So after our fantastic journey up to Pai we arrived and settled into our new home for the next four days, the absolutely beautiful ‘Countryside’.
It was just outside town, about five minutes walk. Our hut overlooked a little pond and you could climb up these little stairs onto our rooftop and look out at 360 degree panoramic view of Pai’s perfect countryside, buffalo grazing in the fields, mountain peaks dotted about and locals working away in the fields.

The days we spent relaxing in hammoks, or sipping coffee in the arty little coffee shops and wandering the quirky Pai streets, filled with character and happy smiling faces. Pai is not a place you can describe really, nothing we could say would live up to how amazing this place is. In the evening the place comes to life, market stalls line the streets, bars tucked behind these, colourful lights and great live jazzy music plays out into the street. We met some fantastic people, Thai and Farang (tourists), especially at Jikko’s Bar in the centre of town. If you go to Pai go to this bar, the cocktails are cheap and delicious and the family who run it are great. If you are looking for something a little more mad head to Ting Tong just over the main bridge. The owner is quite literally crazy (ting tong in Thai). Everything else in Pai closes at midnight and the only place that stays open is a little strip of bars just outside the town, which is great as you get the best of both worlds. You can party the night away or get a well earned nights rest.

Our last day we drove through the countryside passing elephants on morning strolls down the road, to hot springs (literally like taking a hot bath), waterfalls, bizarre hill tribe villages and generally soaked up as much of Pai as we could. We sat in a jazzy live bar and had our portraits done by this talented Thai cartoonist before heading back to our place to light a lantern and watch it drift into the star filled night sky, ahhh…perfect Pai!

Pai to Koh Phan Gnan

The next few days were crazy and a bit of a blur, we drove down to Chiang Mai then caught the overnight train to Bangkok, had a day wondering round busy Chatuchak market, MBK and Siam Paragon before catching another overnight train to Surat Thani, caught a bus to the pier then a boat to the island…phew! More on Koh Pahn Gnan next blog….

Pier in Koh Yao Yai

Koh Yao Yai

Heute morgen und kurz nach 5:30 Uhr klingelte umbarmherzig der Wecker. Zeit, mein kleines Paradies der Ruhe und Entspannung zu verlassen.

Koh Yao Yai ich komme wieder mit oder ohne Ehemann oder Couple… Was auch immer. Meine Thaiboys waren so reizend zu mir. Paddelten mich durch Mangrovenwälder, fuhren mit mir zum Büffelrodeo und liesen mich in der Hängematte ruhen ohne permanent nach einem Drink zu fragen. Nicht zu letzt der tägliches Essenstipp von Nop, der fast perfekt Englisch sprach, sich aber über meine Aufenthalte im Internet wunderte.

Zeit mein kleines Paradies zu verlassen – sehr traurig, aber es riefen noch Railey, Sukhothai und Chang Mai.

Nach einem oppulenten Frühstück mit zwei Croissants (was haben Croissants in Thailand verloren?) gings zum Pier. Wie schon bei meiner Ankunft war ich der einzige Tourist. Das Boot nach Krabi war schon voll, aber da noch die Hälfte der Passagiere, die den sonntäglichen Ausflug nach Krabi machen wollte, noch nicht an Board war, kam wenige Minuten noch ein weiteres Boot.  Wieder ein Holzboot – aber es schwamm bestens im Wasser. Nach 1 Stunde 15 Minuten waren wir dann auch in Krabi angekommen. Irgendwo wieder in the middle of nowhere.

Ein Minivan (wir saßen gequetscht zu mindestens 30 in dem offenen Gefährt) sollte die Rettung gen Krabi Town sein. Schuljungs, Mütter, mit ihren Kindern, sogar eine ganze Familie waren unterwegs und eine weitere Touristin. Und weil hier der überwiegende Teil der Bevölkerung Muslime sind, tragen natürlich alle Frauen Kopftuch. Ich auch, aber mehr um die Haare zu bändigen, als irgendwelche Glaubensvorstellungen offen kund zu tun.

Nach 30 Minuten kamen wir dann auch am Busbahnhof von Krabi an. Und ich immer noch ohne einen blassen Schimmer, wo ich die Nacht verbingen sollte. Aber – und das ist das gute an Busbahnhöfen. Es gibt irgendwie immer ein Reisebüro um die Ecke. Ein Holländer und seine Thai-Ehefrau betrieben ein solches. Meine Rettung quasi. Vor Aufregung hatte ich vollkommen vergessen meine Schuhe auszuziehen.

Monkeys getting frisky at the Chang Mai Zoo and Aquarium.

Off we go!!! It is finally time, we have said our farewells, packed our bags (10 times!!) and finally combated Sophie’s fear of flying. Sunday night we leave our beloved London with BA and head for sunny Bangkok. We have a whirlwind of a tour this time and hopefully a few new places and faces along the way.

