Manics Rehash

The Trans-Siberian Railway Beijing to Ulan Bator

2008-12-07T06:16:00.000-08:00

We arranged a wake up call for 6 am, unfortunatly we hadn't finished drinking in the bar until 1.30 the night before. We grabbed our gear and headed out to Beining main train station to pick up our tickets and board the K23 from Beijing to Ulam Bator, the Mongolial Capital.Our carridge attendant showed up to our cabin where we soon settled down for a few more hours sleep.When we awoke we headed to the restaurant car for some breakfast and took a table next to some already very drunk Mongolians who insisted on raising a cheers every 3 minutes and continally trying to speak to us in Mongolian long after it had become apparent that we didn't understand a word. The enslaught only receded once the loudest of the group fell into a drunk stuper over his fried chickens feet breakfast.Back in the cabin we watched the incredible scenery of snow topped mountains and frozen rivers as we headed into desolate Northern China. The expance outside the window sparsly populated by coal miners, sheep farmers and the manual laborers of the railway.In the cabin next to ours was a Mongolian girl with a name almost impossible to pronounce. She was on her way back to see her family in Ulan Bator after spending a year studying in Australia.We stopped at the china mongolia border at around 8.30 that evening. Our passports were collected by the border guard and we disembarked before the train rolled into a train shed to have the wheels changed from the Chinese to the Mongolian gauge.Alongside the platform was a small building with some rudimentary facilities and we were locked in for 3 hours while the train recieved it's new set of wheels.We met two Australians whom the Mongolians recognized as the hosts of a popular English language tv show on Mongolian national television.We eventually boarded the train again for the 25 minute journey across no mans land to the Mongolian border, where once again the train was boarded by guards. A very stern looking female mongolian border guard had us one in the hallway of the caridge and carefully scruitamised our faces against the photos in our passports an hour and a half later we pulled away into the Mongolian plains, bound for Ulan Bator, the worlds coldest capital city..We arrived in the Capital at 1pm the next day and were met from the train by our Mongolian tour guide Gerhleah and driver Ahgee. It was -20C, without gloves, jackets, jumpers and a bear skin hat we would have almost certainly have died of hyperthermia whithin hours.After a short stop at the bank, to change our Chinese Yuan into Mongolian Tugots and Russian Roubles, we went to the biggest monestary in Mongolia and then down to the central square of the city. Governent house, on the northern side of the square is adorned with a huge statue of Gengis Khan. The remaining sides of the square are home to the national opera house, the headquarters of the ruling democratic peoples party (recently firebombed and partly destroyed in a riot organized by the opposition) the headquarters of the opposition, the Revolutionary party and the main post office.

Hong Kong Phooey

2008-11-21T02:20:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday evening from Bangkok and headed to Chung King Mansions. The only place to find cheap accommodation in Hong Kong. The place is an absolute dive but is in an excellent location in Kowloon and beats paying 150 pounds a night anywhere else on in the city.
Once we had checked in to what must have been the worlds smallest hotel room, we headed out to grab a few beers. We stopped by Delayneys Irish bar just outside where we are staying. We sat down at the bar enjoying the sence of being back in the west. We ordered some pints and everything seemed to be going well, until we realised that it was 6 pounds a pint!
Wednesday morning we headed to the office of our travel agent, who took all our paperwork and seemed confident that he could get us a Russian visa. We left the office assured and went off to explore Hong Kong.
The city is filled to the rafters with Gucci shops and super cars. Everybody seems to speak perfect English despite it being 95% Chinese here. The legacy of its British Colonial past has left a city that apart from the abundance of Chinese script and Asian faces is almost indistinguishable from any English City. The fire engines, police cars, buses, road signs, postboxes etc etc. are all modelled on England.
We headed down to Hong Kong harbor and the avenue of stars (Hong Kongs answer to Broadway) and hung around for the the Symphony of Lights show that evening. The worlds biggest light and music display. At 8 PM every night the amazing lighting of the many Skyscrapers on Hong Kong island is synchronised to music in a 14 minute orchestrated show. A truly amazing sight.
The next day we took the star ferry across from Kowloon to Hong Kong island and wandered around central district amongst its hundreds of skyscrapers. We then laboured up the huge hill on which Hong Kong's financial district is built, to the Hong Kong botanical gardens and zoo.
Later on that afternoon we found the peak tram and took a ride up to the Hong Kong viewing platform to watch the light show again from Victoria peak overlooking the city.
This afternoon we returned to our travel agents office, and by some miracle he had managed to procure us a Russian visa, at last, on the 5th attempt we actually managed to get hold of the Visa. A snip at 130 pounds!!!

