Pai

Happy Easter everyone!

I hope you are all having a lovely Easter, with lots of chocolate treats (not jealous at all). Adam and I have spent the last few weeks in Northern Thailand, most recently in Pai.

Pai is a small town up in the North close to the border with Burma, apparently a new strain of malaria has been found there that is pretty much incurable, but we won’t get into that now! We arrived after a speedy and at times, life threatening, car journey up and around a mountain with some sheer drops, into Pai, which is one of the nicest Thai towns we’ve encountered on our travels. There is a hippy kind of theme with lots of dreadlocked hair and much to my annoyance, people thinking it’s OK to wander around with no shoes on, something that has come to bother me quite a bit. I mean, on a beach or whatever fair enough but all the time? You can’t be THAT at one with the earth, I almost want them to stand on some glass just to prove my point. Rant over. The chilled out vibe in Pai was amazing. Little stalls selling amazing hand crafted gifts to street stalls selling good food. We stayed in a really nice bungalow in a garden setting, just 5 minutes walk from the main street.

We heard there were lots of waterfalls etc to be seen, so the next day we set off on bicycle to see some natural hot springs, approximately 7KMS away. Now, you may not think 7km's is alot, i didn't particulary either as i decided to bike it. However, the 7km's was spread out over some pretty steep sloping roads, i will get to the contraindications of this shortly...On our way to the hot springs, we came across a fellow cyclist trying to locate them also, a lovely girl called Meg from Somerset. We joined forces and 10 minutes later, sweating profusely, we tried to lower ourselves into 40degrees water....uncomfortable. The springs were awesome and very relaxing, the natural minerals and heat does the skin the world of good, especially our feet which after 6 months of flip flop action it certainly helped :) There were some areas of the springs where the water rose up to 80degrees, the locals often try to boil their eggs in there, much to the annoyance of the nature reserve people (see pics). So after frolicking for a while we decided to head back to the pool near our bungalow to cool off, it was now around 1pm and 40degrees, on reflection not the best time to bike.......After a few hills, i withered into a pile on the roadside. Even though i had drunk copious amounts of water, the heat and exertion and the hot spring action had taken its toll. At one point i felt delirious, there were flashing white lights and i felt very sick, "Go on without me, leave me here" it was all quite dramatic and although Adam tried to explain that i wasn't going to indeed die, i do remember Meg waiting patiently and if not a little uncomfortably close by. She decided to go and see how far we had left, she came back 5 minutes later and claimed it was all "down hill from here" quite apt. So i managed to get back on the saddle and soldier on home. Fifteen minutes later, 2 cokes down, at the poolside I was right as rain again.

We had an excellent time in Pai, we visited a cool waterfall the next day, Adams flip flop went off the edge and he managed to retrieve it by leaning over the edge of the waterfall with a long bamboo stick, i couldn't watch and i tired to explain to Adam and Meg that if you've grown up watching 999 with Michael Burke on a friday night then you would have had reason to be nervous. The last few days in Pai we were both unfortunately ill with a bug which was pretty rubbish, but we got over that and managed to just bear the car journey back to Chiang Mai (the old woman behind us didn't bear up quite so well and was heaving into a sandwich bag for most of it).

So now we are back in our nice guesthouse and waiting for Alex Parnell to get here tomorrow! We can't wait, meeting him at the airport and getting ready to show him the Muay Thai time of his life!

Take care, amy xx

Northern Thailand pics. Enjoy

My tribute to my friend Jon

Six months ago, a great man explained to me and Amy in a way that only he can, that we have to write a blog whilst we travel. This man is a media god of Norfolk, I knew him first before I really met him getting to know his personality through his Norwich city fanzine.  In time Jon would go on to make regular appearances writing columns for the EDP and who could forget his appearance on Radio Norfolk, the man even appeared on GMTV.

I met Jon in and around Norwich Union and by his own admission I was seen as a tad annoying “Always asking about Norwich” he would say. But luckily we were able to see through my faults when I met him, Geoff and Debs out In Australia.  There is a blog of this trip if interested please follow the link:

http://agentsontour.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

The chapter called “Too much to bear” is the moment that I realized that he was the kind of man that when you’re in a conversation with Jon Day you are transfixed. The rest of the world is pale in significance. The man oozes intelligence in fact as a write this I don’t think I know any one more articulate than him.  We had a fantastic time getting to know each other and thankfully for me he saw I had a bit more depth then what he first suspected.

From this moment we would remain good friends. We had some amazing times such as a trip to Sheringham or Thetford to watch Norwich FC or going to watch a local gig. One thing we loved doing was going to get a bacon roll and a cuppa tea on Norwich Market where we were best placed to take in our beloved Norwich.  There are so many more stories that I remember fondly  but the times I will treasure the most is sitting at his home and listen to Jons views and opinions on everything. He was so engaging I always felt so lucky that I was there being entertained by Jon.  My favorite times with Jon is when we  used to tell stories and put a song to it or just play a song and explain what that song means to us. Before I knew it, it was the early hours of the morning; they say time fly’s when you’re having fun. When I was with Jon it always did. Here are a few songs that Jon picked:-

Bruce Hornsby- the way it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlRQjzltaMQ

The Cult- she sells sanctuary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAdRCUsqg-U

Jon had a thirst for Knowledge, you see most of us would read an article for example on Zimbabwe and we would say to ourselves that’s sad and then move on.  If you were Jon Day you would research more info, buy books and carry the problem on your shoulders.  The man cared so much and would often explain how “we need to do something about this world”

Jon would often describe me as one of “life’s good guys” receiving that statement from a man like Jon always fills me with Pride. In truth I worship the ground he walked on when I used to explain how inspirational he was he never understood.

