Joe & Jen Tour the World!

The East Coast!

2008-05-31T00:53:00.000-07:00

..... now then I haven't written this in a long while so I will try to keep it brief.
If you have all been taking a peek at my pics then you will already know what we have been doing the past 3 months. The trip down the east coast has been amazing so much fun, quite sad it is over. So in the past 3 months we have been to..........

CAIRNS - Where it rained for the whole week, nearly anyway. Met Joe, Caz, Ben & Alex in Cairns (Cairns Crew). They were our room mates in Gilligans hostel and turned out to become really good friends of ours who we are hopefully gonna see lots of when we return home. Met Lisa & Kathryn in Cairns which was great as well. We went White Water Rafting on the Tully, which was the best fun ever and I have the scar to prove it (had a slight argument with a big tree branch). Spent a day snorkeling on the great barrier reef & found Nemo. We also had the best night out for Paddy's Day, which turned out to be quite drunken.

MAGNETIC ISLAND - After Cairns we headed to Maggie Island with Kathryn & Lis. Here we went jet Skiing around the top of the Island and we also hired and beach buggy and drove all around the Island. We went walking in the bush and saw a wild Koala which was pretty cool. That's where we said goodbye to Kathryn as the next time we would see her was home sniff sniff!

AIRLIE BEACH - Airlie beach was where we caught our boat to the Whitsundays. We went on the British Defender for a trip around the Whitsundays for a two day two night trip. It was so much fun, the crew were great, the group of folk we had were really nice and I haven't ate so much food in the space of 2 days as I did on that boat. Th weather was lovely although a bit cloudy. Whithaven beach was absolutely beautiful I have never seen such an amazing beach. There were thousands of little crabs migrating from the sand to the water when we got onto Whithaven beach as well, so cool. The British Defender turned into a Party boat at night where there were several litres of goon consumed, fun & games. The Easter Bunny also found us out at sea and we got an Easter egg. Met Jo & Hannah on the Whitsundays, great girls miss them. Met up with the Cairns crew in Airlie Beach as well, good to see them again.

FRASER ISLAND - This was the best trip ever. We stayed at Dingo's had our briefing for the trip and met our little family for the weekend. Our group consisted of Irish and Hong Kong folk. We had the best weekend. It was a self drive tour of Fraser Island and I got to drive the big 4x4 and it was so much fun, felt I could drive through everything. The roads are the beach its very weird. It rained very heavily the first day & night but once we were all wet and got the beers out we soon forgot about the rain. The next day we went to Lake Mckenzie which is the most gorgeous fresh water lake, it was warmer in the lake than outside. That night it was nice and dry, we played ultimate Frisbee and we had the most beautiful sunset. The goon and beers made another appearance that night and we played numerous drinking games. The next day with fuzzy heads we headed to lake Wabby. It was liking walking through the desert to get there sand dunes and fields everywhere. We returned to Rainbow beach that day for a well needed shower. The whole weekend was such a laugh and giggle.

NOOSA - We went to Noosa for a couple of days just to relax for a bit. It was great there, lovely beach and a fabby hostel. We didn't do very much here hung out on the beach really for 3 days.

BRISBANE - Brisbane was the reunion city. Met up with Karen, Jean, Suz, Jenna , Lisa & Jennifer and hung out with them lots. Jennifer kindly gave us her unit for the week and she went to stay at her cousin's. It was so good having a home to live in for a while. We went to the XXXX brewery tour with Jean, Karen & Lis which was quite good. We all got 4 free beers after the tour, but me & the girls didn't really like many of them but Joe refused to leave until he had drunk all the free beers - he was a little tipsy when we left. With Jean & Karen we headed to Wet'n'Wild for the day in the rain so it was extra wet!! It was really good fun though and we made Karen go on rides she didn't want to, but she luved them after she had been on. Met up with the Cairns crew again and had a mad night out with them it was so good to see them again in Brissy. We hung out with Jennifer's cousin one day and Joe played golf with him, that night we ended up staying at Jennifer's cousins - too much beer again! We hired a car one weekend and went to watch Suz play hockey on the Saturday. That Sat night we had a girly night out which was the best fun, I had missed the girls lots. The day after slightly hungover Me, Joe, Lis & Suz headed to Australia Zoo. We had such a good day. The crocs were massive and I luved the Wombats . All in all we had a great couple of weeks in Brissy and I was so upset to say goodbye to the girls.