Unscheduled stop in Hong Kong

2008-11-17T01:40:00.000-08:00

ahh! we went back to the Russian embassy this morning and saw the visa section. After waiting an hour and a half, they decided that despite what they said a few months ago, they couldn't in fact issue us a Russian Visa.
We e-mailed our travel agent, who suggested that when we get into Beijing she would Fed-EX our documents overnight to Hong Kong and try to get a guy in the other office there to get our visas processed by express service. Unfortunately, all that was going to cost about 180 pounds and we were not guarenteed to get our passports back in time.
Apparently Hong Kong is now just about the only place in the world that will issue a Russian Visa to UK citizens(although the Russians don't tell you that sort of info before you traipse around the world trying to get a visa), as, being an old territory, we are granted 180 days stay on arrival, circumventing the Russian rule that says that an applicant must have the right to spend at least 90 days in the country they are applying in.
But, it's not guaranteed that they will issue the visa in our absence!!!
So it looks like we are off to Hong Kong. We cant go in from China, despite the fact we are currently booked on a flight that lands 10 miles from Hong Kong as we would then use up our Chinese visa getting out of China and couldn't come back in without getting a new visa, which we don't have time for!
Thus, it looks like we are going to have to fly from Bangkok to Hong Kong tomorrow, just to get a Russian visa, then hang around in Hong Kong for a week until we are allowed into China.
A very expensive and time wasting process indeed! Oh well, it wouldn't be as much fun if it was easy!!

A worldwide tour of Russian embasseys and still no Russian Visa

2008-11-14T22:28:00.000-08:00

Ahhh! Still haven't got a visa for Russia. The console in Bangkok when we first applied told us that he didn't want to issue us a Visa because it was two and a half months before our date of entry, which was too early. He recommended that we apply at a different Russian embassy in one of the other countries we were travelling to.
When we got to Phnomn Penh we took got up at 8AM and took a moto across town to the Russian embassy and were let into the consular section. The receptionist told us that the Console was busy and that we should come back at 9Am on Monday morning, it being Thursday at that point. We headed back to the hotel and spent the next four days killing time in Phnomn Pehn waiting for the embassy to open on Monday.
Monday morning came and we again drove across a gridlocked Phnomn Penh to the embassy. We went in and say down to await the console. As waited for about 20 minutes in the lobby until the Russian consul came out from an office at the back, smoking a cigarette and looking most displeased that he had to waste his time.
"What can I do for you?" he barked putting as he crushed the butt of his cigarette.
"We would like to apply for a Russian Visa please"
"Paperwork"
We passed across all the necessary documents for the application process; our passports, a letter of invitation by a hotel in Moscow stamped by the embassy in Russia, A copy of our insurance policy, a full itinerary, again endorsed by the Russians, passport photos and an application form that we had brought with us from the first attempt in Bangkok.
He took one look at the application form.
"Wrong colour pen"
"Oh, Sorry about that, do you have a new copy, we can fill out?"
"Documents, original?"
"No, they were scanned and e-mailed to us from Russia."
"Copy no good in Cambodia"
"Really, well we are travelling and thus have no address to obtain the originals, we were also told that copies would be OK"
"Not in Cambodia, too much counterfeit, cannot give here"
"Do you know what the rules are in Vietnam, or Laos?"
"No"
"OK, thanks so much for your time"
And with that we had completed our second attempt at obtaining a Russian visa.
The next attempt was to be Vietnam, although we found out that they only issue Russian visas to residents of Vietnam!
And the Russian embassy in Vientiane was our next port of call. Again we got up early, put on some decent cloths and headed across town to the embassy quarter.
We were let in by the guards and took a seat in the visa office. The Russian woman behind the desk looked at us and motioned to her watch. We checked the time, it was 8.58, the office didn't open till 9!
After a short wait the consul appeared, speaking excellent English and shook our hands. He took a look at our paperwork and was genuinely happy to help us. He went off to get some pens and application forms and we duly began filling them out whilst he looked through our paperwork.
"Are you guys citizens here in Laos"
"No, we are just travelling through"
"Ah! I cannot issue you a visa I'm afraid, only those with resident status in Laos"
"Oh, Really, where can we get a visa?"
"Only London."
"well, unfortunately we won't be in London any time soon, and thus cant get a visa from there, anywhere else?"
"No, only London, its the same for Russians, they can only obtain a UK visa in Moscow"
"The Bangkok office seemed happy to issue them, they were just unsure due to the time scale"
"well, I don't know how the enforce the rules but I cannot give you a Visa here in Laos. Sorry."
so, next stop Bangkok again, which will hopefully conclude our tour of worldwide Russian embassies. Failing that we will have to try posting it to Hong Kong from inside China, but with only two weeks in the country and no address, it could be a problem!

The Khmer Rouge Killing Fields at Choung Ek, outside Phnom Penh

2008-10-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

A shocking window on just how dark human nature can be. The killing fields of Choung Ek were a half hour tuk tuk ride from our lakeside guesthouse in Phnomn Penh. One of the many sites around Cambodia where the Kymer Rouge, under the rule of Pol Pot, beat to death and buried millions of its fellow Cambodians.

Paul, our Tuk Tuk driver took us out from the guesthouse, through midday Phnomn Penh traffic and along the unsealed dusty road that leads out of the capital. The Same route that was travelled by the condemned in trucks from security prisons in the city.

