Steve's Adventures

Wednesday 9/11

2011-11-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

Just noticed the date ! 9-11 !

So here we go. I have filled my day up big time today. Finally got into things. Woke up this morning and filled the bike up and went round bottom half of the Island. Now that my place has a cooker I wanted to make a dish I had before called Pat kapow moo. Minced pork with spices with some sort of anaseed leaf that I cant work out what it is. It was ok but I think it needed more salt, and I do miss black pepper. Have got through quite a lot of thai wiskey and chocolate milk ! well nice. When I was in spain it was called La Womba. Been to a temple, beach, and also wanted a bit of an adrenalin rush so had a go at a shot gun. I think I will buy one when i get home, it gave me a buzz ! Tomorrow is a festival that I came for called Loi Krathon. They make floating things and put them out to sea. I looked at them and thought that I would make one myself and not buy it. So took a couple of knives from the hotel and chopped down a banana tree in the jungle near the beach where I am staying. Took some slices out the trunk and a few leaves. Back to the hotel and try and make a katong. not easy ! Spent about a quid on bits to make it only to find out that they cost 40p to buy !!! oh well it was fun trying. I have finally chilled out and its Wednesday allready. Here are some pictures from yesterday and today.

Itchy Feet

2011-07-09T01:25:00.000-07:00

Well, Been back two months and it feels like I never went away. Mind is wondering when to go away again already !

Abu Dahbi

2011-05-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

So I got to the air port OK and put my stuff through the x-ray machines. got to check in and put my case on the scales. over by 3 kilos. no probs they will let me off by 3 kilos NOPE . they want to charge me 50 quid for 3 kilos . took out my painting and hey presto all ok. will carry as hand luguage. "Passport please" ok here you go....errrr cant find my passport. Run back to the x-ray machne they are waiting . DOH. So now at aabu dhabi Phew. Only 7 hours and will be back in England, I hope.

Not quite the end !

2011-05-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

OK so I got up this morning, shot down the fruit market to get some fruit to bring back and even more t-shirts. Went to book in on-line but neither of my references work. Will have to wait until I get to the airports and see why I cant book in on-line. Anyway haveing a quick beer before leaving this hot sunny friendly place where everyone is smiling (pound signs in their eyes) back to a non smiling cold place called home. Looking forward to seeing my family and friends and having an expensive pint in my pub. Charlie get my Guinness on !

Will post along the way with any "happenings" 4 hours till the first take off then another tow after that.
Should get home at 7:30 am tomorrow. Bye for now.

Thursday

2011-05-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow I fly back. It seems to have gone really quickly and I will not think I have done much untill I look at all the photos on my TV. Got up this morning and had some fruit from the local market for breakfast. Two of them are my favorite fruits the other a new one. Mangosteen (mauve on) Thai mango (yellow one) and some thing I dont even know but it was like eating a sour sweet.

Mangosteen and Mango. The best fruit in the world. Will try and get some home.

Then went to the beach and had a walk. Relaxed by the pool and then went to a local market to get some last minute prezzies.

Little local person sitting on the stall.

Went for a last walk on the beach and took a few photos. Will be getting some curry paste tomorrow morning and then off to the airport for a very very very long journey home.


Last picture of the beach. Byre bye beach. See you again I hope.

Then end....

OK So Now its Wednesday. Lost track of time

2011-05-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

Today it rained and rained. Then it was so hot the pavement was to hot to walk on. Went out on the bike again and went into the main town. Pandora stuff was 92.7 percent silver and 6 quid a charm. Only difference was that it was not real Pandora stuff. So how can the same silver cost 10 times as much when it is sold in England. I could start a trade route from here to the UK but customs might have a problem with it. no pix today as the same old scenery. Last whole day tomorrow so will go on the beach and relax and take some shots of sand and sea. Cooked in a local cafe today as they could not understand what I wanted. Sticky chilly prawns and rice. Cant be that hard, unless you no spek Inglisss. I enjoyed it anyway and it cost about 80p. got a nice bottle of Thai whiskey and 1 litre of chocolate milk. Will sit by the pool tonight and have a few. Hopefully I will sleep, as not doing to well at it for the last few weeks. Want to come home but don't as the same time. Bought some nice Thai mangoes and other fruit will take some picks and let you know what they are like tomorrow. See ya....

Wednesday

2011-05-17T05:06:00.000-07:00

Took another ride out and took more photos. Had a cooked breakfast. I love jut riding around watching the life go by. Here are the pix of the day.

This was a really hot day, at least 96. Had this shot taken at a local view point.

This pic was taken from a place where you pick your seafood and sit on the beach eating it. They BBQ it and serve it to you. As I had a cooked breakfast I just had a cold beer.

Driving along I saw this little place in the woods. There were lots like this. All you need is a roof and some walls. Thats about all they have out in the sticks.

Chalong Temple

After going to a temple I headed back to blog and have a nice beer. I was going to get some chocolate milk and Sang Som (Thai brandy) but NO ONE is selling alcohol as its a big buddist day and they are not allowed to sell it. Being an Essex boy I have managed to aquire an unlimited amount of beer tho :0)

Blog tomorrow. :0( only three days left till I come home.

Tuesday

2011-05-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

Picked up a motor bike and went for a nice ride out of town. Local things to see and food to eat. Had rice with pork and some sort of sauce. It is easy to remember in Thia, COW PAT MOO which is sooooo funny ! It is not hot at all and is a bit like a stir fried rice dish.

Took a few pictures but out tomorrow to take loads more of the countryside or what ever its called.

Started my ride out from my beach believe it or not I have only been on the beach a total of 1 hour ! I must be mad. But cant stay still for more than 10 minutes.

View from the top of the hill. Three really nice beaches and most of them have only a few people on them.

Back to the hotel to have a cool swim and then of for something to eat and drink. Have not met 1 English person yet. And come to think about it I have only spoken to locals not even a tourist !

Monday

2011-05-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

Went to the beach this morning and walked along the sand. Water warm sun hot and sand soft. and just one set of foot prints :0( Next time eh ?

Might take this boat to an Island today or tomorrow.

This washed up and I thought it would make a good picture.

After the walk I went to an Internet cafe where I did most of the last three days blog catchup. Off to eat now before a beer. Might go for a swim soon. Bye for now.

Sunday shopping

2011-05-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

Off to the shops to buy all my new clothes to replace the ones that I left behind in Vietnam. Also bought something that I was not expecting..........and other two weeks here in the next 18 months Doh. Ask me about it when I get home. Wandered about and had a few beers and chilled the rest of the day.

Saturday

2011-05-15T21:28:00.001-07:00

Not much done today just went to Phnom Pen airport to fly to Bangkok and get another plane to Phuket and a bit of peace from the tooting cars and mopeds. Landed in Phuet at 10:30pm and took taxi to my hotel. straight to bed and slept like a log.

Friday evening

2011-05-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

After three hours on the boat I arrived at the Vietnam/Cambodian boarder. Hopped off and got my visa stamped.

Steve the explorer reaches Cambodia

On to another boat for another couple of hours up another river.


