Seeing as Dom has written the last weeks worth of travels I thought it was about time I made a reappearance.

Getting to Singapore was due to take 4 hours on the bus, although from our bus journeys prior to this we had learned to be quite skeptical. For a while there actually we thought the bus that we had bought tickets for didn't even exist. About 4 hours later, yes we had reached Singapore, the border of Singapore, but it was to be at least another 1.5 hours before reaching the city. It had crossed our minds how were going to cross the border, but we didn't really think much of it. It turns out that you are turfed off your bus into a customs office where you must pass all the baggage and yourself through an x-ray, then are interrogated with questions about your goings-on before being turfed back out onto the street where the bus is there to pick you up. We have to admit that we were a bit crapping ourselves as we had heard that the security in Singapore was quite tight, and there we were with an absolute bucket load of pirate DVD's picked up in our travels along the way - all the effort we had gone to to keep them safe could be wasted in a matter of minutes. Luckily though they didn't pull us up on them. Also the thing with all the questions I think was all for show as the girl who we gave our pssports into for checking was obviously in training, and I think her trainer was trying to prove a point. She was asking to see a copy of our ticket which proved we were leaving Singapore in 3 days, we tried telling her it was an e-ticket and that we had the confirmation in our e-mail as no actual ticket existed, but she didn't quite seem to understand. Also she kept asking where in Singapore we were staying, again...no understand...book hotel...as you go along?...Grrr. We ended up just writing the name of any hold hotel just to shut her up then listened to her warning of always carrying plane tickets with us - some people...

So anyway, the same routine every time we arrive in a new city, get cash, find accommodation, settle in, read the guide book, explore the area. We have been very fortunate so far that we have not had any trouble finding accommodation every time we arrive somewhere new. When we arrived in Singapore it was a whole different story. We already had a general idea that the option of cheap mid-range hotels were limited and that it was mainly the choice between posh hotel or hostel. We had seen one hotel in the book which we checked out first, it was grand but we thought we good find somewhee a bit closer to the city centre (this was in the arab quarter), 4 hours and about 20 hotels later, we went right back to the first place - Doh! By this time it we had settled in, got cash and read the book it was actually time for dinner, so we just went to the Indian across the road before heading to bed eager for the next days adventure.

So our first full day in Singapore kicked off with a tour around the city, to be honest after all the nature we had had recently we had already decided that we wanted to stay the entire time in the city. We started walking in through the Arab quarter where we were staying. We had a stop off in Raffles hotel along the way which is the original posh hotel, we took a couple of pictures from the outside which was fine, we then walked into the lobby at the same time as some other people when a man in the hotel uniform came rushing over saying that men were only allowed into the lobby if they had long trousers on! So all these men, including Dom were escorted out of Raffles leaving the women to watch and laugh, it didn't matter that we were wearing shorts, so I hung back and took pictures of the inside.

We carried on into the city following this, through this mall, that mall and the other mall, it didn't take us long to realise that Sinagpore is just malls and hotels! One of the malls has the Fountain of youth or longevity or eternal life or something, anyway we walked around it three times as you're supposed to and hopefully we will reap the benefits. This exploration took us through an enormous arts culture centre they have out onto a promenade by the sea - very rosemantic. We took a walk along, past the people putting up decorations in preparation for the Chinese New Year tomorrow onto an area known as boat quay. Boat quay is just that, a quay, but it it lined with bars/restaurants the whole way - it serves everything from bangers and mash to butter prawns and everything inbetween. To no surprise we decided to stop off for half an hour, which actually turned into dinner and the rest of the night. Our excuse is the guide book reccomended spending a night on boat quay, so we were doing one of the best things Singapore had to offer!! While we were there the weather did a flip turn, so even though it was suny when we go there, about an hour in, the heavens opened up. What we came to learn was that it actually did this every day around the same.

The next day we were a little bit hungover, but we weren't going to let that spoil the occasion, it was Chinese New Year!! What a fantastic time to be in a city that has a Chinatown. The only thing is that Chinese or not, everyone uses this as an excuse to shut-up shop, so it was actually like a bank holiday in terms of what was open and stuff. Still, we took a stroll down Orchard road. Apparently this could actually take anywhere between an hour and a day depending on the amount of shopping you did. And there was us thinking it was not possible for anymore shops to appear in a city than we had already seen. To be honest, most of the shops were closed, which didn't really matter, as whats the point in us walking into shops if we neither have the intention or money to buy? Still, it's a part of Singapore that had to be seen.

That night was Chinese New Year, and where better to spend it than Chinatown. We walked down to Chinatown but to get there walked through another area where there was a massive celebration going on, music, dancing, singing (which could have broken glass), food stalls ad everything Chinese you could imagine. When we eventually got to Chinatown there the party had already gotten started as well, there were decorations hanging from every streetlight and there was a huge stage set where there was Chinese traditional dances going on. We had been warned by several people that it would be crowded so we had expectations in mind, but this was just havoc, all the roads had been blocked off to the area and the roads then had further barriers down them to keep people apart in different areas. Before the new year actually set in we found a spot where it was possible to sit (on the road mind you). Finally the New year came around, it was celebrated with a big countdown, then a really impressive fireworks display. It went on for at least five minutes (which is alot of fireworks if you think about it). But then it all came as a bit of a disappointment because as soon as the fireworks came to an end, the whole celebration seemed to stop. So we did as every single other person seemed to do which was head back to where it was they came from. This turned out to be an impossible task as there were thousands of people trying to get through the same streets all in opposite directions. There was also market stalls set up on the side of the streets which just sold every piece of crap under the sun (crap meaning cheap chinese toys - plastic wind up ones, cuddly toys, sweets, tacky gold decorative things and alike). It took us ages to get back to the hotel, but in a way it was worth it.

The following day was our last in Singapore, our flight wasn't until 11pm so we still had the whole day. We spent it at a theme park on Sentosa Island. Sentosa island is basically a small island off the south coast of Singapore which has bee coverted entirely into a resort island. It has on it a theme park with insect world, butterfly park, cable cars, dolphin shows, beach resorts, golf course - im sure you can imagine the rest. As with most places like this, we were queuing for about an hour before we got in. We visited all the different areas including watching a dolphin show (the heavens decided to open up as soon as this started though). It was a grand way to spend a day, but the place is a tourist haven, from golfing buddies to screaming children - so one day was definately long enough unless of course you like golding and screaming children.

So here now is the end of our second adventure (we called China the first, Thailand/Malaysia/Singapore the second). Our third and final adventure is India, which is where our next flight was bringing us to.

Next Stop, Delhi.

Team Domro

Day 38-40... Singapore remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Team Domro

Kuala Lumpur... Day 35-37 remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Team Domro

Day 34... Cameron Highlands remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Now we knew this bus would be slow as it was mostly an uphill drive in a crappy bus but when he was going 20km/hr up the hill you can imagine our frustrations,especially seen as we still hadn't eaten a thing all day. There was lovely scenery on the way up,mountains,fields etc.They had so many farms along the way including Strawberry,bees and of course the tea plantations.

The bus was bringing us to Tanah Rata,famous area for backpakers and
when we arrived at the bus station,there was buses from all the guesthouses awaiting the tourists.We had decided to stay in a a particular but unfortunately when the driver brought us there all the rooms had gone.He drove us to another guesthouse called the Peak View?We took a room there for 2 nights.We dropped the stuff and headed straight for the restaurant for food.

The Cameron Highlands is famous for its walks and mountain treks and had over different treks for people to go on.Most of the guesthouses have an unofficial guide for taking guests on the treks.During our meal John this guesthouses guide introduced himself and said he was heading on a mountain trek in the morning if we would like to join in.Of course we said yes,and thats was the next days entertainment sorted.

After that we walked the 5km into the near by town of Brintang. When we got there was a huge market on,selling local foods,souvenirs etc.The highlights of the market were the numerous strawberry items,homemade drinks,ice cream etc.Also they had teas from the tea plantation. After the market we decided to go for a drink.Roisin had been craving a glass of Guinness so we went into this bar that had Guiness advertisements plastered all over the wall.She ordered one of the bottles of Guinness,the bartender poured it,when she drank it her face dropped,it tasted like shit.It's true Guinness doesnt travel well.So we changed for a Tiger beer and after walked the 5km back to Tanah Rata in 45mins.A quick Curry was follwed by me staying up till 1am to watch the Liverpool v Newcastle game which we somehow manged to lose,thank you Pepe Reina.
Anyway the trek was to come so plenty to look forward too.

