TravelStream™ news feed for member katyannwilkinso on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/katyannwilkinso en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:10:35 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1248342195/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1248342195/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1248342195/tpod.html Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:10:35 -0400 Kate goes East!

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Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

So it's so weird to be completely settled somewhere that is so like home but not..the Kiwi version of WHSmith is Whitcoulls and the corner shops don't sell booze..you have to go to a special 'liquor shop' and the bums here are really nice..sorry the homeless..and they even have ATM cards!

I now have a flat in the funkiest and yet oddest part of town..a street called K road..you probably haven't heard of it unless you've been to Auckland but it's full of gay bars, sex shops and vintage clothes shops..it's very arty and funky..i love it! The flat is also really grungy and arty with paintings found from dumpsters on the wall and graffiti in the corridor and we also have drag queens who live underneath! (see facebook photos!) My flat mates are awesome too, American Kam who found the flat with me, Shannon a funky art student and Leisha a 28 year old librarian who plays guitar in a rock band..they are too mega cool for me!

I was working for a racist/facist french man at a local french restaurant..really good for practising my french but got constant abuse..apparently i'm not ''mechanically minded'' to which I replied ''no i'm a bloody artist!'' He drinks wine while he works and licks everything in the kitchen..it's a bit disgusting! He did cook me a swordfish dinner once though which was pretty amazing! Luckily I have found work at an award winning 'posh cafe' as a waitress and they want me to work my way up to be in charge of the morning shifts! My dream of an awesome career is complete..hmm!

The last two weeks I was a temp at the university bookshop...man students are stooopid! I don't know if it's just kiwi students but they come in looking for a book..they know the colour of the cover but not the author, title or know the title of the course they are even taking..hmmm! And sometimes they don't even know what author means! I am enjoying feeling like I am back at Uni though and have been ocassionally found sitting down in the corner of the shop hiding to read an art book! I also decided to brush up on my spanish with my Chilean friend Matt. I found the lonely planet phrasebook and decided to test myself on the ''lovers page'' I announced in spanish ''I'm very sorry I can't get it up'' my pronounciation must have been wrong as he snatched the book from me and announced it loudly in english without really understanding what he was saying. A few customers looked over as i grabbed the book, guffawed loudly and ran away to the other end of the shop. He eventually realised what he had said and told me we shouldn't use that book to practise anymore..meh!

I have managed to make some great friends, I live with Kameron my American buddy and Josh my other american friend lives in a hostel down the road! I also met a lovely girl Clare from brighton and another Irish girl called Lisa. Our German friends hit the road this week which was sad but hopefully they'll be back to visit...I am especially missing Guido who is hilarious and a fantastic chef!

It is so weird to be settled and I can't stop buying home comforts and I went to lush and bought loads of beauty products and I suddenly have like 10 pairs of boots/shoes which is scary! I have been good on the clothes front thought and mainly bought things that will work for work and casual..so trying to be careful! (Girls you'd be proud!)

I can't wait to travel round and do things as at the moment I am working 70 hour weeks and also trying to have a social life at the same time..so I have suddenly discovered coffee and rediscovered redbull and chocolate! The weight is also harder to keep off now the chocolate tastes nice (unlike asia) and the food is like at home! The supermarkets are tiny though..the whole european hyper marche thing hasn't caught on down here so i'm like..eh? is this it?! Where's the bloody clothes section?! On the upside It is so cheap here..I mean mainly because I am calculating things in pounds even when i'm not earning pounds so probably a bit of a stupid thing to do! But for example a box of wine costs 8 pounds! (Yes that is the most important thing I am purchasing right now!)


So if you fancy a trip down here please come visit..I saw on the map that I am pretty far away but they even have Corrie here and Masterchef on TV so sometimes feels like I am at home! Apart from the whole 'sweet as ey bro!?'' type kiwi catchphrases! :-)



]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1246245470/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1246245470/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1246245470/tpod.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:13:01 -0400 Kate goes East!

