May 20, 2012 - Siem Reap

Siem Reap has been temple crazy- we are both templed out! Went early to Angkor Wat yesterday - no other tourists around, apart from a few monkeys! we had our own tour guide for Angkor Wat and learnt a lot about the hindu religion. We then went to Bayon temple, where we saw a load of elephants. It rained yesterday afternoon so chilled in cafe with a coffee Today we got up at 5 to go and see the sunrise over a lake. We got there just in time to see the sun rising above the trees. Explored 3 more temples- which were all very different and...

May 19, 2012 - Bangkok, the return part 1

Well we left the bridge over the river Kwai and although we were going to head north to a place called Chaing Mai, we had to go back to Bangkok to get the train. It was a bit weird going back there cos once you leave a place you do not really want to go back so soon. Anyway we went and as we were going to spend a day there before our train in the evening, we went to the travel agents who sorted out our accommodation in Chaing Mai and left our bags there so we didn't have to carry them around all day. We did plan to go to a temple in Bangkok...

May 17, 2012 - Bangkok done!

Its 9.15 on Thursday night. We have just got back from a lovely dinner. Off to Siem Reap tmw morning when the adventure really starts. We've had another couple days of mad Bangkok action. This place keeps on surprising you around every corner! We started yesterday by going to the Grand Palace but it was closed until lunchtime for Budist prayer. So we took a stroll to the river and managed to find ourselves on a private long boat tour along the river. We saw the real side of Bangkok including what we think was a komodo dragon, thousands of...

May 16, 2012 - Bangkok, not so seedy really

So after the first night at the hotel we thought we would try to find our way around some of the city. We had done a bit of research and there were a few things to see and do apart from look for lady boys in the late night bars. The sky train is the best way to get around, basically there are 2 lines which meet amusingly at Siam station and both go roughly east to west and north to south. They public transport is very cheap here and the stations run like clockwork and are really clean unlike the rest of Thailand which as we have said before...

May 15, 2012 - Arrived in Bangkok safe and sound

After discovering that Jet Airways was a fully Indian airline due to our spicy Indian Curry breakfast- Ollie was very happy, Laura wasnt so impressed! 4 films later and 2 more curries we arrived in Bangkok! Got the train in from the Airport (very clean and quick) then got a cheeky taxi to the Khoa San Road Temperatures today have been around 36 degrees- this made Laura's fingers swell up like sausages!!! We have already had a really busy day- done two temples, drank first bottle of Chang, and ollie was given a hat as a present from the...

May 14, 2012 - Pagodas and Palaces

Bangkok maintains its Asian flair primarily by celebrating and promoting the links to its past. The high-rises and neon lights are confined to the business district. Pagodas and royal palaces dominate the old part of the city, located along the Chao Phraya River. One finds virtually no hotels or restaurants there and even the subway and elevated train do not reach it. It is the domain of monks, the royal family and, of course, the many tourists who come to view the elaborate architecture. The monarchy is highly cherished in Thailand. The...

May 14, 2012 - Weekend in Bangkok

I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand for a short but pleasant weekend following a 50-minute flight from Phnom Penh. Culturally Thailand and Cambodia are similar, but economically there is a significant difference. Bangkok is the economic and industrial hub of Southeast Asia and has much more the feel of a large international city than does Phnom Penh. The well-developed public transportation system makes that immediately evident. There is an ultra-modern rail link between the airport and downtown, and the city also boasts an elevated train system...

May 5, 2012 - Bangkok

> Hey Family!! Well the flights were successful. Graham had a mouse jump out of his pack in our hostel this morning! I am shocked cause it is a really nice place to stay and the pools are on the top of the roof overlooking Bangkok. I am in a rush so this email is short i apologize. Having a blast here and we are just getting our visas for vietnam as we speak. We booked our treks in northern thailand doing elephant trek, water rafting etc. i cant wait this is all a dream so cool just doing whatever we want half way around the world. Anyways...

Apr 26, 2012 - IHF orphanage/Farewell Thailand

A short post before we leave Thailand.  We spent three days helping at IHF orphanage (International Humanity Foundation, where we spent a month in Kenya a few years ago).  IHF has an orphanage near Chiang Rai, three in Indonesia as well as the Nakuru one in Kenya.   Bally (British), Jim (American), Fernando (Spanish) run the Chiang Rai center which has 16 children living there.  We helped to tidy up the yard, seal two concrete tanks (one for collecting rain water from the roof, one for a fish tank), connected the spouting to the tank and...

Apr 18, 2012 - Bangkok, Venice of the East

We got up early so we could have breakfast before we set out for our long day in Bangkok. The navigator told us we were passing the islands of Ko Khram and Ko Lan and then heading into the harbor at Laem Chabang, the port city for Bangkok. From the pier, it was a little over 2 hours to the city so we sat back in our relatively comfortable bus to enjoy the scenic drive through tropical countryside, passing tapioca fields, rice paddies, coconut palms, and rural towns and villages. Every little village had a beautiful temple. As we approached...

Apr 18, 2012 - Bangkok

Bangkok April 18 to 20 Bangkok was the game of sitting around, finishing up shopping and waiting to get home. The clock sure ticked slow here. There was two last things we wanted to do in Bangkok before going home. See the floating market and the Tiger Temple. The floating market was in a channel that connected two rivers together. The town in the middle of the market connects both sides together and there's been a floating market there for 800 years. That little channel was jam packed with boats, souvenirs, food, and people. Next was the...

Apr 5, 2012 - E anche il secondo capitolo è giunto a conclusione

Vorrei dire molto, ma mi ripeterei, direi sempre le stesse cose. È che è così, cosa ci puoi fare, quando un posto ti entra nel cuore non c’è niente da fare, non puoi far altro che ripetere quanto ti piaccia. Sono arrivata qui il 3 febbraio e oggi, 5 aprile, me ne vado. Dopo 2 mesi, 6 stati, migliaia e migliaia di chilometri, di paesaggi diversissimi tra loro, di nuovi amici incontrati, di esperienze vissute, di culture conosciute, di emozioni provate, devo dire arrivederci a questo posto che mi ha fatto innamorare di lui. 2 mesi… solo 2...