our journey around the world

Lonely Planet opens it’s Phnom Penh entry with… “it’s exotic, it’s chaotic, it’s beguiling, it’s distressing, it’s compulsive, it’s repulsive”.  I have to agree.  PP is all of those things and lots more of those types of words.  It’s a place of great contradiction.  No matter where you look, there’s a contradiction, whether it be in wealth, culture or even hygiene.

The very first day we entered Cambodia – after coming from touristy Thailand – I thought to myself “Why?  Why is it like this?  Why is one side of the border relatively clean and the road repaired and the other side looks like a warzone?”  When we came from Cambodia into Vietnam, once again, it’s like progressing 20 years – just by crossing an unseen line on the map.

[Read more →]

While we have been in Phnom Penh, we have been looking for an organization that helps the most in need.

 On our second last night here, we were handed a pamphlet at a restaurant,:-   …Please come with us, to help the children at the City Dump.   Join us on our working trips to help feed hungry children that live at the city dump. You buy the food with us, we recommend $15 upwards, we buy 3 meals for $1, you give them the food you buy.  Warning: You may find what you see distressing, please prepare yourself, they need your help desperately.” [Read more →]

So after a day to recover from our border crossing and find the lay of the land, we booked the hotel minibus to take us out to the Angkor archaeology complex.  Turned out it was about the same price to take the nice air con van as it was to take 2 tuk tuks, so we decided to go for sunrise over Angkor Wat and return to the hotel for our free breakfast buffet and then go back to the temples at lunch time to break it up for the kids. [Read more →]

So after a very relaxing and enjoyable stay in Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand, we once again headed to Bangkok en route to Cambodia.  This time we did actually manage to get tickets on the sleeper train, which turned into a bit of a novelty for all of us and we all had quite a fun time, particularly after the bed attendant came and put the beds together and made them up. 

As usual, the toilets caused a bit of a giggle (we have spent quite a lot of time discussing toilets over the last month!) mainly because there was a squat toilet and a western toilet – using a squat on a moving train is extremely interesting!

We went back to our old favourite – The Ramada Hotel – they will give us 2 rooms incl a massive buffet breakfast and free wifi in a 4 star hotel for abt $90 AUD – an absolute bargain for Bangkok.

We were going out to eat and I had to go back to get something.  When I got down to the lobby, I couldn’t get out of the elevator hall because it was blocked by a group of Indian tourists who were all milling around.  I pushed my way through until I could finally see what all the fuss was about and realised they were all standing around laughing, pointing and having their photos taken with my children!  This was not the first time we’ve been
stopped to have photos taken but usually it was by Thais.  This was a whole new level of paparazzi!  I took some photos to show you that it really isn’t much fun to be a tourist attraction! [Read more →]

Favourite food:
Paul – Green chicken curry at Pan Beach.
Amanda – Green chicken curry at Pan Beach.
Caitlin – A cheeseburger set from Mo’s Burgers (a type of Japanese McDonalds!)
Georgie – Banana fruit shakes
Ashlea – Noodle soup with chicken
Michael – Fruit, yogurt & muesli at Pan Beach
Favourite activity:
Paul – trekking in Khao Sok National Park
Amanda – Elephant Nature Park
Caitlin – Elephant Nature Park
Georgie – Elephant Nature Park
Ashlea – Elephant Nature Park
Michael – Elephant Nature Park

Favourite Place:
Paul – Pan Beach, Krabi.
Amanda – Kanchanaburi
Caitlin – Pan Beach Bungalows.
Georgie – Pan Beach.
Ashlea – Pan Beach Bungalows.
Michael – Kanchanaburi
Most disliked:
Paul – The driver who took us to the seafood restaurant in Bangkok.
Amanda – Being stopped for photos & strangers hugging & kissing the kids.
Caitlin – Thai food.
Georgie – People touching us all the time.
Ashlea – Ladies who kissed me at the temple.
Michael – Frog ladies (tribal ladies selling wooden frogs)

It’s hard to write about our visit to the Elephant Nature Park just  because it was so amazing and so it’s hard to describe.  The park has evolved from the work of a woman nicknamed “Lek” meaning small (and she really is tiny!).

She grew up in a tribal village where elephants were a part of the family and later when she saw them being mistreated, felt she had to do something to rescue them and with the help of benefactors has been rescuing elephants ever since. [Read more →]

So finally we came to the day the kids have been looking forward to since we first left Australia – Tiger Kingdom!  Why you ask?  Well because at Tiger Kingdom you don’t just sit in the grand stand or watch from behind glass or mesh – you get to go inside with the tigers! 