What captions would you lot put on this one ?

After another two hours they dropped me off on the river bank. I am now on Cambodia soil.

the most remotest drop off I ever had.

Only 1 and a half more hours to my hotel. This picture shows the locals drying corn on the cob in the sun. They were all working in the fields harvesting them.

After about 1 hour the rain set in and we were hit by a massive thunder storm. It lasted 15 minutes then the sun was back out and hot as ever. I booked in a small hotel and went for a walk. Not much in a big city except shops. I found a local market after about a 20 minutes walk and had a look around. They were selling lots of things including jeans that they were making on the spot ! Each store had a very old singer hand sowing machine and they we busy stitching the jeans together. Off for a beer and off to bed its been a long day.

Friday 13th, wonder what will happen today ???

2011-05-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Nothing ! it was a great journey up the river into Cambodia. Got up at 6am and then went to a fish farm on the river. They keep about 13,000 fish under the house and its like a Piranha feeding frenzy when you put in the fish food. !

Fancy swimming with these ?


The house on the river where the fish are kept.

Over the bridge to a small stilted group of houses

Oi who you taking a picture of ?

After that I was off up the river to Cambodia. Nice small boat and loads of pictures. I have never seen so many duck in one place. I will post pics from other camera when I find it. Sitting on the boat just slowly chugging up the river watching the countryside and people was so relaxing. Recommend you all try this out.

Typical house on the back waters of the river

Having a mud fight. They have nothing but have it all.

Just out the bath (river) There's no Body Shop smellies here girls !

Small town along the river

More kids run down to wave a the passing white people


Cooking Vietnam style. Look a the chickens in the top left of the picture. Hope we're not next !

Thursday

2011-05-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

(Excuse the typing, Someone must have spilt coke on the keyboard)

Last night I stopped in (I dont know) but ! BBC chef Rick Stein made the Bassac one of the first stops of his culinary series Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey, broadcast in 2009. And guess who was also there .... ME !!!!

Well after eating in the same place maybe I should give rick a few lessons ! Lol

Today I went to a floating market somewhere in the mekong delta, a noodle making place and a rice processing plant, all very small family run businesses, Then on to a fruit plantation. Here as last are some pictures.

Typical view of local seller

As soon as we were in the market we had sellers. I bought a beer ;0)

Off they went to get more tourists. Mainly a local market for wholesalers but locals have cought on fast and sell direct to us charging double. But still cheap !

Loading up the pineapples

Two little kids at the noodle place. Gave then enough for a lunch.

After the rice has been boiled to bits into a soup its spreadout in a circle and dried. Its then used to make spring rolls !

In the following picture you see the man spreading the soup stuff and after steaming it for a while the girl spreads it out then put it in the sun to dry.

At the fruit plantation we just had a look at, well fruit really. Here am I going over a bamboo bridge to get there.

another bus ride I went to a crocodile farm. 100's of them all diferent sizes. In the biggest enclosure there were lots of small yellow dots. When I got close it wasn't long before I found out what they were, Duckings!!!!! (peanut snacks)

Six little ducklins trying to survive

went in the water and then there were five! Note the two crocs eyeing them up. Won't show how many got across. :'0(

After that I went to a temple that was being built the place was high up in the hills where you could see the Cambodian crossing. It was getting dark so pix were not so good.

After the temple I got dropped off at a place called Chau Doc. I got a rickshaw thing to take me round town and got totally ripped off. 30 minutes ride, stopped for four beers and back to the hotel. 3 quid. Could have got it for 1.50 but he took me to his families shop to get the beer. Bet they are all having a great night time dinner on me. Love the feeling of making peoples happy :0) tomorrow I get up at 6am again to get the bus across the boarder to Cambodia (Campuchia). Night Night.

Somewhere in a town in upper Vietnam.

2011-05-11T04:26:00.000-07:00

So today I traveled up part of the mecon delta and saw, well, not much. A bit of a dissapointing day really. Been on a bus for over 4 hours and a boat for about 3. the bus has dropped me off inm a town that I cant say the name of. Luckely this is part of a package to get to Phnom pen so its mostly organised. Disasters of the day ! When I checked out I asked if my washing was done, oo sorry sir not ready, lady says tomorrow. Well I am not here tomorrow ! Had to be at the bus by 8 so went without clothes. They are all old stuff that I was going to give the kids in the village in Cambodia so someone will get them in the end. So off to buy some cloths now. I dont think anyone speakls english here so it will be fun !. Blog later tomorrow after I have been on the next trip to floating market and other stuff. see ya

Wednesday Morning

2011-05-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

OK an update at last. Tuesday I went to the cu chi tunnel network and experienced how small and dark they were. The Viet Con were very clever in adapting to what ever they got given by the yanks. ie the US sent dogs to sniff them out. They ended up as a regular supply of protein for those in the tunnels. Also any unexploded bombs they took apart and made into land mines. Tires were made in to shoes and the tread always pointed in the opposite direction of travel. Had a go of an M16. It was well loud. I could not imagine the noise in the tunnels when they were going off. We all had to all wear ear protectors. God knows what it must had been like when they sent in the flame throwers.

I am off up the Mekong today so may not be able to blog. Will be in Phnom pen in three days using boats and buses.

Good Morning Vietnam (updated)

2011-05-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Pictures to follow.

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Bangkok

2011-05-07T23:49:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Bangkok at last. I had a delay of 1 hour aftr getting on the plane as we had to wait for a passenger that landed in a nearby airport and had to get a taxi to our airport. PLONKA !

Bangkok is not my favorite place and one night was enough. A bit smelly and busy for me. So today I got up and chucked everything in my suitcase. Got to the airport and pulled out the rucksack with all my important things in and checked the suitcase in....... Yep, naffed up yet again. Got to customs to find I had a 40 quid big bottle of aftershave I bought in London on me. NO LIQUIDS ! But, because it was still seeled they let it go. Phew ! Got through customs ok with it and thought great I'll get something to eat and drink. Checked my money........SHIT ! I left by money belt in my suitcase with 200 quid and 600 dollars, hope the suitcase men in Vietnam dont open my case ! Oh well at lease I had my cards on me, and 200 baht (4 quid) had rice and green curry. Now off to look for a free water fountain as got no money and I dont want to get a tenner out just for a drink. two hours to takeoff. Here I come Nam. Forget about Rambo it's Robbo now. Next update from Vietnam Ho Chi Min city. I am staying in what they still call Saigon as HCMC in the new area.

Abu Dhabi

2011-05-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

Landed OK. waiting to board. 08:00 misty but hot. 03: your ttime. waiting to board. Thats about it for now.

Planned route.

2011-04-27T02:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a map of what I intend to do. Fly in to Ho chi Min City (Saigon) stay for three days and move up the Mekong Delta to a place called Chau Doc. This is at the Vietnam/Cambodia border. From there up to Phnom Penh then onto Siem Reap where I was last year. I might go by bus accross the border at poipet back into Thailand and then up to Bangkok. I want to do this in the first 7 days and then relax the next 7 days. Its monsoon weather out there at the moment so it all depends on the rain and roads and rivers. If its too wet I will fly.