Team Domro

Day 33...Cameron Highlands remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Cenang beach is one of the more popular areas on the island, both our book and Nick and Colby had said it was the place to go though, so logically we went. We got the taxi to drop us in Cenang and went to find a place to stay. Luckily the hotel across from where the taxi dropped us had Beach chalets for 35 ringitt a night (about Euro 7.50). I was kinda unsure but after we checked the chalet it seemed fine and we decided to go for it (its only catch was no hot water - but you didn't need it in this heat anyway, oh and no a/c, but we had a fan). Anyway its not everyday you can have your own beach chalet on a tropical island!

After we dropped the bags in the chalet, we had a gorgeous lunch in the Red Tomato Cafe were they baked homemade bread mmmm... before we hit the beach. Wow, it was unbelievable, white sand, blue sea, clear skies, we were thinking Thank U Nick and Colby. We got a couple of deckchairs and just sat on the beach for the entire afternoon, had a couple of fresh pineapple and watermelon juices and basically soaked it all up. The sea was a lovely temperature, not to hot or cold. Once we soaked up the main sunrays for the day we got changed and headed for the Lighthouse restaurant for a few cocktails and watch the sunset on the horizon. This place is actually a seafood restaurant and while the food looked amazing, it was a bit out of our price range, anyway we were concentrating on the cocktails. We got a nice little table on the beachfront and had a couple of potent cocktails to start. The place got even more gorgeous as the sun went down and it was just the most stunning setting ever. We were really getting into the cocktails at this stage and decided to have one called an AK47! Well this cocktail had brandy, whiskey, vodka, cointreau, gin, rum and just for a laugh lime juice! Well it certainly hit the spot and we decided that a couple more Jim Beams with coke would finish the night of nicely. As we hadn't eatan in the Lighthouse we had to find somewhere before all the restaurants shut up shop for the night quickly, we eventually settled in a Muslim restaurant and had some lovely satays and fresh battered prawns - muslim restaurant is just our own term for them, Langkawi (as is most of Malaysia) is predominantly muslim, and alcohol is not welcomed in a lot of places, so the restaurants that didn't serve alcohol we just called the Muslim restaurants. In fact, the next day we headed to 'best breakfast place in town' (Rough Guide 2006) which turned out to be crap as (it being a muslim place) did not serve bacon or sausages.

After breakfast we decided to take more of Nick and Colby's advice and rent a car. Well as you all know (or don't) im useless and havent learnt drive yet so it was down to Roisin. The fact that she was didn't have her license with her didn't put them off renting the car out to her so we got a little punto lookalike and set out to explore the island ourselves for a day at the extortionate price of 50 ringitt (Euro 10). We firstly went to the airport to try my credit card again but it was again refused, i was starting to get a bit worried but couldn't let it take over the day.

Langkawi had a number of tourist attractions which we decided to go to. Of course the scenery of the island as we were driving was stunning. We firstly went to the Langkawi cable car, which looked out over the island. It wasnt a very easy experience as the car was swaying in the wind as we went up over mountain after mountain. You got just gotta try not to think about it and definitely dont look down! When we got up though the scare was worth it as we could see the whole island from these viewing areas which included a suspension bridge which also swayed in the wind. Still it was great to see and we have some fabulous pictures.

After another scare on the way back down we wanted to go the Seven Wells which is in Telaga Tujuh and consists of waterfalls and natural pools. The booked had warned us about monkeys parading the walk up to the waterfalls and that they can be aggressive if provoked-great! We got there and there was monkeys sitting on the roofs of a couple of cars next to where we parked. We got out slowly and made our way to the first waterfall passing round 50 monkeys along the way - and no we didnt provoke them. The first fall was lovely, really quiet area, the only people we met were 3 Australians who told us there was a natural pool down the bottom of this fall which is great for a swim. We said we'd check it out so went down to have a look. We decided not to swim there but to just dip our feet and hands in. Just as we were about to leave we Mossie repellent into the pool...as it floated away I went to take my shoes off to jump in and get it. Roisin beat me to it though by climbing out onto a jut of rock and grabbed it,soaking herself in the process. That was pretty funny.

Anyway it was time to face the 367 steps which lead up to the seven wells, another waterfall area. After about 3 steps the was sweat dripping off us, it was a fairly steep climb, we stopped about 4 times on the way up, but i tell you it was sooooo worth it when we got there. This area was made up of these natural pools, considering the climb you had to make to get there it was unsurprising that there were only a few people up there swimming. This place was definately not one where we could refuse a swim. We got changed and made our way into the first pool. Now these pools are very easy to get into but very hard to get out of, the rocks are so smooth like silk you just fly into the pools and slip all over the place - great fun though, and i have to say probably the most refreshing swim i have ever had. We swithched pools a couple a times and decide to face the natural slide, it was basically a rock so smooth that you go straight down from the top pool into a really deep pool down the bottom - was fantastic fun.

After spending about an hour at the pools we headed back down to the car where luckily no monkeys had climbed onto. We then went to what is generally said to be the best beach in Langkawi called Tanjah Rhu. It was like a scene from that crap Beach movie with Leo Di Caprio in it. Stunning beach though. As we had already been swimming we just had something to eat at the seafood restaruant next to the beach and again went for fresh prawns. Prawns being the only seafood we actually bought as it was surprisingly expensive to eat fish in Langkawi. Afterwards we decided to head to Kuah, the capital of Langkawi. There actually wasn't too much to see there to be honest although we found a nice food market, so we headed back to the chalet after a fantastic day.

The next day we decided to take the car for another day and go back to the Tanjung Ruh beach we were at yesterday for the day. We got our stuff togther and and headed off. We stopped in a crocodile farm along the way which was really cool as they had huge crocodiles in ponds and swaps, it was great cause they were going for each other and everything - you could here a big crash every few minutes. They also have a disabled croc, he has no teeth and a bucked jaw. We got to walk over a bridge with shit loads of crocs underneath, it was scary as they tend to look at you like they are gonna strike at any minute. Luckily they just went for each other and we made our way to the beach.

We got to the beach and there was literally about 10 people on it, which so nice. We lazed around for the afternoon and swam, saw just the one jellyfish which was lucky. We found out that in the high season you cant swim in the sea cause it is full of jellyfish (its the low season now). Well we got burnt like crisps on the beach even though we had a loads of suncream on. Unfortunately its one of the sideffects of our Malaria tablets that we are more at risk to the sunrays - They got it right. That night we decide to go look for somewhere to have dinner and hopped into an Irish bar for a quick drink. We got a jug of Tiger and had look at the food menu, which included Irish Stew! The staff of course were all locals, they greeted us with Conas Ata Tu which being the Gaelige Connaissuer I am I knew wot they were saying straight away. Anyway we had a another couple of jugs of Tiger and after a few chats with some English couple decided to just have dinner there. Roisin went for the Irish stew and I had the beer battered cod and chips. It was great food and the stew tasted better than anything you would get at home. You can tell that ever since we got to Langkawi it has been Western food all the way - sick of noodles, curries, rice...its like a take-away every night.

Our last day in Langkawi was spent on Cenang beach soaking up the luxury for one final time. We spent all the day in the shade mind since we had turned into lobsters from the previous day (bit sensitive). That night we ate Malaysian and our Langkawi paradise had come to an end. We would seriously recommended anyone coming to this part of the world going to Langkawi and hopefully we will come back some day ourselves - reckon we might have a few who wouldnt mind coming with us!

From Paradise

Team Domro

Day 29-32...Langkawi remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We got to Penang and knew we had to get into the city to find a hotel for the night before we headed off to Langkawi in the morning. We met a German guy in the airport who lived in Georgetown and he offered us a lift to the bus station. We got a bus within minutes of buying our tickets which was lucky. The weather on that day was gorgeous, so the bus trip into town was a bit of a sweat job. We evetually got to our preferred area which was the Chinatown (as most of Georgetown is)There was a little old lady at the counter of a hotel which we checked out (and actually stayed in), she proved very helpful as not only did she have a cheap room, but she also organised our ferry tickets to Langkawi at no extra charge and had them delivered to our rooms within 15 minutes! This saved alot of hassle finding the ferry port and what have you and meant we had more time to discover Georgetown in the time we had.

