Imogen's South East Asia Adventure

Home sweet home @ Brisbane, Australia

2007-09-10T09:56:39.000Z

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia @ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2007-11-19T15:36:00.000Z

Hi Everyone!
Well we arrived safely in KL last night. I've been a little bit sick but one bonus of that is that i can't smellanything at the moment and according to jaree thats a good thing. We did a big walk today to Central station and then caught the light rail back. We are staying in China Town right in the middle of the action. There is rip off brands of EVERYTHING right at our doorstep. The china town markets are open until about 10 so it was a little noisy last night. We are enjoying the humidity and it reallydoesn't cool down at night but we treated ourselves to an aircon room at the Hotel China Town Inn. So far we haven't actually taken any photos so none to post yet but i'll have some for you tomorrow after we visit the local sights.

Melaka, Malaysia @ Melaka, Malaysia

2007-11-22T17:00:00.000Z

I everyone! well I've arrived in sunny, sweaty Melaka safe and sound after seeing Jaree off to the airport yesterday morning. We had gone over to the bus station earlier yesterday to buy me a ticket so it made life a little easier. It cost just RM10 for my 3 hour trip to melaka which is about $3.50. On the bus I made friends with Shah, a policeman from Penang who was visiting his mum. He bought some strange kind of fruit for me when we stopped for a toilet break and so i was forced to eat it. I think it may have been durian (toilet fruit)...it wasn't too bad. When i got to melaka i had to haggle with a taxi driver because I had been told by Rhiannon not to pay more then RM15 to get to her apartment and he wanted to charge me twenty. Then he got in a fight with another taxi driver... it was abit awkward considering i was the only whitey in sight. Anyhow i made it safely and Rhiannon, Nissa and I went to their favourite restaurant in Melaka called Selvam where they serve you rice and dhal and other interesting things on a big banana leaf. I have a good photo of that, it was really cool. There is lots of indian food in malaysia because of the large indian population.
Today I went to the special school where rhiannon and nissa are volunteering. We got picked up in a minivan at 7.45 and then drove around the suburbs picking up some of the kids. When we got there we went and had breakfast of dosa (a big, thin round crispy bread made of chickpea flour) topped with dhal and fish curry (i skipped the fish). It wasn't too bad. The kids at the school were really cute and i was helping in a class of 8 year olds who were down syndrome and autistic helping them with puizzles and colours. We're heading out after this to have sweet and sour fish apparently which nissa and rhiannon rave about so we'll se how that goes. Life is pretty sweet when you have people who know what to do and where to eat with you.
Hope you are all well!
lots of love Imogen

KL Again @ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2007-11-25T17:20:00.000Z

Well I'm back in KL after spending another day in melaka during which i went wandering around the town. It is a strange place as it kind of loses the 'historical city' feel due to the huge amounts of development going on.
Anyway so Rhiannon, Nissa and I caught a bus to KL on friday night and spent the night at Pudu Hostel (my first hostel experience and not too much to complain about). We had some good Roti chani and dhal for dinner. Rhiannon had to go to the embassy to vote on saturday morning so we went for a massive hike to do that. The heat is fairly overwhelming and i have found that even the smallest wander in the heat leaves me feeling pretty tired. My mid day siestas have become fairly routine which i'm sure is a result of the heat and eating lots of yummy curry for lunch (and dinner and breakfast). Last night we went to little india where they have the satuday night markets. not too much to report on there though we all got henna tatoos on our hands which was fun. I also had the best dhal and naan for dinner from a little indian restaurant.
Ok well thats all for now. Rhiannon and Nissa have caught the bus back to melaka so i'm flying solo until jaree gets back tomorrow night.
Lots of love to you all
love imo. oxox

