Auckland, New Zealand</h1> <article> <h1>Auckland, New Zealand</h1> <p>Thu, 11 Apr 2019 10:30:00 +1200</p> Quite a good flight with a shorter flight time of 10 1/2 hours. Managed to sleep for 5 - 6 hours which helps. Home by lunchtime.<p><br/>Chiang Mai cushion covers</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>The kid in the hat is turning 50!</p> </article> <article> <h1>Bangkok, Thailand</h1> <p>Wed, 10 Apr 2019 18:20:00 +0700</p> Breakfast at the hotel, shopping at Central Plaza then back to the hotel to pack. Rob and Risa insisted on driving us to the airport which took almost an hour. As there was no parking available they had to drop us off and the do the return trip which probably took them more than an hour. We were able to check in straight away then had quite a long wait until boarding and take off.<p><br/>Airport parking</p><p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Bangkok, Thailand</h1> <p>Tue, 09 Apr 2019 14:20:00 +0700</p> We had a three hour drive back to the chaos that is Bangkok today. Along the way many towns are now preparing for the King’s coronation with yellow flags and bunting. We had a late lunch and a look around Terminal 21 shopping centre before checking back into Stay Hotel. Dinner at a restaurant in town town Bangkok and some after dinner drinks and music at Apoteka.<p><br/>Those power lines!</p><p><br/>Coronation decoration</p><p><br/>Last cocktail</p> </article> <article> <h1>Kanchanaburi, Thailand</h1> <p>Mon, 08 Apr 2019 17:10:00 +0700</p> This morning we walked along the road to the bridge over the River Kwai. There were people all over the bridge and they quickly had to move to lay-bys on the side of the bridge when the train came through. Once the train had passed by the bridge became a footbridge again. We walked across to the other side and back. After walking the bridge we visited the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre that provides an interactive history of the Thailand-Burma Railway which was built by the Japanese during WWII. Approximately 61000 Allied prisoners of war and between 180000 and 250000 Southeast Asian civilians were used as forced labour. Due to the terrible conditions over 12000 Allied POWs and an estimated 90000 Southeast Asian civilians died during the 16 month construction period earning the railway the nickname Death Railway. There is a POW cemetery over the road from the Centre. After the end of the war bodies were moved from numerous cemeteries along the railroad and reinterred in three cemeteries, two in Thailand, one in Burma (Myanmar) which are maintained jointly by the Allied countries. There are no cemeteries for the Southeast Asian civilians. All records regarding their deaths and burials were destroyed by the Japanese. We then drove out to the countryside to visit a Thai historical village. You could pay extra to hire period costume. We didn’t do this but there were lots of locals who did taking selfies. The staff were also in period costume performing common tasks like grinding rice, weaving cloth etc. You could purchase old fashioned currency to buy food or gifts in the village. It was really interesting but mostly outdoors in the unbearable heat. We had a late lunch, riverboat ride and a rest before dinner at a new modern restaurant a few doors down. There were more staff than guests, all standing around in orange t-shirts like an army or Oompah Loompahs. They were almost unfriendly, even with Risa.<p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>Party Barge</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>POW cemetery</p><p></p><p><br/>Rickshaws at historic village</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>Rice paddy</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>River Kwai sunset</p><p><br/>Oompah Lumpahs</p> </article> <article> <h1>Kanchanaburi, Thailand</h1> <p>Sun, 07 Apr 2019 12:10:00 +0700</p> </article> <article> <h1>Ayutthaya, Thailand</h1> <p>Sat, 06 Apr 2019 17:40:00 +0700</p> We were on the road early this morning for the long drive south to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand. The driving in Thailand is quite uneventful compared to Laos. Unless you are purposefully driving through small villages, the roads are at least two lanes wide each way, sometimes as many as four lanes each way with a parking and cycle lane as well. Much better inter-city access than in NZ. The air quality is improving too with smog around the horizon and blue sky directly above. The land is mostly flat. In some areas the rice crop is well underway. We also saw pineapples and sugar cane growing. The sugar cane is taken to local processing plants and at times you see truck after truck loaded up with sugar cane on its way to processing. We turned off the main road into a village for a lunch stop alongside the Ping River. At some point this river feeds into the larger Chao Phraya river which runs through Bangkok. The food was delicious. The Tom Yum was very spicy and really caught the back of my throat. The hotel in Ayutthaya is the best we have stayed in yet. Only 8-10 rooms set in a beautiful lush garden beside a water lily filled stream. Opportunity for stopping to take photos is limited on the big roads. Some taken from car are ok except for the power lines.