1st time around the world! by Laura_Foster

Well it’s been a long time since my last blog, but I've been busy chatting to monks, white water rafting and learning to dive and lots more! So here goes...

The first place we stopped in Thailand was Chiang Mai. I really liked it there, was a very chilled out place. As I decided against doing a trek (my fitness is not what it should be), I decided to go to the Tribal Museum nearby. There were displays featuring tools used in farming, traditional costumes and photos of different tribes. It was interesting to learn about rites of passage and everyday lives of the tribes in modern times. There was a headdress from the Yao tribe which caught my eye. Normally at a wealthy Yao wedding the bride wears a wooden frame decorated with embroidered cloth and silver ornaments. The headdress weighs 3kg and apparently wearing it for one night testifies her patience!
 
Although I was feeling a little 'templed out' I went to visit Wat Phra Sing, which is supposed to be the finest of Chiang Mai's temples. I was chatting to an English guy on a bus trip who was also suffering from temple fatigue in Thailand, and he made a valid point: when tourists visit England, most don't feel compelled to visit every single church they see! In the evening we tried our hardest at a pub quiz in the U.N. Irish Bar but came last. The average age of the clientele in the bar was 65 and the questions were unfairly biased to the older generations, which I suppose makes me a sore loser!
 
The following day a couple of girls we've been travelling and I did a cooking course at Baan Thai. I really enjoyed the day, which started with a trip to the market with wicker basket in hand to buy the ingredients for the dishes we would make later on. We were accompanied with a guide from the school and it was great to know what all the produce was and what dishes it was used in for a change! There were massive fish swimming around in a plastic paddling pool next to a BBQ at the market - I doubt fish gets fresher than that!
 
You could choose from a variety of different dishes and we sat around a table with the same group throughout the day, so everyone could have a taste of what other people had been cooking. I made: spring rolls, pad Thai (a divine stir fried noodle dish), hot and sour prawn soup, green curry and deep fried bananas. Although all of the food tasted gorgeous, my favourite dish was the green curry. There was lots of fine chopping involved in making the curry paste, followed by a good deal of elbow grease in masking it all together with a pestle and mortar. (When I'm recreating this back at home think I'll be tempted to use a food processor!) I was so full after all that food I didn't eat anything else that day.
 
In the evening we went to 'Monk Chat' (that's what they actually called it!) at the Monastic University. The monks that study there either obtain a BA in Buddhism or Humanities (mostly learning English). We were sat around a table with four monks and at first it was slightly awkward with them all looking at you expectantly. The first monk we chatted to seemed, well a bit arsy really and was more interested in talking about the Premiership than Buddha. We started to talk to another monk later on who was more forthcoming about his thoughts on Buddhism and what being a monk is like. He was very interested in the English language, especially puns, idioms and colloquialism. We taught him a few proverbs, like 'The straw that broke the camels back' and had fun trying to explain the reasons to him. I realised how hard it must be to learn English, when a lot of the sayings have no literal meaning. I learnt a few interesting things about Buddhism - orange robes are worn as they are a similar colour to leaves when they fall from trees,  which is a constant reminder that death is imminent and must be accepted.      
 
We went on a day trip the next day. The first thing we did was ride an elephant, which was a lot more comfortable than riding a camel! It was a bit of a scary ride though because we were on the biggest elephant there called Koko, so on the seat we were very high up. The mahout sat on the elephant's head while we were sat on a double seat with a bar across it - we definitely needed that bar! We were going up and down steep ground a lot and it felt like we were going to fall off. Koko was a very aggressive and greedy elephant. We bought him a bag of bananas and he would reach his trunk on the top of his head and then we would have to put bananas on the end of his trunk so he could grab them. He ate them one after the other and when we had run out he would splatter us with drool or blow hot air at us from his trunk! Felt like we had to keep on feeding him, bit scary!
 
After lunch we got dropped off near a Karen village, but it was a bit disappointing because it was just a few shops for tourists. There was a white dress for sale at one stall and our guide told me that this dress would be for a single woman and married women in the tribe wear brightly coloured dresses. The day trip was sold to us as a trek, which turned out to be a bit of a joke as we only walked for about half an hour, which was fine with me! Next we did white water rafting, which was so much fun. We were in a two man canoe rather than a raft and we were directed to paddle by a guy sitting in the back, who I realised did most of the work! It was exciting and scary at the same time, especially when we were going down huge rapids and getting drenched. We came close to coming off a few times, my friends in the other canoe both fell out after a really big rapid. After that I'd had enough of feeling scared about falling in and wanted it to be over! I think the most dangerous part of rafting was the ride back to where we started, they piled the four canoes on top of a truck then we all had to perch on top!
 
