and Siem Reap (to visit Angkor Wat)
4-8th - journey to Southern Thailand via Bangkok, first island stop on Koh Tao to attempt to scuba dive
9-12th - Koh Pha Ngan for full-moon party
13-22nd - more time on Pha Ngan heading north to get away from the crowds and then a stay with Brian Tasker on Phuket
23-26th - Christmas time on Penang in Malaysia, christmas on the beach
27-29th - Kuala Lumpur
30th Dec-2nd Jan - New Year in Singapore
 

2nd Jan depart Singapore - 3rd Jan arrive Cairns, Australia
This is where the plan becomes dependent on job availability but for now we'll say:
4-8th - explore Cairns and look for work
9th Jan-4th March - working in Queensland, hopefully in a hotel, cafe or bar, Louise will have to drag me kicking and screaming to do fruit-picking or any other farm work, had enough of that for one year
5th March-2nd April - travel down the East coast with Oz experience buses to Sydney (learn to surf haha, sail around the Whitsundays, visit Fraser Island, Brisbane, Byron Bay and have a barbie) maybe a roadtrip to Melbourne/Adelaide if we have time
 

2nd April depart Sydney, Australia - arrive Auckland, NZ
3rd April - 9th May - complete a circuit of both North and South island on Kiwi experience buses, visiting Paihia, Rotorua, Wellingotn, Nelson, Franz Josef Glacier, Queenstown, Milford Sound and Christchurch


9th May depart Auckland, NZ - arrive Nadi, Fiji
10-22nd - explore Fiji, hopping from one desert island to the next with a Bula Pass around the Mamanuca and Yasawa islands and relax in Nadi before mammoth journey home


22nd May depart Nadi, Fiji - cross dateline (go back in time) - stop in LA - 23rd May arrive Heathrow

You may have noticed that the first section of the itinerary is much more detailed than the rest. This may have something to do with the fact that I have a Rough Guide to South East Asia but not to anywhere else. But we have plenty of time and many backpacker-to-backpacker conversations to have before we get to Australia so I'm sure we will collect a long list of places to see.

To contact me you can leave a comment on this blog, send me an email at ellie_p19@hotmail.co.uk or through Facebook. I will also try to be on Skype when I can (i.e when I'm at a hostel with fast, free internet). My Skype name is eleanor.palmer90. I will be taking my phone with me which I may text from or for calls incase of emergencies. 

Hope you've all found this informative, but do take it with a pinch of salt as the plan might change a little, or even alot.

'All journey's have secret destinations, of which the traveler is unaware'