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Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

Hi all! You've guessed it! I've arrived safetly in Kiwi Land! I had a great last few days in Kuta in Bali with the best sunset i've seen in the island and i got to meet up with Amy and John from home which was a lovely way to spend an afternoon and as usual felt really natural rather than weird!

I keep forgetting how far I am until I look at a map and realise my flight home direct would take like 30 hours?! I think that's right and it's a scary thought! So i flew from Bali to Sydney and then to New Zealand..i had a few issues with my Visa which was electronic so I was told no paperwork. I got a snappy bitchy Australian at the Bali airport checking in desk treating me like a terrorist because I had no print off or return ticket..she rang New Zealand who told her I was right and I didn't need either..she stormed off and didn't get to see my smug smile. I then realised I had the worst seat on the plane(she probably had something to do with it)..surrounded by babies..love them but some of them screamed like they were going to die! Argh won't forget that nightmare in a hurry.

I arrived in Auckland at 3pm and got a bus to my hostel in the centre of Aucklands version of Oxford street (though smaller and less busy). The cold was a shock but it was so nice to wander around and not be stared at and be able to understand signs..ask for directions..the simple things in life we take for advantage basically!

I spent the next few days getting to know the area by foot..and several blisters later had handed out 11 CVs and had a few interviews. I decided I should be sociable as my room mates were a tad odd ( a girl from Coventry who was really unsociable and a scary guy from Iran who thought drinking, talking, getting in late was evil...) Who knows why these guys chose to stay in Base which is like the most sociable hostel in Auckland!

I decided to suck it up and be brave and go down to the hostel bar alone (doesn't sound scary but is when everyone seems to know each other!) It was a wine and cheese night and I managed to chat to Alex from Essex, 19 and very funny. We got some wine and had a fun night out..I then met my new irish room mate Mark complete with a box of Coronas..(love him) and got close with his irish friend Leanne..my only girl friend here..who then left to go up North!

I am now basically hanging out with a bunch of guys, Mark, Kameron and Josh from the US (Kameron is like the american version of Russel Brand) Guido from Germany and Kacey my Kiwi buddy! I found a part time job in a french restaurant..the owner Jacque drinks red wine while he works and is very frank telling me if I want to receive tips I should be like his previous waitress and wear short skirts and low cut tops..I think I'm okay thank you very much!

I have a couple of interviews coming up for bar jobs and a temporary job in the University Library coming up so hopefully I can stick it out here to save money to travel around and go to Australia!

So far I am liking Auckland..a lot of people don't but I like the different areas and some parts remind me of Leicester..wide roads and lots of trees! It's quite a modern city and has a port which has some nice posh bars around it. Kiwi people are so lovely and i'm not getting tired of their accent..i'm looking out for Germaine and Brett too..though i have a feeling they live in New York! I have also been approached by a scary russian bum fighting for the rights of New Zealanders..he wrote an interesting leaflet refering to the Queen as a ''modern Hitler'' and that the english are taking their money. He wasn't amused when I told him I was english and that I thought it might be seen as unfair to compare the Queen to Hitler!

I will keep you updated on my Kiwi adventures..though not much of an adventure so far..don't worry the sky dives etc. won't be too far away!!

And just so you're happy it's really cold here!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1244287901/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1244287901/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1244287901/tpod.html Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:26:49 -0400 Kate goes East!

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Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia

Next stop after Penang was Kuala Lumpur!! Really western..the kind of place your job could plonk you and you wouldn't really notice..apart from the sudden appearance of noodles and rice on every corner. Our hotel was in China town so we got to experience the market and it's craziness every time we left or arrived at the hotel..but I managed to buy a couple of fake perfumes for 12 quid so i was chuffed! We went for dinner in the Twin towers..if you've seen the film entrapment you'll know how impressive they are..we got the sky train which is like the one in bangkok but easy to figure out since they have english signs!! In the twin towers they have offices and a giant mall..we went to the food court and i shamefully had fish and chips from the london stall (equipped with fake red phonebox!) The fish was good but the chips just made me miss real ones from home! We then went to a reggae bar for sambucas and dancing..not very cultural but an enjoyable night out nonetheless!

