Wednesday 4 May 2011

When 10and a half months turns into 10 weeks…

Hello people, “sawadeee” – and greetings from Laos!! Here is the update from the last few weeks!

Last time I updated, we had just taken part in the Songkram festival in Chiang Mai and since then there are plenty more stories to update you guys on…

Touching a tiger… as I’m sure many of you have seen my pictures on facebook . you would have seen me and Adam having some fun with a load of tigers, where you can get up close and personal…yes I can now tick off spooning a tiger on my things to do before I die list… It was an amazing experience even if the generic response from everyone is that the tigers must be sedated…something I can’t answer as it all seems too good to be true…however you can pay the trainers to wake the cats up and get some better snaps with them…but seeing it asleep and not moving is something I think I prefer than seeing its giant paws slashing my legs open…either way they make for some awesome pictures!

My future c.v will now include “volunteering with an elephant camp” – so this might be a little exaggerated as this work was only a 3 day experience; however me and Adam took part in something that most tourists do not get a chance to do…and this is actually working with the elephants instead of simply riding them on a one day treck…sooo this meant that me and Adam were expected to clean up heaps of elephant shit…go out into the corn fields and harvest the crops and then wash all the elephants in the river at stupid o clock in the morning. – oh and learning how to speak thai commands to the elephants whilst riding them...and as a treat on the last night our accommodation was an open fronted bamboo shack that was right next to a river which is used for white water rafting…a quiet and tranquil experience?? – The excursion was topped off with more white water rafting. Now when we did white water rafting in New Zealand our guide was over cautious on health and safety and ensuring all the rafters knew how to steer the boat…well in Asia these standards are a little more relaxed shall we say and for a good amount of the time Adam was allowed to be the person in charge of the raft whilst the instructor put his feet up…not surprising then that I actually fell in when it came to the serious rapids and ended up flailing around like a drowning legless cat…

Laos…so now we are in Laos where it is more expensive to buy a packet of Peaut m&m’s than it is for a main meal and a litre of beer or a nights accomodation…how does that make sense? – but this country is a little bit special. Started off with a 2day slow boat ride over the boarder that ensured you get to meet a bunch of fellow travellers who are all heading in the same direction but it also gave us a chance to take in some spectacular views of what this country has to offer.

Now most travellers come to Laos to go tubing in a place called Vang Vieng which is where I am writing this from…tubing being hiring out a giant rubber ring and floating down a 3km stretch of river stopping at numerous bars to simply party…naturally this gets pretty messy pretty quickly…and to just ensure it gets messy, many of the bars have built giant 30ft slides and trapeze swings into the river for people to drunkenly try and do…yes many people have been reported to breaking ankles etc but apart from a few scratches me and Adam seem to be just taking it all in our stride.

This place is essentially the “malia or magaluf” of Laos, a hidden paradise that has become so westernised that every restaurant plays either back to back episodes of friends of family guy…even the menus are identical. We have even found somewhere that sells Yorkshire puddings…although I think I will wait until I home to devour a home cooked roast! Howwwever ...it isn't half set in a beautiful location...

Sunday 17 April 2011

SONGKRAMMM!

Since last time,
So last time I updated, we had been to the hectic city that was Bangkok and arrived in Phuket, however that was now nearly 3 weeks ago and since then the adventure has only continued.

After spending far too much time in Phuket riding out the worst of the weather, we finally took a flight to the North of Thailand to Chaing Mai, and what a time we picked to arrive here...even if when we arrived the hostel was shut and the only free room was a room with no electricity (bonus! - candle lit twin room ..aww romantic! but they gave us it for free!0

Songkram Festival - A Happy Thai New Year...
Now Thai people really know how to hold an amazing water fight! - notably the largest in the world, a 3 day festival throughout the whole country where people come together to celebrate a fresh start...What does this involve? - basically you buy a big water gun, walk out of your front door and unleash as much water as possible. Thousands of people line the streets battling people standing on the back of trucks going down ridiculously congested streets...i'm talking thousands - and the best place to see this and take part is of course in Chaing Mai...where we are! - Ranging from being covered in buckets of river water, to being doused in freezing cold ice water the Songkram experience goes down in mine and Adam's books as one of the best days of our travels for sure! -- The best bit in reflection was that we soon realised that amongst these thousands of people all having a good time...there was not a single police officer to be seen... Like back at home if you randomly threw a bucket of water over someone you would end up getting an ASBO, or a new shade of eye shadow for sure. Even in the name of celebrating in typical English fashion people still end up brawling over nothing...not in Thailand...if you squirt a random you are greeted with a big smile, a squirt back, a comment along the lines of "where are you from?" " Welcome to Thailand" "Happy new years," "Thank you for celebrating with us" or even offered to share a beer with them before continuing the carnage of the water fight... I can be quite cynical about how other countries do things, but I think for the first time during travels me and Adam have both agreed..."England could learn a lot by this," - which, is true,