Malaysian food is basically a combination of Indian and Chinese, as we are absolutely sick of Chinese food, we went for the Indian slant on things. So after a lovely Indian lunch we decided to go to the pier area first which was a lovely walk, followed by the a trip inside the 5 star Eastern and Oriental hotel - its like the burj of Georgetown, very posh. We then went to Fort Cornwallis which was a fort for the city built by Captain Fraincis Light to protect the city from the attacks from the French and Pirates - very interesting stuff, few cannons, looking towers etc, each gallery area had a/c so we stayed everywhere longer than what we would have normally just to cool down! After that we decided to go for the obligatory beer, we went inside a purple pub and had a jug of Tiger, all the bars here give a free buffet of food when you are drinking which is kinda cool, but you could easily knock back a few jugs with all the snacks they provide which is the idea I suppose. We only had the one jug anyway and headed off to the Komtar Building which was to have a view over all of Georgetown. Its 232meters above the ground so we thought it would be a nice way to see the city. We eventually got to the building anyway but we weren't to sure where to go which is a bit strange for whats meant to be a city's major tourist attraction. We found our way to a lift and headed up to the 65th floor with this grumpy looking fucker of a lift attendant. Christ you could just tell he loved his job. Anyway when we got there expecting a mob of tourists with cameras flashing at every angle but we were the only ones up there. We got our tickets which included a free postcard (which was shit), a drinks coupon and money off gift shop items (which were also shit) We went to go have a look at the view hoping it would compensate. The supposed viewing tower was actually just a construction site, there were these Malaysian lads just sitting around listening to crap music as they painted. To be fair the view was great but the feckin windows were so dirty it was hard to see what effort they had put into it. This seemed all the more stranger to us as all we have been hearing about since we got to Asia was 'Malaysia 2007' which is there promotional campaign for tourism. Judging by this 'tourist attraction' Georgetown certainly isnt ready. I felt sorry for all the staff in there, they were sitting around doing nothing and the the bar staff practically begged us to have a drink. We didnt and just bought something in the gift shop and went on our way, dissapointed and thinking wot a waste. They must need a good marketing guru! (jen u fancy it?).

Anyway we were getting tired a this after our exploits in Chang Mai and our night in Bangkok airport so we decided to just get some dinner and head back to the hotel for an early night. We walked around looking for a restaurant, the part of the city we ended up in was disgusting,it smelt like dead dog (and we would know). We of course ended up in a bar having a few beers and then went to this crappy restaurant where the steak was really expensive and shit. After this we gave up and went back to the hotel with the overall impression of Georgetown not being very good. I think it was the least inspiring place we had been so far. Although we had Langkawi to look forward to next- Paradise Awaits!

Team Domro

Day 28...Penang (Georgetown) remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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So it was our second day of trekking today. We woke up with the rooster and the sun which was very annoying more than anything else - but considering there are no curtains (or windows for that matter) it was unavoidable. Luckily enough we didn't get any mossie bites. As this is the area we had to take the malaria tablets for every time we see a mossie we are freaking!

After breakfast we went elephant riding for about 1hr 30mins. This was truely a rollercoaster experience. The guys who were helping us get onto the elephants were calmly jumping from one elephant to the next but I was too scared even to get onto one! The set-up was three people per elephant, two on the chair which was tied to its back and one on the head. Dom and I got the daddy elephant which was the biggest of the lot. To climb onto it we had to go froma platform, step across its head then onto the chair. Dom got on first, and without been insulting, the chair looked liked it was going to tip over to one side when he got on, I got on next hoping to balance the weight out. The last guy who was on the same trek as us had the privilege of the head whic turned out to be quite bony! At first we were going down a steep hill and it literally felt as if we were going to slip off, then we started going down really narrow tracks that you would never think in a million years that an elephant would fit down. Ours must have been really thirsty as it kept heading towards the river instead of the tracks - we didnt know what to do as how do you control an elephant? After the tracks we started to head back to the village, in the river, the elephants were squirting water and finally ours got the drink it wanted. At first it was quite scary as your legs are dangling down the side of the elephant (and its a long way down!) but after a while you got used to it and started to enjoy it. Dom and I had nicked a couple of bananas from breakfast which we both (Dom as well) fed to the elephants when we got back to the village. All of a sudden about 5 women appeared with a whole bunch of bananas for 50 baht each to feed to them - always about money!

After the exitement of the morning we packed our bags ready to bamboo raft back to the first village we were in yesterday. If you remember from Kanchanburi in Thailand we actually did bamboo rafting there, but it turns out that this was completely different. In Kanchanburi we were sat down on the rafts, there was no current and we just paddled leisurely along for about 20 minutes. This time it was like the river wild! There was four to a raft plus a guide and each person was strategically placed. The guide went though what we were to do on his instructions for every time we got to rapids -so we knew this was getting serious. We had all been told to put shorts on and take off our shoes and socks, and all the bags had been tied to a post at the front of the raft. When we got going we really got straight into, it was rapids all the way. Dont forget that these rafts are literally just pieces of bamboo tied together with bamboo bark, no straps and nothing to hold onto to stop you going into the water - in fact, one guy did fall in - with his camera - doh! Some of the rapids were so strong that the water was above your knees. We were rafting for about 2 hours downstream which was hard work but so well worth it, everytime we got through a whole bunch of rapids there would be screams of joy!!

After some lunch we then headed back to Chiang Mai as our trekking was over. It was a fantastic experience in a wonderful place and we survived in one piece.

We are so looking forward to a proper bed at some point as the last few days have been hellish. Tonight was to be another long night as we were flying to Bangkok, spending the night in the airport before flying to Penang in the morning. Obviously last night we slept in a hut, the night before we had about 4 hours sleep (due to the pageant) and the night before that we were on the overnight bus!!

Onto Malaysia...

Team Domro

Day 27...Chiang Mai remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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So after the most hectic day yesterday all we wanted to do was rest, but that was certainly the last thing that happened.

Since my new title of Miss International flower bloom required duties beyond taking part in the pageant, I had to get up at 4am to get my hair and make-up done to greet the governors at the grand parade this morning. Dom unsurprisingly didn't go to this parade as I think he couldn't face the possibility of a repeat of yesterdays events. The parade was really fantastic with music, dancing, flowers, floats, colour etc. The last two days I have had my picture taken so many times you wouldn't believe. This morning was just extreme though, literally hundreds of people all at once wanting a photo!! It was definately my 15 minutes of fame!!

At 8.30 I had to come back down to earth and get back to the guesthouse quick as the two of us were heading off on a two day trek. I hopped in a tuk-tuk and like lightening in slow motion got back.

Chiang Mai is renowned for its trekking - apparently among the best trekking in Thailand. Even when we were in Bangkok, one of the travel agents we were talking too told us not to trek in Bangkok as you never get as much for your money and its just not half as good and to wait for Chiang Mai to do it. So we were really looking forward to this.

The truck picked us up at 9am. There was already two people in the truck suffice to say who thought I was a freak dressing up for trekking (I had changed into jeans and T-shirt but the hair and make-up was still on). We picked up another 4 people at different guesthouses to make a total of eight of us heading to the depths of the jungle. It must have taken a couple of hours to finally reach a small village where we had a traditional Thai rice lunch cooked for us. Following a break to let the food settle we began what turned out to be a 3 hour walk through the jungle in the blistering heat. We spent the first hour going up - that was hard work, plateaued for a bit before becoming really steep downwards. Along the way was fantastic as our guide kept picking out lots of plants which are used as spices in cooking, we were able to taste them and everything.

There was only one path so it was impossible to get lost, so when I say Dom and I got separated from the group it means that there was a large distance between the people in front of us and behind us - not to worry. We were on our own as some oldies(!) had fallen behind and the athletic ones were way out in front when we saw a village to which we presumed was our destination, however on approach to the village we heard a couple of gunshots - aaahhhh!! It then comes as no surprise that we didn't enter the village alone, we waited for the laggers hoping they woud be shot first! (It turns out that 'the men' were out hunting).

Walking through this village was like stepping back in time. The huts were made of bamboo and were all on stilts, there were children running around picking things up off the ground, eating them, dropping them, the picking them up and eating them again, there were piles of wood for burning and piles of bamboo scattered around the place, there was also animals everywhere; chickens & dogs especially.

Once we were in the village we were free to walk around and explore. Dom and I walked down to the river where 'the men' were building bamboo rafts. Everytime they get tourists into their village who are bamboo rafting back to the other village (the one we had spent the day walking from) they have to build new rafts. This is because this tribe live upstream and the village can only be reached by walking meaning they woud have to carry the rafts back to their village each time. So instead, they continously build new rafts. The village downstream then breaks down the rafts after use and uses the bamboo for their own needs. We were to do the bamboo rafting tomorrow so they were working quickly. We walked up the river a little bit when we realised that we had stepped in a footprint much larger than ours - elephants! Wanting to explore but not get trampled at the same time we didn't go too much further upstream but enough to get the picture that the jungle is a very beautiful but scary place.

