Suited and Booted

Ooooh I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning after a late night on the Chang beer, we didn't get in 'til 3am courtesy of a tuck tuck! They should have tuck tuck's in England. Hull is a nightmare place to get a cab on a weekend and it's not uncommon to be waiting well over an hour in the freezing cold after a night on the toooown! Here tuck tucks line the streets at all hours of the day and night, you often see the driver slumped in the back seat catching 40 winks before his next fare. It usually costs 60 baht (1GBP) to go anywhere in Chiang Mai, for tourists anyway, it's probably 20 for the locals!!

We haven't being doing much this week, just spending our last days of freedom relaxing by the pool and chilling out. The sun is out every day here and never a cloud in the sky, we have also seen some magnificent sunsets. Unfortunately we don't get up early enough to see the sun rise!

We have also been to get measured up for some new "Saville Row" style attire. I'm not sure if anybody knows but in Asia (mostly Thailand I think) they are fantastic tailors and can make you anything to wear with any fabric of your choice. We went in a couple of days ago to select some styles and fabrics, the shop has Armani catalogues etc and you just pick out the style you like, chose your fabric from the many different types they have in the shop and then they do the rest. Once we had told him what we wanted he measures you up and draws a small diagram of the specific requirements you have, this includes how many buttons you want on the cuffs of your shirt, if you want a back pocket, pocket with buttons, slits at the side of your shirt, rounded bottoms to your jacket etc etc. They really do go into the most intricate detailing to get the garment just how you want it. We arranged to go back the following night to see how our clothes were shaping up. Within 24hrs they had made us 4 shirts and 2 pairs of trousers, we then had to try them on to make sure that the fit was OK and to check the cut of the trousers. When I tried mine on I have to say I felt like a million dollars. The fabric we chose for our suits is Cashmere and the cut of the trousers was just amazing. I have never had anything made to measure before, I don't suppose many of you reading this have either. I normally buy my suits from Next straight off the shelf, opting for the best fit from the small selection they have. Having something made to fit though really is something special, and if you ever get to Thailand I would definitely recommend it. My trousers were a little bit big around the waist and baggy around the crutch, so the guy marks it all out with chalk where they need to be cut and sends them back to the anonymous seamstress. They came back another 24hrs later fully altered and perfectly fit. I was that impressed with the cut and quality that I ordered another pair of trousers and a shirt. I did enquire about having a wedding dress made but he said that it would take longer than a week so I didn't bother. We have both got Cashmere suits each, an additional 3 pairs of trousers and 5 shirts and it came to less than 300GBP. I'm sure my new suit will get me the job that I want when we get back ;o)

Matt went for a Thai massage the other day as he has been suffering with a bad neck for quite a while now and pain killers aren't giving him much relief. I left him in the shop as it was going to be over an hour that he would be in there. He looked like a child whose mum is dropping him off for his first day at school ;o) It wasn't one of the "dodgy" massage parlours, maybe that's why he looked so worried?!? He came back over an hour later like a new man, he was bending, stretching and full of beans, telling me how good he felt and going into detail about how they bent and stretched him this way and that way. He also said that all the pain in his neck had gone and that he could almost turn it 360 degrees. Definitely 3 pound well spent. But the effects were to be short lived I'm afraid, yesterday he woke up complaining that his neck was aching again, and he's never shut up about it since. Now I know where the saying comes from "what a pain in the neck". Anyway he is going back for another one tomorrow so we'll see if that cures him.

Massage and pedicure are so cheap here, as is hair dressing, dentistry, opticians, plastic surgery, handbags, sunglasses... No wonder they call it the land of smiles!!

2 more sleeps and then we are on our way...

Chilling in Chiang Mai

We arrived in Chiang Mai on New Years day after a 60 minute flight from Bangkok - what a breeze! It was such a relief to get away from the hustle and bustle, not to mention the intense heat.

We were met at the airport by an ex work colleague and his family (Alan, Apple and Andrew) Alan used to live here a few years ago and is currently on a career break and back in Chiang Mai soaking up some culture. It is not difficult to see why he has come back. Chiang Mai is a fantastic place. It is much cooler than the rest of Thailand and without the humidity, it is less busy than the touristy resorts and it has so much to see and do and fantastic restaurants, bars, shops etc. It is going to be difficult for us to leave!!!

We are due to fly home to the U.K on the 16th January, a little bit earlier than we anticipated but we are both ready for home now, despite it being mid winter there! So rather than clock up more miles travelling to Cambodia for a week or so we have decided to put down our packs for the last time and spend the rest of our trip in Chiang Mai, it has got everything we need to end our already superb trip on a high. Cambodia will have to wait for the next trip when we will have the time and inclination to do the country justice.

