So it has been pointed out by a few people now that we have been a bit lazy with our blog writing, as it is raining here I have decided to update as much as possible to fill you all in with our oz adventures. Arriving in Brisbane on the 5th December we were greeted with rain which we trekked through, as for some reason we decided to ignore the advice of the train lady as to where our hostel was! We soon settled in our room and were excited to meet our new roomies...who did their best to make us feel UNwelcome by pretty much ignoring us even when we tried to make conversation - not the welcoming we were expected. Anyways we were looking forward to exploring Brisbane, but the rain seemed to have different ideas making us hostel bound for awhile. At this point Lou and I were getting a tad depressed and both got teary to our mums via skype (sorry mums) as oz wasn't what we expected (it was cold and rainy people!) In the end we cheered ourselves up by booking a tour to the center. We did spend some of our time wandering around seeing the sights but to be honest our hearts weren't really in it. One highlight though was ladies night at our hostel which included free cocktails, strippers and men dressed in dresses - a funny night that lifted our spirits for a while. All in all Brisbane was not the place for us, maybe in summery climates we might of liked it a tad more but who knows!
We flew out of Brisbane to Alice Springs and the sunshine with 40 degree heat and immediately our mood perked up! Alice is an odd little place with a town that you can explore in 10 minutes, we however felt the need to hire bikes to cycle along the 'river' and when we saw there was a tandem we thought why not! We took the tandem for a practise ride around the hostel car bike (unknown to us being watched and laughed at by the aussies!) but Lou hated it at the front of the bike so we swapped around with her at the back, this was worse though as in her words 'I don't like looking at your back and with you in control of the brakes and steering.' So after faffing some more we got our own bike each and proceeded to cycle along the river path. Now I know I said river but after about 10minutes we realised this was a loose term for a river that once ran through the town and has now been dried up for ages - so not really alot to see. Also hiring bikes in 40degree heat has not been our wisest decision as we both couldn't cope and had to stop alot to drink water. All in all a funny trip out but not alot seen or done!
The next day we went on a day trip out with two aussie guys we had met a the hostel (Lou had agreed to this trip when I was in bed - they seemed normal enough...) We drove to Tephina Gorge but on the way we had to abandon the car as the rivers had flooded, so we waded through and continued the drive on foot. Along the way we met some locals who had their caravan stuck in one of the many rivers, so the guys helped to dig them out whilst Lou and I took pictures and tried not to talk about horror movies. We continued our walk and then came across another man stuck so we all had to give him a push start. Finally we reached the gorge trail and began our hike. Once at the top we could see the amazing views and had our picnic lunch overlooking the gorge which was spectacular. We survived our day trip out and yet again done something we didn't think we would of done on our own.
We were picked up for the tour in the wee hours of the morning and begun the next part of the journey from Alice to Adelaide...
Going to be writing the next part very soon, but need to go and get Lou's diary as I have sort of stopped doing mine and my memory is not that great.
Lots of love
Steph and Lou x x x
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Sunday, 19 December 2010
Sing a Paw 'we love this city'
Erm, so yep you guessed it, it is time for a little update (prompted by Lucy!) Our last stop in South East Asia was to Singapore. After our other adventures to cities we both were a little dubious as we were not loving them, but with open minds we stepped off our bus into Little India (cheap cheap!) We ended up having to stay in a different hostel to Emma and Lorna as they were too darn organised and booked ahead - unlike us. But once settled we soon met up to sit in our bar and watch the rain pour down for a good couple of hours. The afternoon was whiled away drinking lemonade and eating silly amounts of chocolate! Emma finally motivated us to actually go and explore, so with our rain macs on we ventured out.
We got the train through to Clarke Quay where we all got silly excited at the pretty coloured buildings and rainbow bridges. We spent our time wandering up and down trying to take good photos in the dark and rain! We then mosied along to see the Christmas lights and ooed and ahhed for a while. It was an early night for us as the travelling had taken it out of us! So we headed back to our giant dorm for a much needed sleep.
The next day Lou and I decided to go on a ducktours thingy to see the city in a different way, so after a stop to Hooters to buy t-shirts we headed to the dock. We boarded our boat to take us to the meeting point for the tour, where we sat back and soaked up the sun whilst listening to a commentary about the buildings perched on the harbour. It wasn't until lou pointed out that we were heading back to the same dock that we realised we got on the wrong boat! Eventually we managed to get the boat to the right place, but we had missed our slot for the tour - luckily they booked us on to a later one phew! Whilst waiting we went on the Singapore flyer (just like the London eye but a tad taller) We listened to the commentary about the feng shui of the buildings and took in the breath taking views. By the time we finished on the flyer we realised that yet again we had missed our time slot for our tour oops! Again the very kind guy booked us on the next one. To be sure we didn't miss it again we ended up sitting in the duck tours shop for a good half hour!
The tour was fun, but by this time we had seen a lot of the city already and it had started to rain. We did enjoy going from the land to water and screamed suitably at this point. Oh also in the harbour there were loads of white floating beach balls with messages on ready for NYE, both Lou and I wrote our own wishes for the coming year and added ours to the hundred already floating ready for the light show. So if you see Singapore bringing in the new year keep your eyes peeled for our messages...
That evening we headed out again to Clark Quay as it was our final night with Emma and Lorna before we parted ways for the last time. Also I was trying to arrange with Andy and his friends (who were over to do the marathon!) to met up for a drink or two - this was some what hard as we didn't have a phone and it wasn't looking hopeful. After a few drinks in some random themed bars we ended up bumping into Andy and the other Brunei lads and ending up going clubbing till the wee hours - pretty impressive for guys who were meant to be running the marathon that weekend! It was a fun farewell and a great greeting that topped our time in Singapore of nicely!
The following day I went back into town to say bye to Andy, who just happened to be staying in the swishest hotel in town (the one with the boat on!) and then Lou and I prepared for our 8hour flight to Oz. We also gained our first cringy 'dorm sex story' with a couple on the bottom bunk not much caring for the other 8 people sleeping in the room! Again not really a story to be told on here, but a funny one that I'm sure will continue to make us girls giggle!
