Managed to get the right train this time and got chatting to a student that was on an exchange program from Canada. Her parents were originally from Hong Kong and she had been here for a year. It was interesting as she told us about many cultural differences she had come across and what her life was like here.
We arrived in Taichung at lunch time so before racing for the bus to the lake we grabbed a MacDonald’s which was the quickest we could see near the station. We managed to find the most rickety bus for the hour and forty minute ride to Shuishe Village on the lakeside where we were going to stay. Fortunately we all had our iPods to drown out the lovely? music and rattles on the bus. When we arrived it was my turn to go hotel hunting, so with guidebook in hand off I went to look for a bargain. Before I had gotten to my first place a little old lady with very bad false teeth dragged me inside her hotel and asked if I needed a room. At least that’s what I think she said as it was all in Chinese! There was a younger woman inside though who spoke some English and showed me to one of the nicest rooms we’ve had so far. It was more like a suite with the first room having a double and a single bed and the second room with a double bed, TV in each room and a bathroom between. All for the grand total of 2000 NT a night which is about £30!! But the best thing by far was when I asked her if she knew of a laundry where we could get some washing done, she took me up to the 4th floor and showed me a washing machine that she said I was free to use. Now when you have had a washing machine available to use whenever the mood takes you there is no way to appreciate how wonderful this was. To be able to do my own washing without having to think of weight and cost and whether and how it would come back was wonderful. I will never take having my own washing machine for granted again!! Actually there are quite a lot of thing we will not take for granted anymore.
After resting in our room for a bit we decided to explore a bit and get something to eat. It was quite a nice little village with a pedestrian only (supposedly) cobbled street. It is now quite a popular tourist spot for the Taiwanese people but is also home to the Thao aboriginal tribe. There wasn’t much in the way of choice in restaurants so we decided to be brave and have some local food. If we thought we were getting stared at before it was nothing to when we walked into the restaurant. Definitely no chicken fried rice on the menu here!! In fact when we started to look at the menu we didn’t know whether to laugh or be shocked. We could have eaten a whole zoo. The heading at the top of the menu page was ‘edible wildlife’!! I chose the mushroom soup and Nick went for the beef with the girls opting for some fried rice. I think the general consensus was disgusting! The soup was actually really nice but the beef was awful and the vegetable fried rice we asked for just had a few pieces of sweet corn thrown in and was horribly greasy. We eat what we could and made a quick getaway putting it all down to experience. and was horribly greasy. We eat what we could and made a quick getaway putting it all down to experience.
Sunday, 27 May 2007
25th May – Tainan
Decided to do some cultural stuff today although it was very hot when we stepped outside so instead of a walking tour of the old city we thought we would go to the Anping fort by taxi. Interestingly enough this place had been originally built by the Dutch in the 1600’s and there were a few bits left of the old walls to see. The most interesting thing was to see some old paintings inside of the fort and to see that it had been surrounded by water at one time because the sea had come up this far. Now all you can see is the city, no water. Apart from that there wasn’t much else to see so we headed over to the Anping streets which the guidebook said was the oldest part of Taiwan. Now I presume they were talking about the actual roads we were walking on a there was nothing else very old to see. But we wandered around for a bit looking in all the little craft stalls and quickly glancing away from the food ones. By now we were all extremely hot and desperate for a shower so we decided to head back to the hotel for a bit and cool off before going out again.
We stopped off at the station on the way back to find out about trains tomorrow to Sun Moon Lake. No direct trains but it would still only take us about 3 or 4 hours to get there with a train to Taichung and then a bus the rest of the way. The plan was to do the walking tour around fiveish when it had got a bit cooler but the girls spotted a poster for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie and of course we gave in (who can say no to an evening of Mr Depp & Mr Bloom?!!). It was of course excellent and everyone went to bed happy.
We stopped off at the station on the way back to find out about trains tomorrow to Sun Moon Lake. No direct trains but it would still only take us about 3 or 4 hours to get there with a train to Taichung and then a bus the rest of the way. The plan was to do the walking tour around fiveish when it had got a bit cooler but the girls spotted a poster for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie and of course we gave in (who can say no to an evening of Mr Depp & Mr Bloom?!!). It was of course excellent and everyone went to bed happy.
24th May – Train journey to Taitung or not!!
Got an early start today as we needed to get work out of the way before getting the train. Being as usual not entirely organised we had no idea what time the train would leave for the journey to Taitung on the East coast. We left the hotel around ten and got a taxi to the main Taipei station and for once our timing was spot on as we only had 10 minutes to wait for the train. There was a bit of confusion as everything was written in Chinese (wish you were here mum!) but after asking a few people we got to the right platform and the correct place to stand and wait. Our tickets said No.1 on so we were in the first carriage which when we first got on we had all to ourselves. Large reclining seats and loads of leg room, definitely seemed like first class although we hadn’t asked for that and we had only paid 1500 NT dollars for the four of us which is only about £20. The man who sold me the tickets at the counter spoke hardly any English so we had no idea how long the journey would take or where to change trains as he told us we had to get three or so we thought!
All was great until we got to the coast and the sea was not on our left as it should have been but on our right which meant that we were not travelling south but north! Despite the fact that I had shown the guy at the ticket counter a map of Taiwan and pointed to where we wanted to go he still sold us tickets for Taichung on the West side instead of Taitung on the East. How do you make that mistake?? So we quickly re-planned somewhere to go and decided to get off at Ershui and get a bus to Sun Moon Lake. What we didn’t plan on was the fact that the train wasn’t going to stop at this station at all. So Ershui flew by and out came the guide book again and we decided to go to Tainan which used to be the capital before Taipei and was the oldest part of Taiwan.
Finally we reached Tainan and Nick left us at the station while he went to check out a couple of hotels in the guide book. He found a great place for us if a little bizarre. It was a massive old 14 storey office block now converted into lots of hotels, a different one on every floor. We stayed in the Takatama on the 3rd floor with 2 rooms which is nice after being stuck all in one room for the week in Taipei.
Negotiating this city is a little more difficult as there are less Romanised signs but we decided to go out exploring and look for a restaurant the LP had recommended as serving western food – by now we were definitely off Chinese. We eventually found it down a back alley and up about four flights of a winding staircase with the help and a lot of gestures from a friendly local. It was scruffy to say the least but looked clean and after all our effort we deserved a drink and something to eat. As usual with this type of unassuming place the food was great and there was a whole shelf of English books to browse thorough while we were waiting. We asked if we could buy a couple and the lady said we could just take them they were free. Excellent – our kind of bookshop!!
All was great until we got to the coast and the sea was not on our left as it should have been but on our right which meant that we were not travelling south but north! Despite the fact that I had shown the guy at the ticket counter a map of Taiwan and pointed to where we wanted to go he still sold us tickets for Taichung on the West side instead of Taitung on the East. How do you make that mistake?? So we quickly re-planned somewhere to go and decided to get off at Ershui and get a bus to Sun Moon Lake. What we didn’t plan on was the fact that the train wasn’t going to stop at this station at all. So Ershui flew by and out came the guide book again and we decided to go to Tainan which used to be the capital before Taipei and was the oldest part of Taiwan.
Finally we reached Tainan and Nick left us at the station while he went to check out a couple of hotels in the guide book. He found a great place for us if a little bizarre. It was a massive old 14 storey office block now converted into lots of hotels, a different one on every floor. We stayed in the Takatama on the 3rd floor with 2 rooms which is nice after being stuck all in one room for the week in Taipei.
Negotiating this city is a little more difficult as there are less Romanised signs but we decided to go out exploring and look for a restaurant the LP had recommended as serving western food – by now we were definitely off Chinese. We eventually found it down a back alley and up about four flights of a winding staircase with the help and a lot of gestures from a friendly local. It was scruffy to say the least but looked clean and after all our effort we deserved a drink and something to eat. As usual with this type of unassuming place the food was great and there was a whole shelf of English books to browse thorough while we were waiting. We asked if we could buy a couple and the lady said we could just take them they were free. Excellent – our kind of bookshop!!
Saturday, 26 May 2007
23rd May – Snake alley
Not a very exciting day really. Had loads of bits and pieces to finish up before leaving the city tomorrow.
