Liddy
So, we had to bid the family farewell today and the kids are heartbroken. We waved goodbye as they disappeared off in a songthaew (jeep) and the kids started wailing and didn't stop for quite some time. Clearly, the thought of another few months with just Mum and Dad for company is NOT a pleasant one.
Anyway, we've had a great couple of days. We are still up in Chiang Mai and a couple of days ago Alistair, Mathilda, Sam and I headed out to the forest to go Jungle Flying. This meant donning a foxy harness (climbers take note, you may think you look good but a harness is just NOT a good look), a blue shower cap (ostensibly to keep the hair out of the various bits of equipment, but possibly just to make us all look like dinner ladies), and a helmet and then climbing up into to forest canopy to be linked up to zip wires and fly from platform to platform a la a gibbon. It was amazing.
We abseiled, zipped along 300m long wires, climbed up staircases spiralling around giant trees, and followed suspension paths through the jungle. And, I mean we. Mathilda and Sam did everything and loved every minute of it. Sam had one nervous moment when he had to abseil off a platform 40m up in the air, but he managed it and was chuffed to bits afterwards.
Mike and Kathie went the following day (we had to go in shifts and Sebastian and Meggles were too young) and also seemed to enjoy themselves.
We are heading towards Laos tomorrow, and will probably take 4-5 days to reach there. No idea what the internet options are going to be like for the next couple of weeks, so if we go a bit quiet, that will be why.
The Kids
Southern Laos....
Friday, 14 January 2011
Monday, 10 January 2011
Two families, Nine wheels.........Cycling in Chiang Mai
Liddy
So, we have met up with Kathie and Alistair and family again, and are now in Chiang Mai, the 'capital' of Northern Thailand and currently ranking as one of my favourite places in Thailand. There are hundreds of small 'sois' (alleyways) all around the city which are fun to explore and take you to all kinds of unexpected places.
Kathie and Alistair have hired bikes to join us cyling so Sebastian (4) has been riding around in a chair on the back of Alistair's (mountain) bike whilst the girls got the bum deal with Mathilda (7) perched somewhat precariously on the back of Kathie's (one gear only) bike, on a flat seat with two fold down foot supports. She was so bounced around that by the end of day 1, the flat seat had lost a crucial nut on one side and we had to tie it on with a piece of plastic. What with Kathie's helmet being a strange shape and poor fit (such that it sat at a jaunty angle like a beret) they made an interesting sight......
Anyway, equipment aside it has been really fun to explore the area on two wheels. Yesterday we explored a few of the less visited wats (temples) which were lovely. Low point of the day was when Mike and I had ignored Meg's request for the loo once too often and she created a huge puddle on the floor of a temple. High points were the children running around pretending to be archaeologists, banging the bells in the temple compounds, and Alistair finding a stash of money in the road. Not mega bucks but enough for a big round of cornettos which kept everyone smiling.
Today we went off into the countryside to visit some ruins which were beautiful at least in part because they were completely deserted. High point was stopping at a random hairdresser for group hair cut. Low point was the resulting hair cuts. Suffice to say that you might not see any pictures of Sam for a while..........
We have a few more days en masse before Mike, I and the kids head towards Laos and some mountains. I read some cyclist's blog the other day, and they described the route........100km between towns and 20km ascents of steep mountains. Hmm, sounds interesting.
Last but not least, the good news on the culinary front is that Meggles had her first mouthful of rice today. Its taken two and a half months but a breakthrough nevertheless!!
So, we have met up with Kathie and Alistair and family again, and are now in Chiang Mai, the 'capital' of Northern Thailand and currently ranking as one of my favourite places in Thailand. There are hundreds of small 'sois' (alleyways) all around the city which are fun to explore and take you to all kinds of unexpected places.
Kathie and Alistair have hired bikes to join us cyling so Sebastian (4) has been riding around in a chair on the back of Alistair's (mountain) bike whilst the girls got the bum deal with Mathilda (7) perched somewhat precariously on the back of Kathie's (one gear only) bike, on a flat seat with two fold down foot supports. She was so bounced around that by the end of day 1, the flat seat had lost a crucial nut on one side and we had to tie it on with a piece of plastic. What with Kathie's helmet being a strange shape and poor fit (such that it sat at a jaunty angle like a beret) they made an interesting sight......
Anyway, equipment aside it has been really fun to explore the area on two wheels. Yesterday we explored a few of the less visited wats (temples) which were lovely. Low point of the day was when Mike and I had ignored Meg's request for the loo once too often and she created a huge puddle on the floor of a temple. High points were the children running around pretending to be archaeologists, banging the bells in the temple compounds, and Alistair finding a stash of money in the road. Not mega bucks but enough for a big round of cornettos which kept everyone smiling.
