The Bridge on the River Kwai
Thailand | Kanchanaburi
We had a long day of travelling ahead of us when we left the islands and headed back north to Kanchanaburi. First it was a plane to Bangkok, then a trip on the subway into the city, a taxi ride to the river, a five minute ferry to the opposite bank, then lastly a train to our final destination! Everything went surprisingly smoothly, although the train was very slow, stopping in all sorts of places it wasn’t supposed to, and we arrived at least an hour late. Rose managed to pass the time by chatting to locals, including a woman who claimed she was a nun and had left the convent that morning!
Kanchanaburi is best known as the location of the Bridge on the River Kwai, part of the railway line between Thailand and Burma built by Allied POWs during the second world war, and made famous in the book and film of the same name, so most of the tourist sights were connected to the railway and its construction. Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
Beach Bums
Thailand | Phuket and Ko LantaFrom Chiang Mai we flew down to Phuket with the intention of having a few relaxing days beachside. And that’s pretty much what happened!
Fortunately for us, Mums’ friends Lynn and Bob happened to be staying in Phuket for a fortnight’s holiday. They had a 2 bedroom apartment in a fabulous resort so we crashed their party for a couple of nights – thanks again for having us guys! Phuket has some stunning
beaches, and after our first night at the luxurious resort we headed over to the beach to spend the day sunning ourselves! Phuket is very hot and humid, 30+ every day, so we were very happy not to be bothering with any sight-seeing and instead just lounging on the beach, occasionally venturing into the sea when the heat became too much!
We stayed on the beach that evening for dinner, and got to watch another beautiful sunset. After a delicious meal and a few too many glasses of wine, we headed back to the resort courtesy of Mr Lucky, Lynn and Bob’s favourite taxi driver! Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
Rose(s) and Flower Festivals in Chiang Mai
Thailand | Chiang Mai
And so it was on to Thailand. We couldn’t face the 18 hour bus journey through the mountains, so opted for the 1 hour flight instead. It was my first time in a plane with propellers but Lao Airlines did the job and we touched down in Chiang Mai, the largest town in Northern Thailand, without too much bother!
Thailand immediately seemed more developed than Laos – there were taxis picking people up from the airport instead of tuk-tuks for a start, one of we which we took to our hotel. Rose (Gem’s mum for anyone who doesn’t know her!) was joining us for a couple of weeks the
following day so our standard of accommodation was a slight improvement on the usual to say the least! We arrived quite late so there was just time for a quick swim in the pool and a surprisingly cheap curry by the river.
The next morning we picked Rose up from the airport, and since she was quite jetlagged that gave us a good excuse to lounge around the pool in the sun all day, which we happily did, before belatedly celebrating our engagement with some champagne and another riverside dinner! Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
Luang Prabang: Wats and Waterfalls
Laos | Luang PrabangAfter the nauseating bus journey through the mountains to get to Luang Prabang we
checked into our hotel – the lovely Villa Laodeum. We ended up watching the end of the Murray – Ferrer match in our room instead of getting out and exploring but it was quite an exciting one! Afterwards we headed out for dinner in a restaurant on Luang Prabang’s main street. There are a lot more tourists here than previous places we’ve been to in Laos and you can see why. The town is beautiful, surrounded by river and mountains, with gorgeous old colonial buildings. It’s very nicely done – most streets are lined with pretty fairly lights in the evening and there are lovely cafes with mod cons but decorated in a traditional style. Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
Down the tubes in Vang Vieng
Laos | Vang ViengOn leaving Vientiane we headed 4 hours north to the small town of Vang Vieng. Until a few years ago it was just a quiet village, but is now a major stop on the backpacker trail, midway between the capital and Luang Prabang in the north.
The main attraction is Tubing, where you hire an old tractor tire inner tube from the cartel in town, are driven about 4km upstream, and then drift slowly back down the river to where you started, sat on the inner tube. The added attraction is that along the way there are about a dozen bars to stop off at for a drink, and they throw a rope out into the river to haul you in. Some of them have slides and rope swings to keep you amused as well. Having seen literally hundreds of people around south-east Asia wearing ‘I went tubing in Vang Vieng’ t-shirts we thought it was rude not to give it a go! Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
The Quiet Capital
Laos | VientianeWe arrived in Vientiane early evening and checked into the Inter-City Hotel, which had some rooms with river views. Ours didn’t, but the room was pretty nice. We’d decided to treat ourselves to a decent place after a week or so of roughing it in some fairly unpleasant rooms!
After luxuriating in an almost-hot shower following the hellish bus ride we headed out to explore the city. Vientiane is, without a doubt, the quietest and smallest capital I’ve ever been to. Which adds to its’ charm, I think. It is very attractive; with loads of colonial buildings (some of which are rather dilapidated) and pretty river views. The capital was also by far the most touristy place we’d been to so far in Laos. There was even an “English” pub, which we were later to discover served the most disgusting white wine I’ve ever tasted! Read the rest of this post by clicking here…
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