BYRON BAY - Byron Bay was 1 of my favourite places in Oz. We hung out with the Cairns crew and Wally (Heather) the whole week and we had such a blast. We went to Nimbin one day on the Grasshopper tour. That is the most surreal place I have ever been to so strange, all you can smell is weed everywhere. That was a strange but giggly day! We hung out at the beach alot, I shopped too much buying a pair of Uggs and designer sunglasses while in Byron. We walked up to the light house one day and we were at the most Easterly point of Australia. We had several nights out in Byron and just had such a good week hanging out with the guys and Caz & Wally.

SYDNEY - Well in Sydney we turned into Typical tourists going on the open top tour bus and visiting all the touristy places. We visited the Chinese gardens in Darling Harbour, the Sydney Opera House & Sydney Harbour Bridge. We went to Manly one day and had fish'n'chips on the beach. We also went to Bondi and hung out on the beach. We headed out one night to Darling Harbour and Cargo with Wally & Rosie, that was a good night out. We also spent a lovely but cold day up in the Blue Mountains, we even got snowed on up there for a split minute. Hanging out lots with the Cairns crew and we had our last night out with them and went for a hug pot of Mussels. Gonna miss them all heaps & heaps, our reunion is in London when we get back.

ORANGE - After Sydney we went to Orange for a couple of days which is 3 hours west of Sydney. We went here to visit Joe's old school master from Strath Allan school. We stayed with him and his wife and 2 boys. We had a relaxing couple of days. They kindly gave us the car to use one day and we drove around Orange went on walks around the lakes and mountains. It was a lovely relaxing couple of days.

MELBOURNE - Melbourne is where we are now. We are here for 3 months working and getting some pennies together for the next leg of our trip. We have been to all the markets and the Melbourne Museum walked around the city and tested a few pubs . Been to Geelong to Visit my Auntie and moved into our new flat on Southbank. Last weekend I celebrated my 25th and went to Geelong for a wee birthday party. I am working at the Royal Melbourne and Joe has got a job with a civil engineering company which he is enjoying. The weather is a little cool for my liking but it is winter here. We both really like it here and are gonna enjoy being here for a few months.

So that's our travels up-to-date really, so until New Zealand in August ..............

Hope you are all grand miss you all xx

Road Trip up the West Coast Of Australia!

2008-03-10T04:38:00.000-07:00

After Perth we decided to brave the outback and go on a bit of a road trip....well a 3 week road trip actually covering 4000km.
So we picked up our Wicked Camper Van in Perth, which was spray-painted with Iron Man and we headed off. Didn't go far that night just north of Perth, camper up for the night at the beach. The next morning it was my turn to drive and bloody typical he wouldn't start, had to call road side assistance and basically we had to take him back to Perth to get a new van - great start not such an 'Iron Van'!!!
Luckily we weren't far from Perth so we drove back and picked up our new working van with Captain Caveman on it, and we were off again.
Basically we had 3 weeks to drive up the West Coast our final destination being Broome.
The Aussie roads are long, flat and very boring! You don't pass another car in hours so when you do the horns are tooting and your waving your arms about cause its the most life you have seen in ages, well apart from dodging the odd Kangaroo!!
We stopped off at numerous gorgeous beaches up the coast just parking up in the car park and camping over night (dont worry we made sure there were showers though!). Our van turned into quite a cosy wee bed at night although the further north we got it wasn't so cost more unbearably hot!!!!

One of our first actually tourist spots was the Pinnacles which are bits of lime stone in a desert which just appear from no-where, very strange!

