Today we had our taster day on the back of the motorbikes we are going to spend the next 7 days exploring south Vietnam on. I have to admit I've got the better deal, my guy not only speaks the better English but is also exceptionally short (and I mean shorter than Dickie and maybe even shorter than Suzy!) the advantage being I can see over his head as we're cruising along where as Tony only gets a side on view.
We had a days tour of Da Lat and it's surroundings and compared to yesterday we had a good weather day. That didn't stop our drivers recommending we wear waterproofs for the morning because showers were forecasted. I had an attractive army green combo going on which I did my best to carry off as normal attire, Tony on the other hand was given a royal blue two piece and the trousers fell some way short of his ankles! This is an indication of how difficult it is to find clothes to fit here - we both bought a pair of shorts a couple of days ago and both needed size XL - not great for the self esteem! We have found one advantage though, Tony was given a helmet to wear that actually fitted his pinhead!
After a great days sightseeing we were dropped off at our hotel and one of our guides asked us if we had plans for the evening which obviously we didn't, so he invited to his house for dinner to meet his wife and two young children which we gratefully accepted. We've just got back from a lovely evening of showing off our chop stick skills (or not!), making spring rolls and having a couple of beers. It was a real privilege to get to see a typical Vietnamese family and their way of life rather than the slightly false impression one gets as a tourist.
So, we head off tomorrow on our motorbike adventure and to all the nervous folk, we'll be careful out there (to be honest there's not much chance of high speeds as we will be two people, a 20kg backpack and whatever our guide brings on a 125cc motorbike!)
Love to everyone.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Saturday, 30 October 2010
Goodbye Coast, Hello Highlands
Morning All
Just a short update for you today. Carrying on from our last post, we did indeed have a quiet mooch around Hoi An yesterday. In fact we mooched around on a couple of bikes. Not something we would ever dreamed of doing based on the traffic in Bangkok or Hanoi, but Hoi An is a similar size to Newbury and far quieter on the roads. The beach turned out to be a no brainer though due to a gale force easterly wind. We stopped just long enough to get the all over exfoliating sand blasting treatment, about 30 seconds, before heading back into town.
Further down the coast Nha Trang is apparently receiving the most rainfall in the whole world today, which is why we decided to avoid going there. The diving would be a little rough we thinks!
We flew to Dalat in the central highlands instead, arriving around 10pm. It was immediately obvious how an elevation of 1500 metres affects the temperature. It was around 18'C. Now you may all be crying out for that back in th UK but we've become accustomed to 28'or 29'C over the last few weeks so it felt decidedly chilly by contrast. It's rained heavily all day so we've been fairly lazy. We have arranged the next week or so though. We're doing a one day tour of the surrounding area tomorrow (31st). As long as that goes well we're 'Easy Riding' the following 7 days through the highlands all the way down to the Mekong Delta via Saigon. For those of you not familiar with easy riding it's basically riding pillion on a motorbike with a guide leading the way through territory usually unseen by tourist folk. We're not entirely sure what our accommodation will be like as it will include homestay type places but Internet access could be limited and blogging may well be sporadic. We'll do our best though.
Right, this was meant to be short and it's turned in to a right old waffle so I'll say that's all for now folks.
Lots of love
Les Mcks xxx
Just a short update for you today. Carrying on from our last post, we did indeed have a quiet mooch around Hoi An yesterday. In fact we mooched around on a couple of bikes. Not something we would ever dreamed of doing based on the traffic in Bangkok or Hanoi, but Hoi An is a similar size to Newbury and far quieter on the roads. The beach turned out to be a no brainer though due to a gale force easterly wind. We stopped just long enough to get the all over exfoliating sand blasting treatment, about 30 seconds, before heading back into town.
Further down the coast Nha Trang is apparently receiving the most rainfall in the whole world today, which is why we decided to avoid going there. The diving would be a little rough we thinks!