<p><br/>Sugar Cane load</p><p><br/>Ping River</p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>Karst Mountains</p><p></p><p><br/>Outdoor shower</p><p><br/>Accomodation</p><p><br/>Water lily stream. Lillies were mostly shut when we arrived as they like full sun.</p><p></p><p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Chiang Mai, Thailand</h1> <p>Fri, 05 Apr 2019 03:00:00 +0700</p> This morning we drove into the mountains out of Chiang Mai to see Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, one of the most important and sacred temples in northern Thailand. The temple was founded in 1383 and has been renovated and expanded many times. On arrival there is a small market where stalls have a variety of Thai souvenirs, food and charms or offerings for sale. To visit the temple you have to climb some very steep stairs that are boreded by ornate multi headed water snakes. At the top we had to remove our shoes. Risa bought us all flowers and candles to pay respect at the golden pagoda at the centre of the temple complex. This is done after you walk around the pagoda three times, clockwise. Risa takes the religion very seriously. She will press her hands together and bow whenever we pass a temple or shrine. After we left the temple we drove further up into the hill to a look out but we couldn’t even see the city due to the smoky smog which is very bad this year. The smog is caused by fires, some wildfires and some intentionally lit to clear land. On the way back down the hill we stopped at a mountain village and shopped at the market where they had a selection of handcrafts and food, both fresh and dried. Back in town we had a late lunch. Steve and Rob’s beer came served in ceramic coffee mugs as it cannot be served in branded bottles between 2pm and 5pm when school children are passing by. <p><br/>Part of city wall</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>Old City Moat</p><p><br/>Decoration for Songkram Festival, Thai New Year, which starts next weekend</p> </article> <article> <h1>Chiang Mai, Thailand</h1> <p>Thu, 04 Apr 2019 12:20:00 +0700</p> Chiang Mai is the largest city in northern Thailand. It was founded in 1286. The old city is surrounded by a moat and the remains of the city wall can be seen when driving around the old city. Our hotel is a small privately owned one, 100% improvement on the dive in Uttaradit. There is a very fat vocal cat called Muffin. We had cocktails at the Hard Rock Cafe as Risa wanted to add to her Hard Rock Cafe T-Shirt collection. Dinner was at an extremely large noisy restaurant on the river.<p><br/>i Lanna Hotel</p><p></p><p><br/>Chinese Temple Chiang Mai</p><p><br/>Hard Rock Cafe</p> </article> <article> <h1>Uttaradit, Thailand</h1> <p>Wed, 03 Apr 2019 18:30:00 +0700</p> This morning we drove to the border to leave Laos and re-enter Thailand. We than had a very long drive across Thailand en-route to Chiang Mai. The country side was mostly flatter than what we had seen in Laos and the roads much better. Rob had hoped to find overnight accommodation to break the trip up, in the national park area. He had not pre booked accommodation as he wasn’t sure how far we would travel. This proved to be a mistake as there may well have been accommodation slightly off the main road but all the signs were in Thai and Risa was hellbent on getting to a city called Uttaradit. We arrived at Uttaradit about 5:30 and drove about trying to find accommodation. All the good hotels were booked so we ended up at the Sunee Boutique Hotel which cost the equivalent of $25 per night. Rob said it was the first time he’d paid $25 for a hotel room and felt he’d paid too much. It was pretty grim. We did have a lovely meal at a riverside restaurant.<p><br/>Dinner at riverside restaurant</p><p><br/>Temple in the mountains</p><p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Vientiane, Laos</h1> <p>Tue, 02 Apr 2019 01:10:00 +0700</p> <p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Vientiane, Laos</h1> <p>Mon, 01 Apr 2019 18:20:00 +0700</p> Today we drove back to Vientiane. After the rather scary ride up the incomplete new road on the way up we decided to drive back using the old road. This route was also very mountainous. Although very windy, the road was not so extreme but was in quite poor condition in many places. The route is more scenic than the other route but again visibility was poor. We drove through many tiny villages where we saw people washing both clothes and themselves at the village water spout. In some villages this was just a water pipe than ran from the mountain into the gutter while other villages had a concreted area a bit like an outdoor shower. In many places the tiny houses are perched on the very edge of the hillside. Once we had passed the half way point at Vang Vieng we thought we might be able to speed up a bit but there were a lot of big trucks on the road. Some of these are transporting food and goods but a great number are to do with the construction of a railway from China through Laos and into Vietnam. There will eventually be over 400km of this railway through Laos and it is really leaving a scar across the countryside. Large areas of land are being cleared not just for the railway itself but for access, site works and worker accommodation. The last part of the journey into Vientiane was in the dark and was quite treacherous and many of the scooters and farm vehicles do not use lights. Driving is on the right in Laos, which Rob was used to after driving in Kazachstan but his car is a left hand drive so Steve, who was sitting in the front on the centre line, was having to let him know when it was clear to pass. The entire trip we averaged less than 40km per hour. We checked in to a different hotel a few blocks away from the previous one and had a quick dinner of spring rolls, green curry and rice.