We hugged Emma and Lorna goodbye for about the millionth time and headed to the airport in plenty of time ready to start the oz adventure. We both loved Singapore and were pleased to end our South East Asia section on a high! It has been a crazy couple of months filled with experiences that we never even dreamt of, and hope that we continue the journey in the same way (minus the stolen phone, Lou hurting her back and tag along urchin)
Lots of love to you all, especially to Lora and Matt on their special day and Katie and Rob celebrating a year of marital bliss!!
Steph and Lou x x x
We got the train through to Clarke Quay where we all got silly excited at the pretty coloured buildings and rainbow bridges. We spent our time wandering up and down trying to take good photos in the dark and rain! We then mosied along to see the Christmas lights and ooed and ahhed for a while. It was an early night for us as the travelling had taken it out of us! So we headed back to our giant dorm for a much needed sleep.
The next day Lou and I decided to go on a ducktours thingy to see the city in a different way, so after a stop to Hooters to buy t-shirts we headed to the dock. We boarded our boat to take us to the meeting point for the tour, where we sat back and soaked up the sun whilst listening to a commentary about the buildings perched on the harbour. It wasn't until lou pointed out that we were heading back to the same dock that we realised we got on the wrong boat! Eventually we managed to get the boat to the right place, but we had missed our slot for the tour - luckily they booked us on to a later one phew! Whilst waiting we went on the Singapore flyer (just like the London eye but a tad taller) We listened to the commentary about the feng shui of the buildings and took in the breath taking views. By the time we finished on the flyer we realised that yet again we had missed our time slot for our tour oops! Again the very kind guy booked us on the next one. To be sure we didn't miss it again we ended up sitting in the duck tours shop for a good half hour!
The tour was fun, but by this time we had seen a lot of the city already and it had started to rain. We did enjoy going from the land to water and screamed suitably at this point. Oh also in the harbour there were loads of white floating beach balls with messages on ready for NYE, both Lou and I wrote our own wishes for the coming year and added ours to the hundred already floating ready for the light show. So if you see Singapore bringing in the new year keep your eyes peeled for our messages...
That evening we headed out again to Clark Quay as it was our final night with Emma and Lorna before we parted ways for the last time. Also I was trying to arrange with Andy and his friends (who were over to do the marathon!) to met up for a drink or two - this was some what hard as we didn't have a phone and it wasn't looking hopeful. After a few drinks in some random themed bars we ended up bumping into Andy and the other Brunei lads and ending up going clubbing till the wee hours - pretty impressive for guys who were meant to be running the marathon that weekend! It was a fun farewell and a great greeting that topped our time in Singapore of nicely!
The following day I went back into town to say bye to Andy, who just happened to be staying in the swishest hotel in town (the one with the boat on!) and then Lou and I prepared for our 8hour flight to Oz. We also gained our first cringy 'dorm sex story' with a couple on the bottom bunk not much caring for the other 8 people sleeping in the room! Again not really a story to be told on here, but a funny one that I'm sure will continue to make us girls giggle!
We hugged Emma and Lorna goodbye for about the millionth time and headed to the airport in plenty of time ready to start the oz adventure. We both loved Singapore and were pleased to end our South East Asia section on a high! It has been a crazy couple of months filled with experiences that we never even dreamt of, and hope that we continue the journey in the same way (minus the stolen phone, Lou hurting her back and tag along urchin)
Lots of love to you all, especially to Lora and Matt on their special day and Katie and Rob celebrating a year of marital bliss!!
Steph and Lou x x x
Monday, 6 December 2010
Malaysia, the sequel
So picking up from yesterday... the slump that was Penang was soon dug out of by an amazing couple of days in Cameron Highlands. We took another long(ish) bus journey inland and upwards to the highlands and arrived early evening. After sorting out our accomodation we realised that we were sharing a squat loo, (please bare in mind I have only used one of these toilets once the whole time out here) In the end it wasn't actually that bad and I wondered why I had been making a fuss for so long! Lou was right at home as nothing could be worse than THAT toilet at some border... That night we stayed in and watched movies at the hostel. I finally managed to see eclipse, though we were mocked from the start the tv room soon filled up and a debate of team edward/jacob begun. On a side note, just because I have seen it does not mean you get out of watching the movies with me Sean!
Anyways, the next day we signed up for a tour. We were a bit miffed that we were the only ones on our tour, but soon realised this was a good thing as we had our own private tour guide! We started of by visiting the 'BOH' tea plantations which were crazy as they had to pick the leaves whilst standing on hillsides. We went around the factory (slight yawn) and then had some tea. I fell in love with a lemon & lime iced tea whilst Lou had gold blend mmmmm yummy. We then went to the highest point of the highlands and climbed this metal tower - I was slightly wary at this point mainly due to Lou being clumsy, but we both managed to climb up and down without injury (although lou did fall out of the jeep at one point)
We then went for a trek in the jungly/forest which was amazing! Climbing over trees, down mud slide paths and along muddy tracks with sheer drops. At one point I was hanging on to two trees but my trousers got caught so I couldn't move, the guide was too far down to help so Lou had to scrabble down to free me. My height for once was a good thing in Asia as I found the giant steps we had to take a little easier than poor Lou. At one point me and the guide were a bit ahead and Lou was stuck up this moundy thing. Our guide had to hold onto both her hands, whilst I was encouraging her to jump down (I didn't have to jump so it was easy for me to say!) I think our guide liked this as he from then on kept on holding his hand out for us both. We finally realised that sliding about on our bottoms was an easier if some what unorthodox trekking method. Our guide found this funny and took great delight in taking a photo of our muddy bottoms muttering 'best photo ever' as he took it!
We then went to a butterfly farm and Lou enjoyed butterflies landing on her and taking photos to make Lorna and Emma jealous! I on the other hand didn't really enjoy it and was a little scared of them. We saw lots of creepy crawlies and to my delight and Lous dismay they were all safely locked away. After the butterfly farm we went to an aborigonal village to try blow pipe hunting. Basically you blow into a bamboo pipe at a stuffed teddy!! We both managed to get the target first time...and then missed every other one afterwards. The final part of our day was spent at a waterfalls - again this meant us being led through the jungle over rocks and streams, but by this time we were pros (meaning we knew to hold our guides hand!!) and took in the breathtaking waterfall. An amazing day that we still are grinning about now weeks later.