I had read in the guide book that unless you visit one of Taipei’s night markets while you are staying you really haven’t experienced Taiwan properly. So we decided to go to Snake alley, otherwise known as the Huaxi Street market. What a sight. As far as the eye could see were stalls selling absolutely everything from pornographic dvds to flip flops as well as many types of food also. Before coming we had planned on grabbing a bite to eat here but on closer inspection none of us fancied any of it, infact as we moved deeper into the market the smells were making us all feel rather sick. The only way to describe it was that whatever many of the stalls were cooking smelt like poo so needless to say nobody felt like eating!
But we still hadn’t seen the snakes so off we went down another alley to see what we could find. There seemed to be lots of puppies for sale, which the girls liked until we saw how drugged they all seemed. Although one guy had two little Huskies in a cage and when the girls went over to ask if they could stroke them he handed them each one to hold which was really kind as he must have known we were not going to buy them. They were very cute!
Down another alley and we finally found the snakes. A huge boa constrictor was curled up at the feet of a man in front of the restaurant. He (the man) had on a little microphone and was calling to people, not sure what for though as it was all in Chinese. Further on were many more restaurants with various types and sizes of snakes in cages in front. By now we had all seen enough and were ready to head back towards the hotel and find something more ordinary to eat.
Unfortunately what we had forgotten is that most places stop serving at 9pm and everything closes at 10pm so we ended up in the food mall at the local supermarket with a subway sandwich which was actually just about what we felt like.
I had read in the guide book that unless you visit one of Taipei’s night markets while you are staying you really haven’t experienced Taiwan properly. So we decided to go to Snake alley, otherwise known as the Huaxi Street market. What a sight. As far as the eye could see were stalls selling absolutely everything from pornographic dvds to flip flops as well as many types of food also. Before coming we had planned on grabbing a bite to eat here but on closer inspection none of us fancied any of it, infact as we moved deeper into the market the smells were making us all feel rather sick. The only way to describe it was that whatever many of the stalls were cooking smelt like poo so needless to say nobody felt like eating!
But we still hadn’t seen the snakes so off we went down another alley to see what we could find. There seemed to be lots of puppies for sale, which the girls liked until we saw how drugged they all seemed. Although one guy had two little Huskies in a cage and when the girls went over to ask if they could stroke them he handed them each one to hold which was really kind as he must have known we were not going to buy them. They were very cute!
Down another alley and we finally found the snakes. A huge boa constrictor was curled up at the feet of a man in front of the restaurant. He (the man) had on a little microphone and was calling to people, not sure what for though as it was all in Chinese. Further on were many more restaurants with various types and sizes of snakes in cages in front. By now we had all seen enough and were ready to head back towards the hotel and find something more ordinary to eat.
Unfortunately what we had forgotten is that most places stop serving at 9pm and everything closes at 10pm so we ended up in the food mall at the local supermarket with a subway sandwich which was actually just about what we felt like.
Wednesday, 23 May 2007
21st May - Danshui, Taipei county
After our success yesterday finding the zoo the girls and I decide to take a trip out of the city to the end of the MRT line to a place called Danshui. It's to the NW of the city and is a lovely ride past some mountains and along the river. When we get there it is a nice change being by the water. It's right where the Danshui river meets the sea so on the one hand it's a bit touristy as it is where a lot of Taiwanese people come to escape the city, but on the other it's quite quaint.
The girls enjoy going into the little shops along the front and we do some exploring up some tiny little back roads with stalls selling unrecognisable foodstuffs. It's a lovely experience just to be here although we do feel like outsiders as we are definitely the only foreigners here. We get stared at all the time and one lady even stops to talk to us. She asks if these are my children and says how hot it is today. Although it is very different it all feels very safe and ok for us to wander wherever we want.
When we got back we talked about our plans for the next week and where we will be going next. We looked into flying directly to Cambodia from here instead of going back to Bangkok but it is too expensive. So we will stick to our plans and leave next Tuesday, stay a day in BK and then fly to Phnom Penn. We hope to go to the bethel on Thursday but haven't had the directions emailed to us yet so will have to phone again for them. After that we have decided to explore Taiwan a bit more. We have tried our best to hire a car but it just seems impossible here. Hertz don't even have a branch so that tells you how rare it is. It's a bit disappointing as we would have been able to see so much more by car instead of the train or bus.
The girls enjoy going into the little shops along the front and we do some exploring up some tiny little back roads with stalls selling unrecognisable foodstuffs. It's a lovely experience just to be here although we do feel like outsiders as we are definitely the only foreigners here. We get stared at all the time and one lady even stops to talk to us. She asks if these are my children and says how hot it is today. Although it is very different it all feels very safe and ok for us to wander wherever we want.
When we got back we talked about our plans for the next week and where we will be going next. We looked into flying directly to Cambodia from here instead of going back to Bangkok but it is too expensive. So we will stick to our plans and leave next Tuesday, stay a day in BK and then fly to Phnom Penn. We hope to go to the bethel on Thursday but haven't had the directions emailed to us yet so will have to phone again for them. After that we have decided to explore Taiwan a bit more. We have tried our best to hire a car but it just seems impossible here. Hertz don't even have a branch so that tells you how rare it is. It's a bit disappointing as we would have been able to see so much more by car instead of the train or bus.
21st May - Taipei Zoo
AS Nick had meetings and stuff all day the girls and I thought we would go to the zoo. Now those of you who know me well will understand what a feat it was to find my way across to the far SE side of the city and get three different MRT (subway) lines not to mention finding my way from our hotel to the station in the first place. However we did find it no problem! It was a lovely day, hot but not too sunny and the zoo wasn't crowded at all. I had read that it was one of the best zoos in Asia, if not the top one and it certainly seemed to be looking after all the animals properly. They all had plenty of space and the signs in English told us about some great conservation projects that they are involved in.
They had some really unusual animal too that even Lara (animal expert) had not heard of. Our favourites were obviously the monkeys as they had a tiny baby monkey that was so cute. I also loved the penguins and some tiny little Lemurs that we saw.
What can you say about the zoo - pretty much the same as any other really.
When we get back about five Nick is already in the room and full of his day. We sort out some laundry to drop off on our way to eat dinner. It's a bit more expensive than Thailand but necessary. We eat again at the Italian / Taiwan restaurant as it is just around the corner from the hotel and we are all rather tired.
They had some really unusual animal too that even Lara (animal expert) had not heard of. Our favourites were obviously the monkeys as they had a tiny baby monkey that was so cute. I also loved the penguins and some tiny little Lemurs that we saw.
What can you say about the zoo - pretty much the same as any other really.
When we get back about five Nick is already in the room and full of his day. We sort out some laundry to drop off on our way to eat dinner. It's a bit more expensive than Thailand but necessary. We eat again at the Italian / Taiwan restaurant as it is just around the corner from the hotel and we are all rather tired.
Sunday 20th - 5 meetings in one day!
Having phoned the bethel for meeting times and directions we found out that the WT and talk were at 1.30pm. Nick found the road on a map and we decided to leave in plenty of time as we needed to get a taxi etc. As usual we were early but thought it would be nice to talk to the brothers and sisters anyway. Imagine our surprise when we got out of the lift on the 6th floor to hear the singing at just five past one. Opps wrong meeting time given! Anyway we sneaked in to find that there was no talk just the wt followed by the school, service meeting and revelation book! Normally five hours of meetings but today just four. We stayed for the Watchtower and Theo school which was really nice as we had not been to a proper meeting since Bangkok. The only sad thing was that we didn't get to talk to anyone as their meeting was still going on. Maybe next weekend we will still be in the city and be able to go again.
Interesting thing on the way back home from our meal. We rounded a corner and heard music like an ice cream van and saw lots of people standing outside a large apartment block with plastic bags in their hands. It was a bin lorry, well two actually with large bags hanging from the sides. When it stopped everyone came forward and separated their trash into different recycling bags and bins. Amazing sight really that everyone would just wait patiently with all their rubbish and then in a totally orderly way separate it properly. When you do see a piece of trash on the floor it stands out as it is an unusual sight. What a city! It's obvious really that the Taiwanese people really respect their country.