Eventually we headed back up to the village there were half a dozen teeangers from the village playing a game which is like volley-ball but with your feet. They have to do the keepie-uppies (that footballers do) over a net in the middle, obviously if a side dropped the ball, the other side would score a point. The main difference was the ball, it was about the size of a coconut but made from weaved bamboo! After a few minutes of us watching they invited us to play. I declined sparing myself from humiliation but Dom joined in. Being the footballer he is he fitted right into the game and did really well, he was doing over-head kicks, backward kicks, and fancy twists and turns with the ball - they knew he must have played at home coz he was a bit too much of a natural at the game!! He ended up playing for about 45 minutes with them until it got dark.

The food that night was good - traditional, but I think they had spiced it down a bit for the tourists which was a bit of a shame, nevertheless it was still lovely. As there was no electricity, we spent the evening sat around the fire with the villagers playing games with matches (sounds worse than it is), telling jokes, stories and singing (as one of the guys had a guitar) until late.

There was one large room which had about 20 thin mattresses laid out on the floor with mossie nets over them - this to be where we all slept for the night. Whilst this was great to do and an experience in itself, i was glad it was only for one night, it may be ungrateful/selfish/snobby etc but I would not be able to live without the luxuries (or what I view as necessities) of home; electricity, toilet, windows, road access etc. I wonder if these tribes started living with modern luxuries would they still prefer their traditional living methods?

Anyway, a fantastically tiring day...well deserving of a good nights rest...

Team Domro

Day 26...Chiang Mai remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well we arrived safe and sound in Chiang Mai at around 6am. We knew it would be too early to check into the guesthouse but we thought we would chance our arm anyway. In the end we were able to leave our bags there for a few hours to wander around until it was time to check in. I won't bore you with details of the morning as it is the afternoon where the fun really started.

We went back to the guesthouse at around half one and was greeted by the owner, Annette, who also happens to be Irish. Her first question was are you under 25? Yes...Do you want to enter a beauty pageant? Ummmmm...Of course she used the good ol' phrase 'Just for the craic!!' - so how could I refuse. The entry form said however to be there for two o'clock which gave us half an hour to get the hotel and register...so quick march we went.

A little bit of culture for y'all. Chiang Mai has many festivals during the year, with one of its most popular and famous being the Flower festival which takes place usually on the first weekend in February since 1977. The whole town is awash with flowers of every colour shape and size with several parades and shows also going on. There is also the all important Miss Flower Bloom and Miss International Flower Bloom beauty pageant!!

At this point Dom's day and my day go in two extremely different directions so I will get him to write his own experience. Anyhoo, myself and twenty-five other contestants were dress in traditional Thai clothing and make-up. The clothing was in actual fact lots of pieces of material wrapped around you and pinned together. I also had this 'chain-belt' around my waist so tight that I could only breath in half way, and that doesn't even take into account the corset tight material around the chest. Breathing and the toilet were put on hold for the day!! The make-up was really extreme and Dom couldn't stop laughing, it actually looked like I had four eyebrows. What was quite funny as well was that the lighter the skin colour the darker they made it look and vice versa. So all the Asian girls (not Thai though, just international) looked as if they hadn't seen the light of days for years and I looked like an 'ompa-lumpa'. Anyway, I drew the line at having no mascara on so I snatched it off the table ran into the bathroom and applied it myself!! Its a girl thing.

A quick note: Dom and myself have different views on political correctness, so unlike in Doms version of todays events, I refuse to emphasise this point!! But...the day cannot be told without its mention. The women that were doing all the hair and make-up were not actually 'women' in the sense of the word but more of the physically converted type with quite extreme mannerisms. I think this provided the answer to why Thai clothes and make-up continue to be so extravegant. Read Doms version for more detail!! He apparently had close encounters...

Continuing on, we got given extremely unclear instructions about where we were to stand and what to do etc so with the whole situation being as clear as mud all 25 of us headed down to the stage area. Once at the stage we met up with the Thai girls who were taking part in the Miss Flower Bloom - wowee - the hair and make-up were to perfection - They looked as if they had been preparing for this moment their whole lives.

I actually found out at this point that we had to do a little speech/song/dance talent thing for 2 minutes on stage to which I freaked!! What an earth was I going to talk about!! Also I found out that those who came in the top three would have to answer a question each in the final and take part in the parade the following day to greet governors and stuff. But that was ok coz we had organised to go on our trek the following day so I wouldn't be available, not that I told them coz what were the chances!

We did the dress rehersal which still didn't clear anything up so I planned on playing it by ear when the time came. At this point I hadn't actually seen Dom for a couple of hours, he and one of the other girl's boyfriends had buggered off.

The pageant begun. The spotlights were going mad, the cheesy music was blaring and the hosts had really strong american accents that you would associate with sports commentators - the stage was set. I knew we had to go out twice, the first time in a straight line for everyone to glare at you and the second when you did the 'speech' and the 'walk/pose' on your own. The first apperance came and went, and the second was fast approaching for me. I was number 19 so I had seen 18 girls doing it before me meaning you would think that I would get it right - wrong, completely wrong.

I appeared in the back/middle of the stage knowing I had to walk elegantly and gracely to the microphone on the right as this was to be the taller of the two microphones on the stage. However, I so fixated on the right side that I didn't realise that the mics had been swapped. As the mic was so low on the right I spent my entire speech bent really far forwards to reach it (gracely though of course!). Once I had reached the mic I was supposed to say "Sawadekaa" which means something along the lines of 'Hello, god be upon you' (don't quote me on that though) - I must have tried about six times Sakeda, Saweedak, Sawah etc - im sure you get the picture - in the end I gave up and greeted the audience "Good Evening!". After the speech during the audience clapping, I was suppose to do the walk/pose on the front stage so the judges can score your elegance and grace! So nervous and wanting to run off the stage as quickly as possible I completely forgot! So all the judges saw was me talk and swiftly walk away! Unfortunately, I swiftly walked to the wrong place! Instead of continuing the obvious straight line the girls before me had made, I thought I was to go to the back and start a new one (I told you the instructions were as clear as mud). In saying that they must have been clear to the girl after me as she continued the straight line making it clear I had pretty much made an absolute eejit of myself. The best solution I could come up with was to 'Swan Lake' it to where I was supposed to be - I therefore ballet danced 4 meters across the stage!

Of course I was representing Ireland in the pageant so I thought it would be nice to talk about the Green Isle itself. All I really remember is finishing off the speech with the fine words "In Ireland we have a similar opportunity to participate in such a wonderful event called the Rose of Tralee, I unfortunately have never taken part in it so I am delighted to represent Ireland Internationally where I can hopefully bring Chiang Mai home with me instead." Looking back - In a round about way its true- but what a cheesy way to put it!

We then had to stand on stage for at least another 20 minutes continuously smiling (my cheeks were killing me at that stage, and I had run out of different ways to smile) while the judges were choosing the final three. Eventurally the drum roll went and believe it or not my number was called out!! This adrenelin rush lasted only a few seconds though as I now realised that I had to answer a question. Expecting it to be on world peace or something I was trying to recall the film Miss Congenialty. The question I got was "What do you think are the differences between the women of Thailand and your own country?" Well, after the 'women' that had been doing my hair and make up all day that was the main difference that sprang to mind. In the end I started saying that Thai women always seek to continue tradition and thats why Thailand has a strong culture of food and music and that this is dying trend (as more women are choosing to go to work, therefore tradition in Ireland needs to be revived." I would like to make my position clear on this statement though - It is wonderful Thai women are strong and look after the home/ children etc. But...I am in no way advocating that women should give up work even though it may sound like it - Independent women are the way forward!! Enough said. Anyhoo, the other questions were on flowers and stuff so im glad I didn't get that. After what seemed a lifetime of the judges deliberating the results were read out.......drum roll please - I came 2nd!!! My official title - Miss International Flower Bloom 2007 Runner-up.

My prizes were a 5000 Baht (Euro 100) voucher for Dinner in a certain Chiang Mai restaurant, a 3000 Baht (Euro 60) voucher for a professional photo shoot, a bouquet of flowers and a plaque. Oh, and I had the honour of greeting the governors at the parade the following morning. Unfortunately we were going trekking at 9am so I thought I could bow out gracefully, it turned out that the duties started at 7am and I could finish if I wanted at 8.30am - Doh! I had no choice, it was to be a 4am start the following day for more hair and make-up...

Overall an unbelievable day, a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it wasn't over yet.

Regards for another day,

Roisin
Miss International Flower Bloom 2007 (Runner-up!)

P.S - I donated the dinner as a prize to an upcoming silent auction charity event which builds schools for the tribal children of Thailand, and I gave the photo shoot voucher to Karen (another contestant who I became friends with, she is also Daniels girlfriend - you'll have to read Doms entry to see the connection.) The bouquet went to Annette (the Irish lady who told me to do it for the craic!), and the Plaque will be forever displayed in our livingroom (when we get one!)

