Australia - Sydney

12 - 17 July '08

After a sleepless 9 hour flight from Bangkok, we arrived down under in Sydney. It was a crisp, cold morning signifying a temporary end to our t-shirts and suncream. Australia was really just a stopover for us to get to South America... we would be returning here early next year for the grand wedding of 2 very close friends when we would try and explore the island in more depth. Unaware, we had arrived in what would probably be the busiest period of the year, WYD - World Youth Day (should really be called Week). Over 150,000 pilgrims from all corners of the world had converged in Sydney city centre to attend talks, readings, festivals and above all to see the Pope over the next few days - it was a chaotic but atmospheric time to be here. Our first task was to find accomodation and thankfully Sydney airport was geared towards backpackers - there was a dedicated area with direct phonelines to all the major hostels... unfortunately because of WYD, all of these were already booked up so we settled for a slightly upmarket place near Darling Harbour. After some brief rest, we ventured out towards Darling Harbour itself where we stumbled across a Nando's... after 3 months of deprivation, we didn't hesitate in ordering half a chicken and peri-peri chips :-)
We spent the following morning strolling around Hyde Park and CBD before meeting up with the lovely Mithra (Siv's younger sister) at a harbour bar. Two carafes of Sangria later we found ourselves in a canteen-style food court in the heart of china-town (highly recommended and generous budget options with a variety of stalls). Alkesh, his fiance and their siblings were coincidentally also in Sydney at the time, and so we ended the night drinking and catching up with them.
The next day we lost ourselves in the dense greenery of the Royal Botanical Gardens whilst making our way to Mrs. Macquaries Point. This peninsula viewpoint was an ideal location to capture the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge in a single gaze. We lay on the grassy banks for a couple of hours and read before watching the sunset over the bridge. After making our way through the crowded grounds of the Opera House, we sat and listened to a small aboriginal open-air concert near Circular Quay (surprisingly, we also bumped into a couple of people from our Kanchanaburi trip here).
Although we had arrived in Australia's colder months, we arose to glorious blue skies the following morning and decided to head out to Manly Beach. We waded our way through congregations of dancing youth at the harbour who were waving their country's flag where we caught a ferry to Manly (a lot of the city roads had been cordened off and pedestrianised). We lunched at a waterfront cafe and spent the rest of the afternoon soaking in the sun whilst walking along the sandy beaches. On returning to Darling Harbour that evening, we wined and dined with our generous host Mithra at her favourite Malaysian restaurant - Malaya.
On our final day in Sydney we joined the masses of youth to watch The Dark Knight on its opening day and on the world's largest screen... we felt the film didn't quite live up to the original but our visual experience didn't disappoint. Our brief stay in Sydney had given us a taste of what the country could offer, but Sydney itself was similar to London in many respects and never took us out of our comfort zones (albeit our stopover was undoubtedly too short). We looked forward to our return visit early next year, but for different reasons. Next stop... Chile.

Thailand - Kanchanaburi

8 - 9 July '08

It was another early start, and the 3 of us got picked up from our guesthouse in Bangkok at 7am. Our minibus circled around the Khao San area cramming in travellers from various hostels before arriving at the tour set off point in Khao San Road itself where several other minibuses were parked. As the tour representatives boarded the minibuses and applied colour coded stickers to our arms (the stickers signified tour destinations and activities), we knew this was the beginning of disorganised chaos. A few minutes later, we found ourselves on another smaller and cramped minibus heading towards Kanchanaburi. On route, our first stop was the War Cemetery where hundreds of Allied soldiers who had been forced to build the River Kwai Bridge under Japanese rule during WWII were buried. We then visited the Jeath Museum and the actual railway bridge itself - it was set against a beautiful mountainous backdrop (but allowing tourists to walk along its unbarricaded track didn't feel very safe at all). Thereafter, we shepherded on board a vintage-looking train for a 1 hour ride along the death railway (called so because its cliff winding tracks had previously claimed many lives). With rural landscapes on either side and loud clattering sounds from the train, the journey felt like we had travelled back in time. Lunch was well overdue and we were thankful when we were taken to our jungle raft (self-contained sleeping and dining quarters floating on the river) to grab a bite to eat. After lunch, chaos ensued once more whilst everyone tried to figure out what afternoon activities lay ahead (the tour organisation, or lack of, was actually becoming very amusing and gave everyone something to unite and talk about... we had also met several very friendly individuals during the excursions who we tended to hang out with). Bamboo-rafting and elephant-riding was on our agenda for the afternoon - they were brief but memorable experiences, after which the remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing at Saiyok Noi Waterfall (a petite but elegant attraction situated within a park). That evening, we dined with the other 30 or so travellers in the group, and whilst the host tried to involve people in his nursery-style party games, a few of us sat on the attached bamboo-raft drinking beer and chatting - it was a fitting way to the end the night.