We flew to Dalat in the central highlands instead, arriving around 10pm. It was immediately obvious how an elevation of 1500 metres affects the temperature. It was around 18'C. Now you may all be crying out for that back in th UK but we've become accustomed to 28'or 29'C over the last few weeks so it felt decidedly chilly by contrast. It's rained heavily all day so we've been fairly lazy. We have arranged the next week or so though. We're doing a one day tour of the surrounding area tomorrow (31st). As long as that goes well we're 'Easy Riding' the following 7 days through the highlands all the way down to the Mekong Delta via Saigon. For those of you not familiar with easy riding it's basically riding pillion on a motorbike with a guide leading the way through territory usually unseen by tourist folk. We're not entirely sure what our accommodation will be like as it will include homestay type places but Internet access could be limited and blogging may well be sporadic. We'll do our best though.
Right, this was meant to be short and it's turned in to a right old waffle so I'll say that's all for now folks.
Lots of love
Les Mcks xxx
Friday, 29 October 2010
A step back in time.
Well, what can I say. First impressions were spot on. We both loved Hue. The DMZ tour on the 26th was a long old day. We had a ridiculously early (6am) start and didn't get back till nearly 7pm, but it was a really good day. The Vinh Moc tunnels were a real eye opener as well as a bit of a back breaker. These were dug and used by villages supporting the North Vietnamese during the war. They were not only used for storing and transporting all sorts of weapons and supplies but also were home to an entire towns population. Within the tunnel system were family quarters, eating rooms, treatment rooms and bathrooms. Of course most Vietnamese are under 5'7" so we spent 40 minutes bent double trying to avoid cracking our heads.
We were a bit tired that evening so decided to eat in our hotel rather than heading into town. Now this was a mistake I tell you! Having ordered our meals we were informed that there would be a 30 minute wait, but not told why. Just under 30 minutes later Carol spotted a what looked like a take away meal being delivered to the kitchen. And yep, two minutes later our luke warm dinner was served. Yuk!
We had a fab second day here. A more relaxed tour around some of the historical sites of Hue, including a few of the old imperial tombs and temples, plus a wander around the old citadel. For those who want the history lesson, Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam until 1945.
We spent the evening at our favourite haunt, the DMZ bar, watching the comings and goings of the mopeds. It's amazing how at home these guys are on them and how well the pillion passenger can balance. We saw numerous passengers sitting on the rear of the bikes with their knees pulled up to their chests, completely tucked up under the same rain poncho as the driver (poncho's rule cos it's far too hot for coats, even when raining). Alternatively they'll have an umbrella on the back of the bike.
Today (28th) we travelled south to Hoi An. The old part of the town is the main attraction, dating back 200 plus years, and is lovely to just stroll around. The numerous shops & stalls mainly consist of art galleries, restaurants and tailors (It was in Hoi An where the Top Gear boys got kitted out). We ended up buying a few more souvenirs which we're now going to have to post home tomorrow as our bags are already rammed. We're only two weeks in and this will be the second lot we've posted home. Finger's crossed they'll still look good when we're back home and not just look like travel tat!
We're planning on having a quiet mooch around town again tomorrow before catching an evening flight south to Dalat, and then on to the central highlands over the following days.
That's all for now folks.
lots of love from Mr & Mrs xxx
Ps Dickie, for your info the eggs are still working.
We were a bit tired that evening so decided to eat in our hotel rather than heading into town. Now this was a mistake I tell you! Having ordered our meals we were informed that there would be a 30 minute wait, but not told why. Just under 30 minutes later Carol spotted a what looked like a take away meal being delivered to the kitchen. And yep, two minutes later our luke warm dinner was served. Yuk!
We had a fab second day here. A more relaxed tour around some of the historical sites of Hue, including a few of the old imperial tombs and temples, plus a wander around the old citadel. For those who want the history lesson, Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam until 1945.
We spent the evening at our favourite haunt, the DMZ bar, watching the comings and goings of the mopeds. It's amazing how at home these guys are on them and how well the pillion passenger can balance. We saw numerous passengers sitting on the rear of the bikes with their knees pulled up to their chests, completely tucked up under the same rain poncho as the driver (poncho's rule cos it's far too hot for coats, even when raining). Alternatively they'll have an umbrella on the back of the bike.