Day 25...Chiang Mai remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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There was a guy sitting there through the whole thing,doing nothing really and when he saw us get up he came over and asked what we were doing,after we explained we were going for a beer,he said he would drive us to a bar as we needed to be back in the hotel at 5pm,of course he didn't tell us why which was the theme for the day. So, we found a bar and me and Daniel had a couple of Changs,he just had the one.This guy was from Chang Mai and could speak little English so it was hard having a conversation with him. Anyway, it was quarter to five so he ushered us back to the hotel.Daniel decided to go to the toilet before we left the bar and the Thai guy got up and went with,i thought nothing of it at the time really,just sort of joked with Daniel when they got back.

We got back to the hotel were all 25 girls were lined up outside getting there photos taken in a group before heading on down to the festival.We still of course didn't have a fuckin clue wot was happening. The guy who came to the bar with us told us to go with him to the festival. So, we headed off to the car only to realise that the two ladyboys doing the make up were coming with us too! We loaded up the car and I hopped straight into the front seat which left poor Daniel in the back with the two frecks. The other guy started the car and Daniel was calling me a fucker through the back.I couldn't stop laughing in the front seat thinking how the fuck I ended up in this car while Roisin was in an international beauty contest!Anyway things took a turn for the worst for poor Daniel when the ladyboys took out one of their favourite magazines!It was basically pictures of young guys probably in their early 20's.They were saying how much they liked this one and the other.At this stage I couldn't even look away from the window I was pissing myself so much.I turned around eventually and asked Daniel if he would like a picture with his two new friends,he went for it anyway and the two ladyboys got either side of him. He passed me his camera and I got a lovely shot of the two of them kissing him on the cheek!We got out of the car eventually and Daniel told me that when i took the photo one of them had put his(her) hand up his shorts! Thank you God for me not sitting in the back seat. We got to the Flower Show and they still wouldn't telll us wot time it started or finished,they also wouldn't let us go backstage to the girls.We wanted to get away from these people,so we said we wanted to go for a walk but the two ladyboys and the other weirdo followed us,we sat down at bar and they brought over a jug of beer.Then another two ladyboys turned up,of course all the other tourists in the area were looking at us. We couldnt get away from them,we poured the beer out in case it was spiked!Daniel then decided to show them pictures of his girlfriend to try and put them off but they were just saying how horrible she was.I started getting annoyed and cursing at them without them knowing cause they couldnt understand my accent!We got away after a while,and went down to the very back of the festival.Daniel then told me that when the first guy followed him to the toiliet earlier on he was looking over the urinal at him pissing and smiling. We spent the rest of the evening avoiding them and trying to watch the pageant,which didnt finish till round 11pm. Roisin was brill though when she got on stage and i knew she would be at least in the final 3.Of course she should have won,she was way better than them all.
Eventually i got to talk to her after all the photos and we had a few beers with Daniel and his girl and filled them in on our experience.
Im just glad i wasnt on my own!

Wot a fucked up day.Definitely one i wont forget.

Dom

Day 25...Dom's Version remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Ola,

So today was another adventurous which is fantastic but so many adventures in a row is really tiring. We had booked a half day tour to the floating markets in Damnoen Saduak which is about 80km southwest of Bangkok so it took a couple of hours to get too - yes a couple of hours, the minibuses are so past their sell-by date Im surprised they still move. They jammed about 10 people into this small van so it was really crammed on a hot day and the AC wasn't really working - doh! To top it off as well the ceiling was so low in the van that Dom had to spend the entire time bent over as he couldn't sit up. On the way to the floating markets we stopped at a coconut sugar factory which was interesting even though we didn't have much interest in it, for us it was more about the smell of the sugar - devine! There was also about 20million other tourists there which kind of ruined it a bit - still, there was a small market and orchid garden as well which kept us entertained for a while. Thankfully this was the only stop as we wanted the journey to end as quickly as possible.

Damnoen Saduak is like Venice in the fact that it is entirely made up of canals, but is a much poorer place. We arrived at our starting point where we had to switch to a long tail speedboat for a tour of the canals. As soon as we had sat down some random guy shoved a camera in our face and took a picture - extremely strange we thought...we found out why later. The tour on the speedboat was great, the boat was so narrow that we actually though that it would tip over at some point, also every time we hit the waves caused by someone elses boat we would go flying into the air and crash back down onto the water, which is not as refreshing as one may think as the water is murky/dirty/green - so our mouths stayed firmly shut as to not swallow anything. We were able to see all the huts on the water and inside them too, they were so bare, obviously these people just live with the necessities. I think its very admirable that people can live like that but I in no way envy it. Im afraid that the only time I will willingly give up luxuries is on this holiday, and even at that we haven't stayed anywhere that doesn't have hot water!

We got to the markets which were amazing, people including little old ladies rowing up and down the canals selling everything from hats to meat in their boats exchanging money over the water! Some of the canals were lined with shops that you could only get to by boat. We wandered around for about an hour or so before heading back to Bangkok. Just before we got on the bus we passed a stall selling plates with pictures on, and there we were staring back at ourselves beautifully posed on a plate: mouth open, eyes closed. We didn't buy it.

Our overnight bus left at about 5pm so we had about 3 hours to waste when we got back to Bangkok which we spent enjoying the fresh fruit juices we have come to love about Bangkok - whether the juice comes from a shop or a street stall, it is freshly made in front of you and it only costs about 30cents (Euro).

Unsurprisingly we were not looking forward to the bus journey as it was supposed to take 12 hours - little did we realise at the time that we would spend the first hour circling bangkok as the bus driver forgot to pick up two people, then he stopped every 20 minutes for a toilet stop! The only thing that kept us entertained was the two real 'darleen' Americans sitting behind us. The wife was moaning that she didn't realise the bus would be 'liyke thiiis', when the husband tried telling her its not as bad as that, she said 'ays baayad ays whaat?...Exayactly' - we couldn't do anything but laugh. The laughing stopped though when the two French people in front of us put their seats so far back their heads were in our laps. A little bit of consideration wouldn't have gone a miss there. The night went on and on and on but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and thankfully we reached Chiang Mai.

Hopefully we will get better sleep tomorrow night.

Team Domro

Day 24...Bangkok/Chiang Mai remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Today we ventured to the Grand Palace, which has been one of the most jaw dropping we have seen on our travels so far. Obviously, the day didn't go without a hitch - as it never does, there were people standing outside the palace telling us its closed and they would take us somewhere better, or they would give us a personal tour blah blah blah. After getting through those hoards we eventually got inside the outer gates to the ticket office, no problem, went to the main entrance and got refused as Dom's trousers were not long enough - doh! We had specifically worn long clothes in the blistering heat so we would get in. Anyway, three attempts later to find the building which gives out long trousers we finally got in.

The builidings are very extravagant, reds, greens, blues, mirrors topped off with gold gold gold. In fact in comparison to even the temple of heaven, it was really colourful!! There are a few pictures below to give you an idea. Within the grand palace the main attraction is the emerald buddha which is apparently where hundreds of thousands of people make a pilgrimage too every year. Although its not actually made of emerald and its only 60cm high (could be 30cm I cant remember accurately). This buddha sits on a 9 metre high throne which is just blinging at every angle and there is a ceremony a 3 times a year when they change the statues clothes (something heavy for the winter, something more airy for the summer and a coat when it gets cold). As cynical as I may sound it is very impressive and well worth a visit. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos of the buddha so you will have to google it to see it. Within the palace there are several other temples which we took about another hour to walk around, each one still as impressive as the next.

After giving back the hideous trousers that Dom had been suffering in we went for a well-deserved ice-cream before heading into downtown Bangkok to go to the aquariam! It seems like a strange thing to do we know but why not - it boasts the largest underwater walkway in SE Asia (apparently). After paying an extortionate amount of money to get in (9 Euros) it turned out to be well worth it. We had our pictures taken inside a sharks mouth (unlike the tigers this was dead), watched a shark feeding show and felt like 10 year old kids for the afternoon.

Seeing as it took about an hour and a half to walk to the aquariam, we didn't fancy walking back, but then again, there was no metro that went back towards the direction of our hotel and there was so much traffic on the road that we would make it there before a taxi. Therefore...we put our lives in the hands of a tuk tuk. It was horrifying!! We were not quite sure if he was trying to scare us on purpose or this was just the way of the tuk tuk but we did almost shat our pants. Swerving in and out of the traffic, stopping within an inch of the car in front and almost being squished from the back...but...we made it, and surprisingly in one piece.

Tomorrow is our last day in Bangkok which is a shame as this has been a great city to relax in for the last couple of days. We have seen a ton of sights, areas within and outside the city and most importantly sampled several bars in the area.