Some worrying statistics for Traffic in Vietnam !

2011-04-26T01:22:00.000-07:00

In 2010, 11,449 people died and 10,663 others were injured in 14,442 traffic accidents. Another 2,568 died and 2,750 were injured in the first quarter this year, Health Ministry figures show. Thats an average of 28 people a day ! I WILL NOT be getting a motorbike out.

Here I go again. 6 days to go

2011-04-24T01:47:00.000-07:00

First stop Saigon (Ho Chi Min City HCMC) then to the chu hi tunnels and then up the Mekong delta.

Its's about time I went away again.

2011-04-01T01:48:00.000-07:00

Plan is to fly to Bangkok and catch a small plane into Vietnam. From there travel up the Mekong and accross the border to Cambodia into Phnom Pen. Bus to Siem reap and then bus back to Nangkok. From there up to the bridge over the river Kwai. Well Lets see how far I get !

Final Update

2010-11-29T07:01:00.000-08:00

Well..... Camera, video all set up in the bar next to the carnival. Then we get a whisper. The Royal Family have popped in to see the parade. All change !! They have rerouted it ! no pictures. I left the following day for Bangkok and decided to catch the first available plane home. End of story :0)

Last day but one

2010-11-21T02:05:00.000-08:00

Well its over. Time to come home. Went to the festival last night and o the way it rain , and rain, and rained again. Was stuck under a tree for 30 mins. then when i got there i had to sit for 2 hours until the launch. I took some pictures with night mode on the camera, mmmm I am not a photographer ! see....

Each line should be a perfectly focused baloon. Well all the others are the same so you will have to google yi peng chiang mai and look at the images. Over 1000 of them went up. the organiser had two parts I sent mine on the second. Me my baloon and I :0/ Had to get some help as they were about 5 foot tall and three foot round. I was an amaising sight. On the way back you could still see hundreds of them flying around in the sky. On the way there I did take some of the ones they let float down the river. Thats where I am off to tonight.

They are all lit inside , here are some smaller ones.

Off to watch the street perade tonight then down to the river to set some krathongs off. Also fireworks. Everyone lines the river and buy small rockets that you launch from your hand, and tiny bangers that are well loud. Flying to Bangkok tomorrow at 4pm. Might pop into the city for a few hours. I will have to book a hotel (whoops not done that yet !) and checkout about 5am :0( . Oh well that the end of another Thailand adventure. I found out at work they are making 70 people redundant :0/ lets hope its not me. Will try and get the pix from tonight up before I leave tomorrow. Give you something to look at at work. See ya.

Day 11 I Think ?

2010-11-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

So its the 20th, the day I have been waiting for. Yi Peng the lantern festival. Got up feeling great no more sore throat or aches. Off I went to book my flight to Bangkok for Monday. I have to spend 1 night there as I have to check in at 6am 23rd. So on the internet to get a flight;
Airasia... fully booked Bangkok Airways...fully booked, Nokair only flight to the wrong airport and would take a long taxi drive to the international on. Thai Air fully booked. No flight available anywhere. PANIC !! Got on the bike and went to Chiang Mai airport and went to every desk, all sold out. I went to the last desk, thai air. Last plane.. last seat.. BUY BUY BUY !! got it. Phew! she said that all flights everywhere to Bangkok were full and I was very lucky to get the seat.

Anyway relax breath deep and chill again. On the way back I saw them getting ready for tonight. All costumes and lanterns. All the floats are going right past my local bar i drink in so I should get well good pictures and films. Here are a couple of pix from the last couple of days. Not much but will fill the page a bit :0)

Me and my mate Jerry the Giraffe

This is the sort of thing that will be filling the streets. Lifesize !

My back garden with orchids

Oh well Off to get last minute things done now before tonight. See ya for now.

Day 10

2010-11-19T04:14:00.000-08:00

Feeling a lot better today :0) I did a dry run to the place that let off the lanterns. It was about 20 miles out of town. Not to hard to find. All you have to do is read the signs. Problem is they are all in Thai. But I cheated and had someone right down the temple in Thai before I set off. After that I went to Baan Twai to get my Mum a present then back into the city. I passed the zoo so popped in to see what it was like. 40p to park and 2 quid to get in. A small bus thing took you to each stop for 40p so I hopped on. Fed a giraffe bananas for 20p. Extra charge of 2 quid to see the pandas, ok, pay that. Wow what a cheap zoo! next stop the aquarium 8 quid entrance fee!! not paying that ! went round the whole zoo on the bus in about 20 mins. Very small place but has loads of gardens. Went back to the hotel for a few beers and a kip and now out for the night. Hopefully I will find an internet place I can up load from. Nothing weird or exciting to report, Tomorrow is the main event :0) loads of pix to be uploaded :0). See ya

Day 9

2010-11-17T01:16:00.000-08:00

Woke up and decided to get on the bike and go to see my mates the Tigers :0) They were not as I had found them when I first went ! Tired a bit scrawny and humpy ! Went in with them and had a photographer take some pix for 7 quid. Also took some of my own. Stupid PC i am on does not even open the CD draw let along have a memory card slot. I will put some up at another time. After the tigers went down to the waterfall again and had some lunch. looking at the water rushing down and the roar was relaxing. I can see me at my desk looking at the desktop picture thinking I wanna be there. Had another shooting bought as well. .45 cal and 38 cal revolver. I must practice more. Maybe the pub has got a couple in the basement somewhere ;0) take later when I can up load some pix and something exiting has happened. Not long to the festival I came to see :0)

Day 8

2010-11-17T01:02:00.000-08:00

WHO the F rammed that file down my throat loads of times and ran over me with a steam roller. :0( woke up this morning feeling well rough not much sleep as dry throat kept me awake. go up and wandered, achingly looking for shopping items. Could not find most of them. I went to the local market and got a woman to right down the ingredients to a curry paste. You know the way point at paste, point at pen and paper and hope they get the idea. Anyway after about 30 mins I have the ingredients for the red curry paste that i bring back home every time. It was the same as mine ! exactly the same ingredients. So must be the quantities. oh well will still buy some before I come home. still aching went to have an end of day beer (or 2-3-4) then crashed for hopefully a nice sleep. mmmmm not quite. BANG ! or more like KABOOOOOOMM ! the fire works started about midnight. all illegal. asked the receptionist the ext day and she said the fireworks that are that big are banned and also made at home. went back to sleep and have throat lozenge's at hand. ended up I had one about every 2 hours. Not much sleep again.

Day 7

2010-11-17T00:55:00.000-08:00

Late but here it is. Left hotel at 7:30 am and got stuck in traffic but still go to the airport ok. Got on the plane to Chiang Mai and sat with loads of Japanese and Chinese people. most of whom had colds (hope not bird flu!) anyway got to Chiang Mai and settled in. Went for a small walk and was exhausted by about 10pm (strange) went to bed. End of day 7

Day 6

2010-11-14T03:21:00.000-08:00

S is for Sunday and Sun ! well for the morning anywhay. Nice and hot :0) went for a ride round the beaches as a good bye then popped into the shooting range. Its really strange, you just drive in pick a gun and off you go. Had a shoot of a Colt 45 cal hand gun. What a noise. 10 rounds, 2 pound a shot ! I would not like to get shot with one of these ! packed a real kickback too.