We arrived in the almost empty dirt yard that acted as a car park and went off and got our admission tickets. As we walked into the site, it initially looks like a park or a peaceful recreation spot, with no immediately obvious signs of the horrors that occurred there. In the background were the noises of local children playing at a school. In front of us stood a large gold topped stupa. As we got closer, it quickly became apparent that this huge structure was absolutely crammed from top to bottom with the skulls of some of the 9000+ people that had thus far been exhumed from the mass graves at the site.

We spent some time inside the structure, completely shocked by the site. The cases and shelves containing the skulls are open, and tower, stories above you. The extremely narrow passageway that runs between the outer wall of the stupa and the cases of skulls means that you have no choice but to be inches from the thousands of skulls. Plastic signs request that you don't touch them. They are arranged by sex and approximate age at death. The point at which we entered brought us in front of hundreds of skulls of those aged 5 -9.

We left and started to walk around the site. Various information boards told of where buildings once stood, containing chemicals used in an attempt to subdue the smell, as well as kill any of the victims who were only stunned by the blows inflicted on them. Signs around the site requested that we didn't walk on the still unexcavated mass graves.

We came across a large tree with a thick branch running perpendicular to the trunk, on it hung a sign telling of how the Khmer rouge soldiers used the branch to hang a loudspeaker playing music at a decibel level high enough to drown out the cries and screams of the children who were being beaten to death against the trunk. Against this same trunk today were stacked piles of fractured bones that had been found on the ground nearby since the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

As we walked around the unkept paths we could see pieces of bone, teeth and clothing embedded in the ground all around us. As Cambodia had slowly forged itself a position on the backpackers trail, the number of visitors to the site had been wearing away the earth of the makeshift pathways, slowly exposing the bodies buried just below the surface that we were inadvertently walking across.

A small acrylic sided box to the right of the pathway displayed a sign explaining that the contents was pieces of skeletons and personal effect that had been found around the site since the early excavations of the mass graves. As the box was fall and locked the lid was piled with many more pieces that visitors to the sight had found and placed there in the hope that one day someone may have the will and resources to catalogue them correctly.

Python, Kangaroo, Ostrich and Crocodile then off to Angkor What?

2008-10-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

We headed to Pub Street in the center of Siem Reap with a few people we had met in our guesthouse including a few of the Cambodian guys that worked there. Pub street itself is an oasis away from the beggars and hustlers of Siem Reaps streets. It is closed at both ends to anyone who is not Caucasian, western, well dressed or prepared to bribe the police at the checkpoints. We passed the piano bar, reportedly favored by Angelina Jolie, who stayed there whilst filming Tomb Raided at Angkor Wat. A huge board outside advertising the fact, along with a list of punny cocktail names related to their five minutes of fame.
We found a restaurant for a barbecue dinner, and between us ordered python, crocodile, ostrich and kangaroo, all surprisingly tasty. After washing it all down with a few bottles of Angkor beer, we headed around the corner to the Angkor What? bar, a Siem Reap institution, advertised across Southeast Asia by tee-shirt wearing patrons.
We met up with Casey later that evening and danced the night away to some very western music. After leaving at 2AM closing, me and Casey thought that it would be a good idea to go and find some more drinks elsewhere. After wandering the streets of Siem Reap in a rather inebriated state we surmised that the only logical next step was to try our hand at one of the local casinos.
Having found one that looked good we duly went in and sat down at a blackjack table. We were the only patrons of the huge flashy 24 hour casino. The croupier came over and we put down 20 dollars each. The table was fitted with electronic screens and our 20 dollars showed up in the bank. We tried to place our first bets, but despite our best attempts the machines didn't seem to like it. we asked one of the waitresses and then the croupier to assist up in losing our money. To our astonishment nobody in this huge Casino spoke a word of English! Breaking into Charades didn't seem to work either.
On auto pilot, I did what I have been used to doing when someone doesn't speak English and immediately switched to speaking Korean. To the complete surprise of both me and the croupier we continued the discourse in Korean.
Unfortunately the staff seemed none the wiser as top why the machines didn't want our money. Getting bored with our best attempts to give the casino our money (as the only customers) we asked if we could change the chips back into money. Not a problem at all, within a few minutes the staff were wishing us a cheery goodbye. I suspect that that particular casino will not be in business too much longer!

