Arrived in Sydney!!! First few days.

Ok so the arrival went quite smoothly, no problems with customs. the only annoying thing was the big queue to get my luggage scanned.
Now that I am in Australia I will be blogging generally, I won't be doing a daily diary as its too much work. Plus some days will be really boring.
So I had booked a hostel for my arrival but didn't like it when I got there, just a bad feeling, so I stayed there one night - it was the Woodduck Inn. I then found a new hostel which I will stay in until I leave Sydney, The George Street Private Hotel - still in dorm.
Geogre Street is quite central and I am really glad I moved because its much busier so feel better walking around here.
My first few days I have walked to see the Opera House and have seen it so many times now that I'm not really fussed about it!! The Botanic Gardens are stunning and I could walk round them forever, don't think I could ever get bored. There are hundreds of fruit bats/red flying foxes there who are apparently nocturnal (sp?) but fly around during the day to cool down, its great to see them all. There are also alot of birds mainly cockatoos and the Australian black beaked ibis bird. They have a salt water pond and a fresh water pond in the gardens with lots of fish. I have also seen a tree planted by Rolf Harris (ooohhhh ahhhhhh!!) and a tree that was thought to have been extinct for over 65 thousand or million - alot anyway - years and then someone discovered one in Tasmania and so they planted one here. It really is a stunning city with some beautiful old buildings. It reminds me of Edinburgh a bit (not that its really like it) maybe its because you can walk round everywhere or just a feeling?
I have also been to the Australian Museum which wasn't what I thought, it was more like a natural history museum with skeletons, birds, insects and minerals but was kinda interesting all the same. They had a skeleton of a dinosaur that someone found which was cool. I think the skeletons were the best bit. I did check out the bridge climb but its about 60 pounds so I am going to give it a miss, would be good to do with family or friends so will just have to come back.
I went to Darling Harbour which is also very nice, maybe more of a holiday/tourist place. The aquarium was quite good. Seeing all the obvious sharks, stingrays, catfish, sealions, platypus, crocodiles, squid, jellyfish and lots of other fish like creatures. It was alot shorter than I expected.
I did check out the National Maritime Museum which was quite good and free. I don't know if I would've paid but it was fine to take up a bit of time.
I also did whale watching the same day. I met 3 lovely ladies Jill, Wendy and Kay. The whale watching was cool and we actually saw some whales, they did entertain us a bit by jumping out the sea a couple of times and we followed them for quite a while which was great. Anyway after the whale watching I went for a drink with the ladies and Wendy very kindly brought me a couple so a big thank you to her x x
I have been making my own dinner so its pretty much the same nightly. Chicken, pasta, veg and pine nuts actually really tasty and good to just have something simple again.
I have had a lazy day so far when I didn't get up until 10.30 which is really late for me but I just felt so cold. It is cold in the morning and evening but generally is ok (although jacket stays on - what was that about not owning a coat Maureen!!!) during the afternoon when the sun is out. Looking forward to heading to warmer airs. Sorted out my Oz Experience pass and I will now be leaving very early in the morning on Monday 10th July to head for 2 days surf camp, yes you heard correctly - its bloody freezing and I will be in the sea!!!
I met a Danish girl, Berit, who was just here for one night so we walked round the botanic gardens together, we also met 2 Korean guys who couldn't speak alot of English but we sat with them which was quite entertaining, and then after dinner went to the cinema to see Click (back to expensive cinema!), Click is a good film but also sad - it mad me cry!!!
I haven't really seen much tv as have been out most days doing stuff, did just see 10 minutes of neighbours but haven't seen it in about a month so it doesn't really interest me.
So today I went to Taronga Zoo. I had to get up earlyish and head to the Harbour to catch a ferry across, then a cable car up to the entrance of the zoo. I had a great day there. Got some fantastic pictures, I hope, of lions, tigers, birds, koalas, chimps which is cool. I watched the great bird show as recommended by numerious people. They are actually waiting to bring 5 Asian Elephants to the zoo and it has taken over a year and alot of money. They won the court case to bring them and boxed them up but protesters banged on the boxes and so the elephants were under so much stress that they had to be taken back, quite sad really. There seems to be alot of redevelopment going on at the zoo which is good to see. They also have a fantastic view of Sydney Harbour from there.
I got back from the zoo at about 3 and started to walk up George Street and who should I bump into but Imogen!!! Crazy. Said hi and had a bit of a chat, she begins her tour tomorrow so that should be cool.
I got back to the hostel and have just chilled out, called home, done blog(as you can see) and had dinner.
Well let me know if this style of blog suits you, hopefully it will.
Sending my love from Sydney!!
xx
P.S. Oh I forgot to mention the bananas. Now if anyone knows me well they'll be aware that I eat alot of bananas, well not here! Due to the cyclone that hit Queensland in March there is a massive shortage of bananas so when there are some they are so overly priced. I think the most I have seen have been 12 in a supermarket. I'll wait til the shortage is over but I do miss my bananas!!!

Singapore 25/06/06 - Last Day in Asia!!

Woke up at about 8.30 and went down onto the net for a bit as did't want to wake anyone in the dorm. Went back up at 9 and had to prop the door open to get some light as no window, got ready.
Kelly appeared just before 10 so Kristine, Kelly and I went to the kitchen and had our free breakfast which was ok. Then I got my stuff and checked out, putting my bags into the luggage room ready to pick up later to go to the airport.
We had a look round a big electronic mall. Store owners were all pretty rude, obviously didn't really want to sell anything - their loss!!
We walked down towards the Esplanade, it was raining, we saw Imogen, Bekki and Eliza having lunch so chatting to them for a little bit.
We got to the Esplanade and the mini merlion was covered as it was being washed so we just walked round to the restaurants etc to find somewhere to have lunch. Ended up in a pub with penny in the title. It was a little pricey and we had toasted sandwich and chips, the toast was cold so we asked if they could put it in the microwave and they obviously didn't understand as they made new ones and the toast was still cold!! We just ate them, polite as we are.
Esplanade was quite nice, probably better on a sunny day.
We wandered back to the hostel and get there around 3.15pm so went on the internet to get some pictures from Kristines camera.
At 4 I grabbed my bags and we all went out into the street to hail me a cab. Got one pretty quickly so said a quick goodbye and jumped in, it was a bit sad really leaving them...!
The taxi driver was nice and chatty though so that took my mind of it. I got to the airport at 4.45ish and checked in.
I went straight through to departures. Didn't do very much, used the free internet and then met Imogen and sat with her while she ate, I wasn't hungry. It was nice to see someone I knew. At about 6.30 we said goodbye and went off to our gates. Think mine was 34 so it was a little walk away.
They let us into the gate at 6.45pm and we began boarding at 7.15pm so it wasn't too bad.
I was sat on an aisle seat off the central four seats next to some snotty american kid, about 13, he was so annoying during most of the flight. Watched quite a good film with Tommy Lee Jones in it, The Three Burials of. .......? The food wasn't as good as my flight to Bangkok but it filled a hole.
Probably had about 2 hours sleep during the whole flight. Landed in Sydney at 5am.

