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
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Monday, 19 March 2012
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
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
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Luang Prabang
I am sitting out in the garden under a palm tree gulping down my Beer Lao and feeling so at ease with the world....
to write about Luang Prabang is a pleasure but I know i will not do it justice With my writing.
Luang Prabang is rich in history culture and natural beauty. Colonial french buildings the mekong river to name a few of the sites. Renting bike for a 75p a day we cruise along with out a care in the world and without a watch to tell the time knowing that a watch is a waste of time here you eat and sleep when you like. So when visiting a shop to buy water you may have to wake up the shop assistant.
on our 1st day we bumped into Razal and Violla ( you may remember them from past blogs) we have been enjoying Luang prabang together. A place we all schedule into our day is the market a colourful bustling aray of all kinds of things made by the good people of Luang Prabang. Puppets, clothes and my personal favourite a man that turns bamboo into weapons.....
one day whilst biking around we came across an organisation called uxo( unexploded ordance programme which is a charity set up by the Government to deal with the problem of having 80 million unexploded bombs still left dotted around the country. A timely reminder of the painfull past this country has had and i fantastic example of how remarkble the people here really are for more details visit the website http://www.uxolao.org/
with the poverty across the country I have been amazed at how little we have been heckled to buy things even more the fact that i have to literally wake up the people of Laos for them to get a sale. I think its amazing that the relaxing ethos and friendly nature of the people here seems to be put first before any financial dificult they may face.
So a day in our life in Lunag Prabang goes like this we get up and me Amy Razal and Viola cycle to the art house were we have breakfast by the river to quote Amy (its the best breakfast i have ever had)
then we do a few erons like swap a book at the l'estranger book shop or watch a film maybe just take in the beautiful views. like a monks walking over the bridge to a small village. By now more than likely Razal has persuaded us that we need lunch so He gets me to try chicken rice which is fantastic apart fron the fact there is to much garlic... now it is time for a nap(I have to clean my teeth 4 times to get the garlic smell to almost disapear. Then we are off to drink red wine for the equivalnet of 75p by the glass our italy friend Viola says the wine is good and i have to agree further more we accompy this with lots of breads and play a card game called swimming. to finish our day we venture back into the market to pickup a bargain which we feel we have....... i could expain but it would be tough.
then back to bed to start the cycle again......
Luang prabang is so beautiful and I really think this is one of the best places i have ever been in the world a fantastic mix of Laos, asia and european culture and history coming together in the most relaxing enviroment and setting.We have also been in fantastic company thanks to Razal and Viola. We stayed for a week we could have stayed for a month.
tomorrow we get a boat and head up the Mekong to Thailand on a slow boat
I hope all is well in Nelsons county
Love Adam
to write about Luang Prabang is a pleasure but I know i will not do it justice With my writing.
Luang Prabang is rich in history culture and natural beauty. Colonial french buildings the mekong river to name a few of the sites. Renting bike for a 75p a day we cruise along with out a care in the world and without a watch to tell the time knowing that a watch is a waste of time here you eat and sleep when you like. So when visiting a shop to buy water you may have to wake up the shop assistant.
on our 1st day we bumped into Razal and Violla ( you may remember them from past blogs) we have been enjoying Luang prabang together. A place we all schedule into our day is the market a colourful bustling aray of all kinds of things made by the good people of Luang Prabang. Puppets, clothes and my personal favourite a man that turns bamboo into weapons.....
one day whilst biking around we came across an organisation called uxo( unexploded ordance programme which is a charity set up by the Government to deal with the problem of having 80 million unexploded bombs still left dotted around the country. A timely reminder of the painfull past this country has had and i fantastic example of how remarkble the people here really are for more details visit the website http://www.uxolao.org/
with the poverty across the country I have been amazed at how little we have been heckled to buy things even more the fact that i have to literally wake up the people of Laos for them to get a sale. I think its amazing that the relaxing ethos and friendly nature of the people here seems to be put first before any financial dificult they may face.
So a day in our life in Lunag Prabang goes like this we get up and me Amy Razal and Viola cycle to the art house were we have breakfast by the river to quote Amy (its the best breakfast i have ever had)
then we do a few erons like swap a book at the l'estranger book shop or watch a film maybe just take in the beautiful views. like a monks walking over the bridge to a small village. By now more than likely Razal has persuaded us that we need lunch so He gets me to try chicken rice which is fantastic apart fron the fact there is to much garlic... now it is time for a nap(I have to clean my teeth 4 times to get the garlic smell to almost disapear. Then we are off to drink red wine for the equivalnet of 75p by the glass our italy friend Viola says the wine is good and i have to agree further more we accompy this with lots of breads and play a card game called swimming. to finish our day we venture back into the market to pickup a bargain which we feel we have....... i could expain but it would be tough.
then back to bed to start the cycle again......
Luang prabang is so beautiful and I really think this is one of the best places i have ever been in the world a fantastic mix of Laos, asia and european culture and history coming together in the most relaxing enviroment and setting.We have also been in fantastic company thanks to Razal and Viola. We stayed for a week we could have stayed for a month.
tomorrow we get a boat and head up the Mekong to Thailand on a slow boat
I hope all is well in Nelsons county
Love Adam
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Laos!
Hello everyone
So the last week or so we have been having the Laos experience in Vientiane (capital) and currently Vang Vieng. We really enjoyed Vientiane, a very sleepy and relaxed capital, especially after Hanoi which was the complete opposite. There is no crazy traffic with constant beeping or people shouting TUK TUK every 5 secs, so if you like chilled out then this is the place! So after another experience of bed bugs.......we swiftly moved onto a guesthouse called Benacam which was amazing, if a little pricey but we felt we needed some comforts and after the long bus ride over the border.