Interesting thing on the way back home from our meal. We rounded a corner and heard music like an ice cream van and saw lots of people standing outside a large apartment block with plastic bags in their hands. It was a bin lorry, well two actually with large bags hanging from the sides. When it stopped everyone came forward and separated their trash into different recycling bags and bins. Amazing sight really that everyone would just wait patiently with all their rubbish and then in a totally orderly way separate it properly. When you do see a piece of trash on the floor it stands out as it is an unusual sight. What a city! It's obvious really that the Taiwanese people really respect their country.
Sunday, 20 May 2007
Taipei fine arts museum, Confucius temple & Bao-an temple
Totally cultural day today! After a couple of days feeling really crappy with the worst cold I've had in years I woke up feeling much better and in the mood for exploring. Lara fancied the fine arts museum and Nick fancied some temples, so we decided to do them all.
First of all we headed across town via the MRT for the arts museum. Like most things here it was very reasonable to get in. The first exhibition had work by an artist called Su Hsin-Tien and was amazing. They were called cyclical space paintings and the colours and sheer genius of the man was awesome. The rest of the museum was a little less inspiring.
Next on the agenda was the Confucius temple. Having been to a couple of Wats in Thailand I was pleasantly surprised by the lovely colours and elaborate dragon carvings in these Chinese temples. Both the Confucius & Bao-an temples were equally beautiful, though highly pagan as Lara so aptly pointed out! Seeing the local people worshiping there and being the only visitors and westerners was quite an experience. It was amazing seeing something so totally different and alien to anything we have ever seen before. As the smoke from the incense swirled around we almost felt like intruders as this was definitely not a tourist attraction but was just a glimpse of Taiwanese life.
When we got back to the hotel we all felt like we had walked at least 1000 miles but had learnt much more about the country we are in for a couple of weeks. We were all too tired to go out for a meal so instead had a snack of bread & salad from the local supermarket washed down of course with some lovely Australian wine. The girls watched a couple of episodes of Lost 3 and we watched some more of 24 (Kevin -it's better than ever!!! We'll send it on!).
Great day - again!
First of all we headed across town via the MRT for the arts museum. Like most things here it was very reasonable to get in. The first exhibition had work by an artist called Su Hsin-Tien and was amazing. They were called cyclical space paintings and the colours and sheer genius of the man was awesome. The rest of the museum was a little less inspiring.
Next on the agenda was the Confucius temple. Having been to a couple of Wats in Thailand I was pleasantly surprised by the lovely colours and elaborate dragon carvings in these Chinese temples. Both the Confucius & Bao-an temples were equally beautiful, though highly pagan as Lara so aptly pointed out! Seeing the local people worshiping there and being the only visitors and westerners was quite an experience. It was amazing seeing something so totally different and alien to anything we have ever seen before. As the smoke from the incense swirled around we almost felt like intruders as this was definitely not a tourist attraction but was just a glimpse of Taiwanese life.
When we got back to the hotel we all felt like we had walked at least 1000 miles but had learnt much more about the country we are in for a couple of weeks. We were all too tired to go out for a meal so instead had a snack of bread & salad from the local supermarket washed down of course with some lovely Australian wine. The girls watched a couple of episodes of Lost 3 and we watched some more of 24 (Kevin -it's better than ever!!! We'll send it on!).
Great day - again!
Taipei 101
Today we leave the hostel early to find a better place to stay before check out time at 11am. We decide on the Delight Hotel and move all our bags over.
After getting work out of the way we decide to visit Taipei 101 which is the tallest tower in the world (at the moment). 509m is rather high!
Our first impressions of Taipei are correct. This is probably the cleanest city we have ever been in. No litter anywhere and all the sidewalks are very tidy.
The MRT metro system is very easy to use so we have no problem getting over to the tower. It really is very impressive and has a five floor mall with ultra posh shops inside and everything is perfectly kept as if it's all brand new but in fact opened in 2003. We head over to the lifts that will take us up to the top wondering how much we will have to pay for the privilege imagining something similar to the Eiffel tower. Surprisingly it is less than £10 for us all to go up. The lifts are actually the fastest in the world. They travel at 1010 metres per minute and our ears pop as we go up in no time at all up to the 89th floor which is the indoor observation deck. It really is amazing being so high up and there are lots of very interesting facts around about the building of it and the new records it has set. It is rather a cool feeling to have been to the top of the world's tallest tower.
After seeing everything we want we send a postcard from the 'world's tallest postbox' and realise we need sustenance in the form of Starbucks next door. We take our time wandering back over the city just enjoying the sights. Non of us feel like Chinese food for dinner and we spot an Italian that looks good so we decide to go there after a quick shower. Good choice as it is fantastic! Great day had by all is the general consensus.
After getting work out of the way we decide to visit Taipei 101 which is the tallest tower in the world (at the moment). 509m is rather high!
Our first impressions of Taipei are correct. This is probably the cleanest city we have ever been in. No litter anywhere and all the sidewalks are very tidy.
The MRT metro system is very easy to use so we have no problem getting over to the tower. It really is very impressive and has a five floor mall with ultra posh shops inside and everything is perfectly kept as if it's all brand new but in fact opened in 2003. We head over to the lifts that will take us up to the top wondering how much we will have to pay for the privilege imagining something similar to the Eiffel tower. Surprisingly it is less than £10 for us all to go up. The lifts are actually the fastest in the world. They travel at 1010 metres per minute and our ears pop as we go up in no time at all up to the 89th floor which is the indoor observation deck. It really is amazing being so high up and there are lots of very interesting facts around about the building of it and the new records it has set. It is rather a cool feeling to have been to the top of the world's tallest tower.
After seeing everything we want we send a postcard from the 'world's tallest postbox' and realise we need sustenance in the form of Starbucks next door. We take our time wandering back over the city just enjoying the sights. Non of us feel like Chinese food for dinner and we spot an Italian that looks good so we decide to go there after a quick shower. Good choice as it is fantastic! Great day had by all is the general consensus.
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
Taipei, Taiwan
Having experienced rather a lot of the Bangkok traffic situation we decided to leave early for the airport in case it is a slow ride. In actuality it only takes about 35mins so we have plenty of time to check in, answer a couple of emails and eat the usual airport rip off food for lunch!
The flight with KLM is fine and only takes about three and a half hours which means we get out of the airport around 7pm. After a ride in the poshest taxi so far, a rather large leather seated BMW, we arrive in Taipei just after 8pm. We had already called the Happy Families Hostel from the airport so he was expecting us. Mr Lee tells us that we were on the 5th floor, sorry no elevator! So we drag all our bags up and quickly decided to stay just one night. It's very clean but rather dingy and the two rooms are not close together. After dumping our stuff we realise we need towels and some loo roll as this is a BYO place! Anyway we are all dying to have a walk around our new city.
After Thailand which is crawling with tourists this feels like you are at a really foreign destination. There are not many white people here and we seem to get stared at a lot. The people are lovely though and very friendly and helpful. We find our towels and other stuff and as nobody is very hungry we pop into MacDonalds for some french fries before heading home to guzzle a bottle of Australian wine we have bought at the airport.
Our first impressions of Taipei are that it is very safe and immaculately clean and well kept. Probably something to do with the fact that it was ruled by the Japanese for 50 years until the end of WW2. We are all looking forward to seeing more of it in the daylight tomorrow when we go searching for a better hotel.
The flight with KLM is fine and only takes about three and a half hours which means we get out of the airport around 7pm. After a ride in the poshest taxi so far, a rather large leather seated BMW, we arrive in Taipei just after 8pm. We had already called the Happy Families Hostel from the airport so he was expecting us. Mr Lee tells us that we were on the 5th floor, sorry no elevator! So we drag all our bags up and quickly decided to stay just one night. It's very clean but rather dingy and the two rooms are not close together. After dumping our stuff we realise we need towels and some loo roll as this is a BYO place! Anyway we are all dying to have a walk around our new city.
After Thailand which is crawling with tourists this feels like you are at a really foreign destination. There are not many white people here and we seem to get stared at a lot. The people are lovely though and very friendly and helpful. We find our towels and other stuff and as nobody is very hungry we pop into MacDonalds for some french fries before heading home to guzzle a bottle of Australian wine we have bought at the airport.