Today we went off into the countryside to visit some ruins which were beautiful at least in part because they were completely deserted. High point was stopping at a random hairdresser for group hair cut. Low point was the resulting hair cuts. Suffice to say that you might not see any pictures of Sam for a while..........
We have a few more days en masse before Mike, I and the kids head towards Laos and some mountains. I read some cyclist's blog the other day, and they described the route........100km between towns and 20km ascents of steep mountains. Hmm, sounds interesting.
Last but not least, the good news on the culinary front is that Meggles had her first mouthful of rice today. Its taken two and a half months but a breakthrough nevertheless!!
Thursday, 6 January 2011
The Thai Tooth Fairy
Liddy
The Thai tooth fairy had to make another visit last night, with the second of Sam's teeth falling out. I promise that I won't bore you all senseless with a constant update on the state of our children's teeth.... reporting on the first two to fall out is enough. But he now has a good lisp which is fun with a name like Sam.
We bade goodbye to Elaine and John a few days ago and a temporary goodbye to Kathie, Alistair and kids, and got back on the bikes for our first bit of cycling in Thailand. I have to confess that it wasn't too dreamy. The roads are in tip top condition but this means that not only can we rocket along, so can every 4x4 driver, bus, lorry, tuk tuk and motorbike. We thought we were taking back roads but they were still pretty busy and the verges were strewn with rubbish. The view wasn't very scenic either. As you can see, I'm not yet a convert. On the plus side, we did manage 75km in a day, which is a Pleasants record, though we were all absolutely exhausted at the end of it.
We stopped for a couple of days in a town called Khampaeng Phet, which has some beautiful old ruins, much like those in Ayutthaya and Sukhothai but completely deserted. We spent a wonderful day cycling around through the forest, clambering over ruined temples and crumbling walls, playing hide and seek (though not always successfully.....I found a great hiding spot but it was so great that the kids gave up and I was sitting there for 15 minutes before I realised they had wandered off).
We are now in Chiang Rai, up in the far north of Thailand, and hope to go find some hills to cycle around tomorrow.
The Thai tooth fairy had to make another visit last night, with the second of Sam's teeth falling out. I promise that I won't bore you all senseless with a constant update on the state of our children's teeth.... reporting on the first two to fall out is enough. But he now has a good lisp which is fun with a name like Sam.
We bade goodbye to Elaine and John a few days ago and a temporary goodbye to Kathie, Alistair and kids, and got back on the bikes for our first bit of cycling in Thailand. I have to confess that it wasn't too dreamy. The roads are in tip top condition but this means that not only can we rocket along, so can every 4x4 driver, bus, lorry, tuk tuk and motorbike. We thought we were taking back roads but they were still pretty busy and the verges were strewn with rubbish. The view wasn't very scenic either. As you can see, I'm not yet a convert. On the plus side, we did manage 75km in a day, which is a Pleasants record, though we were all absolutely exhausted at the end of it.
We stopped for a couple of days in a town called Khampaeng Phet, which has some beautiful old ruins, much like those in Ayutthaya and Sukhothai but completely deserted. We spent a wonderful day cycling around through the forest, clambering over ruined temples and crumbling walls, playing hide and seek (though not always successfully.....I found a great hiding spot but it was so great that the kids gave up and I was sitting there for 15 minutes before I realised they had wandered off).
We are now in Chiang Rai, up in the far north of Thailand, and hope to go find some hills to cycle around tomorrow.
Friday, 31 December 2010
New Year on the River Kwai
Liddy
Happy New Year to Everyone
We have been rather offline for the last couple of weeks, enjoying Christmas and New Year with Mike's family. Unfortunately, Sara (Mike's sister) and family were unable to join us due to the snow in the UK which was very sad - all were sorely missed, as were Elizabeth (another sister) and family at home in Sydney
Christmas was on Koh Jum, a very quiet and little visited island off the southern coast of Thailand. We were very relieved to arrive there, leaving the gathering scarlet hordes of Brits, Russians and various plump and sweaty Europeans on the beaches of the mainland..... (obviously we never perspire or get red....)
We were staying in a small resort of just ten bungalows on an almost deserted stretch of beach...just a beach swing, a couple of deck chairs and a stretch of sand for gathering shells or digging trenches, depending on your preference. Bliss.