Your choices are – smallest 3-6 months old; medium 6-12 months old and big cats, which turned out to be just over 12 months old. 

We did see this huge male tiger in a cage next to the babies and he was massive!  I have seen quite a few tigers in zoos etc but never one this big.  It’s hard to see just how big he was in our photos but take it from me, if you saw him while you were walking in the jungle you would soon be sprinting in the opposite direction!

If you don’t buy a pass to go in with the tigers you cannot enter the tiger areas so Paul reluctantly bought a pass to the big cats because it was cheaper.  Otherwise, he would have had to sit outside while we went in for a play with the tiger cubs.  (Those of you who know him, know that animals are not a special interest!)

Typically, when we got to our turn to go in with the cubs, the keepers ushered all 6 of us in, so Paul got to do both babies and later went in with the big cats!  All the rest of us were crying foul – how totally unfair! [Read more →]

One of the great things about travelling is that you meet some fascinating people – usually other travellers. 

So far we have met Irene & Daniel – a French couple from Bordeaux – when we were at Krabi.  Their son is a pilot  for Air France so every few months they get to go off on some sort of trip.  Luckily for us, Daniel is a physiotherapist and as Paul had done something to his shoulder on the first day of our trip, it was perfect timing when he very quickly adjusted Paul and the next day he was fine!  We hope we’ll meet again when we’re in France.

When we went to the Lake House in Khao Sok, we met Sven & Susi – also fascinating.  They have to have the best jobs in the world.  They work for a German travel company who places their guides in various places in the world to help coordinate package tours etc for German travellers.  Sven has been one of these guides for 10 years and Susi 5, which is how they met.  They have spent the last 20 months working in the Canary Islands and return to Germany next month to get their next assignment.  As a result, they speak multiple languages and have travelled all over the place.

Most recently here in Chiang Mai we had the good fortune to spark up conversation with Matt and his wife Jessica and their friends Joshua and Jennifer.  These guys are from the US and are in Chiang Mai to attend a conference.  They have spent the last 5 months in Mongolia where they are teaching English.  They all plan to spend 2 years in Mongolia, before returning to the States.

It was incredibly interesting to hear all about what they are doing there, how they have been learning Mongolian and about the country – not the least that the temperature was -40C when they left!

We all had a few meals together and enjoyed their company immensely and hope that we’ll run into them again some day.  Hopefully I will have a link to their own blogs soon which I will pass onto you.

We have only been travelling for a month, so who knows what other people will we meet along the way.

We arrived in Chiang Mai, which is the 2nd biggest city in Thailand, on Saturday night – after a marathon 13 hour train journey.

Since then we have moved hotels, done a bit of homework and just chilled out, as all of us, particularly Paul & myself, have head colds.  Probably picked up on the train, where the air conditioning was set at sub-zero temperatures.

I also had a really bad dose of tonsillitis while we were in Koh Samui, which put a dampener on my beach retreat there, however, I didn’t eat for 3 days so did wonders for my diet!

The hotel we are staying at provides a shuttle bus every night into the night markets (on Sundays there is also a once a week market which has additional shops).  So we have been into both of these markets to get something to eat over the last 2 nights. [Read more →]

An interesting thing I learnt about the Bridge is that it wasn’t actually built over the River Kwai!  The river is really the Mae Klong but because of the popularity of the book/movie the Thai Government decided to rename that stretch of the river to Kwai (which is nearby).

Kanchanaburi is quite a nice town and naturally there is a tourist district which caters mainly to the Australian, British and Dutch travellers who come to pay their respects and see the famous bridge.

On our first afternoon we went to the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre which had a very good display starting with information about the Japanese history and politics that lead to their entry into the War and then their expansion into the South Pacific.  For those of you who don’t know – here’s the history lesson:-

The Japanese had always had ambitions to take over those areas of the Pacific held by colonial powers, namely Britain, France, Holland and the USA in the Phillippines.  They already held significant parts of China and the allies had imposed trade embargoes, subsequently restricting Japan from accessing natural resources such as rubber.  In December 1942, Japan invaded Malaya (and attacked Pearl Harbour) and by February held all of Indo-China, Malaya, Singapore, Phillippines and was working through Indonesia en route for Australia. [Read more →]