Despite the craziness of the water fight, the whole festival has a lot of symbolism behind it, not only does it bring the family and the community together but the water represents a cleansing the spirit, wiping away all bad things from the previous year and creating a fresh start...I guess a bit like a rebirth...however it just has something a little more special about it than simply counting down the seconds to hear an over sized bell chime twelve times and waking up with a soar head from one too many gin cocktails ;-)



Everyone has their own story...




A case study from Tan Passakornnatee, the former managing director of Oishi Group, illustrates the point. He was born in a poor family and had to stop studying to work at age of seventeen. At first, he worked as a laborer then as a bookseller before he started a business; surprisingly, he had done business in various fields such as coffee shop, gift shop, and beauty salon. Consequently, he had a lot of invaluable experience which illuminated an idea of investing in Japanese restaurant market in Thailand and made it into reality without any problems. At that time in Thailand, investing in Japanese restaurant market was considered as high-risk because of public sentiment toward Japanese restaurants as extravagant. Despite the risk, Tan Passakornatee, however, managed to prosper as he made Thai people feel familiar with Japanese food by Oishi green tea which is new and affordable, and built a strong connection with the media. Nowadays, Oishi Group has become well-known to all Thais regardless of sex and age, and without doubt Tan Passakornnatee is recognized as one of the richest people of Thailand....shame me and Adam didn't recognise this MILLIONARE! ...

Thursday 31 March 2011

Tropical Paradise...


So this post was meant to go along the lines of "omg thailand is amazing, a pure paradise on earth, I mean look at this sexy photo i've just taken from my camera... this was meant to be a post that makes you all jealous of my easy life at the miunte, a blog update that would make you write on my wall "I wish I was there"...but as I say...it was meant to be that...what it is infact is a jolly update to inform you all of how fun it is to be stuck in one place...I received a email from sta travel today...let me just copy some of the best bits for you guys...

The Foreign Office have updated their travel advice for Thailand in relation to storms and heavy rainfall along the southern coast and now advise against all but essential travel

Storms and heavy rainfall have caused flooding and damage along the southern coast of Thailand. Affected provinces include Krabi, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Surat Thani (including the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao), Phattalung, Chumphon, Trang and Satun. Electricity and communications are currently disrupted across the region and there is a continued risk of mudslides and flash flooding in these areas

British Nationals on these islands should consider leaving if it is safe to do so.

Please be aware that travel insurance may not be valid if you visit an area that the Foreign Office advise against travel to.

Great banter hey? - well I won't get ahead of myslef though, im in Phuket still however the place we were meant to be traveling to (Krabi) is one of the severly affected areas and the weather forecast for the next 10 days is the same pissign thunder storms... me and Adam have basically got little option at the minute but to sit tight and see if anything clears up, This is a large section of Thailand that has been afected so its not just as simple as moving onto the next city...I guess we might have to start heading north again and see if we can get to a full moon party at a later date than what we had originally planned...So hopefully in a few months time I will be able to update you with beautiful pictures instead of scense of torrential rain!

Phuket takes it to another level!
So basically if we thought that Bangkok was crazily forward and an eye opener, wow we werent prepared for Phuket, LADYBOYS are everywhere trying to pull you off the streets "hello darling, we the same, but different"..."We like lions and tigers, different but same"...F**K OFF!!! however in and amongst the many lady boys there are 'genuine' hookers(I say it like it was a relief to see them!) however they are even more scary...the best line I have heard being thrown at me whilst I casually tried drinking a beer was "I like you, you hansome, I want your baby in me"...errr please stay away from me! - however this kind of chat does work! - and again you see endless amounts of western men lapping it up.

The best quote from a western man was when he had finished his meal on a table next to where we were sitting, the waiter gave him some banter saying he was a big man...he goes "The bigger you are, the richer you are...that is why you are skinny" - ignorant P***k!

Hopefully the sun will come out soon and the beaches will be filled with sun kissed bodys and I can lounge the days away drinking beer and getting massages on the beach (no fears of happy endings being thrown in when your on a becah...I think? )And when this happens, my posts will start reflecting on what a beautiful paradise this country can offer.