Our drive to Kalbarri was interesting. Huge winds brought all the red dust up from the ground and it looked like you were driving into another world it was all very weird. Kalbrri was great fun even if we saw most of it in the wind and rain. There was a Cyclone further north which was bringing this bad weather and the road was closed so we had to stay in Kalbarri a little longer than planned. Lovely coastal line and national park, which I am sure looks even better on a nice day, but hey! This where we gave in to camping for free and cold showers and went to a caravan park where we met loads of other Wicked van and general campers!

Our next stop was Monkey Mia in Shark bay where we got up & close to the Dolphins in their Natural habitat. The people who fed the dolphins picked folk out of the crowd to come and feed the dolphins, we were there twice, twice and I didn't get picked :(!!! Very un-impressed!! Some of the most beautiful sunsets in Shark Bay.

We then headed north to Coral bay, which a great wee place. We only stayed there one night and what a rain storm we had it rained and rained!!!

Then it was onwards again to Exmouth. We decided to head into the national park there our first night and go snorkelling in Oysters Stacks and Turquoise Bay which was great fun. Joe saw a blow fish and loads of sting-rays! That was the only night we didn't manage to have a shower not bad in 3 weeks of camping!!! We saw loads of crabs that night watched them for ages running about sideways! Again another most amazing sunset there.

We then headed to a place called Karatha which had the most civilisation we had seen since we left Perth, although bit of a pants place. Very much the working industry place where they have loads of mines. The next night we went to Point Sansom just a wee bit north and it was a lovely wee place, great pub!

We were almost at Broome our last stop was 80 mile beach which was amazing, but unfortunately you couldn't swim in it :(! There were millions of shells on it and it looked like it went on for ever. That night in the dark we went down to the beach to see if we could see and Turtles as they are laying there eggs at the moment, but no luck we just saw loads more crabs scooting about.

Finally the next day we were in Broome woo hoo. Still had a couple of nights left in Captain Caveman. We ate very well on our trip pasta obviously quite a few nights but we ventured out some nights and had steak and snags on the barbie. There are loads of free BBQ's everywhere in Oz, especially beside the beach.

In Broome we went to the oldest open-air cinema and sat in deck chairs under the stars watching a film - bit a crap one mind you, it was Joe's choice! We learnt all about the pearling industry which was quite interesting, nearly treated myself to some pearls, but managed to control myself and say no!

Then the day arrived to hand back Captain Caveman which was a sad event, but man were we looking forward to some air con. We were driving and sleeping in up to 38 degree heat with no air con - never again. I shed a wee tear, well in my thoughts anyway, he was a great van which looked after us well. We both had a roadkill each as well Joe a lizard and me a stupid bird!

So we stayed in Cable beach in Broome for a couple of nights in luxury air con ahhhhhh! Went on a camel sunset ride along cable beach our last night which was great fun, gorgeous sunset, although slightly numb ass after sitting on a camel for an hour.

So that was a quick guide through our west coast road trip, had such a laugh doing it and what an experience. Loved it.

We then went onto the Northern Territory and headed to Darwin on a 27 hours bus journey. It went a lot quicker than we thought it would. Darwin is great still very hot, but not as hot and humid as Broome. Just chilled out here for a couple of days checking the sights out.

Tomorrow we start the next leg of our Oz trip and fly to Cairns to begin the East Coast tour which will take slightly longer.

So until somewhere on the east coast ....................

Miss you all hope your all well xxxxx

Perth Western Australia!

