Thailand

Thailand! What a week, just a short trip it should of been a month! So a quick blog about our Thai adventures. We arrived refreshed and on time after sleeping through almost the entire 13 hour flight. We worked out the trains and arrived at our station, getting off we decide to take a tuk tuk to our hotel, squashed in with all our luggage we bartered over the price, 'note to self' in future when bartering the price should go down, he he he. The driver did take us on a tourist drive to the hotel, pointing out all the sights on the way, so that kind of made up for it. Ha ha. We got to our hotel on Khao San Road, what a lively place, so much going on at all times of the day and night.

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We left, far to early, the next morning for our trip up the River Kwai, after a bus ride and longboat trip (just like James Bond) our first stop was the famous Bridge over the Kwai, the black iron bridge was brought from Java by the Japanese and built by Allied prisoners-of-war, in 1943 as part of the Death Railway linking Thailand with Burma.
Still in use today, the bridge was the target of frequent Allied bombing raids during World War II and was rebuilt after war ended. The curved spans of the bridge are the original sections and the square sections were destroyed during the bombings and replaced after the war.

We stayed at the amazing Hintok River Camp, we had three nights 'Glamping', it was very relaxing and scenic. We had the place to ourselves most of the trip, as everyone had booked in for the next tour which Anzac Day fell on. There is so much history in the area and the camp itself is on the site of a Japanese WW2 Military Camp. We had some great day trips from the camp, travelling up and down the river in long boats to visit caves, a traditional village, waterfalls and elephants.

There are several great waterfalls worth paying a visits to coming straight off the river banks in Kanchanaburi, to name a few Erawan, Sai Yok and Yok Noi waterfalls.      
We have seen some lovely waterfalls all over the world but there was something different about these falls.

We stopped off at a traditional Mon village with all the houses on Bamboo stilts. The Mon were one of the first races to settle in Thailand. Originally from Southern China they migrated south to Burma, then were pushed into Thailand after being repressed by the Burmese. We saw traditional crafts, the school house and elephants.

Hell Fire Pass was an amazing and emotional place to visit, we were there the day before Anzac day and the memorial was set up ready for the dawn service.
The Australian, British, Dutch, other allied prisoners of war, along with Chinese, Malays and Tamil labourers, were required by the Japanese to complete the cutting. 69 men were beaten to death by Japanese guards in the six weeks it took to build, and many more died from cholera, dysentery, starvation and exhaustion.
The men worked steadily with eighteen hour days, little food and illness all around, when they built the 415km long railway from Thailand to Burma

We had an early morning bike ride (it had to be early, cos it got far to hot later in the day to do anything, let alone ride a bike) through farm land to this suspension bridge and beautiful Buddhist Temple. We loved the bright colours of the temples, golds, reds and blues.
We found it interesting to learn that all Buddhist men have to spend time as monks at some times in their lives, it can be for just a week, a month or years.

 On our way travelling back to Bangkok we travelled on a train along the death railway. It was named this because over 100,000 POWs and asian labourers died as a direct result of working on the project. 

                        

It has such an awful history, but was a beautiful trip through farm land hills and tropical jungle.
The train was an old wooden bench seat train with big open windows which you could stick your heads out of to get some fresh air (just like you see the puppy dogs do) ha ha. We don't know if it was cooler on the  inside or out but we definitely enjoyed the view.

Back in Bangkok we spent time relaxing with a fishy foot spa and a couple of beers (of course) getting ready for the next step of our travels. Once again starting far too early in the morning. We spent the night back on Khao San Road, the road that never sleeps, eating drinking and being merry.

Our trip to the island of Ko Sumat started at 7AM on a bus which we spent the next four hours hoping was the right bus.
It was all good, we got to the boat and waited while the loaded fish, chickens and bricks for the new pier aboard. It was an entertaining forty five minute trip to the island.
In 1981, the Royal Forest Department declared the archipelago of Samet, along with nine other small islands to be National Park, which means Ko Samet is under the protection of the National Parks Division of the Thai Government.
 
We stayed in a cute little hut right on the beach, with a bar and restaurant. Everything we could possible need.

A fire show during dinner kept us entertained.

It is believed, once upon a time that Ko Sumet was home to pirates and that there is still buried treasure hidden somewhere on the island.
We walked up and down the beach looking for it, but unfortunately came back none the richer.

The island is popular for scuba diving and snorkeling, because of the clear water, colourful coral and abundance of marine life such as turtles, tiger sharks and manta rays.
The water was warm and we spent hours swimming and snorkeling and relaxing on the beach.

Thailand was an amazing way to relax and unwind on our way back to Australia.
Can't wait to visit again!

Scotland the Brave

So our time away in Scotland, what a place to see!
Three nights in Edinburgh with so much to see, from the museums to the old buildings so many stories high, under ground tunnels and castles, then a five night tour around Scotland so, lets get started.