Today (28th) we travelled south to Hoi An. The old part of the town is the main attraction, dating back 200 plus years, and is lovely to just stroll around. The numerous shops & stalls mainly consist of art galleries, restaurants and tailors (It was in Hoi An where the Top Gear boys got kitted out). We ended up buying a few more souvenirs which we're now going to have to post home tomorrow as our bags are already rammed. We're only two weeks in and this will be the second lot we've posted home. Finger's crossed they'll still look good when we're back home and not just look like travel tat!
We're planning on having a quiet mooch around town again tomorrow before catching an evening flight south to Dalat, and then on to the central highlands over the following days.
That's all for now folks.
lots of love from Mr & Mrs xxx
Ps Dickie, for your info the eggs are still working.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Peace and Tranquility - Ha Long Time Coming
Morning Blog Fans!
We have just spent the best three days in Halong Bay. After the typically uncomfortable mini bus journey out of the hustle and bustle of Hanoi we reached Ha Long City which is the gateway to the world heritage site of Halong Bay.
On arrival at Ha Long City it seemed we had swapped one rush hour for another as what seemed like a hundred boats jostled for position to pick up their customers for a weekends cruising. Once on board things quickly settled down, we headed out to sea and soon found the familiar calming influence of the open waters. After half an hour or so we were served lunch which turned out to be about seven courses and thus set the standard for the entire trip!
The second day was undoubtedly the best day of our trip so far. Everyone else on board our junk had only booked a two day trip but we had splashed out and gone for three full days, so early Saturday morning we were collected by a smaller junk and whisked away for a days activity. As it turns out we only picked up two more passengers so had pretty much a private tour of Ha Long Bay. We kayaked through cave after cave in the most peaceful surroundings possible, we almost didn't want to paddle because that was the only sound that broke the silence, there wasn't another soul around (other than the odd monkey that you could hear from time to time but never came out to play).
We were taken back to our original boat in time for dinner (7courses!) and after a day like we'd experienced we were looking forward to a couple of quiet post dinner drinks out on deck before hitting the sack. However, on arrival back at Hanoi Opera Junk we found a party of 20-30 Malaysian tourists had replaced the lovely crowd we had met on the previous day. What is the problem with Malaysians? I hear you ask, well nothing apart from their love of karaoke and the need to share this love with everybody else on board until the wee hours of Sunday morning!
Sunday morning saw more kayaking, this time around a local floating fishing village that housed about 500 people, it even had a small bank!
By 5pm we were back in hectic Hanoi. We had planned to catch the night train down to Hue which was a journey of about 11hrs in a sleeping carriage. Unforunately owing to the floods in central Vietnam the train couldn't get through and we would have had to off load and get the replacement bus for the last 500km. As many of you know, we struggle to come to terms with the replacement bus from Reading to Kintbury, let alone 500km! So reluctantly we had to book a flight.
But never mind, we are here now in Hue after a night in Da Nang and a 3hr train journey. From what we have seen so far Hue is brilliant. It has a great feel about it and from our brief wanderings this evening we are already considering extending our stay (it's got nothing to do with finding a brilliant bar).
Tomorrow we are heading to the DMZ or the Demiliterised Zone just north of here that will provide a history lesson for me and probably revision again for Tony!
Just a quick note for those that asked to be updated on Tonys constitution (which was mainly Dickie) not too bad so far, have had a slightly dodgy spell but nothing eggs for breakfast everyday can't sort out!!!
We have just spent the best three days in Halong Bay. After the typically uncomfortable mini bus journey out of the hustle and bustle of Hanoi we reached Ha Long City which is the gateway to the world heritage site of Halong Bay.