Our first impressions of Taipei are that it is very safe and immaculately clean and well kept. Probably something to do with the fact that it was ruled by the Japanese for 50 years until the end of WW2. We are all looking forward to seeing more of it in the daylight tomorrow when we go searching for a better hotel.
Bangkok
Well Candace is much better today, thank goodness. She slept until 9.30am so we just managed to squeeze in for breakfast before it finished.
Nick went off at ten for a tour of a factory and some other business stuff so us girls decided to have a lazy day to give Candace time to recover properly for our flight tomorrow to Taipei. I did some work and Lara surfed the net and wrote emails while Candace just stayed in bed and watched some TV.
Nick came back about four so we headed over to MBK to pick up some movies. The girls got room service for dinner and Nick and I went out for a quick bite before heading back to the hotel for a relatively early night so we could get a good start in the morning.
Nick went off at ten for a tour of a factory and some other business stuff so us girls decided to have a lazy day to give Candace time to recover properly for our flight tomorrow to Taipei. I did some work and Lara surfed the net and wrote emails while Candace just stayed in bed and watched some TV.
Nick came back about four so we headed over to MBK to pick up some movies. The girls got room service for dinner and Nick and I went out for a quick bite before heading back to the hotel for a relatively early night so we could get a good start in the morning.
Monday, 14 May 2007
13th May Journey up to BK
Not a good start as Candace was up in the night with a bad tummy. All was ok until we were waiting for the coach in Trat and she passed out outside the toilets. Needless to say Nick and I were rather panicked but some lovely people helped us. One lady gave her a bottle of camphor stuff to sniff and another old Thai lady gave me some herbal pills to revive her which I was cautious about but she made me have some to show they were ok. They did work but poor Candace felt terribly sick for the whole 9 hour journey. Eventually one of the homeopathic remedies finally seemed to work and she managed to eat some crisps and a drink.
I am writing this as we reach the outskirts of Bangkok so hopefully we will just be able to get to our hotel and she can go to bed. Thank goodness it’s the Thai hotel which now feels like a second home.
A few hours later...........................
Well she is feeling much better. While Nick and Lara went out for a pizza and to buy the Lonely Planet Taiwan, I stayed in the room with Candace. I ordered some room service and we watched Bewitched on the TV which cheered her up a bit. She was fast asleep by 9.30 and hopefully will sleep late in the morning.
I am writing this as we reach the outskirts of Bangkok so hopefully we will just be able to get to our hotel and she can go to bed. Thank goodness it’s the Thai hotel which now feels like a second home.
A few hours later...........................
Well she is feeling much better. While Nick and Lara went out for a pizza and to buy the Lonely Planet Taiwan, I stayed in the room with Candace. I ordered some room service and we watched Bewitched on the TV which cheered her up a bit. She was fast asleep by 9.30 and hopefully will sleep late in the morning.
12th May Last day on Koh Chang
As the morning was rather wet we decided to do our packing first thing before going to have a last beach hang out.
As we have been here for five weeks it has really started to feel like home and we have made some good friends. So we said a last goodbye to them all and let some brochures with some locals for the last time.
We are all a bit sad to be going but also excited about the next part of our trip to Taiwan.
Had our last meal at Ta Tum’s which was excellent as always then headed over to Roland’s for a last drink and to say see ya!
As we have been here for five weeks it has really started to feel like home and we have made some good friends. So we said a last goodbye to them all and let some brochures with some locals for the last time.
We are all a bit sad to be going but also excited about the next part of our trip to Taiwan.
Had our last meal at Ta Tum’s which was excellent as always then headed over to Roland’s for a last drink and to say see ya!
11th May The waterfall
We were determined to see one of the waterfalls on the island before we left and last night at the bar we got talking to our neighbour and she told us of this amazing waterfall that nobody knew about except the locals. As it had rained a lot in the night and we only have a couple of days left we thought we should do it today.
We were told that it was quite easy to get to and got rough directions. Not too bad at first until we got into the jungle a bit and Lara started to get bitten by mosquito after mosquito and then Nick managed to spot a snake! Admittedly it was only a very small one but it did mean that we were all very careful. It was quite a trek and definitely an adventure. Talk about being in another world! In the middle of the jungle. Nick kept going ahead to see if it was safe to carry on. After clambering over boulders and walking along rather narrow edges for at least an hour and a half we could hear the waterfall, finally! The last bit was the toughest of all over rocks and under fallen trees, wading through small pools of water we came upon the most beautiful sight. Huge cascades of water falling 100 feet into a pool surrounded by ark greenery and canopied by the jungle.
WE were all exhausted and wanted nothing more than to jump straight in but as the rain had been so very heavy it was very murky and being very British we were, of course, very cautious!! In the end after debating for at least five minutes and getting courage up for another five, Candace was the bravest and jumped in. WE all followed and although I couldn’t help thinking that I couldn’t see what was underneath me I was so glad I swam in that gorgeous place.
We all agreed that as experiences go it was definitely up there with the elephant trekking.
We were told that it was quite easy to get to and got rough directions. Not too bad at first until we got into the jungle a bit and Lara started to get bitten by mosquito after mosquito and then Nick managed to spot a snake! Admittedly it was only a very small one but it did mean that we were all very careful. It was quite a trek and definitely an adventure. Talk about being in another world! In the middle of the jungle. Nick kept going ahead to see if it was safe to carry on. After clambering over boulders and walking along rather narrow edges for at least an hour and a half we could hear the waterfall, finally! The last bit was the toughest of all over rocks and under fallen trees, wading through small pools of water we came upon the most beautiful sight. Huge cascades of water falling 100 feet into a pool surrounded by ark greenery and canopied by the jungle.
WE were all exhausted and wanted nothing more than to jump straight in but as the rain had been so very heavy it was very murky and being very British we were, of course, very cautious!! In the end after debating for at least five minutes and getting courage up for another five, Candace was the bravest and jumped in. WE all followed and although I couldn’t help thinking that I couldn’t see what was underneath me I was so glad I swam in that gorgeous place.
We all agreed that as experiences go it was definitely up there with the elephant trekking.
6th May
We had the car until 2pm so we thought that we should go to Funky Huts again before we leave the island to see Chris and what he thought of the Purpose brochure we left and sample another delicious burger. We decided to leave our watchtower study until the afternoon instead. So after a lovely lie-in we set off about 11ish and stuffed our faces again with a meal that cost less than McD’s but was way, way better. After the meal we asked him what he thought of the brochure and he said he had read it and thought it was really interesting but that he could never go around telling other people his beliefs like we do. We had a super discussion though about the state of the world and why we do what we do and he said that he would definitely read anything we wanted to send and to keep in touch via email.
Saturday, 12 May 2007
Friday, 11 May 2007
5th May 2007 – 17th Anniversary!!
No one could decide what to do today but we started off by giving our gifts and getting lovely ones from the girls.
We thought we would get a taxi to Bang Bao and go to the Buddha View restaurant for a special meal. The taxi driver wanted 400 baht one way and for 1000 baht we could hire a car for 24hrs which is what we did.
We headed down to Bang Bao and went exploring down a different road we hadn’t taken before going for lunch. It was the coolest place with Thai style tables but instead of just sitting cross legged they had cut a huge hole under the tables so our legs dangled over the water. The food was delicious and the place totally relaxing. We all agreed that it was probably the best anniversary meal ever.
Lara wanted to visit Lonely Books again so we stopped off on our way home and she bought a couple of books.
We bummed around for a bit and walked on the beach.
Nick wanted to take me back to Buddha View again at night as it looks fantastic all lit up. So we got the kids some stuff from 7eleven for sandwiches and a couple of movies for them to watch from Roland’s.
We had a relaxing couple of hours just chatting over a drink and lovely sandwich before heading home and treating ourselves to a long awaited bottle of wine. We didn’t expect much, as we have sampled rather a lot of wines since living in France, but it was gorgeous and we managed to make it last 2 days!!
All in all a wonderful day and one that will be hard to beat next year – but we will try!!