The next day we went up the other Kuala Lumpur tower..think it was called Menaka (believe me these things roll into one in your head eventually!). The view was amazing and it's one of the worlds tallest tellecommunications towers..they had an advert for multiple weddings..as in they have a particular day where 20 couples can go and get married at the top in one whack..very romantic! We then decided we had to check out the mall which had a roller coaster inside but when we got there we realise our imagination had gone wild and it was a bit like trocadero rather than a rollercoaster out in the open space! So we got a starbucks (again shameful) and headed back for a night of Karaoke..oh yes i did participate and sung I wanna dance with somebody by Whitney..the owner Henry loved us and said I was a song bird..ha!

The next day we were excited as we were due at the beach in Port Dickson..we needn't have been excited and therefore named it Port Shitson. We were staying at some weird staff training type resort and seemed to be the only ones there which made it seem really eery and we were secluded in the middle of nowhere..oh and the sea was polluted along with dead fish..lovely! The restaurant was the worst bit though with crap food and a horror film playing on the telly, it was like a crap school trip abroad..though we find it quite funny now! We were lucky enough to have an apartment so we played articulate and card games until the early hours to keep ourselves amused! (oh and the swimming pool was ok!)

Our next stop was Malacca, which was occupied by the dutch so looks half european and half chinese, they had amazing chinese markets with fresh pineapple tarts! We spent the day wandering around and even went to Carrefour for a look!! (Yes they have Tesco and Carrefour in Malaysia!) We really liked Malacca as it's quite a pretty town and we found we didn't get bugged very much there, the Malay people are quite easy going and pretty friendly. We left the next day for Singapore our trip coming to an end..I liked Malaysia but i think we didn't get to go to the best bits and it didn't feel like our tour took us anywhere particularly cultural. Apparently the islands are beautiful and the east coast has nice beaches but i think Thailand wins on the beach front. Also it's so much more western, every town we went to had a mcdonalds, starbucks and KFC which is pretty disheartening. Singapore was really commerical too, we were staying in a lovely hotel for our night and wandered around, it's really modern and has a river which is surrounded by really nice restaurants and funky architecture. I can see why it's so easy to live and work there, it's like being at home apart from all the chinese signs and the chinese food venders on the road! (There was even an O'Briens sandwich bar, topshop and dorothy perkins!)

Holly, Ciaran and I then got the metro to the airport which was so efficient and with aircon (London get it sorted!) so we arrived with plenty of time to spare and had a really nice meal of avocado toasties with salad! A welcome change after all that damn rice! The flight to Jakarta was only 40 minutes so we got a taxi and quickly got to know our next tour group, a swiss couple, a maltese couple, a kiwi couple, a young aussie girl and chris a single guy in his 50s. Everyone is really nice so we feel like a little family, we call chris 'dad' and since hes a doctor he gets bombarded with all our symptoms..we've all become a bit obsessed thinking we've got swine flu! We didn't get to see much of Jakarta but as we drove in their were huge hotels..Marriott, Meridian and it seemed so western but then when we drove to the area where our hotel was it was like being in a slightly cleaner India. Our train journey the next day further demonstrated it's likeness to India with shanty type houses and green rice fields, the views were stunning and it's quite mountainous here. I've completely fallen in love with Indonesia, you do get bugged quite a bit but the people are friendly and the country is just so luscious and beautiful. Our first stop was In the South by the beach so we had a couple of chill out days, i spent a day zipping around on a moped with my tour leader as i couldn't afford to do the trips he took pity on me and took me round meeting people and going to the beach..was more cultural than what the others did!

Our next stop was YogJakarta, it was a busy town and we did a few tours visiting Borobudur the Beautiful buddhist temple, it was rediscovered by a brit in pieces and half buried and they put it back together one brick at a time. Apparently trying to fit every brick together and numbering them..basically a process of elimination...i don't think i'd have the patience! But the end result was stunning, though we spent a lot of the time be harassed by people taking our photos and autographs and filling out school children's questionnaires! I also tried my hand at Batik while i was there and really enjoyed it, the locals found it funny to see us painting sitting on the floor in the dirt so also took our photos!