Singapore 24/06/06

Met for breakfast at 9.30am. Breakfast was good...
Kristine and I had to check out so dumped our bags in the luggage room and went to find a new hostel with Phillip and Kelly. Alissia had gone to meet her friend Becky, little did we know that we wouldn't actually see her again to say goodbye to!!
We walked down to Little India and Dunlop Street. We asked in The Inn Crowd but they were fully booked so we walked along the road a little bit more and then asked at The Fragrance Backpackers Hostel, they had vacancies $18 a night in dorm. So we booked that up.
We then set off to catch the MRT to the harbour. MRT is so clean and shiny, not like the underground.Once we had reached the harbour we were going to catch the cable car to Sentosa Island but the queue was massive so we went off to catch the bus, much quicker.
Once we were on the Sentosa and had paid our entrance fee all the buses were free so we jumped on the blue line bus to the Merlion which didn't take long.
We wandered around for a bit, it was just like a holiday island - seemed so different to Singapore. We walked up and went on the Luge, plastic car things that go down the hill, it wasn't as fast as I thought but I was still worried I might knock some little kids over.
When we reached the bottom we walked along the beach which was nice. I was hungry so we stopped there for some lunch. Phillip, Kelly and I shared a veggie pizza and greek salad - it was good food.
Afterwards we started to head back along the beach and then jumped on a free tram which took us along a bit, so slow. We were looking for the pink dolphins but couldn't find where they were as there was some construction going on.
We went on the Sky Rail to get back up to the top which was nice and relaxing. When we got there we decided to head back into Singapore so at 3 we jumped on the cable car back, no queue, and then we jumped on another MRT to go and check out chinatown but it was pissing it down again when we arrived so when it hadn't stop after a short while we went back to the original hostel to grab our bags.
I did have a slightly entertaining slip on the wet tiles so got a wet sore bum... We popped onto the internet and then at around 5.30pm we grabbed our bags and walked down to Fragrance Hostel.
We got semi settled in and had a shower and then it was time to go and meet everyone for the night safari.
We all jumped into taxis at 7.30ish and it took about 30minutes to get there, we already had our tickets. We went in and grabbed some tasty chips.
Rene, Urvi, Kristine, Kelly and I queued to get on the tram, it was packed and so hot!!
The tram was ok and took us round to see lions, anteaters, bears, elephants, tigers, deer and quite alot of other animals. It was different but you couldn't see all the animals well due to the fact it was night. I would love to go to the Singapore zoo. Although I did learn that the Hyiena has the 2nd most powerfull jaw, crocodile 1st.
After the tram ride we went to queue for the creatures of the night show at 10pm. We got in and sat down and they proceeded to hold the show up to sqeeze as many people in a possible which was slightly annoying.
I'm really crap with remembering which animals were there. They started with a monkey thing, had a wild cat that could jump really high, a pithon, otter, mongoose and some other things. It was a good show but shorter than I expected.
I would of liked to have done some of the walks around but everyone wanted to go after that so we all jumped in a cab, 5 of us, luckily the driver didn't notice until we were almost back!!!
Kelly came back to Little India with Kristine and I but the bustling streets during the day were now dead. Kristine and I ended up buying a can of Tiger each from a 7 Eleven, sad!!! We walked Kelly back and then it was back to our hostel to sleep.
Slept relatively ok in the dorm but did wake a couple of times.

Melaka - Singapore 23/06/06

Right so I was up at about 8 making sure everything was packed and then I got ready. Went for some breakfast at 8.30 with the rest of the group.
Jumped in a taxi at 9am to go to the bus station. We then got the 10am bus to Singapore, nice big seats again...
I read and dozed, the usual bus journay activities!! At 11.30ish we had a toilet stop and also a chance to buy some food from a market, I didn't buy anything as already had my snacks. I did however use the loo and it was so horrible.
Then we were back on the move until 1pm when we stopped and all had to get off to offically leave Malaysia and then get back on a drive over to Singapore.
Not long after we all disembarked again this time with all our belongings and entered Singapore. We had to queue and then get our luggage scanned, all went really smoothly. They all stamp the passport on one page though which is a bit annoying!!
We only had another 30 minutes on the bus til we arrived at the bus station in Singapore.
Once at the bus station we then had the difficult task of hailing at cab which was almost impossible as they were either all booked or just didn't wanna stop. We finally got one and jumped in, ahhh seatbelts are back! The taxi driver was actually a really nice guy. They have these devises in their cars whereby when they drive into a certain area it charges them, a bit like the London congestion charges except maybe more hi-tech - not sure how it works in London.
We all got to our rooms. Sharing with Kelly again. So we all, as usual, dumped all our stuff and met in reception.
Kristine, Kelly, Alissia and I all started to wander down Orchard Street, it was very different to what I imagined but probably heaven to all those shoppers out there. Although much more expensive than everywhere else we'd been. We stopped on the way for a Subway for lunch which was so delicious. Ate too much though.
At about 6pm Kelly and Alissia had enough so went back to the hotel. Kristine and I decided to keep going for a while. Ended up going into the more expensive malls. Went into a really posh shop (can't remember the name LV) and nobody came to help us, don't know why!!!
We walked quite a way down but didn't reach the end. At 7ish we thought we should head back since we were suppose to meet the group at 7.30! Got back to the hotel dead on half past and went onto the net waiting for Kits chat to start. We waited for a bit and then decided to go and have a quick shower, we'd probably be back before everyone had arrived anyway.
Got back all refreshed at 8pm and not everyone was there. People gradually appeared and Kit did his little chat although I couldn't hear much of what he said I'm sure it was entertaining.
We went to dinner, following Kit, and ended up in another Indian Restaurant about 5 minutes away. Kristine and I shared a Chicken Masala thing, rice and naan as our subway had been filling.
At around 11pm we all headed off to Raffles. We were originally trying to get a cab but ended up just walking as it wasn't too far away.
So we arrived at Raffles and went into the Long Bar. I really wasn't too impressed, it really wasn't that great. The band playing were good but the drinks were over priced and you walked over peanut shells all over the place which I didn't like. I am a snob though. Alot of the group had Singapore Slingers but I just tried one of theirs - just another cocktail but quite nice. I just had a Tiger though, always a winner!!
We stayed out until maybe 1am and then walked back to the hotel. It pissed down on the way back and so we got wet!! I did a bit but not as much as some cos Kristine was clever enough to have an umbrella.
Time for bed.

