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Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia

a travel blog by chrischarly

This passage will be our longest one and it will be during our time in SE Asia visiting Malaysia, The Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, proabaly in this order before flying to Australia towards the end of September. Unfortunately we've run out of time to go to Burma and Vietnam... maybe next time!
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Railay Firedancing

Railay, Thailand


Our longtail boat

Waiting for more passengers for Railay

Feeling quite a lot better this morning, we decided it was time to venture to Railay (or Rai Leh), an isolated beach area a boat ride away from Krabi. We went to the long-tail boat harbour at 11am and had to wait until there were 6 passengers, about 90 minutes. But it was nice to just sit and watch the world go by.


Captain

On our longtail boat Krabi to Railay


Charly struggling up the steps to our bungalow
We took the boat along the coast and came up to East Railay with amazing limestone cliffs surrounding a very mediocre beach.

Nice view from beach
We disembarked and took a walk along to the end and up some steep steps to find Railay Garden View resort. Chris had already researched and found this place on the web with great reviews. Chris went to have a look and the chalets were nice but they wanted 600Baht (£12) a night for them. Chris, using his best skills, managed to negotiate them down to 350Baht (£7) which was within our budget.


Beach at low tide

Mudflats and mangroves


Long Tail Boats on East Railay

Very scenic


Cliffs around the Beach at East Railay

Interesting new boat?!


High tide

High tide


An American couple who also took a chalet joined us and we all went out later for dinner and to watch the 11.30pm fire dance that actually started at 1.30am.


The whole stage on fire!


firedance

Still performing the fire dance even though it's raining

It was awesome and we all had a great night.


permalink written by  chrischarly on July 2, 2011 from Railay, Thailand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Beautiful Thailand!

Railay, Thailand


Going for a swim
After getting in a 2am and then messing around on the computer for a while we didn’t wake up until 12.00.
We then wandered out for some brunch and then over to Phra Nang Cave beach.
The beach was amazing with warm, clear water and beautiful scenery all around.
I was completely ‘Wowed’ by the sheer beauty of this beach.
We spent the afternoon chilling then went back for a few hours before going out for some scrummy Thai food.


Cute monkeys

A monkey about to rip down the posters


The walk to the beach

So beautiful here



Perfect beach

Amazing beach!


Enjoying a swim

Lovely beach




permalink written by  chrischarly on July 3, 2011 from Railay, Thailand
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Back to Krabi to go to Koh Lanta

Krabi, Thailand


The ferry
Today we sadly left Railay as it was so lovely here, but we wanted to find somewhere a little less touristy but equally as nice for Chris’ birthday tomorrow, so headed to Koh Lanta. We took a long tail boat from Railay to Krabi but it dropped us off somewhere different to where we took the long tail boat a couple of days ago.

A ferry like the one we were on
As it wasn’t high tide, we had to wade through the mud and the sea, which at points I sank almost to my knees in the mud, so I was drenched by the time we walked to the edge. Not exactly ideal for the start of the journey. When we booked the transfer to Koh Lanta, the lady told us that once we got off the boat, a mini bus would be waiting for us to take us straight there.

Enjoying a nice Chang beer
This of course wasn’t the case and thinking about it, transport is never that simple, efficient, and easy in Asia! We were picked up by a mini bus, but only to take us to an office on the outskirts of Krabi.

Happy days
There we sat for 30 mins before being told we needed to get on a pickup truck to another office in town. We then waited at office number two for 1 hour before departing, this did mean Chris had time to go to buy some rolls and cheese and made lovely cheese rolls.

A frog outside our door
Eventually after the minibus left, it took about 2 hours including 2 car Ferry crossings to get to Koh Lanta and the lovely Long Beach Chalets.

Long beach on Koh Lanta
We then took a walk down to the beach about 5 minutes’ walk away and although it wasn’t as nice as Railay, we had it practically to ourselves apart from 4 other travellers walking by, so was great!


permalink written by  chrischarly on July 5, 2011 from Krabi, Thailand
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!!

Ko Lanta, Thailand


Chris' birthday present from the staff
Chris’ birthday! Chris had a great day today especially loving the fact that I was practically his personal slave for the day unable to say no to him today as the response would be, ‘It is my birthday though’…

Chris and I in the pool
No, I’m only joking, it was a fantastic day! We got up, had breakfast and everyone say ‘Happy Birthday’ to him and the staff gave him a decorated flower piece, which was really pretty, and a great touch.


Enjoying a nice swim

Nice handstand Chris!


