Last leg

For my whole time travelling so far,  meeting Alex in Siem Reap, Cambodia has always been a distant reality and the last leg before home. Now that I'm here, with only 5 weeks to go it still doesn't quite seem real that I don't need to organise myself enough to arrive somewhere at the same time as someone else or that I only have a little over a month left. Having said that, planning my next step has always been a seed for my excitement that has grown and grown until the dates upon me, and planning my way home is in no way an anomaly in the pattern. I'm loving every second out here, but can't help myself dreaming of home! 

Back to Bangkok

It's not often that our route takes us through the same city twice, but comin back to Bangkok felt like coming home in a wierd way. Getting off the bus and marching through the tuk tuk and taxi drivers looking to rip off the fresh supply of tourists we cofidently strode down the road that we were sure we knew before getting into a slight cufufle when it was taking a little longer than expected. We then realised we had gone the opposite direction and gingerly crept back past the tuk tuks and taxis who we had shunned aside a few moments before! 

For both me and Bunny, La and Gabs, Bangkok was only a pitstop on our way to our next destination. For the other three it was the islands south of Bangkok, for me it was cambodia to meet Alex in Siem Reap. 

So with a sentimental goodbye, I was waved off by the girls and left Bangkok, only to be returning in a few weeks time for my flight home! 

Wonderful Kanchanaburi!

Bunny had persuaded us to come here even though it wasn't one of the top places in our Lonely Planet guide, but it proved absolutely worth it and is definitely one of my favourite places so far. With a abundance of stunning scenery, enough WW2 history to keep us teary for days and markets galore we were easily kept busy and entertained. 

We organised a day trip to take us to the main attractions in and around the town. Starting with the beautiful seven tiered Erawan Falls we wallowed in clear pools, our dead skin being effectively nibbled of by not so small fish, and luckily left before the crowds swarmed in. Next stop was the infamous Death Railway, which needless to say caused a little dabbing of the eyes. The horrendous atrocities brought upon the allied POWs and many others by the Japanese in an attempt to connect Thailand and Burma by rail during which more tha 100,000 lives were lost. Although the 415km line was completed in an astonishing 16 months, the Allies destroyed the bridge 1945. After visiting the museum and learning a basic set of facts each, we were equiped for a brief disscusion on the subject for the short train journey along the railway to. We also visited an area in which the POWs had to dig 20ft through rock bare handed in order to connect a part of the railway and the Hellfire Pass Memorial as well as the cave which posed as a makeshift hospital for the prisoners which still has a very eerie sense about it.  

Although our tour ended there, we also wanted to visit and pay our respects to te fallen soldiers at the Allied War Cemetery where the tears again were being fought back. The combination of graves saying 'an Allied Soldier, Known Unto God' and the personal messages on the named graves together made an emotional but unforgettable experience. 

On a slightly lighter note, Kanchanaburi did also have other things on offer to brighten the emotional drained tourists! The night maket offered everything - clothes and food to knuckle dusters and pets - which proved entertaining as Lara tried to haggle the price of a hamster. The streets by day were laden with stalls selling fresh fruits and street food and by night little bars came alive with bright lights and live music. 

Why this lovely town isn't a top recommendation by the Lonely Planet remains a mystery to me! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIANCA!!

Our last full day together was also Biancas 19th so there was no reason not to celebrate! Kicking off the day with white water rafting and washing elephants was such fun and very refreshing in the heat, while chilling on our roof top with an abundance of party food and cheesy music was bliss! Happy birthday B! 

Ayuthaya

After various complications with travel arrangements and a train journey extending from the expected 6 hours to long14 hours, we finally arrived in Ayuthaya. On an island isolated by three rivers, the fabled but fallen city clearly once flourished but the attraction now is the ruined temples scared by Burmese attacks. In a rush to cram as much of Thailand in as possible, we only had a day planned here so instead of taking bicycles around the town, we opted for a tuk tuk. We managed to squeeze in most of the Wats and Pagodas and a few Buddahs before jumping into a minivan to take us to Kanchanaburi. 

