Chris and I will visit:

• Kuala Lumpur - where we were promised a "magnificent view on the Petronas towers" from our hotel room

• oldest jungle / rain forest in the world - Taman Negara - where we will do some jungle trekking during the day & at night, rapids shooting, animal watching etc

• Melaka - old colonial city

• island Penang - with Georgetown, beautiful scenery and beaches

• island Langkawi - where we will have a beach holiday, are hoping to snorkle a bit round the coral reefs etc

• Singapore
  

Here's a map of our route:

That was in short
More to come when we're actually THERE
So get subscribed (on top right-hand corner)

Malaysia & Singapore trip plan remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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i actually am afraid to write how nice the beaches are - as you would probably hate me if i wrote in detail....
in SHORT: the sand is white and soft, the water turqoise/green - very warm and totally clear all the way to the bottom, the sky blue, palm trees around... 30-35 degrees all the time - but not too hot - we there's a refreshing sea breeze. what else do you need

our usual ''concerns'' are:

• ''should i rather go swim in the sea, in the pool or continue lying and doing nothing''?
  
• ''do i want a fresh pineapple, or grilled spring rolls??'' - both brought to my chair on the beach by nice Thai people
  
• ''watermelon or pineappple juice?''
  

haha
i better stop writing NOW
[as little bird told me that the weather situation in Europe isnt as great at the moment )]

the island is great, but it's not totally stunning. the beach IS. but the rest of the island is very COMMERCIAL - everything is for tourists. People who only go to this island, would never get a feeling of the real Thailand. It could be an island in Greece as well. Same stupid street stores with souvenirs, same loud nightlife. It's even hard to find real Thai food here (!!!) and the number of 'schnitzel''-restuarnats/fast-foods etc is huge.... We're so surprised to see all these Europeans comning o Thailand only to catch back on spare ribs or Wiener Schnitzel... :-S What's the point...

also: the Thail people here are very different from the ones we've seen before. They are not smiling all the time like elsewhere, also: we have a feeling everybbody is trying to cheat us... They know they CAN cheat tourists... And they seem to be very lazy - they usually try to charge us double the GOOD price for taxi - and when we refuse to take this ''offer'', they dont even bargain down - they just continue sitting on their ass, as one good scam later on will be enough to earn as much as they would if they were honest... sad...

In ANY case: we are very happy to have these 4 days on the beach - to recharge our sun-batteries yay!!!

• ************************

OLGA's PART

Leniwe dzien dobry z wyspy Samui na poludniu Tajlandii

Jestesmy tutaj od srody, robiac nic. Zdazylysmy juz podpiec sie na sloncu i dzisiaj troche cierpimy, ja zas w szczegolnosci. Czesci dotad osloniete (jak uda, brzuch czy ramiona) przy pierwszym kontakcie ze sloncem staly sie jaskrawo czerwone. Obecnie moje cialo ma rozne odcienie poczawszy od bialego, poprzez rozowy, czerwony, az do brazowego i ciemnobrazowego. Taki ciapek ze mnie.

Wyspa sama w sobie jest ladna, ale nie powalajaca. Moglaby byc kazda inna wyspa w Europie. Jest najmniej azjatyckim i tajskim miejscem jakie do tej pory odwiedzilysmy. Pelno tutaj turystow, przede wszystkim Niemcow. Co za tym idzie, baza gastronomiczna podporzadkowana jest im gustom, co oznacza liczne restauracje z pizza, makaronem czy sznyclami!!!! I Ci "prosci" turysci, bedac tutaj, w Tajlandii, zamawiaja te same dania, ktore mieliby w swoim kraju. Zenujace......

Nasz czas mija tutaj powolnie, zaczynamy dzien od sniadania na "stolowce" pod golym niebem (a wlasciwie pod palmami), tuz przy plazy, gdzie slychac szum fal..... Zaraz potem przenosimy sie na lezaki nad wode i tam spedzamy kolejne godziny. Woda w morzu jest tak przyjemna, ze wchodzi sie do niej bez zmruzenia oka. Ma turkusowy kolor. Co kilka godzin wcinamy kukurydze i springrollsy z grilla, sprzedawane przez Tajki na plazy. Acha, a na deser swiezy ananas i kawalki kokosa.

Poza europejskimi restauracjami, nei sposob nie zauwazyc, ze ceny sa tutaj takze "turystyczne", a kierowcy taksowek probuja "wynegocjowac" krocie za przejechanie kilku kilometrow (a przy tym sa bardzo leniwi i nie kwapia sie do pracy za "male" pieniadze).

Jutro wieczorem lecimy do Bangkoku i spedzimy tam niedziele, po czym wsiadamy w samolot do Amsterdamu. Powoli koncza sie nam te cudowne wakacje. Na szczescie udalo sie nam odpoczac i poznac troche ten piekny kraj. Zgodnie stwierdzamy, ze chetnie bysmy do niego wrocily.

Dobrego weekendu!

KO SAMUI (bounty island) remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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[by the way, we're @ a crappy internet cafeand the space bardoesnt really work like it should - so pls have patience for deciphering the results of my ''great'' typing!!!]

today we went by train on a day trip to Ayutthaya. On the way there it only took 1h,on the way back:1.5h.And that was NOT a pleasant ride. I wont even mention the seats that make u want to stand for the whole ride. on top of that ,apparently Thai engineers(EVEN the ones who design the aircoditioned cars) have no consideration for the level of decibels coming out of those machines. There was some elementin our car(of course located RIGHT in front of our seat) that was making a TERRIBLE resonace/noise - to such a level that we were shouting 2 each other once we finally left that train. Oh well... ;luckily we fly everywhere else...

but Ayutthaya itself was cool. It used 2b Thai capital - and was full of ruins of temples and Buddha statues- similar to Sukhothai actually. We rented bikes again and were riding around

it was a bit of like being in the scouts - as we had to read the map and try to locate different ruins we wanted to go to (which they had TONS of there- spread around a very large area - with no clear signs - at least in English).We only went to like 10 ruins maybe. it was really fun,but it was VERY VERY hot today. and humid

haha, it was funny, because the ruins were on an island - and to get to it we had to take a small boat. A REALLY tiny boat - together with our 2 bikes,Which was a challenge - and resulted in bike-related injuries for both of us in the end . We'll live though

we're now in BGK

haha. and they are building a sky scraper next to our hotel. And the construction site was ''funny'' - as clearly they do not really care here about the SAFETY issues. The scaffolding was made of bamboo [we r talking the height of the 20th floor!] - and there were plenty of workers hanging on all sides of it - of course with no harnes or anything of the kind... Haha, and then we went to the hotel pool - which was located on top of our building - a few floors below the working guys. The construction workers have immediately noticed our arrival to the pool area - and somehow in a matter of seconds there were more and more of them there - to the point of forming a scaffolding-gathering . haha, it was so hilarious - Olga's biggest concern was the fact that they might fall off - as they were dangling down from the scaffolding observing what was going

tomorrow morning off to Ko Samui (the island)

• **************

OLGA'S PART

Dzien dobry

Tu znowu Bangkok. Spedzamy tu dwie noce. Przyleciaslysmy wczoraj poznym wieczorem, dzisiaj calodniowa wycieczka do Ayutthaya, a jutro rano lecimy juz na 4 dni na Ko Samui, gdzie bedziemy robic nic (oooo, przepraszam, bedziemy utrwalac opalenizne, wysypiac sie i popijac pyszne koktajle.... Czyzbym slyszala jeki zazdrosci?...).

Poniewaz posty moga byc subiektywne, chcialabym przyznac sie, ze osobiscie ciesze sie, iz skonczylysmy juz zwiedzanie. Jestem pelna wrazen i kolejne swiatynie czy ruiny odpowiednio mniej mnie zachwycaja. Biedna Marta musiala dzisiaj znosic moje jeki, ze moze juz skonczymy jezdzic od jednej zawalonej czedi do kolejnego Buddy bez glowy itd. Ayutthaya nie powalila mnie, miasto raczej male i blizsze Phitsanulokowi. Ruiny ladne, chociaz tym w Sukhothai nie dorownuja. Do Ayutthayi pojechalysmy porannym pociagiem z Bangkoku, a na miejscu wypozyczylysmy rowery (swoja droga to frajda tak zwiedzac na kolkach). I jezdzilysmy od jednej ruiny do drugiej. Upal byl niemilosierny, mysle, ze ok. 37 st.C i duza wilgotnosc. Oczywiscie spieklysmy sie. Bardzo ladnie odcinaja sie nasze szorty i bluzeczki ;-) Podroz powrotna byla dosyc ciezka; moge smialo powiedziec, ze zazylysmy lokalnego folkloru. Pokonanie 70 km zajmuje ponad 1,5 godziny, a wagon jest tak stary i rozklekotany, ze caly wpada w rezonans przy ruszaniu, powodujac halas trrudny do zniesienia. A do tego siedzenia przyprawiajace o bol kosci ogonowej.... Czy juz mowilam, ze kocham luksus?