The next morning we made our way to the National Park - home to the Erawan Waterfall. Many claim that these 7-stepped waterfalls are the most remarkable in all of Thailand... and we could see why. We made our way through forestry, winding pathways and large stepping rocks to 5 out of the 7 waterfalls - this alone took over an hour. And, just as Preya and Kerry entered the fish-filled turquoise waters from one of the falls, the heavens opened... providing further refreshment :-) After lunch at the waterfall, it was time for the most eagerly anticipated and final part of our tour... the Tiger Temple. The idea of such a temple had initially conjured up images of a remote and peaceful sanctuary where tigers would roam freely amongst the orange-robed monks. However, on arrival we were greeted by queues of tourists waiting to have their pictures taken with the chained tigers. Whilst we discussed the background of the tigers with a volunteer at the site, we voiced some scepticism about whether they were mistreated or drugged in any way. Could these wild cats naturally adapt to be tame around humans in captivity? We were told they were trained to do so by the monks at an early age. The temple lands were vast and were also home to wild boars, peacocks and cows. As the evening drew closer, it became feeding time - the trucks dumped food on the grounds and we were pleasantly surrounded by hundreds of these animals. As the tour came to an end, our 3 hour road trip back to Bangkok began. Exhausted from our jam-packed 2 day itinerary we crashed out early after some food.

On our final full day in Thailand, we saw Kung-Fu Panda at the impressive IMAX cinema before treating ourselves to one final massage - we lay in a huge room to ourselves which was filled with laughter as the 3 of us continually joked around with the friendly Thai masseuses. We were sad that we would leave South-east Asia the next day (Kerry would go to Phuket whilst we would head down under)... we had had some wonderful experiences and some amazing memories, and as the popular Asian saying goes... we hoped the rest of our travels would be the 'SAME SAME, BUT DIFFERENT!'

Thailand - Bangkok

4 - 7 July '08

Our pleasant overnight train journey from Chiang Mai brought us into familiar territory. Three years ago Bangkok had been part of our honeymoon, but this time we would experience it through the eyes of budget travellers. On arrival, we caught a tuk-tuk from the train station to the backpacker area of Khao San Road where we found ourselves some cheap and cheerful accommodation - our tuk-tuk ride reminded us once again why road journeys were always time consuming... traffic jam after traffic jam. After some rest, we headed out to find some food and stumbled across Mr. Yim, a vegetarian street food vendor, who quickly became our regular cook. After exploring the busy streets of the Khao San area with its hoards of travellers and bars, we crashed out with the help of some nightcaps.

On our previous stay in Bangkok, we had seen many of the attractions around the city, but there was one safe, rubbery face that we were keen to revisit - Mr. C at the well-renowned Cabbages and Condoms restaurant. So, the following day, we used several modes of transport including ferry, tuk-tuk and the skytrain to make our way through Siam Square, Pat Pong market (red-light area famous for its 'ping-pong' shows ;-) and the night market before ending up at our memorable restaurant. After dining and reminiscing, we left the restaurant in usual tradition with a couple of condoms instead of mints!

The following morning we arose very early since we had both enrolled in different activities. Preya explored the culinary secrets of Thailand with an entire morning at the Silom cooking school. The course took place in a converted house where each student had their own stove and utensils (quite different from our class in Vietnam). After visiting the local outdoor market where the group selected their ingredients, each student prepared and consumed five dishes one after another (the course was not only insightful, but the teacher was very entertaining). Meanwhile, Yatin attended a 2-hour Muay Thai boxing class. Unfortunately, he was the only student that turned up that morning and felt the full punishment of the instructors attention. Bruised and battered we concluded that with our combined skill set, we could produce a Thai green curry with a mighty kick. That evening, after a well deserved Thai massage, we strolled by the riverside eating falafels that we had picked up from a local street vendor.