The Wild Taman Negara @ Taman Negara, Malaysia

2007-11-30T17:31:00.000Z

Boy oh Boy! Do I have some stories to tell!
Jaree and I left KL on Tuesday and took a bus and boat trip of about 6 hours to central Malaysia to the Taman Negara (directly translated as National Park). The initial 2 1/2 hour boat ride up the river was absolutely beautiful. We were blessed with blue skies and lovely weather. We arrived in Kuala Tahan the local village on the opposite side of the river fron TN. After finding a local hostel to logde ourselves in we were set. On Wednesday we took a self guided tour to the 'Canopy Walkway' a series of rope bridges suspended between trees in the canopy many meters above the ground. It was rather spectacular! We then walked to the lagoon which turned out to be fairly muddy and despite the heat we were not tepmted. We late found out that the mosoon season has begun and both the lagoon and the tembelling river turn a murky brown from all the rain. I can only imagine how beautiful it would be in the dry season when the river is a crystal green! Jaree and I planned to spend Thursday night in a Hide which is a concete lodge above the ground where you stay overnight to hopefully spot some wildlife. The hide we chose to stay in was Bumbun Kumbang, the most remote hide where we were today there would be the best chance of seeing something. The hide was located 11km from Kuala Tahan which could be reached by a boat ride and then a 45 minute walk. Jaree and I however chose to walk to 11km and planned to get picked up friday morning. So we walked, and walked, and climbed and struggle. We had clearly underestimated the task we had undertaken. With the monsoon comes the mud and I can not underestimate the vast quantities we struggled though. I was covered in it just a few hours in. It was not too hot, however the junlge ever reaches less than 90% humidity (apparently) so we sweated like never before. After walking for 3 1/2 hours I was panic stricken, we had not seen a sign along the path in at least an hour. The nature of the track meant that it became unclear whether we could've taken a wrong turn somewher. To add to this we saw animal tracks following the same path as ourelves that resembled that of a tiger. By this stage we were deep in the jungle and while tiger popuations are very low it was a possibility. Jaree and I took turns at reassuring eachother that we were going to be ok during our various states of panic. We knew we were to evetually reach a river that we would have to cross just before we got to the hide. We did eventually reach to river and both swore outloud when we realised we would have to walk though it up to our thighs. Why they wouldn't have a bridge, I don't know. It is malaysia and it is the jungle after all. Jaree fell in the river wearing the backpack after nearly losing her shoe. Thankfully she didn't get washed away as the river was very strong. Her glasses, however, did. We had been walking for 5 hours and as it was coming on 4 o clock it was essential that we get there quickly. We crossed the river and continued on our way now wet and muddy and a little slower than before due to the fact that jaree couldn't see so well. Finally after 5 1/2 hours of mud, sweat and tear (and plenty of bloody leeches) we arrived at Kumbang Hide and swore we would never do it again! We had wooden beds with a thin mat and a single sheet to look foreward to that night with a hearty dinner of vegemite on crackers. needless to say the night was sleepless and our bodies were in agony (still are mind you). This morning we trekked a further 2km in the same damp, smelly, muddy clothes. But what an adveture! I don't think i will forget yesterday as long as i live! All I can say is yes the jungle is wild and not for the faint hearted particularly during the monsoon! Good Lucky Rhiannon and Jenny and Colin when you make it here, I would suggest you take a guide and avoid too much jungle hiking unless you like mud alot! To everyone else you should definatly not miss it! I imagine it is wonderful i the dry season!
lots of love to you all!
imogen

Cameron Highlands, Penang and everything in between @ Penang (George Town), Malaysia

2007-12-05T20:43:00.000Z

Hello all! Well here's the latest installment (sorry about the wait).
Time has flown and at last my muscles have recovered from all that walking. After reading again what I wrote about the "big jungle" I realise that I'm sounding very pessimistic. However, now that I am back to civilisation I am missing the beauty, quiet and simplicity of the jungle lifestyle along with the shady but charming characters we have left behind. But having said that the past week has absolutely flown and in most parts been almost as eventful!
CAMERON HIGHLANDS
well, what a beautiful part of the world we landed in after the 6 hour journey uphill from the Taman Negara. The Cameron highlands was delightfully cool and we enjoyed just a couple of days of not doing much (mostly due to my sore tummy and jaree's jungle fever aka head cold). It was great snuggle up as the temperatures got rather chilly at night. But after a half hearted attempt at the highlands we were on the move.
TO PENANG
I'm not sure if i loved or hated penang... must be somewhere in between. We arrived in penang after a slow and sleepy 6 hour bus ride from the cameron highlands. In our quest to save what we could we opted for the DIY public transport system where we have found it to mostly be a hit or miss and hope for the best sort of situation. We found a sparse but clean hotel (75 Travellers Logde) with some very friendly Chinese proprietors. A few rounds of canasta later we were out on the streets of Georgetown. We waited for a bus that never came and then wandered the streets of china town, then headed down to th jetty for a squiz at the ocean at sunset. Wasn't too bad but no beach to report on. We stumbled across a gem on chulia street (as well as many unexpected "lady-boy" prostitutes) in the form of a very well kept Italian restaurant. We gobbled down a vegetarian pizza and home made pesto pasta which was absolutely delicious at Esso Cafe and made our way home.
I have to comment on the obvious sex-trade going on in Penang as we arrived completely unaware and had not seen anything like it yet on our travels. We were alarmed at the number of middle aged and elderly white men wandering the streets that we had also not come across anywhere else in Malaysia. We were disgraced to say the least and gave what would be a typical busling city a rather seedy and uncomfortable feeling.
Day 2 in Georgetown saw us to the top of Penang Hill which was a mission just to get there though no walking involved just 2 feniculars (i think thats what they're called) and a long journey on a bus. The view was brilliant, particularly come night fall.
So we walked the street and went up the mountain. Not that exciting.
That brings you up to date with the daily musings and now you know we're safe and sound.
By the way, we've arrived in on Langkawi today but more about that tomorrow!
lots of love to you all. Imogen and Jaree!

LANGKAWI! @ Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia

2007-12-07T21:09:00.000Z

yay we arrived in langkawi! a little island paradise in north east Malaysia very close to the thai border. We arrived Wednesday afer a lovely boat ride from Penang. On arrival we did the usual wander around and find a taxi deal. All was well until we were dropped at our choice of accomodation (carefully selcted from the lonely planet) which was aparently full. So up the road of the main beach we continued only find that everywhere within our budget was fully occupied. It was hot, and our packs were heavy. We quickly became quite frazzled and desperate. Finally we found a small room with an attached bathroon and a fan for... RM70 (around $25)!!! But at least we had somewhere to put our bags and rest our heads.
We have sinc found out that the Langkawi air show is on this week which evidently means that all the accomodation is full. Not only that but we have had to put up with ighter jets and such fleying over every 10 minutes and police sirens every half a hour as a band of official looking cars goes racing down the main street.
So you'd think with all the racket and such that we would just escape to the beach, however we have been lessed wih cloudy, rainy weather since the day we arrived! Not happy jan!
I'm thinking we better just get to thailand asap... its too expensive here!
Despite all this we had a swim and a lay on the beach this morning and have amused ourselves most of the rest of the time with some great little cafes, lots of lemon iced teas, a couple of good books and the occasional game of cards... i'm not complaining. :)
hope this reaches you all safe and sound.
lots of love
imogen
p.s. there will be more photos soon. i promise!

