Apr 2008

Hey Hey!

How are you all? Been about two weeks or so since I last wrote and we have been moving and playing quite a lot. So, I last blogged from Ko Chang

I got up early and jumped in a songthaew straight for the port. A long day ahead to get to the airport in time to meet Linden's plane at 7:40pm. So it went like this. Songthaew -> Ferry -> Songthaew -> Bus -> Bus. Finally rolling into the airport at 6pm. Nice. Only around 2 hours to wait. Looking along the big list of arrivals... Yep the only flight that is delayed on the whole board. 9pm it is! At around 9:30 Lindo rolled in and we jumped in a taxi to Khao San Rd to get some late night grub and a sleep.

Next day we figured the quicker we got outta bangers the better and we jumped straight onto a bus to Kanchanaburi. After a long day we just went for a wander up to the bridge over the river (kwai) and checked out the night market before hitting the hay. Was so close to buying an awesome little french bulldog puppy for only 3500 baht.

The next day we decided to check out the Erawan Waterfalls and they were even better than the amazing way i remembered them. 7 tiers of beautiful limestone stained water full of little biting fish. We walked all the way to the top and swan in all the pools on the way down. There were also sliding rocks and ledges behind the falls. It really is a magical place. Dinner on the riverside was disappointing afterwards but not enought to mark the day.

The next day we chilled in the morning and checked out the Kanchanaburi War Museum. Then we decided to make our own minds up about the controversial tiger temple. I have to say I still dont know whether I am for or against it. Some animals were definately not drugged, some looked like maybe they were but they probably werent. It was hard to say. One wasnt even on a chain and we walked along side him touching his back no problem and he was NOT drowsy. I dunno, a very interesting experience nonetheless.

That night it was time to head back to Bangkok and take the overnight train to Chiang Mai. Fairly comfortable but still quite hot we arrived in Chiang Mai after lunch. In Chiang Mai we did a full day cooking course out on a farm which was really cool. I cooked, red curry paste, a chicken red curry (using that paste), a tom yum soup with prawns, chicken basil and chilli, pad thai and sweet sticky-rice with mango. It was delicious! The next day we rode elephants, went on a short trek to a waterfall, visited a hill-tribe village then bamboo rafted down the river. It was a pretty fun day if a little directed (being on a tour and all). Our last full day in Chiang Mai we hired a motorbike and headed out to the Zoo to see the PANDAS!!! they were awesome! so so so cool to see them and so close. heaps of other cool animals aswell. then we rode the bike way out of town up the hill to the Wat (temple) the sits above the city. It was beautiful up there. For there I carved through peak hour thai traffic right across the city to the bus station (getting back a lot of my old form and practising with a passenger) to buy our tickets. All that was left was dinner a few beers and bed.

The next day we got to Laos... that was it. Then it was time to head off to the Gibbon Experience in the Bokeo National Park. heaps of fun zip lining and some really hard hours hiking to stay in tree-houses about 50m from the ground (accessable only by cable) for 2 nights. We swam in waterfalls and hunted gibbons (sadly i got to the bottom of the trees they were in but couldnt see them, only hear them) and generally just enjoyed the leech-filled jungle for a few days before heading out. It really was a wonderful experience.

For the next two days we chilled on the slow boat down the river to Luang Prabang (still in laos) and thats where i am writing to you from. Very cool town with some beautiful waterfalls like erawan just out of town. we will check them out tomorrow. Today is a day off and as linden is off getting a massage i think i will go find myself a friendly beer and curry in the shade.

Lots of Love to you all, sorry no pics, the upload speed is terrible.
See you in less than 4 weeks

Tim and Linden

Hey guys!
It hasnt actually been that long for once, so i will be able to keep this one relatively short.
Well, to start with I went and saw Noel Fielding and Friends. It was a pretty good show. The first act was terrible but the rest of the show featured Johnny Two Hats, Gareth Marenghi, Razorlight, The Moon, The Boosh Band (playing Electro Boy/Girl, Nanageddon and Charlie) along with Julian Barrat and Bob Fossil.

Noel + Razorlight

Noel and Fossil

With that down and all on my lonesome I got ready and go on my flight for Bangkok. Little did i know that it was Thai New Year from the 13th - 15th of April... (and cos the 12th was a Saturday it got added). Khao San Rd was a warzone as they celebrate by throwing water and and talcom powder from dawn till 9pm. Old ladies and children alike set apon you and eachother in a frenzy, regardless of your luggage burdens and expensive equiptment. Such a pity cos i would have loved some photos of the size of the smiles everyone was sporting.
Songkran - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_New_Year

Super Soaker (crap photo but best i could do on my own... not for long )

I bought myself a supersoaker (6 bucks) and got out there but eventually I just had to bail and Koh Chang was calling me. So Bus, Songthaew, Ferry, Songthaew and I was here. On Lonely Beach. And its great. A boozy first night followed by getting a better hut and relaxing. I hired a motorbike yesterday and rode through the jungle and today i have been diving all day. Its been a good (yet sweaty) couple of days.

Treehouse Restaraunt (Where i spend most of my time)

My Hut - Stuff downstairs and Bed upstairs

Not a bad view to eat BBQ fish to.

Tonight a few beers (maybe with the divemaster from today) and then tomorrow off to meet Linden in Bangkok and get back to some excellent hutchcroft-style exploration!

Lots of Love
Counting the days (but not too quickly)
Tim

Hey Everyone,

As usual it has been quite a while since i have written and as usual it will be long and boring. After writing the last blog, we jumped on a train to Luxembourg.