We thought we would get a taxi to Bang Bao and go to the Buddha View restaurant for a special meal. The taxi driver wanted 400 baht one way and for 1000 baht we could hire a car for 24hrs which is what we did.
We headed down to Bang Bao and went exploring down a different road we hadn’t taken before going for lunch. It was the coolest place with Thai style tables but instead of just sitting cross legged they had cut a huge hole under the tables so our legs dangled over the water. The food was delicious and the place totally relaxing. We all agreed that it was probably the best anniversary meal ever.
Lara wanted to visit Lonely Books again so we stopped off on our way home and she bought a couple of books.
We bummed around for a bit and walked on the beach.
Nick wanted to take me back to Buddha View again at night as it looks fantastic all lit up. So we got the kids some stuff from 7eleven for sandwiches and a couple of movies for them to watch from Roland’s.
We had a relaxing couple of hours just chatting over a drink and lovely sandwich before heading home and treating ourselves to a long awaited bottle of wine. We didn’t expect much, as we have sampled rather a lot of wines since living in France, but it was gorgeous and we managed to make it last 2 days!!
All in all a wonderful day and one that will be hard to beat next year – but we will try!!
Thursday, 10 May 2007
Back to Koh Chang
1st May
Left BK at lunchtime as we decided to get a bite to eat on the way. Bit of a mistake as there wasn’t anywhere (no where we wanted to eat anyway!). So we stopped at a gas station and bought some crisps and drinks – very healthy.
Got back sixish very hungry, so we dropped all our stuff and headed off to Roland’s for a feast. Pizza and Greek salad really hit the spot.
Left BK at lunchtime as we decided to get a bite to eat on the way. Bit of a mistake as there wasn’t anywhere (no where we wanted to eat anyway!). So we stopped at a gas station and bought some crisps and drinks – very healthy.
Got back sixish very hungry, so we dropped all our stuff and headed off to Roland’s for a feast. Pizza and Greek salad really hit the spot.
BK
30th April
Business today, boring! Nick had a meeting and then we had to go and meet a couple of other guys about more stuff. Not too bad considering back in France we used to work all day everyday 5 days a week!! Just shows how much time we must have wasted as we still seem to get everything dome ok.
We got sidetracked by a jewellery manufacturer. Not commercial like the other one. This one makes exclusive designs for Chanel, Dior, Cartier etc. the guy was very nice and told us all about his families mines in Chanthaburi. We had no intention of buying anything but Nick said he would like to get something for me as it was nearly our anniversary. So an hour later we walked out with a lovely ring for me.
The girls were very patient today and did some of their new workbooks, surfed on the internet and watched some TV.
We are all looking forward to leaving BK tomorrow. Nice to come for a couple of days but great to leave.
Business today, boring! Nick had a meeting and then we had to go and meet a couple of other guys about more stuff. Not too bad considering back in France we used to work all day everyday 5 days a week!! Just shows how much time we must have wasted as we still seem to get everything dome ok.
We got sidetracked by a jewellery manufacturer. Not commercial like the other one. This one makes exclusive designs for Chanel, Dior, Cartier etc. the guy was very nice and told us all about his families mines in Chanthaburi. We had no intention of buying anything but Nick said he would like to get something for me as it was nearly our anniversary. So an hour later we walked out with a lovely ring for me.
The girls were very patient today and did some of their new workbooks, surfed on the internet and watched some TV.
We are all looking forward to leaving BK tomorrow. Nice to come for a couple of days but great to leave.
River trip in Bangkok
29th April
As the meeting wasn’t till 2pm we thought we would take a boat trip to the Grand Palace this morning. It was a great experience as it took us to some really interesting places. Bangkok used to be like Venice, without roads, so it was just like driving and exploring the back streets. We all felt like we had been given glimpses of the real life here not just all the touristy stuff. Unfortunately when we got to the Grand Palace it was closed until that afternoon as the king was there for a special service because it was the last day of the Songkran festival. Instead we got rather scammed by a tuk tuk driver who took us to a gem factory. It was rather interesting as they told us all about the different gems and history of the trade in Thailand, but they clearly expected us to buy something, which we didn’t! Next he stopped outside a tailors and told us that would we please go in as if we did he would get a coupon for 5 litres of gas free. How could we say no?? Anyway…talk about pushy those guy were not going to take no for an answer but we had to get back for lunch and to change for the meeting (thank goodness).
It was lovely seeing everyone again. They all asked us about what we had been doing and when we told them how long our trip is we got the same funny looks that we got back in France!!!! Great talk and watchtower but we decided not to stay for the book study as we had already done it and a 3 hr meeting just seemed a bit too much especially when the last hr was the Revelation book!!
Found a great book shop that sold loads of English books so we stocked up on some maths and science workbooks for the girls and reading books too.
Had a nice dinner back at Hippie HI on the Khao San Rd but we all got rather drenched in the rain on the way back.
As the meeting wasn’t till 2pm we thought we would take a boat trip to the Grand Palace this morning. It was a great experience as it took us to some really interesting places. Bangkok used to be like Venice, without roads, so it was just like driving and exploring the back streets. We all felt like we had been given glimpses of the real life here not just all the touristy stuff. Unfortunately when we got to the Grand Palace it was closed until that afternoon as the king was there for a special service because it was the last day of the Songkran festival. Instead we got rather scammed by a tuk tuk driver who took us to a gem factory. It was rather interesting as they told us all about the different gems and history of the trade in Thailand, but they clearly expected us to buy something, which we didn’t! Next he stopped outside a tailors and told us that would we please go in as if we did he would get a coupon for 5 litres of gas free. How could we say no?? Anyway…talk about pushy those guy were not going to take no for an answer but we had to get back for lunch and to change for the meeting (thank goodness).
It was lovely seeing everyone again. They all asked us about what we had been doing and when we told them how long our trip is we got the same funny looks that we got back in France!!!! Great talk and watchtower but we decided not to stay for the book study as we had already done it and a 3 hr meeting just seemed a bit too much especially when the last hr was the Revelation book!!
Found a great book shop that sold loads of English books so we stocked up on some maths and science workbooks for the girls and reading books too.
Had a nice dinner back at Hippie HI on the Khao San Rd but we all got rather drenched in the rain on the way back.
Bangkok
28th April
Boringish day really as we needed to buy a couple of GPRS phones to use with our laptops. We also needed the guy to set it all up for us. So the poor girls were stuck with us in the MBK centre for 3 hours while we set it all up.
We bought Miss Potter to cheer them up and watched it at the hotel.
Boringish day really as we needed to buy a couple of GPRS phones to use with our laptops. We also needed the guy to set it all up for us. So the poor girls were stuck with us in the MBK centre for 3 hours while we set it all up.
We bought Miss Potter to cheer them up and watched it at the hotel.
Travelling up to BK
27th April
Decided to drive to BK as we can hire a car for 4 days for about the same as the bus journey would cost and we would get to see loads more along the way. So we had booked the car for 9am as we wanted to start out nice and early so we would be at the hotel in BK well before dark. Got up early and while I packed a few things Nick went to collect the car. He came back after 5 mins minus the car! Apparently it hadn’t been returned yet but they promised us that it would be with us by 10.30. Ok no problem, we thought. So we hung around and watched some TV for a bit and off Nick went at 10.30 to collect the vehicle…………..30 mins.. we were promised again. So we thought we would fill our time by doing our group instead of doing it later at the hotel. So off Nick goes AGAIN and this time loses it a bit with the guy demanding our money back he promises to have it in 30 mins (again!) and offers us an extra free day if we wait. Anyway to cut a long story short we had the car delivered at 12.15!!
So our plans of arriving before dark are now not going to happen but off we go and have a fairly uneventful journey, only getting lost once and arrive in the outskirts of BK around 6pm. Not too bad but we also managed to hit rush hour. Amazingly we manage to get in the right vicinity of the area that we are heading for but by now it is very dark so someone (Nick) has the brilliant idea of asking a tuk tuk driver if he will drive to the hotel and we will follow him in our car. We offer him 50 baht and he laughs and agrees. Then follows a hair raising ride across the city including driving the wrong way up a one-way street. We made it though and boy did we enjoy our dinner that night.