After Cameron Highlands we headed downwards to KL, here we stayed in chinatown and had a pretty chilled out day of wandering the streets taking it all in. The evening we went for a couple of drinks and cheap food! The next day we spent exploring the city further, I spotted on the map a craft fair where you could see artists at work which Lou was intereasted in. So after walking around in the rain (me limping because of my foot!!) we finally arrived at the 'craft fair' It was very bizzare as there was no one around and there was no fair or artists. I slight disapointment you may say. That evening we went to the twin towers as we wanted to see them at night, they looked amazing lit up and we tried our hand at taking some different photos there. Oh we also rode the monorail alot - with me singing 'monorail' from the simpsons and Lou exclaiming 'this is amazing' everytime we went on it - Proper Tourists!
Our next destination was to the sleepy town of Melakka which comes alive at the weekend. Unfortuatly we were there mid week so didn't get to experince the night markets. We met up with Jenny and Hannah (who we met in langkawi) and then with Lorna and Emma the following night for a few quiet drinks. During the day we saw parts of the town, but this was by default as we ambled alonged to be pampered at the spa. It was so cheap so we decided to treat ourselves before Oz and the big expense that is. So we basically spent the whole day be looked after and de-grotty-fied for less than a tenner :) So Malakka was our last stop in Malaysia. We both had mixed feelings about the country as we had equal amount of amazing memories and places we would rather forget! But yet again, now reflecting back on it we were both glad we went to the places we went to - even if we only take away the thought of knowing we would never return! Plus we are both proud that we survived the rest of malaysia injury free (and more importantly less of a worry for our parents!)
Love and Kisses (annie how many days till xmas??)
Steph and Lou x x x
Anyways, the next day we signed up for a tour. We were a bit miffed that we were the only ones on our tour, but soon realised this was a good thing as we had our own private tour guide! We started of by visiting the 'BOH' tea plantations which were crazy as they had to pick the leaves whilst standing on hillsides. We went around the factory (slight yawn) and then had some tea. I fell in love with a lemon & lime iced tea whilst Lou had gold blend mmmmm yummy. We then went to the highest point of the highlands and climbed this metal tower - I was slightly wary at this point mainly due to Lou being clumsy, but we both managed to climb up and down without injury (although lou did fall out of the jeep at one point)
We then went for a trek in the jungly/forest which was amazing! Climbing over trees, down mud slide paths and along muddy tracks with sheer drops. At one point I was hanging on to two trees but my trousers got caught so I couldn't move, the guide was too far down to help so Lou had to scrabble down to free me. My height for once was a good thing in Asia as I found the giant steps we had to take a little easier than poor Lou. At one point me and the guide were a bit ahead and Lou was stuck up this moundy thing. Our guide had to hold onto both her hands, whilst I was encouraging her to jump down (I didn't have to jump so it was easy for me to say!) I think our guide liked this as he from then on kept on holding his hand out for us both. We finally realised that sliding about on our bottoms was an easier if some what unorthodox trekking method. Our guide found this funny and took great delight in taking a photo of our muddy bottoms muttering 'best photo ever' as he took it!
We then went to a butterfly farm and Lou enjoyed butterflies landing on her and taking photos to make Lorna and Emma jealous! I on the other hand didn't really enjoy it and was a little scared of them. We saw lots of creepy crawlies and to my delight and Lous dismay they were all safely locked away. After the butterfly farm we went to an aborigonal village to try blow pipe hunting. Basically you blow into a bamboo pipe at a stuffed teddy!! We both managed to get the target first time...and then missed every other one afterwards. The final part of our day was spent at a waterfalls - again this meant us being led through the jungle over rocks and streams, but by this time we were pros (meaning we knew to hold our guides hand!!) and took in the breathtaking waterfall. An amazing day that we still are grinning about now weeks later.
After Cameron Highlands we headed downwards to KL, here we stayed in chinatown and had a pretty chilled out day of wandering the streets taking it all in. The evening we went for a couple of drinks and cheap food! The next day we spent exploring the city further, I spotted on the map a craft fair where you could see artists at work which Lou was intereasted in. So after walking around in the rain (me limping because of my foot!!) we finally arrived at the 'craft fair' It was very bizzare as there was no one around and there was no fair or artists. I slight disapointment you may say. That evening we went to the twin towers as we wanted to see them at night, they looked amazing lit up and we tried our hand at taking some different photos there. Oh we also rode the monorail alot - with me singing 'monorail' from the simpsons and Lou exclaiming 'this is amazing' everytime we went on it - Proper Tourists!
Our next destination was to the sleepy town of Melakka which comes alive at the weekend. Unfortuatly we were there mid week so didn't get to experince the night markets. We met up with Jenny and Hannah (who we met in langkawi) and then with Lorna and Emma the following night for a few quiet drinks. During the day we saw parts of the town, but this was by default as we ambled alonged to be pampered at the spa. It was so cheap so we decided to treat ourselves before Oz and the big expense that is. So we basically spent the whole day be looked after and de-grotty-fied for less than a tenner :) So Malakka was our last stop in Malaysia. We both had mixed feelings about the country as we had equal amount of amazing memories and places we would rather forget! But yet again, now reflecting back on it we were both glad we went to the places we went to - even if we only take away the thought of knowing we would never return! Plus we are both proud that we survived the rest of malaysia injury free (and more importantly less of a worry for our parents!)
Love and Kisses (annie how many days till xmas??)
Steph and Lou x x x
Malaysia Part 1
Yes I know it has been a while but we have been busy bees and now have a few days of nothingness so I thought I would update y'all on our Malaysian part of the journey. So we arrived safely over the border onto an island called Langkawi where for the first night we stayed in the worst accommodation to date - it was dingy, dirty and smelly (couldn't think of another d word!) and the door didn't lock properly. Having already paid a deposit we couldn't leave but did insist on changing to a room which we could actually lock!
After our first night terror (I had weird dreams about girls screaming...) we moved on to a nicer guesthouse. Though this was only a little step up as we had some cockroaches visit us. I tried to be all brave and capture on that was squirming around on its back, but when I looked up I saw a massive one on the wall. Screaming I informed Lou that actually I couldn't make the bathroom cockroach free! Our solution was to leave the door open so we could run out if one tried to attack us (yeah I know a tad dramatic!)