We are off to do a bit of research for our new furniture business, as well as exploring Northern Thailand by motorbike and then heading down South for a well earned rest and party. We are super excited to be joined by Oli, Robin, George, Elly and Tommy for New Years 2010 on Phi Phi island. Anyone else up for a massive New Years celebration come on and enjoy the fun!!!

If you want to come visit, send us an email or a facebook and we will let you know where we can meet up.

Our planned route is Bangkok – Chiang Mai – Pai – Mae Hong Song – Koh Phan Gnan (East Coast) – Koh Chang (mini one) – Ao Nang – Phi Phi – Koa Sok National Park – Haad Rin – Bangkok plus possibly Koh Lanta, Hat Yai and Koh Muk…

So check back for snippets of our adventures weekly,

all our love, see you soon!!

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I’m tired, I slept like 2am this morning and woke up at 8am. Drank a cup of strong coffee and I still feel restless. I need a walk after blogging.

There are just a few things I have to take note of:

1. I need to get my visa asap right after I finish my course.
2. Monday I have to go to the school where I will be working soon. Need to have the proper outfit.
3. Book a ticket to Laos for a trip at the end of the month.
4. Shop this weekend, not only for myself but also for my friends.
5. Look for a new apartment on Monday, I need to move in near Rama III.
6. Discover more of Bangkok.
7. Plan a trip to Chang Mai, Phuket, Cambodia and Vietnam just to relax before the year ends.
8. And yes! I was able to do it for a week now, and hopefully to be more independent in a foreign country by my own. It’s pretty hard you know!

Oh darn! I have to get ready now, I am really excited to go to the park. wheheheh!!!!

See you later!

Welcome to same.same we are currently constructing our new web space, however there are all ready some new pages up and running. Please follow the tabs at the top to find what you are after. We have some new and exciting ideas since going on our trip. It has inspired us greatly and we are using our initiative and design skills to fund our trip over to Thailand where we be setting up base as exporters. Taking the very best and often yet to be found products that Thailand has to offer, be it  T-shirts, accessories or furniture. We will find the very best for the best price!

Currently we are focusing on setting up our links with potential customers as well as producing a range of our own art pieces and furniture, which we will be selling at exceptional prices to get us on our way.

If you want anymore info whether it be on our products or if you are heading to Thailand and you want advice, send us an email and we will be more than happy to help:

claudiahutson@btinternet.com

We have transfered from our old blog to our brand new website – however just in case you were wondering what we had been up to over the last year here it is…you might want to start from the bottom…

THE FINAL ADVENTURE Ok so after a few more days relaxing with the pup and enjoying chilled out Lanta, Lek and Malay, (who owned the place we were staying at and became good friends of ours) were kind enough to drive us all the way to Hat Yai. It was a new take on stopping at a service station – stopping by the side of the road at a shack and having ant soup – literally whole ants and their eggs… surprisingly tasty! Anyway it was an adventure and so kind of them to take us, as soon as we arrived however Claudia and I were whisked away by private taxi to the Malaysian border… surreal stepping into a country for 2 seconds, but it got us the free visa we needed… When we returned to Hat Yai we knocked for Lek and George and were treated to a night out on the town, I think we almost ate Hat Yai itself with the amount of food Lek kindly bought us! Weird and wonderful dishes, flavours I couldn’t have dreamt of!

We sadly said our goodbyes to Lek the next morning, we were so thankful for her kindness to us, she treated us like family and we will always remember her and the family! A long journey – mini van, coach, boat, sangthaw….and we were back!!! Koh Pan Gnan was ours for 10 days – and we embraced it!! Over the week we built up a fabulous crew of people to party with – firstly Mariane, Claudia and Emily joined us, then Juliet, India, Dominique and Hamish…then we met a few others along the way…Dana and Graham in particular, our lovely neighbourghs…. there was a nice big group of us, and everyone was fabulous and fun, we spent our days by the pool, or biking around the island or lazing in lazyhouse! In the evening we rocked it out into the early hours, good memories of mushroom mountain night, never laughed so much before!! Dancing on the beach like duracell bunnies, buckets in hand!! Drink before you go out as the buckets sold on stalls are a rip off.

Over the course of the week the island got busier and busier and the energy was growing every day, by the time it hit full moon party everyone was amped! We spent the begining of the night consuming many a beverage and painting ourselves up, then hitting the beach and enjoying the madness that is full moon party… great night and dancing till the sun rose with thousands of people in a good mood, is definitely the way to party!