7months on the road now!

xxxxxxx

Monday 28 March 2011

"The industry that caters for these men-acting-like-boys is a diverse social phenomenon"

So two guesses what this blog post is going to be about? - The Lonely planet guide book describes certain areas of Bangkoks nightlife with the description provided above...wow can certain things really open your eyes. (it's ok mum, I am no where near closer to bringing ting tong home for a marriage),
However the first bit of this blog will explore what mine and Adams poor eyes have had to endure over the last week...

I guess when people go to Amsterdam there is a fascination and a must see feeling to head towards to the red light district, I guess maybe due to the whole feeling of "this would never happen at home" you become lured to see how some women,men, he/she's go about making a bit of money.

In Bangkok you are bombarded by street punters trying to sell what they call "ping pong shows," - something that me and adam and many other people from our hostels wanted to go and see out of curiosity...so before we knew it on a dark evening last week a group of us (I must add there was equally as many girls withus as there were lads) to help reduce the seedyness, however what we witnessed is simply mind bogglingly disturbing, a show of different "talents" shall we say that certain 'women' in bangkok possess...these range from erm shooting ping pong balls out of their lady parts, blowing whistles, shooting darts, pulling razor blades, flowers, birds, fish, writing messages and smoking cigarettes. I must admit, it wasn't as exciting as it sounds, the constant dribbling of middle aged western men drooling over these women, makes it hard to think that these girls enjoy what they do...however I am not naieve enough to think that one protest will bring this industry crashing down, so instead of winging about the outrageous demeaning manner these girls are treated with, I guess I have to fall back on the old saying "when in rome", and just accept that there is a booming industry for these pretty disturbing shows...

Wanting to delve deeper into this really random culture they have out here, we, as a hostel group of people headed for an area of Bangkok, known as "nannas Plaza; a 3 storied "shopping mall" of prostitutes, so basically a smaller version of say like meadowhall where you can go and sample all breeds of life. Again a massive eye opener, mainly due to the equally large population of middle aged over weight western men who actually believe that these girls will fall madly in love with them and their disgustingly seedy manners. - It is a pretty repulsive and equally depressing realisation that these women are working in a very dark world, fueled by what are probably very respectable western men if they were in their own environment back at home.

Shakespeare must have been a backpacker.

So I guess we all know it, the famous scene in Mcbeth where the witches are making their disgusting cauldren of potion...the whole "bubble bubble, toil and trouble" - well I now think that Shakespeare was actually just describing what his stomach felt like after eating lots of thai street food, - either that or my stomach feels like what I imagined this cauldren to have tasted like. The vast majority of food in Thailand comes from street vendors who sell a range of all types of food, I must add that I absolutley love thai food and I have fully thrown myself into eating food form these street vendors...however, stagnant chicken that has flies buzzing around it and sitting in a humid high 30's temperature is not a recipie for a happy tummy. Now the food I have tried out here has been exceptional, I can't explain the explosion of different taste you get for a disgustingly cheap price, however after being back on the proepr backpacker trail for less than a week, I can happily admit that I once again have a very tempromental stomach. Thank god for Imodium!

So we have now left Bangkok as well, currently living it up in a pretty swanky twin bed hotel room for less than 6quid a night in Phukett. However what we failed to realise is that obviously its the monsoon season at the minute, so after a 24 hour long ridiculous bus jouirney from bangkok we are now here chilling in a massive electrical storm...good one!.

However the next few weeks should deliver plent of beautiful beaches, island hopping, scuba diving and plenty of drinking!

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Hewwoah weecomme to thaywand

Bangkok craziness
So we have arrived, finally, we are in Bangkok and my god is this place something a little bit "Special"

After leaving (L)adelaide with an emotional goodbye with Natalie, and Kathleen, at stupid o clock in the morning on Monday 21st, we finally arrived in Thailand at around Midnight, this was not before getting an announcment in Adelaide airport saying the following "Would passengers Andrew Meadowcroft and Adam Mcleish please make their way to the nearest desk"...this announcement being made over the main speakers just as I had sat down on the toilet to go about my morning business...a little bit flustered we made our way to the nearest desk...excited that maybe we had been upgraded? - or even worse that Adam maybe had become a secret drug dealer and his stash had been discovered in our bags?...nah nothing that exciting jus thte airport staff wanting to see if we wanted our bags to be exchanged directly at Sydney onto the Bangkok flight...pretty dull ending.

