Vientiane was possibly the shortest stay in a place I will have on my trip. My time in Vientiane was a total of around and hour and a half. Just enough time to eat a burger, find the bus station and then make my way to Vang Vein.
Upon arrival and from the short conversations we had with people here there really did not seem to be much to do. So instead of stay here a few nights and then head up to Vang Vein. I decided it would be best to Go up there frsit, do what I wanted do and if I had time head back down to Vientiane and do it properly, so thats what I did...
....Well that concludes me time in Vientiane. No pictures, no experiences, nothing. Just a nice burger and a short rest from bus rides before the 4 hour trip up to Vang Vein.
Saturday, 30 May 2009
Friday, 29 May 2009
Laos

Well I am now in Laos. Worst bus ride of my life from Chaing Mai to here thanks to food poisoning and a third world bus. The landscape on the Laos side of the border is spectacular. Now in Vang Vieng a fairly stale and generic backpacker haven but Tubing should be fun.
Peace out and a lot of updates soon, I have nearly caught up!
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Chiang Mai
.jpg)
Chiang Mai was mint, could have spent a long time here as the place had a lot to offer but it would also have cost me an arm and a leg as the excursions weren't cheap. This was to be my very final stop in my now 2 month trip around Thailand and while I didn't really think about it too much at the time I was pretty sad that this was the last time I was going to be in Thailand properly. There is just something about this country that really appeals to me I just feel there is a real sense of fun in everywhere I have been here, its quality.
I think one of the reason for my instant like of the Chaing Mai was the circumstance to which I arrived and the way we got there. We had a number of options of getting to Chaing Mai which were all a pretty similar prices. We could either bus, fly or take the sleeper train. We've done loads of buses, I've been on loads of planes but I have never had the chance to a sleeper train so it seemed like the obvious choice. It was not only an obvious choice in terms of adding a new experience to my travels, it was also the best decision I have ever as it just flew by. There was no fussing around with checking in a waiting times you get with planes, no shitty uncomfortable seats with Vietnamese karaoke on the TV the entire journey that I had come to expect on buses. It was just buy your ticket, jump on, chill out for a bit in your seats then when we wanted you would ask the captain?! or whatever the hell you call the guy on the train to turn your seat into the a bed, get in and then wake up on the other side. It was perfect.
I woke up after something like 12 hours sleep in Chiang Mai station and felt so awake that I wouldn't need to sleep again for at least 4 days. It had the mental alertness to battle with the accommodation touts at the station entrance and even the energy to be able to not necessarily having to take the first hostel we came to through fear of anymore traipsing around the street would cause me to collapse from exhaustion. A situation I had been in, in nearly every city I had been to in Asia so far.
Another benefit of the hostel was that we were able to book all the tour and activities we wanted to do in Chiang Mai directly through there at a good price as well. The hostel had been going for 22 years so they had built up some very loyal contacts who gave them good discounts on tours and treks which us backpackers could then take advantage of. The main reason people come to Chiang Mai is for the treks and other activities available in the surrounding area so we were literally spoilt for choice for things we could do while we were there.
The first things I signed up for was the Thai cooking course, which was quality.
After the ATV trek we were given a free lunch at the white water rafting base to give us a bit of energy before we made the 2 hour decent down the river back to the minibus to take us back to our hostel. Me met up with 2 other guys at the top who had been riding elephants all morning while we were quad biking. So the 5 of us along with 4 other guys who worked at the rafting center began getting ready for the long ride down.