The bloke who took these pictures was the person that stood next to me when I was shooting. As I left a girl asked if I wanted a picture of me shooting so i bought it. I did not know that when I was shooting he took more pictures. So I ended up buying a photo for nothing !

Booked a flight to day to go up north to Chiang Mai for the main reason I came here. Leaving a day early from here as I am a bit bored. Not much more to see here now. Flight at 10:30 and I land at 12:00. Will post any happenings tomorrow night. See ya.

Day 5

2010-11-13T02:45:00.000-08:00

This is Saturday. Went shopping for new suit and jeans and other clothes. No Rain ! And the sun came out for about 10 mins Woooo !!! anyway bartered from 2000 about 40 quid to 850 about 17 quid for jeans. not a bad job really. Can't say much about shopping so will sign off for today. Booking a flight now to get up north. byeeee

Day 4

2010-11-13T02:37:00.000-08:00

More rain. Cant do much just sit and wait it out. It normally stops in the evening on and of.. Today however was different. It got worse. Roads flooding. Bikes could not move and some cars stranded.This was the view from my taxi back to the hotel. Had to leave my bike and pick it up the next day. Water level up to arches on the car at some places. Have to buy a sun bed !

I did get out in the day for a while but got soaked. Warm rain so did not matter. Here are some pix of the Big Buddah at the top of the mountian. It was well misty. Think I drove above the clouds today.

Here are some of the views.

It started to rain so I went to the beach to have supper before riding home at dusk. It started to get cold fast !! Just had a wet t-shirt on. I had Mixed seafood soup and curried blue swimmer crab. It was fiddly but tasted good.

Mixed seafood soup


Yellow curried crab This is the view from my table. Sitting on the floor.		Page has gone up the wall !

Day 3

2010-11-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

Rain, rain and more rain! it raining now. might stop by tonight thats what normally happens. I was on the bike last night and stopped for a beer. They dont do insurance out here so if it get damaged you have to pay. Well I was in this bar and CRUNCH ! a drunk driver in a masive 4x4 ploughed into a street vendors food stall. I was about 8 feet away and my bike was about 4 feet away ! Can not beleive no one got hurt. Good job no one was on the bike ! The 4x4 did not stop either ! just kept going.

So sitting in the internet cafe now. watching the rain........ cant go out on the bike as its too dangerous. Stuck in the room or here. Here are some photos of the beach yesterday afternoon. People swiming just before the clouds let loose.

Thats it for now as nothing to show or talk about at the mo.

Day 2

2010-11-11T03:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I left England with a VERY waterproof jacket, good job too! they have not seen weather like this outside the rainy season. Not stopped all day. Monsoon or what!

I had a cookery lesson from someone that the hotel know. BUT they did not understand English too good so I did not get what it said on the lable. All the ingredients that I knew to use, they used but it was not right. Should be a smooth paste and deep red. This is what we ended up with. Will not bother talking with someone that does not know what colour and smooth is ! I am sure I have seen this on a pavement somewhere in England late on a saturday night. But they did say that this can be used to cook with other things. Yer right !

Anyway. What to do tomorrow if it keeps raining. Pass....... will look at the weather up north amd mabye leave early. Oh yes I had 2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 toast, 2 sausage (frankfurter), baked beans (sweet) an tea all for 2 quid, not bad! Richy Jer,whats his face, would have liked to tape this one ! rain is now hammering down big time. Flip flops floating down the roads ! Might buy a book to read :0/ bye for now. or might put some more rain photos up later.

Day1

2010-11-10T05:19:00.000-08:00

Arrived at midnight last night after a very long flight. Stopped off at abu Dhabi on the way . Quite like the way they built it. Will put a picture on here once I remember to take my video out with me !. Weather here is overcast and humid. No sun all Day ! but the picture look as tho there is

Here is the beach . There is a webcam facing me from that hotel. http://www.marinaphuket.com/live.php its night over here so you will have to catch in at about 9am your time.

Had a lunch ! woo food thats unusual ! Prawns, green curry, fish slice, two garlic bread and garlic dip, rice and a beer. 4 pounds. :0) Nothing much happening here except building everywhere.

Had a measuring for a new suit and 5 shirts. I will return Mr Crisp :0) all smart. Pity about the head tho, They cant do anything with that, lol. Got a motorbike out today so will start to explore the areas i have not been to before. Might go on a fishing trip. oo and shooting at the gun place. No trouble here at all and not earthquakes. But they did say that the volcano across the sea might go up again. Right. Will post some pix tomorrow of what I see and anything interesting. Bye for today.

Taste the Wild Day 1 and 2

2010-09-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

Hi again,

Please excuse the format of this blog. Something went wrong ! maybe the mushrooms I ate !

On the 27th August I went north to a place near Leeds for a hunter gatherer weekend in the woods. The owner Chris gave a warm and friendly welcome when I arrived and showed me where I could pitch my tent. I chose a small clearing in the woods near a pond.

Hidden in the undergrowth with no sound of any man made machinery I started my weekend. That night we had a venison stew around the camp fire and spoke about what we would do the next day. The camp had a well equipped kitchen and ovens that were made out of clay and sand with a bit of horse poo to bind it all together.

The main site had two tepee’s in the centre, one for the lads and one for the girls. They were very roomy with only two people in one and one in the other! Each had a cast iron fire in to warm the place up if it got to cold.

We sat around the fire till it was quite late talking about what we have done and where we have been, slowly the beer and sprits ran out until it was time to go to bed. There are no lights in the woods believe it or not and the walk back with just a three LED bulb head torch was very dark! I was the farthest away from the group and it two about three minutes to get to my tent. I found my tent climbed in and slept (not to well!) what a noisy place the woods are at night. Rustling hooting and pigeons bashing into trees when they are being hunted! I was not cold at all as I have a goose and duck feather sleeping bag. Half way through the night I was boiling!

Saturday

The morning arrived with the song of birds and a hen pheasant pecking around my tent. I got up and went outside to see the mist rising off the pond and the sun shining! WOW. Peace and tranquillity.

I walked up to the main area and Chris had done a nice big bowl of porridge. After we all walked around the wood and Chis and his wife Rose pointed out edible plants and flowers and told us the ones that had medicinal qualities. We also saw wild mushrooms and berries that we would use later.

Here are someof the plants and mushrooms we found.

Left is Burdock, the root can be roaseted,boiled or chipped and fried. It took a lot of digging and if you were in a survival situation you would have to weigh up weather the calories you use up digging was worth it. But is is a good source of carbs!

This is Wild Corn Mint. We used this in our kofta pigeon kebabs ! mmmmm tasty! Note the flowers that grow on each leaf joint, easily identifiable. Not as strong as garden mint.