2008-03-03T18:19:00.000-08:00

Ok so it has been a while sorry!
Not sure where to begin..........so finished our tour of South East Asia and headed Down Under. Perth was our first stop where we joined in with the locals and celebrated Australia day on the 26th January. We brought our beer, Aussie towel to sit on, Aussie stubby holders, made our Vegemite sandwiches and headed down to the river bank for hours of drinking playing games and fireworks. The fireworks were amazing, the best I have ever seen ever!!!! We had such a good day.
Perth is a lovely city, bloody hot. We didn't do very much the first time there because we were waiting for the girls (Kathryn & Lisa) to arrive to do everything with them.
We visited Fremantle (Freo) which is a great wee place by the sea with a big harbour. Great cafes there and a great wee market as well.
We then headed south to Margaret River where it was much cooler at night. Stayed in town for a few nights cycled miles, ended up that I couldn't sit down for a day or 2 afterwards. I superbly wiped off my bike, have the lovely scares to prove it! I was ok, gave Joe a bigger fright! We then moved to stay beside the beach and took part in our first Aussie surf lesson - laugh I nearly died, I actually did nearly die. The current was so strong it took me all my effort to get back out into the ocean with my board to catch another wave let alone actually surf. Managed to stand a couple of times though woo hoo. Joe took to it quite well as well. We are planning on doing lots more surfing when we get to the east coast. It was good fun though, a major work out.
We then came back to Perth and met up with Kathryn & Lisa (my bestest buddies from back home for those of you who don't know them). It was so good to see them and we in Perth Australia with them.
We had a great week full of fun & games. We went back to Fro with them this time enjoyed world class fish'n'chips by the harbour. Then went on this speed boat ride which had us completely soaked (Joe chickened out and didn't come). Doing spins and jumps and then breaking really hard so the water just comes over the top of you, great fun!!!
Then we had a full day of rain, full hard-core rain, it pissed it down all day. The locals were very glad of it though and it only lasted one day.
We then celebrated Kathryn's birthday in typical Aussie style got some drink made a picnic and headed to Cottesloe beach to spend the day. Sunbathing, swimming, drinking, birthday picnic with birthday cake, it was good fun. That night we went out for dinner with Kathryn's cousin and his girlfriend and then went to a club called The Deen and experienced a 'Yager-bomb' for the first time!!!!! Enough said!
Kathryn's cousin took us to a wildlife park they day after where we got to pet Kangaroos and I got to hold a big fat Wombat, it was so obese!!! It was so cool though. We got to stoke Koalas as well, I am definitely coming back as one of them they sleep 20 hours a day brilliant!!!! That night we had a tipical Aussie BBQ watching the sunset. Joe loves the BBQ's he is always in charge of them and is pretty damn good at them.
We headed back to Cottesloe on Sunday for the Sunday session at Cottesloe Hotel, basically a big outdoor and indoor bar with loads of drinking and chatting, good fun was had.
The next day we set out on our road trip with Kathryn the driver. The stupid sat-nav was rubbish and sent us in the wrong direction so we missed our ferry to Rottnest Island. So instead we went south to Rockingham where we had lunch swam, shopped and just relaxed. We then continued to Mandurah where we got a self-contained bungalow for the night - it was so cute like a wee family on their holidays. Lisa cooked us an amazing stir-fry for dinner, we had the beers and we played cards most of the night. Next day we made the ferry to Rottnest Island, where we hired bikes and cycled our way around part of the Island in the blistering heat! We stopped off at a bay called Little Salmon Bay. Joe and I were just having a wee hug in the sea and when we came out this Rottnest brochure working asked to take our pics as they were putting together a new brochure. It was so funny having to pose and looking into Joe's eyes for a camera, we felt such idiots, the girls thought it was very funny!!!!! She said she would e-mail us the photos but not seen them yet! Ah the things you do when your travelling!
That night we had our last evening with the girls dinner and a few drinks then we said our goodbyes sniff sniff.....but it's all good get to see them again in a few weeks in Cairns.

So our next adventure was collecting our Wicked Camper van and to travel for three weeks up the west coast of oz.........but that is a whole other story which I will tell you very very soon I promise!

Hope your all well, miss you all xxxxxxx

The end of Thailand, Malaysia & Singapore!

2008-01-21T23:37:00.000-08:00

Ok wow haven't written in this in a while so will try to keep it as brief as I can, but you know me!!!
Ok so after Christmas it was down south to the islands. From Bangkok it was to Ko Tao where we spent New Year partying on the beach - surreal! Then we took the ferry over to Ko Phangan to the half moon party. A rave party in the jungle with buckets of vodka & redbull and uv body painting, not really our scene, but we had the best night, very drunken! We then went up to the north of Ko Phangan and spent a couple of days sunning ourselves on the beach and eating too much. Before we left Ko Phangna to get the boat to Krabi I found toast & marmite!!! It was great I loved it!

