Smokestack performing at Ian's party

Ian's 70th birthday party, the socialising

Interesting country, interesting people

The Maldives is a collection of over 1000 islands, spread across a vast area. We have been staying on a northern island called Kani, entirely occupied by Club Med. It is a typical Maldivian island, being small (about 1km in length) and partly surrounded by a coral reef. This reef creates a shallow lagoon between it and the island, forming an atoll - the word is actually Maldivian in origin
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Pictured above is Hussain, one of the staff at Club Med. He gave us some idea of the immense spread of the islands when he told us that if he wants to return to his home island of Gan, in the south, then the journey by sea takes three days!

Hussain has done very well for himself, since he never attended school. We were flattered that he wanted to spend a lot of time with us. We eventually discovered that he was eager to improve his English, and we were a means to an end.

Maldives

Yes, the Maldives is prettier than we imagined. An infinite number of shades of blue. The water is clear enough that you can see some fascinating marine life, without scuba or snorkeling.
Mind you, we met a couple from Canada who were scuba fanatics and the underwater video they had captured was breathtaking. Huge manta rays and serene turtles. If they forward pics to us, I'll load them onto this blog.

Bangkok's river

We're back in Bangkok for a stopover. This time we're staying on the river, the Chao Phraya. It is used heavily, by locals and tourists, who want to avoid the congestion on the streets. Ferries are fast and cheap - and you get to watch the monks (who travel free) at close quarters.

This long-tail boat caught our attention. It is festooned with the sorts of garlands sold everywhere in the city as offerings to the Buddha.

New friends!

While on our campervan stint, we met a great Aussie couple, Liz and Bill. They introduced us to Mandalay in Busselton - an early candidate for this year's best camp site. We got on famously, learning about: how to use campers' kitchens; where to avoid stingers; and what to feed hungry sheep-shearers.

After four days together on the campsite, we went our separate ways, they back to their home in Mandurah, and we to head south.

However we met up again at the end of our time in Western Australia: Liz and Bill had invited us to stay with them for a couple of days at their home.

They were kindness itself. Bill lent us bikes; Liz cooked great meals. They embodied the philosophy "what is ours, is yours". It was no surprise to learn that they both had Scottish ancestors.

Mandurah is an amazing location. On the coast, the town is developing a network of canals. So it resembles Miami. Beaches are staggering and almost deserted. Truly Liz and Bill have the most enviable of lives.

(Stingers are small jellyfish, found occasionally off some beaches.. Sheep shearers like lamb sandwiches and vanilla slices)

Forest fire tragedy

The national news here has been dominated by coverage of the horrendous forest fires sweeping South East Australia. The death toll is expected to surpass 200. Many of those who perished did so while trying to flee the fires, the latter sometimes traveling at 50km an hour.
The disaster has been assisted by abnormally high temperatures. In Melbourne the temperature reached 48.5 degrees a couple of days back.
Temperatures on the West Coast have, thankfully, been more moderate.

Wine tasting in MR

The vineyards of Margaret River don't (yet) dominate the landscape hereabouts. The instantly recognised acres of acid green foliage are still an anomoly among the many forests of South West Australia. Nevertheless they add hugely to the ambience of the region.

This pic was taken at Cullen Vineyards, one of the leading wineries in Margaret River. This year's crop will be picked shortly and the premium vines are netted for a month beforehand to deter birds.

Wine prices are high, higher in fact at the cellar door than in the nearby Bottle Shops. Not much of an incentive to buy. When we later asked our firendly wine bar owner who would pay £50 for a decent but not awesome new world claret, we were told that collectors snap up most of Cullen's best wines, leaving everyone else on allocation.

'Roos spotted!

Margaret River, about 40 minutes south of our camp site, is a fab place. Not only a wino's paradise and surfers' paradise, it has colonies of wild kangaroos. So late yesterday, we went in search of them. Here's Di's pic.


You can't get close up and personal: they are quite shy. And when they bound away, its the most amazing thing to see.

In town, we found a great wine bar. Owner has been a winemaker himself, so was great to talk to, and introduced us to another winemaker who happened to be drinking there.

The one thing that Margaret River doesn't have is a decent camp site. So, sadly, we didn't get to relocate here.

Camp site neighbours

This pic shows Doug and Vera, neighbours of ours at the Mandalay camp site in Busselton. They are well into their 80's, very spritely and great company.