Angkor Wat, Preah Khan

2008-10-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

As soon as the sun came up over Angkor Wat the hordes of people suddenly disappeared, back on their buses to return to the cities hotels and guesthouses for breakfast,. As it was just the two of us on our tour we elected to get breakfast from some of the street food stalls along the sides of the road outside and go and see Angkor Wat before the crowds. It was a wise choice, there wasn't more than 15 people in the whole complex. we had the place pretty much to ourselves. After about an hour and a half of marveling at the enormity of the structure of Angkor Wat we headed out back to join our driver on the other side of the great moat that surrounds the complex. As we crossed the courtyard there was an army of sixty or more groundskeepers cutting the grass with sickles. The idea of all those Cambodians sweating away for hours trying to cut the acres and acres of grass with in such a way seemed ridiculous when a guy with a lawnmower could do it in a twentieth of the time!
We rejoined our guide and headed for another temple called Preah Khan. An impossibly big grid of tumbled corridors and towers held together by the roots of the trees that has destroyed those around them. Again the place was deserted apart from one or two other people milling about. With the jungle so close to the temple you could really get a sense of how the first French explorers must have felt upon stumbling on this ancient wonder in the dense jungle. The whole place was like being inside a Tomb Raider film.
The freedom to explore is completely unrivalled by any western archaeological wonder. A few small signs written in bad English, warning you that poking around at the stones may result in a braining by a huge lump of the temple, along with some makeshift supports, are the only indication that anyone else in the world knows about this place.
After a good while taking it all in we again headed back to meet our guide and continue to a few of the smaller, but equally impressive temples at Angkor.
Absolutely exhausted by the climbing and the 38C sun burning down on us we returned to our guesthouse at about 4 in the afternoon. We slumped down on the sofas and ordered a few bottles of Angkor beer. Whilst there we met some other travellers and arranged to go out with them that night for a snake dinner on Pub street in the middle of town. We retired for a well earned power nap to prepare ourselves for a night out in Siem Reap

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

2008-10-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

Our tuk-tuk driver broke the news to us that we had to meet him at 4.20 AM to set off from Siem Reap in time to catch the sun coming up over Angkor Wat, he assured us it would be worth it.
We fell out of bed, at 4AM, still pitch black outside and headed, bleary eyed to the lobby to meet out tuk-tuk driver. We were soon on the road to Angkor, arriving about 30 minutes later at the gates of Angkor Wat. We walked across the immense moat and into the outer courtyard of Angkor Wat. We sat ourselves up in front of one of the small shallow pools that skirt the perimeter and awaited the sun. With the camera at the ready the sun started to rise up over the minarets of Angkor.
The next hour or so was spent casting rocks into the pool in an attempt to get an ever better "arty" shot of the sunrise

Life on the lake, Tonlé Sap floating village on the Mekong, Near Siem Reap, Cambodia

2008-10-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

After our morning of temple exploring we headed back to Siem Reap for some lunch and a quick siesta. We arranged to meet our driver again at 3PM to head out to Tonlé Sap floating village 16 KM southeast of Siem Reap. We drove along unsealed roads, through the villages passing locals on scooters laden to breaking point with an amazing array of wares, from hundreds of tapioca roots to 3 live pigs and 30+ ducks.
As we arrived I noticed a Cambodian woman with an expensive digital SLR camera but thought not much more of it. We boarded our traditional Cambodian wooden boat and headed out to explore the lake.
An entire working town exists on the lake, with schools, shops, businesses, farms, bars and houses. Most of the inhabitants are subsistence fishermen, catching catfish and shrimp from the lake.
We chugged along past all of the various floating buildings on the village and came to stop at a floating crocodile farm for some dinner and views across the lake from the top deck.
After being coerced into holding a live crocodile we moved on to watch the sunset from further down the lake.
As we arrived back on the shore we were met by the usual band of hawkers trying to sell all manner of junk. One woman kept tugging on my shirt;
"Mister, Mister, you like plate face?"
Barely registering amongst all of the other sales pitches she kept on;
"Mister, very nice plate face."
Eventually I gave in and stopped to have a look at what she was trying to sell, as looked down she proudly held out two plastic camping plates with mine and Jays faces printed in the middle. It suddenly occurred to me that she was the woman who had had the camera when we had first arrived at the port.
I declined the offer of a plate with my face on it as I couldn't imagine when exactly such an item might be of use to me, although It would be an amazing way to serve dinner guests!
We headed back into town to get some sleep before we met our guide and driver again at 4.20 A.M to head out to Angkor Wat for the sunrise.

Angkor Thom and Bayon, Siem Reap, Cambodia

2008-10-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

After travelling up from Phnomn Penh on a very crowded government bus, our innovative driver using plastic stools to create a fifth isle in the center of the bus, we arrived in a very wet Siem Reap. As is normal practice apparently, when we arrived we were met by a tuk-tuk driver waving a sign with our names on it! We later discovered that the guesthouses in Phnom Penh phone ahead and sell tourists names to the guys up north.
The next morning we met our tuk-tuk driver at 11AM and headed out to the Angkor Wat site. A 5.5Km ride from Siem Reap, a huge temple complex that was lost in the jungle until about 100 years ago when French explorer Henri Mouhot rediscovered it almost completely enshrouded by the surrounding Jungle.
We spent the day visiting various temples around the site including Angkor Bayon, famous for the 200 bas-reliefs of Khmer faces and Angkor Thom famed for the huge trees, whose roving roots have become an integral part of the structure of the temple. Various temples on the site were used in the filming of Tomb Raider and as we walked around the almost deserted site, there was a real sense of how the first explorers must have felt upon stumbling of this city in the jungle.