Melaka 22/06/06

Met at 9am to go and find breakfast after not a great sleep! We popped to the bank so that Kristine could change some travellers cheques. Then it was onto the mall for breakfast, there wasn't a great deal to choose from but I got mine from the supermarket and had a pretty goot meal.
We walked around some more up the hill to St Pauls Church and then on into the Christ Church which was old but not like our old English Churchs. Met some of the others out and about and they told us where an internet place was so we went off in search of that. Found it and so I confirmed my flight change, from 24th - 25th, and checked a few other bits which was cool. I wasn't feeling great after that so I left the others and went back to the hotel.
Went to the room and started to read and chill out for a bit. Kelly knocked and came in for a chat. Alissia appeared next shortly followed by Kristine so we all relaxed and chatted for a while.
We decided it was too hot to be wandering around outside so we decided to go and watch another film at the cinema, it was a great way to escape the heat. We watched Cars at 2.10pm. It was quite a sweet and funny film.
We went for some food after the film and so went to a pub by the river, brown river, where Alissia's friend was. I had a local beef dish thing which was good once I had added some tomato sause to it.
There were actually some big lizard things in the river which was kinda cool.
We sat and chatted for a bit until about 6 and then we went back to the hotel. I used Kit's computer to sort out my pictures and it took ages!!. Got back to my room at 7.40 and had to change quickly to meet people at 8.
Alot of the group had a BBQ that the hotel puts on weekly and it actually looked really good but I wasn't hungry so I just had dessert. Banana Split again - yummy.
We popped to a bar afterwards but after a bit I wanted to go so went back to the hotel to use up my Malaysian phonecard. Called home which was nice. Also put Love Actually on the TV which was good. I popped to Kristines room after that to say hi and then it was back to my room to write my journal and read. I left the TV on and fell asleep.
Alissia got back at about 12.30 so we chatted for a bit and then I went back to sleep.
Take Care
Dawnie
xxxx

Kuala Lumpur - Melaka 21/06/06

Got up just before 9 and popped down to check my email before heading out for breakfast at 9.30. We had it at a cafe outside of BB Plaza.
I had pancakes with banana, it was good except the pancakes were a little thick.
We went into BB Plaza to have a wander but I was a bit fed up of malls so I went back to the hotel to do some blog!! Which I did for about an hour. At 11.30 I went upto the room to grab all my gear, bought it downstairs and checked out. We then discovered, or Kit just told us!, that we had to either walk or get a taxi to the bus station.
Kristine, Kelly, Alissia and I decided to be imaginative travellers and walk with our backpacks while all the others got taxis!!! Useless.... Too much shopping.
It was around 10-15 minutes walk away and Kit had said to meet him outside the entrance. Well when we got there we couldn't find any of the group at any of the entrances so we ended up walking around for quite a while searching for them. Eventually we found Kit at the first entrance, would've been a god story if we had been stranded!
Went down to platform 7 where the coach was and jumped on, another roomy coach. 3 seats per row so 2 together and then 1 by itself, I jumped into a single seat and read for most of the journey.
We arrived at Melaka at 2.30pm and Kit had sorted taxis out for us to get to the hotel in. Kristine, Alissia and I jumped into the first taxi and we were off, although we didn't even know where we were going!! You seem to trust everyone when you travel.
It took about 20 minutes to get to our hotel. the Alby Hotel. We went to wait at the first floor reception as we needed Kit to get our keys.
Alissia and I were sharing again and this was by far the nicest room. Good clean bathroom, TV, A/C, Fridge and tea/coffee with a kettle.
We dumped our bags and ended up having lunch in the bamboo hut bar downstairs, it wasn't great and made me feel a bit sick. After lunch we went for a wander. Wandered through chinatown and to tha mall etc.
We got back to the hotel at 7.30ish, showered and got changed. We were a bit lame for this evening as we all met at Kristines room as we had hired a DVD. After the Sunset or something with Pierse Brosnan and Woody Harrison, it was good. We also just got room service for dinner so it was a couple of share platters and the a couple of banana splits to share. Really yummy. I had a really nice relaxing night.
We went back to our room to sleep at about midnight.

Kuala Lumpur 20/06/06

Woke up at 8, got ready and Kelly knocked on the door just before 9. We went down to check out the breakfast and I didn't want any but Kelly and Alissiahad some.
Left the hotel at about 9.30. It was clouding and raining on/off but obviously still hot and humid. We made our way to the Petronas, twin, towers. Once we got there we took pictures outside and then wandered into the shopping bit inside and straight to the food floor so I could get breakfast. Had a delicious banana, cinemon and sugar toasted sandwich and water, was great.
We walked around the shops and I bought a t-shirt from Quicksilver, not really cheap but I liked it. We then went to see if there were tickets left togo up to the Sky Bridge but there wasn't, tickets are free on a first come service and apparently people start queuing at 6am even though it doesn't open til 8 - crazy.
We bumped into Bekkie and Elize in the mall and chatted for a little while. Kelly had been out with them last night til 4am!
We then walked to the KL tower to go up there. Got there and brought our tickets. We just jumped into an elevator and up we went - easy. It had a fantastic view with so many unusual buildings, thought of Daniel. Took alot of pictures just of the view.
After that we went to find lunch, ended up in Planet Hollywood. I had a chicken penne thing which was so good and filled me up. Bit pricey though 3/4pounds!!
We collected our laundry and returned to the safety of the hotel,but just for a short time. Got changed and went to find a taxi to take us to the Batu Caves. We got a good taxi driver who took us there, waited,and then back for 35RM.
We got to the caves at about 3.15pm and there is a huge gold statue outside them - apparently the tallest in the world. We walked up the 272+ steps into the caves. There were alot of colourful religious things around which I photographed. The most entertaining things were the monkies though who were playing and running around us so you can image how many picture of them I took,Oh My God. A guy also came up and fed them so they were a little crazy. It was fun and free apart from the taxi.
Got back to the hostel around 5. Went to my room to write my journal, change and pack.
Popped onto the net before leaving with Alissia and Kelly just before 7 to meet Alissia's friend Becky. On the way this Canadian guy ran over to us and asked us to go for a beer, cheap beer. We said we might come back after meeting up with people.
We met Becky and Maria, Bulgarian from her tour, at Starbucks and we all decided to go back and have a beer with those guys.
The Canadian was Aaron and there was an Austrian guy, I couldn't understand him very well, don't know his name. Seemed nice enough. Kristine was wandering past and saw us so joined us. Had a Tiger!!! Go Tiger beer. We also saw Catherine, Amy, Eliza and Bekki and said hi. I felt like we were locals!!
We said goodbye to the guys and went to get some food. After attempting to eat at an Irish bar, seeing it was pricey, we ended up back in Pizza Hut (bloody western food is everywhere). It was a good meal although they did mess up the order a bit.
After dinner Kelly went back to the hotel. Alissia, Becky and Maria went for a drink and Kristine and I decided to head to the petronas towers to see them at night time. Got some photos and then sat and chatted a bit at the end of the fountains. Watched an asian family, it was sweet.\We then just wandered around Kuala Lumpur, maybe got a bit lost, and talked. It felt really quite safe.
Got back to the hotel around 11.30 and went to bed.