Onto the floating markets and Chiang Mai...

Team Domro

Day 23...Bangkok remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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As we were fit for practically nothing yesterday we thought it best to finally get our backsides into gear and not waste another day on the beer or hungover.

So today we were off on a one day tour to Kanchanburi (more famously known for the River Kwai) followed by a visit to the Tiger Temple.

The day started at 6am (as you can see we are definately back to the early starts!) as we had to catch the bus at 7am. There must be at least 500 of these small travel agents in Bangkok that sell one, two, three and more day tours very cheap so it is definately the easiest way to see stuff. What you soon come to realise is that they actually all sell the same tours and its a matter of just playing the price off each of them to get the best deal. Anyway, the minibus worked its way down to our travel agent after picking people up at the 499 agencies before us and we set on the way.

The first stop was the WW2 cemetary for the POW's that died building the bridge (over the river Kwai). Even though it was just a cemetary, it was quite emotional in the fact that you realised over half of the headstones said between the ages 20-30 years - so it like a whole generation wiped out. Being very fair to the area, the cemetary was very well maintained with the grass cut, sprinklers going and flowers on the graves, so they are taken very good care of which is nice to see (even more so surprising as it is not somewhere you have to pay to visit). Our next stop was the museum which carried artefacts from the war both the Japanese side and the POW's. It was really interesting finding out the full history about the war and the building of the railway, if not very sad at the same time. After we visited the museum, Dom and myself walked across the bridge - thats right, walked! There was no barriers on the side or safety net underneath and only room for one person in the middle of the tracks, so pass by other people you had to stand on the rail to the side which was quite scary. You would never be able to do that at home! I kind of figured that the trains must not use the bridge anymore and thats why we could freely walk across it - so you can well imagine our surprise when we hearD an ear blasting horn coming from behind us when we were only half way across!! Apparently they do still use the line!! We were literally on the bridge when the train was going across it - made for a great picture.

I forgot to mention that even though these tours are great, the person who takes you can't really speak English very well, so the two of us got very confused at this point and just went where the man pointed - which was back onto the bus. Next thing we know we have been brought to a train station, told to get on the next train and get off after 40 minutes. It then clicked to us that we were going to ride on the death railway. This was actually quite an experience. To look out the window of a train which is moving on a wooden track which looks less studier than lego is fairly nervewrecking. Still, we got some great photos (which we have figured out how to put up on the website). Oh, we were also able to then give out about the silly people who wouldn't get off the tracks when we were crossing the bridge. And believe it or not, the driver was actually at the other end of the line when we had to get off the train!

A great morning and a real experience into a part of history: we are really glad we did it.

This afternoons adventure could of taken a real turn for the worst had anything gone wrong - without spoiling the ending too much we are here to tell the tale - we went to the Tiger Temple, which is basically a wildlife park predominantly for tigers, but also has pigs, horses, chickens, cows etc roaming free as well. Not to confuse the situation it is the latter animals that roamed free, the tigers don't have that privilage. As you can imagine, Dom being the great lover of animals that he is, he couldn't wait to get in there with the Tigers! The beauty of this place is you can actually touch the tigers. There were about 10 tigers chained in a valley area where the staff would take people in one by one to sit with the tigers and have your photo taken. For every person that goes in there are 3 members of staff continuously watching you and the tiger that you are annoying to ensure you don't get your head bitten off. To no surprise, Dom didn't go in - considering he won't go near Holly at home, I let him off for not going into the tigers. However...I braved them! (although you can see from the pictures I didn't touch them - why annoy a tiger any more than you have too?!?) Twas fantastic though as like walking on a railway bridge, this is something you would never get the opportunity to do at home.

Later on that evening after a day like today there was no beer, restaurants or galavanting. It was dinner off a street stall, (cheap and tasty) then to bed. We switched on a film at ten and fell asleep by five past...zzz...dreaming of the tigers.

Team Domro

Day 22...Bangkok (Kanchanburi & Tiger Temple) remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that today was practically a write off in terms of doing the tourist thing. I would love to have blamed last nights curry, but I have a feeling it was all about the beer Chang. I had the most crippling headache, worst in a long time so i am going to partially blame the malaria tablets as a side effect can be headaches. So after finally getting up at about 2.30pm we decided to take it easy and actually spent the rest of the afternoon at the markets. Found the most fantastic bargains. Khaosan road is just made up of restaurants, bars, cafes, clothes stalls, food stalls, hair braiders, massage places, DVD stalls - it is the place where travellers feel like they are 'living the dream' - although were totally convinced that its a place where we would want to stay for months on end as some people do. Anyway, got a whole new wardrobe and a ton of DVD's to bulk up the collection even more.

Really truely, we just spent the day spending money as we were fit for nothing else...

Funnily enough, we didn't go near any alcohol.

Team Domro

Day 21...Bangkok remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We headed off from the hotel after a bit of a lie in at round midday. Our first aim was to get to the Grand Palace, we walked around for a while aimlessly, we got the map out but i dont think our hearts were in it today - the heat is very tiring. So we decided to go for a quick cold beer to settle the heads before heading off sightseeing again. We headed to Khonsan cause we knew there was plenty of bars there. Roisin decided to have a Black Russian as her first drink which i suppose is always a sign of things to come! I just had a beer and a club sandwich, Roisin got some spicy chicken sandwich which was so spicy she had to neck the Black Russian. Anyway we enjoyed that drink so much we decided to go to another bar and have another drink. I went up to the bar to get a couple of glasses of Chang, I ordered 2 pints, after he poured them i noticed that one of the glasses had a huge lipstick mark on it, straight away i thought classy establish! The next bit was great though cause when i pointed it out to him he wiped the lipstick off with his finger and looked at me as if he had done me a favour, so i asked him for a new pint, i assumed he knew what i meant but i was wrong, he poured the same beer into another glass,eventually i got what i wanted. We actually stayed in that bar for another pint after - must have been the service or something! We then found another bar down one of the Khaosan sidestreets. We originally ordered 2 Leo beers but the guy convinced us that Beer Chang was the best, well we took him seriously and proceeded to ordrer another 6 bottles. Every order was followod by a roar from the waiter of Beer Chang Gud!

Now my memory actually starts to waiver here so im gonna have to get some information from Roisin. We decided we wanted something to eat, so set about looking for somewhere, ***We actually wanted to look around the markets before getting something to eat*** Roisin had gone into a shop to try on a skirt,which i dont remember***he thought it was light blue and short, it was actually dark green and long*** any somehow i realised that we had left our book of Thailand in the last bar but didnt have a clue were the bar was! I went into tell Roisin. We eventually found it***I (Roisin) actually knew where the bar was*** and ended up settling down for dinner and a few more Chang's (of course) in a restaurant nearby. We ordered One Thai Red Curry and one Green Curry. Now my memory wasnt the best at this stage but fuck me ive never eaten anything so spicy ***I cannot disagree, bugger me, it was the hottest thing ever***,the 2 of us were literally pouring sweat eating these dishes, we had a 2 litre bottle of water which we were chugging down at the same time. ***Dom has actully given up writing at this point as he doesnt actually remember anything else***

So...there we were sweating to bits looking like two pissed tomatoes when two Germans sat down next to us for their dinner, they asked us would we recommend the curry but our look said it all - he was obviously up for the challenge though and ordered it anyway. The four of us ended up chatting over dinner although neither of us were really concentrating as were too busy wiping the tears that were now pouring from our eyes...every sip of water we could feel the steam coming out of our ears...it was hard work eating this...I personally had also established a lisp at this stage as my tongue had given up with the heat. Once dinner was over we decided it was a good idea to head back to the hotel...after a nightcap on the way, so we pulled into another bar where I had a Pina Colada and a banana split and Dom had a JD and Coke and ordered onion rings even though they weren't on the menu (funnily enough the onion rings never came!). After this one we definately went back to the hotel...twas about time!

Was not looking forward to the hangover to come.

Team Drunkards!

Day 20...Bangkok remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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So, for the past five days we have experienced Hong Kong, which for me anyway was the place that I was most looking forward to, and due to my endless harping on about it had convinced Dom that he was too! It is always so worrying when you have high expectations of a place as most of the time you end up disappointed, especially when you start off on the wrong foot. However, even after a 22 hour journey getting here, being dumped at a pretty dingy hotel to say the least by our tour company then immediately been told 'good-bye, best of luck' before we had even seen anything - it hasn't seemed to have mattered, the city shines!

