Pai to Chiang Khong and Crossing Laos Border

Got on bus 8.30 am and traveled through the mountains down to Chiang Mai, was an incredible trip, so beautiful! Mountains covered in dense forest for as far as the eye could see, it is hard to describe but the view was so overwhelming that it brought tears to my eyes. Got to Chiang Mai around midday and had about 45min wait for the bus so I got something to eat for lunch at my fav vego restaurant. After lunch I got back on the bus for a 6 hour drive to Chiang Khong was a terrible trip as there were some bitchy Australian girls who kept making us stop for cigarette breaks. I had just found out that the border closed at 6pm and my visa expired after that day, so I was in a hurry to get to the border, needless to say I missed the immigration and had to pay an extra 500B, good lesson learnt to always ask about border closing times. Chiang Khong was a nice town to stay anyway, my place was 150B my own shower, toilet, very clean and right on the Meh Kong River. I had a walk around town got some delicious Pad Thai for dinner read my book and got an early night sleep. Next morning I got some breakfast, scrambled eggs with home made bread, then went through Thai immigration, very easy paid 500B then got taxi boat across the Meh Kong into Laos. Getting visa for Laos was pretty straight forward had to pay 30US dollars and hand over a passport photo got 30 day Visa. From the border I caught a mini bus to Luang Nam Tha the trip was very slow due to bad roads but quite beautiful trip through little villages and big hills/mountains. The villages were very basic with houses made out of timber and bamboo with thatching roofs, lots of happy children playing everywhere and lots of animals everywhere, little pigs, dogs, chickens, cows the pigs were very cute running alongside the bus, dogs laying in the middle of the main road and cows wandering around on the road too. Blah blah blah I'm going to go now and get some dinner as rambling xx Love Matt

Mal, congratulations on your big win!!

Pai

Minibus from Chiang Mai was a bit of an adventure, very tight turns weaving our way up and down mountain sides until we reached the little village Pai on the flats surrounded by mountains. Pai is a busy little village full of lots of different people, foreign travelers, Thai travelers, locals and travelers who have become semi locals. It reminds me of Byron in a way but not as commercial, has a hippie village feel. Anyway I have been really sick with the flu so it hasn't been a bad place to chill out for a few days and get better, there is a little cafe which sells healthy food and lots of teas so I have been hanging out there reading and drinking ginger, honey and lemon tea. I my first night's accommodation was in a bit of a party area so found it hard to sleep with loud music, and was woken again when my neighbors got home at 2 in the morning and turned up their music. I moved first thing in the morning to another place which is great, I have my own little bungalow right on the river with a hammock on my balcony where I can read and listen to the river run by. Feeling a lot better today so I did a 2 hour yoga practice at a little school next door hoping that it might help clear my head a little, class was great it was up high on a platform surrounded by trees, came away feeling much better. Thinking of staying in Pai for another day or two before getting bus to the Laos border. Spent another day in Pai, feeling a lot better still not up for much activity so I lay in my hammock and read for most of the day then got a Thai herbal massage and a lemon facial massage was almost 2 hours of massage for 400B which is less than $15. Was getting late by that stage so time for dinner I found a great little restaurant, so busy! fully run by only two little Thai girls open kitchen so you can watch them cook. They are surrounded by 4-5 woks each cooking like mad stopping only to take customers money, you write your own order down and its put on string line with a peg. I had the best red curry with fresh prawns and a spicy Thai salad with crispy tofu, lemongrass, mint..... so good! all for 120B. I have booked a bus leaving Pai 8.30 tomorrow morning to the Laos border will be hard to get up as I have been sleeping in to 9am for the past week.


My little bungalow, Relaxing on my hammock.

