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Bangkok, Thailand
For sale for 10 Bhat
Bangkok Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
Royal Palace, Bangkok
Hi there everybody
well seems I have been slack as ever! Its been over 3 months since my last bulk email with photos. Sorry! Anyway better late than never.
well seems I have been slack as ever! Its been over 3 months since my last bulk email with photos. Sorry! Anyway better late than never.
I guess my lack of email has coincided with meeting my man. He’s called Kurt and is from Estonia (but he has been away from there for 7 years or so and can speak perfect English). Anyway there might be quite a few photos with him in.
So from Sinhoukville in Cambodia we went to Phnom Pehn for a couple of nights and then got a bus to Saigon in the South of Vietnam. We spent a few days in Saigon exploring round Chinatown and hanging out, we also ended up watching some tv as our hotel room, and every other hotel room in Vietnam had cable tv so much so that by the end of our time in Vietnam I was sick to death of crappy Vietnamese tv., From there we got the bus to Nah Trang which is a seaside resort, loads of concrete and a dirty beach, altogether not my cup of tea but you could get draft beer there for 1500 dong (less than 10p) for about 2/3 of a pint so that was one saving grace. We did also do a hellish boat trip and hired a moped and drove 20km north to a nice (small) waterfall where we didn’t see another soul.
From here we headed up the coast to Hoi An which is a very old town and one of the few places that was preserved despite the Americans bombing the country (I think there was some kinda agreement not too). Anyway it was very picturesque and very touristy with bus loads of American and Japanese tourists wandering around with cameras hanging round their necks.
We then hit Hue which was another old historic city which we wandered around for a couple of days and then went up the coast to Hanoi which was our last main stop in Vietnam before we headed to the Lao Border. Hanoi was another big city but the old city did maintain quite a lot of charm and there was minimal hassles once you left the touristy area. Alas like most of Vietnam there is hassle galore around anywhere that tourists are likely to be. By this time we had both got utterly fed up of being asked to buy something constantly and having very little contact with the Vietnamese people that didn’t involve them expecting us to pay them for something. This did really colour our experiences in what is otherwise a very interesting and at times beautiful country.
In Hanoi we obtained our visa’s for Laos and at the embassy found where the nearest border was (about 300km sw of Hanoi). We tried to find out if there was a bus to the border but all the travel agents (almost all transport by tourists is done through travel agents as local buses and trains are about 3x more expensive for foreigners so private buses are cheaper) where claiming either the border wasn’t open to foreigners or trying to sell us tickets to Vientiane instead of Vieng Xai (the nearest town to the border on the Lao side). At this point in time we should have guessed that it wasn’t an easy border to get too. Anyway to cut a long story short we managed to get a local bus half way with about 150km to go to the border and we did think we where at the totally wrong place but with the use or an expensive (well only because they charged us way more than they should have) internet cafe and mapquest we managed to find out exactly where we where and where we had to go. With a combination of walking (with all our stuff for a total of about 40km) and hitching (we got 3 good rides 2 free and the other costing 10$US between us) over 2 days (one night spent in the tent just outside town as the only place to stay was a hotel costing 50$US) we made it too the border and crossed it easily.
Entering Laos was lovely, the attitude of the people was so different from the Vietnamese that it was a pleasure to travel there. Vieng Xai was a very nice place and a great place to chill out for a week and recover from the strain we had put ourselves through. We stayed at a very basic guesthouse by the lake with very friendly staff and great food and excellent lao lao (lao local spirit) . We didn’t see any other tourists all week. We then travelled by bus to Sam Neua and then to Muang Ngoi where we spent a lot of time chilling out in the hammock and not doing much at all (pretty much like the last time I was in Muang Ngoi).
We then headed to Louang Prabang and enjoyed the delights of the night market for both food and shopping and ended up bumping into Kim McGeer (for those that know her my ex flatmate from the western rd flat who was heading towards Oz to see Lorna with her lovely boyfriend) anyway we ended up going for a herbal sauna (as you do) and then a few beers. From Louang Prabang we headed to Vang Vieng and went Tubing and enjoyed more chilling out in Hammocks.
We spent on night in Vientiane before heading into Thailand and then spent a week in Nong Khai and enjoyed the water festival (and stayed put for a week as not to get drenched in transit). From there we went to Bangkok and spent a few days then headed very quickly to Malaysia on night buses and after one night in Kuala Besut we went to the Pehrentian islands and spent 18 nights in Corel Bay on the Small island. I did loads of Diving (16 dives here) and unfortunately got my camera stolen (left my bag on the beach and went swimming one evening, doh) but I hadn’t taken many photos before I lost it but alas I have no photos of Malaysia as i replaced it in Singapore. The Pehrentian islands where lovely, white coral sand, clear turquoise waters which where at times too warm really (30 - 35 degrees C) and lots of sun.