Decided to drive to BK as we can hire a car for 4 days for about the same as the bus journey would cost and we would get to see loads more along the way. So we had booked the car for 9am as we wanted to start out nice and early so we would be at the hotel in BK well before dark. Got up early and while I packed a few things Nick went to collect the car. He came back after 5 mins minus the car! Apparently it hadn’t been returned yet but they promised us that it would be with us by 10.30. Ok no problem, we thought. So we hung around and watched some TV for a bit and off Nick went at 10.30 to collect the vehicle…………..30 mins.. we were promised again. So we thought we would fill our time by doing our group instead of doing it later at the hotel. So off Nick goes AGAIN and this time loses it a bit with the guy demanding our money back he promises to have it in 30 mins (again!) and offers us an extra free day if we wait. Anyway to cut a long story short we had the car delivered at 12.15!!
So our plans of arriving before dark are now not going to happen but off we go and have a fairly uneventful journey, only getting lost once and arrive in the outskirts of BK around 6pm. Not too bad but we also managed to hit rush hour. Amazingly we manage to get in the right vicinity of the area that we are heading for but by now it is very dark so someone (Nick) has the brilliant idea of asking a tuk tuk driver if he will drive to the hotel and we will follow him in our car. We offer him 50 baht and he laughs and agrees. Then follows a hair raising ride across the city including driving the wrong way up a one-way street. We made it though and boy did we enjoy our dinner that night.
Koh Chang
22nd to 26th April 2007
Just life on the island. Working a couple of hours in the morning and then on the beach or in the pool in the afternoon.
Almost bought an internet café business this week. Very cool and trendy place with all equipment and furnishings for just under £8000! Very tempting, we even met with the guy, but way to tying for us and not great for the girls here as after a couple of weeks there is not that much to do except be a total bum.
Planning on going to Bangkok at the weekend as we have some business stuff to look at there and it will be nice to get off the island for a couple of days.
Just life on the island. Working a couple of hours in the morning and then on the beach or in the pool in the afternoon.
Almost bought an internet café business this week. Very cool and trendy place with all equipment and furnishings for just under £8000! Very tempting, we even met with the guy, but way to tying for us and not great for the girls here as after a couple of weeks there is not that much to do except be a total bum.
Planning on going to Bangkok at the weekend as we have some business stuff to look at there and it will be nice to get off the island for a couple of days.
Koh Chang
20th April 2007
We hired a jeep today to explore the island. The side we are on, the West, is the most developed side so we were looking forward to seeing the East coast and what it was like. Unfortunately you cannot drive around the whole island as the town Bang Bao in the South West side has been stopping the development from going any further as they get all the business at the moment as it is as far as you can go. There is about 500m of unpaved track between. The road just literally ends. To see the other village the other side you have to drive North around the whole island, which we did.
We decided to do some ministry along the way so went prepared with some leaflets and brochures. Wherever we stopped we gave the Thai people a leaflet. The great thing was - nobody said no to us!! We stopped at Funky Huts for their 'world famous burger' for lunch. The place is run by an English guy from the Lake District so we were able to have a nice chat with him and left him a purpose brochure which we said he would be pleased to read.
The East coast was totally undeveloped with only a couple of places to stay and no towns really just a few fishing villages. The people live very poorly in huts and shacks but are some of the happiest we have seen. It really is 'the land of smiles' - Siam.
It was lovely to explore properly and Nick really enjoyed getting behind the wheel again. We made the most of it and went to the book shop in Lonely beach and then took the girls for an ice cream in Bang Bao which is a fishing village in the South. It is mostly built out on the water with narrow walkways between the huts and little shops and restaurants. We wondered how many people fall in!!
We hired a jeep today to explore the island. The side we are on, the West, is the most developed side so we were looking forward to seeing the East coast and what it was like. Unfortunately you cannot drive around the whole island as the town Bang Bao in the South West side has been stopping the development from going any further as they get all the business at the moment as it is as far as you can go. There is about 500m of unpaved track between. The road just literally ends. To see the other village the other side you have to drive North around the whole island, which we did.
We decided to do some ministry along the way so went prepared with some leaflets and brochures. Wherever we stopped we gave the Thai people a leaflet. The great thing was - nobody said no to us!! We stopped at Funky Huts for their 'world famous burger' for lunch. The place is run by an English guy from the Lake District so we were able to have a nice chat with him and left him a purpose brochure which we said he would be pleased to read.
The East coast was totally undeveloped with only a couple of places to stay and no towns really just a few fishing villages. The people live very poorly in huts and shacks but are some of the happiest we have seen. It really is 'the land of smiles' - Siam.
It was lovely to explore properly and Nick really enjoyed getting behind the wheel again. We made the most of it and went to the book shop in Lonely beach and then took the girls for an ice cream in Bang Bao which is a fishing village in the South. It is mostly built out on the water with narrow walkways between the huts and little shops and restaurants. We wondered how many people fall in!!
Koh Chang
19th April 2007
Finally got around to elephant treking this afternoon. We were picked up at the Organic coffee shop by a taxi after lunch and it was about a 40 min drive to the treking place in the North jungle of the island. This place is so lush with huge palm and plants everywhere especially as we got further into the middle of the jungle area. We must have used half a bottle of citronella spray and had doubled our daily dose of vitamins as although we had been told that the areas that the elephant camp were in are regularly sprayed for mosquitos we were not taking any chances.
When we arrived it was to a very primitive looking place and amazingly elephants everywhere, about 20. No cages or fences here! It was quite a shock at first to have one of these huge beasts walk past you only a foot away. We were given some bottles of water to drink and some freshly cut pineapple, which we all agreed tasted better than any pineapple we had ever eaten. Then it was up a ladder to a rickety looking platform to climb onto the elephants for a ride. What an experience!! Lovely trek through the jungle. We saw banana plants, grapefruit trees, rubber trees and more including the popular durian tree. For some reason it is extremely popular here. One French writer described the smell of the fruit once it is opened as 'the smell of the putrefying flesh of a dead animal'!! We have to agree, it's disgusting!! After an hours trek we returned back to feed the elephants from a huge bucket of bananas.
This was, we all agreed, the best thing we had done so far, even if we did arrive back looking like we had crawled through the jungle backwards!!!
Finally got around to elephant treking this afternoon. We were picked up at the Organic coffee shop by a taxi after lunch and it was about a 40 min drive to the treking place in the North jungle of the island. This place is so lush with huge palm and plants everywhere especially as we got further into the middle of the jungle area. We must have used half a bottle of citronella spray and had doubled our daily dose of vitamins as although we had been told that the areas that the elephant camp were in are regularly sprayed for mosquitos we were not taking any chances.
When we arrived it was to a very primitive looking place and amazingly elephants everywhere, about 20. No cages or fences here! It was quite a shock at first to have one of these huge beasts walk past you only a foot away. We were given some bottles of water to drink and some freshly cut pineapple, which we all agreed tasted better than any pineapple we had ever eaten. Then it was up a ladder to a rickety looking platform to climb onto the elephants for a ride. What an experience!! Lovely trek through the jungle. We saw banana plants, grapefruit trees, rubber trees and more including the popular durian tree. For some reason it is extremely popular here. One French writer described the smell of the fruit once it is opened as 'the smell of the putrefying flesh of a dead animal'!! We have to agree, it's disgusting!! After an hours trek we returned back to feed the elephants from a huge bucket of bananas.
This was, we all agreed, the best thing we had done so far, even if we did arrive back looking like we had crawled through the jungle backwards!!!
Arrival in Bangkok, Thailand
Well here we are finally. After a wonderful flight we arrived at 5.15am rather tired but VERY excited. Found a gorgeous hotel for the first night ( a two room suite for a little more than what you would pay for a Travel Inn in London!!) and then we managed to find a more reasonable place for the rest of this week. Pool for the kids and free wi-fi for us.
Bangkok is a filthy city but absolutely wonderful too. Just like the flight attendants on the plane all the hotel staff wear fantastic traditional Thai clothing. There are so many amazing things to see, along with the extremely bizarre also! We are constantly pointing things out to each other.