The next day, Kerry arrived from Beijing. It was great to see a familiar face and we all spent most of the day sitting in cafes and restaurants, drinking and chatting. The one thing we did accomplish that day was to book ourselves on a 2-day tour to Kanchanaburi with the help of Pookie, our friendly local travel agent.

Thailand - Chiang Mai

20 June - 3 July '08

Sawadhee! Chiang Mai with its vibrant markets and colourful people was definitely a city where we could have spent many, many months. After arriving at the airport, we found a tuk-tuk driver who drove us to his recommended guest house... as we sat outside under the bamboo roofs chatting to the warm and friendly resident tour-guides, we knew we had arrived home. With nicknames like Billy, Jackie, Jimmy and Tracy, these guys not only spoke good English, but they were also knowledgeable in our slang (the guesthouse also had its very own ladyboy). After settling in, we performed our city-arrival rituals... find food, do laundry, explore city. Our sole mission whilst in Chiang Mai was to enrol in a week-long thai massage course, so the following day we went in search of a school. We decided on ITM (International Training Massage) purely because it sounded like the least intense and most fun - nize choice. That evening, we snacked our way from food stall to food stall through the atmospheric sunday market - this street market was unique in that many families from all over would sell goods that they had spent days making from local materials. We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the local cinema to see "The Incredible Hulk 2" (what was interesting was that after the trailers, the was a 1 minute advert about the King during which everyone would have to stand up to pay respect).

The following morning was an early start since it was beginning of our training. There were 11 people in our group - 1 French, 2 Germans, 2 English, 2 Chileans, 1 American, 1 Singaporean and us. We began with a short mantra and then an hour of yoga with the rest of the school (about 40 students) before the actual learning and practical sessions began. At the end of the day we were given time to practice the techniques we had learnt. For the remainder of the week (and for the first time in 2 months), we had some routine in our travels - wake up, have breakfast, catch tuk-tuk to school, learn, lunch, learn and practice - and each night when we returned to the guest house, we would sit outside with the locals and drink and chat (they called us their family and treated us like 2 of their own). The 11 of us on our course were beginning to bond with one another during the sessions (partly because we practiced on each other), and on our penultimate day, we all went out for dinner - we sat, joked, ate and drank by the riverside where we ended the night in typical Preya fashion... with flaming sambucas.

After nursing our hangovers the next morning, most of us rose early to join the rest of the school in the park where we performed our yoga/tai chi routines. This was followed by a 'fun' practical exam back at the school. The reason why it was fun was because we had sparked up some good relationships with the teachers who continually joked around with the two of us. They seemed to give us more attention because we were Indian (we promised to send them some pendants of Ganesh). So... of course we passed the exam (with a little help ;-) and for those of you brave enough, we are more than happy to demonstrate our new skills (although naturally Preya will only use male subjects, and Yatin only female). That same night we headed we headed out to the Kawila Stadium with our local friends at the guest house where we saw several Muay Thai boxing matches. Although each boxer was passionate about winning, they were also very respectful to one another. A match would begin with some prayer rituals by each boxer, and during each round, there was a live band of percussionists playing - the contestants would almost bounce around to the beat. We witnessed a lot of bruising, some bloody noses, and a couple of knockouts... we even placed a couple of bets and naturally lost.

The next day, we hooked up for some lunch and pool with our Singaporean friend from the course, and for dinner with the Chilean couple - we worked up an appetite in true amsterdam'esqe fashion before dining on a boat cruise. The four of us had a great night which thankfully ended with wine this time. Chiang Mai lays host to many activities - trekking, elephant-riding, rafting, ATV etc... but the one that stuck out for us was called 'Flight of the Gibbon'. It was described as a rainforest adventure and involved gliding 2km from tree to tree along a pulley system. The experience was quite exhilarating and as we flew from treetop station to station, we witnessed the forestry below from a heart-racing height. It's difficult to describe in words the actual logistics of the flights, but the photos on our slideshow should paint a good picture (it was very safe and our 2 guides were professional monkeys). That night, we relaxed on the cushions of a rooftop bar where we picked up and sampled some thai herbs ;-).

After another couple of days of 'happy' walking and eating, we caught our 15 hour overnight train to Bangkok where we would meet up with Kerry (Preya's friend from work).