So the next couple of days we appreciated the white sand beaches and cooling off in the clear(ish) water, unaware of the jellyfish bobbing alongside us. We found this chilled out reggae bar called Babylon on the beach that played live music and spent many a night sipping a chang and chatting to other backpackers. We met two guys who told us about this amazing Indian restaurant that was open 24hours, so after one particular night out partying to the wee hours we tried some of the food and fell in love with the place, visiting it for cheap curries at 4 in the morning!
One of the days we decided to do an island tour, we saw the hill(mountain?) that looked like a pregnant lady had fallen over, went to a national park that was over run with monkeys which tried to attack us! We also stopped at a fresh water lake which we could swim in, which was pretty amazing. On the way back to Langkawi we stopped at an island called Beras Basah - a postcard beach! We had an amazing time in Langkawi with the locals and other backpackers being really friendly and welcoming but decided to head back to Thailand for a few days to an island recommended by Emma's boyfriend.
Hopping back over to Thailand to Koh Lipe was an adventure in itself - we managed to get the front seats of the open top ferry and could not believe our eyes as the water and sky looked the same colour, it was kinda magical! To say we were a tad excited when we 'landed' in Koh Lipe is an understatment, the water was so clear and the white sand beach was littered with wooded beach huts. That night we watched a lighting and thunderstorm from our balcony which I loved (lou was a little bit scared!) We spent the next couple of days soaking up the sun and generally chilling out in paradise.
On the third day we decided to go another beach on the island called Sunset beach, surprisingly named as you could watch the sunset there. So after a 30min walk around the unmarked dirt tracks we stumbled onto our new beach, which only had 4 other people on! Laying in the sun for about 10mins I spotted some rocks in the middle of the sea/lagoon thingy and decided to go for a swim out to them. Leaving lou on the beach and her warning of 'be safe' ringing in my ears I started to swim out. Having just read the book the beach the thought of sharks did cross my mind, but I soon relaxed and enjoyed the swim. I climbed up onto the rocks and waved to Lou wondering if she could see me and more importantly of course take a photo - not seeing if she had I stood there for a while. I decided to get down and swim back and that is when my foot slipped in between two rocks. I felt a sharp pain in my foot and fell forward into the water, looking at my foot I had loads of spikes sticking out of it! I started to panic as I was unsure of what I had stepped on and started to swim back to the beach. My foot felt numb, but now I think I was just in shock a little, and found it quite hard to swim back. Yet again I'm grateful for all those years swimming!! When I got nearer the beach I started to shout at Lou, which of course panicked her - I shouted to get help but she didn't want to leave me alone swimming back.
Eventually I got back onto the beach where a local boat man was, he quickly told me I had stepped on a sea urchin and that it wasn't poisonous phewww. Lou went on a hunt for some tweezers to try and get them out but couldn't find any. A very kind German couple tried to get some of the spikes out with a pen knife (at this point we didn't know not to do this!) but eventually we decided to go to the medical center which was on another part of the island, so a boat trip was in order. Once at the medical center and I had calmed down a little the doctor cleaned my foot and said I had protein in my foot and they have to work their own way out. We were instructed to keep the foot clean and wait it out. Now I don't want to be too girly and gushy here but part of the reason why I wanted to do this part of the blog was to say how much I appreciated Lou's help. She held my hand, sat on the floor of a wooden motorbike thingy, cleaned my foot for me as I was too much of a woss and looked after me when I wanted my mum the most! Yes looking back it is not that bad and loads of people get urchin spikes stuck in them, but at the time it was scary and painful and she really looked after me - so thank you!
We spent another couple of days in Koh Lipe before getting the ferry back to Langkawi where we met up with Emma and Lorna again. We had a few days with them on the beach and partying at Babylon and Samba, where one particular night we managed to stay out till sunrise! From Langkawi we then travelled over to another island called Penang. We went with a guy called Kristopher who we met at our hostel. We spent the first night in a hostel called Love Lane Inn and shared a 3 bed room with him, this was our first time sharing with someone else and did feel a little odd - but it was something we had to get use to. Up till now we have been kinda spoilt as it has been just as cheap for us to have our own room rather than a dorm! We moved the next night to a nicer hostel with a larger dorm.
During the day we were a little stuck on what to do as we didn't really want to walk around Georgetown, so we ended up shopping a little and going to the cinema twice (saw Unstoppable and HP7!) We went to Red Garden for food as Penang is meant to have the most amazing food, both me and Lou couldn't really see the major fuss but I suppose we all have a different definition of 'amazing food.' Again we met up with Lorna and Emma and bid a farewell to Kristopher who was heading to Thailand. From Georgetown we decided to go the beach at Batu Feringgi by this time we were both feeling a little sorry for ourselves as Penang wasn't really what we thought it was - so we ended up going to the Hard Rock Cafe that night! We did feel a little guilty spending 10 pound on food rather than only 1, but we needed something to smile about!! We spent the next couple of days avoiding the horses on the beach and generally just lazying around. Our next stop was inland to Cameron Highlands... we both hoped that we would enjoy it more than Penang!
Well that is part one of the two parter...stay tuned for Malaysia the sequel, coming very soon to a computer near you.
Love to you all
Steph and Lou x x x
After our first night terror (I had weird dreams about girls screaming...) we moved on to a nicer guesthouse. Though this was only a little step up as we had some cockroaches visit us. I tried to be all brave and capture on that was squirming around on its back, but when I looked up I saw a massive one on the wall. Screaming I informed Lou that actually I couldn't make the bathroom cockroach free! Our solution was to leave the door open so we could run out if one tried to attack us (yeah I know a tad dramatic!)
So the next couple of days we appreciated the white sand beaches and cooling off in the clear(ish) water, unaware of the jellyfish bobbing alongside us. We found this chilled out reggae bar called Babylon on the beach that played live music and spent many a night sipping a chang and chatting to other backpackers. We met two guys who told us about this amazing Indian restaurant that was open 24hours, so after one particular night out partying to the wee hours we tried some of the food and fell in love with the place, visiting it for cheap curries at 4 in the morning!
One of the days we decided to do an island tour, we saw the hill(mountain?) that looked like a pregnant lady had fallen over, went to a national park that was over run with monkeys which tried to attack us! We also stopped at a fresh water lake which we could swim in, which was pretty amazing. On the way back to Langkawi we stopped at an island called Beras Basah - a postcard beach! We had an amazing time in Langkawi with the locals and other backpackers being really friendly and welcoming but decided to head back to Thailand for a few days to an island recommended by Emma's boyfriend.
