ONE NIGHT IN KL

The view from our hotel room

Tough this budget travel - oh well. its only for one night..... slightly out of order, this was our stop over from Singapore to Laos.

VIENTIENNE JAN 20-22 2009

Not exactly selling themselves - tourist marketing department need a good long look at themselves.

The Buddha's hand positions for 'I couldnt manage another thing'

One of the 4 wats surrounding Pha That Luang - the national monument

Ell enjoying a beer on the Mekong

Pha That Luang
and again
Patuxai - l'arc du triomphe of Vientienne


Vientienne - Laos, the worlds most laid back capital? The weather is beautiful here at the moment, the city has developed significantly since our '97 visit, but its still unbelievably quiet. Have hired bikes ( no gears necessary - its like Holland with palm trees) and have cycled around various temples and landmarks. Have tried to get back on budget after the KL extravaganza but it back fired as bed bugs feasted on Ell first night, so we have thrown money at that one and are enjoying a very comfortable room with air con. I am already looking forward to breakfast tomorrow, sensational croissants & coffee - before we head off to Vang Vieng, and the northern half of the country.

SINGAPORE JAN 10-19

Ell enjoying one of the thousands of food halls



Deep joy! 9 days catching up with friends, eating duck rice, going to the cinema, going to see the Ting Tings, eating sausages, watching the Volvo Round the World yacht race, hanging out with the harley Boys, enduring ludicrously painfall reflexology, eating singapore toast, sipping Singapore slings in Raffles Hotel, walking around the Botanic gardens, seeing leopards at the night safari, and buying an Acer notebook, watching 2 games of heineken cup rugby on espn. BUT MOST OF ALL CATCHING UP WITH FRIENDS. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU XXX

KO CHANG - XMAS & NEW YEAR 24/12-09/01/09

Excellent island, something and someone for everyone. 'Jonwithnoh' did us proud, and secured us a room on the beach at Kaibae. We had a limited gameplan - relaxation, which Ell mastered effortlessly - I had to throw in a couple of days scuba diving & a little kayaking to break things up a little. 18 days flew by drinking watermelon shakes, eating quality seafood, and drinking just a little too much in the evenings. Excellent company, where Western & Kiss held their own amongst 19 year olds - there was some ludicrous dancing to be had on New Years Eve where western took the opportunity to do a 'circuits routine' of star jumps and spotty dogs, after having consumed too many 'buckets' of whisky & coke. 'Jonwithnoh' marshalled the troups superbly, ensuring we all made it home just before sunrise. One of the party canoodled mistakenly with a ladyboy, whilst another did his bit for Sino-Kiwi relations, this may have been a rash decision.

BANGKOK

After a month in Bangladesh, arriving in Bangkok gave us major culture shock. We had seen more Westeners within the airport arrival hall than in the previous month, and a part of me yet again on arriving in Thailand felt that the adventure was over. To be honest, this is probably unfair, its just a different travel experience, so be positive Western. Bangkok offered up its usual unpleasant undercurrent of sex tourism, so I had to keep a close eye on Ell, who was particularly keen on the 'Buy one, get one free offer'.