On arrival at Ha Long City it seemed we had swapped one rush hour for another as what seemed like a hundred boats jostled for position to pick up their customers for a weekends cruising. Once on board things quickly settled down, we headed out to sea and soon found the familiar calming influence of the open waters. After half an hour or so we were served lunch which turned out to be about seven courses and thus set the standard for the entire trip!
The second day was undoubtedly the best day of our trip so far. Everyone else on board our junk had only booked a two day trip but we had splashed out and gone for three full days, so early Saturday morning we were collected by a smaller junk and whisked away for a days activity. As it turns out we only picked up two more passengers so had pretty much a private tour of Ha Long Bay. We kayaked through cave after cave in the most peaceful surroundings possible, we almost didn't want to paddle because that was the only sound that broke the silence, there wasn't another soul around (other than the odd monkey that you could hear from time to time but never came out to play).
We were taken back to our original boat in time for dinner (7courses!) and after a day like we'd experienced we were looking forward to a couple of quiet post dinner drinks out on deck before hitting the sack. However, on arrival back at Hanoi Opera Junk we found a party of 20-30 Malaysian tourists had replaced the lovely crowd we had met on the previous day. What is the problem with Malaysians? I hear you ask, well nothing apart from their love of karaoke and the need to share this love with everybody else on board until the wee hours of Sunday morning!
Sunday morning saw more kayaking, this time around a local floating fishing village that housed about 500 people, it even had a small bank!
By 5pm we were back in hectic Hanoi. We had planned to catch the night train down to Hue which was a journey of about 11hrs in a sleeping carriage. Unforunately owing to the floods in central Vietnam the train couldn't get through and we would have had to off load and get the replacement bus for the last 500km. As many of you know, we struggle to come to terms with the replacement bus from Reading to Kintbury, let alone 500km! So reluctantly we had to book a flight.
But never mind, we are here now in Hue after a night in Da Nang and a 3hr train journey. From what we have seen so far Hue is brilliant. It has a great feel about it and from our brief wanderings this evening we are already considering extending our stay (it's got nothing to do with finding a brilliant bar).
Tomorrow we are heading to the DMZ or the Demiliterised Zone just north of here that will provide a history lesson for me and probably revision again for Tony!
Just a quick note for those that asked to be updated on Tonys constitution (which was mainly Dickie) not too bad so far, have had a slightly dodgy spell but nothing eggs for breakfast everyday can't sort out!!!
Friday, 22 October 2010
Massage Heaven to Traffic Hell
Morning All
We left you with the news that we were stranded in Bangkok. So what can you do but find a cheap hotel in the back packer area and relax for three days. Carol was in familiar territory here and we managed to use the free time constructively with foot massages, full body thai massages, plenty of cheap street stall food and the odd beer or too! As predicted our visas arrived on Monday evening so we were able to fly to Hanoi early Tuesday morning. Yep, another ridiculous 3.30am start. This time we didn't bother sleeping at all first, I think it was the stress turning to relief and excitement preventing us nodding off this time.
We arrived in Hanoi at 8.30am just in time for rush hour. We were greeted at the airport and taken to our hotel - again arranged by a cheeky email from Libby trying our luck and I can tell you she's good, this time we had wine and treats waiting for us in our room. No petals tho!
The journey to our hotel was mainly spent wide eyed. It's not often you are in a lonely minibus in a sea of mopeds and it's not often you see mopeds doing the jobs of transit vans, pick up trucks and school buses! It seems this is the norm for Hanoi though, among our personal favourites are: carrying at least 30 dozen eggs stacked in two piles and tied on with bungee cords down a dual carriageway; carrying scaffolding poles (in the fashion of jousting poles) in the city centre in rush hour with no one even looking twice and then there was the guy riding pillion that had what looked like a sheet of plasterboard on his lap acting as a sail! We are slightly disappointed that the record number of passengers per moped currently lies at four - could do better!
Every car, van or moped that travels by feels compelled to sound it's horn. As a result of this I think Tony has ruined the beep beep "pardon me" gag for a good while!