After the islands it was to Krabi, which was a great place. We did some Kayaking through caves which was great fun and very interesting, however we were both bitten alive! We also went snorkeling in the Phi Phi Islands, the water was so beautiful & amazing, loads of different fish. We visited the beach where "The Beach" was filmed which was lovely, however there were about 50 speedboats all parked up along the beach, so full of tourists! Great food street markets in Krabi and it was great to be back on the main land where everything was so much cheaper than the islands.
Our last stop in Thailand was Phuket, well actually Patong bay. We had a very scary bus journey that day, our driver was off his head and basically overtook at anytime, bugger anyone else who was coming the other way. This place was a bit of a dumped but good party scene. We went to an Aussie bar where we met an Aussie and then went partying with the ladyboys, who are more feminine than me!!!!! Loved Thailand, so cheap, beautiful beaches, great food, cheap beer, funny wee Thai ladies, and great weather!
So next stop was Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Flight from Phuket to KL took around 3 hours. KL is a nice enough city quite dirty though and apart from shopping and the Petronas Twin Towers not much else to do really . Hostel was great, and 2 minutes from the monorail which we used everyday. The shopping was amazing the only purchase though was a new camera (dropped it when I was slightly pi55ed at the halfmoon party) great deal! If you want electronics Malaysia is the place, they love them. The Petronas towers were very impressive, you get to go up to the 41 floor onto the sky bride to look out over KL. Oh yeh I forgot I did buy a fake designer handbag from the china town market, got a tip off from Karen Ogg. Found a great bar, the beach bar, it was like dining in a club almost. Great cocktails & live band.

6 hour train journey to Singapore was next. Had to get off the train with all our stuff go through passport control and then load back on at the border, but that was ok. We met up with our friend Stuart from home, so great to see him & see a friendly face. First night we had a few beers at a bar with happy hour, catching up on the last 10 months. Next day we sweated all the alcohol out of us by walking up and down Orchard road. Again people in Singapore love to shop! We also went to the night safari which was great fun. Although wandering around in the dark when you cant see things did feel weird. We went on a tram ride in the dark through all the different parts, saw hippos, lions, tigers & elephants and there was no fence, no nothing between them & us!!!! Thank god most of them were sleeping. Joe was picked out of the crowd to have a huge python wrapped round his neck - bless him he looked so nervous. It was such a good night, we walked through a cave with free flying fruit bats which I didn't like that much. We also took the cable car to Mount Faber to see a view over Singapore. This evening we are going to see the worlds largest fountain in the heart of Singapore. Tomorrow night we do the best thing and go to Raffles Hotel for some Singapore slings, woo hoo. Singapore is my favourite city so far, so so clean you get fined for littering, spitting even chewing gum (they don't even sell it here). The people are so friendly do anything to help you and unlike the Thia's they don't expect any money for doing it. Its rained everyday here though, but its just like taking a shower, warm rain, but there is a lot of it you end up getting pretty soaked!
That is our south east Asia trip finished on the 24th January we fly to Perth western Australia, and we are really looking forward to it.
Asia has been great though, we have had so much fun and are still having the time of our lives, absolutely loving it. Will miss the cheapness of everything here though.
Favourite place in Thailand was Chiang Mai, loved that place we had such a great tim there. Fav beer was Chang beer, fav food was Pad Thai (noodles, beansprouts, chicken/prawns). Fav night out was the halfmooon party, never been to anything like that in my life. Fav city is Singapore. Asia was amazing, but we are now looking forward to 6 months down under.

First Perth for a few days then head south to Margaret River then back to Perth to meet Kathryn & Lisa for 10 days ahhhhhhh so excited about that its gonna be so much fun!
So until Australia...............................

P.S Miss you all hope you are all grand xx

Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai & Merry Christmas!

