The Best and Worst of Asia

As we prepare to say goodbye to Asia tonight - madly trying to squash all our purchases into our backpacks - we thought we'd do a final web entry to sum up our impressions of the four countries we've ventured through. A bit of a best and worst list if you like before we board the plane to Budapest where the beer is expensive and the showers are hot. You see, there's good and bad everywhere you go, and we certainly won't miss the cold showers of Asia.
Thailand: As you know, our first and last stop was Thailand and we spent a total two months checking it out from Chiang Khong in the north to Kho Pha Ngan in the south. Thailand's food has to be mentioned under the "best" category - the Pad Thai, amazing curries, fresh fruit shakes and noodle soups. The mouth waters just thinking about it. Kanchanaburi to the north-west of Bangkok was one of our favourite regions, with the Tiger Temple and the amazing seven level waterfall at Erawan National Park. The Elephant Nature Park out of Chang Mai is also a place no visitor should miss. In the "worst" category, topping the list is the price of travelling through Thailand. When you arrive from Australia you think "this is amazingly cheap" but after visiting other Asian countries and returning it seems ludicrously expensive. I mean, $2 for a beer --- come on!
Laos: We found the people in Laos to be the friendliest of all the Asian countries we visited. They're so relaxed, they always smile and noone ever hassled us. The people really make Laos an amazing place to visit and their nature makes you feel like it's a place you want to return. Also, having been only opened to tourists since the late '90s, Laos' landscape is yet to be dominated by tourist infrastructure. For us, the scenery in Laos was the most raw and beautiful we encountered during our travels. Floating in a tube down the river in Vang Viang is a must. The big red mark against Laos would have to be its food. The local food is nothing to write home about and it is the one place we both got food poisoning several times. As Bol used to say "they need to really pull up their socks" in the kitchen hygiene department. Oh - and Pakbeng - the little town you stop at overnight during the two day slow boat trip down the Mekong is another "worst". That town really should be used to stage a horror film. Stay away if possible. It's very creepy. Buses in Laos were also a little scary. Sitting crammed alongside a row of armed guards is not exactly our idea of a relaxing journey.
Vietnam: What can we say.... Sapa in Vietnam's north next to the Chinese border was one of our favourite places in the entire four and a half months. The mountains with mist and thousands of rice fields were breathtaking. Other big ticks for Vietnam were:
Bia Hoi - sitting on the edge of the street drinking draught beer for 13 cents a glass. Nothing beats that;
Hoi An - any town with lines and lines of tailors just waiting to make you whatever clothes and shoes you want is okay by me;
Trains - it's the one country that is almost entirely serviced by trains so whenever you travel long distances you jump on a train, sleep in a bed and wake up as you pull into the station at your destination. Now that's cruisy travel.
The worst of Vietnam unfortunately has to be the people. Of course not everyone, but most people we encountered in the service industry caused us grief. Many of them were pretty rude and aggressive and after one month in the country, the constant calls of "Where you from?" "You buy, you buy" and "Why you not buy from meeee" started to do our heads in a bit. Of course there were exceptions but overall, they tainted our impressions of Vietnam.
Cambodia: Putting our heads together, the only negatives we could come up with for Cambodia were the hangovers encountered after our visits to Pub Street. I mean, come on, anywhere with a street called Pub Street is bound to give you a headache. And the child touts at Angkor Wat also left a lasting impression. For those who have seen Children of the Corn, you'll have an idea of what we mean. Our favourite aspects of Cambodia were:
Angkor Wat - obviously an amazing place, no explanation needed;
Sunrise Children's Village - the orphanage we visited in Siem Reap was really a highlight of our time in Cambodia;
The Lakeside District - the place we stayed in Phnom Penh was rustic and colourful and gave us endless days of entertainment;
Monika - the Laos woman who cooked for us in Phnom Penh. Truly a gem.