A day to recover and reflect and sadly we were on our way to Bangkok, luckily we went out with a bang enjoying the Thai new year – Song Kran (huge continuous water fight, all day and night) which was a blast and plenty of shopping whilst avoiding the riots that were going on…we were fine, although did keep ending up a little to close for comfort whilst on tuk tuk journeys! We sadly had to say goodbye to our friends and Thailand…it really was heart breaking and we almost didn’t get on the plane! I don’t think this is the end of it…we’ll be back soon!!

KOH LANTA WE LOVE YOU Ok so it’s been 2 weeks and we are still here, we can’t leave and we now call this place home – we found a great palce to stay were the owners have welcomed us here with open arms. Every night they let us try some of the strangest and tasty meals – bitter wild mushrooms, pepper beans, pigs tongue, asian jelly, mini mangoes…you name it we have tried it! Also they have been teaching us to cook these wacky and wild dishes…as well as letting us cook whatever we like, it has been nice to have a kitchen. We also set up a little pancake stall one day outside the front and did a great job of cooking, advertising and… eating the pancakes! We learnt from scratch how to pick, cut open and remove the insides of a coconut. Much harder than you would imagine.

Half way through we were joined by Oli and George, two close friends from London, it was nice to have a familiar face about and we did some nights out on the beach drinking buckets and buckets literally. We made a visit to the market and bought tones of prawns, squid and fish and cooked up a magnificent feast for us and the owners! As well as singing the night away with guitar and harmonicas in hand, we think they enjoyed it…

A few days were spent exploring the island on motorbikes – riding over dirt tracks to the national park where we were literally attacked by monkeys…they nicked our food and didn’t like the look of Claud in particular…she ran for her life! The beach was worth it and the amazing view from the bar we stopped at on the way back was exceptionally stunning!

Sadly we had to say our goodbyes to Oli but George is still with us and we are chilling out here before heading off to Koh Pan Gnan to finish off our trip with a bang!

Last but not least Sophie has fallen madly in love with the owners chihuaha called ‘Pizza’, they are very rarely seen apart and Claudia is expressing some jealousy all ready…

KOH PHI PHI – KOH LANTA So our first few nights in Koh Phi Phi we spent in a gorgeous but noisy hut literally in the beach bar!! So we embraced and partied through the night and passed out on the beach or in our room in the day! We then found a fab new room, far from the noise, and with a bathroom which literally looked like a jungle, it truly was like being at one with nature!! It’s definitely the way to shower! The people were crazy and great and we enjoyed chilling out with them and the other people staying there…

Some nights we partied on the beach, some on the roof top bar…and made a lot of new Thai, Swedish, Finnish friends….We had a little adventure kayaking around the island and stopping off in little bays that were just crazily beautiful! And we gave in and decided to do a group tour of another island which was actually great fun: kayaking, snorkeling with the most bizarre fish, the famous ‘Beach’ from the movie, and then dinner on the boat as the sunset…and an added bonus there was an incredible storm over the ocean as we headed back to the main land!

Koh Phi Phi and the people were great to us and it was sad to say goodbye, but we are now in peaceful Koh Lanta, exploring and adventuring!!

KOH PHANGAN – KOH LANTA Since we have done a lot we are just going to write small snippets of what we have done to give you an idea of the crazy journey we have been on…

Koh Pang: Drove around the island for 2 days – first day by quad bike, to a “waterfall” it was acctually a trickle…but we had hope and climbed for 2 hours yes that was 2 hours!! no water in mid day heat…to find more trickle!!!!!!!! Lets just say the view from the top was good, even better was the 2 gallons of water we consumed at the bottom of the blooming mountain! Second day we took motorbikes and rode to beaches, saw elephants and ended up at a nice thai food fair…yum yum!

Koh Samui: Hmmm…more Koh Poohui!! Busy, smelly, building packed together, everythign you don’t need or want in paradise…plus the L.A / Ibiza wannabes showing off in ridiculously tight bathing suits, seriously put it away!! So we escaped on motorbikes and drove around the entire island…stopped off at beaches, another slightly better waterfall, fishing village, big buddah and decided to be bad and had a Mc Donalds…don’t judge us, we havent had western food for like 2 months!! Yet the best bit of Koh Samui was still to come that evening….knock knock….on our door…’hello who is it?’….oh great a crazy phsyco on the other side of the door!! they jsut kept knocking and saying nothing then they started to try and unlock the door, we held it shut and grabbed weapons (spray cans and snorkel tube!) and they acctually managed to unlock the door and we panicked pushed it shut and then nothing…they were gone and we hearrd nothing more!!

Railay: Nice room, beach by day, coffee shack (looking over the sea, read books)… bars by night, met and partied with some good thai people! Bad hangover, evil buckets!!! Saw lots of monkeys…LOTS!!! we fed some and even came accross a whole family in the jungle, with an adorable bright orange baby!! Great adventure…lagoon treck, literally rock climbing (vertical drops) through the jungle, no equipment but you reach the most gorgeous lagoon!!

