ANY AND ANA, BANGKOK/KO SAMET, THAILAND. 6th FEB 2014.

Thanks Thai airways for the great journey!

So from the mid teens of Kathmandu, we landed in Bangkok late afternoon in high humidity and approx 30C. I was drenched before we got to the terminal building!

This impromptu stop was a result of flight amendments not quite matching up, so we now have 6 days in Thailand before the onward flight to Hanoi. As we will be coming back this way we decided to stop the night just outside Bangkok and head somewhere we will not be coming back to.

We picked the sunny island of Ko Samet a few hours away from Bangkok down the East coast, but first things first, let's get to the hotel! Quick tube journey followed by the still pristine and incredibly easy/efficient sky train (BTS) took us out to Ekkamai.

Elderly, pregnant and disabled people make way! Sign on the BTS skytrain!

Checked in to our hotel and am suitably impressed, massive bed, good bathroom, located in a pretty cool part of town with interesting nightlife and a lively street scene. So a good start!

A quick turnaround and out for an evening meal to a very lively open air restaurant with some guy singing covers on a microphone somewhere out of sight.  Fish tanks bubbling away with an array of fish waiting to be fresh seafood, feeling pretty good right now, roll on the beer and food. Ana ordered a soup and I went for a fish curry in a banana leaf, my leaf looked suspiciously like tin foil but when I unravelled the food mountain all was forgiven, great food but sooo much chilli! Now have the chilli sweats as well as the hot and humid sweats- a bit of a mess!

Cool place, warm evening and dodgey karaoke singer, what more could you want?

Soup arrived on a burner, doesnt need it as there is enough chilli in here to warm an eskimo's chilli bits!

Fish curry wrapped in a 'banana leaf'.

Chilled out, had a couple of beers and generally enjoyed the warm evening and relaxed atmosphere and the end to a good leg of our journey, back to Lodge 61 for some well earned rest.

Up to a hotel Thai breakfast the next morning, chilli noodles and chicken and rice, toast and anything else on offer washed down with the best coffee I have had in 2 months.  Sorted our gear  and suitably refreshed checked out and off to the bus station to carry on to Ko Samet...

Buses that go the longer distances here in Thailand are pretty cool and most importantly are suitably sized for our gigantic western bums! Also they give you a bottle of water in the shape of a bus! nice touch Thailand :)

I am on a bus in a beautiful area of Thailand and this is the photo I took...sorry.

We arrived at Ban Phe pier after a comfy couple of hours on the bus and boarded our ferry to Ko Samet. It was great to be out at sea and only 30mins on the boat and we arrived on the island to be greeted by a giant mermaid type beast...scary stuff!

Ready for the voyage.

Welcome to Ko Samet...argh, I want to go back. It looks like even the statues are trying to sell you tat.

Beach Ana

I got a lovely bunch of coconuts...

Found our hotel for the next 3 nights and it was pretty ok considering the rubbish reviews online. checked out the beach and searched up the main drag for a tasty dinner. The island itself is pretty small being only 7km long and 4km wide so things are pretty easy to get to.

Dinner was Thai green curry and pad Thai (when in Rome!) and all delicious :) We'd planned to head to the beach the next day so with a lazy couple of days in mind we thought the island would be a good place to have our first run!

Up early-ish and PE kits on... only to see that it's started to rain! so we head out anyway and end up in some tropical rain storm which seemed to only last the 45 mins we ran for. Great to be running again and it was pretty tough given we'd only been a short distance it was hot and humid and we were running through rivers that were roads when we set out!

Sun arrives and we head for the beach armed with lotion and books. Andy jumped into the sea whilst I sat on the shore with my book and bag of bananas :) The day was spent doing what people do on a beach so in reality it was pretty dull but I'm told its called relaxing! (Andy: actually it's called burning)

Same again planned for the next day too but we had decided to explore the island a little more and would venture down the coast to another beach.  More good food, explored the beach at night with its fire shows and a drink before bed.

Another beach day but with a bit of exploring. took a bag of snacks and books and set up camp. We both went for a swim and enjoyed the cool clean waters that are on offer.

Beach selfie!

Back to our beach area for food

This was dinner, hmmm tasty.

We caught up on Skype with mum n dad Rotton. was great to catch up with them both And the WiFi held out long enough for a good chat.

We initially thought we'd spend 4 nights on the island but after the first two we thought we'd be better set in Bangkok so we packed our bags and headed back across to the mainland to catch our luxury bus back to Ekkamai.

Then the bus broke down... bus full of tourists and locals stranded on the side of the main roads into the city all unsure what's going to happen. Another bus passes us so we are all squeezed on there, no seat to start but no big deal and back in Bangkok in no time (well, an hour or so more...) and plans to head to the night food market for dinner ;)

The food market is a great experience, it's a street lined with little stalls either side pedalling their choice of 2 or 3 dishes for very little cash about a pound a plate.

The form is to take a wander and see what looks good, then head into any of the undercover seating areas near the stalls, at this point a representative from each stall will race across with their menu to be the first to snag you. You can order from as many different stalls and menus as you want and they will all charge you individually, sounds like chaos but is really fun and the food is great, see photos (just for you P) also the beer is pretty cheap too so I sampled a few more different types, I'm getting good at this and am ticking off a lot of beers to be honest they all taste great when it's this hot and they are this cold!