We spent one day on a boat trip to a series of three supposedly deserted beaches to snorkel; pulling round the corner into the first, we were greeted by a beach which was completely full of boats - probably thirty moored on the beach itself, another 15 in the bay, and just behind us a ferry full of about 200 people. Fortunately, as soon as you put on a mask and snorkel, the hordes didn't matter at all - the fishlife was absolutely stunning and we spent happy hours snorkelling around.
From the beach, we moved up to Kanchanaburi, home to the Bridge over the River Kwai. I showed off my travel arrangement credentials by organising the transport between the beach and our next hotel; after two boats, seven taxis / buses / songthaews (big jeeps), one train, two more taxis and the Pleasants family going missing in Bangkok for two hours (rubbish taxi driver), the in-laws were starting to regret having placed their trust in me. Still, we got here in the end.
The last few days have been spent at a small hotel called Xanadu 2008 (highly recommended if anyone is coming in this direction). We've visited WW2 cemeteries, climbed waterfalls, walked over the bridge and pottered.
New Years celebrations were muted - my first adult new year without making it to midnight. The backstory is that Mike and John (brother) decided to have an early celebration on New Years Eve's Eve and rolled back at three in the morning in an ambulance, having failed to procure a taxi but having sweet-talked an impressionable paramedic. By the by, in case anyone is wondering, they spent the night with a couple of lady boys. The one who latched on to Mike was called Fiat but when introduced, Mike thought she said 'her' name was 'Fierce' so he roared and made tiger claws. She clearly thought she was in there and roared back at him. Only later did he discover her name wasn't Fierce after all.
Big news is that Sam has lost his first tooth (isn't this a bit early?).
Tomorrow we start cycling again.....suspect that we may struggle a bit after a few weeks of relaxing and eating.
Hope you all have a good 2011. As for me, my stars in the Thai newspaper assure me that in January I will win the lottery but that I need to release fresh water snails and birds before setting of on a trip in February. In March, Mike is apparently due to develop a skin rash. Watch this space.
Happy New Year to Everyone
We have been rather offline for the last couple of weeks, enjoying Christmas and New Year with Mike's family. Unfortunately, Sara (Mike's sister) and family were unable to join us due to the snow in the UK which was very sad - all were sorely missed, as were Elizabeth (another sister) and family at home in Sydney
Christmas was on Koh Jum, a very quiet and little visited island off the southern coast of Thailand. We were very relieved to arrive there, leaving the gathering scarlet hordes of Brits, Russians and various plump and sweaty Europeans on the beaches of the mainland..... (obviously we never perspire or get red....)
We were staying in a small resort of just ten bungalows on an almost deserted stretch of beach...just a beach swing, a couple of deck chairs and a stretch of sand for gathering shells or digging trenches, depending on your preference. Bliss.
We spent one day on a boat trip to a series of three supposedly deserted beaches to snorkel; pulling round the corner into the first, we were greeted by a beach which was completely full of boats - probably thirty moored on the beach itself, another 15 in the bay, and just behind us a ferry full of about 200 people. Fortunately, as soon as you put on a mask and snorkel, the hordes didn't matter at all - the fishlife was absolutely stunning and we spent happy hours snorkelling around.
From the beach, we moved up to Kanchanaburi, home to the Bridge over the River Kwai. I showed off my travel arrangement credentials by organising the transport between the beach and our next hotel; after two boats, seven taxis / buses / songthaews (big jeeps), one train, two more taxis and the Pleasants family going missing in Bangkok for two hours (rubbish taxi driver), the in-laws were starting to regret having placed their trust in me. Still, we got here in the end.
The last few days have been spent at a small hotel called Xanadu 2008 (highly recommended if anyone is coming in this direction). We've visited WW2 cemeteries, climbed waterfalls, walked over the bridge and pottered.
New Years celebrations were muted - my first adult new year without making it to midnight. The backstory is that Mike and John (brother) decided to have an early celebration on New Years Eve's Eve and rolled back at three in the morning in an ambulance, having failed to procure a taxi but having sweet-talked an impressionable paramedic. By the by, in case anyone is wondering, they spent the night with a couple of lady boys. The one who latched on to Mike was called Fiat but when introduced, Mike thought she said 'her' name was 'Fierce' so he roared and made tiger claws. She clearly thought she was in there and roared back at him. Only later did he discover her name wasn't Fierce after all.
Big news is that Sam has lost his first tooth (isn't this a bit early?).
Tomorrow we start cycling again.....suspect that we may struggle a bit after a few weeks of relaxing and eating.