Phi Phi: We are here! Yay! Lovely place…a lot has changed but it is still great, and we were treated to the most incredibly loud and intensley powerful thunder storm! Scary but amazing….

KOH TAO – KOH PAHNGAN Well it’s been a little while and we have packed a lot in…the rest of Koh Tao we spent visiting different beaches, view points and of course restaurants! Oh yeah Claudia almost got attacked by a monkey in Koh Tao – it was huge and on the back of a bike, we went to look at it and it literally almost gauged her eyes out! Never seen anyone so scared before!! Relaxed and prepared for a week of partying in Koh Phan Gan! The boat ride over was gorgeous, calm seas and perfect weather. We arrived and booked into our little bungalow and went to enjoy the sun by the pool. Lots has happened while we have been here:

> First night beach and a mad pool party – watched some fire throwing on the beach with a bucket of alcohol, headed to the pool party with a random entourage of people who followed us there – lots of dancing and meeting new and bizarre people!

> Spending lots of time by the pool or on the beach in the day listening to good music, enjoying fresh fruit shakes and reading lots of good books.

> Valentine’s Day – great meal – seafood platter, everything you could imagine from the sea barbecued to perfection! Followed by lots of dancing on the beach – fireworks, lanterns, fire dancing!

> Half moon party! blooming amazing, party in the middle of the jungle, loads of great people, U.V. everywhere you look, the best fire dancing we have ever seen! Great music and partying into the night! Managed to get home at 4am…

All in all Koh Phan Gan has been good to us…next stop Koh Samui!!

VANG VIENG – VIENTIANNE Last few days in Laos were perfect, sun, tubing, good cheap food, music and fun…We hung out a lot with the Sakurah girls JoJo and Amy and bid them a fond farewell before we headed off…destination Vientianne(the capital of laos) which is on the border of thailand. We had a supprisingly quick journey and ended up in this bizarre place. We spent the next couple of days at the Thai embassy and it took 4 hours to hand in and pay for our 2 month visas, but at least it will mean we wont have to do any border runs. It only cost 20 pounds which is not to bad. It is so annoying now they have changed the law – if you travel into Thailand by plane you get 30 days but if you go by land you only get 15 days so if we wanted to spend 2 months there we would have to do about 3 visa runs….

Vientianne is not the most inspiring of places, quite unappealing in terms of architecture and not much to do – as you would normally find in a capital city, so we wanted to leave there and get down south as soon as poss….

So visas in hand we literally travelled for days…travel to Bangkok stayed for the day (swimming pool and stocked up on some retail therapy) and then more travel to get down south….so all in all 48 hours of travelling, no sleep!! But we are here now and it is beautiful…koh tao, it really is such a gorgeous little island. We found a great place to stay, its got its own little beach at the end of the long beach and its this great fancy hut on stilts, we managed to haggle the price down to half as we said we are staying till next wednesday…so we are paying 600 baht a night instead of 1200… the people are really nice who own it and they help out with anything and the food is ridiculously cheap and amazingly fresh, so in all we are paying 3 pound a night each for this luxury place in the perfect location and to make it even better meals are about 80p its a pretty quiet island as most people who come here go scuba diving, so they are all out in the day and then to tired to go out at night, its so nice and relaxed and just what we needed after 4 days of pretty much no sleep…

LUANG PROBANG – VANG VIENG Our last days in Luang Probang we spent exploring the town and around, we went to see the pak ou caves but enjoyed the journey there more than the acctual caves!! fun dirt track, passed 3 elephants on the way, life is bizarre here! Good food and night markets rounded off our Luang visit….

Following a not so long but equally as bumpy and beautiful journey through Laos we reached Vang Vieng. We have been here 5 days now and staying till sunday…we’ve met some great people to enjoy the night life with, they are all a bit mad and we have steered clear of sharing that mad concoctions in their buckets! I had a fantastic birthday, tubing down the river and we went to a bar where we had made some friends the night before and they had made me a birthday cake and the whole bar sang happy birthday! was a perfect day!

The day that folloiwed was not so relaxing, (except for the lovely cycle there) we will keep the memories in our minds for a long time….PITCH BLACK CAVE!!! crazy weird Laos tour guide….40 minutes trek in the dark with a measily flash light…finally reach this so called lagoon…not what you are picturing, it is a massive pool completely dark, freezing, sat in a dingy…and the guy thought it was hilarious to turn off the flashlight….we didnt stay long, lets say I think he got the hint we werent really enjoying the horror…just imagine The Descent…we lived it! 40 minutes stumbling trek out of our worst nightmare…(yet we laugh now) we reached daylight….evening partying away the madness and more sunbathing and here we are half way through our Vang Vieng visit….