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Phnom Penh international

2008-10-10T02:39:00.000-07:00

After two and a half hours of delays at Bangkok airport, we finally got our AirAsia flight to Phnom Penh. The flight took just 50 minutes, with clear skies and amazing views of the countryside the whole way. We landed and wandered across the tarmac to the very small airport terminal that is Phnom Penh international airport.
From what we could see, the entire international airport consisted of the plane we had just arrived on, two helicopters, a biplane and a crop sprayer.

Once inside, the Cambodian border guards quickly relieved us of $20 dollars and sent us on our way into the foray of tuk-tuk drivers vying for business. Before we knew it we were in the back of a beaten up 1970's Ford Cortina heading north to Boeng Kak Lake and our diggs for the night.

The second we stepped out of our cab into the badly lit backstreets, our Caucasian faces and shiny backpacks betrayed our anonymity and again we were bait for the rapidly gathering locals, hustling everything from "good woman, good price" to "Mr, Mr, you wanna buy some good coke".

We headed straight to the nearest bar to try to loose the local salesmen and get a well needed beer after all our travelling.

Eventually we ended up in a lake-side guesthouse called same same, but different, which is exactly the same as anywhere else here. Our room set us back $2 a night each, which ignoring the fact that every time you come out of the room you almost fall through the rotten boards into the dank lake below, and the healthy population of river rats, isn't too bad!

We met a Taiwanese guy over dinner who was also staying there, attempting to get hold of a visa to drive, through Myanmar, India etc etc all the way to Finland. So far he had been waiting a month for the embassy to decide if such a visa even existed.

We booked ourselves on the 12.30 bus to Siem Reap the next morning and spent the remainder of the evening enjoying the breeze out on the lake-side and watching an impressive electrical storm.

We awoke in our sauna of a room, with the morning sun beating down on the tin roof, attempted to wash ourselves with the brownish water coming from the shower head and headed to Phnom Pehn bus station for the 6 hour bus ride north to Siem Reap. We spent the journey sat right at the back of the bus, which must have been 30 years old. The air conditioning was little more than wisp of warm air and inside was already at least 35C. To add to the excitement, neither of the chairs we were sat on would stay in the upright position, thus we spent the whole time apologising to the Buddhist monks behind us about falling asleep and crushing their legs.

The bus was completely full as we left Phnomn Pehn, on the part tarmacked, potholed roads. An hour later we stopped to pick up a further 20 passengers, necessitating the deployment of plastic stools into the gangway.

The next five hours were warm to say the least, with the standard wannabe rally driver in charge, people and belongings going everywhere each time we almost broke the suspension by careering full speed down a big hole in the road. The in flight entertainment during all of this had been a kung-fu film dubbed into Khmer followed by full volume Khmer Karaoke blasted through the punctured bass speakers above our heads.

We eventually arrived in Siem Reap in the midst of a tropical downpour. We were met from the bus by our new driver who Same Same guesthouse had phoned ahead to arrange. We agreed to meet him at 11 the next morning to head out to Angkor Wat.

Koh Phang Ngan

2008-10-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

hWe took the 45 minute ferry across from Buddha Beach on Koh Samui to Had Rin Beach on Koh Pang Nyan. As soon as we arrived we realised that the place was a lot more "us "than Koh Samui. The streets were crawling with scruffy backpackers on scooters and quad bikes. We checked into the Same Same guesthouse and headed down to have a look at the infamous Had Rin beach, home of Thailands full moon parties.

Although the full moon party was two weeks away, the whole place had an electric, party atmosphere. That night we headed down to Had Rin for a few of the buckets advertised below!

The entire mile long stretch of beach was fronted by stalls selling cheap booze and bars with enormous speaker systems hanging down from the roofs.

Seven hours later we were still drinking rum, coke and Redbull out of buckets and dancing the night away while being chatted up by ladyboys and watching the fire shows put on by each of the bartenders, along with some wasted foreigners. A certain someone I know would have put them to shame!

The next few days consisted mainly of recovering from Chang-overs and sitting on beaches.

A few days later we started our epic 23 hour journey to Phnom Penh.

Koh Samui

2008-10-09T01:27:00.000-07:00

After nearly 2 full days travelling from Chaing Mai (950 miles away) via tuk tuk, taxi, pick-up truck, coach, train and boat, we arrived at Chaweng pier on Koh Samui. We jumped in the back of a pick up truck and headed to Lamai beach, stopping only so the driver could buy a new bumper and pick up a few jack fruit.

We arrived about half an hour later at new hut bungalows and got ourselves a hut on the beachfront for 250 Baht a night. As soon as we dumped our gear we headed straight out into the sea. Crystal clear and as warm as bathwater.