Hope you all have a good 2011. As for me, my stars in the Thai newspaper assure me that in January I will win the lottery but that I need to release fresh water snails and birds before setting of on a trip in February. In March, Mike is apparently due to develop a skin rash. Watch this space.
Monday, 20 December 2010
Khao Sok
Liddy
We've posted some pictures to give an idea of where / what we've been up to. If this stuffs up the blog such that it now takes forever to load, please let us know so that we can try and sort it out.
We are just back from four days in the jungle, in Khao Sok National Park. It's one of Thailand's largest and home to (allegedly) a wide variety of different wildlife and birds. I can confirm a plethora of leeches and wild elephants, though the latter only because I came across a steaming pile of fresh elephant turd, so I'm not sure if that counts. On the leech front, Mike totally freaked out and wouldn't sit on a rock for a picnic by the river just in case he had a Stand By Me moment (for those of you who haven't seen the movie, the boy gets a leech in the one place that a boy would probably prefer not to get one). Wuss. Meg and me were much more hardy, which was a good job too as we both got them on our toes.
The park itself is gorgeous and we spent three days there, exploring on foot, by boat and by kayak. (Uncle) Alistair is a keen twitcher so we all kept our eyes peeled trying to spot various different species but with only limited success - partly because the jungle is so dense that it is difficult to see anything that is more than a metre or so away, and partly because four young children trying to be quiet are generally anything but. Sam got up close and personal with a monkey one day, when it decided to join him on our bungalow balcony - the rest of us were inside when he let out an almighty scream of terror which brought nervous parents running but which didn't faze the monkey one little bit; he just sat there looking on with interest.
Tomorrow we are off to the beach again before heading off to the Islands to meet the rest of the family for Christmas.
We've posted some pictures to give an idea of where / what we've been up to. If this stuffs up the blog such that it now takes forever to load, please let us know so that we can try and sort it out.
We are just back from four days in the jungle, in Khao Sok National Park. It's one of Thailand's largest and home to (allegedly) a wide variety of different wildlife and birds. I can confirm a plethora of leeches and wild elephants, though the latter only because I came across a steaming pile of fresh elephant turd, so I'm not sure if that counts. On the leech front, Mike totally freaked out and wouldn't sit on a rock for a picnic by the river just in case he had a Stand By Me moment (for those of you who haven't seen the movie, the boy gets a leech in the one place that a boy would probably prefer not to get one). Wuss. Meg and me were much more hardy, which was a good job too as we both got them on our toes.
The park itself is gorgeous and we spent three days there, exploring on foot, by boat and by kayak. (Uncle) Alistair is a keen twitcher so we all kept our eyes peeled trying to spot various different species but with only limited success - partly because the jungle is so dense that it is difficult to see anything that is more than a metre or so away, and partly because four young children trying to be quiet are generally anything but. Sam got up close and personal with a monkey one day, when it decided to join him on our bungalow balcony - the rest of us were inside when he let out an almighty scream of terror which brought nervous parents running but which didn't faze the monkey one little bit; he just sat there looking on with interest.
Tomorrow we are off to the beach again before heading off to the Islands to meet the rest of the family for Christmas.
More Pictures.....
 |
| First Night on the Road.....truck stop anyone? (Burma) |
 |
| Hands Up if you are having an adventure |
 |
| Local Colour |
 |
| Our First Sunset (Burma) |
 |
| Bagan (Burma) |
 |
| Bagan |
 |
| Bagan |
 |
| Sam in Bagan |
Some pictures
 |
| Khao Sok National Park (Thailand) ...check out our big fish |
 |
| Pleasants Family on cannon at Inle Lake (Burma) |
 |
| Sam and the laydeez at Inle Lake (Burma) |
 |
| Liddy and Meg on the move in Burma |
 |
| Meggles |
 |
| Inle Lake (Burma) |
 |
| Inle Lake (Burma) |
 |
| Sam enjoying 'Happy Land' in Yangon (Burma) |
 |
| Meg showing how it's done in 'Happy Land' |
 |
| Don't Ask |
 |
| Sam and Cousin Mathilda on the boat in Krabi (Thailand) |
 |
| The Pleasants Tribe in Khao Sok National Park (Thailand) |
 |
| Khao Sok National Park (Thailand) |
 |
| Taking a Dip in Khao Sok (Thailand) |
 |
| Cap'n Sam |
 |
| Check out the biceps on that |
 |
| Khao Sok |
 |
| Meg assisting in the Dam Building Project |
 |
| Stop Press: Senior Engineers change course of water in Khao Sok |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)