Chiang Mai

I arrived in Chiang Mai around 11am and was surrounded by the usual mob of taxis, tour guides and men from guest houses. The train station is about 13Km from town so I asked another couple if they would share a Sawngthaew which is basically a big red Ute with the tray enclosed and two bench seats down either end. I got dropped off in an area which seemed like it had a few guest houses and hoped for the best. I found a place quickly JJ House nice clean room shared bathroom and toilet for only 150B a night. Chiang Mai is a very busy city, lost of tourists and lots of traffic, but there is lots and lots of good food and the locals are so sweet and helpful. I spent my first day checking out the town, I booked a day trip to an elephant sanctuary where we would have Mahout training. I did an hour yoga class which was very nice, quite challenging, probably harder as I haven't been practicing for a few weeks now. After class I walked down to the night bazaar, it was massive lots of clothes and food and very cheap, I got dinner and a pair of pants for 130B. There is heaps of great food here I have been eating at a nice little vegetarian restaurant for at least one meal/day. I also found a little place serving lots of traditional northern Thailand dishes for really cheap! my favourite was an eggplant dish which was quite spicy with a smokey flavour served with sticky rice and green papaya salad. My mahout training course was great, one of the highlights of my trip! We travelled for a few hours out of town in the back of a Ute picking up some big bunches of green bananas on the way. We got to the sanctuary and changed into our Mahout outfits, kinda like blue pajamas with a cane hat, then were introduced to our elephants. We spent a while learning commands and practicing getting on and off the elephants my fav style was standing in front of elephant, commanding her to put head down, then hugging her around her neck as she lift me up onto her back with her trunk. We then rode down to the river and swam with the elephants, washing and scrubbing them throwing buckets of water around and elephants were spraying with trunks was so much fun. Got back on and walked down the river to a muddy area where the elephants could roll around in the mud they loved it! we all ended up getting into a mud fight the cheeky young Mahouts from the village threw me and another guy right in. We rode back to the camp, got cleaned up in the river, planted some sweet grass stems for future food for elephants. We were then given some incense and taken to a shrine to make a prayer for ourselves and the elephants it was a very special moment. I spent the rest of my time in Chiang Mai getting massages, visiting temples and I also tried a fish spa where hundreds of little fish eat the dead skin from your feet. Tomorrow I will get a bus up to Pai for a few days to relax before continuing on to Laos.

Photos with elephants, Fish Spa, Wat Phan tao.

Koh Tao to Chiang Mai

Caught Fast boat leaving Koh Tao at 10:30 am to Chumporn Jetty, took about 2 hours and the sea was very rough so got a bit sick but managed to hold down my breakfast. From Chumporn I caught an air con bus back to Bangkok arriving at khao san rd just after 8pm. I searched for somewhere to stay for almost 2 hours everything was either full or over priced! I ended up settling for a place for 250B which was ok for a night. Next morning I set off to extend my visa, supposed to be a simple task however, they have moved immigration to government house 30 km out of town and is not accessible by public transport. I caught taxi there for 250B was such a mission, couldn't explain where I wanted to go to Thai driver had to ask a police officer at the Bangkok embassy to explain for me. Then had to pay 1900B to extend for 7 days then 250B back to town, I wish I arranged my visa while in Australia would have been cheaper and a lot easier. I got back to town in time for dinner and got on train to Chiang Mai 7:30pm, had a beer and chilled out on the train they put the beds down around 9pm and I slept like a log I was so tired.

Koh Tao

Night bus to Koh Tao was pretty good, slept most of the way, only bad part was arriving at Chumporn ferry terminal at 5am in the rain with a 2 hour wait for the first ferry to Koh Tao. Ferry to the island was pretty smooth so didn't get sick along the way, but still could not enjoy the trip as guys from the different dive resorts on the island were trying to sell their packages to me the entire trip. Got off the ferry and decided to do my dive certification with Easy Divers as it was only 9000B ands included my accommodation and 6 meals. My Bungalow was nice and clean with my own shower and toilet and close to the classroom where we did our theory part of the course. The diving course was amazing, I really enjoyed being under the water with all the fish and coral, some of the dive sites were incredible. The most interesting site was Chumporn Pinnacle where we dove to 18M, we saw Spotted Stingrays, Moray eels, Sea Cucumbers and massive schools of fish, supposedly there was a shark about 5M below us but we didn't see it. I was lucky to end up on the island on the same weekend as Nyree, Snoop and Tahi so got to spend lots of time with those guys too which was really nice. We ate some delicious food together especially one night at Whitening restaurant where I had a seafood BBQ. On my final day on the island I hired a motor bike and went exploring, I found some beautiful bays with hardly any other people on them, had some nice swims and stopped off for a delicious Tom Yam and iced coffee in a sweet little cafe in Sairee Village. While driving around the island I discovered the Koh Tao animal clinic and got chatting to the vet, she was amazing, had been working on the island for 5 years in the clinic. We spoke about peoples attitudes to dogs on the island and the importance of De-sexing to reduce the population of stray dogs. She said she sometimes has volunteers stay for a few months with free accommodation, getting involved in all aspects of the clinic, the last girl stayed for 5 months and by the end was even De-sexing dogs herself. I was ready to discontinue the rest of my trip and stay but as my visa is only valid till 21st Jan I have decided to apply for a volunteer visa, which can be issued for several months, and finish my travels returning on my way back to Australia. I really enjoyed my time on the island and would have loved to stay longer but had to get bus back to Bangkok to extend my visa and will catch a train from there on to Chang Mai.