On Wednesday we hired some bikes with Alan and Apple and they took us to the Elephant Reserve, about 20k outside of town. It was a great drive (despite the pot holes ;o)) through windy roads up into the hills and away from city life. Myself and Matt went on an elephant ride, it is something I have wanted to do this trip and obviously Thailand is the perfect place for such activities! There are loads of elephants at the reserve and they are amazing creatures, I love them. Our elephant was a female and she was called Mae Moo, she was 38 years old which meant we were the same age, she did seem to be aging better than me though, although I'm not sure I had quite as many wrinkles as she did!! We were on Mae Moo for an hour, we sat on a seat that is attached to her back and there is a local sat up front (on her head) giving her directions and steering the way. I couldn't help but think that it was a cruel thing to be doing, but the elephants handled our weight with ease and it is such a relief knowing that these animals are protected and looked after daily without the fear of being hunted or separated from their herd. Elephants are extremely protective of their young and the rest of their herd, and they become very distressed when one of them is captured by predators or runs into difficulty. They do everything they can to protect each other, they really are something special and it was a real treat for me. It was a slow and bumpy ride, and often quite smelly when one of them would stop to do their business ;o) We also went into one of the rivers where the elephants had a drink and sprayed some water around, it was a great experience and one I will never forget.

After that we headed off to a great Thai restaurant for a lovely Thai lunch, because Alan and Apple have lived here before they know all the best spots so we really have being spoilt since we arrived. We then went to see some waterfalls before heading back. A fantastic day. Yesterday we opted for a lazy one, so we headed across the road to a "posh" hotel and made full use of their sun deck and swimming pool amidst the Germans. We sat sipping ice cold drinks soaking up the rays, thinking of our friends back home venturing back to work after the Christmas holidays!

We have been doing a bit of shopping since we arrived here as we have put it off our whole trip as we couldn't afford to pack any more weight. They have a night bazaar here every day and it is huge. The handicrafts are beautiful and if I had my way I would but them all. There are shoes, handbags, t-shirts, dvd's, cd's, jewellery, souvenirs you name it it's all here for the taking. The only thing I'm not too good at though is the bartering, they come in with a ridiculous price and then we have to haggle. I have had a few attempts, some successful and others not so. We have another week and a half though to get the rest of our pressies so I hope to have it cracked by then.

On Monday we begin our 4 day cooking course. We attend cooking classes Mon - Wed, 10am - 4pm and then our last day is Sunday. We are shown how to make our own curry pastes, Thai soups and other local dishes, this involves a trip to the market to buy our own ingredients. We are really looking forward to this. We get to eat all our own cooking too so we will be stuffed by the end of each day, it's a hard life!!

Today we are just going to amble into town and have a look around, we have had Alan showing us the sights and delights of Chiang Mai since we arrived so we have being spoilt not having to get the maps out finding somewhere to eat, best places to shop. We'll probably end up in some girly bar paying through the nose for our drinks being accosted by lady boys!!

Shopping galore in Singapore

We have had a fantastic, wet couple of days in Singapore, it really is something special this place. Matt had warned me previously about all the shopping malls, but nothing could have prepared me for the amount and the immensity of these places! They're that bad that once you get inside one, it's very difficult to find your way back out again. It really is a shoppers paradise and I would recommend it to all my girlfriends. Stew and Kirsty spent a couple of days here on their way to Oz and Kirsty told us how much she loved it (Kirsty loves to shop!!) but Stew really struggled with the humidity which we can relate too!!

We have visited some really exciting cities on our trip, but Singapore is something else. It screams efficiency. We have completely exhausted the underground (MRT) which is so simple to use and 100% reliable. Everywhere is really clean and there is just a really positive energy about the place, I love it!!

The one thing I do hate though (oh yes there's always something you must be thinking) is the humidity. We have the luxury of A/C in our hotel so you can have a nice shower, blow dry your hair put on clean clothes, but the minute you step outside the hotel the place just steals the air from your lungs and you are damp in an instant, and remain that way for the rest of the day, which is why they probably have so many A/C shopping malls. I swear to God I have never seen so many shops. I don't even think Buenos Aires can compete, and that is another huge shopping city.

But we're backpackers and so whatever we accumulate, we have to carry, which kind of spoils things a bit. That said I am going on a shopping rampage when we get to Bangkok (where we fly home from) and will be doing all our Christmas shopping. I think I can get gifts for my whole family and friends for about ten quid, it is soooooo cheap!! The only thing we have bought today is a fake G-Shock watch (1.70GBP and it's still working 7 hours later!) and an umbrella for Matt as it seems to rain every 5 minutes here. No let me re-phrase that, it teems down!!