Ko Lipe, Thailand @ Ko Lipe, Thailand

2007-12-10T01:36:00.000Z

We've found our island paradise!
Jaree and I arrived yesterday morning on Ko Lipe in sothern Thailand after catching the speed boat from langkawi in Malaysia. Our plan was to head straight to Ko Tarutao, a relatively uninhabited island part of the Tarutao National Park. However, due to the Thai public holiday all the boats were full. We wandered up the beach and found ourself a nice little hut to spend a couple of nights in. Ko Lipe is absolutely beautiful. The ocean is a crystal clear green with white sand. Long tail boats anchored to the shore make this a typically thai setting, along with grass roofed huts along the beach. We couldn't ask for anything better. It's not hugely busy which is wonderful and the weather has been gorgeous! To top it all off we are loving the delicious variety of food especially fresh seafood. I had a whole barbequed white snapper for dinner last night with a sweet and sour sauce for 80baht ($3)! shame we are leaving so soon but we are sure many more thai island delights await us!
Wish you were all here (and i'm sure you do too)!
lots of love oxox

Ko Phi Phi @ Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand

2007-12-16T20:25:00.000Z

Hi Everyone! well its been a little while since the last installment but you'll be pleased to know that everything is running very smoothly indeed!
Jaree and I have reached Ko Phi Phi which is just south of Phuket.
The story so far left off in Ko Lipe where however so i'll fill you in from there.
After Ko lipe we caught a boat to Ko Tarutao, the largest island in the Tarutao National park. Tarutao is unique in that the National Park status has been upheld and there has been very limited development on the island. We stayed in a lovely little two bedroom bungalow which we shared with a swedish couple. It was probably the cleanest place we have stayed in so far with lovely made beds and even screens on the windows. Ko Tarutao was absolutely beautiful and it was lovely to lay on the beach that was virtually deserted. There was one rastaurant on the island that served all our favourite thai delights for a very reasonable price. All in all tarutao was really lovely and we would highly recommend it to anyone travelling in htis area. The photo of me on the cliff is on Toe-Boo cliff at Tarutao.
After two nights at Tarutao we caught the boat back to the mainland and were able to get an immediate connecting bus all the way north to krabi. The first leg of the bus trip was interesting when 11 adults and 2 children were packed into a small old minivan. Thankfully we only spent an hour in that bus before we conected with a large bus. We made it to krabi by 6 and found ourselves a comfy set up for the night.
On friday morning we caught the boat to Ko Phi Phi. The trip took an hour and a half though unfortunately it rained most of the way so we couldn't enjoy the scenery. But we made it and have been making the most of the sun ever since. We have been staying in a bungalow just meters from Long Beach which is away from the main tourist area of P.P. and is absolutely beautiful.
Today (sunday) Sarah, Hana, Alison and Paul arrived and we organised them a couple of bungalows in the same place as us! its been lovely having a group. Tomorrow we are taking our own private long boat around the islands for a snorkelling trip! should be really nice.
well i have to hurry now becuase internet is unfortunately quite expensive here! I hope you are all very well and getting ready for the festive season... we are ceretainly all ready enjoying it!
Hope you are all well.
Lots of love imogen

Ko Samui in style! @ Ko Samui, Thailand

2007-12-21T18:53:00.000Z

Ko Samui
Hi Everyone! Well we have found ourselves in Ko Samui on the Eastern Side of the Thailand Peninsular. The trip here was fairly painful as we travelled all day from 8am, arriving at our accomodation in Samui at about 7.30pm. Thankfully Geoff (sarahs dad) had already reserved us accomodation at Chawang Beach with He and Michelle aswell as sarahs brother Nick. Our group is now 9 in total which is good fun. We are staying at Silver Sands which is right on the beach with all the luxuries we have missed for the past 3 weeks such as soft beds and pillows, hot showers, aircon, tv and even someone to clean the room each day! What luxury!
We arrived on Ko Samui on Wednesday night and Nick picked us all up from the ferry. Unfortunately the car was a very small 4 seater jeep. We manages to cram in with 3 people in the back on the truck. It was quite an experience. That night we ate at an irish pub... yes i know i was thinking the same thing... its thailand!! I crashed early wednesday night as i was absolutely exhausted after all the travel.
Thursday the 7 of us piled back into the jeep (minus all the bags) and headed out for a day of sightseeing. We went to the waterfall where nick and paul had a swim. There were lots of people on elephants on jugle safaris which i thought was very sad for the poor elephants. We piled back into the car and went to the butterful gardens which was lovely then went to see the mummified monk. That was the highlight of my day as the bdy of the monk was in a sitting posion with raybans on! It was very very weird! We eventually got back to Chawang Beach and relaxed for a while before dinner. Unfortunately the ocean is very rough at the moment so its not nearly as nice to swim as at the islands on the west side.
We played poker last night after dinner and Nick and I won which i thought was quite a great effort on my behalf as a had never played before.
Today was rather uneventful... After a late breaky we planned to go on 4 wheeler bikes in the jungle. Nick and sarah left on the scooter to organise it and on the way back they came off the bike! luckily only nick got a few scratches but ended up at the hospital which cost him 8000 baht! We didn't end up going 4 wheeling and spent the rest of the day doing nothing but reading and having massages! luxury!
Ok well i have to shoot off!
Hope all is well!
love im