The sun is shining, the river is fantstic, good cheap food, always something to do, even if it is just sunbathing in a hamock over the river…the scenery around us is fab! We really recomend a visit!! Much cheaper than luang probang also…

CHANG MAI – LUANG PROBANG Our second night in Chang Mai we were joined by Marianna and friends and it was great to see a familiar face and to go out with someone who knew what was going on. We did some partying in good bars with some locals – crazy thai guy who said sophie looked like his fish….nice! also went to this place which was massive and had a great live thai band on. Chatted and danced with locals and had a good couple of days.

Next stop was Chang Rai – a slightly smaller town than Chang Rai, we found a great guest house tucked away, did some more drinking- this time in at tipee bar- the decor was hmmm…mental, music was hmmm…80’s and it was a good chilled out night. After a days rest by the pool and a trip to the night market for some food from the stalls for 20p we said our farewells to the last of our buddies…

The next couple of days involved a loooottt of travelling – chang mai to chang kong to huay xai a very bizarre non existent town (but we had a great meal here where we bar b q our own fish!) then to Luang probang – killer bus journey ( was supposed to be 10 hours….actually 13 but worth it) the views were amazing and the villages we went through were unbelievably basic and incredible to see…we were on a local bus by the way, traveling also with about 20 bags of rice, 15 or so locals, a chicken, some small birds and a puppy. Definitely a journey to remember.

Luang Probang is stunning, the people friendly, the food very good but less spicy than thai. By the way Laos coffee….5 stars!! We had a perfect day eating by the Mekong river, mopeding to waterfalls and generally loving Laos….2 more days then off to Vang Vieng for some tubing!

BANGKOK – CHANG MAI We had a good flight over, and stayed a night in bangkok, we ate yummy pad thai and went to the bar which looks over the city, which was beautiful and even though the cocktails cost a lot but its worth one for the view!! after a few more bars we slept off our jet lag and then did an mbk center stop quickly to pick up some bits and bobs and then headed in a mad mans tuk tuk to the train station…

chang mai is a good place for shopping at the night market – much is the same as you would find in bangkok but cheaper – food stalls are good and a bargain!! the city is very relaxed and a good base for doing trecks etc…we have mainly been enjoying some sunshine, eating and drinking and meeting some people this evening which will be nice to see a familiar face!!

CHANGE OF PLANS ALLREADY!! we have decided after a long chat about what we really want to do, that we are going to skip vietnam this trip, and instead after laos head straight to the south so we get the best of the sunshine and can relax a bit more and not keep rushing around, as we want to have time to settle into places a bit more, so our new plan is, laos over the next 2 weeks – down to the west side on the south thai islands then do a weekend in malaysia to renew our visa, then up the east side of south thailand, head towards cambodia to do a week trip to see the main sights (again renew our visas) – then head back to bangkok via koh chang and koh samet!

so thats if so far, having fun but tired of city life and looking forward to realxing a bit more by the river!!!

THE PLAN We are almost on our way! Claudia is so excited, just blooming look at her face!!! Ahhh what am I letting myself in for, spending 3 months trapped with this nut job!

Flights are booked and it is official South East Asia here we come. Instead of writing about a million of the same email to everyone letting you know all how we are doing, we figured it is a much better option to have this blog which we will try to oupdate weekly with news and photos of our adventures! 
 
For now the official date we are leaving is – 11th January! We are going to figure out a rough plan outlining where abouts we will be and when, so if anyone fancys visitng us along the way, just send us an email and we can sort something out!!

YVETTE D. GAYLE
VP Publicity for Interscope/Geffen/A&M Records

Yvette D. Gayle

SISTER SWAN

1. What are you working on right now?
50 Cent, Keri Hilson, and a stable of new up and coming R&B, Hip Hop, and Pop/Rock artists

2. What book(s) are you reading?
Put Your Dreams First: HYEB. It’s inspiring ☺.

I have a 3 year old and am addicted to buying him books. So this week we are reading The Lazy Lion, Hungry Hyena and Laughing Giraffe by Mwenye Hadithi & Adrienne Kennaway.

My favorite books are: Celestine Prophecy, Tuesdays With Morrie and A Pilot’s Wife.

3. Share something you do for work that’s harder than it looks.
The RED CARPET – folks think it is such a glamorous thing and you just show up and saunter down the press line and your celebrity gets covered. What about the tough times you show up with a client that no one wants to talk to. You run around like a maniac pulling all the “favors” you can. It can be quite embarrassing for you and for the artist especially if no one is interested. Artists often want to walk the red carpet before they actually should be walking the carpet. You have to be newsworthy to be deemed important to talk to but everyone wants to be in the mix. Publicists often have to juggle several clients at once. We try to give them particular times to show up but most of the time they run late and more than one shows up at once. That’s horrific. It’s impossible to clone myself and make everyone feel like they are the most important artist. But that’s a big part of my job.