Cameron Highlands - Kuala Lumpur 19/06/06

Early start this morning, up at 7.30am and got dressed, packed etc. Grabbed all my stuff and headed down for breakfast.
The local bus (nice bus, coach really) arrived at 8.15 to collect us so I got my bag put in the hold and went to grab a seat. Everyone got on and most of them had to bring their backpacks onto the coach which was a hassle - stupid really that they ran out of room.
Sat next to Kristine so we chatted for a while which was nice and then I read and dozed.
We got to our hotel, The Cardogan, in Kuala Lumpur at 2ish. I'm sharing with Alissia this time, sowe all dumped our bags and, after an entertaining chat from Kit, went to find a laundry place and have lunch. Well we could not find the laundry straight away so our dirty clothes came to pizza hut with us.
We had a good lunch and chatted. After lunch we found the laundry place so stuck our clothes in.
We went into the Lot10 plaza place to check it out, it wasn't too great. We went into BB Plaza next which was slightly better - so sick of shopping though.
We popped back to the hostel, Alissia collected her pictures. We also grabbed some tops as air con kills.
We went to find the IMAX in Times Square Plaza, it was raining.
When we got into Times Square it was much better and bigger than the others. Found IMAX but they were only showing 3D films, saw an indoor fairground thing with a rollercoaster which looked kinda cool. Then went to the real cinema on the 3rd floor to see what was on. Pirates wasn't on- not out until July. Decided, for some unknown reason, to watch RV with Robin Williams at 6.45pm.
We went to get some dinner first and ended up in some Kenny Rogers Restaurant!! I had a baked potato with macaroni cheese, it was ok.
They messed up a few things which made the meal entertaining. Even tried to over charge us- my beedy eyes!!!
Went to watch the film. It was an ok average comedy, maybe a bit too stupid. After that we walked to Chinatown to look round there. Didn't get a great chance to look around as its difficult with four people. It was just really a market with alot of fake named stuff.
When we got back to the hostel we were told that a few of the others had gone to Planet Hollywood for ladies night, free drinks. They never have a mens night do they, why is that??
Kristine, Kelly and I decided to take a wander down. Alissia just wanted to relax. We got there and Kristine and I had one drink there, Kelly stayed, then a few of us went to try something which I can't remember the name of!!! It was a bong type thing, not drugs or illegal though, there were hot coals put at the top above a choosen flavouring, we had apple, you then sucked on this pipe which was in water and you inhaled like a fag. I wasn't too impressed- not much flavour.
Everyone sort of drifted off. Kristine, Catherine and I walked back to the hotel. Got to my room and chatted to Alissia for a bit then slept.

Cameron Highlands 18/06/06

Ok so we had decided yesterday to do a half day adventure 1 tour so we were up for breakfast at 8.15, had some yummy scrambled egg with toast!
Kristine, Alissia, Kelly, Urvi, Rene, Nancy, Nadine, a Sri Lankan couple and an English couple boarded our mini bus for our exciting tour.
Our first stop was to see some of the many, and I mean many, tea plantations. The plantations were owned by Boh Tea which itself is owned and run by a Scottish family. Apparently they own the most acres of tea plantations in the Malaysia, as usual I don't remember the deatails, but none of the tea in Malaysia is actually deported. There are 2 other tea plantations in the area.
The workers are bought in from Indonisia (sp?) on a 2 year contract and they are supplied with accommodation which is in the highlands, they are blue house which we actually saw quite a few of. They also get paid by the KG although they do not hand pick anymore and have been supplied with a machine which picks all the young tea - grows out the top.
Our next stop was the highest point (maybe 200m above sea) on the Cameron Highlands. There was a small watchtower, with steep steps, which we climbed and took photos from.
Once everyone had finished checking things out there we were driven a short way to do a trek. It was only a short trek but was wet and muddy and mossy. It was good but could have been dodgy if you put a foot wrong. Needless to say everyone got slightly muddy. While on the trek we saw wild orchards, which were tiny, and a picture (sp?) plant (insect eating plant).
We all came back at our own pace, wiped our feet on the grass and jumped back into the bus. We were then taken to the tea factory. It was quite interesting to see how the tea is prepared. Ground down, heated,sieved - I think. We went to the tea room and I had a hot chocolate, while the others had tea obviously, and an apple pie. We sat on the balcony with stunning views. We were there for around 30 minutes.
Then our guide, Robbie (no not Williams Emma!!), drove us to a strawberry plantation and so off we went to buy our fresh strawberries. They were yummy, although I thought a bit sour..
Next stop was the butterfly farm, we grabbed our tickets and went down. Robbie was putting butterflies on people and they'd just sit there. There were so many beautiful butterflies. They also had leaf insects, stick insects, beetles, gheckos, snakes, camelions, scorpions, rabbits and a few other things. A few people held alot of the insects, even the scorpion, I had no need to touch anything. Was happy to watch. It was really good at the butterfly farm and well worth visiting.
Well that was the end of our tour so it was back to the hotel at 2pm sat for a bit. Kristine, Alissia, Kelly and I decided to go on our own little trek so off we went to the tourist information to get a map, the lady advised on how long certain walks might take.
We started at 3.15 and walked down through the town, the playpark and along the brown river. They had put down like a tile path which wasn't great as could be slippery. We saw a little waterfall but i was disgraced to see so much rubblish there. We also went up a look out tower which was quite a way up a hill! Good view though.
We then ended up completing the walk and going round a golf course and back along the road into town.
I think we made it back at 5ish so it was off to shower in which I used my travel towel for the first time, sorry mum and dad dumped the other towel from home!! I was ready at about 6 so went to Kelly and Alissia's room to chat. We met some of the group at 6.30 for dinner.
We ended up eating at another indian restaurant. I had a banana rice dish which consisted of eating off a banana leaf again with a few different dishes, rice, naan etc. Was really good but very filling.
We went back and it was another movie time. After a failed attempt to watch Munich (rubbish quality) and Hostel (disc error) we managed to put Man on Fire on sowe watched that. Quite a few people ended up piling in to watch it. Finished at 12.30 so that was my bedtime ZZzzzzz