Overall I have to say that Hanoi is a crazy place but you do kind of get used to it. Crossing the road was ridiculous at first, you simply will never find a gap where it's safe to cross, but learning from the locals you just have to go for it and it works, the mopeds actually go around you. We have both noticed today that we have even stopped looking for half gaps!
The currency here is also ridiculous. The initial over excitement of being multi millionaires has long worn off and we are now finding the mental arithmetic slightly tedious, especially when bartering and you think you've driven a hard bargain until you realise after all your efforts you managed to save the princely sum of 30 pence!
We are heading to Halong Bay tomorrow for three days on a traditional junk. I think it's fair to say we are both ready to leave city life for a while and cannot wait for the peace and quiet of island life.
We left you with the news that we were stranded in Bangkok. So what can you do but find a cheap hotel in the back packer area and relax for three days. Carol was in familiar territory here and we managed to use the free time constructively with foot massages, full body thai massages, plenty of cheap street stall food and the odd beer or too! As predicted our visas arrived on Monday evening so we were able to fly to Hanoi early Tuesday morning. Yep, another ridiculous 3.30am start. This time we didn't bother sleeping at all first, I think it was the stress turning to relief and excitement preventing us nodding off this time.
We arrived in Hanoi at 8.30am just in time for rush hour. We were greeted at the airport and taken to our hotel - again arranged by a cheeky email from Libby trying our luck and I can tell you she's good, this time we had wine and treats waiting for us in our room. No petals tho!
The journey to our hotel was mainly spent wide eyed. It's not often you are in a lonely minibus in a sea of mopeds and it's not often you see mopeds doing the jobs of transit vans, pick up trucks and school buses! It seems this is the norm for Hanoi though, among our personal favourites are: carrying at least 30 dozen eggs stacked in two piles and tied on with bungee cords down a dual carriageway; carrying scaffolding poles (in the fashion of jousting poles) in the city centre in rush hour with no one even looking twice and then there was the guy riding pillion that had what looked like a sheet of plasterboard on his lap acting as a sail! We are slightly disappointed that the record number of passengers per moped currently lies at four - could do better!
Every car, van or moped that travels by feels compelled to sound it's horn. As a result of this I think Tony has ruined the beep beep "pardon me" gag for a good while!
Overall I have to say that Hanoi is a crazy place but you do kind of get used to it. Crossing the road was ridiculous at first, you simply will never find a gap where it's safe to cross, but learning from the locals you just have to go for it and it works, the mopeds actually go around you. We have both noticed today that we have even stopped looking for half gaps!
The currency here is also ridiculous. The initial over excitement of being multi millionaires has long worn off and we are now finding the mental arithmetic slightly tedious, especially when bartering and you think you've driven a hard bargain until you realise after all your efforts you managed to save the princely sum of 30 pence!
We are heading to Halong Bay tomorrow for three days on a traditional junk. I think it's fair to say we are both ready to leave city life for a while and cannot wait for the peace and quiet of island life.
Sunday, 17 October 2010
The Rough with The Smooth
Soooooooooo..........
Happy Birthday to me for Friday. Lovely lazyish day wandering around Bangkok and eating food from the various food stalls that are everywhere. Then we headed to a few bars to celebrate for the eve. This was the smooth.
Then along came the rough......brace yourselves! We headed home at silly o'clock and got our heads down, we were due an early morning call to get a taxi to the airport to fly to Hanoi at 3.30am so best case scenario we were lookin at a 90 minute power nap. Fantastic power nap it was too, we got up, showered and headed for a taxi. The one we managed to flag pulled over, loaded our bags and then apologised before popping the bonnet, tinkering about a bit and then returning and starting the engine, it didn't sound great!
Anyway, we arrived at the airport with no further stress and joined the queue to check in. It was here our morning took a turn for the worse and I'm still in complete and utter disbelief that we could be so ridiculous! To cut a long story short.....................It turns out you need a visa to get to Vietnam! We are not so completely rubbish to not know this but we hadn't realised that you had to pre-apply so that when you arrive it is already processed and they let you in. We assumed that like everywhere else you just get one organised at the border. Horrendous!