2007-12-27T20:01:00.001-08:00

Ok so where did I leave off from last time, oh yeh we were in Phitsanulok. Well from there we headed even further north to Chiang Mai. Stayed in this great hostel called Spicythai backpackers loads of events and entertainment. Stayed in an 8 bed dorm which was fun, don't really get a lye-in though.They have a great kind-of common area where you can watch dvd's and tv. Breakfast included cereal/toast, which is great. Its kind-of a home away from home, met so many people.

So in Chiang Mai we went to a thai BBQ with Spicythai, you had you own wee bbq in the middle of your table and you went and chose from a hug variety of meats, fish, veg, rice, noodles etc and cooked them on your own wee bbq - great fun.
We also visited the temple in Chiang Mai which is lovely. The owner of the hostel Pong is a great tour guide and tells you all the history, which helps. At the temple we were splashed with holy water by a monk and given some thread around our wrist to symbolize happiness and luck - just what we need! Went to a lake for lunch and a swim, relaxed in these big bamboo huts and ate a live shrimp!!!!!! Oooooo I could feel it wiggling around in my mouth. Played crazy golf one night which is the hardest one I have ever played ever - much harder than the one at Xscape in Glasgow! Joe won overall - smart arse!

One day in Chiang Mai Pong took a group of us for a "wee" trek up the mountain. Wee trek my arse, my god it was tough. We were actually in the jungle at one point and he was slashing through trees with his big knife and cowboy hat on. Then after lunch it was a 3 hour trek up hill constantly, I was absolutely nackard the most exercise I had done in ages!!!! I had to absail freely down a rock face hanging onto a tree branch! It was good fun, when we got back to the hostel cause it was over!

We also did a 2 day 1 night trek with a group from Spicythai aswell. We set off in the Spicythai truck and went on an hour and a half Elephant trek. It was so much fun I loved it. Our elephant 'Boo-Tu' was huge the biggest there and just so cute. We went up and down hills, which was fun going down them cause it felt like you were gonna fall out your seat. It was an amazing experience. Then after the elephants it was white water rafting which was a hoot. So much fun, it was quite tame and the water was very cold. Our thai captain obviously had alot of British girls do this because he kept saying in a really high squeaky voice 'oh my god' which is what most girls would probably say. We went for a huge lunch at an orchid farm and then went to visit some hill tribes. It was then to our deluxe camping in a hot water springs. All the tents we all set up with duvets and soft beds. Once we had a beer it was into the hot springs which was great. A huge hot tub outside, but the smell of sulphur was quite minging, but you got used to it after a while. Then Pong, Joe and Ben went fishing for dinner, while we moved in and out of all the other big and small hot springs - there were loads. Then it was dinner with a few more beers and then back into the hot springs with a hug bucket of Sangsome and coke. The drink and chat were flowing nicely until the rice whiskey came out - that stuff is disgusting yuk yuk yuk!!! During the night there may have been some games which included removing swimwear, but I wont go into that. Then it was passing out time!!!
The next day was a shorter easier trek through waterfalls which did wonders to the fuzzy heads. Then lunch back at the hotsprings. The journey back to the hostel was long with many folk feeling a bit squeezy! Riding on top of the truck roof, soon made you forget about that. Great couple of days, such a giggle! Think I can still smell sulphur on me!

Joe and I also did a cookery course in Chiang Mai, all day cooking 5 dishes. You watch one being cooked and then its your turn, I was quite good, but none of my dishes looked like the teachers. Very very full after that day you eat all your dishes so basically your eating from 11am until 3.30pm! Spring rolls were my favourite and so easy!

When we left Spicythai in Chiang Mai we headed north again to Chiang Rai, on a very bumpy bus ride. Quieter place, but still popular with westerners. Here we also had our first experience of a lady bar - what a laugh. We didn't know it was one before we went in (obviously). It was quite, a few western old foosty men trying their luck with the thai ladies. One wee thai girl kept wanting me and Joe to kiss all the time! And there was a pole dancer who looked so un-interested in what she was doing, she was crap! Never drank a beer so fast he he he!!! An experience!

One day we rented a bike and headed up to Mae Sai (right on the Burma border). Nothing much to see here, but the ride on the bike was good fun. Such a numb ass!