We had treated ourselves to a flight from Chiang Mai down to Phuket, but because of the protests in the airports all flights were cancelled. It was a bit annoying, but we got a full refund and at least it was a domestic flight and not our flight home. A lot of travellers were stranded in Bangkok and missed their flights home. In one day I caught a bus to Bangkok then the train down to Chumphon then a ferry to Koh Tao. The boat journey was horrible, there was a guy walking up and down the aisles handing out plastic bags for people to chunder into and loads of people were making use of them! Luckily I'd taken a sea sickness tablet before so I was alright, but still felt sick.      
 
I learnt to dive on Koh Tao with Simple Life, as it was the cheapest dive school plus I got free accommodation. I completed my Open water PADI, which means I am certified to dive anywhere in the world up to 18 metres. There was a lot of studying involved, it's been a long time since uni and took me a while to get into studying my manual. My first bit of diving was in a pool and had to do lots of skills like taking the reg (mouthpiece which supplies you with air) out and use another air source. I found the scariest skill was taking off the mask and then swimming around, it was very disorientating and could hardly see a thing! I was so nervous before my first proper dive the next day, did a little bit of geeking up before I went with the manual. I learnt how to set up my own gear and go through all the checks to make sure everything was working correctly. Going down the buoy line on the first dive (a rope anchored to the ocean floor marked by a buoy on the surface) was a bit daunting, but once the skill tests were out of the way I started to really enjoy the dives. I got a little bored of diving by the third and fourth dives on the second day, the sea was very choppy and getting back into the boat with all the gear on wasn't much fun! Koh Tao is a really popular place to learn to dive because it's so cheap, but the fish weren't very impressive. Also I was diving in the wrong season, the visibility was poor because they'd had a lot of rain - it was like swimming through a giant snow globe with all the suspended particles floating around!     

We went to a Lady Boy cabaret show, were some funny sights but the 'girls' were really talented. Lots of really believable lip synching, dance routines, elaborate outfits and many a feather boa!
 
After I got my PADI we headed to Koh Phangan for the full moon party. We spent a week there and luckily we met a group of really sound people at our hotel. There were drinking games aplenty on the porch and far too many buckets of sangsom (Thai whisky) and red bull consumed! There was a very raucous pool party one night at Coral Bungalows which was great. We went out nearly every night and by the time the full moon party came around I was a bit partied out! Managed to stay up until the sun rise though, was very proud of myself, but there were some people partying until the afternoon the following day. Madness.  
 
I was really glad to leave Koh Phangan, I'd spent so much of my time there hungover! We decided to take the night boat from Koh Phangan to save on a night’s accomodation. There were two rows of beds down the length of the boat, but they weren't separate beds, it was just one massive mattress! I woke up a few times in the night nearly nose to nose with a complete stranger - was the oddest mode of transport I've been on so far! We headed over to the Andaman coast next and stayed a few days on Phi Phi. The last time I visited Phi Phi Don was in 2005, and I couldn't believe how much it had changed - I thought we were at a different island at first. So many shops and restaurants have gone up and a great harbour too. We went on a boat trip to Phi Phi Lai. We swam to Monkey Beach, and one of the big monkeys didn't take too kindly to being accidentally stepped on and punched a guy on the leg then chased him around growling and bearing its teeth! Oh it was so funny! Did some snorkelling and kayaking in a lagoon and snorkelled through an arch and out of a gap in the rock loads of fish came swimming out in a line. It was like a queue of traffic! We saw Viking Cave on Phi Phi Lai where pirates used to shelter in bad weather. Now the cave is used to harvest cuckoos nests which are sold in Asia to make bird's nest soup. Also visited Maya beach where The Beach was filmed, which is absolutely stunning. It’s nearly a lagoon and the water is green/blue. We went to a fire show at Hippies Bar that night, which was the best one I've seen.   

After seeing how good the snorkeling was I decided to do a dive. The water was crystal clear and on two dives I saw so much - stingrays, leopard sharks, a huge reef octopus, black tip reef sharks and so many beautiful shoals of fish. The most impressive sight were the hawksbill turtles, they must have been about one metre long and they swam so gracefully through the water, it was as if they were flying! I'd been wanting to see turtles and it was magical! Had a great time on Phi Phi, the beaches are so beautiful. There are two main beaches on Phi Phi Don called Loh Dalom and Ton Sai Beach which nearly meet and look like a mirror image of a horse shoe on the map.  
 