Ana has fallen in love with the old guy who ran one of the stalls and I think she wants to stay with him,  he is a really nice friendly smiley guy about 75 I would say but we agreed to come back to buy more food from him the next day and now are are experts on the system we can do it properly!

Ana flirting with her new holiday romance. 

Squid

Wantons 

Crispy belly pork :)

Mango and sticky rice! 

Andy is (coco) nutty about the food market refreshments :)

Back to the hotel for another great nights sleep only interrupted when our air conditioning unit exploded in the middle of the night, I think it finally gave up after being in full blast and freezing constantly for hours on end, it sort of made a grinding bang and spat ice across all across the floor!

On a side note the beds are starting to get a little silly in terms of size, in lodge 61 you could easy fit 3 full grown adults with plenty of space, bearing in mind the relatively diminutive size of the average Asian person and it just seems a little weird but I am not complaining!

Next day was set aside for 2 jobs, look for a netbook to make blogging and photo uploading easier and to replace Anas rucksack that let go on the Annapurna Circuit. We headed out and explored the amazing shopping malls in Ekkamai, really quite a surreal experience, all of the shops in this region are connected by a Skywalk, a pedestrian walkway sandwiched between the overhead train track and the road underneath, a great idea as the road is not easy to cross. In this region the Skywalk connects lots of individual huge malls without having to cross a road and which limiting your time outside of the precious airconditioning.

The first mall was Japanese themed, it didn't just have Japanese products, the whole 6 storey building was designed outside and in with Japanese influence and Japanese food courts little Zen gardens and odd little touches such as the giant robot and lucky cat outside.

Ana's hoping some of the lucky cat charm rubs off on Andy!

We trekked around 3 or 4 of these and found a rucksack that Ana liked but no netbooks, apparently this is basically too old tech to buy...I even got laughed at asking for one in one store!

We also visited the mall made for people who are much richer than us, 5 floors dedicated to prada Gucci and brands premium enough that I have never heard of, all a little odd when you head back outside to see the everyday Thai people going about their business.

Foodstall from the Skywalk, looks tasty

Closer up it looks more like a bushtucker trial.

These aren't part of the bushtucker trial.

On that note, you will probably be aware of the tensions in Thailand right now and the protests that are mainly focused I'm Bangkok, we did endeavour to steer clear of the area but ended up walking over these protests as they are sprawling across the city. In this area the protest is essentially an open air rock festival and all in a very relaxed almost fun way. We have since seen how quickly that can change (the reports of further violence, deaths and explosions since we left)

Bangkok protests are no picnic!

We had a long coffee break where I composed my letter of complaint to Tresapass regarding their dodgey kit, to date we have had much mail communication but no closer to a satisfactory resolution to a crap rucksack and 2 poor coats... I shall persevere!

Shopping done (minus netbook, I give up!), more night market food had, more Ana love for the old guy running the stall and a great evening out. Back to the hotel for teat ready for tomorrows onward flight to Vietnam...

Easy journey back to the airport although we actually got overtaken by a small band of protesters en route

Protests on the move in the morning rush hour

Our last view of downtown Bangkok, fingers crossed there is political stability soon enough. 

and some time mooching in Subaravhaman airport.

Just your average airport decoration...

Qatar airways flight to Hanoi, smooth and short, just enough time for a film. Good but no Thai airlines quality. I have been spoiled and I don't want to go back!

ANA KATHMANDU NEPAL. 29 JAN 2014

Took a more upmarket Nepali style bus into Kathmandu. We were dropped at the bus park by the Eden Lodge and waved goodbye to our drunk guide.

We were a little apprehensive about Kathmandu as people we'd met said that it was chaos and as busy as Delhi... For a country the size of Nepal we were a little dubious about this but either way we'd not been in big city way of living for a while so we braced ourselves for the onslaught.

So after getting off the bus and navigating our way to the hotel we were a little surprised by the lack of 'Delhi' so far. Although we were dropped in the Thamel area which is a very concentrated tourist area in the city where many people meet to start their own Himalayan adventures. We checked into the Hotel Florid and were pleasantly surprised, good place with a friendly owner (Chaman) and his family.

We ventured out that evening to a restaurant called Or2k which was recommended by pretty much everyone we'd met who had been to Kathmandu- and we were not disappointed! Israeli style food and it was great, I tucked into a giant bowl of 'health salad' and cous cous after eating namely beige foods for the past 3 weeks and Andy consoled himself with a mushroom burger (vege restaurant!).

The next day took us to the Kathmandu Durbar Square. This is where the old palaces of former kings were, royal palaces and houses and many temples and historic sights. We spent most of the day here going in between the different parts of the complex. One of the strangest things to learn about was the 'living goddess' this is a young girl who is chosen to be the goddess for x number of years until she starts her monthlys and  is replaced by a younger model. Known as the Kumari the girl is said to be an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga and is selected from a certain family after a rigorous selection process and has to have 32 set qualities such as:

A neck like a conch shell
eyelashes like a cow
thighs like a deer
Soft voice
Be as daring as a lion

She sounds like a dream!

