Hat Yao, Trang

Hi all, Just updating the blog as we've been without internet access for a few days.Can't give all the details as i'd be hours but i'll fill you in a bit. We arrived in Traang ad caught a bus to a sleepy muslim village (Hat Yao) for Christmas. It was completely deserted. Everything we ordered from the local restaurant they were out of stock. We didn't take it personally and persevered living on Mixed fruit and Green curry for a couple of days. Christmas day was spent on a beach that we waded to. We had it to ourselves and we were happy beachcombing all day. The children met some local children and played a thai game which is like a haci sac, keeping a bamboo ball in the air and passing between players. We hired a relative to take is by part long tail, part canoe to a cave which used to be used by pirates to store their treasures. It no longer has anything there but i believe is quite an attraction still. We clambered up rickerty ladders and saw fantastic stalagmites , stalatites and even bats.We then used the canoe later to return to our beach and do some snorkelling. Then...... suddenly the day we left the village came alive and people arrived. Many Thais visit for the weekends and as they had a break over christmas they all desended with tents to camp on the beach. Food was starting to be delivered to the restaurant, and the worst of it all was we were leaving. The Thais have little respect for their environment and left their rubbish behind despite the national park signs. We have seen huge rats in Thailand, one even reminded us in Bangkok that we were going the right way to return to our guesthouse!!!Anyway we travellesd down to Satun and yesterday arrived on the island of Langkawi, Malaysia. We are slightly disapointed as they have decided to maintain the pool in peak season which was the whole reason for us staying there!!! I'm getting hungry so will sign off. Happy new year to you all, Love H x

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!!

It may be a few days before i next log on. I hope you all have an enjoyable time over the christmas period. This is just a general note as Erin has gicen you an idea of what we've been doing over the past few days. Ieuan we think will be preparing a disertation of pavements in South east Asia as we seem to be constantly reminding him to look around at his surroundings. Erin has had a spate of losing stuff, and very nearly lost the school bag with their diaries in.Ieuan managed to loose his flip flops out of the bus door as they don't close them to keep fresh air circulating through. We're off to a park today. Love to you all, H x

Merry Christmas!!

Hi Class,I hope you are all well. Merry Christmas and a happy new year.Hope your holidays are going well. We have been on a canal boat to visit the royal barge museum which is the royal boats for special occasions. They were orignally for battles but in peacetime are now preserved and rarely used. We also a temple which housed a reclining buddha which was 46m long. Love Erin xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bangkok

After a short train journey from Ayutthaya we arrived in Bangkok and strolled around to find a guest house. We are a short distance from the station and despite ity being a little dear we have lovely facilities and free tea and coffee. H

Hi Class,

I am enjoying my holiday but i miss being with you. I have had a really good time in Thailand and i been to the snake farm which was fun. love from Erin x

Ayutthaya

On Sunday we took a bus from Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya (the old capital).We stayed a few days as we wanted to see some stone temples. We hired a tuk tuk for three hours and visited the ones off the island which would be difficult to each otherwise as public transport wasn't as straight forward as other places we'd been. We were very fortunate as there was a festival on celebrating Thailands history and success over Burma. It was a reinactment of the battles which took place.The streets were packed and there was folk music being played on stages throughout the city. We managed to buy tickets to the main show which featured Elephants and horses. The setting was in one of the main temples and it had a similiar atmosphere to what we get at the Shakespearian plays set in castles. It was extremely realsitic with the Elephants battling each other and throwing actors about. Overall it was very visual and noisy. Kids thought it was fantastic!!Have photos to upload again but its a time consuming process so when we have a quiet period i'll post them.

Hua Hin

We have seen Brian, a family friend and had an ice cream in Hua Hin.
We are now in Kanchanaburi.We came on the train and have found a guest house which is very nice we have got a bamboo house. Ieuan and I have to share a bedroom. We have a mosquito net. We went to the World War 2 museums and learnt a lot about how the Japanese forced the POWs to build a railway into Burma. We saw one cemetary which had at least 1000 British troops headstones but there were many more grave stones for the Australians and Dutch who also were captured and died.We also saw the famous Bridge over the River Kwai which Mum and Dad said they would let me watch a film which tells the story.

love Erinxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hua Hin

We arrived in Hua Hin this morning at 6.30 after a restless night. We have seen a market which sells more handmade goods. We meet up with a family friend for lunch tomorrow which will be nice to see a friendly face. This is a stop over before heading off north again. Probably hit the beach and relax a little

