Pedaling and Pampering....

We have decided to stay in our current guesthouse rather than waste part of the day searching for somewhere cheaper, we are happy with the price and location so we headed off to get a push bike each so we can discover this place. Kanchanaburi is a little bigger than we expected but riding around is still easy. We started with the war cemetery and I must say that reading about the history and seeing all the Australian servicemen's graves is a very emotional experience. There is not only Aussie soldiers buried there but others who were involved in WWII and just over 80 graves marked as unknown. There is a plot where 300 soldiers ashes are all combined and their names are in a memorial building.....very soul stirring. After a solemn stroll and a few tears we headed to the fresh market for a look around, markets here are so cool and we love looking at all the different types of produce. We sat for a while as the rain fell and Alvo had an iced coffee before we headed to the Jeath Museum. It is a replica WWII POW hut that tells the story of the Bridge over the River Kwai though photos and artwork, again quite emotional but a must if you want to realise the horror of war. Time to head back to our quieter side of the city and when we got there decided that it was time for food so found a local restaurant and ate delicious green curry and pad thai. We saw a street named Australia Road on the map and wanted to see it so rode off in the direction of the Bridge over the River Kwai and after finding Australia Road decided that the bridge wasn't that far away and headed off to find it, I grabbed a little rice ball snack from the side of the road for the journey of course. The ride was easy and the bridge is a real reminder of the sacrifice and hard times that the POW's endured. We walked across the bridge which is still in use and you must hop off the track if the train comes, we came across a Thai guy playing the violin and singing Waltzing Matilda, again the soul stirred. We chatted to him for a while and he showed us places on the bridge where bombs and bullets hit before he again started playing but this time it was Lady Gaga, he was really cool so we threw some money in his violin case. While we were walking across the tourist train came and we stepped onto a platform, it was great timing as Alvo really wanted to see the train cross. We left the bridge and took a short walk to another museum which highlighted more of the WWII story and it was great to have a walk around. With our sight seeing done I got some of my favourite new dessert that I spotted on the way and as it was quite hot the delicious coconut ice cream was a great refresher. Alvo wanted to get a manicure so on the way back to the guesthouse we stopped in at a little place that charges $3.50 to cut, file, trim skin and paint nails and I thought I would get my toenails done too. We were pretty tired from our riding and Alvo fell asleep at one point but at least she wasn't snoring like the lady getting her hair done, admittedly she was in a full horizontal position so I don't blame her for the snoring. We needed a rest so back to the guesthouse we pedalled and it was good timing as the rain was starting to fall once again. We rested for quite a while and when we woke up it was time for...yep, food. We stopped at the 10B bar on the way for a few pre dinner drinks and as 10B is about $0.35 it was a cheap hour for us. Dinner was had at On's veggie restaurant again and she did not disappoint yet again with great curry fried rice and pad-see-u which is a noodle dish. We chatted to her about doing her cooking class and she was very excited to hear that we would like to learn with her. She is from Isaan which is in the north east part of Thailand where the food is said to be some of the spiciest so we are eager to attend. The ladies at her restaurant are really friendly and a great laugh, as we are learning a little of the Thai language they have been helping us by talking and teaching, On even joked about giving me Thai lessons and charging me a little bit more for our class.....she is really nice. On the way home we thought a foot massage sounded good so popped into a little massage place that does them for $7 for an hour and it was really great. The ladies that massaged us were really chatty and easy going, it is so good to find such friendly people who are so willing to help you learn. Alvo was happy that her lady did not do a super hard massage and here in Thailand when you get a foot massage you also get a little shoulder and head massage, it is so good. We told the ladies we would be back for a face scrub tomorrow and then something else the next day.....at these prices why not. We bid them goodnight and had a night cap at the 10B bar before heading back home for the night. If it isn't raining tomorrow we will hire a moped and go a little further out of town for a look around. Tanya xxx.

Train Trippin'....

We all had a bit of a sleep in today till nearly 9am which was nice. But we were soon up and packed, ready for our next adventure. We said goodbye to Tamara (well until we come back on Friday) and started our trek to where we catch the train to Kanchanaburi. We walked down to the canal where we got on the Klong boat and went to the same place we went on Friday. After only being on it twice we felt like experts as it is so easy to use. The canal today was super gross and the water was black.....I think if you fell in you would instantly vomit and maybe even learn to walk on water....lol. There are lots of little houses/shacks backing onto it and I can't image having to look at and smell it everyday. When we got off we thought we better get something to eat in case there wasn't much on the way (haaa......we should know better....this is the land of food here). I spoke to a policeman and he confirmed that where we were going was right and told us a taxi would be better than a tuk tuk. So we hail a taxi and try and tell him and show him on the map where we want to go but he has no clue....another guy comes up and he speaks English so we tell him.....but he wants to know where we are going on the train and asks if we have a ticket.....we say no we are getting it at the train station....ooohhhh NO he says, you must buy from the tourist office.....haaaa again......bullshit buddy we have already been down this path. So we say NO we want to go to the pier so he tells the taxi driver the same thing I was telling him and walks off mumbling something which I am sure was not nice....lol. So in we get and the taxi has us at the pier in 10 minutes. We walk though a huge market (yes full of food of course) and pay 10¢ to cross the river. We decide to walk to the station as we think it is quite close. We asked directions several times and within 20 minutes were at the station. We bought our ticket at the station and had about an hour and a half to wait. So after much research and conflicting information getting to the train was soooo easy although I have read that the train is notorious for running late. I shall be writing on the trip advisor forum about doing this trip as I am sure the info will be helpful to others that are unsure. As I write this we have just boarded the train and although it is not the Orient Express we are pretty happy with our $3.40 tickets for a 3 hour scenic train ride. But I will finish this tonight with hopefully all good reports............OK, so it is now 4.5 hours later and after sitting on the train for an hour and 15 minutes we finally left the station.....I can't say there has been much rural scenery but what there has been is nice. Although most of the way there is so much rubbish along the track it really is a shame......but I guess when you see a train conductor walking through picking up rubbish and throwing it out the window there is no wonder this place looks like one huge garbage tip. We were also told that the train is very dangerous and maybe we wouldn't get a seat.....the only danger is if you stick your head out the window to take a photo you have to be careful not to get whacked in the face by the jungle as in some places it is nearly coming through the window....lol. And as for not getting a seat, well the train is half empty. This train trip is definitely not for anyone in a hurry as it goes very slow and stops ALOT. We were meant to get there at 4.30pm and it is now 6.15pm and I think we have at least another half an hour to go. It has also started to rain so hopefully finding accommodation in the dark will not be too hard......Last installment for the day.....We finally got to Kanchanaburi at 7.15pm and luckily the rain had eased off. Most people would think that our day has been wasted travelling but we try to remember that it is sometimes about the journey and not always about the destination. So we walked out of the train station and had no clue where we were going so we crossed the road and asked a guy outside a supermarket where the hotels where. He pointed us down a side road and even though it looked quite dark we went down there and were pleased to find some action. We spotted a sign for a guest house and walked down another dark laneway to the end. It was a nice looking place and when he told us the price we were happy and took the room. It is probably one of the nicer ones we have been in yet and a bit cheaper. The owner gave me a map and also told us where to go for food so of course that is where we headed straight away. We discovered the tourist street which is full of bars and places to eat. We found a little vegetarian place which Zoe had already told us about so we stopped there. We got talking to an American lady and she ended up sitting with us for dinner. When we left there we finished walking the street to see what was around and found a bar that sells cider AND Bundy Rum...lol. So we called in there and ended up chatting to the owner (a Pommy), another Pom and 2 Aussies. We stayed there for a while and then decided it was time for bed. Walking back down the street we were surprised at how much like Patong, in Phuket this road is like....only waaaay smaller. This is not really a good thing....so we will see what it is like in the day time. Alvo xoxo

Island day....

So today we are going to an Island in the middle of Bangkok called Kho Kret. We headed off toward the train station and stopped for breakfast at a local place which was once again lovely. Tamara had to do something so she took off and we were to meet her at the station. Walking along the busy street certainly makes us realise that we really like the smaller towns of Thailand......man this place is busy and everyone seems to be rushing everywhere. We jumped on the train and it took about half an hour to get where we needed to go and it is nice as the air conditioning is a welcome relief from the hot and humid weather outside. Next mission was getting a cab which even with Tamara being able to speak Thai quite well, was still hard. Finally we got one to know where we wanted to go and we jumped in his hotted up taxi and were off up the highway like a rocket. He was a really funny and it made the trip go pretty quick even though it was about 45 minutes.....lucky taxis are cheap here. He dropped us right where we need to be and we jumped on the ferry to go across to the island for a whole 6¢ each. We were pounced on by a lady as soon as we got off to rent push bikes and as they were only $1.30 each we thought it was a good way to see the whole place. We rode through the markets first which was a bit of a squeeze but we soon came out the end onto an open bike path. We spent a couple of hours riding and although it was really smelly there was some nice scenery and interesting things to look at. We took the bikes back and then spent another couple of hours wandering through the markets looking at all the cool stuff they have. We snacked on different foods all day and Tanya found her new favourite dessert, coconut ice cream and frozen coconut ice stuff......she ate one cup full and then we had to run and find her again so she could get another one....lol. I bought a new dress and a pair of shorts, that Tanya says we will be sharing...the shorts that is, not the dress....lol. On our way out we saw a Monk having a smoke outside the temple.....I thought this was odd as I didn't think they would be allowed to smoke and Tamara tells me they are not meant to. Tried to get a pic but he was too quick at throwing it on the ground.....hmmmmmm......also not good. So our day on the island is finished and we all decided that it was a great little place worth visiting. So back we go in a taxi then train then walk and Tamara left us to go visit Bella again. We also ended up at the animal hospital with her as we decided that we want to get a pedicure on the way so we stopped in to pick her up and head to the beautician. Tamara and I got a pedicure which for $6.50 was a bargain and it was in a really nice place with big comfy chairs. My girl was very good and was only 15. We got chatting to a local lady called Apple, who was extremely nice and spoke perfect English. She is going to email Tamara some leads for finding a house which is great for her. By the time we left there it was nearly 9pm so we stopped for some more awesome food on the way home. When we got home we did more research on getting to Kanchanaburi tomorrow as we keep getting told all different things about the train. But we are going to go with all the info we have from the internet and see what happens. Alvo xoxo

Up the canal without a paddle....