4. Describe a moment of sweet vindication.
When folks think my artist is down and out and they actually come out swinging and shut all the haters up.

5. What’s the most dangerous aspect of the waters you navigate?
When the beef between artists turns to the streets it can get a little heavy. Traveling on the road with 14 men in bullet proof vests always seemed to raise the “Are You Crazy” eyebrows from friends and family but oddly enough I felt more comfortable on the road doing what I do best.

6. Name two places you call home.
A Business Class Flight (it’s the only place folks can’t track you down). My actual home as I try to create a separate space where work doesn’t infiltrate.

7. Who are your influences?
I’d have to say that Yvette Noel-Schure and Miguel Baguer have been the biggest influences in my career. They gave me my first job at Columbia 15 years ago. Yikes. I wanted to be just like them and tried to be a great publicist just like them.

8. What is your favorite creative food?
My husband and I took a Thai cooking class in Chang Mai, Thailand a few years
ago. I’d say the Red Curry Duck is the most creative thing I can make. It’s
delicious!

9. What is your guilty pleasure?
Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Nous sommes allés dans une ferme à éléphants à 1h de route de Chiang Mai; c’était génial. Ce que nous avons fait et vu
- un spectacle d’éléphants
- une ballade à dos d’éléphant
- une ballade dans une charette tirée par des ox
- du “rafting” sur un radeau en bambou (c’était une descente calme de rivière)
- ferme à papillion et orchidées
Avant de parler de cette journée, j’aimerais mettre vos connaissances à jour sur les les éléphants (je sais, je sais, vous êtes déjà experts en matière d’éléphants et votre chaîne préférée c’est Arte. D’ailleurs vous êtes de ceux qui regardent “pêche et tradition” tard le soir pour se détendre). Nous avons vu des éléphants d’Asie, différents des éléphants d’Afrique, ils sont plus petit environ 3 mètre à 3,5 mètres, mais ils ont une tête plus grande et des oreilles plus petites. Notre bien aimé guide a toute de suite tiré les conclusions: les éléphants d’Asie sont plus intelligents…(rires jaunes…(à comprendre au sens propre) au passage vous pouvez remercier mon papa pour mon humour, c’est lui qui m’a tout appris, j’ai une petite larme de fièrté au coin de l’oeil). Un éléphanteau reste 2 ans dans le ventre de sa mère et reste à ses côtés encore 2 ans avant le seuvrage. Un éléphant consomme 250kg de nourriture par jour ( banane, canne à sucre, etc) et bois 150 litres d’eau. Ayant une peau très sensible il se roule dans la terre pour se protéger des parasites et grâce à ses oreilles parcourues par un système sanguin important, il se rafraîchit en les agitant. Un éléphant d’Asie peut vivre jusqu’à 100 ans, en Thaïlande l’éléphant est un animal très respecté; il y a environ 5000 éléphants actuellement en Thailande. Dans la religion bouddhiste, un éléphant blanc aurait aidé Bouddha durant sa jeunesse en lui apportant de la nourriture alors qu’il s’était retiré du monde pour prier et méditer en hermite.  Voilà en gros pour les faits.
Sur les photos vous voyez des  éléphants à gogo, j’ai été assez impressionné par le numéro où un éléphant peint. Jusqu’ici on n’a jamais prouvé qu’un éléphant avait une sensibilité artistique, donc les photos où vous voyez une peinture est l’oeuvre d’un éléphant qui aurait mémorisé l’ensemble des traits pour reproduire cette image. Impressionnant.
Après les avoir nourrit et avoir été aspergés d’eau par leurs trompes, on est monté dessus. C’est haut… Et ça tangue beaucoup. Je n’ai pas encore le terme technique, je dirai simplement que j’avais “le mal d’éléphant” (comprendre: j’avais envie de vomir au bout de 5 min, sachant que ca en a duré 45). Les éléphants sont vraiment des animaux majestueux et attachants, j’ai du littéralement, avec l’aide d’autres touristes, emmener Marion de force hors de ce parc, elle a comme projet ” d’adopter” un éléphanteau, parce que “c’est mignon, c’est trooooop mignon” mais ça pèse déjà 100kg.
La suite a été des plus tranquilles, Marion à failli nous couler en dirigeant le radeau, les orchidées sont incroyables (regarder bien l’image elle n’a pas été retouchée, on y verrait une abeille à l’intérieur), et pour la fin je me suis fait attaquer par un papillon. Très féroce en plus! Siiiiiiiiii !

It’s Monday, my 6th day in Thailand, and I’m currently in Chang Mai, a small city in the North. So much has happened! First of all, my arrival in Thailand… Placing my sand-worn sandals on the white spotless tiles of Bangkok’s arrival hall felt like stepping into the worldly embodiment of a sterilised heaven. From the dusty, decrepit, small excuse for an airport in Kolkata, exuding India’s usual mixture of chaos, randomness and lack of courtesy, into the Westernised Walhalla that is Bangkok. The bliss didn’t last long.

