We left behind chilly Nepal and headed to Hua Hin for a bit of lying by the pool and beach. Some warmth finally! We
were lucky to be meeting up with Garrett from our Cairo days. We had some
entertaining nights out, including one where we took part in the Cha am pub quiz. The
quiz was packed with a motley bunch of Cha am expat regulars and residents. Spookily, the 'spot' questions were
about Everest and something that only a maths geek would know, which James obviously could answer in a shot-clever clogs
(however he never was able to work out the humour of Garrett’s ‘State of Yerman’
t-shirt). The whole team warmed
up quickly and we aced the first few rounds. Everyone on the table (well not so much me- I like
to take on a supervisory/drinking role in a quiz) were pulling out answers. It was close
going into the final round. The local team who probably normally won were looking edgy as we came to the final question. The theme
of the final round was ‘Christmas’, and the final question- worth 9 points- had
all the teams, including ours, looking dumbfounded. Not me though. In a strange twist of quiz night serendipity, it was the banal knowledge of being able to name all of Santa’s
9 reindeer that lead us to victory. And it seemed that I was the only one in
the room who actually knew them all! A win for the interlopers! I have to say the locals didn't look too happy being usurped by us out of towners and there was a nasty "don't bring your iphones next time" comment on the way out. Insulting! Completely untrue and a case of sour grapes methinks.......and who doesn't know the song with all the reindeer's names 'you know Dasher and Dancer and.....'
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| Garrett has clearly spent more time at the beach than James. |
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| The winning team......."Carry on Cairo" rules the world. And check out the state of yerman on the left! |
We then headed back to Bangkok where we met up with
Kerry, one of James’ mates from his Switzerland days. We took a road trip with
Kerry, his mum Shirley and cousin Ryan -who were visiting from Canada-down to
Kanchinarburi. We visited an elephant sanctuary where elephants (who have been
worked and possibly mistreated) come to retire. It was pretty amazing
watching the elephants come down to the river to have their afternoon bath; they
were splashing us and we could splash them. It was incredible to be so close to
such magnificent creatures, though I kept a bit of distance. Seeing elephants in
the wilds of Africa gives you a healthy respect for the power of these animals; indeed one of the volunteers there spoke about being knocked over by one of
these gentle but powerful creatures just days before.
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| Splash! |
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| Kerry having a bath with the ellies. |
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| Rub a dub dub! |
We then went to spend the night on a houseboat on the river Kwai. What a
brilliant thing to do! When we arrived we went upstream to a waterfall, donned
life vests, grabbed a beer and floated down to the next waterfall, where
the boat picked us up and drove us to our ‘campsite’. They even delivered
incredible food for the night, and we were left alone to enjoy the tranquility……though
that soon deteriorated into drinking games! The next day breakfast was
delivered and we headed up the river to check out the beautiful scenery. Thanks Kerry for organising a fabulous trip!
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| The 'campsite' for the houseboat |
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| I'm going in.................. |
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| Morning on the boat |
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| River scenery |
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Beautiful waterfalls
We then headed to Ayuthya, where we
hired bikes for a few days to ride around to see the ruins and a lot of Buddhas!
|
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| Big and old buddha |
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| Wrapped buddha |
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| Towering stupas |
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| Big and gold Buddha |
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| More magestic ruins |
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| Spooky Buddha head! How did it get there? Very 'Game of Thrones' |
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| Late afternoon sun on the ruins |
We had a few interviews planned, so it was back to Bangkok
for suits and shoes which felt very strange. We were lucky that yet another Cairo
connection- Jacob and Randi- are now based in Bangkok; the process of getting
ready for interviews was made way less painful in their fabulous 50th
floor apartment with their fantastic hospitality. We took in
local night life, ate lots of yummy food and drank far too many bottles of wine. Thanks so much for having us
Randi, Jacob, Mads and Peter. You guys have been fabulous!
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| James......looking a bit worried in Levels nightclub....music not loud enough for you? |
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| Thanks everyone! |
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| Drinking on the streets- Thai style! |
We headed to Ko Lanta for a bit more sea and sunshine-
what can I say? Gorgeous beach, cold beers and the discovery of a fantastic restaurant
made for some very lazy and enjoyable days. We formulated a plan for the next
bit of the journey. After
a weeks of city life and beach lounging we are now ready for some walking again,
so tonight we will fly to Perth, Australia to walk the Cape to Cape and then home
to Nowra and Sydney for some long awaited catching up with family and friends.
Can't wait. See you soon Australia! Another massive thanks to Kerry and the Sorensen family for making our time in Thailand so brilliant.
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| Cheers |
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| And cheers again! |
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| Yum....red curry prawns |
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| The view |
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| The best calamari ever? Could be! |