Poniewaz mieszkamy w pieknym hotelu, z basenem na dachu (na wysokosci 9 pietra), po powrocie udalysmy sie tamze. Ach, coz za przyjemnoscpatrzec z basenu na panorame nowoczesnego Bangkoku. Ale.... nasz spokoj zaklocili panowie budowniczy, siedzacy na wysokosci 20-go pietra budynku obok naszego hotelu. Panowie byli zachwyceni widokiem dwoch dziewczyn zazywajacych kapieli w dwuczesciowych kostiumach i zebrali sie komisyjnie w liczbie dziewieciu, aby nas obserwowac. Osobiscie bylam przerazona, bo panowie pracowali na bambusowych rusztowaniach, nie majac zadnego zabezpieczenia. SPiesze jednak doniesc, ze obylo sie bez ofiar, panowie popatrzeli, my odpoczelysmy basenie, a teraz zamierzamy pobuszowac po nocnym targu.

Musze jeszcze podzielic sie pewna refleksja. Podejrzewam, ze wzbudzi ona usmiech na twarzach meskiej czesci czytelnikow..... Zarowno w Bangkoku, jaki innych miastach Tajlandii, pelno Europejczykow, ktorzy przyjechali na "sex wakacje". Panowie wynajmuja dziewczyne na kilka dni i podrozuja z nia po kraju (i nie tylko podrozuja....). Przewazajaca czesc to faceci w wieku 50 - 60 lat, niekoniecznie atrakcyjni. Jaki jest w tym sens i przyjemnosc?..... Ech.... Bedewdziecznaza wytlumaczenie, bo moja naiwnosc jakos uniemozliwia mi pojecie tego wszytskiego.

Nastepny post juz z wyspy.....

Sciskamy!

AYUTTHAYA remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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It is a city of temples (they have 700 of them!) - haha, but we have maybe seen like 15 at most

We flew in yesterday afternoon and went to do the sights (read: temples). Also, we were lucky again, as apparently Sunday is a special day in Chiang Mai - with a street market at night. And when I say STREET I actually mean a good 10 streets - all around 1 big street. They were selling EVERYTHING there - and it was full of locals.

You could buy local crafts, jewellery, clothes, and of course: FOOOOODDDD. It was actually quite funny that they were selling food mostly in the courtyards of the temples . All made fresh and to order. Piles of noodles/rice, stir-fries, deep-fried stuff, seafood, fruit, sweets. Amazing. Of course we did not forget about eating while shopng/haggling. We got a great deal of food actually - I dont even remember how many little dishes we tasted . To name just a few: grilled squid, fried squid, Khao Sawy = local beef curry with funny noodles, banana-leaf packages with steamed rice and herbs, Olga ate some black vegateble jelly (?), etc etc

Speaking of which.
Olga had enough courage to actually EAT the BUGS (yes, fried insects). She started with buying a big (5cm long) cricket. And yes, she had the guts to eat it too... [haha, I filmed it all, but I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait for the movie clip, as we forgot to take the camera cable]. The insect looked pretty gross, but Olga claims it was very crunchy
When she ate the first one, the lady from the stall started giving her freebies - another smaller grasshopper-kind-of-thing and a white 4cm long bamboo worm... [yes, like one pf the ones from my picture in Bangkok - to be seen a few posts below]

hmhm... actually... the lady stroke a good deal giving the freebies to Olga, since she was a living advert of the bugs - in 1 min she talked an American guy into tasting one too

i promise to put the pickies & the movie clip soon

Later on we walked past another stall with bugs - where they had TERRIBLE-LOOKING huge roaches as well... [like: 7cm long and 3cm wide]. Olga even had a moment when she wanted to buy one - and if it wasn't for the saleswomen's inability to speak English she would have probably eaten it. Olga namely asked her if they were GOOD. But the woman din't understand and Olga resigned of the purchase

Still, my deep R-E-S-P-E-C-T Olga!!!

Since there were so many things to do/see/buy/eat at the market, we ended up staying till they closed - at 23.00

Today we saw a couple of temples, but above all: we took it easy - and spent the time in a relaxing manner - walking aound, stopping for food and drink etc

Tonight we're flying back to BGK. Will stay there for 2 nights (2morrow planning on going on a day trip buy train to Ayutthaya).

• *************

OLGA's PART

Po dwoch dniach spedzonych w Sukhothai dotarlysmy do Chiang Mai - atrakcji turystycznej polnocnej Tajlandii. Zanim opowiem co nieco o tym miescie, musze wspomniec o absolutnie bajecznym lotnisku pod Sukhothai, skad startowalysmy. Czulam sie jak na Hawajach, za terminal sluzyly male sliczne domki, doslownie tonace w zieleni i orchideach (rozowych, fioletowych, bialych). Bardzo malownicze. Kazdy pasazer przy odprawie paszportowej mial przypinany do koszulki miniaturowy bukiecik z orchidei i asparagusa. Cudnie.

Ok. 13 wyladowalysmy w Chiang Mai, miescie bardzo zywym i przyjaznym. I znowu innym niz wszystkie do tej pory. Kafejki internetowe mieszaja sie ze swiatyniami, straganami z jedzeniem i lokalnymi pamiatkami. Duzy ruch uliczny. Jest tutaj blisko 700 swiatyn (tzw. watow), na szczescie my postanowilysmy obejrzec zaledwie kila(nascie) z nich. Nie wiem czy to juz rozleniwienie czy przesyt, ale juz te miejsca nie robia takiego wrazenia i nie zapieraja dechu w piersiach. Odwiedzalysmy je troche "z przyzwoitosci", ale to bardzo przyjemne i nie obciazajace

Znowu mialysmy szczescie, poniewaz wlasnie trafilysmy na niedzielny targ, ktory trwa od zmierzchu (ktory tutaj zapada ok. 18:00) do poznych godzin wieczorynych. Jest tutaj doslownie wszystko, co mozna nazwac "lokalnym" - tony jedzenia, rzemiosla, pamiatek, rzeczy potrzebnych i (w zdecydowanej przewadze) niepotrzebnych. Dlugie kilometry mieniacych sie kolorami straganow. Marta miala wilekie oczy z blyskiem, co oznaczalo dla mnie jednoznacznie, iz nasz dzien szybko sie nie skonczy. I ten blysk utrzymywal sie dlugo, bardzo dlugo. Wedrowalysmy od uliczki do uliczki, od zaulka do zaulka i na nic zdaly sie moje proby negocjacji, przekonywania, szantazu, blagania.... Polowalysmy na okazje do czasu, kiedy miejscowi zaczeli sie rozchodzic, a sprzedajacy skladac swoje kramy Ale warto bylo, faktycznie ceny tutaj przyprawiaja o zawrot glowy i mozna znalezc naprawde ladne rzeczy.

Ale...... kupowanie pamiatek to jedna czesc przyjemnosci. Druga stanowi oczywiscie probowanie lokalnych przysmakow. Zarowno w restauracji jak i z targowych stoisk. Jadlysmy lokalna potrawe KHAEW SAWY, dostepna glownie w Chiang Mai (zolty makaron z pysznym sosem i wolowina), smazone i grillowane kalamarnice na patyku, oraz.......... prazone owady. I tu nastepuje slowo wprowadzenia: w samolocie do Tajlandii obiecalam Marcie, ze jesli trafimy na prazone robale, ktore sa lokalna specjalnoscia polnocnej czesci kraju, to ja takiego insekta skosztuje. Marta pokiwala tylko glowa i chyba nie uwierzyla, ze mowilam o tym calkiem powaznie. Tym wieksze bylo jej zdziwienie, gdy przy stoisku sprzedajacym te delikatesy (roznej wielkosci, ksztaltow, z nozkami/skrzydelkami/oczkami lub bez) w moich oczach pojawil sie blysk No i stalo sie - slowo sie rzeklo, nie bylo wyjscia jak tylko przystapic do konsumpcji. Wzbudzilo to ogolna radosc sprzedajacych jak i turystow. Zjadlam 3 robale, kazdy inny, kazdy rownie nieapetyczny. W moim menu znalazly sie: 1) duza cykada (nieco sucha), 2) konik polny (odpowiednio slony), 3) glista bambusowa (bardzo chrupka). Wszystko jest na zdjeciach, mamy nawet film spozywania pierwszego dania. Niestety teraz nie mamy ze soba kabelka, zeby to przegrac, ale lada dzien to nadrobimy.

Niebawem zmykamy na lotnisko, lecimy do Bangkoky, skad jutro wczesnym rankiem wybieramy sie na jednodniowa wycieczke do Ayuthaya, dawnej stolicy Tajlandii. Bedziemy podrozowac lokalnym pociagiem.

Wlasnie dzisiaj z Marta stwierdzilysmy, ze jest polowa naszego pobytu, a nam juz udalo sie bardzo odpoczac i zrelaksowac. A przed nami jeszcze czesc absolutnie wypoczynkowa na Ko Samui. Cudownie.