So we are back in Bangkok while premium priced express tourist visas are being processed, which of course cannot possibly be done at the weekend!
Luckily the hotel we have booked for Hanoi were really understanding and have just delayed our booking. Hopefully we'll be able to fly on Tuesday.
So tonight we had a two course meal with a beer each for less than a tenner - we'll make our money back in no time!
After a shell shocked 4 hours we are back in good spirits so we have survived our first test as Mr and Mrs!
Happy Birthday to me for Friday. Lovely lazyish day wandering around Bangkok and eating food from the various food stalls that are everywhere. Then we headed to a few bars to celebrate for the eve. This was the smooth.
Then along came the rough......brace yourselves! We headed home at silly o'clock and got our heads down, we were due an early morning call to get a taxi to the airport to fly to Hanoi at 3.30am so best case scenario we were lookin at a 90 minute power nap. Fantastic power nap it was too, we got up, showered and headed for a taxi. The one we managed to flag pulled over, loaded our bags and then apologised before popping the bonnet, tinkering about a bit and then returning and starting the engine, it didn't sound great!
Anyway, we arrived at the airport with no further stress and joined the queue to check in. It was here our morning took a turn for the worse and I'm still in complete and utter disbelief that we could be so ridiculous! To cut a long story short.....................It turns out you need a visa to get to Vietnam! We are not so completely rubbish to not know this but we hadn't realised that you had to pre-apply so that when you arrive it is already processed and they let you in. We assumed that like everywhere else you just get one organised at the border. Horrendous!
So we are back in Bangkok while premium priced express tourist visas are being processed, which of course cannot possibly be done at the weekend!
Luckily the hotel we have booked for Hanoi were really understanding and have just delayed our booking. Hopefully we'll be able to fly on Tuesday.
So tonight we had a two course meal with a beer each for less than a tenner - we'll make our money back in no time!
After a shell shocked 4 hours we are back in good spirits so we have survived our first test as Mr and Mrs!
Friday, 15 October 2010
One night in Bangkok
Morning All
We had a cracking time yesterday. We spent the morning at the floating market about 2hours from Bangkok. It's like the poor mans version of Venice and seems to have as many locals as tourists. The phrase "organised chaos" may well have been invented here. The place is crowded but there's no stress as everybody seems to accept the crowds. You just climb aboard a paddle boat and your "driver" just floats you up to a stall and you buy your food, clothes, souvenirs or tat before paddling on to the next one. After a couple of minutes a few details became clear, a)which stallholders were related to our driver b)if you point at ANYTHING it means you're interested in buying, even if you were pointing out something hideous and c)if you think you can outsmart them by pointing once you've floated past you are mistaken, it seems paddle boats can also do hand break turns!
In the afternoon we went to the bridge on the river kwai. If you don't know what I'm talking about then rent the film! The original bridge is no longer standing but it was still worth the visit to the museum and the commonwealth war memorial as well as the replacement bridge.
We had an amazing setting for our evening meal; the open air Vertigo restaurant on the 61st floor of the Banyan Tree hotel. Alfresco rooftop dining at it's best. The panoramic view of Bangkok was just stunning, and at that height it sounded such a peaceful city compared to it's normal crazed traffic self.
We will try to upload some photos for you when we can which should make for a more enjoyable read, and save us writing so much as we all know a picture says a thousand words.
We had a cracking time yesterday. We spent the morning at the floating market about 2hours from Bangkok. It's like the poor mans version of Venice and seems to have as many locals as tourists. The phrase "organised chaos" may well have been invented here. The place is crowded but there's no stress as everybody seems to accept the crowds. You just climb aboard a paddle boat and your "driver" just floats you up to a stall and you buy your food, clothes, souvenirs or tat before paddling on to the next one. After a couple of minutes a few details became clear, a)which stallholders were related to our driver b)if you point at ANYTHING it means you're interested in buying, even if you were pointing out something hideous and c)if you think you can outsmart them by pointing once you've floated past you are mistaken, it seems paddle boats can also do hand break turns!