Party Time! Ko Phangan @ Ko Phangan, Thailand

2007-12-25T17:40:00.000Z

Merry Christmas Everyone!!
We've made our way to Ko Phangan home of the full moon party! We arrived yesterday morning (24th) from Ko Samui for the full moon party last night. We were a little tired after our christmas dinner on the 23rd that Michelle and Geoff organised for us but never-the-less ready to party!

We knew that the party was going to be very big (apparently 15000 were expected) but having never been to Ko Phangan we really didn't know what to expect. We caught a taxi truck into haad rin as we are staying about 30minutes away at thong sala in a really cute place with our own bungalows just meters away from the beach. Everyone was drinking buckets ( small buckets full of alchohol and soft drink) and dancing on the beach with Djs set up all the way along. It was a really great atmosphere as there was loads of people.

Later Paul had to go home early because he wasn't very well so Hana and Alison took him to get a taxi home. Meanwhile we managed to lose sarah which was a total drama because she didn't have a phone so after an hour of running around looking for her amongst the masses we had to give up. But we were really worried so we couldn't have much fun. Finally we got a message from sarah and paul both saying they had arrived back at the resort. We were pretty exhausted and worried by that stage so we decided to head home.

Jaree, Alison, Hana and I caught a taxi bus that took us back to our resort ready for a good rest. Little did we know...

Hana and Alison walked up to their bangalow where they found the door open and as they approached the door the lights that paul had left on suddenly went out. They could see someone moving in the room as they were standing at the door way and Alison said "Paul Paul!" thinking he was trying to scare her. When there was no reply she started yelling "Who the f*** is that" (excuse the language but it was very tense) and then she was yelling "Paul, paul, get up". I was standing on our balcony and suddenly realised what was going on and I sprinted (yes i actually moved at a lightening speed!!!) down the stairs where the thai man who had been in their room ran straight towards me for his motorbike. I was yelling and swearing at him and he threw everything in his hands at me. I chased after him towards his bike and grabbed onto the bike so try to slow him. He eventually jumped on his bike and rode away.

Hana straight away burst into tears and called her dad (By the way hana never cries!) and alison and i were in total shock! Jaree hadn't even realised what was going on! The things that the man had thrown at me were all the things he had taken from the room and after a little bit of a panic we realised that he had paniced as much as we had and ditched everthing. Thakfully there was a safe iin our room where everything really valuable had been. All in all it was a very close call and mostly just a bit of a scare! All I can say is that it was definately fate that sarah got lost and went home so we came home when we did (we were planning on staying to watch the sunrise)!

The after math was us all just in total shock. Paul woke up pretty much after it was all over and had no idea what had happened. Hana had a big chat to her parents back in Australia who after talking to sarah thhought the whole thing was quite funny, Alison was very frightened as she had been in the doorway and the guy came right up to her face. Hana and Aison were saying how brave i was to chase after him but it was just my natural reaction with all the yelling. Needless to say I really couldn't sleep very well and was out of bed about 5 hours later for a swim.

So that was that and that was how we started our christmas day!
We've just had a good old chat to mum and dad and I've told them all not too worry when they read this :D
Well I'll be spending the next few days on the beach, so best wishes to you all especially those of you who are going to woodford... i'm so jealous beleive it or not!
lots of love, Imo!

Ko Phangan, relax time... @ Ko Phangan, Thailand

2007-12-28T15:27:00.000Z

Hi all!
Well I hope you are all having a lovely end of year break and making the most of it before uni/work goes back. We are having a lovely time continuing to spend days relaxing by the ocean and really not doing much at all. It's absolute luxury!
Much to Pauls disgust, Jaree, Sarah, Hana and I have spent our days reading, playing cards, sleeping and of course eating yummy food (of course paul likes that).
There have been a lovely bunch of dutch backpackers staying here aswell which has been fun. We spent a couple of nights sitting on the beach around the bonfires made by the dutch guys and drinking beer. It's all very chilled.
Yeaterday night we went into Thongsala and everyone had all-you-can-eat BBQ where you cooked your own meat on a hot plate and had a pot to cook noodles and vegetables in stock. It looked pretty amazing but it all had meat so I walked down the road and bought some food from the night markets. The night markets were great as you could get pretty much any thai food cooked fresh and it was so cheap!
Off to bangkok tomorrow for New Years, should be fun (the bus trip will be horrible i'm sure!)
Lots of Love, imogen

P.S.uploading more photos from Samui and here but as you've probably noticed the photos aren't in the right places.