This is the stink horn mushroom before it grows into what the victorian men picked before any "Ladies" went walking in the woods. Do a google of images to see why !. Anyway at this stage it resembles a soft squigy tennis ball. If cut in half it looks like the one on the left. if you cut it the otherway it looks like a mushroom in a egg!

This is fly argaric not to be eaten but it will not kill you if you ate a little bit. BUT DONT TRY !!!

This IS an edible mushroom. But I would still not chance picking any mushrooms unless you have at least three field reference guides and have been on one of Chris's mushroom course !

The picture to the left is the same mushroom but in the growing stage. I could go on with quite a lot of mushroom talk on how to identify them and what to look for but GO ON THE COURSE its safer ! Supermarket mushrooms are safe ! Also did you know that they do not have any nutritional value?

Anyway back to food. After we had been rummiging all morning we made Pigeon Koftas with Cornmint yoghurt. Step1 do the pigeon. Twist off the wings and head. Put you thumbs down where the head was and pull apart, twist your fingers in an upward ark to bring the breast out. See below. Well I did say it was a wild food weekend.

Where did his head go ?

After cooking it looked very nice ! Served with Yoghurt and wild shamrock

After lunch we went on the hunt again and dug up burdock roots, collected apples and blackberries, stinging nettles and other plants. The we got to cook again ! This time we had to do a rabbit. So.....

Step 1. Lop off the bunnies head and feet.
Step 2. Put your fingers inside and part the skin from the meat in the middle of the bunny and make a handbag. Cut the handle and pull each part of the fur left and right. The bunny should undress before your very eyes ! simple. Step 3. Roll bugsy's fillets in a blanket of bacon and tuck in a piece of black pudding. Cook in a pot of water and then grill o the fire. Add to the plate everything else you found and there you go. Al a cart outside. We also made a apple and blackberry sponge cake cooked in a dutch oven over the camp fire.

Bopping the bunny

The finished product.

After a night round the fire till 3am and coupious amounts of beer, wine, spirits and anything else we had that was drinkable I went into the darkness to sleep. This time in the teepi.

Sunday.

We went on another mushroom hunt and got some herbs for out lunch. Half a day and it went all to fast. We smoked trout in a biscuite tim over wood shaving and had it with cream with herbs and we all cooked bread in the clay ovens. After we had panacota with a hint of a flower that I have forgotten but have in my notes.

It was a wonderful weekend and I did not want to leave. The peace and sounds of the wood lulling you into a relaxed and worry free mood. I totally enjoyed myself and would like to thank Chris and Rose for a very memorable and fun weekend. Check their website out here

And a very special thank you to a very special friend. Thank you for a wonderfull Chrismas prezzie Lizzi. x

Here are some more pictures that I took on the weekend. Click on them to enlarge.

Clay Oven

Smoked Trout and flat bread. I added Garlic seeds and rock salt. Very Yummy.

Rose carves the wood in the woods. This had all the animals that life in and oak tree (thats what its carved out of)

In the teepi

We had lots of tasting of wild chutneys, pickles and berry spirits!

Wild Mushrooms (remember dont pick them if you dont know them)

Well That's all for now. The next adventure in November when I go to see the Loi Krathon festival in Thailand. See you all here soon.

Steve the Explorer.

Bop those Bunnies !

Adrenaline Rushhhhhhhhhhh

2010-05-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

On the 25th May I pushed my heart rate to the MAX !! watch the video http://www.watchmyreddevilskydive.com/show.php?name=steve+robinson. So watch and enjoy, I did.Oh and excuse the hat ! Cones heads R us !

Thunderrbirds are GO

2010-04-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

I am now in the gate !! take off in T minus 1 hour. I will be home tomorrow afternoon. Sleep then back to work Wednesday. Next adventure is sky diving in May.

Kin Annoyed !

2010-04-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

Well they have put a special flight on for us stranded passengers with an original departure of 19th April. We were told that we have to wait till midnight to see if we have a seat. Someone here logged on to Thai air website and went through to nearly buying a seat. The Thais are selling the seat !!! Basts.

I still dont know when I am getting home.

Mr P1ssed off big time.

26th April Update

2010-04-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Looks like things are going to be good ! I only have to wait 5 hour to find out if I have a flight tonight. And IF they lay on an additional flight I will defo be on that one. So should be home Tuesday :0) \

Bad news is that I left a years supply of thai curry paste in the hotel fridge :o( oh well just have to go back one day and pick it up. lol. Also lost my usb cable so cant put any more pix on this site till I get home. The underground city is clear of pasangers from the 16th and 17th all but 8 so its my turn (19th) to get flights. looking forward to eating a roast dinner and a beer with my mates.

This little adventure has been a great one. I could not take all the pictures I could have as my camera is naff and I am fed up with talking to myself on cam so have given up a few days ago.

Main things I will remember are

Cambodia: Temples, people , villages, rice fields, having dinner in a hammock looking over the paddy fields under a straw roof was grerat. Also walking down the river bank looking at the small houses, Dirt roads, accidents, near misses,

Thailand: Finally finding the cooking dish i have been looking for for 4 years !! Tigers, waterfalls, motorbike rides, food poisoning for the first time, everyting else I cant remember.

Burma: nothing ! Only there an hour :0)

In total I have been out the country for 21 days ! longest ever.

Hopefully I will be able to get the insurance to pay for the hotels and taxi fares and some living expenses when I get back.

Will update with the last blog tonight after I find out what plane (if any) I am getting.

Bye

ticket prices

2010-04-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

All,

I am in Bangkok airport. There is an underground city for all stranded passangers. They have laid on water, internet, british embasy rep and food. The first available confirmed flight is 6th May :0( I have been on stand by for 24 hours and they have said that the pasangers from the 19th are not high priority at the moment. There is a film crew down here so you might see it on the BBC. There are 500 pasengers for one flight with 40 seats on. that is just one flight. If you times this by the number of airports world wide trying to get over 100 planes a day into the UK it amounts to thousands of passangers/ Prices for tickers are 2k and upwards and they start at the end of next week. Tempers are starting to flare.

The British Embasy rep I spoke to said that this could take over two weeks to clear up as all airlines have the same problem. Dont know what to do. !!!!!! Only choise at the moment is book a garanteed flight on the 5 or 6th and hope that the government do something to lay on extra planes, which they have not do so at the mo.

Last night in Chiang Mai

2010-04-23T01:28:00.000-07:00

So I went to have a last beer in the bar and get something to eat. Half way through the nightr I wake up and WHooosh food poisoning ! I have been in my room all today and have to get a flight to Bangkok tonight at 7:20. I am not looking forwartd to the flight home even more now. Feel weak and dont know when the next bout of what ever is going to happen.

I hope I get the midnight flight or I will have to wait fo rthe next midnight flight :0( sleeping in the airport is not one of my favorite past times.

See you all MOnday I hope.

The other side

2010-04-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

Well crossed the boarder and got accosted by cigarette sellers and thats about it. Saw loads of people burning copies of music and printing cd sleaves, looked like a factory !