After the islands it was to Chetaring about half way down the east coast where we stayed for a week enjoying the laid back atmosphere (as you can tell we are really stressed and needed the break ;))
We then left Malaysia for Singapore where we camped out in the national parks for free and its all allowed (the cheapest accommodation in Singapore) we stayed 5 nights in the East coast park and 5 nights at Pasir Ris park and I would recommend it to anybody coming to Singapore as the cheapest accommodation other than that is 10S$ for a dorm bed and these places are not very nice, and the facilities in the park are superb and very clean and you get a sea view . We did a lot of shopping and wandering round town and i spent my birthday wandering round the botanical gardens and the national orchid garden after having a sushi picnic, perfect.
We are now in Kuala Lumper waiting for our Indonesian Visa’s and then we should be off to Indonesia to do more Diving.
Hopefully the next email will be a bit sooner (but knowing me it wont be)
Love Charlie
Hi Guys
Sorry it has taken me so long to get this email out but I have been a bit lazy and also the email places everywhere till now where pretty expensive. Anyway if I remember correctly last time I wrote I was in Thailand still in Nong Khai.
I left Nong Khai just after a pretty drunken new years eve and headed to Phimai. Phimai is a lovely old town with 10th Century Khmer Ruins which pre-date Angkor Wat and may have been a test construction for Angkor Wat as they are similar. The ruins are set in lovely peaceful grounds and it was a great place to sit and watch the Thai Tourists that visited the place.
After Phimai I headed into Bangkok for a few days and did a bit of shopping on Kho San Rd (or however you spell it) and spent a day mooching round Chinatown which was fun. From there I went to Ko Chang and had a very relaxing two weeks on Lonely Beach which is no longer lonely but nice. I had a very nice little basic hut right on the rocky beach about 5 minutes walk south of the beach (see the photo), it was so much on the beach that at high tide the water was underneath the hut, it was very peaceful to fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing underneath you.
From Ko Chang I headed to Trat and spent a couple of days there before crossing the border into Cambodia to Ko Kong. Cambodia is definitely a much poorer country than Thailand and it seem relitavely lawless but pretty relaxed at the same time, I just stayed one night at the town on the border and then got a boat to Sihnoukville which is the only developed beach area in Cambodia.
Sihnoukville is a cool place with about 6 beaches some much better than others and a very easy place to hang out for a while, which is pretty much what I have done. I did a dive refresher course (a morning in a pool with and instructor) and then I did a 5 dive (including one night dive) overnight boat trip to some of the islands 2 and 4 hrs away from the mainland. It was great and I absolutely loved it so I am going to do as much diving as i can justify to myself. I have no idea why I left it so long between finishing my advanced open water course in Oz and diving again (about 8 years!!!). Anyway I came back from the boat trip and then went camping to a beautiful deserted beach in Ream National Park with a guy I met before I went diving and he drove us there on a 250cc dirt bike (which we needed because the last bit of the path to get there was pretty rugged). It was lovely the beach was about 2km long and there was a couple of houses set back from the beach but nobody else, the locals seemed very happy for us to be there,unlike most other country’s national parks the rangers where cool with us camping too. We spent 3 nights under canvas cooking everything on an open fire (just bbq as we didn’t have any real cooking equipment) then headed back to civilisation.
We spent a couple more nights in Sihnoukville then headed to Phnom Phen the capital of Cambodia. Phnom Phen is a big city but compared to Bangkok its tiny and it seemed pretty chilled out, we stayed in a guesthouse near the lake which seems to be the cheapest area and therefore has the most backpackers and backpacker facilities (email, travel agents, cafe’s ect ect). From there we got a bus across the border into Vietnam to Saigon/HoChiMinCity.
I know I didn’t go to many places in Cambodia but I am going to head back sometime out of season and go and see Angkor Wat then as people that I spoke to who had been there recently told me that it was very crowded with tourists on package holidays so Im going to go back when its quieter, also its meant to be very green and lush in the rainy season so maybe i might go back then (also flights are very cheap with Air Asia to Siam Reap).
I have been in Saigon for 4 days now and i really like the place, the traffic is annoyingly noisy and crossing the road can be a nightmare but apart from that its all cool and most places seem to be within easy walkable distance.
Heading north tomorrow to Nah Trang so more beaches and then going to be heading steadily north to Hanoi and from there who knows.