They met during the World War II. Vera says they had no time then for courtship, so they're doing it now. Doug was in the navy, Vera in the army. She was posted near to here for look-out duty , so convinced was Australia that the Japanese would invade from the West. It was her first time away from home, and she described how she and the other female recruits would cry themselves to sleep every night in their bunker.

We hired cycles today to get into Busselton. Doug teased us that if we got lost, we were to phone him and he would rescue us.

The Indian Ocean at Busselton

The Indian Ocean is especially calm in the north-facing town of Busselton. Just 30km west, the coast is renowned for its surfing!

Busselton is instead famed for its jetty, 2km long. You can just make it out in the background to this pic. At its tip is an underwater observatory, where you can see the marine life close up without having to wear all that scuba clobber.

Taking a campervan South

We're moving on from Fremantle, heading south towards the wine-producing region of Margaret River.

We hired this 5 berth Ford Transit conversion from an excellent company called Go Camper.

Found a good camp site in a small coastal town called Busselton. Well equipped, it boasts a swimming pool (much needed in the afternoon when the temperature hits low 30's every day), free barbies and wifi.

Mind you, the most entertaining bit is the neighbours (not Neighbours - we don't catch up on soaps while we're on holiday, you know!) Everyone talks to you, suggests where you should go next. Our itinerary is now based on recommendations made by a couple we've become good friends with.

We'd like to stay here longer but the site is fully booked in a few days time. It gets invaded by old folk, presumably looking for good weather, company and a cheap lifestyle. They're called "grey nomads" here.

Dog Day Morning

South Beach has been our local during our stay in Fremantle. It is split in two by a breakwater, with the more interesting stretch being dog-friendly. Today, we arrived early-ish to enjoy the cooling breeze known locally as "the Doctor". There were a good 50 dogs on the beach.

Judging by the pooches' performances, they had all passed their advanced swimming badges. Great entertainment for anyone with a dog-loving gene!

No one stayed long. An hour or so is plenty of time for socialising and a refreshing dip in the calm Indian Ocean.

A long planned meeting

This pic shows Margaret, Irene's sister, and Sid, her husband, with us outside - yes, where else but - Little Creatures after a few bevvies.
Thanks to Skype we had been planning this get-together for several months.
We had a great few hours with them, and we learned a lot about their experiences relocating to this part of the world.
Temperature here is daily around 30 degrees. Just comfortable. Glad not to be in Melbourne where it's going to be 42 degrees today. The heat is buckling the railway lines there, and has had a disasterous effect on the Australian Open, where some good players have simply wilted in those conditions.

Drinking beer in Australia

We're in Australia now, in Fremantle.

Strangely, we've trouble getting on-line over (never a problem in Thailand or Cambodia!). Western Australia is renowned for its wines, but we have a soft spot for a microbrewery here called Little Creatures. It's not so micro any more. Not surprising, since the pale ale here is one of the best pints we drunk anywhere.
Pizzas are pretty damn good too

Paper umbrella factory

We came across this umbrella factory in the village of Bor Sang, a few miles outside Chiang Mai. Sadly, our grasp of the Thai language prevented us from asking the workers what their mission statement was.

Hill tribe woman

The jungles of northern Thailand house several hill tribes. Most have, at some time, fled from Burma or Tibet. This woman is from the Karen tribe. She weaves cloth to earn some living from passing trekkers.
You might be able to make out that her teeth are black. This is the result of chewing on betel leaves. We were told that it cleans the teeth - but it is also a stimulant.

Jungle trekking

Jungle trekking is one of the reasons why tourists come to Chiang Mai. We did some trekking-lite yesterday. The pic shows a branch of Costa Coffee by the banks of the Mae Ping river

An elephant ride!

In the jungle, an hour's drive outside Chiang Mai, there are several camps which care for elephants. We were lucky enough to ride on top of one. Not the smoothest of rides, and the "vehicle" would stop if not fed large amounts of banana and bamboo. But it was a fabulous experience

One last temple

This is the Temple in the Jungle. It is one of the most popular of the Angkor temples because it shows how the jungle strangles abandoned buildings. It has intentionally been left un-restored and looks as it would have done when the French rediscovered Angkor in the 19th century.

It featured in the film Tomb Raider.

Returning to Thailand: various styles of transport

These three video clips were taken as we left Cambodia to return to Thailand.

We traveled by: ancient stretch Mercedes (decadent); by tuk tuk (a scary experience in Bangkok traffic); and by overnight train (very comfortable, even in 2nd class).