Bangkok, Thailand @ Bangkok, Thailand

2008-01-01T19:02:00.000Z

Bangkok! What a crazy place!
I'll start from where we left off I suppose, at Ko Phangan. On Saturday (29th Dec) we travelled to Bangkok. The trip involved a 3 1/2 hour ferry trip to Suri Thani and then a 10 hour overnight bus to Bangkok. We arrived at 4.30am on the 30th and after getting a cab to our accomodation we crashed for most of the rest of the day but did make an afternoon trip to SIAM OCEAN WORLD where geoff (sarahs dad) has been working for the past3 years.
Michelle had kindly organised us accomodation at her friends house as they are back in Australia for christmas. There are even enough beds for all 7 of us! Jaree and I are sleeping in the 8 year old daughters bedroom. She has a double bed, mind you, and her own laptop!
Yesterday (31st), was spent doing what it seems everyone was doing in Bangkok, shopping!! We took the skytrain around the city and it seemed that it didn't matter what station you got off on, it led straight into a huge shopping complex. It was really mind boggling! You could go into one complex and get haggled by market style shop-keepers and then go one station down and end up in a mall full of (real) prada, LV, D&G and every other brand on the face of the planet! Needless to say we were in heaven... for about 4 hours, then we just got tired! One of the department stores was having a huge sale on good brands of womens clothing. I bought a really nce dress to wear out for new years for B500 ($20) reduced from B2000. It was good fun!
Finally, after dragging paul away from endless amounts of watches, and all having given up on finding any real bargains we headed home.
New Years Eve was all in all a pretty good night. We caught a taxi to Kao San Road (infamous for being home to pretty much every backpacker in bangkok) where there was a street party with a dj and heaps of people. It was rather overwhelming but we made the most of it and all ended up dancing on stage at midnight.
It might have been all the shopping we'd done that day but our overall partying effort was pretty weak, and we were in bed by 2.
A good night was had by all, though i did sprain my ankle... bloody uneven roads!
We've spent another lazy day enjoying all the coforts of home and more, including a giant plasma screen, stacks of dvd's, a pool table and of course the obligatory card games. Its been a great way to start 2008!
Tomorrow Jaree and I will be heading off to Sukothai and leaving everyone else in Bangkok (they're going to cambodia and vietnam).
Hope you all had a brilliant New Years Eve and Day!
Lots of Love Imogen.

Sukhothai, where the new meets the old @ New Sukhothai, Thailand

2008-01-03T16:06:00.000Z

Hello from Sukhothai!
Jaree and I took a 7 hour bus trip yesterday (2/1) and arrived in New Sukhothai. This town is home to the Ruins of Old Sukhothai Historical Park. Apart from that the town has little in the way of things to do or see so our stay here will be brief.
We spent the day today riding around the historical park on a couple of push bikes that we hired for B20. It was alot of fun as neither Jaree or I has ridden a bike in a very long time! The novelty did wear off when our bums started to get very sore! We took some beautiful picturs of the ruins that included many large buddahs.
We were stopped by a bunch of kids in the park and asked a whole page of questions in english which was obviously some sort of school activity. The were lovely and wanted to take photos of us.
Tomorrow we're off to Chiang Mai which we are both really looking forward to.
Lots of love, Imogen!

Chaing Mai Update @ Chiang Mai, Thailand

2008-01-05T11:08:00.000Z

After another 6 hour bus trip yesterday (4/2), Jaree and I have arrived in lovely Chiang Mai. We spent the afternoon wandering around town and then by total coincidence ran into Jaree's friends Sonja and David in the street! Jaree knew they were going to be around in the next couple of days but it was still very exciting. We spent the evening with Sonja and David at the Night Bazaar. The Bazaar was horrible because I wanted to buy just about everything I saw but knowing that I couldn't fit it all into my little pack I had to resist. We settled on buying a lovely pair of thick fishermans pants for B100. I'm hoping i will be able to buy everything back i Bangkok before i leave.
Alrighty well we're off to the zoo now after having breakky with Sonja and David this morning!
So everything is well and good and i hope you all are too.
Lots of love, Imogen

Day 2 and 3 in chiang mai
The past couple of days have been spent going to the chiang mai zoo and then going to a cookery school where we learnt heaps for beautiful thai dishes and had lots of fun. Naturally we ate way too much! We made tomyum goong (hot and spicy soup), coconut soup, stir fried vegetables, sweet and sour vegetables, green curry, penang curry, pad se ew and pad thai and the chef demostrated making fresh curry paste, spring rolls and sweet sticky rice and mango.
Yesterday evening we went to the Sunday walking markets but again resisted buying anything thankfully!
Well thats all for now!
love imogen!

My new home (I wish!) Pai @ Pai, Thailand

2008-01-10T10:35:00.000Z

Hi Everyone!
It's been acouple of days since I updated the blog and I suppose you're all weondering what Jaree and I have been up to... I'm happy to report we've been having quite a nice old adventure Pai style!

We arrived in Pai (pronounced 'bye') on Monday 7/1 after a 130km trip from Chiang Mai that took 4 hours in a minibus due to the extremely windy and hilly roads. We settles into a nice little guest house and had a wander around town while we decided how to spend the next couple of days in a town that boasts the motto "Do nothing in Pai." Finally we decided that we would partake in a 2 day adventure river rafting trip the next day.