The first day and night we went to a pub highly recommended by a friend 'The barrel and Cask' a lovely horse shoe shaped bar with lots of good beer on. Great fun and met some good people!
Day 2, our first full day in Edinburgh, we spent the morning at the castle. There was so much to see and go through, one off the great things was the firing of the cannon at 1pm. Its a great tradition, started in 1861 to let nearby ships of the exact time.
We did  bit of geocaching in the afternoon and the History of Work Museum. The museum gave us so much insight into the buildings and the life style of those that lived there in it early days.
Day 3 we walked down the river and through a park, waiting for a National Trust house to open. We got to the Scottish Museum later that day and could recommend a full day or two to get around it all.

The Castle and City

The Castle dominates the landscape of Edinburgh. Built upon gigantic cliffs 80m high. It was built primarily as a fortress, it has been involved in plenty of battles and sieges, mostly between the Scottish and the English, changing hands time and time again.
Mary Queen of Scots was a prisoner at the Castle when she gave birth to her only son. He grew up to be King James VI of Scotland and James I of England, finally uniting the two countries.

The Forth Rail Bridge

On the way out of Edinburgh we stopped to view the Forth Rail Bridge. This well known landmark has been part of the view here since 1890, when it was opened by the Prince of Wales (not the current one). The bridge carried 50,000 trains in its first year. The construction began in 1883, and was hard work, 58 people died, 106 were seriously injured and 518 other accidents occured in the 7 years it took to build the bridge.



the tour around the highland..... 5 Days of fun

• Loch Ness
• Whisky Distillery
• Corrieschalloch Gorge
• A FULL day on the Isle of Skye!
• Eilean Donan Castle
• Glen Coe (to see our land)
• West Coast Scotland
• National Wallace Monument

Our trip around Scotland started at Loch Ness in search of Nessy, leaving the lowlands and heading to the highlands (the Picts country) our tour guide told us some amazing stories about the Scots and the English, myths, legends and truths. Hopefully we can pass some on through this blog.





At Loch Ness, in search of Nessie

And we found her at the Caledonian Canal, in Fort Augustus at the other end of Loch Ness. The Caledonian Canal was designed by Thomas Telford, it has 29 locks, 4 aqueducts and 10 bridges along the course of the canal.



The locks at Fort Augustus were great to see. B2 would have really liked to hire a boat and see them in operation.

Freezing our Faces Young

On the Isle of Skye we found the 'River of Youth', the story goes that a Giant from Ireland came over to fight the Giant of Skye and if he defeated her he would become the greatest of all giants. While they were fighting, the mountains and valleys of Skye were formed. Neither of them won the fight but they were both hurt. The fairies told the Giant of Skye that if she bathed in this stream it would heal her and keep her young and beautiful for seven years. So we all had to have a go and dunked our faces in, they were then frozen for the next 20 minutes with a brain freeze, ha ha ha, what fun.

The location for the Castle and village of Glenfinnan in the movie Highlander was filmed at  Eilean Donan Castle in 1986. One of many movies filmed there including James Bond - The World is not enough.

We stopped at the Fairy Glen, what a place, a lot of small hills, trees, rocks and little lochs. We were told no swearing, no whistling and no hands in pockets as the fairies don't like it and will punish you with 7 years bad luck.

There is a story about a Scot playing his bag pipes, the fairies liked it so they asked him to play at a wedding for them in fairy land, he had the choice to get paid or stay with them in Fairyland. He played at the wedding for 20 minutes and chose to get paid a come back to our world, to his family. The fairies told him it would never be the same, but he went back anyway and realised that the town had changed, his house had changed and his family was gone. His 20 minutes in Fairyland had been 200 years in our world.

                                               

And that is why you never mess around with the Fairies!

The scenery all over the Isle of Skye was amazing we went hiking and the wind was so strong it nearly blew us of the mountain.

The bridle falls on the Isle of Skye is lovely set of falls, once again blessed (or cursed) by the fairies. The myth says that if you drink from the falls you will have seven years of the good life in bed, so to speak.
Ha ha, some people will believe anything!

We took time to stop off at Glen Coe, close to the land of Lord and Lady Arden. What a place to see, with the mountain peaks curtained  by the cloud and mist floating around it's summit. Another dark place in Scottish history, February 13th, 1692, the massacre of Glen Coe. Thirty-eight MacDonalds from the Clan MacDonald of Glen Coe were killed by the guests who had accepted their hospitality, on the grounds that the MacDonalds hadn't been quick enough pledging their allegiance to the new monarchs William and Mary. Another forty women and children died of exposure after their homes were burned. Not a nice story at all.

Now that is one hairy coo!

There were so many cute little fishing villages, its hard to say which was our favourite. The pretty painted houses and boats moored in the harbour's.

A great bunch of people

We met an amazing bunch of people on our tour, it was great fun. We ate together and drank together with talks and laughter at the table. We can't wait to catch up with all of them soon.