We then travelled to an ecofriendly environment centre which showed us how to make herbal drinks and all the different herbal cures. We went for walks in the rice fields and took amazing photos, we also saw huge spiders but we won't go into that! We also had the best coffee i've ever tasted in this 90 year olds wooden shack! The next day we travelled to the Mountains in order to get up at 3am to go to see the sunset over Mount Bromo the live volcano, it was bloody freezing!! We had to layer up all our summer clothes and i'm so glad i brought a hat! We unfortunately didn't get to see the sun through the clouds but it was quite a nice view anyway, we then climbed up to the volcano and peered in. It's quite spectacular, we all secretly wanted it to erupt! The climb was quite hard work so we were knackered when we got to the bottom and had a bumpy ride back to the lodge in a 1940s jeep.

We then had a long journey to Bali and arrived in Lovina 12 hours later, it was worth it though as we arrived in nice tourist spot with restaurants on the beach and bars with live music. We'd been so cultural we'd forgotten about other tourists and nights out! So we made up for it with a meal complete with jugs of cocktail and a couple of us played pool and went dancing, i was the only tourist girl in the bar but it was lots of fun!

The next day we went diving and it was really something, the visibility was amazing and we got to see such bright reefs, and an eel garden which was really creepy, like being on another planet, there were hundreds of them sticking their heads out of the sand! On the way back the water was really choppy and there were very strong currents underwater so i was exhausted and practically green with seasickness, chris was amazing and packed my stuff up for me!!

We're now in Ubud and our tour ends tomorrow! Ubud is amazing and i'd love to live here, it's the cultural centre of bali with hundreds of art galleries and different shows every night, there is a brilliant market too, i'll have to come back when i have money! Last night some of us went to a bar with a live band and they let us do Karaoke, was fun until the club packed out and they started calling me up for songs i hadn't even asked to do! I got a free cocktail though and felt like the club celebrity so was quite fun..though i go red when i think about it now!

Holly, Michelle, Chris and I are going to head down to tourist central (Kuta) tomorrow and then i leave Bali monday evening to get to New Zealand which is apparently freezing at the moment..noo! Anyway i will next update when i am settled in Australasia. I'm really sad to be leaving Asia behind but it's been the most amazing 7 months and i'll be back again soon..so many more things to see here! x

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1243244580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1243244580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1243244580/tpod.html Mon, 25 May 2009 06:41:42 -0400 Kate goes East!

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Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia

So we landed in Phi Phi and decided to do a snorkel tour which included Maya Bay..unfortunately the day we planned to do it rained heavily so we cancelled it for the day after and me and Jo decided to go diving. We picked a place run by some cute south africans but unfortunately they weren't the ones taking us out! We went for our first dive and one of the girls we went with was panicking as she hadn't done any diving for a while so 20 minutes in she was down to 50 bar of air so we had to surface..me and Jo still had 120 bar left each so were a bit annoyed. I could only afford one dive so was pretty peeved that i got 20 minutes rather than an hour..fortunately the diving master was really nice and let me dive again for free and that time we saw a turtle! It was so cute nibbling at the reef and didn't seem bothered by the 6 of us surrounding it! The weather had turned really lovely so it was sods law that our rescheduled snorkel trip would have even worse weather..so we ended up on Maya Bay..the beach from the film the beach with rain and grey skies..made us think of home. Some people were a bit keen and were reenacting scenes from the film..thankfully not the shark attack scene!To get to the bay we had to climb over a wooden ladder which was balanced on some rocks and the current was so strong we kept getting slammed into the ladder..maria slipped and unfortunately so did her bikini top..still we laugh about it all now!