Headed to Krabi next and I only had one day there, so headed to Rai Lei beach because so many people I'd met said it was their favourite place. The coastline in that area of Phuket was beautiful, limestone cliffs and pillars along the coast and turquoise waters.  Rai Lei was how I imagined Phi Phi was before tourism took off. The beach was so impressive because of the huge cliffs either side of the beach, which are popular with climbers.
 
I stayed in Phuket Town for one night and stayed in On-On Hotel. Room 28 (next door to our room) was used to film scenes in The Beach, so got very excited thinking we were in the same building that Leonardo DiCaprio was once in...
 
I flew from Phuket to Singapore and had the day to wander around before my connecting flight to Sydney. I strolled around the colonial district where there was a cricket pitch next to skyscrapers. Obviously had to go to Raffles Hotel and have a Singapore Sling! There are bowls of monkey nuts on all the tables and it’s expected that you throw the empty shells on the floor! I have no idea why, but was fun. Walked to Marina Promenade and Boat Quay where there are loads of bars along the river, it reminded me of Circular Quay in Sydney. In the evening I headed over to China Town, wandered around the night market, watched a cooking competition, people line dancing and had great noodle soup and dim sum!   
 

I was a little sad to be leaving Asia - people are lovely, food is great and there are so many things to see and experience which are different to back home. But definitely won't miss the squat toilets, being ripped off no matter how hard you barter or buckets of sangsom and red bull! 

We decided to spend Christmas Day on Bondi Beach and for our Christmas dinner we cooked on one of the very slow public BBQs and ate sausages and burgers. It was really cloudy in the morning but was boiling hot in the afternoon and although it was a great day it just didn't feel like Christmas at all! Got a bit homesick in the morning opening my parcels from home and compensated by drinking a little too much goon (cheap wine in a box). On Boxing Day we went to Royal Randwick Races because it was free for international passport holders. I really enjoyed it because it reminded me of going to the races back home with my Dad! As usual didn’t have any winners but did get one each way!

We had two weeks in Sydney so we managed to get a lot done. The Bondi to Coogee cliff walk was really good, some great views along there. Also visited Manly beach, the Australian Museum (the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 exhibition was really interesting), New South Wales Art Gallery and the Justice and Police Museum, which had a really interesting exhibit on Syndey's pubs from colonial times to present day. We saw a 3D film at the IMAX at Darling Harbour too. My favourite area of Sydney was The Rocks, which is where the English colony was established and where sailors, whalers and traders made their home. The Rocks Discovery Museum was really interesting and documented the traditional landowners, the arrival of the Europeans and lives of the convicts who lived in the area. Australia is a very young country in terms of history- Cadman’s Cottage is the oldest remaining residential building in Sydney and was built as recently as 1816. Visited a few lovely markets too - Bondi, Paddington, The Rocks and Paddy's. Also did the obligatory Opera House and Bridge sightseeing. On my way to the Harbour Bridge I saw a few brightly coloured parrots in a tree which I think were Rainbow Lorikeets, bit more exciting than pigeons! I climbed up the Pylon Lookout and had a great view of the Opera House and Harbour.

We headed to a really great spot for For New Year's Eve called Balmain East, which we chose as you could take your own booze and was really close to the bridge. We headed there on a ferry at 10am to claim our spot, so it was a long day of drinking again! There were flyovers by Tiger Moths, one Beechcraft Model #17 Staggerwing, three Boeing Stearmans and a Pitts Special. There was also a Harbour of Light Parade where 55 vessels decorated in ropelight sailed around the Harbour. The main highlight was obviously the fireworks. There were two firework displays – the one at 9pm for children and the main display at 12pm. The 9pm show was impressive in itself and the 12pm show was just spectacular. I’ve never seen fireworks like it and I felt really lucky to be there after seeing them on the news every year.

Felt a little worse for wear on New Year’s Day but made it to a BBQ on Tamarama beach which is along the cliff walk from Bondi beach, with a little group who we spent NYE with. It was a beautiful sunset that night – Sydney has been a great place to welcome in 2009.

In my next blog… a mini road trip, swimming with dolphins, wine tasting in Swan Valley and Margaret River, tree top walk in Valley Of the Giants and a trip up the West coast!