Later that evening we got some snorkels and headed out over the coral reef about 15 meters out from the beach. Swam with some amazing tropical fish, mandarin fish, zebra fish, bat fish and some collared butterfly fish. Was all going really well, until I put my foot down on a crab, who freaked out and went for me, thus causing me to freak out and flounder around, slicing up my hands and feet on the razor sharp coral and muscles sticking out of the rocks.

I slowly half swam, half bobbed back to the beach with my hands and feet bleeding and hopped back to our hut to patch myself up with the first aid kit that, in her better judgement, Hannah had told me would come in useful and I packed under duress.

Later that night we hit the bright lights of Lamai. En route we walked across a bridge over a small stream, as I looked down into the stream I noticed that there were two moniter lizards, both at least a meter from head to tail, stalking the gekos in the undergrowth of the embankments. Lamai is an interesting mix of 60 year old men with 18 year old Thai girls and a few families on their annual two weeks.

We fought our way past the gauntlet of suit salesmen, tuk-tuk drivers and dubious looking "female" bar staff trying to entice us in, and found what looked like a pretty normal bar. What we didn't expect was to have our first pints of cider and pie, mash and gravy in 14months.

After dinner we headed back out into the foray. Each bar offering various deals on drinks and women! As we walked past one completely empty bar, one of the 12 girls dancing on it picked up the least ambiguous sign thus far, reading simply; CHEAP BEER, MANY COCKTAILS, GOOD BLOWJOBS, CHEAP HANDJOBS! Now that's marketing! Despite the unique sales patter, we declined, on levels of decency and sheer fear of the butch looking salespeople.

A few more days were lost drinking, reading and topping up the tan. Eventually we decided to move to a different beach called big Buddha further down the coast.

Once there we checked into the Samui mermaid hotel, we were shown to a really nice room with a TV, mini bar etc. as well as a swimming pool just outside.

We met up with some Irish guys and spent the next three days in a booze and sun fuelled delirium, drinking bottles of Chang all day and Thai whiskey and red bull out of mop buckets by night.

Once the head and stomach finally gave in, we made our escape to the pier and boarded the boat to Koh Pangyan.

The Orient Express ! (Bangkok to Surat Thani - Koh Samui sleeper train)

2008-10-05T05:17:00.000-07:00

We took the 14 hour sleeper train from Bangkok Hamphanluh train station down to Surat Thani in southern Thailand to catch a bus then a ferry over to Koh Samui. The first few photos are of the local people in Bangkok going about their daily business on, between and next to the train tracks of the busiest station in Thailand. We opted to save some money by going second class without air-conditioning. Maybe a mistake in Heinseit, it must have been 30C on the train the whole way down.

Mae Sa Waterfall, Chiang Mai

2008-10-05T04:42:00.000-07:00

Mae sa waterfall, Mae Sa Valley, about 15 miles north of Chiang Mai

Maharajahs and elephants doing Dylan covers

2008-09-30T05:31:00.000-07:00

Following our morning playing potential man eaters, fooling ourselves that it was as safe as playing with tabby cats, we headed off to play with some even larger local wildlife.

About half an hours drive from Chiang Mais' Tiger Kingdom is Maesa elephant ranch. Set in acres and acres of picturesque jungle and flatland, it was established 40 years ago by a Thai, to take in some of the hundreds of working elephants that were being abandoned in Thailand as motorised transport became a cheaper and more convenient option than elephant power.

Our tour started with buying some bananas and sugar cane to feed to the baby elephants in the nursery area. The elephants had been trained to take the hats from their mahouts and place them on our heads. cool trick. The next ,which was even more impressive, was to take twenty baht notes from our hands and pop them into the shirt pockets of the mahout, never to return. good wees!

We then went off to catch 3.30 elephant to the jungle. After clambering aboard and being fastened in (with good reason it transpired) we set off up a one in three mud slide on our reluctant 45 year old banana processing plant.

A very slow, rocky but enjoyable ride later, we clambered back down, provided our transport some payment in the form of sugar cane and went off to watch the elephant take a bath in the local river and get ready for the big performance.

A few elephants playing football, trumpeting tunes through harmonicas, painting pictures, playing darts and building log bridges later, we headed back to rendezvous with Nikkorn ,our driver, stopping only to have a look at the elephant art gallery where for as little as £100 you yourself could own a peice of art painted by an elephant. Apparently the place holds the Guiness world record for selling the most expensive peice of elephant created art. A snip at amere 25000 pounds.

Breakfast with Tigers

2008-09-28T00:15:00.000-07:00

We met our driver for the day, Nikkorn, and headed south of Chiang Mai to A place called Tiger kingdom. We were the only people there and we sat down for some breakfast whilst watching the staff quite happily popping in and out of enclosures and stroking fully grown tigers.

We finished up breakfast and decided that the only sensible thing to do next was to get into the tiger cages, guarded only by a fat man with an 8 inch length of bamboo and a few of his mates.