The next day we got our transport to Bangkok and arrived at 6am all knackered and feeling a bit sick from travelling..Holly and I said a tearful goodbye to Maria and Jo and went to check out our hotel for the tour. We were ecstatic to find air con and a fridge and tv and hot showers! (Intrepid i love you!) They keep calling the rooms budget..they have NO idea what a budget room looks like!! We met our group..19 year olds Emma and Anna, 28 year old Gemma and Ciaran- 30 and Irish..and boy does he like to drink! Our tour leader is called Jepp, he is from Malaysia and really lovely but mega dreamy and quite disorganised and i find myself taking control..i can't help it!

We then headed down to Khao Sok national park to stay in the jungle for a few nights..we got settled in our cute bungalows and went tubing down the river..basically you get a rubber ring and just float down the river! I freaked our when i saw two tarantulas crossing the river and tried to balance over my rubber ring to avoid the water but lost my balance and fell into the water shrieking..fortunately i missed the spiders! At the end we were meant to get off at a grassy verge but i couldn't get there in time and the current was so strong that i couldn't swim back (i also had the massive ring in my hand) so i had to float down the river with the guide toni and get out at another point and wait on the highway with my tube in a bikini for the truck to come round and get me. I got some funny looks from people driving past..and everyone was laughing when they picked me up!

We spent most of our time in Khao sok drinking at the Reggae bar, eating amazing curry and swimming in the river..oh and swinging off ropes before dropping into the river. The scenery was amazing and very relaxing! The next day we then went down to Krabi..Ao Nang, our hotel had a pool which was extremely exciting (again..budget acommodation?? scoff!) We relaxed by the beach for these remaining 3 days in thailand and we decided to plan a big last night out..which began with a bar brawl..hmmm. Jepp told us to go to club 69 (it starts badly doesn't it?) we realised we were the only tourists and felt a bit odd being there so we got one drink before wanting to head back to Ao Nang to go to the Reggae bar with the nicest bar staff in thailand. Ciaran paid with a thousand note and was a bit worried when he got 10 back in change..they claimed he had paid with a hundred note. We then had a massive row with the obviously theiving lying staff, sounds a bit judgemental but the Thais do lie a lot to tourists and we'd all seen the note..so i threatened to call the police. I rang the tourist police who said that we should contact the local police and when i asked for the number they said they didn't know..well that really fills one with confidence doesn't it?! What is the bloody point of giving us this number telling us we'll be looked after if the people at the other end have brains the size of peanuts?! The bar staff then told us to get a cab to the police..that's service..if you get robbed you can't call the police but you have to actually go to them..by then i was so furious i contemplated smashing the place up..ok not really but it would have been fun!

In the end we had to leave for the reggae bar and 7 mojitos later we were playing Jenga with some hot french guys! Last night in Thailand was a success! (In the end)

We then got our 12 hour bus journey down to Penang in Malaysia..We were situated in China town..Penang is an island with 70% chinese people and the rest made up of Indians and Malays. We went for a curry (was a bit crap compared to India..but i did have India to compare to!) And the next day we went up to Penang Hill to see the amazing view and experience cool air in Malaysia..was fantastic! We also unfortunatley saw huuuge spiders but they stayed in their webs which made us happy. We then decided to be disgusting tourists and have a mcdonalds followed by a movie..Wolverine in English..i know i should be ashamed but it's one of the best afternoons i've had in ages!! Was like being home!! On the way back we were ironically talking about how the pavements were not really any good and we saw a huge rat..we were then chatting away when i fell into a trench..I stood up straight away and felt fine until we all looked at my foot that was gushing with blood. Yeah..i managed to almost rip off my big toe nail..it looks like a zombie's toe..it's like black and blue and soooo disgusting!! But that honestly is the most interesting thing that has happened so far in Malaysia and everyone on the tour agrees with me..so we are yet to be impressed with Malaysia..i'm kind of disappointed that it's so western. I mean the rules and order are a good thing but roads look boring again without tuk tuks or goats or cows..maybe thailand and India will end up like this!? In a way i hope not! Anyway we arrived in Kuala Lumpur today and are off for dinner in the twin towers! Will update again soon! x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1242042120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1242042120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1242042120/tpod.html Mon, 11 May 2009 08:32:45 -0400 Kate goes East!