Sunrise at Chumporn Pier, Main Beach Koh Tao with one of many stray dogs, Little hut where I had massage, Sunset while eating dinner at Whitening Restaurant, My tiny little Bungalow, Freedom Beach, My Beast Motorbike.

Bangkok

Got to railway station in Bangkok around midday, was very crowded and hard to work out best way to get to hotel as the station does not connect with the city rail network. I decided to get a Tuc Tuc and bartered for 200B for the trip to hotel, I later discovered was a bit much. We stopped half way there and my driver wanted me to get out at a shop to try on suits and get measured up as he would get free petrol if I looked interested in the shop, I thought it was a bit weird but nothing lost so agreed to do it for him. Eventually I got to the hotel and checked in, I got to the room before Danny and Jasper so I stripped off had a HOT shower and put on my bathrobe. I felt really strange in this environment even after only a few weeks of travelling in budget dorms and hostels. Not long after I arrived Jasper Rang the door bell, we gave each other a massive hug was so nice to see him. We had a quick cup of tea and set off to find Indian Embassy for Jasper's visa and check out a bit of Bangkok. We then went back to hotel to meet Danny was also so good to see him! The three of us caught up shared photos, saw some very cute photos and videos of Elton. Then we headed off to meet Danny's work mate for dinner, we had a massive feast at his favourite Thai seafood restaurant, delicious food and so cheap! After dinner Jasper, Danny and I got a taxi to Khao san Rd where they hold nightly markets, there were so many tourists the streets were packed with them! We had a quick walk through past many different bars selling "the strongest buckets of alcoholic cocktails", clothes stalls, people cooking Pad Thai on the street for 40B, Tattoo parlors, you name it! We were all tired so got taxi back to hotel and decided to go for a swim, pool was closed as it had turned into a high class bar for the night, Danny and I decided to get changed into some nice clothes and check it out. We ordered 2 beers and were shocked when the bill came for 500B so we enjoyed the view of the city and slowly sipped our beers. In the morning we set off to the weekend markets, which were about 30mins on the sky train from where we were staying. These markets run every weekend and are massive! You can buy pretty much anything you could ever want or need at them. I was supposed to meet Mandy there but it seemed impossible considering the size and number of people, however we managed to find her and caught up for a coffee and listened to her stories about Bhutan, sounds beautiful! Jasper and I then spent about 4 hours walking around the markets and hardly made a dent so had some delicious live prawns cooked on the spot and some green papaya salad then decided to come back for another bash tomorrow so we got a train back to Asok station to meet Danny. We chilled out back at the hotel for a few hours then met Jasper's mate Ramin who was taking us for dinner and on a tour of Bangkok night life. Jasper and I set off early the next day hoping to finish off the markets, we spent about 7 hours walking but still didn't manage to see everything. The worst part was the animal sections with dogs, cats, mice, rabbits, squirrels, snakes ...... you name it! But none had water or fans and were obviously stressed out because of the heat, I'm sure that at least a few would die that night. We then met Danny and ate some delicious soup, was kind of like a red curry fish soup but just the broth and noodles, then you add your own bean sprouts, cabbage and other goodies from big bowls in the middle of the table. Then took him for a tour of our highlights of the markets and got a lovely 1hr foot and neck massage. On my last day in Bangkok Jasper and I caught a local boat up the Chao Phraya River the ride was pretty full on, very loud and very bumpy! We got off and checked out 2 temples, Wat Pho which contained on of the biggest reclining Buddha in the world and another temple called Wat Arun (the temple of dawn) both temples were amazing with the most intricate detailed carving and mosaics made from glazed china. We then got a Tuc Tuc back to Kaosan Rd so I could catch a night bus south to Koh Tao.