.jpg)
Myself and Tommy decided to stay in Chiang Mai and extra day than what we had planned so that we could catch the campions leauge final and didn't miss it stuck on a bus between here and Laos. It wasn't going to kick off in Thailand till 1:40am so Tommy wanted to get some kip so he was nice and awake for the game. I couldn't be assed to do this as I am not a homo like Tommy. So I twiddled my thumbs trying to think about what could kill a few hours so decided I would go for a walk around Chiang Mai. I set off at about 11ish and 10km I finally made it back to the hostel just in time for kick off. I had ended up walking around the entire city of Chiang Mai by just following the surrounding wall. It was a good few hours walking and allowed me to see a huge amount of the city. It was around the 5km point I was pretty much fed up of my walk but at this point I was really at a point of no return it was either 5km back or 5km a head of me so I opted just to keep going. I realized about half way round how much my attitude towards this country had changed since I had first arrived here. When I first got to Thailand for some reason I just felt everyone was out to mug me. When mine and Tommy went for a walk for the first time in Bangkok we padlocked all our zips and were very suspicious of everyone we saw. But here I was 2 months later, no pad locks or anything just strolling around the city in the earlier hours of the morning. If the guy from Quantum Leap had come back in time and told me that is what I would be doing when I was in Thailand I wouldn't have believed him as I probably would have been too scared of getting robbed. I guess it just shows how my travels are chiang my attitudes towards things and how I no longer instantly thought everyone in Thailand was a thief (haha). I guess the main reason for this is just how friendly everyone here is, its so nice and just make you fell so relaxed all the time. Sometimes I wish it would be a bit more like that back home, but I doubt it will ever change.
On my walk earlier that evening I had walked past a huge bar filled with Thais all getting geared up for the game. The Asians bloody love the premiership, or the EPL as they call it out here, so watching the game with the Thais was a must! I called Tommy who was just waking up so while I waited for him to join me a popped into a bar just down the road for a bottle of Chang and watched a local Ska band play. The Thai youths here also seem to love ska and ska punks a lot as this was the second time I had seen them all skankin' away to it. I think they were a bit like who the hell is this guy when I rocked up and just sat at the bar having a beer watching them all but I didn't care, was just cool to see them all rocking out.
Tommy eventually showed up and we headed off to watch the game. We sat down and the game kicked off, for the first 10 minutes Man U were on fire and so were the Thais. They would scream and shout and every near attempt or basically every time Man U made it into Barcelona's half. Unfortunately after the 10 minute mark Man U didn't really do anything else and nor did the Thais. It could have been the best football game of my life ever had Man U played a bit better as the Thais would just have gone mad. But never mind those brief 10 minutes of madness were better than nothing.
I had a brilliant time in Chiang Mai and was very sad to leave. I am pleased we had moved out flight to Australia back allowing us to properly appreciate this place as well as giving us time to hit Laos properly as well. I had 3 great experience here 2 of which I am definitely going to do again, the quad biking not so much, but the water water rafting and the cooking course were superb. Chiang Mai = Mega funzzz
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)



Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Thai Cooking Course
I bloody love Thai food so I had wanted to do a cooking course for quite a while in Thailand but had never found the time to do one. It was only Tommy and myself doing the cooking course as Pete had already done one in Bangkok and also was a strict Vegan so obviously didn't really want to be cooking with all the dead animals that we would be. When I booked the course I wasn't sure how long we were going to be in Chiang Mai for as our time in Asia was running out and we still had to make it to Laos. Therefore, regrettably now, I only booked a short half day cooking course. In the end we ended up moving our flight back a week which would have given me the time to have done a full day or even a 2 day course which I would have much preferred to have done. However at the time a half day is all I thought I would be able to fit in so that's what I did. The course would involve a trip to a local Thai market and then picking a number of dishes off a set menu which I would then be taught how to cook properly.
Cooking the dishes were so simple there was literally nothing to it and it would only take a matter of minutes from start to finish. The hardest thing about the whole process is just getting the ingredients in the first place, especially as back home they wont be so widely available. The finished products were unreal and I couldn't believe I had just made them, they just seemed like the sorts of things that would be so hard to make but in reality were a piece of piss.
When we finished we were asked to sign the little visitors book, they took some photos of us and our dishes and then were given a little recipe book containing about 50 various Thai recipes. I had hoped to be given one so that I would be able to continue making proper Thai food when I get back to England, so was real pleased about that. One of the best bits about the course was that normally there are about 12 other people on the course at the same time with still just the one teacher. As we had come to Chiang Mai during the low season it meant that it was just myself and Tommy in the kitchen so we had almost one on one tuition which was a right bonus. I really enjoyed my cooking course and was quite disappointed I couldn't have done a slightly longer one. All in all though was a great experience and will defiantly be trying a few more dishes when I come home.