Just an update on the flight situation. Went to the Airport this morning to ask about getting home. First available bookable seat is 3 May #$@^ ! They said that I need to go to Bangkok and go on the waiting list. I suppose its he who has the most need to get home goes. Well I am going to be pulling all the punches to get out that airport. I hate Bangkok and dont want to spend a single day there. The queue system is for 1 plane at midnight each night all other planes are fully booked with people that were stuck in the first few days. I should now be in a good possition to get a seat as I have been waiting since 19th to get home. I hope.

Off for a walk in the ghost town now as every one seems to have gone. Only met 1 English person here and the other places I have been have seen no tourists. Time for another beer now. Pay day soon ! thank god !

:0)

Break for the border take two

2010-04-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Well, Starting to run out of things to do. And even more peed off now that I just read the latest news. More ash. Starting to think I will be here another whole week as the back log of passengers must be huge. I decided to get a but today to Mae Sai near the Burma border. I will cross tomorrow and have a little look around. Then back to Chiang Mai. Just booked in a hotel thats like a run down Hilton. This town used to be a main trading hub for Chinese and Burmese but now that Burma has more crossings it has left a ghost town. One day only for me !

See you all one day I hope !

Monday and still no flights

2010-04-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

So today I decided to go and explore a bit. Got a motor bike and went north to a place called mae rim. I heard that they had some things for us tourists to do. Well they have.

Thought I was getting a bit boring in my old age so decided to top up on the adrenaline. Waited a while for them to be fed and Jumped in !! Cheated a bit there was a guard in there with me and a photographer ! enjoy ! I did.

They were a bit sleepy in the heat but when they wanted to walk they were HUGE ! Always approach a cat from behind he said ! yer like that would stop them getting hungry.

After the big ones I had a look at the new ones.

I WANT MY MUM !

Well she is in the other cage for now.

A good scratch behind the ear normally works.

Some more pix of Tigers

Just finished washing each other and back to sleep.

Yep They do have teeth !

After my adrenaline boost Went a bit further and found a waterfall.

That white thing is me.

The locals use this as a picnic spot.

After a splash I had to get behind the falls. The power in the water was unbelievable but what a rush !

Just checked again and still no flights. mmmmm what to do tomorrow to beat today.

Sunday Ride out

2010-04-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

Went up the mountain today to get a bell for home. The temple is very impressive and many Thai people go there to pray. Also went to the airport to see if the flights are running. NO. The next update from the airlines is at 19:00 my time so will defo be here another two days at least. Here are some pictures of the temple. People walk round three times praying. It was a shame that the main tower was in scaffold.

Above monks looking over Chiang Mai.

Below a new release of the Mac Donald's Crunchy burger,

Some more temple shots.

Saturday, Plans change

2010-04-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

Was going to Yangon then down to a place called Bagan but due to a bomb going off in Yagon I decided not to go, so still in Chiang Mai. Off to another market to get some woody stuff. Hope the cloud from the ash is gone as I am due home day after next. Will post some more pix soon,

See Ya
Steve

Dash for the border

2010-04-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

At last the end to the new year. All water fights and soaking stops as of 2 hours from now Midnight. Must have been the longest pub visit I have ever done ! three days @ 12 hours a day !

Will sleep most of tomorrow I think. Went to a temple this morning as everyone (thais) go there. Loads of buckets with Frogs, fish, turtles, and what ever else they can catch and also birds in small wicker cages. They pay then let then go after saying prayers. Camera ran out of batteries so no pix today. Will charge over night.

Off (hopefuly) to the zoo tomorrow.

Yesterday I went to the bus station to go to Burma, There is a border crosing in a place called Mae Sai (or something like that) But can not do it in a day. Will see how things go, its ment to be a good market on the otherside of the bridge in Buma,.

Not seen anything that is a WOW pic yet so will wait for the right one.

update tomorrow.

See ya :0)

Missing in Action

2010-04-13T04:06:00.000-07:00

OK sorry to leave a day blank. I am now in Chiang Mai and its the new year. Most of the shops that do internet are closed but found one. Flight and travel to my hotel was ok. No issues ! Here are some pix of whats going on. While everyone is throwing loads of water about some are still working. People deep frying chicken. Working on electricity posts with high voltage. It's all a bit crazy, just like this keyboard. theres about 4 characters a key. Had enough of the city now might go to the mountains to see a couple of tribes tomorrow. Hopefully the travel agencys will be open. 6 days left better see as much as I can. Bye the way I think I like the sea and boats more than cities, watching the waves crash on the beaches with a cool drink (must be getting old !). I also liked Cambodia more, its was new to me and more rural. See you all soon.

Time to leave Cambodia

2010-04-11T01:24:00.000-07:00

Right, Check in time at the airport. Got my case, paperwork, passport, checkin done OK. Bag going straight to chiang Mai. Off it goes down the belt. Got my boarding pass everthing looking good. Yep, you guessed it another slight misshap. I forgot you have to pay to get out !! ROBINSON !!! ya idiot ! guess who has no dollar left, no Thai baht either and NO ATMS !!!! But being an organised sort of guy I did have some taxi fare and beer money for England. So I'm now in Bangkok all safe and sound. Just waiting for my flight. For those of you who remember last time I got on the wrong plane! and they had to open the door again. Well nothing can happen now as I am in the right place. :0) Just seen the news, a bit of trouble in the city here. It was like this before. It will all blow over in a while. By the way done a great deal on a vehicle over here. Anyone want to buy a tank :0) See ya.

Saturday 10 a funny thing happened at the airport

2010-04-10T03:18:00.000-07:00

So I got up and packed in a hurry as I woke at 10 and flight leaves at 13:00 this should be enough time !! dashed to the ATM as did not have enough cash to pay hotel bill. Ran back to tuk tuk and slow drive to airport. Will I make the check-in ???? Yes I did. started talking to this old couple who had done a three week trip to Vietnam, Hong Kong and Cambodia. My turn at eh counter. Passport , OK, did I have my papers, Yes. Case was all packed, did I forget anything, No. They checked my case in straight to Chang Mai. Cool. Er Sir ? Yes, your flight leaves tomorrow. Wrong Day ! back I went to the tuk tuk and now in different hotel. lol, Me all over ! Ended up having lunch in a small straw hut over looking a paddy field. Very relaxing haning in a hammock with a cold beer. All ready for another trip to the airport tomorrow morning. DOH !

Life changing moment

2010-04-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

OMG.

there was just an accident on the road. I went to see what happened. The man was on his back bleeding from his mouth. I put him in a recovery position. People signed me turn him over back onto his back. This would have choked him I checked the breathing and pulse; every thing OK. Shouted till I got a response everyone just stood there.. Ambulance arrived and took him away. He was awake I hope he is OK. I think I saved his life. Gratitude ! WOO hit me hard.