Dobrego tygodnia!

CHIANG MAI day 2 remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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a little update: yesterday night we went to the shows in Sukhothai Historical Park (haha, went biking - and no, there ARE NO street lamps there.... - was pitch black at times).
We asked some ppl what the occasion was and apparebtly it was an event organized by the Thai Government to promote tourism.

It was a sound/light show - together with some theatre. The performers (hundreds of teenagers) were all dressed in traditional Thai outfits. We quickly got sitting places within a reserved area - as one of the 3 non-locals that were there

it started to rain - only a bit at first. It was beautiful - the temples/buddga images from the historical park were all lit up

The performance was beautiful but soon it started to rain A LOT (and there were thunderstorms) we hid under rthe tent of the actors - everyone welcomed the rare torists
Was so cool

now we r in Bangkok - have an interlanding before Chiang Mai
will post some pics later

CHIANG MAI day 1 remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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In the morning we went to the Historical Park - on our bikes we got from our hotel

The park was beautiful. Sukhothai was an old capital of the first Thai kingdom - which lasted through the 11th-12th century. The park comprised mostly of ruins - of old temples, Buddha images etc. It was gorgeous. Full of green trees and old brick ruins, all reflected in many ponds.
amazing

we took many pictures
unfortunately, at the computer in our hotel I can only connect my little camera - so only the pictures Olga took today will be uploaded (haha, and as a consequence: they are mostly pictures of ME). I was taking pics with the big camera - but I guess you will have to wait for them... Also on the ones with Olga in them I'm afraid....

Today it also rained during the day - for the 1st time that we r here in Thailand (and it was supposed to be monsoon season ?!) - it had rained before, but that was always either in the early morning when we were still sleeping, and once when we were at an internet cafe. In short: this was the 1st rain that actually caught us outside. But it was fun as well. It started in a second. And before we knew it, it was a REAL heavy rain. Luckily there were plenty of those little roofed places in the park so we could find shelter

It was also beautiful to see

and 30 min after the rain began, the sun started shining again (very strongly actually) - haha, so we began changing color

oh yes. we have (yet again...) overdosed on food for lunch. and spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool.

in the evening will go back to the park - to see some special light show that they will b holding tonight (we were lucky, as it's supposedly special and only this weekend).

by the way. our hotel serves THE best dishes we have tried in Thailand so far. Our favorite: fried young coconut with shrimps & another one: prawns in black pepper sauce, mmmm

• *********************

OLGA's PART
Zgodnie z zapowiedzia dzisiaj zwiedzalysmy park historyczny w Sukhothai, co zajelo nam ok. 4 - 5 godzin. Park sklada sie z ruin swiatyn i posagow Buddy pochodzacych z XI - XII w. Bardzo to wszystko malownicze - ruiny z czerwonej cegly, na tle licznych stawow, palm i kwitnacych drzew oraz blekitnego nieba. Mamy to oczywiscie uwiecznione na zdjeciach, bo trudno bylo dzisiaj przestac fotografowac. Przyjemnosc zwiedzania byla tym wieksza, ze miedzy kolejnymi zabytkami podrozowalysmy rowerem Ok. godz. 11:00 zlapal nas deszcz (dopieropo raz pierwszy podczas naszego pobytu "stanal nam na drodze", a przeciez jest pora deszczowa!), wiec mialysmy przymusowa, aczkolwiek bardzo przyjemna przerwe na ok. 45 minut. Zaczelo padac doslownie w ciagu sekundy i od razu bardzo intensywnie, a gdy przestalo - zaraz pojawilo sie slonce. Czy mozecie wyobrazic sobie to wilgotne upalne powietrze?....

Ok. 14:00 glodne i spalone sloncem dotarlysmy do hotelu, zjadlysmy przepyszny lunch (kawalki smazonego mlodego kokosa oraz krewetki w sosie pieprzowym z ryzem jasminowym) i poszlysmy na sjeste na basen.

Niebawem wyruszamy ponownie do parku historycznego, gdyz ma tam byc jakis pokaz swiatel i muzyki na tle ruin. Moze byc pieknie. ALe o szczegolach napiszemy juz jutro

PS
Jutro rano lecimy do CHiang Mai (z przesiadka w Bangkoku)

SUKHOTHAI day 2 remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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as mentioned, yesterday was a strange day - and we were glad to get out of Phitsanulok. we did that by bus - haha. my first bus of such a kind... looked like form the 60s . the ride was a lot of fun (and again, we drew lots of attention in Phitsanulok where they apparently never get o see tourists ). We were also the only non-Thai on that bus . Of course there was no AC - only the 'natural one' form the windows - but it was not at all hot. Was great actually - to see the locals & the countryside. And it only took 1h

It is our hotel that is an absolutel paradise - its GORGEOUS. Built in a Thai style mixed with clearly designer items (gorgeous bathroom with bubble bath and lifted sink etc etc). Each of the rooms of the hotel was separately designed by the owner. Our room is in white and dark brown. its gorgeous. And the hotel is really modern at the same time - with all the amenities one might wish. There's also a pond with lotus flowers and a great pool where we enjoyed pinapple juice drinks in the afternoon
THE best soup I've had here so far:

after lunch we went by bikes on a ride round the Sukhothai Historical Park - which we will properly visit tomorrow.

• ***************************

OLGA'S PART

Po trudnym pobycie w Phitsanulok z radoscia powitalysmy nowy dzien (pozwolilysmy sobie na leniwy poranek i wyspanie sie do woli), bowiem oznaczal wyjazd do historycznego miejsca - Sukhothai. Van z hotelu zawiozl nas na dworzec autobusowy, na ktorym znowu bylysmy atrakcja dla lokalnej ludnosci, ale to nic w porownaniu z tym, jaka dla NAS atrakcja byl autobus, ktorym podrozowalysmy do Sukhothai. Znowu bylysmy jedymi nie-Azjatkami :-) Droga 50 km zajela nam 1h10min, ale znowu byla to dobra okazja na podziwianie urokow miejscowych wsi i pol.

Gdy dotarlysmy do hotelu calkowicie rozplynelysmy sie z zachwytu. Miejsce zostalo stworzone z pasja, a kazdy szczegol jest przemyslany i zaplanowany. Wnetrza hotelu zostaly zaprojektowane przez architekta z rodziny wlasciciela; kazdy pokoj jest inny, ale kazdy jest piekny. Wystroj przypomina styl sklepow Almi Decor. Wszystko bardzo wysokiej jakosci. W naszej lazience jest wanna z masazem i kabina prysznicowa, a na scianach tak piekne kafle, ze moglabym tylko marzyc o takiej lazience we wlasnym domu w przyszlosci.

Jest tez basem otoczony piekna roslinnoscia. Oczywiscie na dzien dobry skorzystalysmy z tego dobytku i przez dobre poltorej godziny zazywalysmy kapieli w wodzie i sloncu. A zeby jeszcze dodac do tego obarazka "wisienke" powiem, ze zamowilysmy sobie koktajle owocowe. Oj, jestesmy zepsute ;-)

A gdy juz uznalysmy, ze czas cos zjesc, przenioslysmy sie do czesci restauracyjnej (tez na siwezym powietrzu) i zamowilysmy takie pysznosci, ze mialysmy ochote krzyczec ze szczescia!

Ale zeby nie bylo, ze tylko sie obijamy i robimy nic, postanowilysmy udac sie na rekonesans..... Na rowerach! To dopiero byla zabawa. Oczywiscie tylko dla mnie, bo Marta, od 3 lat mieszkajaca w Amsterdamie nie widzi w tym nic niecodziennego ;-) Jechalysmy wiec, starajac sie trzymac odpowiedniej strony ulicy i usilujac nie wpasc do rowu odmachujac miejscowym dzieciom (tu mowie za siebie). Dojechalysmy do parku historycznego, ktory nas tutaj przywiodl. Pocalowalysmy klamke, a wlasciwie szlaban, ale tak i tak nie planowalysmy dzisiaj zwiedzania. To zrobimy jutro. Pojezdzilysmy jeszcze na rowerach, wpadlysmy do mnichow buddyjskich - chlopcy sie ucieszyli na nasz widok, ale ja sie zawstydzilam, bo bylam w szortach, a nasza tajska przewodniczka mowila, ze trzeba sie odpowiednio (zakryte nogi i ramiona) ubierac do miejsc buddyjskich, zeby mnichow nie kusic i nie sprowadzac ich mysli na manowce.... Wiec wskoczylam na rower i pognalam dalej ;-) Jutro pojde juz dobrze owinieta :-)

Poniewaz nie jadlysmy juz nic od kilku godzin, czas najwyzszy udac sie na uczte.

