Sep 28, 2010

thai tales

sorry for the delay in updating this lovelies, we have had a few technical glitches - needless to say lucky i'm not on a deadline. sunday marked two months of being away from home and it also marked the day we departed phuket and said goodbye to the girls. i need to update you on the ten days we spent in koh phi phi and phuket before getting to our current location, chiang mai.

the trip to krabi was not without issues. our three day mission from the east coast of malaysia to the west was full of tales including kurt infuriating customs officers by crossing into thailand and then back into malaysia a few times to go to the bathroom and having a pregnant woman the seat in front of us on an eight hour mini-van trip with chronic morning sickness but there was a plus - that being the first sighting of elephants walking down the highway, when we finally arrived in southern thailand.

after finally arriving at the little island of koh phi phi, the worries of travelling the million miles was quickly forgotten. our little resort was luxury with our own piece of jungle and a small strip of white sand and water was magic. the girls arrived reasonably unscathed and were glad to be out of the smouldering phuket heat. i must admit, if your not use to it, it can be a bit unsettling but taryn seemed to get use to it quiet quickly after blowing a fan up in the first few hours of her arrival at the island. our days were spent lounging on the beach, island hoping, eating amazing thai food and playing cards whilst dodging the thousands of cats and kittens that seemed to inhabit the restaurant.

we headed to phuket and after a night a hostel that wasn't that great, we moved to a new and exciting place with a fabulous pool and beach views, for a fraction more. us girls were in heaven, as was kurt when we opted to head into patong and do a bit of shopping. the first few days were nice and relaxing and the best way to describe it would be, a holiday in our holiday. we managed to fit in a day trip to an elephant safari and hit a few more things on the tourist trail including popping along to see the local quicksilver surf competition in kata and hire scooters to ticky-tour around the beaches and to starbucks on the rare occasion.

one of the highlights for kurt and i came unexpectedly one morning around five am when kurt decided that we would get up in time for the sunrise and scoot to the top of phuket and see the sun come up over the big budda. after trying to wake to girls, kurt and i headed off alone and got stuck in the rain. we made it up to the big budda and watched the sun filter through the clouds onto karon beach which was truly breathtaking. on the way down after dodging a suspicious looking snake we stumbled across an elephant farm where the keepers were feeding the elephants and after inviting us over the keepers let us get up close and personal with the baby elephant who was in the throws of training and ended up being a real show off. it made the early morning wakeup, worth while.

we left the girls on sunday afternoon and headed to the phuket bus station for an overnight bus to bangkok. the trip wasn't great and unfortunately kurt didnt fare so well. upon arriving at bangkok he was sick which made the turn around of bus number two in less that one hour after getting off the bus one, to chiang mai a real nightmare. with kurt sleeping most of the journey, i was left to marvel in the endless rice fields and green jungles that saw us climb up to the mountainous region of northern thailand. after travelling for twenty eight hours straight, i can say i arrived reasonably high in spirits, kurt did not.

we are now in the old mountain side city of chiang mai and i have already fallen in love. this little quaint city is surrounded by a medieval moat and high brick walls which were built in 1296 to keep out burmese invaders. today we hired matching push bikes and made our way around the winding streets visiting temples and gardens, drinking fresh juices and eating some of the amazing organic produce that's grown locally. this city, from what we have seen, is full of culture with monks walking the streets, statues and monuments standing tall, police men on push bikes ringing their bells, freshly ground coffee being served from old combie vans and paved streets that lead to the river on either sides. it exudes a real bohemian atmosphere and i'm eating it right up.

tomorrow will be a bit of a bore with us having to do a visa run into burma. i will keep you posted on the progress of our travels in a few days and will try and find a computer that is not invested with viruses to upload some of the pictures that we have taken some far on our thai excursion.

update. pics from thailand.













1 comment:

  1. Oh my lord Chiang Mai sounds unreal. Please enjoy every moment of that place!!!!

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