So we have spent much time on Orchard Road which is where a lot of the big malls are, we did Raffles, we've spent more than our fair share of time in Little India, Bugis Village (more shops) we have been along Circular Quay where all the trendy restaurants and bars are, and lots of other places in between. James we didn't get to the Zoo as we only had two full days here and half of one of those was spent trying to get out of the shopping centre!!

We also booked our bus tickets today, and tomorrow we get the bus for a 4.5 hour trip to Melaka, Malaysia. I think we could have quite easily spent more time in Singapore but the urge to shop is just too much to bear any longer. Today we also booked some accommodation for the Christmas period, and we will be staying on the Island of Ko Samui in Thailand. We arrive on the 23rd December and will stay until 27th, it will be so strange been away for Christmas, we are both looking forward to celebrating ours late with family and friends when we get back in Feb.

One thing I really envy of Asian women and that is their poker straight hair, it totally defies humidity. I've spend most of my time here with a gaping jaw wandering how it stays so straight in all the humidity and rain. Unfortunately my hair does not tolerate humidity and I am looking more like Bonnie Tyler every day. I'm going to get my mum to book me an appointment for Toni & Guy for the day after I get home, I am in desperate need of some serious cutting and colour. I used to have my hair cut ever 6-7 weeks at home, it is now 10 MONTHS since my hair saw a professional pair of scissors. Initially I did try to "keep it tidy" using the scissors from our first aid kit but it was like trying to fit a new carpet with a butter knife so I gave up.

It's all girls talk this hair and shopping stuff!

Otavalo, Ecuador

Just got back from the market in Otavalo, it was brilliant, we stayed there two nights as there isn´t a great deal to do there once you´ve seen it.
We have posted some pics on the blog that are really colourful, I hope you enjoy them.
The market really is a sight to see, it is a myriad of sounds, smells and colours, they sell everything from arts & crafts to fruit & veg.
There were 80 year old women sat shelling peas to sell, for every pod they shelled they ate one.
The locals come from all over to set up stall and also to visit the markets to buy and sell their wares.
All of the fruit and veg is organically grown in their own gardens and more often than not the meat is the same (i dont mean the animals are grown) they have their own sheep, pigs and cattle tied up in their gardens grazing, usually with a couple of dogs and a few chickens thrown in for good measure.
A lot of the time the animals have free reign of the house too and it is not uncommon to see chickens and sheep etc going in and out of the household!!
The view coming out of Quito to the market was also amazing as we were really high up, it really is a sprawling city, that when high up you can see for miles.
When we went on a tour to the Cotopaxi the other day our tour guide told us here in Quito you can buy a brand new apartment for $15,000!
Apparently 60-80% of Ecuadorians live in poverty,it really is a shame to see the conditions that most of them live in, the majority of them though are happy and always courteous and say hello in passing.
The price of my Oakley sunglasses alone would most probably keep a family of 4 in food for a month, if there is ever any resentment towards backpackers and Westerners it is totally understandable why.
There were some strange sights whilst on the bus to and from Otavalo, and apologies in advance for telling you about them.. on the roadside this morning I saw a dead dog with it´s head tied up in a plastic bag, and before that there were around half a dozen animal carcasses (heads) at the side of a busy street with people wandering by oblivious.
I also saw at least 4 men urinating in the street, it really is a strange place, that said there is a serious shortage of public toilets, and then when you do eventually find one they´re not fit to p**s in anyway!!
My experience of Veggie food on the plane or should I say the lack of it ended at the airport, there is a wide range of Veggie dishes available in most restaurants and also some Veggie Restaurants, I actually had a Veggie hotdog the first night we arrived in Quito, and in Otavalo we found this little bohemian cafe that was run by Canadians who spoke perfect English, in 13 years of my being Veggie I have to say this was far the best Veggie burger I have ever had, wedged between a big chunk of home-made bread.
Who would have thought it in South America!!
There are also lots of Italian restaurants, the other night we got chatting to a couple of Canadian Business men, one of who spoke fluent Spanish.
Anyway he bought us both a drink and wished us luck on our travels which was very hospitable of him.
Well I think this will be the last post for a few days as we fly out to the Jungle tomorrow (gasp) I´m really really nervous about it having seen the pics of the spiders and stuff and all the mozzies that there are.
We started taking our anti-malarials yesterday as prescribed by the Doc, so hopefully there will be no side effects from them.
Spiders and mozzies aside though I am looking forward to it.
Anyway that´s about it for now, will blog again next weekend with some pics of the Amazon.
Have a good week all.