Dobrego weekendu :-)

SUKHOTHAI day 1 remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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in SHORT:

• the hotel looked like its best days were a long time ago (by the way: it was one of the BEST ones in town!) - haha, and considering the fact that we have not seen ANY white people that whole day, it probably explains why they didnt speak english or be very service-mided either

• the laundry we handed in was not ready on time
• despite the fact we double checked a few times with them!
• - haha, not only was it not ready yesterday evening
• ''laundri no'' - as we heard
• , but not even this morning - when we FINALLY received it - after Olga explained it to them again and again - but it was still wet...

• we kept on wandering for miles and miles loking for (safe) food in the morning - with no luck

• they tried to cheat us at the hotel - the waiter was writing the bill by hand and increased all the prices/calculated more dishes than we ate/added it all up using a VERY creative accounting... haha, but he chose wrong guests to try this with

• we risked our lives - at all crossings
• itr's left-hand traffic here - and all the cars/motorbikes come from unexpected directions - and seemed to were all trying to kill us
• later a cut ending of an electrical (WET!) cable fell on me from a mast... how handy!
  

that whole day was strange and we were MORE THAN HAPPY to leave this silly town today... haha, but it was still a funny day yesterday . Haha and im SURE we will enjoy the rest of Thailand more now

anyways... in the evening we had to cheer ourselves up with coctails at the hotel bar

FYI
haha. we actually started speaking an adjusted version of English just for the Thai people . haha: as litle vocabulary use as possible, clearly non-English sounding RRRR, repeating everything loud and clear.
today i actually said: "my frrrriend orrrrderrrr 2 juice forrrr us''....
And in the morning Olga was convincing the receptionist at he hotel: "i want my laundri in my rrrroom, now, please''

some more pics of yesterday:

• *****************************

OLGA'S PART
Nie sposob nie dopisac komentarza do tego, co dzialo sie w Phitsanulok po naszym wyjsciu z kafejki internetowej. Musze na wstepie powiedziec, ze z radoscia opuszczalysmy to miasto, bo zmeczylo nas psychicznie. Okazalo sie, ze z wyjatkiem jednej swiatyni i pieknego posagu Buddy nie ma tam nic, kompletnie nic. Najpierw polowalysmy na lunch dobre dwie godziny, bo oprocz smierdzacych i odpychajacych barow ulicznych, nie bylo restauracji. Ostatecznie trafilysmy do "food court" w centrum handlowym. Potem bladzilysmy, zeby trafic do hotelu. Spacer w upale, zaraz po godzinnej ulewie, kiedy powietrze jest bardzo wilgotne, nie jest najprzyjemniejsza forma wysilku fizycznego. Jesli jeszcze dodamy do tego lewostronny ruch uliczny, powodujacy absolutna dezorientacje przy przechodzeniu przez jezdnie i brak przejsc dla pieszych, szczekajacego psa, ktory zmusza do wyboru czy zostac zagryzionym czy przejechanym przez motocykliste, bedziemy miec jasny obraz spaceru, ktory jest walka o przetrwanie.... Mialysmy wiec nadzieje, ze wieczor bedzie relaksujacy i niezwykle przyjemny. Marta znalazla opis restauracji polecanej przez przewodnik Lonely Planet, ktory przyprawil nas o marsz kiszek, wiec mimo zmeczenia (poranna pobudka o 3:30) wyruszylysmy na kolejny spacer po jedzenie ;-) I o dziwo, pomimo mylacej mapy, znalazlysmy upragniona restauracje, ktora byla...... zamknieta. Cholera jasna! Wiec wrocilysmy do hotelu, zrezygnowane i zle. Na pocieszenie zafundowalysmy sobie pyszne drinki Mai - Tai i tak jakos zrobilysmy sie juz spokojniejsze i szczesliwsze. I udalo sie nam takze zamowic jedzenie (Marcie udalo sie zamowic nawet tone jedzenia ;-) ) i spozyc je przy akompaniamencie zespolu tajow spiewajacych przeboje The Beatles. I juz wydawalo sie, ze wszystko jest na dobrej drodze, by Phitsanulok zdobyl od nas punkty, ale kelner pozbawil nas nadziei przy wystawieniu rachunku... Pan liczyl tak na oko; dodal kilka dan do listy zamowien, dodal kilkadziesiat pieniazkow na kazdym daniu i jeszcze rabnal sie przy dodawaniu (nie jestem pewna czy w ogole opanowal te umiejetnosc z zakresu matematyki). Ale Marta ma kalkulator w oczach i spokojnie aczkolwiek stanowczo powiedziala Panu jaki ma byc rachunek. Oj, Pan Kelner byla bardzo zawiedziony....
Hitem hotelu w Phitsanulok byla usluga prania. Napis na karcie zlecenia prania widniala informacja: jesli oddasz pranie do godziny 11:00 czyste rzeczy otrzymasz jeszcze tego samego dnia. Potwierdzila to takze Pani w recepcji. Niestety wieczorem okazalo sie, ze pranie nie jest jeszcze gotowe (powtarzajac za recepcjonistka "landri no") i ze bedzie nastepnego dnia. I bylo. Jeszcze wilgotne. No ale skoro gosc sie upiera, ze chce juz odzyskac swoje pranie, to prosze. Dostaje takie jakie jest w danej chwili.

I to chyba byloby na tyle na tej scianie placzu. Cieszymy sie, ze Phitsanulok juz za nami. Aby dostrzegac zawsze "szklanke do polowy pelna", uznalysmy, ze wizyta w tym miescie byla nam potrezbna, aby: a) poznac inne oblicze tajlandii; b) docenic to co widzialysmy i zobaczymy, a takze cieszyc sie z wygodnych hoteli, w ktorych mozemy bywac.

PHITSANULOK part 2 remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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after that temple we got hungry (haha, what else is new )) and went looking for some sort of restaurant... hmhm... in VAIN for about 2h (!!!). That is because Phitsanulok is a provincial town (for the ones who have joined me in India: I think it will be enough if I tell you it was like Jaipur... - if less crowded, and with WAY nicer people). People are indeed nice and everyone is constantly smiling at you. We even passed by a local market - where they were selling ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING-looking food... totalyl different from the food we've been eating so far (often from the street stalls as well - but never as bad!!!). haha, we've also seen some meat hanging outside in the 40 degrees... how handy...

haha... actually... today it is clearly the two of US who are THE most important tourist attraction of this town... haha. everywhere we go we're drawing a lot of attention, women, men, and children stop whetever they've been doing just to look at us . haha, there's been greeting us, clapping for applause, waving, bending in front of us, etc etc
that is because there seem to be very few tourists here.. ACTUALLY: I have only seen 3 (THREE) non-locals today - including all the people we've seen the domestic airport in Bangkok.

hmhm... one of those 3 foreigners was this old/fat/ugly American guy at the airport who was calling his wife from the airport, from a public phone. He was accompanied by a VERY young Thai girl (haha, and I do NOT think it was his guide )). He phoned his wife to tell her he loved her, and that he was calling from a mobile phone of someone who was nice enough to let him use it.... RIIIIGHT...

anyway: even on our flight we were THE only 2 tourists on the plane

now we're content - after having (accidentally) found a shopping mall where there was a food court

seems that one REALLY needs a lonely plant to find ANY restaurant over here...

• ************************************************

OLGA'S PART

Jestesmy w Phitsanulok, miescie oddalonym od Bangkoku o blisko 400 km. Wstalysmy o 3:30 nad ranem, zeby zdazyc na samolot o 6:00. Od rana jest niewatpliwie bardzo egztycznie - na lotnisku oprocz nas byly tylko 3 inne biale osoby, w samolocie tylko my - pozostali pasazerowie to lokalna ludnosc. W Phitsanulok sa dwie atrakcje - swiatynia Wat Yai oraz my. Budzimy entuzjazm wsrod miejscowych - pozdrawiaja nas, klaszcza, nawet salutuja! Ewidentnie odwracaja glowy na nasz widok. To, co nas tutaj przywiodlo to posag Buddy w swiatyni Wat Yai - jest to drugi co do waznosci posag Buddy w Tajlandii, zaraz po Szmaragdowym Buddzie z Bangkoku. Faktycznie robi wrazenie - ma 5 m wysokosci, jest wykonany z brazu i pokryty zlotem. Pieknie wyeksponowany na tle czarnych murow w zlote ornamenty i podobnie zdobionego sufitu w kolorze bordo.

Samo miasto nie poraza, jest bardzo prowincjonalne i specyficzne. Nieco brudne i niechlujne. Ale niezmiennie ludzie sa uroczy.

Idziemy zwiedzac dalej, przed nami muzeum poswiecone codziennemu zyciu Tajow. Zobaczymy takze miejsce, gdzie odlewa sie posagi Buddy.

