Two weeks in "The Land of Smiles"

It is probably fair to say we both had reservations about Thailand before we got here... thinking it wold be way too touristy and just like Costa del Sol or something. And although there probably were a few too many English people, it was brilliant.

We didnt really have any set plans coming into Thailand and were initially going to head to the East coast thinking the west coast would be really rainy. But the forecast for Koh Phi Phi was good and it was on Keelin's hitlist so we headed there first. As we arrived on the island and were walking around looking for a place to stay all the shops were putting their shutters down as there was a tsunami warning. Slightly worrying. But we're still alive. Anyway, we found somewhere to stay and then headed out for dinner. Then, we both got far too excitable that there were people to talk to (Malaysia had been really quiet because of the low season) and got very drunk- too much party party. Neither of us could remember where we were staying and decided to sleep on the beach... only to be moved on by the police. Woops.

Apart from this, Phi Phi was incredible. It was so beautiful, with some deserted beaches and such clear water, and some of the food we had was amazing. We met up with Vanessa and Josh on the last night (when we were ready to consume alcohol again). And the next day we headed to Bangkok.

Maya Bay...where The Beach was filmed

Us with Vanessa and Josh

Bangkok was really cool. We thought it would be really dirty, which it is a bit but its also got some amazing temples (we did quite a lot of temple-bashing) and nice modern areas. It was a bit of an eye opener with all the ladyboys and dirty old western men though!

In Bangkok we got on an overnight bus to Chiang Mai which was 10 hours long. We paid about £14 for the VIP bus which was soooo nice- completely reclining seats, blankets, pillows and food. HOWEVER, at 5am, an hour and a half before our arrival in Chiang Mai they started blaring Thai Kareoke. Wayne's face was hilarious.


Chiang Mai was a really beautiful place, where the town has lots of temples, loads of bars and restaurants, and lots of smiley Thai people! We booked ourselves on a 3 day trek through the jungle, where we finally did some exercise for the 1st time in a month, bathed and rode elephants, slid down waterfalls and did some (painfully slow) white water rafting- no chance of a repeat of going overboard as in Ecuador.

At the moment we are just at the Thai/Laos border waiting til the morning when the border opens to cross over- just one day over our visa!

Enjoy the rain your end, and we'll update you in a couple of weeks.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

3 stops in Malaysia

We are going to keep this post short and sweet as we only spent 6 days in Malaysia,.

When we got to the Singapore/ Malaysia border we thought Keelin was going to have to stay behind as she somehow managed to drop her entry/exit card between the bus and the building!

Our first stop out of Singapore was Melaka. It was quite a quaint, very laid back town... where the food is incredible. Howard the owner from our hostel (see below) took us to a local food market a bit out in the sticks and where we were the only non-locals. On our first night here we had a slight problem with some unwanted guests in our bedroom... bed bugs. Steven would have loved the challenge. So we did a sneaky run into another room and slept there both nights without telling Howard!

New boyfriend

New Girlfriend

Howard and Wayne

From Melaka we moved onto Kuala Lumpur which was a bit of shock. Similar to Singapore due to the amazing architecture but the crazy traffic, congestion and unfinished pavements were a bit of a challenge. Having eventually made it after an epic walk without a map to the Petronas Towers we were told that the visiting times were over and we would have to arrive at a silly time in the morning to queue for tickets. This wasnt an issue as just over the road was the KL Tower which has a much higher 360 degree viewing area of the city.

Our last stop in Malaysia was Georgetown on the island of Penang. Because it is low season it was fairly quiet in Georgetown but we headed to Golden Sands beach where some crazy people, who we think were Burmese, were celebrating their new year.

Thats it for Malaysia. Next blog entry = Thailand. It'll be interesting to see if we get out before our 14 day visa ends!

xxxx

London to Singapore in 48 hours

After just 3 and a half hours sleep we set off with our matching backpacks (bit lame)from Turnpike Lane. We got to Heathrow nice and early, only to be told we weren't allowed to fly to Singapore on a single ticked...awkward. After a little stress we booked ourselves 2 bus tickets from Singapore to Malaysia and they let us on the mammoth flight.
We stopped 1st in Dubai for refuelling and then made it to Brunei where we went on a very cool tour, and had lunch for £1.50, a sign of things to come.

Biggest water village in the world...Asian Venice

On Thursday night we got to Singapore and made our way to Little India where our hostel is.
Singapore was "really awesome" as Wayne has taken to saying. A mash of crazy highrises and then strange little towns like Little India and Chinatown- where we had lunch that made us cry it was so spicy :-)

We went to Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, went to Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling, walked around all the Skyscrapers and best of all went to the top of Marina Bay Sands Hotel in the night time (after breaking into the hotel during the day!).

2 Singapore Slings at Raffles Hotel. 4 drinks = £60

 Marina Bay Sands...Please note, there is a boat on top of the 3 towers

 At the top of Marina Bay Sands

On Monday we went to the beach on Sentosa Island and then we met up with Wayne's friend Neil in Clarke Quay for a few drinks in the evening.

Sentosa Island

Wayne and Neil

This morning we are headed for Melaka, in Malaysia and then onto Kuala Lumpur.
We hope you all had a lovely Easter.

xxxx