Happy Chris

Blinded by the sun


Our pretty towels

Wondering how our tapas lunch could be this expensive!

Then they gave us a lift to another resort, which had a swimming pool so we chilled out there for a while before having a small tapas lunch before walking back to our place on Long Beach. It was a mission of a walk as we underestimated just how far it was, we had to climb over rocks for ½ an hour before we finally came to the beach.


Having a break midway on the rocks

Camp Chris


Chris' birthday cake

Enjoying white wine out of a tumbler with ice, nice!

At the end of the walk every part of our bodies were sweating so we jumped straight into the sea, which is in fact warm so didn’t cool us down a great deal but it helped! We then went back, showered and found some gin, tonic and wine to have with our special Surprise dinner cooked by the 3 Mum’s of the place, who sang Chris a 'Happy Birthday' for the 2nd time today...


Us about to go to dinner

Chris and I


Eating durian for dessert

Enjoying a G&T


Chris happy with all the food in front of him

Chris happily tucking into some crab

Perfect day, but unfortunately we ran out of time for Chris to have his massage, but can save that for tomorrow!



permalink written by  chrischarly on July 6, 2011 from Ko Lanta, Thailand
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Exploring Koh Lanta and Chris' painful massage from a tiny Thai lady!!

Ko Lanta, Thailand


Us on our nice pink bike

A beach we had a break at

Today we got up and hired a scooter for the day to drive around Koh Lanta. It was a lovely hot day so perfect to be on the bike!


Matching helmets!!

Hot and thankful to stop for a quick coke


Terminal Point

Terminal Point (the most southern point in Koh Lanta)

Chris really did looked funny though in his pink helmet that was too small for his head, driving on a cute pink bike! But he was still happy and loved riding around!


Taking a photo of us riding along

In Asia you can do anything with a moped!

When we came back, Chris quickly showered and headed of for his Thai massage. About 1½ hours later he returned, feeling so sorry for himself, having never had one before and didn’t realise it was more like GBH than a massage he has had before! I actually felt quite sorry for him as he said he had to stop himself from screaming pretty much throughout it all! I’m glad I gave it a miss!

permalink written by  chrischarly on July 7, 2011 from Ko Lanta, Thailand
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Bye Koh Lanta and Hello Trang!

Trang, Thailand


One of the chalets

The restaurant

Long Beach Chalets' reception
Today we left Long Beach Chalets in Koh Lanta, which was a shame as we loved this place, the staff and pretty much everything about the place! But time to get backpacking again and back to being on a budget!

Trang clock tower
So we made our way to Trang to optimistically get straight on a train to Bangkok.

Boy happily sitting in the back of a pick-up
The trains were completely full so we decided to just spend the night in Trang and catch the train tomorrow evening. So we looked around and found somewhere really cheap to stay for about £2.50 a night!


Our budget room

Our very small double bed

But it was a shock to the system having staying in luxury for the past 3 nights! We were really glad we did though as we found an amazing night market with some delicious street food that was remarkably cheap and very local compared to the touristy food we have been munching on recently, so we were delighted!


Awesome meat stand

Tasty sausages!

Chris enjoying his soup

A market stall brought on a moped
Chris was quite in his element trying weird and wonderful treats and we spent ages walking up and down, up and down!

But we came back to find another lodger in our room, who wasn't very welcome...


Our new lodger

permalink written by  chrischarly on July 8, 2011 from Trang, Thailand
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Over-night train journey...

Surat Thani, Thailand


Kung-fu panda eyes Chris

Cramped in a seat for 1 to watch a film

We woke up, checked out, had some nice lunch, wasted a few hours in a coffee bar with free Wi-Fi and then headed to the train station at 5pm for our overnight train to Bangkok. At the station the night market was just starting to get going so we got lots of tasty treats to eat on the train. The train journey was in fact really comfortable but we both had top bunks to sleep on, which normally would be fine as you get more privacy that way. However, for security reasons they kept the lights on all night so it was really REALLY bright, so pretty irritating, but apart from that, great journey!

The train

The strange cafe on the train

permalink written by  chrischarly on July 9, 2011 from Surat Thani, Thailand
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An exhausting first day in the bustling Bangkok

Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand


Waiting for the underground
After an ok’ish night’s sleep we arrived in Bangkok. Chris was adamant not to stay in the backpackers area of Khao San Road so we ended up getting the metro to Lumpini, where we searched out a guestHouse and found a nice one with AC for 400 Baht (£8).