The trip was a great sucess! We left on Tuesday morning and after an hour and a half drive we arrived at the River Pai which was very low due to a very dry wet season last year. The capatain of our boat was a really nice Thai guy named Chai who kept us entertained on the slower parts of the trip with his great sense of humour. There were only 3 others on the trip with us, 2 french guys and a spanish guy all in their 30s.

There were some great little rapids down the river and Jaree and I both had our turns at nearly falling out of the raft which was pretty funny. We spent about 5-6 hours on the river on Tuesday before stoping for the night at a little camp set up by the river for us which included bamboo huts to sleep in with lots of dry blankets to keep warm and an eating area with a couple of fires that the Thai guys cooked dinner for us on.

Day two began at about 8 when we got up and had scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast and then set out for a full day of rafting from 9 - 4pm. The scenery was really amazing and as the area is very remote we hardly saw anyone apart from the odd fisherman, who i found out from Chai spend 4 days out fishing along the river and then return back to the Village for 1 or 2 days before going out again. On the second day we saw a group of people walking up on the hill along side the river. According to Chai these were Burmese refugees who follow the river all the way from Burma to Pai and Chiang Mai. I found this totally astounding!

The weather was absolutely beautiful for our trip and I even enjoyed a swim in the river which was really refreshing. Another highlight was stopping at a couple of hot springs on the way, one of which was apparently 90 degrees and in which Chai boiled and ate two eggs. It was such an enjoyable couple of days away from civilisation and I would ceretainly recommend it to anyone who is coming to Pai and likes the outdoors!

We arrived in Pai at 6.30 last night after a 2 hour drive back on another extremely steep and winding road. We saw an absolutely beautiful sunset from the top of a mountain as the sun set over the hills in the distance. Ceretainly a fitting ending to a very picturesque couple of days!

Today will be spend relaxing and perhaps visiting the nearby hot springs. I think a massage is in order as my arms are a little bit sore from the paddling and since it only costs about $5 for an hour I can hardly afford not to!

I'm thinking of those of you who are back at work after the Christmas break, and don't worry, I will be relaxing and enjoying myself extra hard for you all!
Lots of Love, Imo.

P.S. I found out this morning that I have been accepted into Bachelor of Economics at UQ starting on Feb 25th! Very exciting!

And back to Chiang Mai... @ Chiang Mai, Thailand

2008-01-12T20:23:00.000Z

Well we're back in Chiang Mai and all is well and good. After a pretty low key day yesterday (yoga, bus, eat sleep) we had a really great day today. We spent the day at the elephant conservation park which is an hour drive from Chiang Mai. It is home 34 of the beautiful creatures, many of whom have been rescued from working in illegal logging, as trekking elephants or working on the streets of Bankok and Chiang Mai. They were so amazing and going to a park like this was so rewarding because the animals are not forced to do anything and are allowed to interact freely and roam the 50+ acres of the park. We were given the opportunity to hand feed the elephants and give them a scrub in the river. We watched the 4 baby elephants playing in the mud for ages because they were just so gorgeous and so photogenic. We took, literally, 100 photos of the elephants. They are just the most amazing animals! It was quite expensive to go to the park for the day compared to doing other activities in Ching Mai but ceretainly money well spent. The lady who owns the park is a middle aged Thai woman who has devoted her life to saving elephants and she is such an inspiration! We had such a great time just hanging around with the elephants and watching them do their natural thing.
I can't believe I will be home in 4 weeks! Its just going too fast and I'm having such a great time!
Lots of love
Imogen oxox

Chiang Rai, Thailand @ Chiang Rai, Thailand

2008-01-14T16:20:00.000Z

Well, despite it being a couple of days since I last updated the Trip tracker I have very little to report on due to the fact that both Jaree and I have had a nasty bout of a bug which has kept us, for the most part, in bed! I spent most of saturday night awake (I don't think details are necessary here) and then made a painful and awkward trip to Chiang Mai yesterdy. Thankfully it seems only to be the 24hr type bug but unfortunately I have passed it on to Jaree whoo has spent all day in bed today. Its a shame because we had planned to visit the hot springs and do a trip down the river today as it is our only full day in Chiang Rai. I managed to have a small dinner at the Night Baazar last night which was good.
So as I said not much to report on there! We'll just have to wait it out and hopefully we'll both be recovered for our 2 days on the slow boat to Luang Prabang... could be a little awkward.
Anyhow, spirits are still high and Jaree should be better tomorrow (if my condition is anything to go by).
Hope you are all well.
love imogen

We've made it to Laos @ Luang Prabang, Laos

2008-01-19T11:50:00.000Z

Luang Pragbang has to be one of the cutest towns I have seen in my time in Asia. We arrived here after spending two days travelling along the Mekong from Chiang Khong in Thailand and spending one night in Pak Bara. The boat ride was, at the time, rather unpleasant as the seats were hard and impossible to get comfortable on. But I didn manage to read two whole books in the two days and successfully keep myself occupied. The scenery was magnificent which made the trip a little more pleasant but we were pretty happy to get off that boat after a couple of days.