Christmas in our hotel just outside Chiang ai was wonderful. Our room was amazing (look at the photos). So peaceful, amazing views and the pool was one of those looks like its falling off a cliff ones. We ate too much drank too much, usual Christmas! Christmas day we went swimming and went for a 3 hour spa treatment each, yep even Joe! Completely spoilt ourselves. Bottle of Champagne on Christmas night courtesy of Mum & Dad (thanks again). Felt very relaxed and pampered when we left there. Our only luxury this whole trip probably!!

So it was back to Spicythai for one night and tonight we are getting the 14 hour overnight train back to Bangkok for one night and then we head to Ko Tao. Then its island hopping from there with a half-moon party in Ko PhaNgan on the 8th January. Looking forward to sun, sea and sand.

Still having a ball, weather still fab! Cant believe we've been away for a month, its flown in. Until next time............

Where to begin!!!

2007-12-11T00:49:00.000-08:00

Ok guys, well I thought I better start a blog instead of sending you all those huge e-mails. So here goes......

Well not gonna chat much about Bangkok as already mentioned it on my last e-mail. Last night in Bangkok we went to the state tower and went to the Sky Bar on the 64th floor. An outside terrace bar with cream couches and views across Bangkok - great fun!

So next stop after Bangkok was Ayuthaya, which is about an hour and a half north of Bangkok. Lonely Planet book was right about the train Station and we were caught by an information girl who tried to steer us to a travel agent for a commission - no fooling us we have the Thai's sussed now no thanks!!! We headed up north on a third class train, very uncomfy seats, but for about 45p each you cant really complain. There are numerous street vendors that go up and down the train selling everything from water to a full meal all for about 30p!!! When we arrived in Ayuthaya is was a short ferry crossing very hot walk - my bag weighs a ton to the hostel. Cute wee Thai place have to take your shoes off everywhere. Great wee Thai lady runs the hostel and would do anything for you - 30p for a can of beer here as well!
This place was much more laid back and peaceful compared to Bangkok. First night we went to the apparently popular Tony's Place. Its a relaxed open air bar full of backpackers. The next day we hired bikes, fully equipped with bells and front baskets. We set off to do a DIY tour of the city sights. It's quite obvious that the main tourist attractions in Thailand cities are the temples or 'wats'! Very impressive, but by now we had seen so many that they kinda all started to look the same. We then headed to see the Elephants being effortlessly controlled by their Thai masters. They were retired elephants that were well looked after. Amazing to be able to touch such huge creatures, they are fascinating to watch. Joe pampered himself with a cut-throat shave and Thai massage today - well worth the whole fiver apparently.
We went to an Ayuthaya light and sound show, which was good fun very colourful with numerous people involved - just didn't understand a word that was said! It was all to do with Thai history.
Ayuthaya has to be the city of dogs there are thousands of them. The howling dogs and the singing cockerel every night still didn't stop us from having good sleeps!

Next stop north was Phitsanulok. 7 and a half hour train journey in third class again, it was hot. No air-con on these trains, but most of the time the windows are wide open so you have a draft. This place is quieter than Ayuthaya, not really much to do here. Dinner on a floating restaurant, great night market, and more temples! We just wandered the city yesterday, relaxing day. Last night we had a traditional Thai foot massage at the night market that lasted a whole hour and cost 1 pound 30p. It was just on the street so you watched the world go by. Local restaurant for dinner, loving the food. Its all quite spicy stuff, but I am managing well, loving the noodles. Chang and Singha beer and spy wine cooler (fizzy wine, rose is the best!) are the drinks of choice at the moment. Today it was a very rally driven drive to Sukothai on a bus, an hour away from Phitsanulok. Again few more temples, but this time in lovely river settings, very peaceful. Actually had enough of temples now.

So, so far everything has been quite relaxed which has been great, experienced a great amount of Thai culture and really enjoyed the places so far. On the move again tomorrow this time to Chiang Mai. Booked into a hostel this time into an 8 bed dorm, could be interesting! Should be a bit more lively up there and cooler. Weather has been roasting, very strange December.