We wanted to have a bit of an adventure today so after doing some washing for Tamara, which was an ordeal but lets not talk about that, we headed off in the opposite direction to where we went yesterday and found some really nice red curry and rice for breakfast to start with and then discovered an underground carpark market type place and wandered through. We were right next to a canal and saw long wooden boats going past so decided to follow the path and see if one was worth catching. We found a little boat stop kind of thingy but had no idea how to read the schedule and I really needed to go to the toilet so we stopped in at a small corner store where the lady let me use the bathroom.....thank god. Have you ever used one of those water spray things on your butt, they are strange but good at the same time. Anyway, the lady there said she spoke a little English...she was soooo wrong, she spoke great English and gave us heaps of info about the boats and off we went to catch one. For the huge fare of 14B ($0.50) each we were aiming for the last stop so jumped on a very crowded boat and hooned off up or down, I'm not sure which, the canal. One passenger was nice enough to let us know that we needed to hop off and catch the next boat and then a nice lady told us when our trip was finished and there were no more stops so off we hopped to see what we could see. At the end of the pier was a few tuk tuks and a man came upto us and explained all the sights to see and told us that a driver would take us everywhere for 20B which is not even a dollar but of course we had to go to a gem shop so the driver could get his fuel coupon but we decided to go. First stop was the Big Buddha and then a temple that is only open one day of the year on Buddha Day which funnily enough happened to be today, it even has it on the calendar. It was great to see the Buddha inside which was 300 years old and then to the Black Buddha and a man there told us the history of the Buddha which made things more interesting. The temples are beautiful and if sight seeing is your thing then there is plenty to see here. The tourist info centre was next and we wanted to ask about train tickets to Kanchanaburi but the lady there was not very helpful so we moved on to the gem shop which you get followed around in as you look at the many shiny things and apparently we were not in there long enough for our driver to get his fuel voucher so off to the tailor shop we go so he can try again. We were swarmed on as soon as we walked in but assured the salesmen that we did not want to be fitted for a blouse or a suit or a skirt or a jacket as we have no room in our backpacks, they gave up and we just spent the next ten minutes in the gift shop section so our driver could get his fuel voucher....gruelling I know. Back to the pier we headed but not before doing a blocky around the kings house which takes up an entire block and comes complete with armed guards at various locations around the perimeter, oh and there is a moat. Lunch was found in a cart on the street before we boarded the boat to head back to Tamara's place, it was definitely an adventure.....so much so that I had to cancel my skype date with Ma due to being in the middle of who knows where. On arriving home Tamara was sleeping on the lounge so we donned our bathers and headed to the pool where I did a few laps to start strengthening my neck and upper body up just like my massage lady told me to. It is nice to be able to just lay by the pool and relax but I soon enough got bored so we headed back up to see if Tamara was awake. She was on a skype date with her parents and after saying hi we headed to the 7-11 for a couple of cheeky take away bevvies, you simply can not go past Bacardi Breezers for 53B (less than $2). We thought of trying to catch a ladyboy show somewhere and a couple of Tamara's friends want to join us but seeing as though we are so indecisive we have decided to do some more research and go next weekend so off we headed for dinner which we decided to be street food and sat at a very busy with Thai locals place on the footpath. The dish had red pork and duck with rice.....it was pretty good. The girls are tired so we walked back home and decided to have a night in. We are off to some island in the middle of Bangkok tomorrow with one of Tamara's friends so will be sure to enjoy another adventure tomorrow but goodnight for now. Tanya xxx.

Relaxing in Bangkok....

Wow finally a quiet and comfortable nights sleep.....there is alot to be said for being on the 9th floor in an extremely nice hotel...and also having my first hands free shower in 5 week last night was awesome.....ahhhh the little things. We were awake early as Tamara leaves at 7am for work. We wandered down the street and found some local food and then returned to the hotel to do some washing. We hung out by the pool for a while and had a swim then went for a bit more food. When Tamara got home we got a tuk tuk to the animal hospital to visit her rescue dog Bella. She is being cared for at the hospital until a home is found for her. She is very cute and there were also alot of other dogs there that were is various stages of recovery, which was a bit sad as there were a couple waiting to die. We walked for a while to the train station and went a few stops to the markets. We wondered around for a while, found some nice food and then spent an hour or so making our way home. So our first day in Bangkok has been pretty quiet and this has been the shortest blog ever.....sorry, hopefully tomorrow will be a bit more exciting. Alvo xoxo

Goodbye Chiang Mai....

Today we bid farewell to Chiang Mai. I started the day with a walk down to the market and around the block to warm up for my final massage. The monks are out and about getting their food for the day and the market is in full swing, I am going to miss this place. I headed off for my massage a little early but was right when I thought Rose would be eagerly awaiting my arrival. She greeted me in the usual welcoming way and in no time she was prodding and pushing every pressure point known to man. Alila came to check on me and told me that today I would be enduring 3 hours instead of 2.....ok, whatever you say boss. Rose is very good at what she does and was looking and feeling and commenting on my issues. When she was finished Alila showed me the stretches that I need to do every morning to strengthen my neck and protect my back. She is very concerned and caring, she wants to make sure I do the right thing when I leave and I have assured her that I will. With that said we were off to find some breakfast which has now turned into lunch as it is 11.30am. Coconut water is first and then we head for our favourite little cafe for our last chai tea. Alvo asked Laura if she can make my chai with coconut milk, she wanted to experiment with it so was obliging and told her that it will be on the house in case it doesn't work out. It was delicious and we also ordered a plate of raw veggies and guacamole which was really fresh. We bid Laura farewell and good luck, telling her that we will keep up with the cafe on facebook and see her next time we visit Chiang Mai. I am glad we stopped at her place, she has a nice bathroom and as usual my massage didn't skip a beat. We walked a little and asked a couple of drivers a price for the trip to the airport this afternoon and came across a lovely taxi driver who gave us a better price for his air conditioned taxi than we got for a tuk tuk or red truck so asked him to pick us up from our hotel as we have left our bags there. We found an Irish Pub and treated ourselves to a cider and the fact that it cost us more than our nights accommodation made it even more enjoyable. Ok, time to head to the airport and our very nice taxi driver chatted as we drove telling us that he spent 3 months in Australia studying English and working in a Thai restaurant. We got his business card and assured him that we would call him next time we are in Chiang Mai and let friends know about him if they travel up this way. We are flying with Thai Airways so are allowed to put luggage under the plane for free and decided to do so. We watched an episode of Winners and Losers as we waited to board and soon enough we were off to Bangkok. Our friend from Childers, Tamara, is living and working as a teacher in Bangkok and we cannot wait to see her at the airport. Waiting at the luggage carousel was novel as we usually just waltz right through and sure enough Tamara was there waiting for us at Exit A. We were soooo excited to see her and can't wait to spend time discovering Bangkok with her in charge. Tamara lives in a very fancy apartment block and we feel very spoiled being able to stay with her. We got settled and headed off to a restaurant Tamara recommends, on the way down in the elevator we stop off at the pool floor.....yep, there is a pool floor.....with a gym. It is beautiful and we will be spending a little time indulging in the luxury. I can even start in the gym...woohoo. Just a short walk down the road we arrive at the restaurant. It is a fusion of Japanese and Thai food and we ordered a few dishes to share. There were lots of people there and for good reason, it was very nice. Tamara needs to work in the morning so we headed back to the apartment. Tamara is excited about us cooking for her so we talked a little about where to go for ingredients and then retired for the night. It is nice to be here with a friend and will be sure to enjoy our time here. Tanya xxx.

Farewell Pai....

We met Zoe at 8am at the bank but as it didn't open till 8.30 we went to get something to eat. We found a food cart that sold rice porridge and for less than a dollar we were very happy. It was so nice and the best one we have found so far. Finally we have found a bank that will let us withdraw money over the counter with our travel card. As it doesn't have our name on it, no bank will do it....except this one. So now we can get more out than the ATM will allow and they don't charge a fee unlike the ATM, at $5 per withdrawal plus our banks fee, it becomes quite costly after a few times. So happy as a pig in mud we head off for a bit of a look around before we have to take the bikes back. We rode out the other side of town to where we went yesterday and stopped at a Chinese village which was nice. Then we went back up to try and find where to get to the big Buddah on the mountain which we couldn't find yesterday. Of course everything here requires walking up a very steep and dangerous path and this was no different. It wasn't too far and the view was nice and although the Buddah is still under construction, was still good to see. So our moped adventures in Pai are over and we check out of our room and take the bikes back. As we have a couple of hours to kill we head back to the cool cafe we have been to a couple of times. Once again we farewell Zoe and are pretty sure we won't see her again in Thailand as she is heading North and we are going South. We have had a great time hanging out with her and hopefully one day she will make it to Oz. We go back to the bus place and are on the bus and leaving 10 minutes early.....wow this bus company is great. As you know the road from Chiang Mai is extremely steep and winding....and going down seemed alot quicker, especially as our mini bus driver was possessed by Peter Brock and thought he was in the Bathurst 1000.....lol. But funny enough he was still pretty careful and I did not fear for my life once :) We arrived in Chiang Mai and headed back to the same hotel we left from. We checked in and as Tanya had a craving for fried chicken we went across to the market to find some....and we knew it would be easy to find as we have noticed that Thai's have a bit of an obsession with the stuff. So chicken being eaten, we walked a very short distance and saw sign at a cafe that said $2 Mojito's and plum wine.....now that was too hard to pass up. Tanya found plum wine in Sapa and loved it so thought this would be just as good....and it was. The owners mother makes it in Japan and as it happened Tanya drank her dry....lol. She said she has to get her mum to make more now. They also do a bbq and we tried a couple of kebabs and corn which were just delicious. So after a couple of hours there and several of those very potent Mojito's, we went in search of the big mobile cocktail bar we have seen, which is like the ones they have in Amsterdam that you sit on sideways and pedal around....only this one is stationary. On the way Tanya found more chicken and I couldn't resist one of the "best doner kebabs in Chiang Mai". We found the bar and were just in time for happy hour so we had a couple of Pina Coladas and chatted to the owner ages. He was telling us how it all works here with paying rent and also paying the police off. It sounds like it would be a pretty tough place to do business and very corrupt. It was time to walk home and of course garbage guts wanted another snack so we stopped at a cart that was selling this weird mix of beans, soy protein and coconut milk. Tanya thought it was pretty good but I can't say I would rush back for it. So our last night in Chiang Mai has been great and we are really going to miss it here. It has definitely been one of our favourite places so far along with Pai...but new adventures and places await us so off we go tomorrow to Bangkok. Alvo xoxo

Moped Mayhem....