It is so different from mainland China, especially in terms of price. Everything from food, electrical items and accommodation is also dearer, so the budget went out the window a bit. On our first afternoon we stumbled across an Irish bar and thought sure, why not, one pint wont hurt - Believe me it hurt! Dom had a pint of Murphys (up cork!) and I had my usual pint of guiness (well the usual is a glass of Guiness but I decided to go all out with a pint), they were 4.80 Euros each...but here's the kicker, they were happy hour prices, they are usually 6.30 Euros each! We only had one pint.

We have been staying in a wonderful hotel called The Salisbury (Thanks Carmel & Tim!), which I would highly recommend, there are a couple of pools, jacuzzi, gym, sauna etc. plus all the rooms have all the mod-cons including...wait for this...A TV channel dedicated to the English Premiership - so Dom is in football heaven! (I have noticed though in between games they have nothing to show except the previous games over and over again which I think is actually annoying Dom as he is complaining about seeing the Newcastle/West Ham & Middlesborough/Bolton so much - this will come in handy as justification not to get sky sports when we get home which I think he has his eye on!)

HK is so amazing as it has so much to offer all within a close vicinity. It has everything from traditional temples (although these are more common in the outer territories rather than the centre), to modern attractions such as Ocean World and Disney Park (which we actually went to neither!). Where we did venture was on the 5.2 km sky rail on Lantau Island which gives absolutely phenomenal views leading up to see the largest outdoor Buddha in the world. You can see this sitting high on the mountain from such a distance. Before we went there we figured that this was an old monument built hundreds of years ago - but we were wrong. In fact it was only built beteen 1986-1989, so it shows HK is endeavouring to develop modern tradition as well.

Another absolutely breathtaking attraction is the 'Peak Lookout'. This is a lookout point where you can see the whole of the HK skyline. We went up there in the evening time when every building has a rainbow of neon lights! There was supposed to be a light show at 8pm which happens every night, the pictures of the light show are great, but to be honest, we didn't make much of it. The only unfortunate part about this view is that unless you have a good camera, you are unlikely to get a great picture to capture it. Even though my camera is less than two years old, we couldn't get a good picture...eventually we got one on someone elses. The lookout part is not the only experince at the peak, the journey to get there is in class of its own too. To ascend the peak there are two main methods: 1. Walk 2. The Peak Tram. We chose the tram - wow! Apparently, the HK people doubted the British when they wanted to build a tram to the peak because of the physics, well, the British proved them wrong! (BTW I heard that somewhere, its not fact, or opinion, its humour people!). The tram ascends 386 vertical metres in about 8 minutes - you literally feel like you are flat on your back, and if you look out the window the buildings are at 45 degree angles - it actually can feel quite sickening if you're not prepared for it. When the tram changed its angle of ascent, it was quite funny as everyone on the tram goes 'woohah' in a variety of languages.

Apart from the big attractions, we spent a lot of time just walking around the Kowloon peninsula and Hong Kong Island taking the city in. I found that it is so 'cosmo' with lots of swanky bars, restaurants, clubs, coffee shops etc. I thought Barcelona was filled with loads of designer shops, but it doesn't have a patch on HK. Here there is a Gucci and Louis Vitton on every corner and at least one Chanel, Cartier, Dior, Burberry, Tiffany and Co, Prada...etc in every mall, with at least one mall in every building!! At home I never go into these shops anyway as the people who work inside always vet you as you go in and if you dont look like you have money then they are rude to you (maybe I watched Pretty Woman too many times though!) But Dom was having none of this, he knew I really wanted to go in so he just strolled through one of the malls meaning I had no choice but to follow him though the most expensive shops in the world in a scruffy t-shirt and jeans - was great fun though! When I come here next time (when not if), I won't even bring a bag - I'll buy one here and fill it!!

There are still traditional market areas as well where you can find a lot of fakes and a lot of shite - we found a few good bargains, although bartering is different here to in China. In China the people chase after you if you aren't sure about an item and are definately willing to barter as they constantly bring down their price the more you walk away. On one occasion I was told to F-off because I didn't want to buy, even though I told the woman at the beginning I only wanted a price as we were just looking and not buying. Then on a second occasion I was looking at an item which again I said I only wanted a price for, the man said to me "Its 1000 HKD (approx) but for you 30% discount so 500 HKD" (I know the math doesnt add up), then he said that if I wanted to buy for 500 then I had to buy it now, I thanked him for the price then told him again that I was only looking I dont know yet if I want to buy, then he told me to get out of his shop and if I did want to buy to not buy from him! Out of all the prices I got his was actually the best, and I probably would have bought the item, but out of pure principle I didn't - his loss.

We also ventured out of the main city towards the south of HK island to Stanley bay. Being there was quite similar to Blackpool/Bournemouth beach. Basically the bay revolved around a beach (obviously!) then the beach road was lined with English bars and English chippers. It was nice to visit but it wasn't life changing.

Overall the whole of HK that we saw was so enjoyable and I will definately be here again - hopefully with Doms credit card as he'll be earning the big bucks by then!

Onto Thailand next...

Team Domro

Day 12 - 17...Hong Kong remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Anyway lights went out at 10pm and everyone hit the beds straight away there was no way i was going to bed. I waited till 10.50, then i turned on the phone praying for good news (and the battery). The phone came on anyway, I waited a few minutes and a text came through. It was from Tim. "2 Nil to the Pool" it said, i clinched my fists.FUCKIN CLASS. I got to sleep happy that night.

You'll Never Walk Alone

Team Domro

Day 11...Li River (Yangshuo) remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Anyhoo, we eventually got to moon hill which is basically a big rock with a massive hole running through it on top of a mountain, hard to describe! To get to the top of the mountain took about 20 - 40 minutes up steps (im not totally sure, it just seemed like an awful long time!). Once at the top, we could see for miles. Once we got that far it seemed a shame not to climb right to the very top of the actual moon hill. This however was not up steps. I think this would also count as the first actual trekking I have done on this holiday (remember Doms in bed with a 'bad back'). The four of us had to climb rocks and wade through trees and mud to reach the top, when we got there though, this place was like sitting on the edge of the world. You could quite easily sit there for hours. Funnily enough, going down was tougher than going up but thankfully my trusty new boots had a good grip, but they aren't so white any more!

As ever with China we had a 2 hour journey to get back to our base. As we cycled there, we had to cycle back...doh! I definately knew at this point that I had earned the right to stuff myself tonight in the Chinese cooking course that Dom and I were going to...

Dom is going to take over from here...

The afternoon was something we were really looking forward too- Chinese cookery course.So myself, Roisin, Kate, Katie and Sarah were collected from the hotel. Our first stop was the market, where the first stage of the course began. Unfortunately the market really could have done damage to our appetites from what we saw! It started as fairly standard stuff, a few funny looking mushrooms and gigantic cucumbers. Then we saw ducks and rabbits in cages and people picking the rabbit they wanted. Obviously you all know what happened next! Anyway then we saw some meat hanging off the railings so we went to see what it could be. It was dog, you hear about the Chinese eating dog but you don't really believe it until you see it. There were dead dogs everywhere, they still had all their fur on and everything, but they were slit down the middle in their chest and pulled open so you could see inside them. Then there was a load of dogs in cages waiting for inevitable. Also, as they slaughtered the animals there and then, we were standing on rivers of blood. One guy loaded three dogs onto the back of his motorbike. It really was quite full on and not for the faint hearted or dog lovers. So that was an experience, and not a nice way to get into an afternoon of cooking meat! We left the market and were picked up in this small van, we started driving into these really remote areas, it actually felt like we were being taken kidnap. Of course we weren't and when we arrived in the cookery place it was fantatsic. We each had our own cooking area, each had a wok, oils, ingredients etc. There were 5 dishes we would be preparing and we would eat our own dishes after we had cooked them. The first dish was eggplant in an oyster sauce, basically fried aubergines in oyster sauce, the 2nd was Beer Fish, the third was steamed stuffed vegetables, the fourth chicken in cashew nuts and finally garlic vegetables. The chef showed us firstly how to make them and then just left us do it ourselves. It was great fun, although very tough to get every dish perfect, i think we manged it though, they all tasted pretty delicious to us and i had the satisfaction of knowing i cooked them myself. The evening was finished with a few beers in the bar in the hotel (well i had a few beers, Roisin and Kate decided to have a Muff Diver Shot, cream everywhere although i think thats the idea!). We watched U2 live in Slane so a nice way to end a great day.

Tomorrow is the last day in China, we set off for Hong Kong in the afternoon after a cruise up the river Li.