Okay -- I think we've exhausted it. Overall Asia has been an amazing experience. The countries have been very kind to us. Considering the horror stories you hear, we've had a really smooth and happy trip with lots of laughter each day. We're feeling a bit sad to leave but also excited about stage II of our travels through Europe. Now we have to go finish packing and head to the airport. We'll write again when in Hungary eating goulash. Take care XXXX

The Bangers Routine

We just realised that we've now been to Bangkok six times this trip and have barely mentioned it on the blog, except for when we arrived. So... we thought before we fly out tomorrow we should tell you a bit about our Bangers routine. Because we use it as a stopover in between visiting more exotic locations, we never get up to too much when in Bangers, but there is a definite rhythm we've developed with the place. Each time we stay at Tavee Guesthouse, which is a bit out of the city in one of the quieter districts Te Wet (pronounced Tay Weeeeeet). Tavee has a resident dog called Do-do. The poor thing is a boy but the owners do his hair up in a pink bow. No wonder he's not very friendly. Across the road from Tavee is the BEST street stall you'll ever find. It's a pork noodle soup stall run by none other than "Noodle Man". He's our super hero. He's the cutest man you'll ever meet and the soup is the tastiest thing you'll ever eat. An awesome broth with noodles, pork pieces, pork dumplings and pork crackling. Mmmmm. He's a vital part of each day in Bangkok.

Around the corner from Tavee is a market you have to walk through to get to the river. Each time we walk through we have to bow our heads to avoid seeing the massive pig's heads staring at us from platters. We catch the ferry down the river to visit different parts of the city and often, while waiting for the boat, we feed the fish which jump out of the water in a crazy frenzy to reach the bread crusts. (See photo).

Whenever we're in Bangkok we try to catch up with Bol's cousin Chris, who indulges us in wine and takes us to extravagant places like the restaurant on the rooftop of a 64 floor building. We also sometimes head out to bars with mates, but to save money we often drink sitting at tables outside 7-11. That's right - unlike Australia the supermarkets sell beer. Very handy when on a budget.

As most of you would have heard, Bangkok is amazing for shopping and so we've spent a fair bit of time buying up winter clothes in preparation for Europe. As well as our backpacks which are now bulging at the seams, we've bought and filled a large suitcase. And when we're really in need of some modern comforts, there's a cinema in the city with $3 movie tickets. And the seats recline - now that's luxury backpacking!!

Home sweet home

Noodle Man. Ooohhhhh....

Noodle Man and his loyal subjects at his stall outside 7-11

The boys can't even wait for their chopsticks

Bol "pretends" to give Wayne a birthday kiss when noone is watching

Okay -- the boys made me put this on the blog cos they thought it was hilarious. Two seconds before the photo was taken I was patting a dog, but it was obviously camera shy, so instead I was left looking like an idiot in the middle of the footpath.

Our ferry stop

The fish feeding frenzy

Where else could you have your shorts fixed on the edge of the street for 80 cents!

Bol and his cousin Chris on one of our nights out

The dome on top ofthe 64th floor

The view from the 64th floor

Ko Tao

Once again we found ourselves in the calm and tranquility of Ko Tao, only this time it was even more relaxing. Wayne went off to do his advanced open water diving course and we did very little. And we loved it. Mind you we did manage to fit in a 10km walk every day to town and back, wich believe it or not we loved to do. We met a really nice couple who lived on the island, Dan and Signe. Dan is a dive instructor and Signe is finishing off her dive masters course. We spent most of our days hanging out on their balcony playing music and having a few quiet ones while Wayne did his course. They also had the cutest little puppy that was more like a baby kangaroo called Dorie. She was found on the side of the road covered in oil and dirt and generally in a bad state. Some Thais had cleaned her up and Dan and Signe took her in and made her a part of their family. Such a cute little pup.

The weather this time wasn't very good so we really didn't get up to much at all so there isn't much more to tell so it's off to Bangkok for a few days and then onto part two of our trip - Europe.

A picture says a thousand words....

Part of our daily walk

Main street Ban Mae Had - Ko Tao

Chillin on the Balcony with Hal and Dan

Awwww ......

No Em you can't keep her!

Back to the Islands:

Kho Pha Ngan

There's not too much we can say about Kho Pha Ngan which we didn't say in our previous blog on the place back in April. It's quite simply gorgeous, and again we spent our days riding motorbikes to visit the hidden beaches, eating, drinking and meeting new friends. This time around we stayed on the east side of the island in a bay call Had Yao, which was stunning. We stayed in really nice bungalows on the beach and there was a great vibe about the place. We drank beers every evening on the beach with our new mates as we watched the sunset. 'Tis a hard life.

One of the beaches we'd visit on our motorbike

Overlooking Had Yao
Sun, anyone?
Someone's gotta do it
The beach with a storm approaching
Our evening hangout spot
At low tide
Bol relaxing on the roof with mates