Hopping back over to Thailand to Koh Lipe was an adventure in itself - we managed to get the front seats of the open top ferry and could not believe our eyes as the water and sky looked the same colour, it was kinda magical! To say we were a tad excited when we 'landed' in Koh Lipe is an understatment, the water was so clear and the white sand beach was littered with wooded beach huts. That night we watched a lighting and thunderstorm from our balcony which I loved (lou was a little bit scared!) We spent the next couple of days soaking up the sun and generally chilling out in paradise.
On the third day we decided to go another beach on the island called Sunset beach, surprisingly named as you could watch the sunset there. So after a 30min walk around the unmarked dirt tracks we stumbled onto our new beach, which only had 4 other people on! Laying in the sun for about 10mins I spotted some rocks in the middle of the sea/lagoon thingy and decided to go for a swim out to them. Leaving lou on the beach and her warning of 'be safe' ringing in my ears I started to swim out. Having just read the book the beach the thought of sharks did cross my mind, but I soon relaxed and enjoyed the swim. I climbed up onto the rocks and waved to Lou wondering if she could see me and more importantly of course take a photo - not seeing if she had I stood there for a while. I decided to get down and swim back and that is when my foot slipped in between two rocks. I felt a sharp pain in my foot and fell forward into the water, looking at my foot I had loads of spikes sticking out of it! I started to panic as I was unsure of what I had stepped on and started to swim back to the beach. My foot felt numb, but now I think I was just in shock a little, and found it quite hard to swim back. Yet again I'm grateful for all those years swimming!! When I got nearer the beach I started to shout at Lou, which of course panicked her - I shouted to get help but she didn't want to leave me alone swimming back.
Eventually I got back onto the beach where a local boat man was, he quickly told me I had stepped on a sea urchin and that it wasn't poisonous phewww. Lou went on a hunt for some tweezers to try and get them out but couldn't find any. A very kind German couple tried to get some of the spikes out with a pen knife (at this point we didn't know not to do this!) but eventually we decided to go to the medical center which was on another part of the island, so a boat trip was in order. Once at the medical center and I had calmed down a little the doctor cleaned my foot and said I had protein in my foot and they have to work their own way out. We were instructed to keep the foot clean and wait it out. Now I don't want to be too girly and gushy here but part of the reason why I wanted to do this part of the blog was to say how much I appreciated Lou's help. She held my hand, sat on the floor of a wooden motorbike thingy, cleaned my foot for me as I was too much of a woss and looked after me when I wanted my mum the most! Yes looking back it is not that bad and loads of people get urchin spikes stuck in them, but at the time it was scary and painful and she really looked after me - so thank you!
We spent another couple of days in Koh Lipe before getting the ferry back to Langkawi where we met up with Emma and Lorna again. We had a few days with them on the beach and partying at Babylon and Samba, where one particular night we managed to stay out till sunrise! From Langkawi we then travelled over to another island called Penang. We went with a guy called Kristopher who we met at our hostel. We spent the first night in a hostel called Love Lane Inn and shared a 3 bed room with him, this was our first time sharing with someone else and did feel a little odd - but it was something we had to get use to. Up till now we have been kinda spoilt as it has been just as cheap for us to have our own room rather than a dorm! We moved the next night to a nicer hostel with a larger dorm.
During the day we were a little stuck on what to do as we didn't really want to walk around Georgetown, so we ended up shopping a little and going to the cinema twice (saw Unstoppable and HP7!) We went to Red Garden for food as Penang is meant to have the most amazing food, both me and Lou couldn't really see the major fuss but I suppose we all have a different definition of 'amazing food.' Again we met up with Lorna and Emma and bid a farewell to Kristopher who was heading to Thailand. From Georgetown we decided to go the beach at Batu Feringgi by this time we were both feeling a little sorry for ourselves as Penang wasn't really what we thought it was - so we ended up going to the Hard Rock Cafe that night! We did feel a little guilty spending 10 pound on food rather than only 1, but we needed something to smile about!! We spent the next couple of days avoiding the horses on the beach and generally just lazying around. Our next stop was inland to Cameron Highlands... we both hoped that we would enjoy it more than Penang!
Well that is part one of the two parter...stay tuned for Malaysia the sequel, coming very soon to a computer near you.
Love to you all
Steph and Lou x x x
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Can't believe I forgot to mention this...
So I missed a major 'cultural' experience from the last blog entry. My only justification is that I'm trying to wipe it from my memory. Whilst in Patong we decided to go and see a ping pong show - what proceeded can not really be described in words, and certainly not for parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents to read about! It involved ping pongs, razors, fish, a bird, flowers and darts and a balloon - I'll let you imagine the rest! All I can say is that I felt sick throughout the whole show and Lou got the giggles (a reoccurring pattern for the way we deal with different situations!) The show was one of those things that I'm glad we went to but would never ever again want to go back! Anyways on a funnier note (sort of for me, not Lou) I also forgot to update you on the clumsiness of Lou. Whilst at a toilet break on our way to Satun she slipped over, again, on her back - ah poor Lou I hear you say, will she ever learn? Apparently not as on her way back from the toilet she slipped again, in exactly the same place, much to the amusement of the local men! I'm still trying to come up with a way to stop her falling over - any suggestions are more than welcome.
Much love
Steph and Lou x x x
Much love
Steph and Lou x x x
Friday, 12 November 2010
Morninnnnng Thailand
So I am sitting in an Internet booth whilst the sun is shining outside, this is because I got over excited yesterday and may of over done it a tad yesterday. So I'm letting my body rest a little! Im going to pick up where Lou left off with Northern Thailand.
After our epic boat journey to get to the Thai border we were all relieved to cross easily back into Thailand. Our journey was broken up by a visit to a temple, by this time the whole group were a little templed out as we had seen alot in the past month. This one was different though, it was the white temple that is still being completed. From the outside the temple glistened and had goblin/devil masks hanging with signs saying no smoking/drinking. Inside the artist was working on the interior painting which was really interesting to look at. It showed the 'sins' of the world and how to reach enlightenment. Some of the sins shown were pictures of superheroes, clothes and shoes. It is interesting to see other religions take on right and wrong, though I don't really understand how converse trainers are bad - but each to their own I suppose!