Hope all you guys are doing well and sorry that it has taken me so long to get this batch of photo’s to you, I shouldn’t take as long next time, honest ;)
Love Charlie
Lonely Beach - Ko Chang - Thailand
Thailand
Thailand
Phimai, Thailand
From Mutt Mee Guesthouse - Nong Khai
Sala Kaew Ku, Nong Khai, Thailand
Sala Kaew Ku, Nong Khai, Thailand
HI Guys
Still Having a wonderful time here in Thailand. I’m in Chiang Mai at the moment which is a great city and having lots of fun.
I then almost doubled back a bit and went to Kanchaburi which is where the Bridge over the River Kwai is for anybody who remembers that film. This was also a great place to chill out and watch the world go by on the river but I also visited some WW2 war cemetery’s and learn more about the Death Railway, depressing I know but very interesting. And you can walk over the bridge itself if you don’t mind sharing it with loads of other tourists, weirdly there where loads of Japanese tourists visiting the area but I guess they have a different perspective on events.
From there I headed into Bangkok for a couple of days to get my visa for Laos, getting the visa was very simple and quick but finding the embassy was an effort as very few taxi drivers had heard of it, or spoke any English. Next time I will use a visa service and pay a few quid to be lazy. The one thing I realised is that Bangkok is HUGE and most of it all looks the same to me.
I then got a bus to Sukothai, which was the first capital city in Thailand and there where loads of Buddhist Temples set in a beautiful garden surrounded by moats. I took about 100 photos in the 4 days in Sukothai which was about the same amount as i took everywhere else put together so you can imagine.
I’m in Chiang Mai now which is a cool little city and very different from Bangkok. I didn’t like Bangkok very much as it was just so big sprawling and featureless but i didn’t give it that much of a chance I guess.
Heading towards Laos either tomorrow of the next day so not sure how quick and easy the internet is over there.
Hope you enjoy the photo’s and maybe the photo of Sukothai in the rain might do something to make you slightly less jealous (or maybe not ;)
Love Charlie
Sukothai - Thailand
From Sukothai, Thailand
Thailand
Sukothai, Thailand
note garland on thumb is about 1foot long
Sukothai, Thailand
On cycle tour of area surrounding Sukothai town.
Sukothai, Thailand
Kanchanaburi, Thailand
These are the graves of mainly British, Australian and some Dutch soldiers who died making the death railway.
I saw this monster crawl out of the pond near my hut in Kanchanaburi, it just rested on the bank for a while posing for a photo. Im not 100% what it is so if anybody knows, just leave me a comment.
The death railway itself, complete with tourists walking across it. Apparently the curved sections are original but all else has been replaced.
The inside of the Thai bus that I got from Lop Buri to Kanchanaburi
These are commonly seen in Thai marketplaces but I never quite got the courage to taste one.
crab-eating macaque, monkey temple, Lop Buri, Thailand
Crab-eating macaques at Phra Kaan Shrine, Lop Buri, Thailand
This is the monkey temple in Lop Buri also knows as Phra Kaan Shrine which is a Khmer style temple that has a band of wild monkeys who live there. To give you an idea when you enter the temple you are given a stick to use if they get aggressive, not very reassuring. You are also advised to keep your possessions very close to you as the monkeys will try and grab things like hats. They succeeded in stealing my bottle of water from me just as I was about to leave the temple compound. The monkeys are all in the area outside of the temple and you can enter the temple and watch the monkeys through the bars, kind of like a zoo in reverse.
In some ways the monkeys are a huge pest to the town but due to the fact that it is a draw to tourists like myself they are tolerated.
King Narai’s Palace, Lop Buri, Thailand
One of the most commonly photographed thing from Ayutthaya, Thailand
Standard hire bicycle, no gears and tires had a habit of going a bit flat.
Ayutthaya, Thailand
Hi guys
just though I would email you the photos from my first stop. This place has loads of ruins as you can see all within easy cycle ride of town and each other (hence the photo of my trusty steed, i.e. Thai bike). It has been the perfect place to acclimatize a bit and chill out apart from the fact that all of the other travellers seem to come and go fairly quickly. Most of the friends that I made a couple of days ago are all in Chang Mai by now.
Anyway I’m just going to plod on northwards a bit to Lop Buri which is a town that is famous for its band of delinquent monkeys, should be fun and you never know you might get a photo or two of a monkey if your lucky.
The weather has been lovely, pretty hot and at times quite humid but not a drop of rain since i landed so i guess the monsoon has left this part of Thailand.
anyway that’s about all for now.
Look after yourselves
Love Charlie
Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Ayutthaya, Thailand
Standard hire bicycle, no gears and tires had a habit of going a bit flat.
Ayutthaya, Thailand
Ayutthaya - Thailand
Ayutthaya - Thailand