Valentine to remember.

Well we know it's been months again since our last blog, it's been hard to keep it up with the packing to go to Aus and work so this will well be a short catch up.

The Lambs Inn

For Valentines Day this year we retreated away from the Lake District and ran off to the Cotswolds. We went to a pub, called the Lambs Inn for three nights. On arrival we had been up graded form the little room we had booked to one of their nicest rooms. I think B2 may have had something to do with it.




Blenheim Palace Maze was great fun! We ran around in the snow with dozens of children looking for the way out.





We relaxed a lot through the three days not doing as much running around as we normal do, but we did visit Blenheim Palace (Home to the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough). Blenheim Palace is the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill and was one of the attractions we definately needed more time to visit. We spent three quarters of the day there, and only managed to get around the palace its self and some very close gardens.

The Palace was created to celebrate victory over the French during the Wars of the Spanish Succession. In particular it was a gift to the First Duke of Marlborough. He was the military commander who skilfully led the Allied forces into battle on 13th August 1704 at Blindheim (Blenheim). After the Battle Marlborough personally received the surrender of Marshall Talland, leader of the French forces.

The Duke also ensured that the Palace became a monument to Queen Anne. It was the Queen and a grateful nation who granted to the Marlboroughs, the Manor of Woodstock and the promise of the funds needed to build such a house.

This is a water way in the Palace Grounds designed by 'Capability' Brown, helped the Palace gain its World Heritage Status.
This is the Grand Bridge over the water way, half covered by ice and lit by the sun set.

What a beautiful view!

At Blenheim there was a lovely Butterfly house to wonder through and enjoy the warmth and Beautiful colours of the flowers and the rare butterflies. It was great to be out of the winters cold for a few minutes. 

Old Tudor market house in one of the villages.

The rest of our time in the Cotswolds we toured around taking in the views and visiting the gorgeous little villages.

Another market square in the Cotswold dating back hundreds of years.
What amazing workmanship put into all their buildings to have them still standing today in near pristine condition.

The whole area was full of these classic Cotswold sand stone buildings. The pubs, houses, shops even bridges, everything was made of sandstone. It gave the villages that chocolate box look that the area is so well known for.

We loved it!

So from B1 and  B2 please enjoy.

A Getaway!

 We finally got a chance to have some holidays this month. It was cold and windy, relaxing and peaceful. We had some beautiful long leisurely walks in the fresh Welsh air.
It was very calm, just what we needed, and on one such walk we made friends with these woolly fellas here. A long horned welsh goat.
Aren't they great.

 We visited the walled town of Conwy. The castle was built in the 13th century for Edward I. The historic town centre  has an almost complete circuit of fortified walls, about 1.3 kms. They make up one of the best preserved medieval defence schemes in Europe. The castles also is very well preserved and you can easily see how the king and his entourage would have lived while in residence.
Also in this photo you can also see Thomas Telford's suspension bridge built in 1826 to replace the dangerous ferry crossing.

 We stayed in the Victorian Holiday Resort of Llandudno, and the feel and look of the town still seems very Victorian. Most of the tourist attractions were closed for the off season, which was fine with us we enjoyed exploring the town on foot. The pier offered nice evening walks, in summer the stores and eateries would be busy and open til late. It has the Old Pier Head Bar, a pub 1/2 a mile out to sea. (or for those of us working in new money, 0.8 kms, ha ha)

Llechwedd Slate Caverns is part of a living, working slate mine that has been active since 1836. They have been open to the public since 1972 but mining operations still take place today, just above ground instead of under.
We arrived in time for the last 2 tours of the day, plunging 500ft under the ground in Europe's Steepest mining cable railway. Terrifying!
Imagine entering the mines, aged 12 to begin your working life, with a life expectancy of just 52. That's 40 years, working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, by the light of a candle- if you could afford one.
Put's things in some perspective.

 Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, it's summit is 1085 metres above sea level. The views are amazing and there are many paths to the summit, as well as the Snowdon Mountain railway, opened in 1896 which carries passengers the 7.6 km to the top and to our dismay closed  during the off season. So we began to hoof it to the top. On the way up, in true B's fashion we got waylaid at a cute little tea room. This meant unfortunately we didn't make it to the top before the weather closed in, another trip to Wales will need to be made.
Oh....did we mention this was a licensed tea-room, makes more sense now doesn't it.

This tiny red house is the smallest house in Britain. It has one room upstairs and one down. It measures 3 metres high and 1.8 metres wide and is officially the smallest house in the country. It is in the Guinness Book of Records and was once owned by a 6 ft fisherman named Robert Jones. The rooms were too small for him to stand up in and he was eventually forced to move out in 1900 when the council declared the house unfit for human habitation.
Talk about ducking through doors, uncomfortable.


We had a great time on our trip and Wales is definitely one of our favourite places to visit.

Until next time, B1 and B2.