8th April 2007
Just managed to scrape in for breakfast at the Asia Hotel before checking out and leaving for the Hotel De Moc. Fantastic lobby area but the corridors are a little reminiscent of The Beach! The girls checked out the pool straight away before we decided to brave a Tuk Tuk ride. They are built to take a maximum of 3 passengers but it's nothing to see 4 or 5 people squashed into one. So we decided to do as the locals and squeezed ourselves (Lara on my knee!) into one for a memorable experience.
We visited the Khao San Rd, saw strange sights and had two currys for just 50 baht (75p!!) and got a 5 min taxi ride home that took an hour as the driver took us to the wrong hotel. As we have heard of many scams with taxi drivers we were rather worried. He kept insisting that as he drove many officials and politicians around Bangkok he knew where he was and was in the right area. Finally after much nail biting on our part he admitted he was in the wrong area and realised his mistake.
9th April 2007
Feeling a bit jet lagged today. Not quite with-it! Just finishing our work and then hoping to go to the Bethel later if we can find a better taxi driver than last night!
Girls have just been in the pool for a couple of hours. Need to do some lessons later I think, but at the moment everything here is an amazing education for all of us.
10th April 2007
We got up early today to finish our work and leave before lunch for the Bethel. We managed it despite it starting to rain again. The guy at the front desk wrote out the address for us in Thai and ordered us a taxi. They were laughing at where we wanted to go and we were worried it was a bad area ,but it seemed that they were laughing at the chances of getting a taxi over there. When it rains everyone gets in a taxi and there are traffic jams everywhere. It wasn't too bad though and only took about 30 mins. We found the address no problem and walked down a little side street to a building with a large fence around. Nick rang the bell and we were hoping that someone would answer after all our effort. A couple of minutes later the door was answered by a tiny little sister (she was almost a head shorter than Lara!) who told us that it was no longer the Bethel but a missionary home. She invited us in and got us all some water to drink. We all introduced ourselves, her name was Lita and she is from the Philippines. She has been here since 1960 as a missionary and there are six in the home. The Bethel was moved in 1980 but still has it's registered address here for legal reasons. She told us that there was an English meeting that evening not far from us and also gave us some Thai literature and the address of the Bethel. We told her that we would try and make the meeting but had to collect our laundry so were not sure.
Next stop MBK centre for some mobile phones. This turned out to be the hugest shopping centre we had ever seen. Full of stall after stall of absolutely anything you could imagine. The fourth floor was phones, Ipods and other gadgets. Some genuine and a lot fake. We just got the phones though as none of us were in a shopping mood.
Came back around 4pm and had a quick doze before heading off to see if our laundry was ready. We decided to go in our meeting clothes and see if we could make it to the Kingdom Hall. We got there 5 mins early but it was all ready and beautifully ironed. Two bags all for the grand total of £3!!
After asking about five or six taxis to take us ( for some reason the all shook their heads when shown the address) we found one. The little sister had said it was just around the corner from the Khao San Rd but Nick (sensibly) said we should go right away in case we couldn't find it. Good job he did!! 45 mins later in the taxi we arrived, not quite around the corner! It was on the 14th floor of a large tower block. As soon as we walked in Lita saw us and showed us that she had saved seats for us at the back in case we were late. Everyone was so welcoming. 18 different nationalities!!! Truly united every where we go. One of the brothers took Nick to one side and asked if we would be willing to move permanently to Chang Rai in the North as there is a huge need there. Even for us thats a bit too much when we have only been here for 4 days!! It was a lovely experience though to meet all the brothers. The girls commented that it is amazing how it is all the same even though we are virtually on the other side of the world.
As we were all really hungry we ended up back in Banglampu at 'Hippie Hi' for a lovely meal. It's a bar and restaurant in one of the old Bangkok teak houses. Great atmosphere and wonderful food.
11th April 2007
Did some maths and history with the girls this morning. Lara chose Malaysia and Candace chose Cambodia. Bit of a long work morning but we were finished by 1pm and had lunch in the hotel here before deciding to get a taxi to the Bethel. The guy at the front desk said it should take about an hour. We decided not to dress in meeting stuff as we had worn it all day yesterday we have each only brought one outfit and also and we weren't absolutely sure that it was going to actually be the Bethel.
Anyway after an hour and a half ride in the taxi we arrived outside some huge gates at what was obviously the right place. We thought that if we explained about the lack of smartness we would be ok!! Not a chance. We had to borrow some clothes which was rather funny really. Anyway this old brother who came over here in the 30's as a missionary showed us around the place. They don't actually print here, it's all sent from Japan. The Thailand Bethel distributes to the congregations here and to Cambodia, Laos and Burma mostly. They are mainly concerned with the translation and most of the Bethel is geared up for that. Then it is sent to Japan for printing. Well we felt really good after the visit. Missionary home, meeting & Bethel all in a couple of days!!!
13th April 2007
Got up early today as we were getting the bus to Trat and then a ferry over to the Island of Koh Chang. The minibus came to collect us at 8am to drop us at the coach. It took about 2hrs to actually leave Bangkok as they had pick-ups on the way. The coach was packed to capacity but not a bad journey with reclining seats and a lunch stop. Seven long hours later we arrived in Trat to catch the ferry which only took ten minutes.
All went well until we got in the taxi. The taxis here are like pickups with bench seats along either side in the back. Ok so far. Our backpacks got thrown on the roof and we climbed in. We knew that it was the big Thai festival Songkran, the Thai new year with big water fights, but what we didn't think of was how wet we would get in the back of the pickup. It was fun at first but then we started to panic as we had the laptop backpack in with us with our two new computers in and the bag I was holding had our lovely Nikon in that we had bought for the trip. There was nothing we could do though so we just asked the driver to drop us at the nearest Place we could see to stay on our now very soggy guide book. It turned out not too bad as it was some huts right on the beach. Rather primitive but nice and cheap. More importantly when we checked, everything was ok and not damaged by the water.
We laid everything out to dry and found a lovely place to eat overlooking the beach. Rather hot that night as we had just one fan and no aircon. France prepared us well however and we decieded to stay for three nights till the festival was over.
14th April 2007
Basically just got VERY wet all day today while exploring Klong Prao beach. We bought a few sarongs and bits that we needed. We asked around a bit to see if anyone knew of a house to rent for a month or so. Also found a better place to stay for the week on Kai Bae beach just a bit further south.
Spent two hours in an internet cafe catching up on some work while the girls read some books and looked in the shops.
15th April 2007
Studied our watchtower outside the hut. Great spot for a meeting! Then we decided to have a lazy day just on the beach as we did not feel like getting wet again. After three days of it we were a bit fed up of trying to dry things out!!
16th April 2007
Packed up quite early and got a taxi to Kae Bae. Thank goodness no more water fights (never thought I'd say that!!). We've got two huts here next to each other, one for Nick & I and one for the girls.
We got settled in, unpacked a few things and found a fantastic place for lunch. It's a restaurant / bar right on the sand and totally built around some palm and banyan trees. The most amazing place we have ever seen. You sit on cushions on the floor to eat and there are also hamocks near each eating area to relax in after your meal. The downside is the name - Porn Restaurant!!
Found a little wi-fi cafe just down from it overlooking the beach so that is where we will work for the next couple of days. For a Monday work was good and we were finished in about two hours.
We plan on doing some elephant treking tomorrow.
17th April 2007
Plans went awry as straight after breakfast Lara was ill. She had bad stomach cramps and we were a bit worried. Homeopathic kit to the rescue however and a belladonna remedy later she was tons better. We thought we would leave the treking though to another day and just let her take it easy.
Had a lovely swim in the sea, even Lara felt up to it. Went back to Porn's for lunch and had the most gorgeous vegetable tofu & noodle soup.
Found a lovely little organic coffee shop this evening whose owner is trying to do so much for the fairtrade coffee industry in Thailand. He says that the problem is that a lot of Thai people don't want to help as their Buddhist religion teaches that if you have it bad in this life not to worry, just wait till the next one and it will be better. He tries to promote the coffee from the growers in the North of the country.
Bangkok is a filthy city but absolutely wonderful too. Just like the flight attendants on the plane all the hotel staff wear fantastic traditional Thai clothing. There are so many amazing things to see, along with the extremely bizarre also! We are constantly pointing things out to each other.