Laos so far has been good fun. It's a little expensive here compared to Thailand but in reality we are staying in a clean, new guesthouse for about $7 each per night. We have been totally tempted by the beautiful markets here which have endless amounts of silk scarves, beautiful paper lanterns, lovely paintings and everything in between and i think that since i only have 3 weeks left to lug my shopping around I will probably give in to teptation before I leave Luang Prabang.

Sarah, Hana, Alison and Paul arrived in Luang Prabang yesterday afternoon so we had a great time catching up on all their travel goss and meeting all their new friends from the long boat. WE had a really great dinner last night at a restaurant down by the river and then went to a bar next door called Hive which we really nice. The strange thing about LP is that they have a city curfew at 12am and stop serving alcohol at 11.30. After that apparently the thing to do is go to the local Ten Pin Bowling alley which is the only place you can buy a beer after 12... so thats what we did. It wasn't exactly a highlight and we really quite strange but we all had a laugh and a bowl.

Our next couple of days will probably involve some sight seeing, perhaps some kayaking or rafting. The weather is really lovely because it gets really hot during the day in the sun but its cool at night. Very pleasant.

Hope everything is well at home. I'll be home in just a couple of weeks so I'll be seeing some of you very soon.
Lots of love Im

Luang Prabang... yes, we're still here! @ Luang Prabang, Laos

2008-01-21T19:25:00.000Z

Our time in Luang Prabang has been really fantastic and as there is so much to do we are having trouble leaving! Yesterday we got all excited and went on a cycling and kayaking trip around the Laos country side. It was a blast! But we were all buggered by the end of the day. For anyone who doesn't know me well enough my sheltered upbringing meant that I could count the times i've been on a bike in my life time on one hand, so yesterdays mountain biking was a bit of a challenge. But we all had a good laugh, (mostly at me) and ceretainly got a good work out. The group leader must have thought I was really pathetic because I was so slow but I told him I was happy to go at my own pace and that there was a reason the turtle is my favourite animal. I am very modest about my sporting abilities after all! Finally, after what seemed like 100 hills, we stopped for some lunch in one of the local villages where we were obviously the main attraction of the day. The villagers seemed to enjoy watching us eat. The scottish guys, Jeremy and Pete were with us and provided non stop entertainment the entire trip. They seem to be constantly funny without even trying.

The second half of the day was great fun and started with a swim in the Ou Nam River which was brautifully clear and wonderfully refreshing as we were all sweating like crazy after pedalling in the hot Laos sun for 3 hours. We had a great time cruising down the river in Kayaks though I will admit Jaree and I got out of any hard work as the Lao tour guides were in the boat with us and did most of th work. The scenery down the river was absolutly splendid with rolling hills, limestone cliffs and all a briliant green.

By the time we got home yesterday we were totally buggered. It was a big day and more excercise then I have done this entire trip but still lots of fun! We were shocked, however, to find out that our guide was paid just US$5 for the entire trip when the total we paid between us was US$240!

Today we all went off to the waterfall, about an hours drive from town. And I have to say it was very impressive. The water was a brilliant blue and formed lots of small but deep swimming holes. One of the holes had a swinging rope and everyone had a great time swinging into the water and trying to get photos of us doing it. We got a great action shot of Sarah, Jaree and Hana jumping off a mini waterfall into the water. It was lots of fun! Aparently Laos is renowned for it's waterfalls... but that was news to me. When we got back to town we had our staple lunch of baguette with various fillings from the market which is cheap as chips and very tasty bofore watching Lleyton lose in the 4th round of the Australian open in one of the local bars. As Pete said, it's not quite the same as watching sport at home, what with the Laos pop music blaring in the background and the warmish beer.

Well, all is well, obviously, and it looks like we'll drag ourselves away to Vang Vieng tomorrow for some tubing and water sports fun. Should be a laugh as our tralelling comedy act will be joining us!

Hope all is well in Aus! Believe it or not, the count down has started (unfortunately for me) and i'll be back in 17 days!
Lots of Love Im

Disneyland for Big Kids! @ Vang Vieng (Muang Vangviang), Laos

2008-01-25T11:33:00.000Z

We've made it to Vang Vieng, south of Luang Prabang, and I am almost ceretain this has to be one of the greatest places on earth! The scenery here is just amazing. The town lies at the foothills of huge mountains with limestone cliffs and rocky caves. It is really beautiful and green here with a lovely river running at the edge of town. Our first day here was spent at a nearby lagoon with swinging ropes into the water. The water was deep enough that you could jump off the trees into the water which was so much fun! We spnt the whole day swimming, jumping, swinging, playing cards and sun bathing. It was brilliant! The we explored a nearby cave and that was amazing aswell.

Yesterday was spent doing what most people come here to do, tubing. So basically you hire out a big tube and get dropped at the top of the river where you float down getting pulled into various riverside bars playing really loud music and selling buckets full of alcohol. The noveltie is that all the bars have their own swings and jumping platforms into the water. It seems like a bad idea, drunken backpackers and big swings into the water but it was so much fun! It really was like disneyland for big kids becuase I don't think it could've possibly gotten any better! One of the bars had volleyball courts and we didn't leave until sunset by which time we had only made it halfway down the river!