Trek with the Eles!!

For the past two days we have been walking through the jungle learning about herbal remmodies, where to find water and what plants we can and can't eat. We arrived at our camp and couldnt wait to clamber aboard the many elephants that freely roamed around the camp. We all sat on their necks with out a mahout and directed them where to take us which usually wasn't where we had tried to get to! It was lucky we did this before washing them as while we walked behind the elephants, all with their mahouts on top, to the rivet, one decided she didn't want a bath shook her man off and plodded home, scaring us all just enough to decide we'd ridden them enough for one day! We were pleased to see the elephants all very well looked after and loved dearly by their mahouts and were happy to hear that the elephant that shook the man off her back was being taken to the river not by her mahout which made her nervous so she ran home to where her man was! The trek also included a walk to a fairly impressive waterfall and white water rafting in which the novelty wore off quite quickly! By the end of the trip we were all happy to enjoy drinks and party food on our roof terrace to celebrate Biancas birthday!

Cooking....again....Thai Style!!

Having already tried out Nepalese momos and some Myanmar dishes I decided it was time for some thai cooking. This time we learnt to make a green curry, tom yum soup and our favourite street food dish so far, Pad Thai. Although most of us missed out the amount of chillis in the recipe for our tummies sake, we've learnt all about the various other spices and secret ingredients includi those crunchy inedible bits that are all about the flavour but us English get laughed for trying to tackle anyway! By the end of the day we were definitely well fed as we layes out our freshly prepared banquet along the table....DEEELICIOUSS!!

Chang Mai

After spending a few too many days in Bangkok, we were all relieved to take the night train to Chang Mai. Although it's still quite a large city, the day trip just outside to the surrounding countryside to cuddle tigers and kiss snakes has made this trip already a huge success! Let alone with the trek tomorrow to the elephants and waterfalls that we still have to come!

Bangkok

While the sights in Bangkok were a good day trip, its hard to compare it to anything Bianca and I had previously seen in Burma, none the less we have had a lovely time seeing the Grand Palace and various other temples and sights around town. Needless to say however, being a group of 6 girls, the wonderful extensive markets were always going to be the biggest draw!

And so to Thailand!

After an absolutely wonderful 3 weeks in Burma, we are now moving on to Bangkok to meet Harriet, Gaby, Lara and Bunny.

Mandalay

We only had a short stay planned for Mandalay this time as we had stopped over previously, but unfortunately we had been ill. We didn't want to miss anythin though, so we picked out the Teak Wood Bridge and the Golden Buddah to get up early to see before leaving to go on to Thailand that day. Although we had to wake up at 4:30am, the sunrise over the river with monks walking across to get their breakfast and the huge golden Buddah that is now deformed due to the sheer amount of gold leaf layered on by worshipping buddists absolutely made it worth our while!

Cooking Myanmar Style

After tasting all the delicious food along our travels through Myanmar, Bianca and I decided we had better try cooking things up for ourselves! We found a lovely little course near Inle Lake and booked ourselves onto it. Turning up at a little village house with an outdoor kitchen sheltered by bamboo was bliss enough, but being the only two doing the course made it so much better! We learnt how to make fish curry, vegetable curry, a classic Myanmar tomato salad (which has been our favourite dish so far so we were thrilled to learn the secret ingredients!), lettuce root salad and pea leaf salad all of which, if I say so myself, were delicious! Just to top off the day with an absolutely adorable family, they had two little fluff balls of puppies which we ended up spending hours playing with!

Bagan

After expecting a big city filled with tourists and their big cameras, we were thrilled with the dotted villages that separated the small towns of old and new Bagan. Our hotel sat in between the two towns and had panoramic views from the swimming pool of the expanse of thousands of temples and pagodas that filled the Bagan area. With temples piled on top of each other, it is impossible to look anywhere without having an eye-full of some sort of amazing intricate architecture inspired by one culture or another that kings dating back centuries had loved and brought over. The whole experience was awe inspiring and other than the scorching heat I would love to have stayed as long as i possibly could!