8th April 2007
Just managed to scrape in for breakfast at the Asia Hotel before checking out and leaving for the Hotel De Moc. Fantastic lobby area but the corridors are a little reminiscent of The Beach! The girls checked out the pool straight away before we decided to brave a Tuk Tuk ride. They are built to take a maximum of 3 passengers but it's nothing to see 4 or 5 people squashed into one. So we decided to do as the locals and squeezed ourselves (Lara on my knee!) into one for a memorable experience.
We visited the Khao San Rd, saw strange sights and had two currys for just 50 baht (75p!!) and got a 5 min taxi ride home that took an hour as the driver took us to the wrong hotel. As we have heard of many scams with taxi drivers we were rather worried. He kept insisting that as he drove many officials and politicians around Bangkok he knew where he was and was in the right area. Finally after much nail biting on our part he admitted he was in the wrong area and realised his mistake.
9th April 2007
Feeling a bit jet lagged today. Not quite with-it! Just finishing our work and then hoping to go to the Bethel later if we can find a better taxi driver than last night!
Girls have just been in the pool for a couple of hours. Need to do some lessons later I think, but at the moment everything here is an amazing education for all of us.
10th April 2007
We got up early today to finish our work and leave before lunch for the Bethel. We managed it despite it starting to rain again. The guy at the front desk wrote out the address for us in Thai and ordered us a taxi. They were laughing at where we wanted to go and we were worried it was a bad area ,but it seemed that they were laughing at the chances of getting a taxi over there. When it rains everyone gets in a taxi and there are traffic jams everywhere. It wasn't too bad though and only took about 30 mins. We found the address no problem and walked down a little side street to a building with a large fence around. Nick rang the bell and we were hoping that someone would answer after all our effort. A couple of minutes later the door was answered by a tiny little sister (she was almost a head shorter than Lara!) who told us that it was no longer the Bethel but a missionary home. She invited us in and got us all some water to drink. We all introduced ourselves, her name was Lita and she is from the Philippines. She has been here since 1960 as a missionary and there are six in the home. The Bethel was moved in 1980 but still has it's registered address here for legal reasons. She told us that there was an English meeting that evening not far from us and also gave us some Thai literature and the address of the Bethel. We told her that we would try and make the meeting but had to collect our laundry so were not sure.
Next stop MBK centre for some mobile phones. This turned out to be the hugest shopping centre we had ever seen. Full of stall after stall of absolutely anything you could imagine. The fourth floor was phones, Ipods and other gadgets. Some genuine and a lot fake. We just got the phones though as none of us were in a shopping mood.
Came back around 4pm and had a quick doze before heading off to see if our laundry was ready. We decided to go in our meeting clothes and see if we could make it to the Kingdom Hall. We got there 5 mins early but it was all ready and beautifully ironed. Two bags all for the grand total of £3!!
After asking about five or six taxis to take us ( for some reason the all shook their heads when shown the address) we found one. The little sister had said it was just around the corner from the Khao San Rd but Nick (sensibly) said we should go right away in case we couldn't find it. Good job he did!! 45 mins later in the taxi we arrived, not quite around the corner! It was on the 14th floor of a large tower block. As soon as we walked in Lita saw us and showed us that she had saved seats for us at the back in case we were late. Everyone was so welcoming. 18 different nationalities!!! Truly united every where we go. One of the brothers took Nick to one side and asked if we would be willing to move permanently to Chang Rai in the North as there is a huge need there. Even for us thats a bit too much when we have only been here for 4 days!! It was a lovely experience though to meet all the brothers. The girls commented that it is amazing how it is all the same even though we are virtually on the other side of the world.
As we were all really hungry we ended up back in Banglampu at 'Hippie Hi' for a lovely meal. It's a bar and restaurant in one of the old Bangkok teak houses. Great atmosphere and wonderful food.
11th April 2007
Did some maths and history with the girls this morning. Lara chose Malaysia and Candace chose Cambodia. Bit of a long work morning but we were finished by 1pm and had lunch in the hotel here before deciding to get a taxi to the Bethel. The guy at the front desk said it should take about an hour. We decided not to dress in meeting stuff as we had worn it all day yesterday we have each only brought one outfit and also and we weren't absolutely sure that it was going to actually be the Bethel.
Anyway after an hour and a half ride in the taxi we arrived outside some huge gates at what was obviously the right place. We thought that if we explained about the lack of smartness we would be ok!! Not a chance. We had to borrow some clothes which was rather funny really. Anyway this old brother who came over here in the 30's as a missionary showed us around the place. They don't actually print here, it's all sent from Japan. The Thailand Bethel distributes to the congregations here and to Cambodia, Laos and Burma mostly. They are mainly concerned with the translation and most of the Bethel is geared up for that. Then it is sent to Japan for printing. Well we felt really good after the visit. Missionary home, meeting & Bethel all in a couple of days!!!
13th April 2007
Got up early today as we were getting the bus to Trat and then a ferry over to the Island of Koh Chang. The minibus came to collect us at 8am to drop us at the coach. It took about 2hrs to actually leave Bangkok as they had pick-ups on the way. The coach was packed to capacity but not a bad journey with reclining seats and a lunch stop. Seven long hours later we arrived in Trat to catch the ferry which only took ten minutes.
All went well until we got in the taxi. The taxis here are like pickups with bench seats along either side in the back. Ok so far. Our backpacks got thrown on the roof and we climbed in. We knew that it was the big Thai festival Songkran, the Thai new year with big water fights, but what we didn't think of was how wet we would get in the back of the pickup. It was fun at first but then we started to panic as we had the laptop backpack in with us with our two new computers in and the bag I was holding had our lovely Nikon in that we had bought for the trip. There was nothing we could do though so we just asked the driver to drop us at the nearest Place we could see to stay on our now very soggy guide book. It turned out not too bad as it was some huts right on the beach. Rather primitive but nice and cheap. More importantly when we checked, everything was ok and not damaged by the water.
We laid everything out to dry and found a lovely place to eat overlooking the beach. Rather hot that night as we had just one fan and no aircon. France prepared us well however and we decieded to stay for three nights till the festival was over.
14th April 2007
Basically just got VERY wet all day today while exploring Klong Prao beach. We bought a few sarongs and bits that we needed. We asked around a bit to see if anyone knew of a house to rent for a month or so. Also found a better place to stay for the week on Kai Bae beach just a bit further south.
Spent two hours in an internet cafe catching up on some work while the girls read some books and looked in the shops.
15th April 2007
Studied our watchtower outside the hut. Great spot for a meeting! Then we decided to have a lazy day just on the beach as we did not feel like getting wet again. After three days of it we were a bit fed up of trying to dry things out!!
16th April 2007
Packed up quite early and got a taxi to Kae Bae. Thank goodness no more water fights (never thought I'd say that!!). We've got two huts here next to each other, one for Nick & I and one for the girls.
We got settled in, unpacked a few things and found a fantastic place for lunch. It's a restaurant / bar right on the sand and totally built around some palm and banyan trees. The most amazing place we have ever seen. You sit on cushions on the floor to eat and there are also hamocks near each eating area to relax in after your meal. The downside is the name - Porn Restaurant!!
Found a little wi-fi cafe just down from it overlooking the beach so that is where we will work for the next couple of days. For a Monday work was good and we were finished in about two hours.
We plan on doing some elephant treking tomorrow.
17th April 2007
Plans went awry as straight after breakfast Lara was ill. She had bad stomach cramps and we were a bit worried. Homeopathic kit to the rescue however and a belladonna remedy later she was tons better. We thought we would leave the treking though to another day and just let her take it easy.
Had a lovely swim in the sea, even Lara felt up to it. Went back to Porn's for lunch and had the most gorgeous vegetable tofu & noodle soup.
Found a lovely little organic coffee shop this evening whose owner is trying to do so much for the fairtrade coffee industry in Thailand. He says that the problem is that a lot of Thai people don't want to help as their Buddhist religion teaches that if you have it bad in this life not to worry, just wait till the next one and it will be better. He tries to promote the coffee from the growers in the North of the country.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)