We stopped off in the evening and had a quiet night as we were preparing for another journey to Chang Mi. The next morning after a few hours on another bus (I am never ever going to moan about the length of a journey ever again!) we arrived in Chang Mi. Now forgive me for being a little excited but the first stop was to Subway for a sandwich - much appreciated after days of rice and noodles. We didn't have long in Chang Mi, so we did what we do best - got pampered. My hair was looking very rugged after a month of neglect so I decided to get a wash and hair cut. Yes this seems quite normal, but having your hair cut by a lady who doesn't speak any English and communicate with hand signals was a little nerve wracking. Luckily it looks alright and for less than a fiver I can't really complain. Lou decided to have a massage as she was still in pain from her previous tumble in the shower. On a side note this is one thing new I have learnt about Lou so far - she falls over ALOT! Yes I knew she was clumsy, but seriously she should be wrapped in cotton wall!
Anyways in Chang Mi we said goodbye to Alex and Jennie, as they left the tour to explore a little more and so we were down to 6. That night we took another sleeper train to Bangkok. This train was a little different from the others with fold down beds and lights left on all night. Most the evening was spent on 'cockroach' watch - which basically consisted of us seeing a bug and getting Kerrie to whack it with her flip flop! After being made to go to bed at about 8ish I wasn't holding much hope for a good nights sleep, yet we all must of been tired as there wasn't a peep until the rather loud train conductor man walked up and down shouting 'mooorrrning' (Lou does an amazing impression!)
Well we were back in Bangkok the starting place of our adventure, we spent the rest of the day shopping, getting lost in tuk tuks and doing washing. We had a final meal as a group and then decided to hit Khao San road as it was Halloween and their was a street party. Getting into the spirit of things myself, lou, Lorna and Kerrie all got our face painted. I did have some vampire teeth (Becky gotta love a bit of twilight!) but couldn't seem to drink with them in so they were soon redundant in the bottom of my bag. The night was spent dancing and drinking into the wee hours - a great last night to the tour.
So now officially we were left to our own devices. We took a flight down to Krabi with Lorna and Emma, and decided to stay in Ao Nang as it had good links to other islands etc. When we arrived it was absolutely tipping it down which put a dampner on our spirits, this only got worse as we began to read reports of 'severe weather warnings' over most of Thailand. Being typical British we decided a little rain couldn't hurt so stayed put. We were rewarded with our stubbornness by the next couple of days being boiling hot, which resulted in lots of chillaxing on the beach and dipping into the sea. One particular evening whilst having dinner we spotted alot of lady boys going down a side street, so we decided to investigate... we found the street was full of bars and spent the evening playing crazy jenga and pool. Curiosity did not kill the cat then! We also bumped into some guys from St Albans, which was strange as we are thousands of miles from home yet we still bonded over having a drink in the Slug and Lettuce!
We took a day tour to Phi Phi island which was so beautiful with its clear water and white sanded beaches, again we had another moment of 'wow' as we bumped into Romi and her boyfriend who were also visiting Phi Phi! I suppose it is a small world after all. We reluctantly boarded the ferry to head back to Ao Nang, all wishing we stayed a little longer to explore Phi Phi some more. I suppose we will just have to come back to it one day :)
The next day we decided to head to Koh Lanta, another epic bus/ferry journey later we arrived on the rather odd island. Having no idea where to go we befriended a girl called Bea who was stranded from her friends. She took us to some beach huts which had only been open 5weeks. Compared to Ao Nang, Koh Lanta was so peaceful, we literally slept with the sea at our door which I loved. I think we have grown as travellers as both me and Lou spotted cockroaches in our 'bathroom' and didn't scream. Due to it being low season we were literally the only people there, with no activities so we decided to head somewhere a little more busy which led us to another bus journey but this time to Patong, Phuket.
We arrived quite late in patong and finally managed to find somewhere for all four of us to stay - it was a little dingy with no windows, but at least it was clean! Both Lou and myself couldn't sleep so we left Emma and Lorna to catch up on their beauty sleep and went exploring. We randomly bumped into the guys we met in Ao Nang who persuaded us to go back get showers and get dressed for a night out - no need to ask us twice! We then proceeded to spend the night in various bars including a rock metal one! We finally called it a night, but when leaving the club it was light outside - some how we managed to stay out dancing till 7am!! On a side note my mother seemed a little concerned that all we seem to do is go out dancing and drinking. I promise this is not the case, there is just more to say and take photos of when out rather than 'and we sat on the beach...again'
Anyways getting back to the update... Lorna and Emma decided that they wanted to head north after Phuket whilst myself and Lou wanted to go South, so we bid a sad farewell to our travel buddies with the promise of meeting up again in Malaysia. So this was it, after over a month of travelling we were actually on our own for the first time! We went down to Satun, not a place I would recommend visiting, but it did it's job as a rest place until we could catch a ferry out of there. Only having a couple days left on our visa we thought it would be best not to rush the rest of Thailand but to go to Malaysia with the intention of 'hopping' back over the border in a couple of days.
So Thailand has been amazing, with alot of relaxing on some of the worlds best beaches (do I sound like a travel guide - sorry!) but its onwards and downwards (geographically speaking) into Malaysia.
Much love to everyone at home, and those of you who are also on adventures!
Steph and Lou x x x
After our epic boat journey to get to the Thai border we were all relieved to cross easily back into Thailand. Our journey was broken up by a visit to a temple, by this time the whole group were a little templed out as we had seen alot in the past month. This one was different though, it was the white temple that is still being completed. From the outside the temple glistened and had goblin/devil masks hanging with signs saying no smoking/drinking. Inside the artist was working on the interior painting which was really interesting to look at. It showed the 'sins' of the world and how to reach enlightenment. Some of the sins shown were pictures of superheroes, clothes and shoes. It is interesting to see other religions take on right and wrong, though I don't really understand how converse trainers are bad - but each to their own I suppose!
We stopped off in the evening and had a quiet night as we were preparing for another journey to Chang Mi. The next morning after a few hours on another bus (I am never ever going to moan about the length of a journey ever again!) we arrived in Chang Mi. Now forgive me for being a little excited but the first stop was to Subway for a sandwich - much appreciated after days of rice and noodles. We didn't have long in Chang Mi, so we did what we do best - got pampered. My hair was looking very rugged after a month of neglect so I decided to get a wash and hair cut. Yes this seems quite normal, but having your hair cut by a lady who doesn't speak any English and communicate with hand signals was a little nerve wracking. Luckily it looks alright and for less than a fiver I can't really complain. Lou decided to have a massage as she was still in pain from her previous tumble in the shower. On a side note this is one thing new I have learnt about Lou so far - she falls over ALOT! Yes I knew she was clumsy, but seriously she should be wrapped in cotton wall!