Milego dnia :-)

dzis dodalysmy wreszcie zdjecia - takze przy postach dni poprzednich - przewincie na dol

PICTURES - PHITSANULOK & waking up at 3.30am remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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we r both alive though !!!

but back to what we did today... it was all about the WW2 and the allied prisoners of war who had to work on the construction of the thailand-burma railway. we went to the war museum and a cemetary where they burried the ones who died. We also went to see the before-mentioned (in)famous Bridge on River Kwai in Kanchanaburi

after lunch (yes, we continue on eating CONSTANTLY!!!!!) we went to Nakhom Pathom - where there was the highest buddhist monument in the world - namely a 130m high sacred building where the ashes of Buddha were kept

this is when we said goodbye to our Dutch tour group & our great guide

we're back in Bangkok now - where we got upgraded at our hotel which is nice

we're now heading for some nice dinner [haha, since we havent been eating for the whole 2h )]

BY THE WAY
it's supposed to be monsoon season.... hmhm... maybe they havent informed the SEASON itself about it, because so far it has not been raining, YAY [knock on wood!]

• **************************

OLGA'S PART

Dzien dobry:-)

Jesli wczoraj napisalam,ze masaz tajski to prawdziwy relaks i przyjemnosc, spiesze doniesc, ze to nieprawda!!!! Po wczorajszej sesji internetowej wybralysmy sie na tradycyhny masaz tajski wedlug szkoly Wat Po. I mozna nazwac cudem fakt, ze przezylysmy. Okazalo sie, ze kazda z nas moze byc kobieta-guma i ze jestesmy w stanie wygiac sie we wszelkich mozliwych kierunkach naraz. Masaz trwal poltorej godziny, co oznaczalo blaganie w myslach o przetrwanie przez prawie 90 minut (bo pierwsze 2-3 minuty byly przyjemne). No ale to juz za nami i chyba przez najblizsze dni na ten rodzaj masazu juz sie nie zdecydujemy....

W tej chwili jestesmy ponownie w Bangkoku, doktorego dotarlysmy ok. godziny temu. Za nami wizyta w muzeum JEATHposiwconemu wiezniom wojennym, ktorzy budowalimost na rzeceKwai i kolej smierci, nastepnie spacer po samym moscie, pyszny lunch w lokalnej "restauracji", po czym wizyta w Nakhom Pathon-miejscu gdzie znajduje sie najwyzsza budowla buddyjska w Tajlandii oraz 67 posagow Buddy w roznych pozycjach (wszystkich jakie moga wystepowac w swietych pismach).

Przed nami kolacja, pewnie jakis spacer i marsz do lozka, bo musimy wstac o 3:30, aby na godz.5:00 dotrzec na lotnisko, skad mamy samolot do Phitsanoulok.

Pogoda piekna-pelne slonce, chociaz dzisiaj jest duza wilgotnosc co momentami daje sie we znaki.

Jestesmy zachwycone, zwiedzamy, probujemy jak najwiecej lokalnej kuchni iprzy tym wszystkim jeszcze odpoczywamy. Zyc, nie umierac!

Usciski dla wszystkich!

The Bridge on RIVER KWAI remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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then we went to the Khao Bin cave - with lots of stalagmites/stalactites. Which WAS fun 2 c, bu the fact that it was probably 38 degrees inside combioned with lack of oxygen and having 2 bend all the time was a bit tough

after the cave we went to the JUNGLE on a long tail boat . yay

we've been travelling with a group of 9 ppl (all Dutch) + guide for the last 2 days. we all took a long-tail boat (very fast) to our hotel - Jungle Rafts.

We got our own little bungalow (all made of banboo) on a raft on theriver Kwai. All the rafts with houses are bound together and connected with a wooden deck. There was no electricity - with oil lamps all over the place. The room was beautiful - everything made of bamboo, we had our own little bathroom/toilet and there were mosquito nets above our beds. Really pretty

It was SO much fun to swim in the river. Or should i say float - since the whole fun was to go to one enfd of the rafts,jump into the water and go down with the current (REALLY FAST!) along the hotel. For about 300m or so. And then climb up the lastraft, and run back to the other end , yay

we also visited the Mon tribe village - saw their houses on poles, took some pickies with their elephants

then, to add up to the relazing atmosphere, we had a Thai masage - with the sound of the river, beetles & birds in the background

afterwards we had delicious dinner and drinks and layed in the hammocks to relax

it was a great day

today we started the day off by feeding an elephant which was bathing in the river . sooo coool

later on, after the long-tail boat ride back to the jetty, we drive to the Erawan National park. where we had to climb for 2h to see a whole sequence of waterfalls. There were 7 tiers of them.

We could choose by ourselves to which one we want to go, but we decided to go all the way to the top- to see & bathe in the best one of them, the 7th . it was abit of climb - sometimes we had to take the shoes off to walk through th water of the other waterfalls. but when we got to the top it was amazing... The crystal clear blue waters where we swam together with little fishies - which would pinch us a bit (no, not bite, they wer eno piranhas )

walking down was a bit tough too - as there was no clear path - we had to walk between the roots and stones

after the waterfalls we went on the (in)famous Thailand-Burma railway which was buildby the prisoners of war during WW2. The ride took 1h and we went through the (in)famous bridge on the river Kwai (form the movie)

it was great to see the countryside as well

we're now in Kanchanaburi, at a resort on an island in the middle of the river Kwai. our hotel room opens straight ionto the river - and the views are amazing

• ********************************************

OLGA'S PART

Dzien dobry, to znowu my :-) Zniknelysmy na chwile, zeby odkryc uroki dzungli. Jestesmy na 3-dniowej wycieczce z grupa 7 Holendrow i tajska przewodniczka
Spedzilysmy wieczor i noc w niezwyklym miejscu - hotelu na tratwach na rzecze Kwai, gdzie nie ma elektrycznosci, gdzie slychac szum rzeki, a po zapadnieciu zmroki odglosy ptakow. Za prysznic sluzy kapiel w rzece - wskakuje sie na jednym koncu hotelu, plynie z wartkim nurtem rzeki i wychodzi z wody na drugim koncu hotelu. I tak w kolko. Oprocz tego odwiedzilysmy prymitywna wioske plemienia Mon, w ktotej oprocz ludzi mieszkaja 3 slonie. Wieczorem oddalysmy sie przyjemnosci masazu tajskiego - absolutnie fantastyczny relaks. Na koniec, czas spedzony w hamaku na werandzie....... Dzisiaj rano, po przebudzeniu, znowu wskoczylam do rzeki (poranny prysznic). A potem nakarmilysmy slonia, ktory wpadl na poranna kapiel na brzeg "naszej" rzeki.

Dzisiejszy dzien byl pelen niezapomnianych wrazen - widzialysmy cudy tego swiata - wodospady w Narodowym Parku przyrody Erawan. Jest "zespol" 7 wodospadow. spacer do najwyzszego zabiera ok. 2 godziny, kosztuje troche wysilku, ale kapiel pod wodospadem,w sloncu, w otoczeniu dzikiej roslinnosci jest tego warta. Obrazek jak z filmu przedstawiajacego raj!!!! Kolejna "atrakcja" to przejazd koleja smierci (slynny most na rzecze Kwai). Na szczescie bylo to cos wiecej niz podroz pociagiem z jednego konca mostu na drugi, trwala ponad godzine i moglysmy podziwiac uroki tajskiej wsi ;-)

Teraz jestesmy w Kanchanaburi, w kolejnym hotelu przy rzece. Okna naszego pokoju wychodza na rzeke Kwai. Tutaj juz biore regularny prysznic i nie bawie sie dziewczynke z buszu ;-) Przed nami kolejny masaz. Acha, czy wspomnialam o licznych posilkach kazdego dnia? Oj, nie odmawiamy sobie tej (najwiekszej) przyjemnosci jedzenia i probowania kolejnych dan kuchni tajskiej.

Pogoda jak dzwon, pelne slonce, deszczu na razie nie bylo.

Jest cudnie. Koniec kropka.

A kto czytal, ten (nie)traba, ha ha ha.

IN THE JUNGLE remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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we first went 2 the Wat Phra Keo - the temple with the most important buddga imagie in Thailand - the Emerald Buddha (which was in fact made of Jade ). The temple complex was HUGE and took us a while to explore. In the ??? 37 degree hear and full SUN. it was amazing, full of decoration everywhere. There was a golden Chedi = which is sort of a huge spire witha piece of Buddha's bone in it

at the Wat Phra Keo

Then we wento to the king's palaces. And form there to the Wat Pho = temple of the reclining buddha. It was a 49m long figure of a lying Buddha just before he died (& achieved nirvana). it was HUUUUGE, all covered in gold, with Buddha's feet covered with mother of pearl and full of symbols etc

We later took another ferry to the other side of the river and visited Wat Arun - with a huge 30-something m phrang (spire) - which was VERY difficult to climb and even harder to crawl down along

it was all marvelous and we didn't even know where to LOOK even - SO many details, everything in gold etc

haha, of course we iound enough time 2 munch on all the goodies - had a great breakast at the hotel - with lots of dishes (no, no bread or stuff like that!!!) and fruit, later on some soup, more fruit, many small street-dishes.

unfortunately no time for uploading pickies yet

and tomorrow we're going to the jungle - and will b sleeping in a resort on rafts - with no electricity => and thus: no INTERNET - so there will b no posts

• ************************************

OLGA'S PART:

To dopiero drugi dzien w Bangkoku, a my wycin\snelysmy z tego pobytu mozliwie najwiecej. Zobaczylysmy 3 najwazniejsze kompleksy swiatynne robiace niezapomniane wrazenie - pelne kolorow, ornamentow, zlota. Trudno to wszystko ogarnac. Pogoda nam dopisuje, dzisiaj przez kilka godzin bylo pelne slonce i temp. ok. 37 st. Deszczu brak, na szczescie. Oczywiscie oprocz zwiedzania "punktow obowiazkowych", nie odmowilysmy sobie dalszej eksploracji smakow tajskich. Mleko kokosowe i swieze ananasy to juz punkty stale naszego menu.