<p><br/>Railway construction</p><p></p><p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Luang Prabang, Laos</h1> <p>Sun, 31 Mar 2019 07:40:00 +0700</p> This morning we drove to the Pak Ou caves just north of Luang Prabang. The drive took 45 minutes. The tour companies in town offer a morning trip to the caves going via slow boat down the Mekong. The trip takes two hours each way. We had to get a boat across the river then climbed to the higher of the two caves high above the river. We were followed the entire way up the steep stairs by children trying to sell us tiny fish in plastic bags or small birds in little bamboo cages for the equivalent of $1 USD. If you bought them you could release them. The upper cave was quite deep while to lower one was just a shallow indentation into the hill. Both caves had numerous Buddha statues placed around the walls of the caves and people can buy flowers and candles to leave at the shrines. Back in town we had a light lunch then left Rob and Risa, who were going to get another massage, to walk back to the hotel. It was stinking hot. We had dinner in the same restaurant we went to last night which is owned by a Brit and his Lao wife. </article> <article> <h1>Luang Prabang, Laos</h1> <p>Sat, 30 Mar 2019 17:40:00 +0700</p> Wow what a drive! 7.5 hours to travel 350kms. Everything from cows, pigs, cats and dogs, children, motorbikes, cars and trucks leaping out in front of us. For the first part of the journey, leaving Vientiane, there was village after village to get through all selling a variety of produce, bamboo goods and, surprisingly, inflatable plastic pools. Unlike in Thailand, the road was just one lane travelling in each direction. You could get stuck behind large trucks, utes transporting people or animals or bicycles laden down with cargo. Until the midway point the landscape was very flat and the pasture was greener than in Thailand. Once we left Vang Vieng the landscape changed and we began the climb, through and over, very dramatic mountains to Luang Prabang. We passes several places where large areas of land were being burnt off. The whole region is shrouded in haze so that the sky is grey, the sun looks like it is trying to escape clouds and visibility is very bad. In some places large pieces of black soot was falling on the car. The road was full of giant pot holes and people overtake on blind bends and in front on oncoming traffic like they have a death wish. As we climbed further into the mountains I looked back expecting a view but I couldn’t see the bottom of the valley for the haze. Approaching the highest point, the road was unsealed and was just a clay surface which even the Everest appeared to be struggling with. There were no safety barriers on any of the sharp bends and descent wasn’t much better. It was quite a relief to get down to the bottom of the valley again. In some areas near the river the rice crop was well underway and it was a very bright green. The hotel is right on the river which, at this point, is a tributary of the Mekong. We were welcomed with a fruit platter and banana smoothie then shown to our rooms. We ate some beautiful food at a restaurant just down the road then finished up with a cocktail at a riverside bar called Utopia where we sat alongside a group of kiwi guys who had just flown in for a motorbike trip.<p></p><p><br/>Rice paddy</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>Burn off</p><p><br/>Hazy view</p><p><br/>Lao village houses</p><p><br/>Dragon fruit, papaya and melon</p><p><br/>Kittens at the restaurant where we had dinner</p> </article> <article> <h1>Vientiane, Laos</h1> <p>Fri, 29 Mar 2019 08:10:00 +0700</p> This morning we had breakfast in a French cafe. Breakfast set including bacon and scrambled eggs, baguette, croissant and jam with freshly squeezed orange juice and latte $10. After breakfast we took a drive around the city. We stopped at the Victory Monument which was built in the 1960s and dedicated to those who fought in the war of independence from France. It is built in Laos style with gateways on each of the four sides. The gateways are decorated with mythical Laos statues. The interior domed ceiling is painted with frescoes. Staircases leading up to a viewing deck seven stories up are located in two of the towers. Plans were made for lifts to be installed in 2010 but due to lack of funds installation and completion of the monument decoration remains unfinished. Due to the temperature we decided not to do the seven story climb to the top. We stopped for a light lunch at an outdoor cafe on the banks of the Mekong where we could look across to Thailand. After lunch we had a massage. The cost for an hour long massage for two was $37. Risa asked for gentle massage but the girls have very bony elbows and knees so at times it was a bit sore. At 6pm we walked to the night market and walked through stalls selling the usual cheap sunglasses, handbags, phone accessories, etc. Ate dinner at restaurant with some live music. Grilled chicken, sticky rice in a bamboo tube and green papaya salad with a chilli kick.