Fresh grilled prawns and green papaya salad, Fast boat up Chao Phraya River, The reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, Temples at Wat Arun, Mosaics at Wat Arun, Khao San Rd markets, Night view of Bangkok from out hotel.

Pulau Penang and Train to Bangkok

I arrived in Penang around 7 pm and set off looking for a hostel, I stumbled upon a Chinese restaurant on Lebuh Cintra and stuffed my face with beautiful steamed dumplings, a lot of other strange seafood treats and soft steamed buns filled with red bean and custard. After dinner I kept looking for somewhere to stay, after checking out many shitty, hot, small dorms I found a place which was quiet with air con for only 20RM on on a little street called Love Lane. I decided to get a night train in the morning up to Bangkok to meet Danny and Jasper, and head back down to Southern Thailand after they leave, it cost 110RM and was a 16 hour trip. In the morning I walked around the makets in Chinatown, they were crazy! lots of produce (including chicken feet), clothes and food stalls, I found a stall selling my favourite sweet tofu, then went for yum cha. Then I set off to find train to Bangkok, this involved a ferry over to Butterworth where I found the train station and was able to buy a ticket. The train was nice and comfortable for the first hour after that it filled up with lots of local people, we travelled past miles and miles of rice paddies, lots of people were fishing along side, it reminded me Luke Nguyen cooking a mud fish on a stick in the rice paddies in Vietnam. I had a sweet family with a little child sitting with me, very cute and kept me entertained until we reached the Thai border. Getting through customs was very straight forward but I was a bit nervous as people had said mixed things about fighting on some parts of the border and it was in the middle of nowhere so I would hate to get stuck there if I couldn't cross border. The train ride was pretty easy, I met a nice Indian guy from Australia so we chatted a lot and stayed up having a few beers and chatting about travel. I got a sleeper carriage and was quite comfortable so I got a really good night sleep. Woke up for breakfast around 9 am it was ok, fried eggs with toast and jam, from there it was an interesting ride through lots of small towns into Bangkok. I met a nice couple from Scotland and chatted about travelling up to the highlands of Scotland as it is nice and quiet and cheaper during the holiday period in Europe so might do that. Hope you guys back in Australia are well, im very happy, eating great food and having lots of fun in Bangkok with Danny and Jasper. Love you all xxx

Lady serving dumplings out of massive bamboo steamer, Chicken feet stall- men cutting off toes, One of the mad old ladies on motor bikes, Ferry to Butterworth, Looking back to Pulau Penang, Sleeper train to Bangkok, My bed.

Cameron Highlands

The Cameron Highlands are about 4 hours drive east and up a narrow winding road from KL, I arrived here on Sunday around 6pm. Getting off the bus we were surrounded by men sticking brochures from different hostels in our faces, it was very overwhelming! myself and two other travelers jumped into a minibus to check out one of the hostels, first one was a dive so we walked back into town and found a nice place, Twin Pines Chalet with single attic rooms for only 12RM a night. Yesterday went on a big hike up to one of the tallest peaks of the highlands Gunung Jasar (1670m), quite a tough climb, then down the other side into acres of lush green tea plantations. We walked through tea plantation for a couple of hours until we came across the processing plant and a tea house serving local tea and scones with jam and cream. We sat enjoying the view sipping tea and eating scones for about an hour waiting for the rain to stop. It didn't stop so we decided to try hitching back into town, got a lift off a nice man with a van, was lucky as it was about 5-10 km back into town in the rain. Spent last night around a campfire drinking beer with my new friends Katia from Germany and Owen from England, very nice people, both have traveled a lot so listened to their stories and got excited about my adventures to come. Went on another hike today up to the highest part of the highlands Gunung Beremban (1812m) was almost vertical climb at the end of the hike, then followed another track down to a place called Robinson falls, very pretty! Just booked minibus up to Palau Penang for 35RM will pick me up 3.30pm tomorrow afternoon.