Today was our moped hiring day and before we got them we walked to the morning market for coconut water and a watermelon for breakfast and maybe a sneaky sticky rice with sweet egg. On the way there Alvo was set upon by a local dog which was a little unsettling but the owner soon had it backing off, it reminded me of dogs on community in Alice. We walked and ate as there is nothing like burning the calories you are eating at the same time. We relaxed for a while at a great little alternative cafe as we were not meeting Zoe until after 10am, she is going to try our bike out to see if she wants to hire one, and I started reading a book about kombucha tea. I grabbed a bottle out of the fridge and the book was not wrong when it talked about it tasting like champagne crossed with apple cider...I love it and it is supposed to aid regular toilet habits.....it wasn't wrong there either, what a relief. The coconut water and watermelon were doing their job aswell so I felt soooo much better and will be drinking more of this during my time in Thailand. We hired our moped and met Zoe, she was having breakfast when I noticed a free guided meditation session happening in the next 15 minutes so Alvo took Zoe riding while I took up the opportunity to meditate and it was great, this place is so damn good for you I just want to move here. Anyway, Zoe decided to get her own bike and we set off to discover the Pam Bok waterfall which was very nice and stopped at a quiet rest stop on the way which serves you a refreshing rosella drink when you arrive followed by a plate of snacks including rosella jam, crispy banana chips, peanuts, fresh passionfruit, tamarind and delicious boiled baby potatoes with dipping salt oh and a huge hand of bananas. There is no cost, you simply pay what you think it is worth as a donation. They call it "The Land Split" because an earthquake in 2011 caused a big split in the farmers land and it cannot be farmed anymore, it is an interesting place to visit and the lady and her little daughter running it are so lovely. There was also an alcoholic rosella drink which was really tasty. One of the benefits of rosella is bowel launch lol, can't wait for that. We pushed off after snacking headed for the Pai Canyon. It is a nice place to see and take photos. Next on the list is the Memorial Bridge which has a bit of history attached to it and again is a good place for some photos. We headed back and stopped at the strawberry farm which feels like you are walking into Strawberry Shortcake's house and again more photo opportunities. We saw a motorbike accident on the way there and there was a bit of excitement with the police and ambulance in attendance but thankfully the bloodied victim seemed to be ok. Yep, people have accidents here when they are not careful on the road. The big Buddha and temple were next and although we did not find a way to get to the big Buddha the ride was nice and we found a sunset restaurant that we had dinner at and spoke to a lovely Thai lady who told me to see her next time I come to Thailand so I can stay in Pai and learn the Thai language from her as she used to teach in Bangkok, I will be in contact with her via email. There was a little cloud cover but the view was still special. After dinner we headed back to the walking street for another look and stopped in for a chai, it is nice to relax here and as we are heading off to find the big Buddha early in the morning wanted to get an early night. We will have a little adventure in the morning before leaving this interesting place to head back to Chiang Mai. Tanya xxx.

Pai in the sky....

Bloody hell tourists are inconsiderate, of course at 6am it is ok to yell up to your mate from the ground floor in a cockney accent and slam your door. Manners and respect does not seem to exist when it comes to foreigners. Having said that, we were awake and after a little lay in headed downstairs to organise our minibus to Pai. Our hotel guy told us there would be someone here in 20 minutes if that was not too soon and seeing that we are super organised took the offer and were packed and back down in a flash to an awaiting man who drove us to the minibus we were catching to Pai. Pai is a little hippy town about 3 and a half hours from Chiang Mai and the ticket cost us 160 Baht ($5.50) each. We have been told that the road is very windy containing more than 700 curves so I took one of my super dooper motion sickness tablets for good measure. Pai here we come and the minibus was very spacious with only a few other passengers and great air con. Sick bags were given out before we headed off and my tablet had plenty of time to kick in before we hit the bends. The first part of the trip was not too bad, a little like heading to the coast from Tamworth but already one girl was driving the porcelain bus so to speak. We stopped at a great little rest stop that craps all over the dodgy rest stops in Vietnam for a toilet break and some snacks if you wished. The crook girl also needed to make a decision whether to continue on or wait for the next but and head back to Chiang Mai. I gave her a bottle of my magic pills and explained to her how they work and even though she decided to turn back I advised her if she was to get on any vehicle that moves she should take one, she was grateful and I was happy to help because I know there is not much worse than motion sickness. On the road again and I tell you what, the driver wasn't wrong when he said that the bends would get worse.....this journey would be classed as an amusement ride at a fun park but thanks to my magic pills I was enjoying the ride. Alvo even fell asleep at one stage. Dropped off in the middle of the main street we found our mate Zoe who has been here for a couple of days and helped us make the decision to make the trip. We ran into a couple that we met while doing a tour on the Mekong (small world) and they told us of their hotel which we looked at and decided to stay in. It is 200 Baht ($7.00) per night and is just what we need for a couple of nights in this cute little place. We dropped our bags off and headed off in search for....you guessed it, food. It is 35 degrees here and feels like about 45 degrees so we found a close cafe that has chai tea, all sorts of great food and seeing Eckhart Tolle books on their shelves confirmed for me that this was the place for lunch. A very smiley lady gave us menu's and a little piece of paper to write our order on, Alvo decided on a great looking salad while I delved head on into some chilli and basil tofu with veg. I had to try the chai as they have the option of getting it made on coconut milk, who would have thought and Alvo tried the iced chai.....both were great and after impressing the smiley lady with a few Thai words am sure we will return. They have Kombucha there and I have to try it to see if it is different to the potion Mum and I used to brew. Ok, bellies full we headed off to explore. Zoe showed us around and explained that there is a street market each night. We headed to the op shop.....yep, op shopping Thai style. It is like an open market full of second hand clothes and shoes at really good prices but nothing took our fancy so just walked about. I saw a sign for a cafe advertising the best chai in Pai so will be there later to try it out. Alvo wanted a manicure so we found a place that does them, including polish, for 150 Baht ($5) and afterwards headed to the 7-11 for a couple of cold ones. We bought a little bag of ice and some pre mixed drinks and headed back to the room for some r&r. We decided to go to the local food court for dinner and was not disappointed by the big serving of green curry and rice we shared. The street is lined with stalls selling clothes and food and I would like to buy a shirt and Alvo is hunting for a lighter pair of shorts so we wandered up and down looking at all the cool things. We didn't find what we were after but headed to the chai cafe to see if their flyer was right. It wasn't far wrong, the chai was great and there was a couple of guys having a jam session on their guitars which made it fun and the owners are nice. The lady owner gave me the name of a cafe just out of town that has gluten free cakes so when we get out and about on our moped tomorrow we will check it out. We found a moped to hire when we booked our ticket back to Chiang Mai, it is only a few shops away so will be easy in the morning. We walked the rest of the street then Zoe took us to a bar that has great mojiti's made with every fruit flavour you can imagine. Alvo opted for the customer favourite of passionfruit and I tried the guava and for 100 Baht each ($3.50) they were a hit. When you buy 4 you get one free so.....why not. We sat enjoying the music, looking at photos and contemplating buying a bar here and when the music stopped it was time to head off to our hotel for the night, well it is 11.30pm after all. Goodnight adventure followers, we have lots to do tomorrow so need some sleep and we have a bed with Alvo's favourite type of mattress......rock hard. Tanya xxx.

Beyond the jungle....