Sunday, 24 May 2009
Bangkok Pt.4
.JPG)
Who'd believe it Back again! I wasn't really sure what my plan was when I came back to Bangkok and I wasn't sure how long I was going to be there for or really what I would do. I headed back to Bangkok on the 12th of May and I was debating whether or not to stay here in Bangkok for my birthday as I wanted to be in a place I knew so I could work out what I wanted to do rather than go somewhere new. But doing this would mean staying another week in Bangkok and I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this. So I was just going to take each days as it came and if I was still enjoying being in the city then I would stay. As it turned out, not really as any surprise, I loved being back in the big city so ended up staying another week here just getting up to various bits and bobs and just enjoying having no responsibilities other than my duty to stay within my budget as much as possible. So as usual here is a bit about some other the things I got up to while I was in the Capital of Thailand.
My trip to Bangkok was the first time myself and Tommy in our 3 months of travels had split up and gone our separate ways. We were often going off and doing other things by our selves but this was the first time we were not in the completely different places. While I went up north to Bangkok, Tommy headed east with Pete, to another Thai island called Krabi. I am not sure if I will regret skipping Krabi for Bangkok as Krabi does not even compare really, its a Thai island for Christs sake and it is a real shame I didn't go. But I am real happy when I am in Bangkok so at least for now I don't regret not going there but when Tommy came back up to Bangkok and I saw the pictures, I must admit I was a little jealous. oooo wells.

I was enjoying my time to myself in Bangkok although on my first day completely on my own I did feel a little bit lost. Having my party of one meals were pretty boring after I stopped seeing Lee and Phung or Aun weren't around and I never really sure what to do with myself during the day as most of my activities in Bangkok involved going out at night. However after the first few days of learning how to do my own things again it was great being by myself. It was a much needed break from Hampson and was nice to just potter around and reflect a bit more on the places I have been and things I have seen a bit more. So much so that by the time Pete and Tommy returned to Bangkok it was almost as if I wasn't happy to see them as I knew that my newly found freedom was to be shortly lived. Although it was great having 2 mates back in the city with me.
.JPG)
Well as the days ticked and I eventually ended up being in Bangkok to celebrate my 22nd birthday. I've given that its own post which you can cast your eyes over HERE is you so wish. I wasn't planning on it comparing in anyway to my 21st which was off its tis, but to my surprise it turned out to be a pretty sweet day thanks to a certain person and is up there as one of my most memorable birthdays. To read some more about it go HERE.
Interesting taxi ride on one of the last nights in Bangkok. Tommy and myself as well as joined by Phung decided to see "Night at the Museum" at the cinema. We grabbed a taxi from outside the cinema and made out way back to the hostel. Just before we got to the hostel I realized something wasn't quite right when we were going a route we had never gone before. Then there were some blue flashing lights and from no where the police had pulled the taxi over. ERR OHH I thought to myself, whats going on here. The police in Bangkok are notoriously corrupt and really did wonder what was going to happen, not to use but the taxi driver as the police here (so I've read) try as hard as they can not to arrest/exploit tourists, which is jolly nice of them. But anyway as it turns out the reason we got pulled over was that the taxi driver was driving the wrong way down a one way street. I knew something was wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it at the time but I had never gone down that road to get to the hostel instead always had to go the long way around then cut through the hostel. So the Policeman checks the drivers license and as it turns out he doesn't have one, which was obviously why he was driving down the wrong way as he wouldn't have had a clue what the sign meant I guess. Thinking that the situation had worked out very well as we had been stopped all bu a 60 second walk from the hostel and we were going to get a free ride out of it. The Police man shone a torch in our face and told us to pay the driver and get out of the cab. PAY THE DRIVER! the guy was driving without a license but we still have to pay him! Didn't make any sense to me. We paid the 3 quid fare and made our way back to the hostel chuckling at how "Thai" that whole situation had been.
.JPG)
So eventually my time in Bangkok had to come to an end and once again I was very sad to be saying goodbye to the city. Partly because I wasn't sure whether this was actually going to be my last time here. Part of me felt I would be coming back but at the same time I had no reason to come back again and it would just be a pointless trip so I really wasn't sure. Either way on the 22nd I finally left Bangkok and got on the sleeper train to Chaing Mai and finally making it into the northern sector of Thailand.
What with all the time I have been to Bangkok I have never really put any photos up. So here's some.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)