Penang - Cameron Highlands 17/06/06

Right so I was up at about 8.10am. Kelly and Alissia knocked at 8.20 to say they were going for breakfast so I said I'd meet them up there. Got all my stuff sorted and went for breakfast.
After breakfast I got all my luggage down to the lobby and checked out. Then I popped onto the net to transfer some cash.
We were on the bus at 9am but a couple of the group slept in so didn't actually leave until 9.30ish.
Had a double seat to ourselves again and about a 4 hour journey ahead of us. I read and slept...normal really.
We stopped off at 1pm, about an hour before arriving, and bought some fresh fruit and a drink - yummy.
When we arrived the sun was out but there was a breeze, something I didn't think existed anymore! Was quite nice. We were staying in a nice black and white chalet type place which was really pleasant. Kristine and I dumped our stuff in our rooms and went to find atms and internet. When we got back I just relaxed for a while in one of the common areas, made a change to have them so was nice. Sorted some pics and did my journal.
I went to get ready for dinner at 7ish as we were suppose to meet at 8. I didn't shower - what a skank!!
Met everyone in the TV room and then we went to find the restaurant,a steamboat place. Catherine said she knew where is was but didn't,as there are so many and Nancy knew the name but not where it was!! Mayflower!?! I went to ask somewhere and eventually found out where it was and then Kit appeared and told us anyway!!
We had 2 tables so we plonked ourselves down. We got our drinks and the food was coming out gradually. For those of you unaware of the genius of steamboat. You basically get a large pot with stock in it, ours had a veggie stock in half and a spicy in the other, and alot of raw fish, veg and meat to cook yourself in the Steamboat.
We kinda chucked everything in and the stocks sort of mixed but hey it didn't matter. It was actually really tasty, I used chop sticks part of the time. Also I tried Jelly Fish which I wasn't really a fan of. Anyway it did the job and I was full. We left the table in a good enough mess that said we'd enjoyed it.
When we arrived back we went to the TV room and a few of the girls had started to watch a film,16 Blocks, so we joined them. Didn't really get it all because people were in and out quite alot but got the just. Usual action type. Kristine and I were the only ones that actually stayed up to watch it all, average film really.
Got to bed with my earplugs in, my torch and book in hand, read a while and then slept. Lovely- bit cold though.

Penang 16/06/06

Got up at 8.30am, got dressed etc and knocked for Kelly and Alissia. Chatted to them while they got ready and then we knocked for Kristine.
We decided it would be a good idea to go out and find our own breakfast, easy right!!! We eventually left the hotel at 10.45ish and walked up to the mall to begin our search. It took ages and then we found a crepe place so I ordered a banana chocolate one but they didn't have any bananas! Kristine wanted one but also wanted ice cream with it and the girl said she couldn't. We decided they didn't want our business. Ended up at a 7 eleven eating a load of crap.
Once we had finished our very unsuccessful breakfast we popped into the mall so that I could buy some discs for my photos. Also had a quick wander, to our surprise it was just another mall.
We then ventured off to get the free shuttle bus around town and by this time it was around 1pm so we waited at the stop. A bus finally appeared and stopped a little way before the stop, it was packed. We started to walk towards the bus and the driver waved us back, we thought that maybe he wanted us to let people off before we got on. Everybody got off until the bus was empty and then he just drove off. A local guy told us there would be no more buses as they all went to get a drink or something! Crazy..........
We figured we didn't need no shuttle bus so we started to walk about. We had maybe walked a couple of blocks and big shocker it started to rain - heavy. We ran into this closed shop doorway area to wait and then we realised we were pretty much stuck there for a bit. We stood for about 10 minutes and then it appeared to calm down a little so we thought we'd go for it. We walked through Little India getting quite wet.
It got really heavy again so we rushed for cover next to some Malay guy who appeared to like Alissia...!
After a bit we risked it again and ran over to King (?) George's Church but it was bloody closed so we had to stand at the entrance for a few minutes. We were off again down a road towards the hotel and we thought we could go into all these historical places and museums but everything was closed, we figured there was something religious happening as we had seen a load of people rushing into a mosque.
Anyway the rain had calmed down so that was something. We got back to the hotel and I popped online and then went to the room to rest.
Kelly and Alissia knocked at 3.30 and I was about to go downstairs to play cards with them when Kristine knocked and said she was off to wander the mall again. I said I would go, get out, so I would meet her in the lobby. I popped to see Kelly and Alissia, Kelly decided to come and Alissia wanted to rest and call home.
So we walked up there and Kristine and I got corn on the cob from a street stall, it was still in the leaves and steamed. Best I've ever had. A bit hot though!
I got some brown 3/4 length trousers which are quite nice to wear out. 29RM - 4quid, not bad.
Got back just after 6 and went to shower etc for dinner. I was ready by 7.15pm, early as usual. We went down to meet everyone just before 8. We were first there again, need to start being late. Catherine and Amy turned up and gradually a few more. So a few of us went off with Kit to the restaurant and the rest would join us.
We got to the indian and all went upstairs, all to ourselves, sat down and ordered. It had a really nice atmosphere and was well decorated. I had a lentil and spinach curry which I ate off a banana leave, was great. The food was great and I am also having a beer stage, had a tiger - yummy.
After dinner quite a few of us went to Slippery Singureatas (sp?) and into a club called Glo in there. It was loud and the music wasn't great so Nancy, Nadine, Kristine and I decided to back to Soho, as originally planned.
When we got outside though we decided to wander to the pretty posh Eastern and Oriental Hotel and have a peek at that. We just wandered around inside, there was some sort of wedding going on and we did consider sneaking in and then thought that we would probably get caught being all scruffy and the only white people there!!!
We were then back on track and on the way to Soho when we noticed a funky club with lights and mirrors all along the entrance hall. We walked in to check it out and it was ok. A live band were playing but Nancy and Nadine didn't fancy it so we left.
We got to Soho and a very nice man playing pool, not nice as in sexy!!, gave up his table near the back for us. We all got a drink each and watched some guy dancing, he was good - apparently a dance teacher. We sat for quite a while drinking and enjoying the music and when we finished our drinks Nancy and Nadine went back to the hotel so we said goodbye. Kristine and I decided to head to the funky lights club.
However, we got distracted on the way and went into this locals bar called Carls. We got inside and a waitress asked if we wanted a table so after looking around we said yes, before we could even get passed the first table the group sitting down gave us a beer eash and asked us to join them. There were about 7 Malay guys and 2 woman. I think only the women could speak english. But after a couple of the guys heard I was English they thought I was great cos we are great at football - for gods sake!!!
There were live singers and so we danced a bit to that and then carried on dancing when the cd player got put on even though it was playing westlife or something!! It was fun but one of the guys always liked to be hugging one of us so Kristine and I were trying to get away from him quite alot.
After about an hour we said we were going and it took a while to get out cos they didn't want us to go, we were the only westeners in there! When we eventually got out we started to head back to the hostel and met Phillip on the way so walked back with him.
Got back around 1.30 so off to bed.