The con

2010-04-09T03:07:00.000-07:00

Just sitting here in a bar watching the world go by over a "few"cold beers. Its next to a supermarket. I have been watching these small kids begging for money from tourists. Being a tourist you think I wont give them any money because they only give it to the parents so you buy them an ice cream or drink. This results in two things. If you buy an ice cream the kids eat it as fast as they can because other tourists think well they can afford and ice cream so why beg. If you watch what happens next, the mum comes over and tells them off for eating the ice cream. If you buy them a drink they stash it and carry on begging. My guess is that they sell the cans of drink on another stall ! Clever ! Just waiting to catch the singing and dancing parade to film as I only had my camera this morning. Carry on working. :0)

Siem Reap walk about

2010-04-08T22:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday, Took a walk around the town today. Sights today are road works Cambodian style. Look at the workers the baskets are for throwing the shingle on the road before the roller flatttens them.

The workers are girls. The roads are slowly being laid around town and new buildings are going up everywhere. The old wood and dirt town will soon be swallowed in a concrete jungle :0(

Just accross the river is a diferent world where the pace of life has not changed at all. People swiming in the river and catching fish while the children watch and learn.

In town its getting near to the new year festivals and children sing at each house to bring good luck and receive small amounts of money from the owners. Unlike our carol singers they CAN sing ! They also do a dance with the tigers hunting a deer or something like that.

I found a small place that was making thiings to sell in the shops. Silk weaving and rattan wicker works.

First they spin the silk from the cucoons then spin it. Then use the weaving machines to make all sorts of things.

One thing I have not done is try the street food. It all looks scary to me. Like these little things. Their small river clams in salt and chilli with a nice splashing of the red road dust YUK !

But I will have a go because a lot of people are eating

them. Talking about food you cant get the spiders here so I wont be able to have one.

Another couple of shots of river life. Its quite calming looking at water passing by.Click on any of the pictures to see in full size then you can save as a desktop

A trip to the local market is what I like so off I went to see what they were selling.

Its funny seeing the sellers all sitting on the tables with their goods around them, all yapping away in high voices. Not like our "Ér ya go luv pand a pand a mush, nice pear darlin". lol

Watching Rick Stien the other day he spoke about Kampot peppers. Well I found some.
I tried a dried black pepper corn the taste is really nice then you get a fiery kick. Then I tried a white one not as fragrant as the black but hotter. Bought a pack of each and went away with a burning mouth !

As I was fighting off yet another tuk tuk driver "You want see temples'' there was a crash. A car hit a motor bike rider right in front of me. The car stopped but the driver did not get out of it. He waited for the person to get up then drove off. Noone ran over to help him up. Two foregners ran over and picked the bike up and he dusted him self off and drove off. He must of hurt himself but would not show it. Foregners are not allowed to hire anything with an engine on over here only push bikes. Now I know why.

Hope you are all keeping well see you in 10 days.

Day 4 (phew)

2010-04-08T00:02:00.000-07:00

Just been to the far away temple. Countryside was good but the temple was in the middle of an old mine field (all cleared now) the KR bombed the place so it was all just rubble. But seeing the country side was cool. I have yet to meet an english person. Mostly USA and French. Here are some pix again

Taking pictures on the move does not work! All blurred. Oh well more text then. Pictures that should be here.

Two motor bikes with two pigs on their backs going to market. 20 chickens upside down on the back of a bike on a long stick all looking at the world go by only 1 foot from a speeding road. Small kids balancing on a motorbike. Rice paddy's with small wooden hut that people live in. One other weird thing is that for about 100 yards at least 20 stalls were selling the same thing. Bamboo sticks filled with sticky rice. cant see the point of selling something that next door is selling and everyone else !

Just found out its Thursday \, 1 more day here and I fly north to chiag mai don't think i can stand here for much longer. Will walk around tomorrow and try and get some better pictures.

found one place with beer, and a faster internet. Thank God for Spotify decent music. :0)

All templed out

2010-04-07T04:20:00.000-07:00

Today I drank 1 tea, 1 coffee, 6 bottles of water and a litre of coconut milk.... Did not need to pee until 3pm ! it just evaporates !!! Done 5 temples today on the "big tour" Only one left tomorrow and that the 75k trip on a tuk tuk. driver is not looking forward to it ! Here are some pix of the day. I have seen some strange sights today.

1) Little clay ovens with giant pots on in the villages in the country side. Could not take photos as was driving to fast. I have some film tho. Another thought. On the temple walls there are hundreds of monkeys carvings. I have not see one monkey ! maybe there was a monkey eating fasion here once :0/

2) There are many people with no arms and no legs. Land mines . people with no arms usually are blind as they must have been digging at the time it went off. A very sad sight to see.

I wondered why blogs from Cambodia were so long. There's nothing else to do once youve seen the temples. 'Would upload more pix but getting eaten alive and it takes sooooo long, all ADSL links.

The scale of all the temples area is enormous must be bigger than central london. Anyway here are the pix. ooo Forgot to say that i am situated in the middle of a muslim part of the city and staying at a muslim run guest house. That means that every time the sun sets I feel like I am back in Morocco, with the singing at sunset. There is also NO BEER so I have to walk alf a mile to have one :0/ by the time i walk back its all evaporated again anyway.

First picture is a tipical road. the second is mine . Off to walk in the dark to town and defo getting a tennis racket tazer tonight !! Byyeeeeeee

Temples, Temples, Temples

2010-04-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

So, today I got up and went to see the temples. (why do mozzies like pc's) Anyway went to angkok wat and a couple of the others. Here are some pix. First one is of me in Ankor Tom. Tomb raider was filmed here. Got my fav hat on again. :0)

Tree appreciation society

Angkor Wat. It was good, not many people. Needs a bit of rendering tho ! Shame the KR knocked all the faces off the people and lions. Blooming turists get in the way (third pic)

Off to more temples tomorrow. Not getting up at 4am now as so hot I dont get much sleep. Air con noisy and fan even more. about 80 deg at night, humidity daft ! Drink a pint of water and you've lost it before it goes down.Going to get some deep fried chicken now. Its well nice. Still not found the deep fried tarantulars yet

First Full Day in Siem Reap Cambodia

2010-04-05T05:22:00.000-07:00

We aster a quick walk to get my barings last night I slept until about 4 when everyone else in the guest house decided to get up and all go to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Well I will get them back Tuesday I getting up early ! :0)

Below is the village i went to today. When the floods are here the water goes right up to the door steps. The pink things are shrimps drying in the sun. And yes the place does smell but not that bad. I think when the fish are dried it would be worse. It is the most atmospheric (?) place I have ever been. Here are some pictures of places on the lake and then some that will be on the lake when the rains come.

Click on the picture above and see what in the cage.!

To get to this place took about a hour. First by Tuk Tuk. bit different to the ones in Thailand, its a motorbike with a carriage behind. Then a normal honda 90 for the next 7 kilometers across the flood plains. Well scarry Big rice truck coming the other way and only a single track. Never been on a worse road in my life. Then got a boat out to the lake. The boat has seen better days. Below are some locals going to the lake.

Some more pictures.