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Chiang Mai, Thailand

So I met the girls in bangkok at 5am to get a night bus to Chiang Mai.. we were very excited to grab the back seats of the coach which turned out to be a mistake as we felt every bump in the road! We then realised that the air conditioning vent was above our heads and leaking! We enjoyed every late night stop getting a chance to de-freeze before getting back on the bus, at 5am we arrived in Chiang Mai and got some pick ups to a hostel called nice place to stay..we were sceptical..then we turned the corner and saw a swimming pool..sold! They gave us tea and coffee and proceeded to bombard us with every trek and tour deal going (it was 5am and I had been on two overnight buses so found it so hard to concentrate) but the owner toni was lovely and guaranteed we would love him 'long time' if we stayed..and he was right! We decided we couldn't sleep so got showered and headed to the long neck tribe, we were a bit miffed when we had to pay ten pounds to get in..which the government received not the tribe itself, anyway we got to see some long necks and their simple way of life. They grow their own crops and have chickens running around and their own little school, it was a shocking contrast to how commercial our lives are in the west. Anyway we then went back for a bit of pool time and went to check out the night market which had many bargains!

The next day our two day trek began, we drove 3 hours to Pai (in another pick up truck..not too comfortable but I have learnt to sleep anywhere!) We had a simple lunch before beginning our trek. We were told it would be a mainly flat walk..and they lied! But our trek leaders ''beckham'' and ''jack black''kept us entertained by playing the guitar and singing (while we could hardly breathe) and spraying us with water (which was much appreciated!)

We walked until dark and arrived at our place to rest for the night..basically a large hut to fit all 7 of us girls (us 4 and 3 extras) it had bamboo slats with mats and pillows..we were basically sleeping outside as the bottom of the walls and roof were not attached..we had a simple dinner and quite a lot of beer and started shrieking when a thunderstorm started and we had to run back to check our stuff. Unfortunatly our hut was not bug or waterproof so our stuff was now muddy and drenched...we were given blankets and beckham started a much appreciated fire and we sat around playing games..one consisted of smearing our faces in charcoal every time we got an answer wrong, was funny but not so great to wash off without a sink!

Suprisingly we slept quite well and i braved it in the outdoor shower which was freezing and basically see through but i felt much better for it! We were then taken to some steps to get onto our elephants. The seats were wooden and not so comfy and our elephant was not only a snacker but a bit of a rebel and decided to ignore the path and walk through trees...we gripped on screaming as branches slapped us in the face and leaves got stuck in our hair.. a gruelling hour and a half later we dismounted shakily! We then walked to a pick up truck to take us to our bamboo rafting session which sounds exotic and fun but it was like being in the lee valley canal and we were semi submerged and pond weed kept getting into our shorts..so I decided to stand up and have a go at punting instead but we got to some unsteady parts and all fell over which hurt quite a bit!

We then got back and had an hour to shower and get our bus and boat combo to Koh tao (Maria was aching for the beach!)This time we didn't sit on the back! We arrived in Koh Tao two days later..yes that's right..travelling in thailand is sloooow..it's not even that far! Compared to India it's a joke! There is so much faffing around and waiting and I hate inefficiency so it winds me up so much! Anyway we crawled onto the beach Saturday afternoon and found some bungalows really close by so we were very happy!

Our time in Koh Tao was spent snorkelling, on the beach, and partying one night with what seemed like every brit in thailand at a school disco themed night where they played ghostbusters and baywatch..was like being back at uni! We decided the next day to get quad bikes and scooters to look around the island a bit..it was so much fun..but riding back in the dark was a tad scary i'll admit (I let Maria drive then!)

We then got the boat across to Koh Phangan for four days of sunbathing and partying, first night was the pool party, second night was the recovery and then we had pre full moon and real full moon! This time i decided to neon it up like everyone else..so we covered ourselves in paint and wore silly outfits! Unfortunately half way through we went back to our bungalow to use the toilet and discovered someone had covered our balcony in purple paint..it's a mystery as to who or why but we had to spend half an hour scrubbing before being able to go back to the party..which was a bit of an atmosphere killer! We didn't make it till sunrise..I have another ear problem and gland infection so felt awful...we're thinking we need a bit of detox time!