As the years went on Jon went through some ups and downs and I like many I tried so support him. One time I remember was playing chess with him, he won of course but he always felt that I was doing him a favor but in truth it was the other was around, just being friends with Jon has made me a stronger person and a more worldly person. Jons love of travel you could say helped inspire this Trip reassuring me and Amy that we were going to “smash it”

 I was meant to be meeting Jon in a few weeks on my return home we had a date in the middle of Norwich market to attend to.

But this weekend just gone Jon Day passed away.

And I know the fine city of Norwich has lost one of its finest.  A word that Jon used often was impeccable, and he was. I know that he could have done his own tribute much better than I ever could and he would have made you all laugh.  I am going to miss Jon Day so much I can’t get my head around how much. I feel blessed to have had the privilege to be known as his friend.

  A story that makes me smile right now is thinking about when Jon explained to me how he helped some streets kids in India. How he was pushing a young girl on a swing and at that point in his life he said he felt peace.

Well Jon, peace has found you. You now have your well deserved Peace.

I will miss you always and you will never be forgotten

RIP Jon Day

Yax

Northern Thailand and beyond!!! nope actually just Northern Thailand

last time on the Crump Squig adventures ( enter your own dramatic music- like the final countdown by Europe)
...... we were in Chang Khong ( you can turn off your selected soundtrack)
And although it is mainly known as a border crossing it has much more to offer..... Like having a nice meal by the mekong or watching the starwars trilogy.

The highlight of our stay in Chang Khong has to be finding a amazing swimming pool which no one seemed to use a real bonus.

After 5 days we felt it was right to move on to Chang Rai. arriving at Chang ria we booked into a hideous guest house after looking at the mattress we decided to move to Baan Bua guesthouse which is run by a lovely Thai lady it was beautiful and set back from the main street. we found a nice cafe to eat and and embarked on the usually tourist stuff. One place we really enjoyed was the hill tribe museum as it not only educated you on hill tribe behaviors but also explained how tourist are ruining the culture of the hill tribes(we didnt like that part). We also found out alot about the Opium trade. We also visited  the white temple which was beautiful one of our favourite temples in asia. the art gallery next to it was also worth a look. one evening we meet some real nice people who all contribute to some good chat they were a New Zealand couple and  a Canadian lady we put the world to rights covering all areas. My favorite topic has to be the America adverts that advertise anti depressants!!

after this in truth the relaxing atmosphere of Northern Thailand consumed us( not literally) and we seemed to find ourselves reading books for most of the days i actually read a book and a half whilst i was there ( I know i was shocked to) .

before we knew it we really had to be moving on again. Chang mai was calling. We found an amazing guesthouse there which is brand new we felt we had to up our standards as a Friend named Alex Parnell is coming out to meet us we wouldn't want him getting bed bugs now would we?

so Chang Mai is a very pleasant city. One of he biggest cities but you wouldnt know it walking round is very relxing and also extremely hot. There is a wall ruins that run around the city like Norwich but not as good of course. Many temples and you can literally do anything from thai massage to Thai cooking many options that we will explore when we go back.

So today we moved on again to Pai  which was quite a journey it was short but it was long and winding round and it went up so steep also, i left me and Amy feeling ever so queer.

once again it seems that we have found an amazing log cabin to stay in for 4 pounds!!! we then got some food an had a look around at a reall cool hippy town it is so cool ( i want to say cool twice to emphasise how cool it is) it was a little bit too cool for one of the locals who had his pants down smoking a funny cigarette at 1 in the afternoon.

So thats kinda everything up to date. We are looking forward to checking out some waterfalls and hot springs but The weather here is getting to hot its going to be over 40 degrees very soon

peace and love

Adam

Up the Mekong

Hi folks

Although this blog title may sound like an innuendo, we did indeed travel up the Mekong, by slow boat from Laos to Thailand. We were unsure at first whether to take this route after hearing and reading some disconcerning stories about it being cramped, hot and taking forever BUT we decided that after taking so many buses in our travels as well as plane, train and ferries we would take this option to tick it off the list. We were also travelling with some friends we met so it was comforting to know we would all be together.
On the contrary, the slow boat was a beautiful journey. Unfortunately the night before, Adam and his bowels were playing up a bit but after stuffing him with immodium and some other stuff he was good to go. The first leg of the trip was from Luang Prabang (Laos) to Pak Beng (Laos), this took one day from around 9am-7pm. It was a long journey but the seats were comfortable and luckily the boat was only half full so we could pull the seats about to lay down and sleep. The scenery we passed was a mixture bewteen jungle, beach and spectacular rocks emerging from the water, which was smooth and calm. We often saw wild water buffalo bathing in the water, beautiful coloured birds and the odd village person coming down to wash their pots and pan or indeed themselves.
We stayed in Pak Beng for one night in a bamboo room over-looking the Mekong, it was originally around 18pounds a night but because we got there so late and the room was free, we got it for 6 pounds. This town was really sleepy and typically laos, there was no ATM and we only had enough cash for bread to eat!
The next morning we left Pak Beng for Xuay Sai, which is still Laos but on the border so that to cross over to Thailand it takes 5 minutes by a small boat. The second day was just as picturesque and we reached our destination in around 10 hours, not bad. We arrived just in time to quickly get our exit stamp from Laos, hop over the river to Chiang Khong and get our arrival stamp for Thailnad, which is where we still our now. Chiang Khong is a small town with not much going on, but we have found a nice room and a swimming pool across the road which is never used so we are staying here to recharge our batteries (and wait for money to come through) before moving on to Chiang Rai.

Amy xx

Laos photo's.