So after waking up at 3am needing to go to the toilet but not wanting to go due to the strange noises coming from the pigs under our bedroom and also that it was raining, then at 4am the damn roosters started....2 of them having a chat but with 15 minute intervals so you could start dozing again and then....bam, wake up time again. Also there was some weird noise coming from what seemed like under our room which I was pretty sure was the rice crushing device. So by 6.15 I decided it was time to get up and go and investigate. And I was right, it was the lady elder and her daughter in law complete with baby strapped to her back, crushing the rice to get the husks off. And this is done with an old wooden contraption that you have to pump with your foot. The elder signaled for me to have a go so I did...man they must have great leg muscles. Tanya had a go and then we just watched them for a while in awe. These women are so bloody tough, it's amazing. We were cooked a beautiful omelette for breakfast and there was enough toast to feed an army. Jackie Chan made cool bread holders from bamboo to cook over the open fire and I had a go at cooking some which was cool. It was time to pack up and put the backpacks on, thank our wonderful hosts and make our way out of the jungle. So of course if we did so much up hill trekking yesterday it was pretty obvious we were going to do alot of down hill today.....and let me tell you, down hill is as hard as up hill. And unlike yesterday it was pretty warm so there was alot of sweating going on. Once again we saw so much amazing stuff...I don't think we have seen so many different mushrooms before and the amount of stag horns were amazing. We walked the whole time up the front with Jackie Chan today and once again learnt so much from him. Today was only a short walk of about 3 hours (5 kms) but I was very thankful for that as my feet were really starting to hurt. We walked out of the jungle and into a massive corn field and then rice fields. Our truck was waiting for us and we were glad again to get our shoes off. Now it was time for a bit of fun....bamboo rafting. It was only about 20 minutes drive which once again was a bit rough. We got to the river and were put on our rafts with a guide and off we went. Grasshopper took some photos for us as we headed off down stream. As the name suggests, it is a raft made of bamboo and you stand up and use a long piece of bamboo as an oar. There was 5 on our raft and our guide and one of the others kept trying to splash each other and race. It was really cool and peaceful at the same time. The scenery was great and it was nice to float along effortlessly. After about half an hour our ride came to an end. Our truck and guides were waiting for us with Pad Thai for lunch. After we ate that it was time to head to the waterfall. It was about an hours drive and half of that consisted of one of the most hideous, scary, shitful trips I have ever endured. The road was really steep, windy, narrow and muddy and one side was a sheer drop that one would not survive if their car went over. Needless to say I was shitting myself and even got a bit teary thinking this was the end....Tanya on the other hand didn't seem to care less. When we finally got the the top I was very relieved, especially when Jackie Chan told me we went down a different way....and I also said that this waterfall better be bloody spectacular. But first we had to walk 500 meters to get there....though another bloody jungle....lol. We said that if the waterfall was in Australia there would be no way tourists would be able to use the track we used to get in there....way too dangerous....and it's an advertised, open place....highest waterfall in Chiang Mai actually. When we did finally get there (and I'm sure it was further than 500 metres) it was pretty awesome. The force of the water was incredible. We took some photos and then we were able to get in for a swim. Everyone got in but we decided it was too cold. But after a bit I said we really should get in just to say we did...so in we got and it was absolutely freezing....I actually thought Tanya was about to burst into tears...lol. We went in up to our bellies, had a few pics taken and got out and it was warmer out than in. Back to the truck on the rugged track but once again surrounded by absolute beauty. It's a 2 and a half hour drive back to Chiang Mai and while everyone else slept most of the way I played solitaire on my phone...lol. Now we have not mentioned anything about the 7 people that were on the trek with us as there really wasn't anything to say about them. They were not really that friendly and as 5 of them were French they just spoke to each other in their language and the other 2 spoke to each other in their language.....so we really didn't speak to them much at all. And one of the French guys was a bit of an idiot so we were happy to do our own thing. When we booked the tour we were a bit worried we had paid way too much as it was so much more than all the other tours, but being assured it was non touristy and very authentic we crossed our fingers. And we can honestly say that it was well worth the money and we did not see one other tourist for the whole time. Everywhere we went it was like our own private place so we have no regrets at all. We arrived back at the hotel at 6pm, got our room, unpacked, showered and headed out for food. I keep seeing a street cart that says they are the best chicken doner kebabs in town so I wanted to find out..and for about $1.70 they were pretty damn good. Tanya got a crispy pork & kale which she said was delicious. I was going to get a manicure but really couldn't be bothered so we got a couple of pre mixed drinks at 7-11 and came home to catch up on blog writing. We are heading off to Pai tomorrow to see what it has to offer. Alvo xo

The Real Jungle Trekking....

We were up today at 5am to meet downstairs at 5.30am to head of on our jungle trek. As usual we were first to arrive and by the time the others stuffed around it was nearly 6am before we headed off. First stop was a local market on the way for some breaky and then off for about an hour and a half drive to the the elephants. We had to walk into the jungle to get to them and we were quickly put on and were ambling off in no time. Our elephant was the oldie of the 4 at 64. He was so beautiful and was very gentle and careful whilst manouvering through the very steep and narrow track. There were times when we thought he would not fit or would slip but he didn't miss a beat. After about half an hour or so we reached the river where they had a well earned roll in the water. We got to go in with them and give them a splash down which was super cool and we would have liked to have spent more time there....but alas the trekking was calling. We drove for about another hour and a half on a very rough and rugged 4WD road and then we just stopped in the middle of nowhere and were told to hop out. We changed into walking shoes and were given our backpacks, a knife and a slingshot and with our guide Jackie Chan and his off sider Nung, off into the wilderness we go. Tanya and I spent most of the day at the back of the line with Nung, who we quickly nicknamed Grasshopper (from Karate Kid) which after explaining to him, he thought was funny. His English was not great and we had a great time teaching him words and what they meant, he was so eager to learn and said he would get us to write them all down in his book when we got to the village. It wasn't long before we were in pretty thick jungle and walking up some incredibly steep mountains. All along the way Jackie Chan was stopping and showing us plants that are used for medicines, finding little bugs and insects and just giving us so much information about the jungle that it was amazing. We stopped on top of what I thought was about as high as we would go (ha...was I wrong) and had lunch. We made bowls out of banana leaves and had some beautiful fried rice put into them. It was really windy and cold up there and we were wondering why the hell we didn't bring a jumper. With lunch eaten we headed off again and up we went....and up and up....bloody hell I thought my calves would explode and I would have a heart attack.....I don't think I have ever exerted myself like this in my life. Unless you have been trekking in a jungle it will be hard for you to imagine just how hard it is...and these mountains were bloody steep...even Tanya said it was tough. I did have a walking stick which made it a bit easier and did get into trouble when Tanya slipped crossing a creek and got her shoes wet, because I didn't offer it to her...lol. As gruelling as it was we were seeing some stunning scenery and so many interesting plants and animals that it was worth the pain. Although after 5 hours (15 kilometres) I said that I had never wanted to be anywhere in my life more than that village right now....lol. When we finally could see it we felt better even though it still looked a long way. So when we finally reached it, we were very happy and our shoes were off in an instant. The village is a very small one and only has about a dozen people in it and even less houses but lots of chickens, half a dozen pigs and a cow. No one speaks English and they don't have electricity. We wanted authentic...and boy did we get it. We quickly made our beds up, had a cold splash in the shower/toilet shack and joined in making chopsticks and butter knives. It was so much fun and not that hard once you got the hang of it. Jackie Chan also made us really cool bamboo cups....he is amazing with what he can make and how quick he can make it. I guess when you grow up in the jungle you do this sort of stuff every day. It was now time to help prepare dinner. We headed into the Kitchen house which is one big room with an open fire pit where they do all their cooking, and helped cut up vegies. Jackie Chan did all the cooking, watched by the village elders who are 86 & 90, squatting in the corner on the hard floor. We all sat around on the floor too and after a day of trekking I can tell you that is the last place I wanted to be. We were served up our dinner which was pork red curry, mixed vegies, fried morning glory and rice. It was all really nice but when Jackie Chan cooked the giant beetle he found, I said I was full...lol...of course Tanya had some and thought it was nice. After dinner it was rat trap setting time, so we donned our headlamps and headed back into the jungle to put the traps out. Good lord I thought the walking was done for the day....but off we went again but thankfully it was not too far. We all put our traps in various locations and headed back to the hut. Tanya was eagerly awaiting the coconut sticky rice that we put into bamboo earlier and was cooking on the fire but I was way to tired and headed off to bed as I knew I would not sleep too great on the floor with a blanket as a pillow...lol. Tanya stayed up and got to try the rice which of course she loved. Alvo xo

Moving house......

Tanya did wake up early this morning but as it was still dark decided she didn't want to walk to the park alone....which is a good thing I think and I am not fussed on going as bed is a much nicer place to be....lol. When we got up we needed to go and find Thai Airways as last night when I booked our tickets online I got right to the end and it came up with an error saying it could not continue and I would have to try again.....I thought I would check the credit card to see if the money had come out and sure enough it had...hence why we need to go to the office to see them. I went on google maps and the booking office looked to be very close to us...bonus...so off we go walking and walking and walking. After asking several people we finally found it at the opposite end of the street that google maps had said. The lady in there was really helpful and found the booking and told us that it has been happening alot lately. She assured me that the money would be refunded (which it has already) and rebooked new tickets for us. So back we walk to our hotel to pack up and move to the new place about a 20 minute walk away. On the way we stopped at the little restaurant we found a few days ago that does Isaan food as Tanya wanted to have some "Thai spicy hot" food as opposed to "Western spicy hot". She ordered a pork dish and went in the kitchen to watch Moon cook it. I also watched her cook my fried rice and vegetables. She gave us some good cooking tips and the food was great. Tanya was not disappointed although Moon still did not make it as hot as she would for a Thai person and it was pretty damn hot. After a great chat with Moon and an exchange of emails as she said she would email Tanya and help her learn some Thai, we headed off again. We arrived at our new place and checked in (and were told the room was free for tonight as we were doing the trek......cool). We stayed in the room for a rest and then went to our favourite Tea Tree where we tried some cold drinks today of ginger, honey & lime iced tea and a peppermint soda. They were really great and we spent over an hour hanging out there. It was then time to go back to the hotel where we had a meeting for the trek. 7 others are joining us and Jackie Chan (lol...I love it), our guide gave us the run down of what we will be doing. We were given back packs and rubber walking shoes also. I love the fact that we will be given a knife and a sling shot when we get to the jungle which we are assured of using...stay tuned....lol. We walked not far tonight and found a nice little place that did Northern food which was really nice. Tanya wanted coconut water so we went to the market across the road and got some and also some delicious mango sticky rice. Yes we know...we eat alot....lol...some people come to Thailand for the shopping, some for the scenery, some for the partying....we come for the food :) So obviously we will have no service tomorrow night (we won't even have electricity) so you will hear from us in a couple of days...wish us luck.....lol Alvo xo

A day of planning....