<p><br/>Victory Monument</p><p><br/>Mosaics at temple</p><p><br/>Irish pubs are everywhere</p><p><br/>Temple near hotel</p><p><br/>A brand from home</p><p><br/>Elephant statue made from china cups, plates and spoons</p><p><br/>China statue</p><p><br/>Ceiling frescoes, Victory Monument</p><p><br/>Laos Larb, not as spicy as the Thai version</p> </article> <article> <h1>Vientiane, Laos</h1> <p>Thu, 28 Mar 2019 19:30:00 +0700</p> Today we drove from Ban Duan Yai to Vien Tiane. We left just before 8am and arrived at the hotel at 7:30pm. We had several stops for coffee and food then a longer stop to renew the vehicle passport which, Risa discovered en route, had expired last May. This involved a stop at a government office, similar to NZTA, where Risa was issued with a number. We sat and waited for the number to come up then Risa filed the paperwork and was given another number. When the second number came up we were able to retrieve the renewed passport and get on our way. The next stops were for immigration controls to leave Thailand and enter Laos. Forms to be completed in both places for both the car and passengers. On arrival in Laos however, it was discovered that Risa’s passport had not been stamped when leaving Thailand so she couldn’t enter Laos. Rob and Risa had to drive back across the Thailand-Laos Friendship Bridge to get Risa’s passport stamped. We completed our entry visa application forms while waiting. The next issue was finding our hotel. Three of us had Thai SIM cards which were no longer working in Laos. Steve was able to connect and navigate us to the hotel which is in a tiny lane in the downtown area. The hotel says parking is available and we managed to squeeze into the last available parking space thereby blocking in the people who arrived earlier. After checkin we had to remove our shoes and leave them in cubbyholes under the stair case and walk up to our rooms which are on the top floor. Thankfully it is only a three story building. We had a quick shower then headed out for a meal at the first restaurant we can to. It offered quite up market European style food which was good after 4-5 days of Thai food. The bed is like concrete. <p><br/>Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge border</p><p><br/>Packed ready for the roadtrip</p><p><br/>Sunset over Mekong River</p><p><br/>Green October</p><p><br/>Burnt Bamboo Cheesecake</p> </article> <article> <h1>Sisaket, Thailand</h1> <p>Wed, 27 Mar 2019 17:20:00 +0000</p> Woke again to the chanting monk but managed to go back to sleep today. At 7am woke to drumming from the local primary school. Later we heard the drummers going through the village, Rob thinks for some ceremony at the temple. For lunch we drove to a floating raft restaurant on the Mun River (pronounced moon). A series of rafts with barrel floats and tent like roofs are roped together reaching out into the river. The idea is to sit cross legged on mats on the raft with the food placed in the middle. Not particularly comfortable if you’re not used to sitting on the floor. The food included a lot of seafood, some of it raw, which Steve and I were reluctant to eat given the long car trip ahead of us tomorrow. Also on offer were black eggs, also known as century eggs. These are a delicacy. The eggs are preserved in a mixture of clay, ash,salt, quicklime and rice husks for several weeks to several months. Through the process the yolk becomes a dark green to grey colour with a creamy consistency and strong flavour. The white turns into a dark brown jelly. These didn’t look appealing at all and also have a strong smell. I think Risa was a bit disappointed we didn’t try them but Rob didn’t either and he had tried them before so I’m guessing we were right to decline. We stayed in tonight as early start tomorrow for our drive to Laos.<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>Parking!</p><p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Sisaket, Thailand</h1> <p>Tue, 26 Mar 2019 17:20:00 +0000</p> Was woken at 5:30am by the local head monk delivering a chant of some kind via loud speaker across the village. This goes on for about half an hour an ends with him reading out a list of family names and the amount of baht they have donated. Friends of Rob and Risa’s arrived mid morning. They had been to Cambodia (approx 100km south) to renew Martin’s 30 day visa. It is more difficult to take the car across into Cambodia but they could leave their vehicle in Thailand and walk a short distance to a town where there was an immigration office. They brought a durian with them. These are large fruit with a gnarly exterior which are considered a delicacy. They smell really bad and we had seen signs banning them from public transport and hotels when in Singapore. Rob won’t allow durian in the house so it was left in the outdoor kitchen while we went into town. First stop in town was the local immigration office. We were granted a 30 day tourist visa