Anyways in Chang Mi we said goodbye to Alex and Jennie, as they left the tour to explore a little more and so we were down to 6. That night we took another sleeper train to Bangkok. This train was a little different from the others with fold down beds and lights left on all night. Most the evening was spent on 'cockroach' watch - which basically consisted of us seeing a bug and getting Kerrie to whack it with her flip flop! After being made to go to bed at about 8ish I wasn't holding much hope for a good nights sleep, yet we all must of been tired as there wasn't a peep until the rather loud train conductor man walked up and down shouting 'mooorrrning' (Lou does an amazing impression!)
Well we were back in Bangkok the starting place of our adventure, we spent the rest of the day shopping, getting lost in tuk tuks and doing washing. We had a final meal as a group and then decided to hit Khao San road as it was Halloween and their was a street party. Getting into the spirit of things myself, lou, Lorna and Kerrie all got our face painted. I did have some vampire teeth (Becky gotta love a bit of twilight!) but couldn't seem to drink with them in so they were soon redundant in the bottom of my bag. The night was spent dancing and drinking into the wee hours - a great last night to the tour.
So now officially we were left to our own devices. We took a flight down to Krabi with Lorna and Emma, and decided to stay in Ao Nang as it had good links to other islands etc. When we arrived it was absolutely tipping it down which put a dampner on our spirits, this only got worse as we began to read reports of 'severe weather warnings' over most of Thailand. Being typical British we decided a little rain couldn't hurt so stayed put. We were rewarded with our stubbornness by the next couple of days being boiling hot, which resulted in lots of chillaxing on the beach and dipping into the sea. One particular evening whilst having dinner we spotted alot of lady boys going down a side street, so we decided to investigate... we found the street was full of bars and spent the evening playing crazy jenga and pool. Curiosity did not kill the cat then! We also bumped into some guys from St Albans, which was strange as we are thousands of miles from home yet we still bonded over having a drink in the Slug and Lettuce!
We took a day tour to Phi Phi island which was so beautiful with its clear water and white sanded beaches, again we had another moment of 'wow' as we bumped into Romi and her boyfriend who were also visiting Phi Phi! I suppose it is a small world after all. We reluctantly boarded the ferry to head back to Ao Nang, all wishing we stayed a little longer to explore Phi Phi some more. I suppose we will just have to come back to it one day :)
The next day we decided to head to Koh Lanta, another epic bus/ferry journey later we arrived on the rather odd island. Having no idea where to go we befriended a girl called Bea who was stranded from her friends. She took us to some beach huts which had only been open 5weeks. Compared to Ao Nang, Koh Lanta was so peaceful, we literally slept with the sea at our door which I loved. I think we have grown as travellers as both me and Lou spotted cockroaches in our 'bathroom' and didn't scream. Due to it being low season we were literally the only people there, with no activities so we decided to head somewhere a little more busy which led us to another bus journey but this time to Patong, Phuket.
We arrived quite late in patong and finally managed to find somewhere for all four of us to stay - it was a little dingy with no windows, but at least it was clean! Both Lou and myself couldn't sleep so we left Emma and Lorna to catch up on their beauty sleep and went exploring. We randomly bumped into the guys we met in Ao Nang who persuaded us to go back get showers and get dressed for a night out - no need to ask us twice! We then proceeded to spend the night in various bars including a rock metal one! We finally called it a night, but when leaving the club it was light outside - some how we managed to stay out dancing till 7am!! On a side note my mother seemed a little concerned that all we seem to do is go out dancing and drinking. I promise this is not the case, there is just more to say and take photos of when out rather than 'and we sat on the beach...again'
Anyways getting back to the update... Lorna and Emma decided that they wanted to head north after Phuket whilst myself and Lou wanted to go South, so we bid a sad farewell to our travel buddies with the promise of meeting up again in Malaysia. So this was it, after over a month of travelling we were actually on our own for the first time! We went down to Satun, not a place I would recommend visiting, but it did it's job as a rest place until we could catch a ferry out of there. Only having a couple days left on our visa we thought it would be best not to rush the rest of Thailand but to go to Malaysia with the intention of 'hopping' back over the border in a couple of days.
So Thailand has been amazing, with alot of relaxing on some of the worlds best beaches (do I sound like a travel guide - sorry!) but its onwards and downwards (geographically speaking) into Malaysia.
Much love to everyone at home, and those of you who are also on adventures!
Steph and Lou x x x
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Bucket time!!!
From Hanoi it took us 11 hours to reach the Loas border by bus, it wasnt that bad as we slept for most of the journey lol! we stopped off at a really small village called Lac Sao. it was really stange as it only had one shop, one restaurant etc and was completly different to Hanoi. The restaurant was very strange and we were the only people in there, we ordered our food which was chicken with rice ( the usual) and that wasnt what we got, infact no one got what they ordered lol!!
The whole village was alittle scary and it seemed like we were in a horror film, what made it worse was the hotel only had one english channel and a horror film was on :(
The next day we left Lac Sao at 7am and travelled for 6hrs to Vientaine (the capital of Loas) it was completly different to Vietnam, no bibbing of horns or thousands of motorbikes, It was alot quieter. We attempted to hire some bycycles when we arrived there but found out they were pretty rubbish and had no brakes so decided against it lol! in the end we got a Tuk Tuk and expored the city, we stopped at the Patuxai monument and got a classic photo with us jumping off the fountain with the monument in the background :)
In the evening there were fireworks going off everywhere and floating lanterns filling the sky. it was amazing!! we realised it was due to the 'light festival' there were crowds of people everywhere lighting candles. it was so unexpected and very beautiful. We bought a floating candle, lit in and placed it on the mekong river with thousnads of others, it is seen as an offering to the gods and you will get good luck for the rest of the year. It was an amazing sight.