Phuket

To all in Neyland,

I have hade a very good experience we have hired a motorbike
and have been to the Tsunami beach where there has been some new buildings being constructed.We have seen a buddha but this one is still being built and hasn't been painted yet. It had a little museum telling the story of how they built it. We also saw some of the moulds which we're used to make it.We thank fully didn't have t climb any steps to reach this one!.There were monks in a temple blessing people like the vicar does at commmunion but they shook something like talcum powder over the people. We even found a Tesco and bought some western snacks for a picnic. We have bought a snorkle and have been very lucky to see some tropical fish in the rocky areas of the beach.We leave for Hua Hin tonight by overnight coach but it can't be any worse nights sleep as we have been four in a bed for most of the holiday!!!

love from Erin xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

White water rafting and Elephant treking

Today we went in a long tail boat to a beach accessible onlie by water.The water was crystal clear and i rented a mask and storkel.We found a few fish too.Yesterday we went Elephant treking and white water rafting and i sat on the head of the elephant. Ieuan

Krabi

We've had a good day at a buddist temple. Climbed 600m (1237 steps to be precise) and got a good view despite the misty conditions. We saw some spectacular limestone caves where monks live and there are some shrines.The children were pleased to see a scorpion and turtle in their natural habitat. If you remember the James bond film "Man with a golden gun" that gives you an idea of the landscape. Excursions and taxi fees aren't as cheap as what the Lonely Planet guide states but we've treated ourselves to a day outing white water rafting and elephant treking tomorrow. Probably the only opportunity we'll get seeing as we aren't able to travel north due to the time constraint that has been forced on us as a result of flying to Kuala lumpur. Kids have been bickering quite a bit (nothing unusual you might say) but i guess the fact they are restricted is showing and we'll head to a beach and have a few days where they can let off some steam.

Krabi seafront is pretty ordinary. Its a muddy creek but there's many longboats taking tourists to the mangroves and down the river to Ao Nang. We are going island hopping for the next few weeks and then back to Langkawi for the new year as we had planned and have booked a hotel.

Still clueless where we'll be for Christmas as everything i'd planned has gone out the window. Won't be worth travelling up towards Bangkok as its such a trek and expense when we have to come south again. Compensation is that Meals cost about 5 pound for the 4 of us. Its not worth doing packed lunch unlike China which was surprisingly dear. Food here and Malaysia is also a lot tastier from what we've experienced so far. Accomodation is very easy to come by, although its high season there are very few tourists because of the economic crisis affecting many countries. We are having to share a queen size bed at present but its only osting 400 baht about 8 pounds.

krabi

Hi class we are in krabi now it took 12 hours in all! 2 hours in a big crowed just to get through imigration it was really hot and i got a bit upset.
we got passed and are now in thailand . last night we went out for dinner and it was really heavy ,but warm rain.(monsoon)
today we are planning some trips,maybe we are doing horse riding or Elephant treking. Mum also needs a hair cut!!!

Penang, Malaysia to Krabi, Thailand

hi evry one.i am in penang now we have been swimming to a littel island and i saw a monitor lizrad.we walked a bit of a junggel and saw a snake a littel black lizard and monkeys but do not trust them beause thay stole a water botel from our bags then started trying to drink it at this point my dad got his ginger rage so he got a stick and shooed it away but the monkey showed its big teeth and whent mad and sat on my sisters clothes and scrached its bum lol!

Next Destination?

Hello All,

Sorry i haven'tupdated the blog, we've been exhausted and access to the internet has been rather difficult to find.We arrived at Shanghai airport ready for our flight to Bangkok under the impression we would be redirected due to the demonstrations however only to be told that our flight had been cancelled. The airline were not helpful in the slightest and with our visas running out for China, we had no alternative other than to purchase another flight. Options were limited but to cut a long story short we ended up flying to Kuala Lumpur. We've now headed north to Penang which is near the boarder and rented a beach Chalet for a few days recooperation.Transportation to Thailand is limited as everyone else is in the same predicament but with luck tomorrow we hope to get a mini bus to Krabi, 6 hours away. This at least is some compensation for the moneyspent on visas etc.We will have to travel back south again for the accomodation already booked over new year.We visited a national park yesterday, met some wildlife some friendlier than others. Monkeys took advantage of raiding our bags whilst we were in the water and got pretty aggressive when we tried to stop them. We had a 2 hour walk through rainforest to get to the beach so we weren't particularly impressed when they stole our water. Eating out is very cheap and their are many more westerners here not as good an opportunity to learn the language.The weather is hot and humid here, much more comfortable from about 6pm onwards.