Day 208 Saturday 9th April – Bangkok to Siem Reap overland via Poipet (train & bus)

Never get the train from Bangkok to Aranya Prathet (border). 2 hours on a hard upright seat from Bangkok to Ayuthaya at lunchtime is fine. It’s doable. 6 hours plus half hour delay starting at 6am when you’re knackered because you didn’t sleep properly the night before is uncomfortable to say the least. The train was relatively empty when we left Hualamphong station. We had a 3-seater for the two of us so nodding off was not a problem....

May 16, 2011 · 3 min · karen

Day 206 & 207 – Thursday 7th & Friday 8th April – Bangkok – Wendy & Steve are back

Wendy & Steve are coming back today and they’re staying in Khao San Road. Bugger. Ah well it’s not that far from Silom. Maybe 7km. We aim to get a boat to KSR to meet them but are running late as usual so head over in a taxi. The traffic is a nightmare. It’s peak-time so takes 50mins. By the time we get there they’re already on their 2nd beer. And it goes downhill from then on really....

May 16, 2011 · 3 min · karen

Day 198 to 205 – Wednesday 30th March to Wednesday 6th April – Bangkok in limbo

Not sure why exactly but we stayed in Bangkok until Wendy came back. We had wanted to go to the coast but with the weather being so terrible we didn’t want to risk it. And with Matt keen to get on with www.stolencamerafinder.com we pottered about doing not much at all except that. Wednesday night we tried a kooky restaurant called Cabbages & Condoms in Sukhumvit. It’s a restaurant that gives some of its profits to HIV/AIDS charities....

May 16, 2011 · 4 min · karen

Day 195 to 197 – Sunday 27th to Tuesday 29th March – Bangkok – Wendy & Steve arrive!

Sunday we checked out of Sunflower Place and into Siam Heritage kindly paid for by W & S for our joint birthday pressies. What a place. So swanky. I’m going to sound like a complete child now but it had proper porters take our luggage to the room on one of those brass wheelie things. The bed is huge! The desk has one of those green lamps on it. There are satin dressing gowns and slippers....

May 13, 2011 · 7 min · karen

Day 194 – Saturday 26 March – Battambang to Bangkok – crossing the Cambodian/Thai border at Poipet

We’re off to meet up with Wend & Steve in Bangkok. Given ourselves a day to get over the border so we get there in time! Haha of the day: Matt tried to give some not quite so poor woman some money whilst she was just sat waiting for the bus. Much embarrassment. The Poipet border crossing was quite painless. 20 mins queued up on Cambodia side to get our departure stamp followed by 30mins on the Thai border to be let in....

May 10, 2011 · 1 min · karen

Day 129 – Thursday 20th January – Thailand to Laos

After exactly 1 month in Thailand we are now in Laos. It was pretty simple. We jumped on a rickety old bus from Chiang Rai, our bags piled high at the back of the bus with everyone else’s luggage and our knees up under our chins (well Matt’s anyway) and 2.5 hours later we were dropped off at a tuk-tuk stand in Chiang Khong on the border with Laos. 5 min tuk-tuk ride and we were at the Mekong River and border crossing....

February 13, 2011 · 3 min · karen

Day 128 – Wednesday 19th January – Chiang Rai to Myanmar & back

We went to Myanmar (Burma) today for 2 reasons. One: we wanted to visit Myanmar (our 6th country so far if you include Nepal :) ) Two: our Thai visa ran out today so we needed to leave the country or pay a fine It was a surreal and yet dull experience. And far too easy. 10:00 Bus Chiang Rai to Mae Sai (Thai border town) 11:30 Sorng Thaew from Mae Sai bus station to the border...

February 13, 2011 · 4 min · karen

Day 126 & 127 – Monday 17th to Tuesday 18th January – Chiang Rai

The longtail trip down the Mae Nam Kok river (a tributary of the Mae Kong (Mekong) river) was a lovely way of getting to Chiang Rai from the sleepy town of Thaton. It took 3.5 hours including a 20min loo/coffee stop with the most expensive coffee ever. 50THB for half a cup of “Americano”. If we’d gone for Nescafe we would have saved ourselves 30THB per cup! At the pitstop there was also a guy holding a huge great long python saying “photo, photo”....

February 12, 2011 · 3 min · karen

Day 125 – Sunday 16th January – Thaton

Dragged Matt out of bed early so we could make it to the bus station for the 9am bus to Thaton. For some reason everyone we met knew we were heading to Thaton – the tuk tuk driver, the guys at the bus station. Perhaps it’s the only bus that “farang” (foreigners) get from the Chang Pheuak bus station in Chiang Rai. This was our first ordinary bus journey. A bus with 2 seats one side, 3 seats the other side (similar to before) but with fans and windows that open instead of aircon....

February 8, 2011 · 3 min · karen

Day 122 to 124 – Thursday 13th to Saturday 15th January – Chiang Mai (phase 2 – Matt is old)

Congratulations to Helen & Martyn on the birth of their daughter Alys Kate on 13th. 4 months travelling. It feels like we have done so much but nothing at the same time and we’re already a third of the way through. :( 13th – Moved down-market today to MD House in the old city. Partly because we couldn’t justify paying for Butterfly anymore and partly because we wanted to see a bit more of Chiang Mai instead of lazing around by the pool....

January 28, 2011 · 5 min · karen