After two hours on the public bus (there are a multitude of faster, more comfortable options available to get into town, I’m just one of those people) I arrived at Th Khao San, Banglamphu, Bangkok’s main traveller’s hang-out. According to the guide. Their was pop music of yesteryear blaring through overworked speakers, there were money changers, tourist agencies, hostels, cloth stands, 7-11’s. 7-11’s? My God. What have I done? And I saw tourists. REAL tourists. Just imagine the type of people you see in one of those large bland beach cafes in what-used-to-be Spain; crappy music playing in the background, a pool table lounged on by 20-year old boys (with acne-scarred faces), posers lying stretched out over chairs with their boobs hanging out, just ’soaking up the atmosphere’. What atmosphere? Then it dawned on me. Oh no. I had joined the masses, and I even paid for the privilege.

But life goes on. After some hiking I found a hostel far away enough from Tourist Hell to make my stay sort of bearable. I was lucky enough that my room had a window and the bathroom (a toilet with a showerhead placed over it) was shared with only 20 other people on the floor. Yay. For dinner I tried one of those cheap Thai street-stalls frequented by other tourists (I don’t think I’ll be able to use the word ‘traveller’ again for a while, I just can’t). That was my downfall, if you exclude the decision to come to Thailand in the first place that is. The next day I woke up feeling as if the life had been sucked out of my body. The little bit that was left came out during my first toilet visit that day, there were many more to come. Call it a case of travellers diarrhoea, but I think that’s an understatement. I could barely walk for three days and saw nothing more of Bangkok than the four walls of my room, which were about 1 metre apart, and the toilet bowl.

Somehow I was stupid enough to buy a ticket-out-of-here, during one of my better phases, and took a sleeper train to Chang Mai on Friday, three days after I arrived. I can’t remember how I managed to get on the train, I just remember lying awake in my bed, trying to ignore the pungent smells seeping through the open window and clasping my stomach with both my hands, hoping the pain would go away. I met quite a few people on the way, who all urged me to go to the doctor and get on antibiotics, apparently four days of non-stop travellers diarrhoea (it’s not like the home-grown stuff, believe me) is not okay. I was in the hospital the same day I arrived and got myself sorted with a five day course of ciprofloxacin. Would you believe they were made in India? Since then things have gotten better. I was very proud this morning to see that I had produced something which seemed to resemble a solid poo. After producing it three more times within the next hour the novelty value decreased very quickly however.

I still feel the vibe in Thailand doesn’t suit my personality very well. I’m not a party person, I don’t like stupid music, and I can’t play pool. All this ease and comfort (read: travel agencies, 7-11’s, and a nation catering almost entirely to the tourist dollar), and then the crowd here… I’ve not yet found a common ground, and I’m really afraid that things will be similar in Laos. Nevertheless I’ll try to make my way up there quickly. There must be some authenticity left in Laos? I don’t miss India, I know I’ll be back there in a few weeks, but I miss the vibe. It has to be said that it’s a relief to be able to walk around freely without having to protect yourself from stares, hassle or sexual offence. At the same time, however, the trip in Thailand so far really feels like a ‘holiday’. What I’m after is an exploration, a challenge, finding yourself through deep inner struggles… If I wanted a holiday I would have gone to bloody Cornwall. But never mind, I’ll have to create my own inner struggles I suppose. And I have to update soon about my last few days in India, which where so amazing! Until soon…

Thailand is known as the land of smiles, which is amazing considering the traffic jams in Bangkok. For budget travelers, Thailand simply can’t beat on price alone.

Thailand

Thailand is an odd mix of contrasts. It can be extremely stressful while trying to get around in Bangkok and gloriously relaxing while laying on practically any of the beaches that populate the coast of the country. Regardless of the situation, the Thais have a habit and custom or smiling regardless of what you ask or how you ask it.

Beaches

The beaches of Thailand need no introduction. Used as the setting for hundreds of movies, they come in a variety of styles. The beaches of Phuket and Phi Phi fall along the lines of traditional beach resort areas like you might find in a place such as Cancun, Mexico or Tamarindo, Costa Rica. On the other end of the scale, you can find more rustic beach areas in places like the island of Ko Chang where you’ll have a few beach bungalows, a couple of bars and one or two stores. If you’re looking for a little of both styles, just ask around.

Da North

Infatuated with the beach life, many people fail to head up country when in Thailand. This is a mistake as the north is the host to such locations as the city of Chang Mai, the Summer Palace of the King of Thailand and interesting little villages. For the outdoor enthusiasts, rafting, hiking and mountain biking are very popular and widely available.