The next day we travelled to Vang Vieng (the home of tubing) we decided to go tubing as soon as we got there, the weather hadnt been that good so it didnt matter if it rained as we would be floating down the river in rubber rings anyway lol!! we signed a disclaimer which none of us knew what it meant and got a tuk tuk to the river with our rubber rings attached.
when we arrived there were bars complete with body spray, rope swings, slides, music and shots. Each bar we passed through out robes to help us in from the river, they also gave us shots of god knows what, all i know is that at the bottom of the bottle there were crickets and snakes errr!!!
As it got later obviously it got darker and we were still floating down the river, we managed to get out but a few people carried on down the river and lets just say Steph had to do a rescue mission in the dark, all those years of swimming paid off, although she did come back without any flip flops or shorts lol!!
As we had so much fun tubing we went again the next day, however i was alittle more careful this time as i slipped over in the shower right on my butt lol!! (has been an occuring thing on this trip) i decided not to do any of the jumps or swings but steph did. i was petrified for her but i knew she wanted to do it, everyone was cheering and encouraging her. we also managed to get to the end of the river before it got dark woohoo!!
After Vang Viend we headed to Luang Prabang, the bus journey was 7 hrs and it was the most uncomfortable journey so far, the roads were really windy and bumpy, not very good for 7 hrs lol!! we arrived at UNESCO heritage listed town and stayed in a guesthouse, it was so pieceful so we decided to hire bycyles to explore the local area, i loved the bikes :) we stopped off at a bar called utopia, it had a river view and you could lie down looking over it, it was so relaxing. in the vening me and steph ordered a bbq for dinner, this consisted of cooking the food ourselves at the table lol! was very strange cooking in the middle of the table whilst having a conversation with other people.we had buffalo which was lovely. after dinner we browsed the night market , the loas style of selling was much more enjoyable as they let u look and didnt hassle you.
in the morning we went to the Elephant village , a santuary for elephants. they previously worked in the logging industry and are very old. we went on a trek on the back of the elephants through rough terrain and a river it was incredable. on a few occasions i did think we may fall out lol! we also fed them bananas, they eat 250 kilos a day!! whilst feeding the elephant a banana it got confused with what was my hand and what was the banana and my hand nearly got eaten hehe!!
after spending time with the elephants we headed up the river on a small thin boat to the waterfalls, we swam in them but the water was freezing, i climbed up the watrefall and jumped in lol!!
the next 2 days we travelled up the mekong river passed Pak Beng to the loas/ Thailand border. on the way there we stopped off at a small village and saw how they live, it was so basic, living in little wooden huts. the children were so lovely and followed us back to the boat hehe!!
our adventure leads us to Northern Thailand, we will keep u updated :) x x x x
Lou and Steph x x x x x x x x
The whole village was alittle scary and it seemed like we were in a horror film, what made it worse was the hotel only had one english channel and a horror film was on :(
The next day we left Lac Sao at 7am and travelled for 6hrs to Vientaine (the capital of Loas) it was completly different to Vietnam, no bibbing of horns or thousands of motorbikes, It was alot quieter. We attempted to hire some bycycles when we arrived there but found out they were pretty rubbish and had no brakes so decided against it lol! in the end we got a Tuk Tuk and expored the city, we stopped at the Patuxai monument and got a classic photo with us jumping off the fountain with the monument in the background :)
In the evening there were fireworks going off everywhere and floating lanterns filling the sky. it was amazing!! we realised it was due to the 'light festival' there were crowds of people everywhere lighting candles. it was so unexpected and very beautiful. We bought a floating candle, lit in and placed it on the mekong river with thousnads of others, it is seen as an offering to the gods and you will get good luck for the rest of the year. It was an amazing sight.
The next day we travelled to Vang Vieng (the home of tubing) we decided to go tubing as soon as we got there, the weather hadnt been that good so it didnt matter if it rained as we would be floating down the river in rubber rings anyway lol!! we signed a disclaimer which none of us knew what it meant and got a tuk tuk to the river with our rubber rings attached.
when we arrived there were bars complete with body spray, rope swings, slides, music and shots. Each bar we passed through out robes to help us in from the river, they also gave us shots of god knows what, all i know is that at the bottom of the bottle there were crickets and snakes errr!!!
As it got later obviously it got darker and we were still floating down the river, we managed to get out but a few people carried on down the river and lets just say Steph had to do a rescue mission in the dark, all those years of swimming paid off, although she did come back without any flip flops or shorts lol!!
As we had so much fun tubing we went again the next day, however i was alittle more careful this time as i slipped over in the shower right on my butt lol!! (has been an occuring thing on this trip) i decided not to do any of the jumps or swings but steph did. i was petrified for her but i knew she wanted to do it, everyone was cheering and encouraging her. we also managed to get to the end of the river before it got dark woohoo!!
After Vang Viend we headed to Luang Prabang, the bus journey was 7 hrs and it was the most uncomfortable journey so far, the roads were really windy and bumpy, not very good for 7 hrs lol!! we arrived at UNESCO heritage listed town and stayed in a guesthouse, it was so pieceful so we decided to hire bycyles to explore the local area, i loved the bikes :) we stopped off at a bar called utopia, it had a river view and you could lie down looking over it, it was so relaxing. in the vening me and steph ordered a bbq for dinner, this consisted of cooking the food ourselves at the table lol! was very strange cooking in the middle of the table whilst having a conversation with other people.we had buffalo which was lovely. after dinner we browsed the night market , the loas style of selling was much more enjoyable as they let u look and didnt hassle you.
in the morning we went to the Elephant village , a santuary for elephants. they previously worked in the logging industry and are very old. we went on a trek on the back of the elephants through rough terrain and a river it was incredable. on a few occasions i did think we may fall out lol! we also fed them bananas, they eat 250 kilos a day!! whilst feeding the elephant a banana it got confused with what was my hand and what was the banana and my hand nearly got eaten hehe!!
after spending time with the elephants we headed up the river on a small thin boat to the waterfalls, we swam in them but the water was freezing, i climbed up the watrefall and jumped in lol!!
the next 2 days we travelled up the mekong river passed Pak Beng to the loas/ Thailand border. on the way there we stopped off at a small village and saw how they live, it was so basic, living in little wooden huts. the children were so lovely and followed us back to the boat hehe!!
our adventure leads us to Northern Thailand, we will keep u updated :) x x x x
Lou and Steph x x x x x x x x
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