After a sleep in this morning we decided to walk around the old town today and enjoy discovering the Wat's (temples) here as there are so many and they really are beautiful.We walked to get watermelon and pineapple for breakfast and set off on our walk. We need to decide if we are taking the bus or the plane to Bangkok so will find a cafe somewhere to enjoy a drink and do some research. Going into the Wat's is a very special thing, they are so peaceful and beautiful with murals on the window shades and many Bhudda's of different sizes. There is lots of bling inside and out and they are very well maintained. Ok, enough photos it is time to find a cafe. Alvo wanted to try an iced Thai tea which she enjoyed and I had a mango slurpy....both were refreshing. We talked with a friend in Bangkok about the travel options and she recommended flying, we were kinda sold on the idea so we will find the cheapest we can. Walking on we passed many school kids finding street food snacks during their lunch break and practicing instruments and marching. School here would be really interesting. We stopped in at our favourite little upstairs cafe for a chai tea and a rest after walking for quite some time, we love the chai there....it is delicious and Laura, the girl that owns the place, is really nice. We sat and chatted with her about lots of world issues, she is very interesting. The time has come to meet with our friend Alila who will take us to meet her friend who takes people on not so touristy treks. She met us on her moped and told us to climb aboard, we have never done 3 on one bike but hey....when in Rome. She took us to a little backstreet that was nice and quiet, her friend runs a guesthouse too and she waved us off as she said she has things to do and left us to chat about trekking. Yesterday she told Alvo that I need to go out and spend time in nature and if we can we should stay out in the jungle for a night. We didn't know if that was the experience we wanted but there is no harm in finding out some information. Mr Jungle, Alila's friend explained to us the one day tour that we are interested in but wanted us to look at the two day and one night trek. The adventure he explained was something we could not pass up, I won't spoil it by telling you the details because we decided to do it. We will leave Chiang Mai on Friday morning and venture into a part of the jungle that is not a touristy area, Mr Jungle wants people to get a true understanding of Thailand and offers something that no other does. We also looked at his rooms and for a cheaper price than we are paying we have decided to move house tomorrow as it will not only be cheaper but due to the early departure time on Friday it will be easier to be there. Ok, trek sorted. Again we walked and walked before getting back to the hotel to collect and sort our laundry. On the way back we decided that because we had not eaten much today it would be great to go to the all you can eat sushi restaurant......it did not disappoint. The sushi train was the longest I have seen with so many types of little dishes with things that you cook in your chosen soup. So many different types of sushi and best of all, ice cream. We were allowed 1 hour and 15 minutes to enjoy sushi greatness and it only cost us $11 each. We sampled so many different little bits of this and that and finished it off with four different flavours of ice cream. We rolled out the door and embarked on the 30 minute walk back to our hotel, we needed to burn off some food. Time to retire for the night, if I wake up early I will head to the park for Tai Chi-Chi Gong but am making no promises. Tanya xxx.

Cooking Classes Thai Style....

This morning Alvo had an early morning phonecall from Chloe who did not realise we were 3 hours behind Oz and I was wide awake so decided to get up and go for a walk to the park where I have been told they practice tai chi-chi gong. Alvo was up for a walk also, we are going to have a big day of cooking so it will be nice to start with a negative calorie count. It only took us about 20 mins to get to the park and there were a couple of groups practicing and quite a few people walking on the path that meanders through the park which has a couple of large ponds filled with fish and a bridge or two. There is also a large colourful dragon made of material placed in the middle of the park, it is lovely. After wandering on the path I asked one of the class participants if they were in fact practicing chi gong, she answered yes and a couple of the locals told me that it doesn't matter that I am a beginner and I can just join in for free. Think I might take them up on the offer if it isn't raining in the morning. No breakfast for us this morning as the cooking class offers 7 dishes so we just walked back to the hotel for a rest before our pick up. Our friend Alila came to our hotel just before 9am and waited with us for the songthew (red truck taxi) to arrive. We stood and chatted about many things, she is an interesting person and lovely to chat to. When the songthew arrived we were whisked off to the market so we could learn about the local ingredients, the market place was so clean and neat, Alvo's favourite snack of pork crackling had a whole shop dedicated to it.....photo op. On arriving at the cooking school we were seated and explained the menu. There is alot to choose from and we each get to choose one dish from each of the 7 categories. We chose different dishes of course so we could learn and taste each others food. Our choices were....Tom Yum soup, spicy soup, pad thai, drunken noodles, penang curry paste, jungle curry paste (both made into curry dishes), green mango salad, glass noodle salad, banana in coconut milk, sticky rice with young coconut, chicken with cashew nut and tofu with holy basil.....phew, can't believe I remembered them all. We cooked and ate and cooked and ate, Alvo's drunken noodle dish was the cooking highlight as you wait until the oil is smoking and when you add the chicken a massive flame shoots into the air, so much so that Alvo was left checking her eyebrows.....would have been cheaper than a wax. Everything was really delicious and the standout for me was the sticky rice with young coconut, it is so deliciously sweet and coconutty. Alvo's favourite was the tom yum soup and I am sure it will become a regular on the menu back home. Full as a butchers dog we were dropped back at our hotel to lay around and hopefully digest. Just as I had finished a well earned shower Mum came online and skype worked for us, it was so great to chat to her and to see Gran as I am always suspicious that if Gran got sick or anything that Mum wouldn't tell me....this way I have proof she is ploughing on strong. We watched a couple of episodes of Wonderland and then headed out to meet up with our pommy mates to bid them farewell as they are leaving Chiang Mai tomorrow for new adventures further north. It was getting late and after exchanging blog addresses with the poms we headed off for a snack and a bevvie, we went further into our little laneway again and sat for some delicious local food. Fried tofu with garlic (yep, tiny little whole fried garlic cloves), rice soup and a couple of wine coolers took our fancy and cost all of about $7 all up..... we love this place but I really do have to lay off the food a little. Ok, time to hop on the train bound for morning town as the Seekers would say as there is lots of new adventures to be had tomorrow. Tanya xxx.

Day of Discovery....

Ahhhhh a sleep in, finally we did not wake up until about 9am. We have no plans today so when the rain cleared we headed off for brunch. I really felt like rice so set off for the Sompet Market for some local deliciousness. We ran into our friend Alila who has booked us in for cooking classes tomorrow and ate at her friends restaurant. She told me that an omelete with rice would be good for me as I should be trying to eat less meat and not much oil because my kidneys can not take it, she checked that for me when she visited while I was having my massage so that is what I ordered, Alvo ordered the chicken with basil and steamed rice recommended by Alila. Both dishes were delicious and really hit the spot. We headed back to a little alternative cafe called The Tea Tree Cafe that we found before we ate and sat down on little floor cushions to enjoy the best chai tea we have ever tasted. Alvo tried the mocha chai which has choc chips melted into it and my masala chai was even made on soy milk. There are lots of flyers about yoga and meditation up on the notice board and the energy there is great. She holds a movie night on Monday nights so we decided to go tonight for something different. More about that later. While enjoying chai Mum came online on facebook....finally we get to chat, so cool. We gave skype a go and it worked better than it does in Oz so decided that we would make a skype date for the future, can't wait. Time to head back to the hotel for our usual afternoon rest and a downloaded episode of Wonderland, it wasn't bad so we will download all the episodes shown so far and watch it when we have some down time. After yet another downpour we set off to have something to eat before our movie date. We decided to find out if the laneway we are staying in is a dead end or not so headed in the opposite direction to normal. Not only is it not a dead end it is a gold mine of little local restaurants and bars, we couldn't believe that we hadn't found it earlier. We came across a small out of the way place that cooks Isan food, said to be some of the spiciest in Thailand. Here goes nothing, we ordered the salad which is pork, onion and cabbage cooked in some type of spicy sauce, so good. We got chatting to the owner and she told me that if we stay for a long time maybe she could teach me about cooking Isan food, man I love this place. While walking Alvo decided to try the freshly cooked Rotee with banana and coconut drizzled with condensed milk and thought it was delicious then we decided to stop in at our 2 for 1 wine bar for a cheeky wine before the movie. The movie was called Peaceful Warrior and the girls that own the cafe had what seemed like an endless supply of popcorn which is included in the price of 100 Baht each ($3.50).....talk about a cheap night at the movies. The cafe had a really cool bathroom too and quotes on the walls, one reminded me of Mum it says "Other's opinions of you is none of your business" and Alvo liked on in the bathroom that says "The primary cause of happiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking".......food for thought. With the movie done and dusted and a new favourite place discovered we head back to the hotel for the night but I can't go past the smell and sight of street food cooking so stopped to order some roast rice noodles with tofu, it was delicious. This place is so different by night and we will be returning for happy hour 60 Baht ($2) cocktails served from one of those cool bars that you see on tv being pedaled down the road. Now it is time to wander off to dreamland and wake up refreshed for a big day of cooking tomorrow.....so excited. Tanya xxx.

Walking street.....

Tanya was up and off at 8.30am to go and see her massage lady again for another 2 hour session but I stayed at the hotel and met up with Zoe. We went and had shakes and wandered around till it was time to meet Tanya. Once again Tanya was extremely impressed with her massage and said it was much more intense than the first one but has been assured that her neck is fixed. Here's hoping this is true. We went in search of lunch and ended up in a little local place around the corner for Pad Thai. It started to rain heavily so we had to wait till it stopped and then went back to our room for a bit of a rest and to sort some photos out. At 3pm Tanya was ready to head off to get more food and maybe a drink. We ended back at the 2 for 1 wine place and waited for Zoe to meet us to go to the walking street markets which are on every Sunday. After a couple of drinks we headed to the street and started at one end of the markets and made our way through the stalls. There are so many stalls selling everything you can imagine but the food stalls were what we had our sights set on....and OMG we were not disappointed. There was so much food it was ridiculous.....we were in heaven...so much food, so little stomach space. We sampled quite a few different things and were not let down at all. We had to stop ourselves from eating too much which was hard. While we were walking we ran into a girl that was on our trekking tour in Sapa, Vietnam....what a small world. The heavens opened for about 15 minutes but we had our great little ponchos so we were alright to keep going. By about 9.30 pm we had seen and eaten enough so we headed towards home. We ran into Emma and Liz who has been at the Zoo most of the day so chatted to them for a bit and then stopped off at the cool little mobile bar for a double cocktail again. It is now 2am and I finally just finished uploading and naming over 100 photos of Vietnam on Facebook....so I hope you enjoy looking at them...and be thankful I didn't put the other 1000 on there....lol. Alvo xo

Magic Mountain....