on arrival at the airport but at each place you stay, in Bangkok it was the hotel, you are asked for your passport so that they can notify the authorities where you are staying. There was quite a queue at the office when we arrived so we were asked to come back later. We went to lunch at a restaurant owned by a school friend of Risa’s. All delicious dishes. Risa loves fish and last night every dish was fish but today, as well as a whole deep fried fish, there was pork larb, just like at Zap, and a green papaya salad. They ordered two dishes of the salad, one tourist strength chilli and the other local strength chilli. Even Risa said that she found the local one very spicy. Afterwards we returned to the immigration office to update our location and came away with a piece of paper stapled in our passports ‘Have received notification of Alien’s address from Glenda Sharon Baillie who notify ther residence where Aliens have stayed as .....’ Surprisingly there was no charge. In the evening we went to the local out door BBQ restaurant. Food that you cook yourself in a steamboat with a raised section for grilling is purchased by the kilo. The selection included finely sliced pork, livers, salmon, squid, chicken feet, vermicelli noodles, eggs (boiled quail eggs and raw eggs), mushrooms, cabbage and herbs. A charcoal BBQ is set in the middle of the table and the mounded grill plate, with a moat like rim for the broth, is placed on top. A chuck of pork skin is place at the top of the grill first to grease it then you place the different meats on it to cook. The vegetables, noodles and eggs are cooked in the broth. A very tasty meal which worked out at NZD 6 per head including drinks. The left overs, including the broth, were taken home for Risa’s parents dogs.<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Sisaket, Thailand</h1> <p>Mon, 25 Mar 2019 17:20:00 +0000</p> Today we drove from Bangkok to Ban Duan Yai village near Sisaket in North East Thailand. The drive was over 500kms but comfortable enough in Rob’s Ford Everest. We passed numerous old trucks, heavily loaded with sugar cane being transported to the processing plant. Ban Duan Yai is Risa’s home village. Rob and Risa have built a new home on family land. We arrived around 4:30 then headed for dinner in Sisaket.<p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>Bags like large t-bags protect the growing fruit from birds and insects</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br/>Lotus flower</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p> </article> <article> <h1>Bangkok, Thailand</h1> <p>Sun, 24 Mar 2019 05:00:00 +0700</p> Woke about 5am. Hotel is called Stay Hotel and is the one Rob and Risa use when in Bangkok. It is a bit out of the way but as we’re only here for two nights and have been to Bangkok before it is fine. Room configuration is quite odd with the toilet and shower in separate opaque safety glass cubicles in the corner of the room, with the shower just over half a metre away from my side of the bed. Breakfast buffet included in room fee offers fruit, cereals and toast, eggs cooked anyway and curry, noodles and fried rice. After breakfast we caught a taxi to the river and had a long-boat ride along the river and down one the the canals. The river is filthy with all sorts of rubbish floating in it. We got off at Wat Arun. The Wat is covered in tiny pieces of shell and porcelain like mosaics. There are also tiny bells hung around the eaves that jingle in the breeze coming off the river. We had a walk through a small market where there were lots of scrawny cats and kittens. We crossed to the other side of the river and visited Wat Pho where the golden reclining Buddha is housed. Today is Election Day. It is the first time since military rule took over in 2011 that there has been an election so turnout is expected to be high. Over 50 million are eligible to vote. Of those there are 7 million first time eligible voters. Due to the election no alcohol can be purchased until after 6 pm. Maybe they think that if people are under the influence they may not vote the same way as they would if unimpaired? Anyway Steve tried to buy some at the local store but, unlike in Rarotonga, the girls would not bend the rules. I suspect the consequences here would be significantly more severe! Back at the hotel we had a nap to compensate for the early start then walked down the road for lunch. A meal combo including a coke, two dumplings and a dish of rice and stir fried pork cost equivalent of $6. For some reason one of the staff was wearing a Santa hat?! We spent some time at the pool this afternoon while waiting for Rob and Risa to arrive then went into town for dinner and some live music at Apoteka.<p><br/>Toilet and shower</p><p><br/>Wat Arun</p><p></p><p><br/>Reclining Buddha</p> </article> <article> <h1>Bangkok</h1> <p>Sat, 23 Mar 2019 20:10:00 +0700</p> 11+ hour flight from Auckland to Bangkok. No gate available for plane. Buses to transport passengers to terminal. Took over 30 minutes from time the flight landed to get to the terminal but Immigration and customs was very quick. Got a local SIM card for my phone then took a 30-40 minute taxi ride to the hotel. Got to bed at about 10:30pm local time (4:30am NZ) </article> </main></body></html>