We took a flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok and wow, we were hit by heat and humidity the second we stepped off the plane. In fact I'm not sure that we have stopped sweating from that point until present day, and its quite funny the fact that the locals walk around in their jeans and jumpers while we're huffing and puffing with the sweatiest top lip known to man, they must think were all eskimos in Europe honestly. Bangkok was exactly how you would imagine it to be, we stayed on Khao San road, for those who have seen The Hangover 2 we have heard that it is featured in that, you can imagine what hit us, and consequently we spent way over our daily budget on pitchers and beers, when we return we really are going to have to stay somewhere else. We also managed to get up close and personal with some ladyboys, not too personal mind, just meeting on the street, but they are one of the main tourist attractions of Bangkok it would seem.
Our next stop was Chiang Mai, which we travelled to on an overnight train, saving money we opted for a fan carriage rather than an aircon, big mistake! We needed our windows down for the breeze and the noise off the train track was immense. At one point in the night I put my head out of the window, only to clock on second by second that a pack of wild dogs had congregated round the train and were looking to transmit rabies, growling at me, I shut the window and fried half to death. In Chiang Mai we embarked on a jungle trek, which was bloody hard work in the humidity, we got to ride elephants on the first day and spent the night with a hill tribe in a little wooden hut. A fantastic experience until I realised the next day I was literally covered in mosquito bites, this and the email from my travel clinic telling me my jabs that cost a total of £160 were ineffective and have had to be recalled, and to get a second jab before I go away (can you believe it, I was already halfway into tropical illness-vile!!) made me worry slightly, but I appear to be fine.
From Chiang Mai we have now joined the famous slow boat crew, cruising along the Mekhong river into Laos taking two days to get to Luang Prabang. I loved every minute, but Scott found it somewhat boring so we have a mixed review. (Scott: I didn't find it boring, I found that after the first hour the view was the same for the next six. Great for that first hour though!)...Big shout out to KC and Chris who kept us company from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, we will be stalking them round Singapore when we are there at the end of our trip! Luang Prabang was amazing, there was nothing to do but so much to do if that makes sense, chilled was an understatement! Faced with a three day bus journey into the north of Vietnam, we crunched some numbers and decided we didn't want to go through hell (the buses come equipped with sick bags, its no coincidence!) and booked a cheeky flight from Luang Prabang to Hanoi.
Hanoi, wow, what can I say apart from don't even think about crossing the road. Well we started crossing the roads with ease eventually, but the amount of traffic, particularly mopeds was past ridiculous, a massive culture shock to begin with! Our hotel price included a buffet breakfast in the sister hotel 'across the road', sounds simple and its only a matter of meters away, but dear lord, it was a death defying mission to the buffet every morning, if it wasn't so free I doubt we would have risked death, but a free fried egg on toast it would seem is enough of an incentive. In Hanoi we took a boat tour around Halong Bay, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Please google image it, imagine turquoise blue seas and green forested rocky islands. We even slept on the boat, and I have terrible sea sickness, the sea was that smooth I didn't vom once. Scott jumped off the boat for an early morning swim but this came to an abrupt end when those on deck sighted a swarm of jellyfish heading his way. No surprise he dashed to the ladder to escape!
We have since been travelling down the Vietnam coast, and are currently in a town called Hoi An. yesterday we decided to bite the bullet and travel down on motorbikes, having met a lovely guy called John who couldn't recommend it more, and gave us the email of the company he used. It was pretty nerve racking to begin with, especially as I was trying to show no fear as I climbed on, and we flew off on our first ever motorbiking experience. Wow is all I can say, the scenery was amazing and being on the bike was more enjoyable than I ever could have imagined, we stopped at places we never could of seen on the way by bus and had two lovely drivers who taught as all about Vietnam. I have decided that it was the best day of my life, Scott maintains that his sisters wedding day remains on top, but it came pretty close!
We hope all is going well at home, out air con is set on 20 degrees as a welcome break from the hot heat outside, we suspect our aircon is warmer than the temperature at home, not that we're rubbing it in or anything!!
Lots of Love
Kate and Scott xxxx
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| Easyrider Rentell |
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| An unfortunate sign in the window of the Creative Oriental Crafts Kingdom (Hanoi) |
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| Lads on Tour in Halong Bay |
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