Jutro o swicie - chwile po godz. 6:00, wyruszamy na trzydniowa wycieczke- m.in. na rzeke Kwai, gdzie spedzimy noc w hotelu na tratwach.... Odezwiemy sie po powrocie, bo przez ten czas bedziemy zapewne bez dostepu do internetu. A poza tym.... damy troche za soba zatesknic :-) :-) :-)

Usciski,

O.

BANGKOK day 2 remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Bangkok was great, so is our hotel. NOTHING to compare with India. A 4-star hotel actually IS a 4-star one. really nice, great pool, all perfect

haha and yes, Chrissie, we have already eaten 7 meals today - despite the fact it was only half a day here!!! YAY
among others:glass noodles salad, papaya salad with crab, some noodles with seafod, different kinds of fruit, sundried marinated pork, chicken in some funny leaves etc

all is great and under control

we went to China town by tuk-tuk - which was a blast. So many people selling all kinds o ffunny stuff
took some pickies but wont have time 2 upload 2nite
we're tired after the long flight and will b going 2 sleep soon - we've just swam in the pool and got even more tired so...

some soup (?) & green papaya salad

that's all 4 day

M.

• *************************************************

OLGA'S PART:

po pewnych przygodach na lotnisku w Bangkoku dotyczacej (nie)wydania mi wizy 15-dniowej na pobyt 16-dniowy, wynegocjowaniu z KLM wystawienia mi fikcyjnego biletu na wczesniejszy powrot do Polski (uwaga: wracam tak jak zaplanowano: wylot z Bgk 7.10), udalo mi sie otrzymac legalne pozwolenie na pobyt w Tajlandii. Przy wylocie bedzie mnie to kosztowalo dodatkowe 10 EURO, ale najwazniejsze, ze jest juz wszystko pod kontrola.

Chcac nadrobic stracony na lotnisku czas, udalysmy sie tuk tukiem do Chinatown gdzie panowal absolutny zgielk, szal kolorow, zapachow i smakow. Robi wrazenie. Udalo sie nam takze sprobowac juz 7 roznych miejscowych specjalow, w tym cos potwornie ostrego, co pozwolilo przeczyscic skutecznie gorne drogi oddechowe.

Zrobilysmy duzy spacer po miescie, wdychajac powietrze, w ktorym mozna zawiesic siekiere i w sklad ktorego wchodza m.in.: rozne metale ciezkie, wilgoc, wszelakie zapachy spozywcze itp.

Na koniec przyjeny akcent - relaksujaca kapile w hotelowym basenem pod pachnacymi oleandrami.

Poniewaz zmeczenie daje o sobie znac, niebawem idziemy spac, by jutro od rana odkrywac uroki miasta. Mam nadzieje, ze juz bez przygod....

Zdjecia pewnie od jutra...

Usciski,

O.

1 night in BANGKOK remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We have bought our Machu Picchu train tickets (by the way: of course they messed up our booking - which I had made on the internet AGES before - but they re-booked us for another train in the end)

Cuzco by night:

In the evening we went to the (according the Lonely Planet) THE best place for eating guinea pigs…

LLAMA LLAMA GUINEA PIGS remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The planned route is:

• Bangkok with it's important sights of course

• WESTERN THAILAND:
  
  • salt pans Samut Sakhon, Khao Bin caves
  • floating market Damnoen Saduak
  • the jungle - we'll stay on the rafts on the river (with hammocks and no electricity) & visit a Mon tribe
  • Kanchanaburi - together with the (in)famous bridge on the River Kwai (from the movie) - built by the allied prisoners of war - together with the so-called Death-Railway
  • Erawan waterfalls and the national park
  • Nakhom Pathon

• CENTRAL PLAINS:
  • Phitsanulok
  • Sukhothai - together with the Historical Park
  • Ayutthaya

• NORTHERN THAILAND:
  • Chiang Mai with its hundreds of temples

• SOUTHERN GULF OF THAILAND:
  • Ko Samui (Samui Island) - a bounty island with coconut palms and white sandy beaches - to rest for a few days before getting back to Europe

THAILAND TRIP PLAN remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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It was just like a totally empty city centre - which seemed like no real PEOPLE were spending their time there… It was even hard to find a decent restaurant, so finally we decided to take a cab all the way back to Miraflores where we came from - and to go to the shopping mall by the ocean (where we went the night before) - as there were plenty of nice small restaurants.

And yes… there we have overdosed on seafood… It was INSANE. I ordered a starter + main course. the starter was a crab with parmesan and white wine - from the over, I thought I would get a lousy little crabby… I was clearly wrong, since when my plate came it turned out to be 2 huge crabs + mussels. All looked lovely, and tasted even better. but was by NO MEANS what my idea of an APPETIZER was - I was absolutely full after eating that,. Even though Chris helped me a bit.

Chrisse's stuffed avocado:

And then our MAIN courses am… Paellas….

Now.. you might think a paella is rice + some seafood… Clearly in Lima they got it wrong - since it was MOUNTAINS of seafood + a tiny bit of rice. NOT that we would complain. it was all delicious, full of lobsters, mussels, squid, clams, prawns, octopus etc etc. LOTS of it all… And of course we couldn’t squeeze all that in… haha, then a waiter came, and he was begging us to let him take the lobsters back to the kitchen, so they could break the claws for us there… And we were so full we weren't sure we would even manage to eat them. Eventually, we agreed to break the claws ourselves and attempted to eat it all...
It was just TOO MUCH of great seafood! Enough for 3 meals actually!

After that it was tieme to go to the airport… The holiday is officially OVER :-( :'-(

and here;s THE last pickie from Peru... a little girl which was flying with her parents with us back to Amsterdam... together with her pet-guinea-pig . She was so cute, I had to ask the parents if I could take a pic of her:

LLAMA LLAMA LAST DAY IN PERU & OVERDOSIS ON SEAFOOD remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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It's almost the end of our trip . tomorrow night flying back home

We first went to our hotel - El Patio. he patio was nice indeed - with lots of flowers and little birds in cages. But the room was really small, and the bed even smaller. It was supposed to be a double room, but it looked more like a single :-S

here's some pickies of the hotel:

After checking in we took a cab to the Barranco district of Lima - which was supposed to be relatively safe (unlike other parts of the city - especially after dark!). We first went for lunch to La Rustica - restaurant recommended by a friend (thanks Simon!).

It was buffet with dishes from all over Peru, all you can eat. Needless to say, we got stuffed like turkeys (what else is new!).

Later on we walked around Barranco

the ocean:

Later on we went to another district - Miraflores - where our hotel was located, It was so pretty - by the ocean.

later on, at sunset, some paragliders started flying by:

we had some drinks at the modern shopping mall by the ocean:

after that we went to one of the best restaurants in Lima - one built on it's own pier by the ocean - where we overdosed on seafood - it was delicious:

LLAMA LLAMA LIMA remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Salineras, view on the pans form above:

Salineras:

The stream is directed by a complicated network of canals through a system of pans (i.e. rectangle-shaped ''baths'', of the size of 3x4m each (more less).
When I said the stream was salty, I meant REALLY SALTY. So salty, that in no time we were both covered in a white salt layer - together with our cameras and clothes. Whatever you touched, was salty - I felt like a salty-Midas-king .

the salty stream:

the pans:

salt:

Haha, that was actually paradise for me (ones of you who know me well KNOW, that I have a bit of a salt-addiction ).
Little crystals of salt were to be found everywhere. It was quite hard to walk through the pans - only along the very narrow paths. It all looked very cool. On some pans, the READY ones, there were workers who were scratching the white salt layer off - until the red soil would show.
They told us that from each pan, 20-30 kg of pure salt could be obtained every 2 weeks. And there were 3000 pans which were still in use. Do your maths

After the Salineras, we went further on, through the town Maras to Moray. Moray was true Inca laboratory. Although it looked more like some aliens had made it

The Incas dug a system of terraces - concentric circles - getting smaller and smaller.

Due to a very special microclimate in that spot, they could achieve temperature differences of even 2-3 degrees C between different terraces (of 1-2m deep). They used this ''lab'' to test different types of crops - on how they would grown in various conditions.