The super-fast and scary escalators
We got ourselves showered then headed off to see the weekend market at Chatuchack. At the hotel they told us a taxi should be 120Bahtr, but when we got in we soon found out it was going to be more like 190Baht, by the time the driver

Chris enjoying an authentic kebab
realised we didn’t want to go for that much he kindly said sorry and let us out, just short of the metro station, result!

Tasty prawns
We took the nice AC metro for 40Baht each all the way to the market. It was huge with over 10’000 stalls and probably 10x as many people.

Karaoke in the market
We strolled around for a few hours savouring some nice food and soaking up the atmosphere, whilst also soaking in sweat.

The underground
It soon became too much and feeling tired from the night on the train we decided to head home. We made it back to the guest House and ended up having some yummy Thai noodle soup before crashing out for the night.

Long queue for the tickets
Charly was very annoying and kept 1) demanding that the AC was turned down and 2) stealing the duvet. Chris did not have a good night…….

permalink written by  chrischarly on July 10, 2011 from Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand
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Cheap transport

Bangkok, Thailand


A water-monitor lizard in the middle of Bangkok???
Today we woke and went for a walk around a huge park near where we are staying. For a massive city such as Bangkok, it was a nice find.

Walking along avoiding the main streets
We then tried to find our way to the sky train but it wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be and ended up bumping into a local who gave us some friendly advice on the cheapest way to Siam Square.

The nice park
He advised we take a tuk tuk for half the price, so optimistically we went to haggle one, the driver having none of our suggested price so the local bargained for us, stopping off briefly to pick up a free map on the way.

The nice park
We then walked around Siam Square for ages until the heat became too much.

Manic Bangkok
We then tried to negotiate a tuk tuk back home and worked out that if you agreed to let the driver take you to a shop and you walk around inside of it for a minimum of 7 minutes he gets a great commission and only charges you 30p for a 40 minute drive home! Bargain!

Chris really blending in with the locals
So that’s what we did!

Stationary in the middle of Bangkok traffic
Well it was all great until he broke down in the outside lane of a 4 laned highway and Chris had to push us for a while.

Chris pushing the tuk tuk
So we ended up walking the rest of the way and didn’t pay anything! So we think we have got travelling finally sussed in Bangkok!

permalink written by  chrischarly on July 11, 2011 from Bangkok, Thailand
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Crazy Asia

Bangkok, Thailand


Chinatown
As there is just so much to see in Bangkok so we again went for a walk around, first catching the underground into China Town where we walked around and around in circles, well so it felt anyway.

Locals drying chillis which are the pigeon's dinner
Then we walked to the India quarter and it was amazing just how much it did resemble India.

Room for a small one
In China Town there were just markets everywhere down tiny alleyways and we were just totally overwhelmed by it all.

Market alley
You just had sections that seemed to last forever with the market-stall holders selling exactly the same things, or more accurately, junk.

Market alley
One section would be handbags, and for about a 20 shops in a row this was pretty much all they sold, well with a couple of food stands in amongst them, then a HUGE sections selling girly things, like bracelets and hair accessories.

Woman who kept abusing Chris with Peacock feathers
Then a huge section of florists, jewellery, chillies, you name it; it was probably there in the masses.

Crazy market alley
However, saying that, you could probably walk around for miles and miles but most of the items sold were so random and the shops so compact you wouldn’t know where to start!

Pretty flowers
We just had no idea at all why they couldn’t spread themselves out so they weren’t selling the same as their neighbours?

Outside one of the many florists
It was just crazy!

Chillis
We have also learnt a lot about Asia, and I know this is pretty much the same in the whole continent when it comes to markets and cities especially…



It all got a bit much for this guy too!

It all got a bit too much

1. As mentioned above with every shop in a mile radius selling the same stuff
2. You can never walk in a straight line, whether its avoiding pedestrians, pedestrians carrying what you believe to be ridiculously impossible as the item is so huge, or anything with wheels, and this includes motorbikes, driving down a tiny alleyway you think only 1 person walking can fit down.
3. Every one of your senses is either abused or fulfilled every second of the day.
4. People are continuously shopping, shopping shopping! Every shop seems to be full of customers and you have no idea where they came from!
5. Nobody ever stops eating.
6. You sum up whether it is more dangerous to either walk on the road with all the traffic or on the pavement, which is so uneven, wobbly, and with tons of holes you can fall down.


permalink written by  chrischarly on July 12, 2011 from Bangkok, Thailand
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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