Luxembourg
What a ridiculous city, the entire thing built on a hill is great, just so long as you are sleeping on that hill.... Needless to say, we werent. It was however, beautiful with walls along one side and great views. We took our time strolling around and checking the squares out, before heading underground. Underneath part of the town, carved into the bock is the old fortress which was pretty cool to wander about in. Not a lot of time for much else and without the funding to do the typical stocking up (alcohol, cigarettes and perfumes duty free) we headed off to Belgium.

Brussels
Immeadiately into Belgium I remembered why I had loved it so much when i visted a few years ago. Only this time it was even better cos I had quite the drinking partner in Linden. We found the guiness record pub for having the most beers available for sale (over 2000, guaranteed at least 2004 in stock at any one time) and set about trying them all... Well not quite but we did have some amazing ones (Hoegardden Grand Cru and others) including my favourite in the world Watou's Witbier. Magic! Then we stumbled directly accross the road into an Absinth Bar... Here the story goes a bit wrong. We knocked back a couple of them, including a Mansinth (Marylin Manson's) before finally stumbling toward home. I think if anything i was drunker than lindo (although dont tell her that ).
Brussels also held some other cool sights, like the flea market, well actually it wasnt that cool. just a bunch of rubbish really. We did get some amazing waffles and chips and I even took a drunken piss on the side of a church. I know what you are thinking but there was a urinal! Seriously, what a cool country that they put a urinal on the outside of the church!

Antwerp
From Brussels we did a day trip to Antwerp. Seriously this town has some Sass! it was cool! punky clothes stores, graffiti parks and the coolest shop i think i have ever been into. Seriously anything cool you can imagine was in it! Comics, computer games, figurines...... well maybe not coventional cool, but cool to me! And it was huge! i could have spent weeks in there just looking through all the fantasy novels and anime dvds. We walked all through town and even under it for 15 mins in the sewers which was pretty cool. Record stores, goth stores and funky clothes stores a plenty it really was a cool town... EXCEPT FOR THE CONTEMPORARY ART MUESUM! I have never seen such a collection of crap all brought together before! Im no art critic, but seriously it was all AWEFUL! I would rather have spent the afternoon looking at a turd covered in burnt hair! sorry to end on such a sour note, i just remembered how sucky it was and couldnt hold it all back!

Ypres (Ieper)
On leaving Brussels for Paris we decided to take in the small war torn town of Ypres. I visted it with my parents a few years ago and I really wanted to see it again. To my delight (and lindens annoyance, although she was very good about it) i remembered quite a lot and the beer and chocolate shops were just where i remembered. Menin Gate stands just outside of town and is a very emotional place. The names of over 50,000 names of allied soldiers of whom bodies where never found. The countryside is littered with war memorials and it is awesome to feel the appreciation of the locals in how Australians are spoken about and treated in that area. Plus we had a beautiful lunch and day in the sun.

Lille
After the day in Ypres, we arrived in Lille. Not wanting to spend much time in our sleezy hotel we wandered about the town late into the night. Finally retiring for take away dinner, belgian beers and ipod movies in bed. We took the TGV at breathtaking speed the next day to Paris.

Paris
The plan was to spend quite a while in Paris and even with having to leave early we did. We spend the first 2 nights in a dorm then one night in a hotel before meeting up with a friend of Lindens from Uni. Audrey was amazing, after moving all her things into her 5th storey apartment and collapsing, she went to work before meeting us and letting us into her new apartment. She then stayed at her boyfriends for the next 2 night while we slept in her new bed. She really was amazing, taking us to 2 awesome restaraunts in a row for dinner and helping us hire bikes and go night riding all over Paris into the wee-hours, even though she was working by day! We did see a lot of sights while we were in Paris too though. Notre-dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Rodin's Garden, Hotel les Invalides (sadly only from the outside), Palace de Tokyo and the museum there, Luxembourg gardens in the sun. Lets just say we saw heaps during those days and i really could spend the same amount of time writing it all. We had a blast is the main thing. Then things took a bit of a turn. Already dreading that Linden might have to go home early, it became more of a "now" situation rather than the "soon" it had been for a while. So we decided that we could only do the best with the situation that we could and we cancelled the trip to Normany we had planned for the weekend and kicked it straight for London!

London
With not a load of time before Linden had to go we spent a fair bit of time just getting her things together and sorting everything out. We did have the quickest of pokes through the Natural History Museum though. Then before too long, sure enough the mad rush to get her to the airport was on. Ashcroft time VS Hutchens time. She won, we were late, very late, the last ones in line. (Not that it was her fault, that damn tube!) at least she made it and from what i hear she got ushered at each airport to make sure she didnt miss her other flights. So that left me in london on my own... Silly Hutchens. Im really not to be left alone. To the church the next day to drink with Nick and Fi for 12 hours. Ridiculous but a heap of fun! Absolutely trashed! (Dont worry mum, nick was drunker) Really good to catch up with them though, including Bunx and Hammo. We have caught up everyday since, Fi, Nick and I going to the Tower of London yesterday and seeing the changing of the guard today. Im staying with james again and its great to hang out with him a bit too. Im going to see Noel Fielding tonight with a mate met while travelling (Dan) then its off to Bangkok tomorrow night. Eeek!

Well thats gets you all up to date and I can get back to blowing all my money on pints.

Lots of Love to you all. I miss you heaps.
Tim.