Satun - Penang 15/06/06

So we had to get up at 6.30am and re-pack everything!!! Had breakfast and then all clambered into 3 mini buses. We left around 7.40am. I listened to music and read most of the way.
We got to the border at 8.30ish and all had to get off the bus with all our stuff and walk to one post to leave Thailand and then to another post to enter Malaysia, all went simply enough. So now we are an extra hour ahead so 7.
Arrived at Penang at around 2pm, get a room to myself tonight which is cool. Went straight up and had a hot shower. Met everyone at 2.30pm, popped on the net and bought a phonecard. We walked along to change our baht to ringgit and then onto an english pub called Soho for lunch. Had a jacket potato which was ok. I rang Emma at Margaret-Ann and Peters to arrange our meeting.
After lunch we walked upto the mall and wandered round a bit. I got a bit bored so left them there at 4.45pm and went back to the hotel to get ready for meeting Emma. Just got changed quickly.
Emma, Margaret-Ann and Peter arrived to collect me at 5.30pm, said hello to everyone then we jumped into the car and wentoff to their apartment. They live on the 19th floor so a nice view. Its a cute little 2 bedroomed place.
Emma and I chatted a bit and had dinner, salmon, potatoes and veg - tasty. It was good. After dinner we were dropped off at the touristy area at a market, can't remember the name!!, so Emma and I wandered around and alot of the stalls were just setting up. I didn't see anything to buy as usual. We sat down for a drink and I had a coke float which was good and chatted some more.
We got a taxi back to the apartment at 9.30ish after being caught in the rain. Peter then dropped me off at the hotel which was really good of him. It was great seeing Emma but would probably of been better if we could've met somewhere new to both of us as Emma had been there quite a while.
Once I was back at the hotel I wrote some journal and then did some blog til about 12.30am. I rang home when I got back to the room and talked for a bit but there was a time delay which was really annoying me.
End of another day.
Dawn
xxx

Koh Phangan - Satun

Got up early, 7am and finished off my packing. Got washed and dressed and took all my bits down ready to leave. Had some scrambled egg for breakfast which was quite good.
Got on a semi covered pick up truck at 8.40am to leave and catch the ferry. Same old bumpy, dodgy roads.
Got to the ferry at 9.30 and didn't have to wait too long before we could board. Went into the air conditioned VIP bit which had big chairs but was quite cold. I read quite a bit and slept a little then about half hour before we were due to arrive I had to get out of the cold!!
Arrived around 1pm and all clambered off. It was then straight into 2 mini buses. We had a TV in ours so King Kong was put on, I watched a bit and slept a bit. Didn't really like hour the film was done.
Kit got us some pumpkin crisps and bananas as the restaurant was closed, they were nice though. We did stop at a restaurant for something a bit later, they only had one english menu. I had a horrible salad there.
Carried on in the mini bus, with 80's music this time. Kit showed us a rubber plantation on the way which was quite interesting.
We eventually made it to Satun, quite a large fishing town. Room was ok.
Kristine and I went to find a payphone so wandered down the road. She called Jamie and I tried to listen to messages but wouldn't work!!. We started walking back and wanted to go on the net but the place was closed.
Met the others at around 8.30ish and went to a restaurant just round the corner for dinner, lots of mossies - nice. Just had rice with prawns and chatted, it was nice.
Got back to the room at 10.30 to get some sleep and continue travelling to Penang tomorrow. Not a very interesting day really.
xx

Koh Phangan 12/06/06-13/06/06

Heard some of the group returning at 7.30am but didn't properly wake up until 10ish, showered etc and went for breakfast.
Had a really relaxing day really. Did some journal and sorted out laundry. A few of us went to town at 2pm, air con mini bus! We walked round some shops, had lunch and looked round a market. Didn't buy anything - they all sell the same stuff and harrass you.
Got back to resort at 5.30pm and sat chatting on the beach a bit. Went to get ready for dinner at 6.30.
For dinner we walked down the beach to a restaurant, had a colourfully lit entrance. I had some spring rolls and a thai green chicken curry - kinda tasted minty but was good. Afterwards we chatted a bit and then went back to bungalows, I read some and chatted to Kelly a bit when she got back. Slept.....

13/06/06
Woke up at 8.15 and discovered I had been bitten twice on one leg, not too bad but red and a bit itchy - bloody mossies.
Had a nice fruit salad for breakfast and some of the group joined us.
Kristine appeared at 9.30am so we went to reception to ask about the elephant trekking. We decided to do it so both paid for 30 minutes each, we were getting picked up at 11am.
Went back to the table and sat with everyone while they had breakfast, alot of the group were going snorkling at 11.
At 11ish Kristine, Osh, Gary, Imogen, Ollie, Ellie and I got picked up to go to the elephants!! It took about 1 hour to get that and it was quite a nice drive. Passed through some small towns and schools with all the little kids playing.
We got to the elephants and could straight away see one big elephant in an open stable type thing. When we got closer we saw a baby elephant also but he was chained and looked distressed - Kit said he was playing/begging but we didn't believe that. There was another big elephant being hosed down.
We seemed to be stood around for a while, this guy was getting the baby elephant to do like circus tricks which I didn't like so I looked away. They wanted us to buy food. There was a little monkey there chained up and it just looked bored.
Eventually they got ther elephants ready so Imogen, Ollie and Ellie got on the first one. Kristine and I got on the second one, Coban - 30 years old, and a guy got on the neck to control the elephant. We had to get up onto a platform to climb onto the elephant.
The boys got on the 3rd and they had a guy pulling like a lead thing.
It was a slow, relaxing, hot ride. We went up a hill to where there was a fantastic view and then back down again. Our elephant although still slow was the quickest. I am glad I did it but I don't need to do it again.
Afterwards we had a drink and then set back off to the resort. Got back at 3pmish. I got my book and checked emails quickly. Read my book in the bar with a pineapple shake for a while then popped to the payphone and rang mum at work.
I went back to the bungalow to escape the heat for a while and read.
At 5.30 Kristine knocked on the door and said about getting kayaks out. We got a single one each, they were full of ants!!! We capsized them a couple of times but these ants hide and there were so many. We got as many out as we could and then jumped in. I kept getting distracted when an ant appeared and I'd try to kill it.
We went right out of the bay and around the island a bit. There were loads of crabs on the rocks and they would stay camoflaged if they didn't move - doh! We also saw alot of locals fishing round there. We were aiming to get round this corner but it ended up taking way too long so we turned round, we really only saw rocks - I was hoping for a cave or something. We got back just after 6pm.
Went to shower for dinner and went down to meet everyone at 7.15pm. It was Bekkis birthday so we went to this restaurant not too far from our place. We ordered aour food and stuff and then the heavens opened!! It pissed it down hard. Everyone squeezed inside. They managed to get everyones food to them which was good. I had a yummy tuna salad.
Outside the frogs were all doing some sort of mating call and it was so loud and seemed to echo around, was quite amazing.
The tour going the other way were there and seemed very lively, they were getting pretty pissed on buckets! One of the guys played a guitar and sang a bit which was cool. We chatted to them a bit.
Kit had arranged birthday cakes for Bekki and Nancy, whos birthday was the next day.It was nice.
Went to bed at 1am.