While in Koh Phangan we decided to try our hand at Jet skis and the banana boat..jet skis are awesome as you don't have to worry about falling off because you're only going to hit water! The banana boat was also fun as he kept tipping us off and maria and holly had issues getting back on so we had to haul them up by their bikini bottoms while crying with laughter! Can't imagine what we looked like to the people on the beach (yes.. probably idiots!)

We slept about 20 hours the day after full moon before getting our night ferry, bus and boat combo to Koh Phi Phi (the beach from the beach is here...) Night ferry was hilarious..like a big room with thin mattresses and pillows on the floor, it was like a sleepover without the marshmallows and horror films..unfortunately it got quite choppy but i distracted myself by listening to tenacious D! We arrived in Phi Phi today at 1pm and trekked quite a bit to find somewhere to stay..but we have a telly for the first time in 3 weeks so i am very excited! And the beach here is beautiful..it's very much like Krabi..we have 5 days here before returning to Bangkok and i will then start my tour with STA travel and Holly (Maria's friend) is going to join me, so it is my last ten days in Thailand! Can't believe I have been here for three months already! x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1240710120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1240710120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1240710120/tpod.html Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:15:37 -0400 Kate goes East!

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Chaweng, Ko Samui, Thailand

So I moved to Haad Rin (with a bit of pain from my dodgy ankle while climbing those treacherous stairs)but i made it to the hostel nicely placed next to the main bar, which played music until 5am..grrr! So I was left with no choice and to go our every night (!) but luckily I met some great people to hang around with, a bunch of aussies from Perth, Maria from Barcelona, Marion from France and Phil from Sydney. It's amazing the randomness of traveling alone, you get to meet so many great people from all different places!

4 days later I left Koh Phangan to meet mum at the airport in Koh Samui..unfortunately her flight had been moved earlier and no one had called from the airline (they were supposed to!) so I eventually found her and our lift hadn't arrived! A taxi later we arrived at our bungalow on our quiet bay..it was very peaceful and beautiful! We had our yoga lessons start the next day with Mike, we were taken to his bungalow with no air con so got pretty sweaty with his vigorous method of stretching us and bending us beyond what is humanly acceptable! The next day we could hardly raise our hands to our drinks from the pain! Mum decided it was too hard work and too hot in Thailand for yoga so I went to a session alone..(unfortunately) Mike was very athletic and decided to wear short shorts so in one particular posture a ball popped out. Between gagging and trying my best not to look I tried to concentrate on my pose..it was a little bit traumatising but mum laughed her head off when I told her.

We decided to book a snorkel trip as mum had never tried it..we got taken to a bit of coral reef just off Koh Samui, mum was amazing (as a self declared weak swimmer) and even (after encouragement) jumped from the side of the boat into the water! A very proud moment of boat jumping! We saw butterfly fish and were followed around by blue stripey fish who seemed to think we were food as we were completely surrounded..it was like swimming in an aquarium but loads of fun!

Our bungalow was based in Lamai so we went to be pampered and have manicures, pedicures, facials and oil massages..in the great and friendly thai salons, and it's so cheap! 6 pounds for an hour massage so it's hard to say no! Lamai was good for shopping and had lots to look at including all the western men with their paid for thai girls and thai girls in tiny dresses swinging round poles behind bars. It's a sad part of thai culture to watch these girls strain to have conversations and meet a sad lonely westerner to make some money. But it is accepted here and i suppose it's nice that these girls are treated equally in Thai society. We were even lucky enough to have our photo taken with beautiful lady boys Tina and Lisa, the lady boys are often prettier and friendlier than any of the women! We decided to visit Chaweng one day but were disappointed as it had the charm of a dogs arse..so we were glad we stayed in Lamai!