Team Domro

Day 10...Yangshuo remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Thats all for 2day

Team Domro

Day 9-- Yangshuo remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Anyway, we were up at 8.30 to leave at 9 for my first birthday treat,which i thought would be my only birthday treat which was the Terracotta Warriors. We were collected by a private bus and had an hour long journey to the site. When we got there,the usual hoards of Chinese people were waiting to see if they could sell us anything.So we got our tour guide and off we went. Suppose better put in some technical details for people you dont know what the Terracotta Warriors are.There are 3 sites where the warriors are located in total,and there are around 7000 of them in total. They are basically life sized (Roisin says there bigger than lifesized) terracotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations which were discovered by a local farmer in 1974, the farmer now signs copies of a book in the souvenir shop.You can buy lifesize warriors now and have them shipped home. Originally they had colour however when they were excavated the paint reacted with the air and the colour faded away, this is the reason why they have left some areas un- excavated. When they have the technology to stop this happeneing they will uncover the remaining areas. Even though the warriors are very impressive we started to think of the reason they were built. They were basically the idea of a 13 year old emperor called Qin Shi Huang. Chinese history says they were built to protect the emperor/region against enemies but we reckon the kid was just having a laugh!And there we are all in awe of this kids toys. Anyway thats the end of that. (got attacked by more Chinese trying to sell stuff on the way out the gate by the way,Roisin didnt like it but i thought it was great,felt like a celebrity,sure i was only laughing at them anyway)

This is probably gonna be a long blog as i havent got a fuckin clue when to stop but sure ill just carry on,the fun bit of my bday is too come.

So we got back to the hotel,and Roisin told me to go out with the group to the Muslim Quarter (big market). I knew she was up to something as why would she not want to go shopping!So i headed off but only after having my Birthday Chicken on a stick (basically KFC chicken on a stick).Then myself Nick and Jamie went for a pancake with eggs and ham,nice one lads,could really go for one of them right now actually. The Muslim Quarter was great fun as even though i wasnt buying anything i went around with everyone else and got involved in all the price bargaining that was going on. They had all these stalls with scrolls of Chinese writing with English meanings on them, me and Kate were passing one when she noticed that one of them said You'll Never Walk Alone, she said i should buy it but i was getting tired and couldnt be bothered bargaining so i said i may get it later.

Got back to hotel and had a bday beer with Jamie,then Roisin arrived back round 6.All group arrived back to the hotel one after the other and everytime someone wanted a drink Roisin made me go up to the bar,noticed her whispering to them.I knew i had to be downstairs for 7. Got changed and the ten of us headed off,i knew we were goin for something to eat.Everytime i was walking in front, they all made me go to the back. We eventually arrived in this really swanky Japanese Restaurant, went inside and they had a whole room covered in balloons for me. So we all sat down and ordered cocktails and then the food started to arrive out,Roisin had ordered all the dishes earlier. All sorts came out, different salads, clams, rices, fish and meat dishes. The weirdest thing we had was squid which i cant believe i ate as it was cold and red! The meal was fantastic and it was a great birthday dinner so thanks Baby.

Just when i thought all the excitement was over they closed all the doors to the room we were in and turned off all the lights and the staff brought in a huge birthday cake and everyone sang happy birthday,the staff also put a hat on me and they had happy birthday playing on cd over the whole restuarant. It was great,Roisin then handed me a scroll, i knew what it was straight away, so lads i now know what Youll never walk alone is in Chinese so if we wanna start a new chant we can! After the meal,we were all a bit tipsy after beers and cocktails so took all the ballons off the wall and everyone took some,we all started running and jumping around the underground on the way back to the hotel,the chinese didnt know what to think. A few of us also tryed to sell the balloons to the locals to get our own back. Kate even managed to get a price off someone!They'll fuckin buy and sell anything here. We got back to the hotel and the whiskey and vodka came out,which between me, Roisin and Kate we somehow managed to finish. The night finished round 3 in the morning.

I had a great birthday, thanks everyone, especially Roisin.

Hopefully Liverpool can give me another birthday present and kick Chelsea's ass.

Day 8... Xian remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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When we got to Xian at 7am we had to get a taxi to our hotel,unfortunatley the taxi drivers are maniacs and we were nearly in an accident about 3 times over a 5 minute drive.

We stayed in the YMCA, which wasnt as bad as it sounds,just like a normal 3 star hotel really. We went for a nap and woke bout 12. It was a day free from group activities so me and roisin headed off to explore ourselves. Xian is a city surrounded by walls which you can walk around,they span 14km. We started our walk and managed to do 7km of the city walls. Was amazing as it was more or less desserted and we were the only people on the walls for most of it. When we got off the wall, we headed into the city.

We much prefer this city to Beijing,we didnt have anyone annoying as we walked down the streets,the most interest in us was from a little kid who probably hadnt seen a Westerner before. We took a stroll through the stalls of the Muslim Quarter and headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Tommorrow is a big day as its my Birthday,fuckin 25,im getting old.

Team Domro

Day 7- Xian remains copyright of the author lisreagh, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The Forbidden City as actually very impressive, it is made up of a few temples and has in total over 9000 rooms! The culture that existed within the F.C. when it wasn't a tourist attraction is quite a shock, it was based around honour, basically if you were invited into the city, it was an honour for your family, it meant that you were smart, beautiful, potentially great..blah blah, unfortunately, it meant you had to sacrifice yourself. All the women inside the walls belonged to the emperor and all the men were castrated, once you had gone in, you probably wouldnt come out, and if you were really lucky, you could be buried with the emperor - this would be when the emperor died, it didnt matter if you were not dead, if he wanted you with him, you would be buried anyway.

Thankfully, the local guide had a sense of humour and didn't get offended when we questioned this culture and its reasonings otherwise it could have gotten ugly im sure. It wasn't that we were trying to offend, just more trying to understand.

So that brings me up to date, we have a 12 hour train journey tonight to look forward too which im sure is going to be dire...hopefully we will arrive in Xian in one piece.

Fingers crossed!

Team Domro

Day 6...The Forbidden City remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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What an exhilerating day! We had a 5.30am wake up call ready for 6.30am to start a three hour bus journey. I actually can't remember the name of the place where we climbed the wall, if it truely matters to anyone please leave me a comment and I'll go out of my way to provide the info! (Except Luke...it doesn't matter to you, you are just going to pretend it does).

It was a really hard climb, especially by the fact that we were being chased by a bunch of Chinese farmers. These people must just chase people up and down the wall all day every day. Half of me wants to say fair play to them, some were over 60 years old and they were able to keep up with all of us, however this was much to my annoyance at the same time because if we didn't want a postcard at the bottom of the wall, why on earth after climbing and walking for 2 hours would we want to buy one at the top? There was also the whole "thats my farm down there, its a bad season" & "you my friend, good friend" (yes their English was fine) but I think the most annoying aspect of it was that they weren't really poor as their clothes were nicer than mine they were obviously educated meaning they are begging just because they think they'll get money, not because they need it. Overall we walked about 5 towers with the wall between each one getting longer and steeper every time, after about 4 towers there was one woman left following us, she eventually stormed off screaming and shouting when one of the girls offered her an Oreo! We did have theories that the whole lot of them were going to reappear with rifles, luckily that didnt happen - we actually passed them on our way down trying to sell postcards to another group of people. We only walked a little bit down the wall before taking a cable car the rest of the way, was lovely and relaxing meaning we could take in more views. Thats one thing China I have found isn't short on, scenery, im not complaining it makes a wonderful change from looking out at the car park in work every day.

Anyway, we got back at about 4pm to be dropped off at the pearl market. Unfortunately, Dom and I never made it as far as the pearls as the first floor is entirely dedicated to electronics, and its all so cheap! Ended up buying a ipod player for the car for about 10 Euros!

Tonight, obviously we went out for dinner again, im starting to miss home-cooked meals, the item worth mentioning was the desert. I had the most delicious banana fritters in the world, the batter was really light and they were soaked in honey and toffee...I deserved it after the amount of hard work today! They were so good we took a picture, but...we can't figure out how to put pictures on the computer! As soon as we do, we shall.

Tommorrow, we are off to the Forbidden City (inside it this time). Followed by a 12 hour overnight train

As ever,

Team Domro

Day 5...The Great Wall remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Enough ranting...back to the day at hand, I hate to say that it wasn't actually filled with adventures of late apart from meeting up with the other people on the tour group. Everyone is really 'nice' (such a horrible word), there is one other couple who are 'travelling', they have just arrived from Japan, everyone else is just doing the tour as a holiday, hopefully it will be happy rainbows and pots of gold for the next ten days - i have no idea what that means - i apologise.

The great wall tomorrow...the question on Doms lips will be, "Is it true you can see it from anywhere in the world?" If you don't get that reference, you don't watch enough Father Ted!

On that, I bid you farewell.

Team Domro

Day 4...Beijing remains copyright of the author roisin2001, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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