Prices

If you’re on a budget, Thailand is a perfect travel destination. For some reason, flights to Thailand are particularly cheap with my recent flight on Korean Airlines running roughly $650 round trip. Once in country, your money will go a long, long way.

I think a note of caution is need at this point. Please beware. If you decide to take a trip to Thailand, you won’t want to come back to your native country. You will, however, definitely come back to Thailand!

Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com – makers of travel journals. Visit NomadJournalTrips.com to read more articles about Thailand travel and Adventure Travel.

[tags]thailand, phi phi, ko change, phuket, beaches, chang mai, land of smiles, cancun, tamarindo[/tags]

Chang Mai is the largest city in the north of Thailand and well worth a trip. In many ways, Chang Mai is similar to Bangkok, but without the mass of people.

Chang Mai

Chang Mai is perhaps the most serene big city I have ever had the privilege of visiting. Located at the foot of a large mountain, the city nicely meshes older areas with modern conveniences. Serene Buddhist temples stand only a few blocks from bustling universities. Much of the city can be walked, but moped rentals are cheap and plentiful. Street markets are common, but the hustle and bustle of Bangkok is not.

The night market is perhaps the most noted thing about Chang Mai. Located in the eastern side of the city, the night market runs about a mile down the length of street dwarfed by malls, restaurants, stores selling art and spas. The stalls on the side of the road tend to sell cheap touristy products, but you should check them out anyway to sample some of the food items. Thais seem to take great humor from cooking anything they can get their hands on so long as they can gross out the tourist. Yep, you can munch on fried roaches, spiders, crickets and so on. For a good laugh, one can hang out around the stalls and watch tourist try the delicacies. It’s like the show Fear Factor without the washboard stomachs and breast implants.

To find the “good stuff” at the night market, you should head off the street and up into the open air malls. As you move towards the back of the malls, the quality of the products goes up dramatically. You’ll find artist not only hocking their wares, but also creating them before your eyes. There is some serious talent in the back of those malls.

If silk is your material of choice, Chang Mai is a good place to purchase it in bulk. Do not buy it at the night market. Instead, ask your hotel for a recommendation to a shop. Prices are low, but quality is high.

Traveler’s Tip

Guidebooks will tell you the best way to get to Chang Mai is to take an overnight train from Bangkok. Liars! Flying domestically in Thailand is very cheap. A one-way flight from Bangkok to Chang Mai will run you about $40US. There is no need to book ahead. Just walk into the airport in Bangkok and buy a ticket on the spot.

If you prefer to spend the night in a bunk on a train, knock yourself out. Just keep in mind Thais tend to have smaller body masses than Westerners. Much smaller.

Of all the cities in Thailand, Chang Mai is my favorite. Yes, even more so than Bangkok.

Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com – makers of travel journals. Visit NomadJournalTrips.com to read more articles about Thailand travel and Adventure Travel.

[tags]thailand, chang mai, night market, bangkok, thais, buddhist temples, silk, street markets[/tags]

Bangkok

We spent around 20 hours traveling. Have you ever spent that much sitting on a damn plane.
Mother of God.

Oh Bangkok is awesome. Except I am sweating like a Puta.
And Monks are cool.
Next up:
A 14 Hour train ride to Chang Mai.
Double Mother of God.

We have crossed over into Thailand and made our way to Chang Mai in the north of the country.  This is one of the premier climbing destinations in south east Asia, and it shows.  The people who have developed this area have poured bucket loads of effort into the place.  Clear paths pick the way through the forest while beautifully illustrated signs show the way to each crag.  Bamboo shelters provide resting places and somewhere to store kit while climbing at the bottom of each cliff face. And the climbing itself is beautiful.

Verony enjoys the climbing at Chang Mai

There is quite a range to choose from – long easy slabs; short, pumpy routes; technical, crimpy walls; and multipitches inside a massive cave.  We spent more than a week here exploring the different areas. There are dozens and while we were there we heard of more being developed.
It was a place where everyone managed to push their grades. If we had been able to get more sleep at nights, we probably could have done even more.  Unfortunately, we had to share our campsite with around 300 Thai boy and girl scouts who were woken at 5am by loud whistling and a man shouting into a microphone.

Danny commits to the dyno at the Anthill

The late night come-by-yah around the bonfire, however, was a riot.  All the troops took a part while the scout leader sang into the microphone, pointing at each of the troops in turn when it came to their part in the sing along.  It seemed that one group of girls had the job of simply screaming at the top of their lungs.
Still, I am climbing more confidently at the end of Chang Mai thanks to the style of climbing here.  It is limestone sport climbing at its very best. Compared to other destinations in Thailand, this area does not suffer from the problem of polish that afflicts many.  As the traffic on the routes and popularity of this area increases, however, this may change.