Koh Phangan 11/06/06

Oh great, woke up around 8ish so actually slept well for the first time since I arrived!!!
We went for breakfast, I had pancakes with fruit which was nice except for the watermelon - not a big fan.
We wandered down the beach to the main street area ( more like a dirt track with some huts as shops/pubs etc) which was really sweet actually. We looked around a couple of shops and I bought a little bag and some postcards.
We walked quite far down the track but then the huts sort of dwindled off a bit so we turned back.
We then decided to go kayaking, which the receptionist didn't think was a good idea as it was windy. We ended up getting one double boat which 3 of us could sit on - onlt 2 ores(sp?) though. It was good, we paddled round to a beach on the other end of the bay just passed some rocks, although the co-ordination was not always great. We got out at the other beach and swam a bit. We headed back after 15 minutes or so and were going to go to another smaller beach but it was a little too windy and the wind kept trying to send us away out to sea. We just decided to head back to our beach. I did enjoy it anyway and we were out for little over an hour.
When we got back it was about lunchtime so we sat in the car to eat. Prawn sandwich and some chips, very nice but didn't really need any chips.
After lunch Kelly and I decided to walk over some rocks to one side of the bay, where was Dad!!, which was good. We saw a dead Blowfish caught between some and there were heaps of crabs on some of the rocks also. I walked all the way to the end tip of the rocks and checked out the view. We walked back over some rocks and the jumped into the sea, which of course meant that I could a bit wet!!!, so decided to dump our stuff on a lounger and go for a quick swim - very quick in my case.
I sat reading on the lounger a bit and then moved over to the hammock which was comfortable but I got a bit freaked out by all the big ants wandering around below me and over my stuff... Returned to the lounger and wrote my journal for a while. Renu came over so Kelly, Ali, Renu and I chatted a bit. Bekki joined us also.
We went to get ready for dinner at 5.30. Went to the bar at 7ish. Ellie, Ollie and Imogen then came down.
It was all rather disorganised. Kit booked us into a restaurant down the beach but people were all coming at different times.
We had the meal just a brown rice salad which had a little too much dressing on it but was ok.
Just passed 9 Kelly, Kristine, Ali and I paid and went to buy our taxi boat tickets to the full moon party.
We all got on the taxi boat which was an experience, very rocky while people were getting on - almost capsizing it at times. We had to walk into the sea and then climb in which meant we were going to get wet, oh well. It was a 40 minute ride, the back spray was rather bad.
We got to Haadrin Beach at 10ish and the beach did look pretty amazing with all the people, lights and fire throwers.
We all jumped off and Kristine and I went to get a drink. We found a guy with a bucket and so he bartered for us. We got a little bucket each with 1/4 bottle of vodka ( I know I shouldn't drink it!!!) and 2 cans of shark (like red bull) 220baht so pretty cheap.
We then sat and watched the fire act for a bit and then everyone sort of came over and said we were going to start at one end of the beach and work our way down. So we began to walk down. When we got to the end most of us got these luminous tattoos which were pretty funky.
We went to dance but it was drum and base style so Kristine and I walked back up the beach to find better music. There was normal music next along the beach and the like trance music. We went back and grabbed Kelly and Ali to take them to the normal music. We danced for a while and these guys go this poor kid, selling paradice necklace things, to do some funky dance moves - he was so sweet. We ended up buying a necklace each from him. The Thai guys loved Kristine which was funny!!!
We then decided to go and get another drink but got a bit distracted and decided to look at drink in the 7/11 but it wasn't great. We went to check out the streets behind the beach, they were quite busy as well. We met a few people as we walked round them and then went into an internet cafe for a bit.
Grabbed some water next. Then we checked out a clothes shop and I got some Fishermans Pants which are so comfortable and only 140baht so bargain.
We wandered all the way to the pier and then thought that we should probably go back to the beach, maybe find some of the group. We grabbed an ice cream each and walked through the crowd.
We could not see anyone from our group so we watched another fire act, just amazes me, until they finished and started to pack everything up. It was then almost 2am so we knew there were some people going back on a taxi boat. We went to find the boat, Nancy and Nadine were on it but they didn't know where anyone else was.
Kristine and I walked to the other end of the beach to see what was down there. There weren't as many people there which made it much easier to walk about and look around. They set fire to a Full Moon Party sign, as in pic, just where we were so that was quite good. By this stage though we were both really tired and ready to go..
There were taxi boats everywhere but we didn't know what our beach was called which really didn't help.
We thought we would just go back off the beach and wander through some of the other streets but just as we were leaving the beach we saw Kelly and Alissia - thank god. So we all went to the taxi boats and were working out what the beach was called, Kit appeared and told us the name. We jumped on the 3am taxi boat and were off, after a little wetness from wadding into the sea!!
Felt a little ill on the journey home but chatted to one of the guys on the boat. There was another guy who wasn't with anyone who was completely collapse, they ended up having to dump him on the beach - poor guy.
We were welcomed by about 7 dogs when we arrived at our beach, 3 of which ended up on our balcony for quite a while. Got to sleep around 4.30am, had a good time.