One of the many temples in Durbar Square next to some 'big drums' and yes that's historically correct!

Durbar Square 

Where's Wally?

That evening we headed out for some local cuisine and went out for Mo-Mo. Bit like Gyoza if you're aware of those, yummy dumplings filled with all sorts, Andy tried Chilli Buffalo mo-mo, very tasty and hotter than the sun... 

Chilli buffalo MoMo, ít was as spicy as it looks!

It's been around 4-5 weeks since Andys last shave and over 2 months since his last haircut. So far he's managed to grow the same amount of facial hair that Paul Hughes would've grown in 1 day- that's a lot :) So we headed to the barbers for a hair cut and shave. Deepak took great delight in removing Andys hair and even tried to convince him to keep a 'tache! Once the grooming had finished he then started to smack Andy around a little. I think it was a Nepali massage of sorts (the guy in the chair next to him had something similar done) but it looked a little more brutal than what you might expect from your hairdresser. 

Let the declutter commence...

Hair on head done, now time for another cut-throat special :)

Ta dah!  There he is teenage Andy is back!

We then headed back to the Durbar Square to finish off the sights and took a walking tour of the local area and markets (courtesy of Lonely Planet).  We had lunch at Pumpernickel Bakery and bumped into Vicky (keep up all, she's one of the gang from the trek!). We ended up chatting for hours and agreeing to meet up again for food over the next couple of days before we head to Thailand and she heads back out on the trekking route!

Next day it was up and out to Patan. Not too far from Kathmandu and a walk out of the City across the river to pastures new. Patan also has a Durbar Square and plenty of temples and buildings to see after 2 or 3 hours of walking around the surrounding backstreets, bahals (courtyards) and examining at least 20 stupas and probably 100 shrines or more, we had had our fill of culture for the day! That evening we headed back to Or2k to meet Alondra (yes, that's right from the trek) for a catch up and good food including another 'health' salad at Andy's request, he may have been deletion a from all the walking that day.

Patan Durbar Square 

Patan Durbar Square from a different viewpoint, just so you don't miss out.

Temple in Patan that was beautifully decorated and well kept, lots of arms.

Andys version of a Kathmandu temple - dinner at Or2K

Ahhhh... A day of rest. We'd planned to do nothing the next day but sit and read in some quieter surroundings. So after a good breakfast we hunter gathered a packed lunch and headed to the 'Garden of Dreams' (I always sing it in the 'sleep on a bed of dreams style) for sun, reading and relaxing. I also needed to sew up one of my day packs so had time to do that too!

More of a garden of sitting and eating rather than dreaming...

Phew, job done... I can now use two day packs and a 60 litre rucksack :)  Andy calls this the Frankenstein bag but ha to him as you will find out later on!! 

When we finished the trek we'd arranged to meet up with Norsang in Kathmandu and that was planned in for today. So we started out the day with a visit to Swayambhunath (aka Monkey) temple early doors so we could fit in our last bits on our Nepali to-do list. Once done there we walked back into Kathmandu and met Norsang at our hotel. He took us out for lunch and we had more soup and mo mos, yum! Was great to catch up and we even got a t-shirt for our efforts ;) Those of you who listen about our running tales know that we love a free t-shirt from our races and runs!

Temple part of the monkey temple

monkey part of the monkey temple

We headed out for our last Dal Bhat feast with Vicky after bumping into her earlier in the day. She raved about the place as you could get a lot of good food (which gets topped up of course) for just over £1.  Whilst eating Alondra had also arrived for her dinner so it was a great end to the week and nice to be in their company before heading off.

Farewell Dal Bhat- oh, I mean farewell Vicky and Alondra...

Thailand day! So up early to eat and run final few errands before departing to the airport. We had said our goodbyes to Charman our hotel owner who gave us some Buddhist good luck scarves for our journey. Which we needed!! We'd organised a taxi from outside the hotel after saying no to the same guy for 4 days and he was chuffed we finally needed his services. After being in the tiny car for 10 mins it decides to break down in the middle of a big ol traffic jam, no worries though he said it's just the engines flooded! He eventually got us going again and we arrived (thanks to the good luck flags!) at Kathmandu airport.

The owner of the Florid Hotel - Charman and us

We spent our final rupees namely on water, coffee and sweets and boarded our Thai Airways flight to Bangkok.
The flight was ace and although we had a dodgy start (some tinkering needed to be done with the steering whilst we were all on board) it felt luxurious :) We had great food served on real plates with metal cutlery! Plenty of grog for the Rotton with the most spectacular views of the Himalayas that are above our climb of 5500m :) 

Closest thing to a roast dinner to date!  Andy now loves Thai Airlines.

Everest... maybe!

If not it will most probably be found in amongst this little lot...

Just a few hours to Bangkok so fed, watered and crappy film watched (can't believe 'Gravity' won awards) and we touched down in Bangkok to be welcomed by the intense heat!

Time for a few days R and R in Bangkok and a Thai beach island... Can you hear Andy smiling?