It was VERY cool to look at, and VERY tiring to walk through. Walking down wasn't even that BAD. It was just difficult - as the steps between the terraces were of the Inca type = they were pieces of rock sticking out of the wall. Funny funny! But walking down was a PAIN! Especially that it was definitely above 25 degrees and the weather was really nice.

me in the middle:

After Moray we went back to Cuzco with our friend Milton

on the way:

Cuzco, Plaza de Armas:

at our hotel in Cuzco (los Marqueses):

LLAMA LLAMA SALT & LAB remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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On the basis of the guidebooks we calculated it should costs something like 40$ to go there by cab.
However, to our surprise: no taxi wanted to take us... They all kept saying it's too far and that we should go to the bus station. The whole time, there was this guy following us, who (we thought) wanted to take us on a tour or something like that. Since he was bothering us, we ignored him and continued looking for a cab. He heard however where we wanted to go.

And just when we lost the hope that we will manage to find any cab, he came again, and said he can take us to Ollantaytambo with his car. It was just a private guy with a private car. The guy (Milton as he told us later) was round (?) 50-60 (it was hard to say for us, since Peruvians tend to look older than they actually are because of the sun). He probably had nothing better to do, and driving was an easy job - for his age.
Finally, we asked him for the price of going to Ollantaytambo, staying there for the sights & going back. It was something like 25$ or so. haha, way less than we had thought!
btw: our friend Milton could only speak Spanish + aVERY few English words - t was so funny to communicate with him

There were some gorgeous views on the way - i.e. the snow-capped mountains.

5 min later we were on our way by his OPEL to the Ollantaytambo ruins.

The weather wasn't very nice (there was no sun whatsoever - everything looked grey). The ruins were high on a mountain. A lot of climbing was involved… and it was NOT easy at 4000m above sea level - despite the fact we have already gotten used to it a BIT. but we heard it actually tajkes 1.5 years until your body has adjusted...
haha, we kept on stopping for ''picnics'' every 5 min = lazy us

ruins:

Chris showing how he brought there all the rocks on his back (by the way: the parts sticking out of the rocks: are still unfinished, they are the remains of the ''handles'' that the Inkas used to move the huge rocks around):

Peruvian national flower:

After the sighs & lunch we went back to Cuzco with our fiend Milton . It's VERY handy to have a private driver! And this one was almost as cheap as the one we had in Delhi in India

When we arrived safely back in Cuzco, we asked Milton to pick us up from the hotel also the FOLLOWING day - as we wanted to go to Moray & Salineras - and there were no other (easy) ways of getting there other than by car .

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Then we walked back to Cuzco past the other 3 Inka ruins. First one was Pucha Pucchara. An Inka hunting lodge. Looked a bit like European castle ruins - with the only difference it was again the Inka stonework

After more walking we got to Quenko. It was a VERy cool ruin. It consisted of a HUGE rock (oprobably like 20m long and 10m wide).

It was carved by the Inka´s as well as erosion. It was full of big holes - looked like a lace.

It had caves underneath, a small amfitheatre and also a place for ritual offerings.

There was a zig-zag carved in the rock. It was THE coolest part of the ruin.

Inka priests used to pur llama blood into the zig-zag. It woudl flow down, and lower: split in 2. Depending on through which of the 2 zig-zag endings the blookd woudl flow out of first, they predicted whether it would be a good year for crops or not. Of course I wanted to try checking that as well - and poiured my water into the zig zag. And (of course) it showed the negative omen. haha, lucky it was not the llama blood i was checking it with

Chris was laughing his ass off when i also lost both my water bottles while climbing the rock. Thye both (one by one) fell out of the outside pockets of my bacpkack and it was a bit of an excercise to find them back in one of the deep holes of the rock

the last ruin was Sachsaywhoman (oir something close to that, sorry cant remember the spelling) - in any case u pronouce it SEXY WOMAN . It was a huge ruin. 3 zigzags of rock walls, 20m high, paralelly runnig for 600m. The ricks there were bigger than any pother rocks we have seen in these ruins before - some 20m high and a good 4m wide. The heavist rock is supposed to weigh 300tons!
The ruin is even visible on Google Earth. It was very beatuful. And also, there was a great view on Cuzco from the hill

after walking all those 11km and climbing different rocks/ruins we are quite tired

LLAMA LLAMA ROCKS remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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to our disappointment, our assigned seats on the train were just in between 2 windows - which were positioned in such a way we could see basically NOTHING form the seats. but (LUCKY BASTARDS WE ARE): i went to talk to the train guy to ask whether the train was full and whether we could change our seats. the train WAS full, but neverthekless he arranged us two other seats - since 2 people didnt show up. And these wre (oficially) THE BEST 2 seats of the whole train. It was namely the very first car of the train, and we had the front seats, facing the direction of the ride, with a huge window in front of us!!! needless to say: happy Marta - and again, LOTSIE pictures taken on the way. It was beaurtiful - with mountains everywhere - first we went up the montains above cuzco, and later descended into the Sacred Valley of the Inka´s

TRAIN RIDE:
switchbacks - on the way up from Cuzco:

and switchbacks again - this time to descend to the Inca valley:

the VISTADOME train (windows in the ceiling):

at a station, local woman were selling hats to the tourists form our train

snowy caps:

and it was about to get even better - since it was the Machu Picchu day. Machu Picchu is the lost city of teh Inka´s - one which was never found by the Spaniards when they invaded the country, but only re-discovered in 1912. It was absolutyely gorgeous - no wonder, since it´s one of the 7 winders of the world

the lost city is entrirely made of stone - the traditional Inka way with no mortar, with huge blocks of rock made to fit each other tightly. Amazing. All situated between the mountains, with snow- peaks on the horizon and clouds/mist above. Gorgeous, i dont think i can even explain that - only pictures might show SOME of the beauty we´ve seen

some PANORAMAS:

temple of The Sun:

a rock that the Inca's wanted to split (and did not finish) = they would put wood in the holes and saturate it with water, so it would split the rock

terracing:

llamas:

this is an IMAGE of the Huayna Picchu (mountain) the Incas carved in a rock:

the so-called SUN DIAL - which in fact it is not [i.e. it was not used for assesing the time]. Most sacred piece of rock at the Machu Picchu. The Incas used it for assesing the rainy/dry season (only on the summer solistice the sun would cast a certain shape of a shadow on the rock):

a lizard:

Machu Picchu - ruins of a house (the thingies sticking out of it were used to tie the roof to the house):

our guide:

The Condor Temple (condor image on the ground)

Condor temple:

The Air Temple:

llamas:

that's the road from Aguas Callientes - that we went up to through by bus:

Chris in the cave under the condor temple:

the only reconstructed roof at Machu Picchu:

and the weather was beautiful as well - must have been like 30 degrees in the sun. we were looking for shadow all the time

we stayed there the whole day, until our train back to Cuzco at 17.00. It was a very long (4h+) and cold journey (oh well, we got used to freezing in the evenings)

im hoping to be able to upload SOME pickie at least

LLAMA LLAMA MACHU PICCHU remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Each Sunday there´s a fmous market there - with the people from the highlands coming down to sell their produce and exchange it for other goods they cannot produce themselves. There´s also a huge artesania market where we stocked up on nice stuff. E.g. i got some (MORE) jewelerry which is gorgeous here and all hand made from natural stone/plants (beans, roots, coconuts, wood etc)

we spent there quite some time walking around. Of course we took some pickies of funny Peruvian people - ladies wearing their 5 skirts & funny ``backpacks`` which were in fact pieces of colorful fabric in which they would wrap whatever they were carrying on their back

guinea pig:

market:

coca saleswoman:

after the market we got our first collectivo (i.e. shared car) to the ruins in pisac. its a common thing in Peru that people share a taxi - it was funny. haha, i think we will stick to taxis anyway, but it was funny to try

getting up to the ruins involved climbing. and the biggest problem was not the fact that it was steep or goig up (as we have already gotten used to the altitude by now).

haha, it was so cool: it was actually at times very difficult to go up. We had to follow some arrows/paths. They were not always very clear. Ince we ended up on a VERY bad path up where we were basically rolling down with small stones. it was NOT easy to do with a 1.5kg SLR camera with zoomlens o my neck :-S. haha, end evil Chris instead of being supportive was taking pictures of me being stuck half way

and then we got to a funny staircase and a very narrow path. must have been like 0.5m wide, and it ended on one side with a cliff. so you could actuyally look down into the valley - hundreds of meters beow.

view form the top of the stairs:

Chris was laughing that it would b a bad death to go down, since you would first roll through a lot of cactuses before finally getting down

luckily we didnt fall. it was SO COOL to walk. Simon, for your sake, we did all the parts of the ruins .