Koh Phangan 10/06/06

So the train arrived at 6am and of course I was already wide awake after a night fending off the mossies!!! We all jumped off and walked to a cafe for breakfast, just toast and jam - yummy....
We had a bit of time to hang around before we could get the bus to the ferry. We had a look round the local market which was so nice. It was mainly a food market with some interesting smells, you could actually buy catfish that were still wriggling around!! I wish we were staying in place that we could cook in as I would of loved to try some of the food.
Anyway after the market and playing with some kittens we went back to the cafe at 8am ready to get on the buses. We were on the buses for about 40 minutes so that was not too bad.
When we arrived at the port we had around 15 minutes til we could board the ferry so it was a quick toilet stop. Well the toilets were not too great, squat loo with no flush and luckily I had my own tissues!!!
We all clambered onto to ferry and up the stairs to the deck where we dumped our bags. I spent some time out there and quite a bit of time in the so-called air con area. Read for a bit and wrote some of my journal. We were on the ferry for a couple of hours, there were some quite stunning views as we began to arrive at Koh Phangan.
We finally arrived at about 12.30pm after about a day of travel. We were collected from the ferry by 2 pick-up trucks so our bags were balanced in the centre and we had to sit either side with nothing really to hold onto. It was an experience as the roads were very basic, hilly and bumpy. I am glad I wasn't at the back of the truck...! It was quite a hot ride as well due to the sun beating down on us. I did manage to keep myself pretty covered up though. It was good fun anyway.
That journey took around 40 minutes and when we arrived at out bungalows I was amazed to see they were right on the beach, well the bar/restaurant was. We were welcomed with a sweet paradise style necklace and a whole coconut with a straw each. Was really nice. I drank some but it seemed to be getting fuller so left alot.
Kit sorted our rooms out and we all went off to find our bungalows, we were a walk up some steps. They were quite nice bungalows with basic accommodation. Flush toilet but no hot water. Hey you can't have it all. We had to tell some guys which bags were ours and this tiny little guy carried mine and Kelly's rucksacks up in one go, I don't know how he did it.
We sorted out our stuff and had a shower which was very welcomed!!! Went down to check out the bay and beach. I took some photos.
I wandered along the beach a bit and read some. A few of the group jumped in the sea but I wasn't too fussed. Went online for a bit although it was a little pricey.
I chatted to Phillip for a bit and then Kelly and Ali came over. Phillip, Eliza, Urvi and Kelly started playing volleyball so Ali and I joined Bekki and Renu in the sea - it was so warm and shallow for a long way. Kelly joined us after a bit and we just chilled.
Everyone decided to meet at 7.30 for dinner so after showering, again, and changing thats what we did.
Just ate in the resort restaurant, only mixed veg over rice which was nice.
Some of the group went to the pub after dinner, some to bed. Kelly, Ali and I wandered down the beach to the payphone with our carefully collected coins. Spoke to Dad for a few minutes.
Walked back to the bungalows around 10.30. Went to bed and chatted a while.
Dawnie xxx

Floating Market/River Kwai

Well after a bit of a traumatic night with not much sleep the phone rand at 5.50am as a wake up call by Kit the tour guide - I don't think anyone thanked him for that!! Had breakfast, mango, pineapple and some waffles with what I though was syrup but was honey, and then left Bangkok at 7.30am. We all piled into 3 mini buses so 6 people in each. i had Kristine, Kelly, Alissia, Bekki and Eliza in mine which was ok.
Today in Thailand they are celebrating the Kings 60th reigning year as he became king when he was 16, bit crazy but they love him.
We drove for quite a while and then arrived at a car park and realised we could take the long tail boats to the market so those of us interested jumped in. Got on the first boat at the front which was cool. I actually really enjoyed the boat ride, it was really interesting going along all the "canals" with the houses on stilts and little shops for people to jump out of the boats into. Seemed a lovely simple was of life. There were actually quite alot of Thai people sitting out front of their homes watching the boats, must get annoying the boats going by all the time as they are quite loud.
There was a nice breeze. The floating market was quite amazing as people were just going around on their boats and buying stuff from the stalls.
There was also a market on land so we wandered around that for a bit but the people who run the stalls harrass you to buy stuff so we got round that quickish. It is very hot!! Worried about burning but am using my sun block.
Met up with the rest of the group and after trying some fruit we got back in the buses and headed off to the River Kwai and arrived at 12.45, It was actually quite an impressive bridge considering how it was built. We crossed right over and there was a chained, distressed baby elephant there, some kids wanted us to buy food to feed it but it looked to sad. There were also some small market stalls but not too much of interest. It was a lovely river with pretty nice scenery.
We had lunch in a pizza place, I only had chips as not hungry...
We drove from lunch onto the War Cemetary which is very well kept. There are alot of grave stones there so is quite sad. Kristine and I went into the WW2 and Jeath War Museum which was very interesting and we were there a while. Very skinny PoW's which was really sad, strange that I havenever really heard about any of it.
At around 4.30 we got back in the buses and drove to where we were catching the overnight train. We were there a couple of hours early so went for a wander, there is the oldest buddist building/monument?? , apparently way before christ, there which we walked down to see but they were having big celebrations for the king. We ended up walking right in the middle of all these Thai people praying and so they were kinda staring at us... We moved back out the way. A random Thai bloke came and chatted to us, explaining about the king and that he supported Man U??
We popped to an internet cafe there quickly, very cheap!! We went to catch the train at 7.45pm but it was delayed until 8.10pm so we waited and then when it came we all climbed on to find our beds!!
It had no air con and so wasn't the most comfortable. Anyway, once again I only ended up have a few hours sleep.

Take care
Love
Dawnie
xxx

Arrived Safely

Hey
I am doing these posts today purely from memory so they may be amended later....
Well I arrived in Bangkok at around 4.15pm, no problems with immiration or collecting my bag. I was collected from the airport along with another girl from my tour. We were driven to the hotel, I didn't think the driving was that bad (what does that say about me!!).
We arrived at the hotel around 5.45pm and were told the group were meeting at 6.30pm so we literally went to our rooms to change. I am sharing with a girl called Kelly.
We went to the meeting which lasted hours, there are 18 people in the group which I feel is a bit too many and there are only 4 of us travelling alone.... We all went for a meal after the meeting at about 9pm. I had a sweet and sour chicken with rice for about 80baht which is about a pound!! Bargain.
I went back to the hotel at around 10.30ish as I wanted to try and sleep which wasn't successful and then on top of being over tired I felt a little homesick. Oh well.
Looking forward to tour and Oz.
Love
Dawnie
xx

Two Days To Go!!!!!

Well its all getting major exciting now!!! Been trying to pack my backpack so I am happy with it and its harder than I thought!
Had a fantastic weekend. Michelle and Pauls wedding on Friday was beautiful and was a wonderful night, good weather too. Then we had a big family lunch on Saturday which was also really nice, haven't done that sort of thing in such a long time and it seems a bit different now with all the babies!! The lunch was good and then we had the usual round of photographs taken of all the cousins etc. I really enjoyed seeing everyone.
Yesterday we had a nice walk, in the sunshine again!!, and then we had a BBQ which was great. So now I just have a meal out with the grandparents to say goodbye to them and then its just time to get everything properly prepared.
I am so excited and can't wait to get on that plane. I hope I haven't forgotton to get anything - I've probably got too much!!! Oh well, next time I write on this I will be half way across the world. Take care everyone - will miss you all. Although will hopefully be having too much fun to dwell on that fact!!
Love
Dawnie
xx