In the last clip you might just make out that Mike managed to video the train attendant videoing him. The attendant then offered to show Mike some video on his mobile. Thinking it might be family snaps, Mike was happy to watch. . It turned out to be pornographic clips, badly shot. Maybe they were family shots after all.....

The train tickets cost us all of £24 for a 14 hour journey. The seats turned down into couchettes at night. We got clean bedding - and had the most comfortable sleep of our holiday so far.

A history lesson

This is Sna, our guide for the past four days here in Cambodia. The picture shows him holding a banana flower at a roadside breakfast stall.

Sna's story is worth telling. He was born in 1971. Four years later, the Khmer Rouge army took control of Cambodia, installing Pol Pot as dictator. Pol Pot immediately forced all citizens living in towns to flee to the countryside. Sna's family quit Siem Reap with almost no possessions. They roamed from village to village until eventually Sna and his parents were all separated. He was placed in a children's compound, where he was forced to make fertiliser for the rice fields.
The regime was eventaully defeated by the Vietnamese army. He was reunited with his mother, but never again saw his father. Pol Pot's programme of genocide had killed 25% of the population in just four years,

Even under the Vietnamese, who controlled the country until the end of the 80's, there were challenges. It was illegal to learn European languages. Sna learned English from an old neighbour. Had either of them been caught, the punishment would have been severe.

Sna now speaks excellent English, and his work as a guide provides well for him and his young family. Thanks to him, our visit to this lovely, troubled country has exceeded expectations.

Next stop: Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Travelling there by overnight train. The adventure continues!

Our favourite temple

This video clip shows a small temple called Banteay Srei, also known as the Citadel of the Women. We think this is the best of all the temples we visited. The carvings are intricate and the site very spiritual, maybe because we arrived early and had it to ourselves.

Distributing paper and pens

On our journey this morning, between two temples, we stopped at a small village to hand out paper and pens to some children. Sna, our guide, gave out small bananas too (called chicken egg bananas because of their size).

It was humbling to see how excited the children and their mothers could be by such a modest token. Poverty is a huge issue here. There are orphanages everywhere, not because parents have died but because they have abandoned their children. Many foreign agencies are setting up schools here, but youngsters are still slipping through the education net.

Angkor Wat, sunrise

Angkor Wat is the most famous of the many temples located outside Siem Reap. It was built by a Hindu King of Cambodia in the 12th century, but later became a Buddhist temple.

We left our hotel at 5.30 this morning to see it as the sun rose, Few other tourists had our dedication!

Buddhist monk

This monk was photographed at the Bayon temple, near Angkor Wat. The temple is renowned for having originally had 54 towers. Today only 37 remain standing. Each has four enormous carvings of the head of the Buddha. It is claimed that no two images of the Buddha are the same.

Cambodian musicians

While visiting Bakong, one of the ruined temples near Angkor Wat, we came across this group of musicians. They were playing traditional instruments, including a two-stringed violin and a large stringed instrument called a khim.

We learned that all the musicians were victims of land mine explosions, losing limbs or their eye- sight. Cambodia suffered a dark history during and immediately after the despised Pol Pot regime (1975-1979), when his Khmer Rouge troops planted many thousand land mines. Even today the countryside has not been entirely cleared of them

Cambodia, visiting the temples

Angkor Wat, the famous Buddhist temple in Cambodia, is only one of several thousand shrines in the jungle outside Siem Reap. We are visiting several of them over four days. This one is called Takeo. It was built 100 years or so (about 1000AD) before Angkor Wat, and before the Cambodian (Khmer) kings converted to Buddhism, making it a Hindu temple.

Takeo has none of the ornate carvings found on many other temples, meaning that it is not much visited. However the design is attractive and it is well preserved.

We left our hotel at 6.30 this morning to see it and so had it to ourselves.

Bangkok Rush Hour

Our first day in Bangkok, we strolled about the city during rush hour. The streets were jammed, as expected, but we caught some commuters traveling to work by ferry boat on the Khlong Saem Saeb river.

Some of them manage to spare a few minutes in devotion at a small Buddhist compound, the Erawan Shrine. They perform their rituals with deliberate care, then move off to join the early morning traffic.

It is the location of the shrine that surprises, for it is located close to the Siam Square complex of shopping malls, sandwiched between the Burberry and Louis Vuitton stores.