I think I must have lost about a pint of water typing this, its well hot. And got bitten loads by mosies. Off for a cold beer now, which dosn't stay cold for long! Pictures of the town later and tomorrow I go to the Temples :0)

Hello Bangkok

2010-04-04T03:59:00.000-07:00

After 5 pints of guinnes and ? vodka and tonics i finally fell to sleep on the plane. Got to Bangkok and my plane to Siem Reap was cancelled so had to wait 3 hours. More beer :0) hot here and thats in an air con room. should get to cambodia about 8pm my time 2pm your time. Will find a fast connection and uploads some pix tomorrow. Byeeeeeeeeeeee

T minus 9 hours to lift off

2010-04-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

My adventure begins NOW !!

Cambodia in three weeks

2010-03-13T05:05:00.001-08:00

Not long till I get to Siem Reap !

A Visit to the Market

2009-11-17T01:32:00.000-08:00

Liz and I went on a cookery course for the day. They met us in the square and took us round the markets. We were given some money to buy the bits we needed to cook the menu.

I liked the way the sun filtered down through the reed roof.

Market stalls setting up for the evening.

This small place held a secret. In the meddle of the floor was a big lid. Open the lid and it lead to an oven big enough to cook 42 sheep ! True ! they must take all day to cook

Sardines in tomato and herb sauce. This is what I cooked on the course. Easy !

One of the ovens. They cook small round loaves in these ovens. People take their own food to cook and the baker cooks it for them. The way he works out the price is by how much room the food takes up. Each loaf is 1 Diram (10p) so if your food takes up the same space as 4 loaves it costs 4 Diram. Simple !

.

Bettler late than never. Morroco

2009-11-17T01:13:00.000-08:00

Well here are some pictures of our trip to Morroco.

What a lovley Birthday present! Thank you Very much to my wonderfull girlfriend Liz.

We stayed at La Maison Rouge in Marrakesh. Most places are just a wall and a door way. The walls are high and entrance corridoors are long. I found out that most of the city was built this way. The streets are like rat runs and there are no street names in the older parts. This was a safety feature if the City was attacked in the olden days. Wiki it to find out moor (get the pun?) about the City. Well less of the history lesson and more of the pictures. Here are some.

This old man and the street behind cought my eye and I had to take the picture. Lots of character.

Marrakesh

2009-11-06T06:43:00.001-08:00

Hi all, I will be posting my pictures and a few videos shortly.

Marrakesh Here I come !!

2009-08-24T02:43:00.001-07:00

Bahrain ristricted access to web

2009-06-27T03:14:00.000-07:00

dont know if my last entry got there

Khaosan Road Bangkok 26th June

2009-06-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

Well this is where my jurney ends back at the begining in Bangkok. Took an hour in the traffice jam to get from the airport to the hotel (what adft twit decided to book the flight at 2 in the afternoon) Oh yer ME ! Well Khaosan road is about 100 times more mad than where I came from ! BUT it is cheap. So if anyone is thinking about going to Thaikand dont buy anything anywhere. Just end up here and buy a case and then go home. Hope everyone has a nice weekend. I'm off to bed for a 6am start of the 21 hours jurney home :o{

Plan of action for tomorrow. DO NOT eat anything with MSG and drink a lot so I sleep on the plane.

Thought of the day ...... Wine and a good bit of stilton in front of my fire on my couch.

Next holiday will be ................

12:15

2009-06-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

That was not my taxi ! they didnt order it. hope I get the flight ! everyone is ringing around. Did you know that while i have been sitting here the bloody mozzies have bit me to bits ! crafty buggers, you dont know until they have gone !

Not looking forward to checking my bank balance. Hope I still got a job and theres plenty of overtime. Bored of waiting......................I spy with my little eye something begining with B .........

BEER !! :0)

Going Going GONE

2009-06-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

Bangkok here I come.

2009-06-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

This is where i stayed In laos its about the only picture I have it was on my camcorder.

11:51 Friday 26th

2009-06-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

T minus 15 minutes and counting. Taxi coming and uploading to facebook. Will the upload finish in time ! Should I have another beer or not......

26th

2009-06-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

Last day in Phuket. Just heard about MJ..... make the most of your time here eh !
Lads left this morning at 4am i am going to Bangkok and try and change my flight to tonight. If not i have to stay in the city, off last minute shopping now. update later.

25th

2009-06-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

Just spent 1 hour on a flakey internet connection trying to book a flight outta here. Bangkok here I come. Tomorrow at 2:30 going to khosan road (cant spell it) not booked any hotel so will just show up and see if I get a nice one. Will try and fit the grand palace in when I get there. Hope its not to far away.

Market

2009-06-24T03:54:00.000-07:00

OK went out and got some more pix for all of you. Woukd not eat any of this tho !!
The macdonalds picture is their way of saying hello. The frogs and turtles are eaten ! poor little things.

Pictures

2009-06-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

I have to keep logging back on all the time :0( also the PC can not read some of my cards. Hope they are not corrupted to. Think its using two cameras thats doing it. just ordered a coffe they gave me a sachet of sugar and milk. The next time i ordered they had already put them in, how attentive are they, you wouldn't get that in an English cafe ! Its stopped raining now so i'm off on the bike. See ya

Disaster !

2009-06-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

My 1 gig memory card has got corrupted. I have lost all my pictures of Laos and the waterfalls :0(

It is now raining like a monsoon here and there is nothing to do ecept wait for the sun. It was shining bright at 9 and its 10 30 now. found a local market and brought a years supply of curry paste. staying in a norwegian run hotel, no one english except us. Hired a motorbike last night to go out today and the rain is here ! oh well hey ho. the market here is cleaner than the one i went to yesterday its got a concrete floor ! Some more pictures. The lobsters would look nicer in the sea !

2009-06-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

The internet connection keeps dropping. ADSL is rubbish. These should have been posted two days agao. Turtle on holiday at James bond Island ! They called me Mr Bean bacause I was taking pictures of the turtle ! lol

Thursday 18th

2009-06-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the watrerfall we climbed. And the bungalow views we stayed in. Laos is a very quite place and ok for a while if you are not traveling. If we were I think we would have stayed longer. We are now in Chiang Mai . As I said the plane was very empty ! More pictures to follow.

Lost in Laos

2009-06-16T04:24:00.000-07:00

Well we are here. Flight was so packed we had the whole plane to our selves, 150 seats and three of us/ . Landed in bangkok and flew to Laos the next day. Must apologise for miss spelt words as the keyboard is so worn out I cant see the keys! Laos is layed back and npthing os going on place is over a river and is very peacefull. I will uplpad some pix once I get settles and find a fast conection. Been raining alll this afternoon, but its warm. I went for a bike ride yesterday and got lost for two hours. Sterted getting orried when O did not see anyone for 20 mins. just chickens. We have seen about 8 tourists, Climbed a 150 water fall called Kuang Si (google it) Saw rats on a BBQ bit was not brave enough to try. ate a chilli that took me breath away for an hour. Well off now; update tomorrow

11 hours to go

2009-06-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

will not be updating until Saturday night.