As the gate to the cage slammed closed behind us, the keeper mentioned in passing that it was best if we didn't let them bite us!

us vs. the reds and Doi Suthep temple

2008-09-24T04:32:00.000-07:00

The saga of the Chinese visa continues; this morning we were up at the crack of dawn again to get to the Chinese consulate in Chiang Mai. We spoke to the girl behind the desk and at first she wasn't going to accept the trans Siberian as an acceptable way of getting out of China. She then told us that getting the train in from Hanoi isn't good enough either and that she would have to talk to the ambassador and see what he though of such an off the wall idea. She also told us that we would need to have a ticket in to China to proceed with the process.
Off we went to find ourselves some flights to China to prove to them that we didn't want the 50 pound visa solely for its aesthetic value, but we were in fact going to use it to visit China.
After a bit of searching on the Internet the cheapest we could find was about 200 pounds. We remembered that the previous day we had seen an Air Asia shop in the city center and went to try there. 60 quid lighter we each walked out with a ticket to Shenzen in China.
Back we went to the embassy to try our luck again. The woman told us that the ambassador had OKed our train ticket out and that we could go ahead with the process. After a lot of form filling we gave in our applications and were told to come back on the 6th October. "Wait a minute, that's weeks away."
"oh, yer we're closed all of next week, but we can do it for tomorrow for and extra 800baht"
So tomorrow is the day when we find out if they will let us in or not.
On a more interesting note, this afternoon we hailed ourselves a pickup truck and headed up the mountain road to Doi Suthep temple, mostly to get out of the heat and smog of the city and to have a look at the panorama of the city.

The sleeper from Bangkok to Chiang Mai

2008-09-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

After losing a few lazy, hazy days, sat on a picture perfect beach on Koh Chang, we finally got the momentum together to get the only truck out of our deserted beach Paradise at 8 AM on Monday.
After about an hour up and down un-tarmacked mountain roads we got back to the ferry port and sailed across to Trat on the mainland. From there we waited about an hour and got on a "VIP" bus back to Bangkok. Our double-decker VIP bus was painted in full Finding Nemo livery and had a sound system more akin to a super club than a tourist bus. The owners of said bus had also installed a loud speaker on the exterior so that they could shout abuse at hapless nearby motorists while the huge bus, full of nail biting tourists, swayed from side to side as they cut them up on blind corners!
Having survived that part of the journey we arrived at Bangkok Ekimie bus station and took a cab across grid-locked Bangkok to the Northern train station.
Half an hour later we were aboard the 7.35 special express to Chiang Mai. A 15 hour sleeper. Moments after we had found our bunks, the carriage attendant came past to check our tickets. After taking one look at us she hurried off and came back with a card table and an Ice bucket full of beers. She handed us a menu to peruse and an hour later we were sitting down to a four course meal whilst chugging our way north out of Bangkok.
A few games of poker and bottles of Singer later we retired to bed.
I was woken this morning to the sun streaming in as we meandered our way through the lush jungle forests of northen Thailand. An hour later we had arrived in Chiang Mai.
We checked into a three person room at a place called Julie's guest house and set out to send our postcards, use the internet and get a few beers.

Koh Chang, Easy Rider

2008-09-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

Arrived on the last ferry from the mainland to Koh Chang two nights ago. Took 5 hours on the bus from Bangkok to Trat (the ferry terminal). Really nice island south of the capital. We found a backpackers place in an area called lonely beach. We got huts right on the beach for 60 baht each. About a pound a night. The food here is amazing. Thai curries three times a day.
Yesterday me and Casey got bikes and drove with Jay on the back into the unknown, hoping to circumnavigate the entire island. We stopped along the way to have a look at a few waterfalls. The scenery on the cost roads was amazing.
After driving for 3 hours we realised that the road didn't in fact go right around the island, it was getting dark, a tropical storm was brewing and we were at least a 3 hour drive from where we were staying. We were running on fumes, there was nowhere to get any more petrol and the roads were partially blocked by landslides from the storm the night before.
We decided to press on, and after negotiating some of the scariest and muddiest roads and tracks I have ever been on, let alone driven a motorbike, with passenger on, we arrived at a place called tree house, long beach. Miles from anywhere full of rasta looking Thais smoking weed, whittling swords from driftwood and drumming along on their bongos to various Lee scratch Perry and Bob Marley numbers.
After a few bottles of Chang and Singer we retired to our palm roofed hut on the beach.
We woke up this morning early in order to try and return our bikes to the other side of the island.
After asking around, a Thai pointed me in the direction of a hut down the beach where I might be able to find some petrol. I started wandering down the beach with crabs scuttling out of my way on both sides.
I clambered over some dead trees towards the hut. As i did so I looked down to see a dark blue and purple snake about 2 foot long, but very skinny looking back at me. I started backing up a little and as soon as I did the snake shot for cover.
When I got to the hut the place was deserted. As I wandered around looking for any signs of life a bald headed french guy arose from his stupor in a hammock under a tree.
After explaining the situation the guy lit up another spliff to help him thing how best it could be resolved.
After hearing his plans to turn his rusty jeep, two scooters and a hut on the beach into a Paradise resort for a good 20 minutes, the gange wore off a little and he suddenly remembered why there was someone else in his island Paradise. After a further 20 minutes searching for a siphon tube he decanted me a litre of two stroke from one of his bikes and sent me on my way.
3 hours later, me and Casey arrived back at the first place we stayed on the other side of the island. Returned the bikes and asked about getting back again. The next cab is in about 18 hours so after writing this I'm off to get myself a cocktail and have a little swim, Hard life!