Up at 8.30am to meet Emma & Liz at 9am to hire mopeds to go adventuring. We got a good price for the day & off we headed for the mountain to visit the Doi Suthep Temple which is at least 20 kms out of the city & up a very high, steep mountain. The road is really good up there so it was a pretty easy ride. The temple was really nice & we spent about an hour there looking around....Tanya even got blessed by a monk. There are alot of stalls there selling all sorts of things & lots of people wanting donations. You even had to pay to go to the loo....but they didn't even give you toilet paper....lol....lucky we know to carry tissues. When we left there we called into a waterfall about half way down the mountain in the National Park. It really was beautiful & the rainforest was gorgeous. We spent a bit of time there & then decided it was food time. We got to the bottom of the mountain & looked out for a local restaurant to stop at. As we thought it wasn't too hard to find one. As we were out of the city it was more of a locals place & not alot was written in English. We worked out what we wanted with the help of a guy that worked there & it turned out to be all good. The girls wanted to see how much it was to go to the Tiger place so we headed out another part of town to have a look. It took about an hour to get there & was pretty expensive so they didn't go in. We rode around a bit more & then headed off back to town & out the other side to go to the train station to find out about tickets to Bangkok. We got a bit lost getting to the road it is on and then rode for quite a while until we realised we must have passed it without knowing. After asking directions several times we finally found it...& of course it has a big train out the front...not sure how 4 of us missed that....lol. So we go to ask how much the tickets are & the very unenthusiastic girl informs us that the last train leaves on the 16th September & will not run again until the 2nd November due to track repairs......great, so it looks like another bus trip for us after all. It is getting close to sun down now so we head back & take the bikes back. We say goodbye to the girls for now & go & have a well needed shower. We had Tom Yum & Red Curry for dinner which was really nice. On our way home we go past a hot pink mobile bar with happy hour which was pretty hard to pass. A few dollars each for a double cocktail was just what we needed. He also had the best 80/90's megamix playing & said that he would put it on our USB if we wanted....cool, we will go back there for sure. We have had such a great day again today & will sleep well I think. Alvo xo

Happy hour....

We needed to be up early so I could meet my massage lady. I was not allowed to eat anything but seeing as though I never get hungry that was ok with me. We waited outside the 7-11 just like my friend had told me and just after 9am a lady asked if I was Aleila's friend and she took me to her massage rooms. I did not know it yet but was about to have one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The massage lady, Rose, knew more about my health than most chiro's or doctors I have seen and was amazing, she needs to see me again on Sunday so I will be heading here again. When I was finished I met back up with Alvo and she had been hanging out with our friend Zoe, we searched for food and found Pad Thai at John's Place and had to stop for a bite. Alvo needed a rest so we headed back to our hotel while Zoe was going to search for a better guesthouse to stay in....then, we stumbled across a barber shop that I decided was the one where I was going to get my hair cut. The lady there assured me that she could do my hair style so I sat down. She started the clippers and before I knew it she was finished.....and Alvo had finished her waxing too. They don't muck around here in Thailand and I am very pleased with my $4 haircut. We seem to have an uncanny knack of getting back to our hotel just as the rain starts to fall and while Alvo had a little nap, I researched our next destination. We had organised to meed Zoe to go to the night bazaar and on our way to meet her there got distracted by the "buy 1 wine get 1 free sign" so popped in and hoped that she would pass by us which she did and was more than happy to join us for wine. We sat and drank and chatted for quite some time and the girls decided that the 2 for 1 pizza deal sounded good so ordered. They weren't wrong, the pizza was great. We paid up and headed for the bazaar. We walked the street which seemed much longer than the other night and finally came to the food end where I tried a corn flour coconut pancake....or maybe 2 and some Pad Thai, I love that stuff. Time to head back home so we parted with Zoe at the corner of the old city and told her that we would catch up in a couple of days. Time for bed now as we are meeting friends in the morning to head off on a moped adventure. Tanya xxx.

Cycling in the Old Town....

Day 2 in Chiang Mai started with a massive downpour. We then had a short walk to the market in search for some breakfast. The market is fantastic, it is filled with fresh produce, food, drinks and lots of pork crackling which is one of Alvo's favourite snacks. We had to start with the crackling at 5 Baht a bag (around $0.25), it was sooooo nice. We walked around checking out all the cool stuff and right up one end is a few stalls selling sweets which I was eyeing off for a little snack later. We found our breakfast at a local restaurant and it consisted of green curry chicken with rice and a fried egg.....yum. After eating we walked more in the market as Alvo wanted an iced coffee, we found a lady who just sells coffee's and for a massive 15 Baht or $0.50 Alvo got a very large take away cup and enjoyed every last drop. I headed for the sweets stall on the way out and treated myself to some syrup filled coconut covered ball thingys that tasted just as I remember. I phoned Mum to let her know that we now have phone credit and that I love her and then we hired a push bike each from our hotel, again at a bargain price of 50 Baht each so a bit less than $4 and got to pedalling around this cool place. There are lots of Wats here, they are like temples where people pray and they are beautiful, I have decided to take photos when we walk around as it is easier than stopping and starting on the pushy and getting the camera out of the backpack. We rode for ages and stopped in at a little cafe for a juice and Alvo settled with melon while I thought I would try the red dragon fruit....the range of juices here is fantastic and if you want to turn it into a shake you can just add milk or coconut milk, I like it better than alcohol most times. We thought we would check out another market close by and when we arrived there I spotted the mango sticky rice, I had to have one and Alvo agreed that is was absolutely delicious....man I love the food here. There was a lady there who we got chatting to and when she shook my hand she told me that I am not drinking enough water.....ok, lucky guess maybe and then she told Alvo that she has some lower back issue and there is a problem with her hip. Funny enough, Alvo told me this morning that her hip was a little sore...ok, getting interesting now. After talking to her about a lady she knows who has studied some sort of healing modality in China for 15 years she walked past me, touched the back of my head and told me that I have a problem in my neck....ok, this is getting really interesting now. She sat near me and told me that the bones in my back are not right and the nerves are being affected.....she said that she can tell all of this by just looking at my lines. She told me that if I went to see her friend by myself then she would not see me so offered to get her to Chiang Mai to see me as she comes from the mountain. For 600 Baht ($20) I had nothing to lose.....Mum, I will try to take notice of what she does to me so I can maybe help you xx. Fate and meeting people is a funny thing, I am just going to give it a go and see what happens, she tells me that her friend can fix me so I will meet her tomorrow morning and I am not allowed to eat anything for breakfast as she said the energy is better that way. Stay tuned. We pedalled off and got back to our hotel just as the rain started to fall again. We heard from our friend Zoe, who we met in Vietnam, and when the rain stopped we headed off to meet up with her. We went to a little cafe for shakes and some curry when we were asked a couple of questions by some English girls at the next table, they were really nice and we got chatting for quite some time. They are staying just down the road from us and asked if they could tag along on the day we hire a moped to explore further so we will catch up with them again for sure. We were due to meet a lady, Mon, that our great friends Mick and Brian put us onto so we paid our bill and headed off again. Mon apparently loves to show people around the city and help with information and she whisked us off to a restaurant in a part of town we had not been to yet and we ate great food and chatted about things we would like to do while we are here. She offered to show us around sometime over the weekend as she works as a teacher during the week so we will definitely be seeing her again. The rain has again started to fall and Mon dropped us back at our laneway so we can get some well earned rest......we are cycling and walking more than we would normally at home so hopefully the curry will not add too many extra kilos. Tanya xxx.

Waking up in heaven....