Today is abit cloudy, so we're having a quiet one but hopefully it will clear p thisarvo sowe can go to the big waterfall!

Alrighty, hope everyone is well
lots of love imogen

Vientiane, Laos @ Vientiane, Laos

2008-01-26T16:05:00.000Z

We held out in Vang Vieng for good weather so we could go tubing again today but unforunately we lucked out and instead jumped on a bus to Vientiane. We're still with Sarah, Hana and our new scottish friends Jeremy and Pete but they have decided to get the 22 hour bus trip to Hanoi tonight. We all just had our last supper together and soon they will be heading off which is really sad because it has been so much fun hanging out together in Laos.
Jaree and I have checked into a backpackers, which is a first for us in Laos but necessary because there are very few good affordable options here.
We'll be hitting the markets tonight and buying lots of Laos souvenirs before heading back to Thailand in the next couple of days.
Can't believe the countdown has begun!
Lots of Love, Imogen

Back to our Island Paradise @ Ko Chang, Thailand

2008-01-29T13:53:00.000Z

Believe it or not we are now on another island in Thailand. Simply, we just couldn't resist the idea of spending more time relaxing and doing nothing. We left Vientiane at 5pm Sunday afternoon and arrived at Ko Chang at 4pm on Monday afternoon. We spent sunday night on an overnight bus to bangkok after crossing the border. We arrived n Bangkok at 5.30am and then waited at Khao San Road until our connecting bus to Ko Chang arrived at 8am. Another 6 hour bus ride and we got to Trat before getting on a ferry to Ko Chang. Then we got a tuk tuk to Bailan Family Bungalows. We are in a really good bungalow for 450B and its just down from the beach. Jaree and I relaxed all afternoon and drank our dutyfree baileys. Neddless to say we were totally sleep deprived and we crash for a solid 12 hours last night. But in hindsight it was definately wirth it as we have no where to go for a good 4 days! I had curry for breakfast because I have been craving it for days. One thing is for sure, Thailand is far superior in the food stakes.
Hows this, during our 20 minute drive down the coast of Ko Chang to Bailan Bay we passes 6 7/11 convenience stores as opposed toLaos where we didn't see a single one. I swear they just love a convenience store around here.
Alrighty well we're off to relax some more... you might now hear from me much in the next few days as we will be sucessfully doing nothing and I won't have much to report on...
Hope everyone had a lovely Australia day weekend!
Love Im

Loving Ko Chang @ Ko Chang, Thailand

2008-01-31T19:40:00.000Z

Hi Everyone!

After having a rather overcast first day on Ko Chang we have had 2 days of absolutely beautiful weather. Today we spent the day out on a baot exploring the nearby islands off Ko Chang. We went snorkelling off acouple of small islands and it was definately the best coral i have seen in Thailand and almost rivals great barrier reef in beauty and variety but not in size. We visit two beaches that were absolutely pristine with bright white sand, crystal clear water and lined with palms. It was almost too good to be true! The day started off quite overcast but by midday the sky was a clear blue and it was steaming hot! And just hot enough to give Jaree and I some decent sunburn. It was a really good day and great to be out exploring the oceans... along with every other tourist on the island of course!

We've found a thai restaurant here that does the best of every thai dish I have tasted in thailand. We've been there everyday so far and no doubt we'll go again tomorrow. The girls that work there love us! I had the best Tom Yum Goong for dinner tonight and really good green papaya salad. I am addicted to thai food and have an insatiable appetite for all of it!

So life on the island is going splendidly and now that my days are numbered I am making the most of every minute!
Lots of love, Imogen oxox

Back in Bangkok @ Bangkok, Thailand

2008-02-05T09:34:00.000Z

The countdown is on. I've seen a decent part of south east Asia in the Past 11 weeks and now Jaree and I have headed back to Bangkok for departure. I'm really glad that we spent a couple of days here at new years because otherwise it all would've been totally overwhelming. Bangkok is just so big and busy that it blows my mind. We decided to skip Khao San for a couple of days and instead stay closer to the heart of the city and the shopping. We are infact staying up a quiet little street that is only a block away from MBK. MBK is a massive shopping complex which has just about everything and anything. There is basically a floor dedicated to everything from electronics to clothing and all at a really good price. However, on our first shopping day we ventured out of the city to the Chatuchak markets. These markets make the 8 floors of MBK seem very very tame. They were ceretainly the most amazing markets I have ever been to. You could buy anything there including a puppy dog if you so desired. We spent 8 hours there and we proably only saw about half of the markets. I couldn't get over the size and variety along with the number of people there. I was lso very impressed with the quality of the clothing and homewares that you could buy. I imagined that it would be just a big junk maket full of rip-offs but I was very wrong. I could've spent alot of money at Chatuchak but I'm on a budget and I've come this far so I intend to stick to it. I did get quite a few nice bits a pieces which I'm very pleased about and I have money to spare for the next 2 days of shopping!

We met up with Sarah and Hana last night over at Khao San after they flew in from Hanoi. Sounds like they had a really great time in Veitnam despite the cold. We were glad to see them again as it's always nice to have the company of others.

I'm looking forward to a busy few days abroad before heading out of here on Thursday night (I'm sure navigating Bangkok Airport will be an adventure in itself. fun fun.)

oxox imo