Chinese visas, and lack thereof

2008-09-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

So, we got up at the crack of dawn today to spend an hour and a half in a taxi across Bangkok to try and get ourselves some Chinese Visas. When we eventually got there there was a tiny sign saying that all of teh consular staff are having a day off today. Pain in the arse! It also said that until the 18th of this month everyone applying for a Chinese visa needs a return airticket and accomodation for the entirety of their stay.
Back we came across Bangkok in rush hour. We are going to head out to one of teh Islands today, probably Ko Chang. Not sure on internet access there so will do my best.

Patpong and the Tuk-Tuk Race

2008-09-13T23:57:00.000-07:00

After a day at the palace and on the river taxi's yesterday we thought that we would go for a few drinks in Pat pong. Interesting place for sure. An eclectic mix of lady boys, Brits abroad and 60 year old men with 20 year old Thai brides. After a few beers in some visually stunning local bars we decided to move on for some late night drinks elsewhere. After the usual wrangling over the price we got ourselves two Tuk-Tuks back to Ko San Road.
An impromptu race ensued between our two Tuk-Tuks with both teams jeering on our respective drivers. Having been way out ahead in our clearly superior vehicle, our guy decided that we had enough of an advantage to actually stop at some traffic light.
Jay and Mike's Tuk-Tuk came up on the inside and also stopped for the lights. It was gonna be close so both drivers were revving their engines. As the diesel fumes chocked us we eagerly awaited the green light. Adding to the race track feel was the fact that Thai traffic lights have a count-down timer.
As the lights changed and our guy let out his clutch, I looked across at the opposition just in time to see their Tuk-Tuk do a wheelie. A proper wheelie, at 45 degrees, with Mike and Jay in the back, they soured off of the line like a dragster.
Luckily what our guy lacked in style, he made up for with sheer driving skill and the mentality of an immortal. We arrived three minutes later, first and all in one piece. Certainly the best 25p I've ever spent on a cab!

Bangkok Grand Palace

2008-09-13T03:25:00.000-07:00

This morning (well, this afternoon following a Chang - over) we took the local river taxi from Prah Attich pier, just at the end of the road that we are staying on, to the Bangkok Grand palace.

Whilst waiting for the water taxi, a man in the crowd started throwing a pram containing a child wildly from side to side. As we all looked round we were just in time to see the worried father of the child, grab an orange snake that had been crawling up the side of the pram towards his son, and toss it into the river below!

Ten minutes down the river we arrived at the royal palace pier and walked the short distance to the palace.

On the way home we took our first tuk-tuk ride thus far in Thailand.

Tonight we are all off to a ping pong show, something to do with table tennis I think!

Bangkok Khao San Road

2008-09-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

Got into Bangkok at 12.30 pm yesterday, got a taxi down to the Khao San Road and met Casey in an Irish bar there. On the way in we passed rows of open backed army trucks full of soldiers and a good few hundred police sitting around smoking with their riot shields at the ready.
My taxi driver insisted on taking me on a free detour to show me "The king House" which seemed to be a large compound full of cows from what I could see from the road. As for a state of emergency, the long haired, 60 year old hippies that have been here for 30 years certainly dont seem to think anything is wrong so im gonna trust their instincts.
Met Jay at about 10.30 last night when he got in.
True what they say about budget accommodation in Thailand, we had a good few, inch long, dead cockroaches in our shower! The innovative owners had also decided to save on fancy air conditioning units by simply installing the cooler unit from a refrigerated truck on the ceiling. This unfortunately meant that the temperature settings for our room were tropical or arctic with nothing in between. But hey, what do you expect when your paying 2 pounds 50 a night!

11507 miles home, 8000 on the train

2008-08-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

The big adventure starts on September 12th. We're (Me and Jay) flying into Bangkok (As long as the airports remain open). We have a month in Thailand taking in various, yet undecided locations. From there we are getting a flight to Phenom Penn in Cambodia on the 7th October from Bangkok. Travelling up to Si em Reap and the Temples of Angkor Wot where they filmed the tomb raider films. After that we will be venturing to the Laos and Vietnam before travelling over land to Beijing to meet the trans Siberian train to take us first to Mongolia where we are booked to stay in a Ger camp and do some sightseeing. From there its onwards to Moscow for a few days of sight seeing before we fly out to Riga in Latvia to take in some Eastern European sights and sounds and then a flight out back to Stansted on about the 18th of December in time to see everyone for Christmas. Watch this space for updates as often as they are possible. Dependant of course on the reliability of Internet connections in these various places.