Waking up in Thailand is just so much different to Vietnam, Alvo looked over the balcony this morning and saw her favourite street food.....bbq pork sticks so on our way to the the 7-11, again one of Alvo's favourite things in Thailand, we stopped and bought 3 for 20 Baht (less than $1) and they tasted just as we remember so Thailand is definitely delivering the goods. After our visit to the 7-11 just to make sure the alcohol prices haven't changed and to buy more mouthwash, a bigger bottle this time which by the way they would not let us take on the flight sooooo we had to throw in the bin unopened (lets not bring this up again) we saw a local restaurant that we decided to eat breakfast at. They were serving rice with either pork or chicken so we got a pork one to share and it was great and cheap. Off to the airport now and again the time passed quickly due to the Masterchef episodes and we landed in Chiang Mai to sunshine and smiles. Things are very organised here, we needed a taxi so there was a nice lady giving people a ticket number so they can sit and wait for an available taxi and within no time we were on our way to the "old town" part of the city in the cleanest taxi in the world with a very nice driver. She told us that there are lots of hotels and guesthouses around so we walked around looking for a good room at a good price. A local man told us to visit the local info centre to find out more so we headed that way and was helped by a young lady who took us to a couple of guesthouses for a look. She did not pressure us to book anything with her or at all for that matter, she advised us to look around and then choose what we like. We walked up almost the full length of the street asking prices and looking in rooms and settled on a little out of the way place (that is code for up a laneway and not noisy) which has air conditioned rooms for 390 Baht/night (around $14). They have a code activated security door after hours so it feels safe, free wifi of course and is a short walk to just about anywhere. We left our backpacks there and headed out in search of food. I NEED something delicious and found one of my local favourites.....Pad Thai. We sat and ate at a cafe called The Funky Monkey and Alvo tried their customer favourite shake, coffee and banana while I slurped on a coconut milk and coconut water shake.....delicious. School must have finished and the owner bought a little boy to the cafe on his moped, he was very cute and not long after he arrived he bought a pad and pen over and gave it to Alvo, we assumed he wanted her to draw something....he was 4 years old and I guess he can't read English so she drew him a stick person that he insisted wasn't right and took the pen from her and drew hands and feet on it. He was such a funny little bugger, he wanted to look at Alvo's phone so perched himself up on the seat next to her and started tapping the screen.....he found card games and was loving watching the cards fly all over the screen. He let Alvo help him to move cards to the right places and was so happy just sitting there playing. I guess when you can't read or write it doesn't matter if you speak English or not, sign language and facial expressions were saying it all. Ok, time to head back for a shower before we walk down to the Night Bazaar when all of a sudden Alvo saw a sign at the rock climbing joint that said tonight was ladies night and from 5-8pm chicks can climb for free. Ok....what's the catch, I went to talk to the girl at the counter and guess what.....there is no catch. Come in at 5pm, borrow a pair of climbing shoes and go your hardest with trained climbers to help you. It was bang on 5pm but we needed a shower so the nice girl told us to return when we were ready. OMG it was heaps of fun and a great challenge. Alvo made it to the top once and then decided that she was going to be the photographer so I had a few goes at different climbs and made it to the top a couple of times, I tell you.....it isn't easy and is a great workout. Now after our workout for the day we started walking to the market. We made it to the night bazaar and it is so laid back and not hurried like the chaotic market in Ha Noi, walking there was a pleasure and there are plenty off cool stalls to look at. We stumbled across some cool food stalls at the beginning of the street but were not ready to eat and then saw the coolest Japanese restaurant that is all you can eat and there are conveyor belts like a sushi train and heaps of other cool things so that is definitely on the list of places to eat.....Danielle you are going to be soooo jealous when you see all the photos. We walked and walked and walked and didn't realise that it had got to almost 8pm and we still had not eaten so we came to the end of the market and headed back to the old town in search of food. The privilege of sitting in a fancy restaurant costs you money so we looked until we found something a little more local and found a vegetarian place in our street where we ordered Penang Curry and it was damn good along with the coconut shake we ordered. The lovely chef allowed me to watch her cook the curry and told me the ingredients she was adding, it was cool. The meals are served with a combination of red and brown rice as she told us this was better for your health and it was so nice. She then gave us directions to find my favourite dessert, mango sticky rice, she was nice to chat to. I will be hunting for the mango rice tomorrow that is for sure. Alvo's feet are starting to tire and it is 9.30pm so back to the hotel we go to finish the final episode of Masterchef. We have had more fun in the last 8 hours here than we had in 3 weeks in Vietnam.....bring on the next 7 weeks. Tanya xxx.

Vietnam wrap up....

So after 20 days, 8 major towns, around 80 hours on buses, 3000 odd kms, several boat rides and countless kms walked we just wanted to highlight a few things that we have learned on our journey through Vietnam. We travelled from South to North and think we saw enough to make a few observations both positive and negative so here it goes. And remember that this is somewhere that we were really excited about visiting so came here very positive and thinking it was going to be a pretty awesome place. Unfortunately this was not the case for us and although we have had some great moments it is not somewhere we will return to. 1. When you arrive at the airport do not jump into the first taxi you see, shop around as the bus cost us $0.25. Unless of course you have accommodation booked and in this case ALWAYS settle the price before you get in a taxi or take one with a meter. 2. The language barrier here is extremely frustrating and we found so many people do not speak a word of English. Even having a phrase book did not seem to be of much help, not even when I showed them words in Vietnamese. 3. Vietnamese people are alot like the clients we had in Alice Springs....you can ask them or tell them something and they nod their head and say yes, yes, yes.....but have absolutely no frigging clue what you have just said. 4. If you smile at a Vietnamese person and they don't smile back don't be offended because I think that is just the way most of them are. 5. If you think that the food in Vietnam is going to be just like your favourite Vietnamese restaurant think again. Apparently their famous dish is Pho.....it is pretty ordinary consisting of chicken flavoured broth, rice noodles, beef or chicken and a few greens. 6. You won't be asked once if you would like to buy items on the street you will be asked, and asked by the same person and followed and asked and when you keep politely saying "no thankyou" they will turn around, walk away and mutter something in their own language. 7. Most ATMs will only allow you to withdraw 2000,000 dong yep that is 2 million dong which is about $100 and will charge you anywhere between 20,000 and 60,000 dong which is about $1-$3 and if you go into the bank thinking that you will be able to withdraw more that way no-one will speak English or understand what you are wanting to do. 8. The same drink will come in different forms in different cafes. One day you will get milk(condensed milk) on the side, the next day it will already be in your drink. You may or may not need to ask for ice, you always need to specify hot or cold and check if it comes with sugar in it, this includes fruit juice. 9. A pedestrian crossing isn't really a pedestrian crossing, I don't know what their purpose is but it definitely is NOT for crossing the road safely. 10.Traffic lights come into use sometimes but it is always a good idea to check both ways even if you have a green light. 11. Most important......you need a visa to just get into the country regardless of how long you are planning to stay. Leave it until you are at the airport checking in and you will need to sell a kidney to pay for it. 12. Footpaths are not for walking on they are for parking motorbikes on. 13. Shop around for prices of bus tickets, tours, anything. If one place tells you they are the cheapest they are fibbing. And most things can be booked last minute too. 14. Rats....that is all. 15. Sleeper buses are pretty good and cheap....EXCEPT going from Hanoi to Sapa. Pay a bit extra and get the train. 16. There is always a happy hour somewhere and it is more like a happy 6 hours....lol. 17. Spring Rolls are definitely the best food anywhere. 18. If you don't like fish sauce....don't eat any of the dipping sauces. 19. Vietnamese coffee is REALLY strong....and REALLY small.....but I loved the iced coffee. 20. Be brave and hire a moped in the smaller places. You will definitely see more and have fun doing it. 21. Snorting, hoiking and spitting is obviously quite acceptable along with picking your nose. Must see places: 1. Hoi An 2. Halong Bay 3. Sapa Sorry there are not many positives in this but this was how we saw it. I am sure many others come here and love it and want to come back. Maybe doing everything as a tour would be easier but that is not what we want to do. Anyway we hope you have enjoyed our adventures so far and we can guarantee the Thailand blogs will be 99% positive. Alvo & Tanya xo

Farewell Vietnam....

Todays blog is not going to be an overly exciting one as we got up early to get to the airport as we are now heading for the Thailand leg of our adventure and just quietly.....we can't wait. We had a free banana for breakfast then check in was a breeze. Alvo's brilliant idea of downloading Winners and Losers and a few episodes of Masterchef made the 2 hour flight an absolute sinch. We thought of walking around when we arrived at Ho Chi Minh airport but after getting here decided that the cafe/restaurant with 2 for 1 hotpot, buy 1 get 1 free wine and free wi-fi was a better deal so we have sat here since about 11am and will board for Bangkok around 5.30pm. We have downloaded more episodes of Masterchef for the trip and will think of more shows to download just in case we get an event like last night where we have no English speaking channels in our hotel room although the exercise program was quite good. There seems to be a few more English speaking people at the International terminal which is a bit of a relief, Alvo has even managed to get onto a computer and print out our boarding passes even though the man at the Air Asia counter told us that there was nowhere in the airport to do it. We seem to be one step ahead now instead of 10 steps behind and are feeling good about the next couple of flights. The hotpots we have eaten were ok and the wine was average but the waiters on rollerskates make the experience fun....Ma, you would think it was very cool as I remember your dream of a little cafe with waitresses on rollerskates and ice cream sundae glasses xx. We are charging up all our technology here too so we are full steam ahead when we arrive in Thailand and aren't trying to find a hotel with no battery on our phones or tablet. Sitting on the 3rd floor watching the chaos of visitors below is the best place we could be right now....as I say "everything has an expiry date" and our visit to Vietnam has reached that point. I phoned Ma today which was great, it is nice to hear a familiar voice from home and am happy to hear that she and Gran have a morning ritual of giggling together while reading the blog over breakfast. Alvo also got to talk to her girls as well which she was happy about. We will be posting a "special edition" blog regarding the things we have learned about Vietnam which could possibly help any friends that may wish to make this country their holiday destination so stay tuned. It was pouring when we boarded and the flight had a few bumps due to the rain but the time passed quickly due to our Masterchef episodes. When food was being served the cabin filled with the delicious aroma of Thai food and I felt more excited to get there. Getting through the airport was easy and we were approached by a beautiful lady/man/lady.....lets call him a lady who offered us information regarding a hotel. Talking to the people at the info desk was a breath of fresh air, their smiling faces and beautiful manner makes being in a foreign country so much easier. We were told of a hotel nearby that we knew we would be paying for the convenience of and decided to take up the offer, it includes taxi transfers so it makes it easy. We chatted about food and haircuts and one of the men there suggested that I look like his twin daughters and was showing me photos and grinning at me. On arriving at the hotel (which isn't flash) we were given water, wi-fi passwords and asked if we would like food. The owner only cooks fried rice so fried rice it is. That would not be our first choice of food in Thailand but all in all it was nice. Time to have showers and a rest......tomorrow we fly to Chiang Mai. Tanya xxx.

A little bit of panic....