My cute little attic bedroom, Track up to Gunung Jasar, View of Tana Rata (the main town in Cameron Highlands), Cameron Barat tea plantations, View from tea house, Dinner with friends (curry served on banana leaves).

Kuala Lumpur

Have been in Kuala Lumpur for the last 2 days, is a pretty crazy city i keep getting lost, cant seem to get my bearings. First night I got a nice full body massage as body aching from all the walking and carrying of backpack. Then had a walk around the night markets in Chinatown which are on every night ate some nice food and found this tofu desert which i have been adicted to ever since. It is very soft warm tofu with brown sugar syrup and black jelly pieces, I love it! have eaten at least 5 since getting here, just finished one and also 2 chinese tuna fish buns which I recognised from china town in sydney. Next day I went to batu Caves, about 30 mins NW of city, Massive Hindu shrine inside these enourmous caves! Gaurded by the biggest Murga statue in the world. There were monkeys, cats, roosters pidgeons everywhere and beautiful statues and shrines throughout the caves. Second night was spent walking around the night markets in Little India, these markets are on every Saturday night and were great, so much food! I ate way too much so headed back to hostel for shower and early night sleep. Going back to hostel now to get backpack and then catching bus 4 1/2 Hours north to Cameron Highlands.

Tofu Desert, Batu Caves 43 M high Murga Statue, One of many monkeys eating peanuts, 272 steps to Hindu shrine, Night markets in Little India, Girls with everthing imaginable on a stick (including offal!), My Dinner, Cooking fresh fish on top banana leaves with curry-coconut sauce.

Taman Negera

Had an excellent time at Taman Negera, first day caught a long boat up the river for 3 hours to get to the national park entrance, was such a nice ride, the river was surrounded by dense forest. We saw a few monkeys, some cows and some water buffalo along the river bank. Arrived in park found a dorm to sleep in unloaded my stuff and headed back to the floating resturant where you eat, book tours and catch boat across to park entrance for 1RM. Caught boat over to park entrance went on a long hike to the top of a hill called Bukit Teresek was quite difficult at times having to use a rope to pull up steep muddy paths. Were unable to climb the canopy walkway as a tree had fallen, however was fixed by the next day, was pretty scary at times getting up to 300 M and the walkway was quite shaky. Also Went for a guided walk through one of the caves Gua Telinga was pretty tight at some points, pitch black and smelt so strong from the bats! On the way to caves our guide took us through his village to take photos, I didnt feel comfortable taking photos so I took only 1 of our guide making a blow pipe for hunting. Was nice sitting in the village with the Orang Asli people, except the girl who I was with was taking lots of photos like they were animals on show. This made me feel uncomfortable, but they didnt seem to mind, families were busy eating, children were naked and running and playing. We were told it was possible to hike out a hide where we could stay over night and watch for animals, a hide is a shelter which is built in a clearing where animals usually come to eat grass or drink. So we set off allowing enough time to get there before dark, we managed to get lost as some signs were broken and others missing. Was starting to get dark so I was getting a little nervous and started thinking what would Bear Grills do and where were we going to sleep to avoid the leeches which were stuck all over my boots and socks. We took another turn and reached the Hide both were so happy we hugged each other and admitted how scared we were. We sat and listened and waited for an elephant or tiger but didnt see anything but the sounds of the animals were incredible! Had an amazing night just listening to the sounds, on our way back to base camp we saw a big herd or wild pigs, lots of birds frogs and heaps of leaches!!!! Back at base camp we collected out backpacks, returned sleeping mats and jumped straight on bus back to Jerantut. Was about 1 1/2 hours trip, we got some lunch, water and I said goodbye to Dita who was heading off to Cameron Highlands, I will make my way there eventually but wanted to check out Kuala Lumpur first.




In order of posting: Travelling up river towards national park by boat, My guide Guanni for cave exploration, Micro bats covering the roof of cave, My other guide Limon showing how the Orang Asli people make blow pipes for hunting, The Canopy walkway up to heights of 300 M, Cheeky monkey came out of the bush to steal my lunch, Swimming in one of the clear water rivers, New Years Eve in the Hide out in the jungle.