So bangkok it is, thinking as it being our first day, we should just go for a gentle wander to see what our surrondings are , and to get a cheeky barings of this over populated crowded city...no soon had we left the hostel, are we being bundled in to a tuck tuck and taken on a crazy misison around Bangkok, what we thought was a nice man helping us turned out to be what in bangkok is a tourist scam where everyone is in on it at a different level. Basically your taxi driver (or tuck tuck - like a bike with a cart on the back) offeres to drive you to the place you want to, whilst showing you a few cheeky little things here and there, all being offered at a stupidly low price...however the reality is that you are taken to all the places and businesses that obviously give him a commission on any purchases made, this ranging from Suit shops, Restaurants, Tourist agencies and Boat companies, So our day turned out to firstly being shown what suits we could get made for us in Cashmere for 40quid...think I might have to go back, then we were bundeled into a tourist agency who wanted to book us a 40 day trip around Thailand including a lot of things that we want to do whilst here but the reality being that the joy of backpacking is being able to be flexible and chnge your plans, not have a rigid schedule which you have had to pay a large lump up front. After this we were taken to a place on the river for a Boat ride...again bundled into a random boat, of which I have no idea how it is still floating, we were whisked up and down this river for no reason really apart from to see Bangkok from the river...being harrassed by women selling things on small boats, me and adam were convinced to buy some beers and our journey continued, all whilst our tuck tuck driver is sat waiting for us to come back.

Catching onto this little money maker the driver was getting, we asked to be taken back to our Hostel...and all of a sudden his english understanding died...he was desperate to take us to a massage parlour where you can go "bump bump, all very good, full package 2 hours"...we quickly declined and eventually managed to get across we wanted to be dropped off back at the start from where he picked us up... So that is the start of our South East Asian adventure, if this was only the first day, it excites me to think what will happen in the coming weeks.

Thursday 10 March 2011

Lets pick up from where we left off...

It’s been a while!

Hello people! – so this has now been a long time coming, after blogging frequently throughout South America (which now feels an absolute life time since I was there!) I am about to embark on the next adventure which will begin at the end of March.

So why did I stop blogging once I arrived in Australia? – Well basically because my priorities changed dramatically, I was meant to be in Australia to be working so that I could top up the funds before heading off to Asia. Further on from this, unlike South America, Australia is very much like the world we already know, apart from beautiful coastlines and beaches and sun kissed ladies. This makes very uninteresting reading as everything is exactly the same. Also Australia has pretty good internet availability so I have been speaking to a lot of you guys on a regular basis as it is.

I am currently working in an Irish bar as a barman, and loving every second of it, the 16quid a hour makes it a lot better paid than most graduate jobs back in the UK, and it will be hard to leave. Despite this however, we are cutting our ties with Australia short and we will be heading out to Asia at the end of this month. Back to the proper traveller trail, and moving around places on a frequent basis...this means...oh yes! More long bus journeys! Disgusting toilets in countries with poor sewage systems, Back on the anti malarial tablets, eating street food and wrestling lady boys...the perfect mix of a true backpacker!

However before this adventure begins our fun in Adelaide is not over! – A week on Monday (14th) we are going to rip it up at a stinkingly big music festival, with a headlining act of the chemical brothers which should prove to be an amazing day!

Its going to be an emotional one to leave Adelaide, despite not being the most exciting city in Australia, we have been incredibly fortunate to have been living with two Australian girls who we met in Peru who have very kindly been putting us up, a favour that will oneday be returned if they ever venture over to the UK.

Lonely planet bought!
So in a previous post a long time ago, (can you believe i’ve been on the road for 6 months now, with a maximum of 4 months left!) I mentioned that you are stupid if you ever buy a lonely planet guide book, as it kinda does all the hard work for you , and it only creates expectations of places, however I must confess, me and Adam have invested in one of these bibles for travellers for Asia, only because we plan to be in Asia for 3 and a half months, and the names of places are more confusing than watching Australian “comedy”..(we saw a stand up comedian called Sam Simmons, who’s idea of comedy was to smash old el paso taco’s against his chest in some strange sexual manner.)

Therefore we plan to do a route that will take us all through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. We watched the Beach the other night, the strange film with Leo’ d’banterio and so we aim to get to this beach/island as well so keep an eye out for the photos in the coming months!,

However Asia is Cheap, so we can’t wait to spend time exploring this clutter of countries that have a totally different culture than I would have ever experienced, oh and I can’t wait to smash thai food on a regular basis .mmmmmmmmmm!

I hope you guys will start following me again on this, the next months will fly by and i’ll be back before you know it! Spending xmas, new years and my birthday in Australia has meant I have defiantly missed a lot of celebrations with you guys that I can’t wait to make up for when I’m back...

The adventure starts on teh 21st of March.

xxxx