So at 4am a guy comes up with his torch and indicates it is time for us to get off the bus....we were not expecting it to be this early and as we get off the bus on the side of the road several men pounce on us offering a cab or motorbike ride. We are trying to get our luggage and establish how much we should pay with our bus guy but he had no idea what we were trying to say. So the bus drives off and we are standing there trying to get a price and where we want to go (which is to a hotel close to the airport)....we settle on a couple of dollars each and jump on the back of a bike each. I am chuckling to myself as we are hooning up the road in the pitch black, having no idea if they are taking us to the right place or not and thinking, how many people do this shit....lol. I spot what I reckon is the airport and we go to the right to the top level but Tanya's guy goes straight ahead....my guy beeps his horn and we wave but I lose sight of them.....he pulls up outside the airport and I am trying to tell him we wanted to go to a hotel and where the bloody hell was my friend....all I get is Vietnamese gibberish, a few hand signals and he rides off.......I am left standing there in shock thinking Tanya will come up any second now.....I cross the road to look over the balcony but can not see her anywhere......yes folks this is where I say....OMFG, he has kidnapped her and how the hell am I going to communicate with these morons here to find her (& worse still, tell Lorraine & Gran I have lost her). To say I was slightly freaked out was an understatement.....I even asked a lady walking past where that road goes to but you guessed it....no freaking English. FINALLY.....after what seemed like forever, I saw her walking with her guy out of the dark down below.....I am waving my arms frantically and calling out till she finally looks up.....phew...relief....I tell her i will come down to her, which of course do you think I could find the stairs......When I finally find them we were both so happy but also cranky with these stupid people. It is still dark and bloody early so we decide to wait at the airport and see if we are able to change our flight to today as the only reason I booked it for tomorrow was it leaves at 8.30am & as the buses are not reliable with times & we got to Sapa at 7.30am & assumed we would get back here at the same time we did not want to miss our flight.....anyway, we had to wait for Jetstar to open so we sat there for 2 hours...with no internet because the airport is the only place in Vietnam with no free WiFi & everyone I asked about it either didn't understand or just said no. Finally a lady gets into the booth but takes about 10 minutes to actually acknowledge us & is a bit of a cranky pants....I said to Tanya I wanted the cardboard cut out lady to serve us as she actually looks happy....lol. So she tells us how much it is to change flights & as we thought was way too much so it's off to find a hotel. Tanya asked a young girl at an information desk once again about WiFi....& shock horror....she gave her a password. So we look up hotels nearby & pick one very close. When we walk outside the taxi guys all ask you where you are going and after telling about 20 of them the answers ranged from really expensive, don't know where that is or didn't want the fare as it was too close...so we decided to walk but after one more minivan guy asked us & we said no to his price he called out after us with the price we wanted...finally. In we jump and we were glad we didn't walk as they are building a new International Airport next to the existing one and the road is a bit all over the place. Anyway this guy had no clue where this hotel was & took us to one that was expensive & we said no, so went to another one across the road and we got out & Tanya looked at the room but it was crappy & they had no WiFi...& yes that is a major priority. We thank the driver & tell him we will find something & off we wander. We see a sign for one that we recognise from the internet & go in for a look. The guy tells us a price that was more than we want to pay so we say no thanks but he tells us a lower price which although is nearly triple what we have been paying (due to being so close to the airport), we look at the room & take it. And we intend on staying in the room all day as we have no desire to walk down anymore crappy streets & try & speak to people who have no interest in speaking to us. We have showers & go downstairs for some Pho & fried rice and free tea & coffee (nice bonus). Back to the room for resting & lots of internet research for our stop over in Bankok & also cooking classes in Chang Mai. Our t.v only have Vietnamese channels which is a bit of a bummer but Tanya found a channel & though she would try a bit of Yoga/Exercise, Vietnamese style.....lol. We spent the whole day in our room & at about 5pm we walked out to the street & had some fried rice which was pretty ordinary. When we got back to the room I had a great idea of downloading our favourite t.v show, Winners & Losers & catching up....it took a bit of mucking around to get it to work on the tablet & my phone but we got it sorted & had a couple of hours of bliss. Now we are downloading last weeks episode & also Master Chef to watch while on planes, trains & automobiles :-) Time for bed now, up early to the airport to fly to Ho Chi Minh & then to Bankok in the arvo. Alvo xo

See Ya Sapa....

Another late start today, I felt so tired this morning. We are checking out today so we left our backpacks at our hotel and set off to sort out our credit card bill from dinner last night as the restaurant manager told us that the machine didn't work but the transaction was debited from our card. The waiter told us that he understood that we had been charged twice but we needed to return in a few hours to see the manager so off we trotted to our cooking class. We were early so we were offered pineapple juice while we waited. Soon enough our chef arrived to whisk us off to the market to buy the ingredients for our dishes. We are learning chicken curry cooked in coconut and green banana, tofu and pork in claypot. The markets are very similar in most towns, there is a meat section and a vege section. With all our ingredients in Alvo's basket backpack we headed back to the restaurant to start cooking. This class was more like a demo which we were a bit disappointed in as we wanted hands on like the last one. Our chef told one of us to write everything down so we can remember and cook at home. He also told us that his restaurant specialty was wild pork wrapped in wild betel leaf and told us that he was going to show us for no extra cost because it is so good. We were happy about that as it was also a bit pricey for what we got. He was a nice guy but as usual the price was more than we were told yesterday. The food was nice, the curry was mild but tasty and the view was great. Ok, off to sort out our bill......the manager was very understanding and refunded us our cash, glad it did not result in an argument due to the language barrier. We decided to walk around town as we have lots of time to kill before getting on the bus, there is a small lake near the centre of town that we walked around and then stopped in at a little cafe for some coffee and a sit down. We took photos of the water fountain which is quite a large monument in the town and set off again to find something else to do. We stumbled across a massage joint that cuts nails etc and seeing as though mine needed a chop we headed in. I don't mind getting someone else to cut them for $3 and Alvo had a foot/leg massage for $4 so that was 30 mins well spent. We saw a bar yesterday that had 2 for 1 pina coladas so that was our next stop. They have traditional plum wine which tastes a bit like port so that was my poison while Alvo slurped on the pina coladas. It was raining on and off now after a bit of a sunny start to the day and when we saw a break we took it and headed to the hotel to get our bags and eat somewhere near the bus station. There was a local looking eating place that we sat in and the prices were ridiculously cheap and the food was some of the best we have had and after letting the chef know this she offered us some fruit which was a pomegranate I think but green, it was good. Time to hit the bus station and we were able to get straight on the bus which was a surprise as usually we are left waiting for an hour or so. We are backseat bandits this trip and we have been assured by the driver that he will drop us off near the airport.....although we asked about 5 people & showed them a note we got written in Vietnamese but still were unsure they understood. The back seat is quite roomy although when full it looks like 5 sardines squashed in a sardine tin. There is only 3 of us back here so far so we will see what happens. The first leg of the trip is to Lao Cai where we picked up some extras.....2 more very tall strapping young lads for the back seat so there goes our roomy little area. Looking out the window the road is very windy and narrow....like Dorrigo ranges on steroids with buses and trucks passing each other almost at a stand still and with not much more than a hairs breadth between them, at this point I am highly recommending the train for anyone who wants to do this leg of the journey. Oh, I am also recommending that you book your entire Vietnamese adventure through a personal tour guide that can do everything for you as buying anything seems to be a rip off and talking to anyone is near impossible. I realise that I am in a non English speaking country but you would think that being such a tourist destination that most people would have some sort of idea. I have even showed some people words in their own language from the phrase book and they don't understand. Anyway on our toilet stop we ended up going up an alley way tonight because the toilets were so filthy and stinking and a girl was telling someone there was someone in there going in the hand basin.....eeewwwwww......I am really disliking the bus travel here & the grotty people. Again we have been assured that we will be dropped near the airport and we have about 4 hours before we need to get off. Seeing as though we really don't get off the bus until morning I will sign off now hoping to write again soon. Tanya xx.

Chilling out....

Today is a bit of a relaxing day due to our trekking effort yesterday and the fact that the weather is making us feel like we are in Tamworth during the winter time. We ventured out at about 11am for a late breakfast at the Italian restaurant we had dinner at last night. Alvo had what she described as the best french toast she had ever tasted. It came with a side of bacon, grilled tomato and cheese. She also took a chance on a cappuccino and said that it was pretty good. I had a delicious tea of fresh ginger, lemon, honey and cinnamon along with my left over banana from last nights feast. I tried the french toast and agreed that is was really good and the tomatoes here taste home grown, not like the ones we get in the supermarket back home. We walked around the town to burn a bit of breakfast off, again being followed and hassled by the Hmong people. They always ask where you are from and seeing as though I had been asked so many times I decided that Australia was way too recognisable so I told one lady that I was from the Arctic Circle and another that I was from some other random country. They also always ask you what your name is, I told one lady that I had no name......it is getting so predictable that I thought I had better make a game of it. We stumbled across the restaurant I have read about that does cooking classes so we investigated. We have all day to fill in tomorrow before getting on the bus back to Hanoi (I know.....the terror bus route) so we decided to book in and spend some time learning. It was raining on and off so stopped in to have a drink and sit down for a while in a place where they had happy hour that allows you to buy 2 and get one free. I warmed my little cotton socks with some mulled wine while Alvo sipped on a Long Island Ice Tea. With no plans we headed back to our room for a rest where we organised some banking and photos while snuggled up in the doona. I'm telling you, I am not a cold climate holidayer......I want hot people. Before we knew it, it was time to find some dinner and I really need some spicy food to warm my inards so we opt for Indian remembering how good it was in Hue last week. We struggled to order due to the language barrier with the waitress but were sure we had not ordered dog or anything. I need a good curry so vindaloo was in my sights and she assured us that it was spicy. Our meals came out pretty quickly but digging in resulted in a little disappointment, my vindaloo certainly was not spicy.....argh, I can't wait to hit Thailand in a few days. With nothing better to do after dinner we strolled back to our room and packed for tomorrow, we will check out at 10am and head to the cooking class. I will now snuggle in and watch either the cartoon network or another re-run of river monsters or adventures in the arctic before drifting off to dreamland. Here's hoping I don't get woken again in the morning by hoiking and spitting, I think the lady next door has checked out so I might be lucky. Tanya xx.