In the afternoon we went to the bridge on the river kwai. If you don't know what I'm talking about then rent the film! The original bridge is no longer standing but it was still worth the visit to the museum and the commonwealth war memorial as well as the replacement bridge.
We had an amazing setting for our evening meal; the open air Vertigo restaurant on the 61st floor of the Banyan Tree hotel. Alfresco rooftop dining at it's best. The panoramic view of Bangkok was just stunning, and at that height it sounded such a peaceful city compared to it's normal crazed traffic self.
We will try to upload some photos for you when we can which should make for a more enjoyable read, and save us writing so much as we all know a picture says a thousand words.
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Day One, Adventure One!
Evening all, we've arrived safe and sound. It's somewhere in the region on 1.30am and it's been left to me (Mrs McKeown) to tell you about our day as it was I who slept pretty much the whole journey and it is I that now can't sleep (it could also have something to do with the snoring to my right!)
Just a quick story for you as our journey was pleasantly uneventful. We arrived in Bangkok and after the security rigmarole we headed for the cash machine for some Baht. As reasonably experienced travellers this shouldn't have caused any issues, we used the cashpoint without a hitch and proceeded making our way out of the terminal. As we're strolling along with a grand in our pocket it dawns on us that it's odd such large sums of money come in a single 1000 note. Anyway after some recalculating we realised we had the princely sum of 20 quid to get us through 3 days in Thailand! Seeing our error we about turn to go back to the cash machine. As we do so we see a small Thai chap running,waving and shouting in our direction " Sir Sir, Please" we look around, nobody else is near us. It turns out the wee fella was waving Tony's bank card that we had left in the ATM! Lesson learnt.
We got to our hotel and thanks to Libby and her cheeky emailing we were greeted as the honeymooning couple, shown to our room where there had been a flower massacre - petals everywhere! In the bath they had run for us, all over the bed, everywhere! We also had a voucher for a complimentary 3 course meal in the lovely restaurant, so it's true what they say - you don't ask, you don't get! Thanks Libs x
So I should go - we're up at 5.30am tomorrow, we're heading to the floating markets and then to the bridge on the River Kwai for a history lesson, or revision for Tony I expect!
Love to everyone xxx
Just a quick story for you as our journey was pleasantly uneventful. We arrived in Bangkok and after the security rigmarole we headed for the cash machine for some Baht. As reasonably experienced travellers this shouldn't have caused any issues, we used the cashpoint without a hitch and proceeded making our way out of the terminal. As we're strolling along with a grand in our pocket it dawns on us that it's odd such large sums of money come in a single 1000 note. Anyway after some recalculating we realised we had the princely sum of 20 quid to get us through 3 days in Thailand! Seeing our error we about turn to go back to the cash machine. As we do so we see a small Thai chap running,waving and shouting in our direction " Sir Sir, Please" we look around, nobody else is near us. It turns out the wee fella was waving Tony's bank card that we had left in the ATM! Lesson learnt.
We got to our hotel and thanks to Libby and her cheeky emailing we were greeted as the honeymooning couple, shown to our room where there had been a flower massacre - petals everywhere! In the bath they had run for us, all over the bed, everywhere! We also had a voucher for a complimentary 3 course meal in the lovely restaurant, so it's true what they say - you don't ask, you don't get! Thanks Libs x
So I should go - we're up at 5.30am tomorrow, we're heading to the floating markets and then to the bridge on the River Kwai for a history lesson, or revision for Tony I expect!
Love to everyone xxx
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
We're Off! (almost!)
Testing Testing! As you are all aware we are new to all this malarkey so are trying to get to grips with blogging!
Having just had the best weekend ever, we are flying out later today.
Watch this space!!
Mr and Mrs McK
Having just had the best weekend ever, we are flying out later today.
Watch this space!!
Mr and Mrs McK
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)