Peruvian national flower:

oh yes. and we had a very ``funny`` taxi driver on the way back to Cuzco. The road was one long serpentine with very rapid turns all the time. And the crazy guy was going 90km/h at times. We had to hold on to the seats, and a few times it got ``funny`` when there woudl b dogs/cars/holes in the road popping up unexpectedly in front of us. funny ride...

thats all for today . we r tired after all the rock climbing

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our hotel is really nice

our first room:

our 2nd room:

We went to Koricancha (the Temple of the Sun) of the Inca´s.


img=http://lh5.google.com/marta.komorowska/Rm0x7KqLDoI/AAAAAAAABL4/8BWdPDzaiCQ/070519-125224-Marta%20Ixus%20%2840%29.JPG?imgmax=720]

There used to be the huge sacred sun-disc made totally of gold. Also, all the chambers of the temple were "wall-papered" with gold, there were real-size figurined of humans, llama´s, plants - everything in small detail up to the tiniest pieces of the ground. No wonder none of that survived the Spaniard´s invasion. They only didnt take the sun-disc - and the legend says its still hidden somewhere in the mountaiuns.
The whole city of Cuzco was built by the spaniards on the foundations of the Inca stonework. The inca´s didnt use mortar - they onlyu could cut the huge blocks of stone to fit each other so closely that theìr buildings were very firm. The Spaniard´s built their buildings on top of these foundations, and most of them collapsed during the hige earthquake in the 1650. And the Inca foundations remianed intact.

We walked around the city later on.

Cuzco, Plaza de Armas:

Went to the artsy-district of San Blas as well, and wandered around the whole day

The famous 12-angle stone

now ate a huge dinner (again) and are off back to the hotel now

LLAMA LLAMA CUZCO remains copyright of the author Camerowska, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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we had sort of a problem deciding on today´s post´s title. there were actually a few very close contestants running for the title-title. in random order that would be:

• LLAMA LLAMA TITICACA (which should actually be Titikhakha) - we found out during the trip that the way we woudl always pronounce the name of the lake was totally wrong. In the Quechua language Titi meant PUMA(very important animal for the Inca´s beliefs). So Titicaca the way we pronounce it usually means actually puma´s poo.... hmmm... The correct pronoounciation is Titikhakha - which means grey puma

• LLAMA LLAMA VOCA LOCO (crazy cow) - since at a certain moment we were chased by a crazy cow on the Taquille island. On a 1m narrow part which had stone 1m walls on both sides. It ran away from the oner and was angrilly galloping down the mountain. And when i say a COW i actually mean somethinh with big horns in the front which kicks all over the place with its back legs. Luckily we managed to jump up some large rock just before it passed by
  

sorry, the pic couldn't have been any clearer - I was running AWAY from the beast :

• LLAMA LLAMA PEE-POT - hahha, YES, for the first time since we were likje 2 yrs old we had to use one. IT WAS SO HILARIOUS. i cant stop laughing (crying rather!) when i think about it. This was while we were staying on the island Amantani for the night at a family house. They had an "out-house" toilet outside of their little house + yard. A yard which was locked at night. And yes, according to the Murphy`s law: of course that was JUST the time we each neded to go to the toilet.

• LLAMA LLAMA POTATO - since we had an overdosis of carbs in the last 2 days - in the form of a potato. At the family house where we were staying at on the Amantani island. Haha, no wonder. Since >Peru boasts over 3000 (three thousand!) types of potato that they grown, and 20 different ones on the small Amantani island. Evertyhing contained a potato. Potato in the soup, potato with ice (!), potato stew etc. Not that it wasn´t tasty (the quinoa - Peruvian grain- soup we had there was THE best ssoup of the stay so far), but it was just a bit too much of potato for 2 days.

anyways... back to the actual trip. On the 1st day we first went by boat from Puno to the islands mader by the Uros Indians of reeds.
Titicaca lake:

Uros Islands:

reeds:

it was SO COOL: they showed us how they make them too.



Everything was of reed - the island, the boatsm, the houses etc. Such a funny thing to see. It was also funny to walk on the islands on all the reeds

Puma (titi) boat - made of reeds of course:

Later on we went further on by boat to the Amantani island.

Where our group got split up between different families. Our family consisted of a woman + her 2 daughers (of +/- 15 - Nina & 4 - Lis).

Lis:

ur host-mom:

licence of our host-mom

Lis showing us her doll:

We still dont know where her husband was. Or the husrbands of all the other host-women for that matter. We played with the little daughter a bit. Gave them the gifts we brought (apples, oranghes, rice, milk, candles, matches, sunscreen).

our host-mom in the kitchen:

We had lunch. As said above, including the best soup. All served in clay bowls.

And potatos and those funny Ocha thingies (a root looking like a yellow/red carrot). The house of the family was actually pretty horrible. Like 100+ yrs in Europe at poor families. Toilet outside, no running water, no electricity. All was cooked an a wood oven. All dirty and very basic. I cant imagine how these ppl live there like that... Our room was nothing special but visibly better than everything else.

We had 4 beds in the room. VERY basic. will put here the pics whenever i can. it was very cold there too.

The yard in our host-family's house:

We got lots of MUÑA tea (some funny herb, the tea tastes a bit like mint tea but better). by the way. our family had a guinea pig (an alive one).

They (including the 4yr old girl) were laughing so much at us gringos chasing the thing in the kitchen to take a picture of it
The host-woman coudl actually speak spanish (hha, way more than we coudl at least) - as opposed to most people tyhere who usually only speak Quechua language

Amantani host-women:

Later on we climbed up the mountain on the island with our group.

There were 2 peaks - with 2 temples. We climbed the one with the Pacha Tata [father Earth] temple.

It was quite steep at times (i´d say 60 degrees angle). it was a 45min-1h climb. It might sound like not much, but at 3800-4100m above sea level even 5 steps can let you short of breath. Not to mention that climb. Our guide was explaining things to us as well. It was really interesting. And at the top we were rewarded with a great sinset over the snow-peaked mountains and the lake. Amazing views!

Pacha Tata temple:

no electricity in our room:

Later on we got dinner at home (yes, with more potatos!), and went for a DANCE with the whole group + the villagers. All of us gringos were dressed by the families in the traditional island clothing. Chris had a red poncho.

And i had 2 skirts (yes, now i know what makes these women look so hmhm BIG - haha the 2 skirts immediately give you an impression of great child-bearing hips ). Both skirts were very thick and woolen. With (surprisingly) the underneath skirt being nicely embroided than the top one). + a funny blouse and a black shawl. So funny.
I couldnt even breathe in that (the woman tied a wide belt around my waist - REALLY tight). And trghen the dance began. It was acommpanied by the katzen-musik band "playing" on the drums and the funny south-american flutes. And then we had to dance with the villagers. Sooo funny. And so exhausting!

After the dance we went home. The way back home was funny (no electricity, and all a steep walk up along a labirynth of paths). IT WAS SOOOOO COOOLLLLLDDDD at the house. It was below zero that night (the guide said the water was freezing). ANd the window above my bed wa sbit broken and the courtain was moving in the wind... NICCCEE. I couldnt sleep at all first as i was waiting for that moment when you get a bit warmer and u fall asleep. Which never came. It must have been no more than 5 degrees in the room.

anyways. we still woke up next morning so that was a good sign.

The host families went down to the boaths to say goodbye to us:

after breakfast we went by boat to the Taquille island.

Amore developed one (a bit) but equally dirty. We saw some humming birds (collibris) on the eucalyptus trees as well. We climbed again (yes, again short of breath) - all the way to the other end of the island - where we had to descend to the port along 530+ stone steps (and no, that was not easy). It had really nice terracing and views over the lake.

Humming bird:

view on the Amantani island from Taquile:

men from the Taquile island:

this little girl got baloons from people form our group

Taquile:

After the lake trip we took a taxi (40 min) outside of Puno and went to Sillustani - an Inca burrial place - with burrial towers. It was a very nice plac, especially that we were the only people THERE actually. And we caught another great sunset. The views were amazing again

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traditionally-dressed woman:

anyways
now just booked a trippie 2 the titicaca lake islande for 2 days - leaving early tomorrow (dont expect any posts then, theres no ELECTRICITY on the slands, not to mention internet). we`ll b sleeping at people´s home on the Amantani island - and i dont even think there will b a bathroom there, so...

first we will go to the Uros islands made of reed - made and inhabited by the Uros indians. then we´ll go the Amantani island, see some Aymara-culture ruins, spend the night there (after going to some PARTY with all the villagers and will b dressed up in tradtional Amantani gear ), then next day we´ll go to the Taquille island

The Titicaca lake itself is the highest located navigable body of water on Earth

we r now at 3800m above sea level. so far so good, i feel great (myaybe thanks to the anti-altitude sickness drugs, Chris cant breathe every now and then, but otrher than that we`re fine)

our hotel in Puno:

ok, no we`ll go buy some stuff to give the to the family we will b staying at (like candles, some fruit etc)

(Mel, your pickie with me chewing on the guinea-pig leggie is coming, we just coulnt upload them, internet so slooow)

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