We met up with Jordan and Rebecca (friends from home) on our 2nd night and celebrated with some vodka and checked out the night markets which were cool and adam bought a headband, its pink and yellow but it does the job. I had a bad cold but am feeling good as new now!
We left vientiane after a few days headed for vang vieng which is home of the infamous "tubing" and party. I could only imagine what it was going to be like but it has to be done when in Laos.....apparently. We found a nice guesthouse and observed as the quiet little village turns into an 18-30's holiday destination at around 6pm when everyone gets back from the river. The next day we decided to go and have some of the action ourselves, we got a tuk tuk that took us down to the river in 10mins. We then crossed a bridge and reached the first bar there. For people that havn't been before (or possibly those that visited over 10 yrs ago) the river is surrounded on either side by makeshift bamboo bars, which sounds great BUT it is absolutely MENTAL. Hardly anyone was tubing (where one inserts themselves into a rubber tube and floats down the river) stopping at bars along the way, everyone was drinking whiskey shots and getting there tuppenny bit's out. For the sober, a little bit much to take in.....so vodka and redbull buckets all round. Although it was really chavvy and cheap, drinking with friends is always fun so we had a blast, also Bec and I had a little swim in the river which was nice. After some time our friend had a bit of an accident on stage whilst competing in a dance competition alongside adam. When i say accident.....it involves falling head first off the stage, being unconscious for several minutes and subsequently going to hospital BUT all was well and dealt with and i'm sure we will look back on the time fondly and share it with our grandchildren...;-) Apart from that hiccup it was so good to see some familiar faces (not so familiar after the accident, Jord) after it being so long since we had.
Today was an awesome day in a different way, no alcohol just plain good old fashioned sober fun. Adam and I rented bicycles and biked 7km along stony dirt track (not 100% completely fun) but arriving at a natural blue lagoon lake and jumped in - very fun. Hardly and tourists just us and local kids splashing around and jumping off rope swings then drying off in the sun.
So far Laos has been very relaxed and totally different to other places, the people seem very friendly especially off the beaten track. Next we head to Luang Prabang where we will spend a few days, another UNESCO heritage site so looking forward to that. We have decided to take the slow boat along the mekong river which takes 3 days to reach northern thailand, to add a different way of traveling.
Still having the most awesome time although its slowly starting to feel like we are coming to an end with our time here. More to see and enjoy for now.
Hope everyone is well
Amy xxxxx
So the last week or so we have been having the Laos experience in Vientiane (capital) and currently Vang Vieng. We really enjoyed Vientiane, a very sleepy and relaxed capital, especially after Hanoi which was the complete opposite. There is no crazy traffic with constant beeping or people shouting TUK TUK every 5 secs, so if you like chilled out then this is the place! So after another experience of bed bugs.......we swiftly moved onto a guesthouse called Benacam which was amazing, if a little pricey but we felt we needed some comforts and after the long bus ride over the border.
We met up with Jordan and Rebecca (friends from home) on our 2nd night and celebrated with some vodka and checked out the night markets which were cool and adam bought a headband, its pink and yellow but it does the job. I had a bad cold but am feeling good as new now!
We left vientiane after a few days headed for vang vieng which is home of the infamous "tubing" and party. I could only imagine what it was going to be like but it has to be done when in Laos.....apparently. We found a nice guesthouse and observed as the quiet little village turns into an 18-30's holiday destination at around 6pm when everyone gets back from the river. The next day we decided to go and have some of the action ourselves, we got a tuk tuk that took us down to the river in 10mins. We then crossed a bridge and reached the first bar there. For people that havn't been before (or possibly those that visited over 10 yrs ago) the river is surrounded on either side by makeshift bamboo bars, which sounds great BUT it is absolutely MENTAL. Hardly anyone was tubing (where one inserts themselves into a rubber tube and floats down the river) stopping at bars along the way, everyone was drinking whiskey shots and getting there tuppenny bit's out. For the sober, a little bit much to take in.....so vodka and redbull buckets all round. Although it was really chavvy and cheap, drinking with friends is always fun so we had a blast, also Bec and I had a little swim in the river which was nice. After some time our friend had a bit of an accident on stage whilst competing in a dance competition alongside adam. When i say accident.....it involves falling head first off the stage, being unconscious for several minutes and subsequently going to hospital BUT all was well and dealt with and i'm sure we will look back on the time fondly and share it with our grandchildren...;-) Apart from that hiccup it was so good to see some familiar faces (not so familiar after the accident, Jord) after it being so long since we had.
Today was an awesome day in a different way, no alcohol just plain good old fashioned sober fun. Adam and I rented bicycles and biked 7km along stony dirt track (not 100% completely fun) but arriving at a natural blue lagoon lake and jumped in - very fun. Hardly and tourists just us and local kids splashing around and jumping off rope swings then drying off in the sun.
So far Laos has been very relaxed and totally different to other places, the people seem very friendly especially off the beaten track. Next we head to Luang Prabang where we will spend a few days, another UNESCO heritage site so looking forward to that. We have decided to take the slow boat along the mekong river which takes 3 days to reach northern thailand, to add a different way of traveling.
Still having the most awesome time although its slowly starting to feel like we are coming to an end with our time here. More to see and enjoy for now.
Hope everyone is well
Amy xxxxx
Sunday, 4 March 2012
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