Unfortunately i've caught an ear infection from swimming underwater and one stretch of sea dyed our jewellery yellow so god knows what it did to our insides (Mother did warn me.) So I had my first thai doctor experience..they were lovely and professional apart from asking me out loud what my particular problem was, i'm glad it wasn't something embarassing! I then had to have an injection on my bum cheek (so yes the doctor saw my white bits), as I lied down on the bed I almost felt like requesting a thai massage instead but wasn't sure of my doctors sense of humour! So i was given an injection and enough medicine to sink a ship! The NHS could learn a thing or two about treatment rather than the standard 'there's nothing we can do, bed rest and ibuprophen'.

So this is a quick update to bring you up to speed on the last 2 weeks or so as i head to Bangkok today to meet Maria, Jo and Holly as we venture into northern Thailand!! Chiang Mai is meant to be beautiful so i can't wait to get there! x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1239439140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1239439140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1239439140/tpod.html Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:25:58 -0400 Kate goes East!

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Haad Rin Nai, Thailand

I have moved quite a bit since i last logged in, Jo and I made our way to Khao lak to find all the trips to the similian islands too expensive so we spent our few days there sunbathing and sneaking shop bought drinks into a four star hotel to sit on loungers and look at the stars. The next day we got a 6 hour transfer to koh samui, which as usual in true thai fashion included a 40 minute 'break' who wants a break after only an hour of travelling?? I hate inefficiency and was suitably irritated when we arrived in Koh Samui 12 hours later..hmmm! We stayed in a bungalow on Chaweng beach owned by the thais version of graham norton- except no gold suit and he thought i was hysterical as i declared 'i don't care about a fan or a toilet or a bathroom i want the cheapest and i wouldn't care if it's a mattress on the street'. After a lot of giggling and thighslapping (him not me) we got the price knocked down and settled for our last dinner together before i headed to koh tao the next day to meet dad.

I managed to get another motorbike taxi to the airport to meet dad and was suprised at how unique the airport was..it was playing jazz through loud speakers and all set outdoors with cafes and boutiques and the arrivals lounge was like a beach hut with a pond in the middle..the toilet even had an aquarium..Stansted you have some work to do!

Happily reunited with dad we made our way to our speedboat via coach and dad got to see a bit of the real thailand as our baggage helpers smoked some weed before we took off! We arrived in Koh tao resort and got to our amazing bungalow (ok amazing for me as there was a fridge and air con and a television!!) But it was facing the sea which was lovely. Our resort was run by some lovely but very dippy thais, one of the girls on reception was stunning, she looked like a doll but looked confused everytime we approached reception and spoke no english! For some reason the thais always look at you like an idiot when you ask them for something obvious like 'can i have a menu?'..

A few days later i started my diving course, luckily it was quiet at the dive shop next door to the hotel so i got one on one tutoring, i was glad as i was quite nervous! John was my instructor from wales and had this whole 'we can have a laugh but i can get stern so watch me' attitude,Which is fair enough! I nearly hyperventilated when i first went under water, it's like you don't want to trust the equipment and i kept breathing through my nose which was retarded! Anyway after some encouragement from John and dad we went for my first open water dive. It was amazing, and i'm so glad i didn't get scared off and i saw some rays and sea snakes and eels etc. It's an odd experience but once you're down there it's like your in another world and most of the fish completely ignore you..apart from some who freeze and give you this look like 'are you a predator??'! The coral was beautiful and saw some black nemos which were living as a little family in their purple anenome! I then went on to do a couple more fun dives to try and see some whale sharks but it was all in vain! Also i was pretty unlucky and the sea was really choppy so felt really ill, i just had to get underwater as quickly as possible to feel better and the fresh cold air helped!

The weather turned a bit rubbish you'll all be pleased to know but dad and i found it quite entertaining as we sat on our cushioned balcony watching the pouring rain and amused ourselves by having cocktails (every evening at 5pm eh hem) and watching dvds in our room! 8 days later on the boat from Koh tao to Koh Samui the bad weather had made the sea pretty bad so five minutes in i wanted to DIE, we were being thrown about like we were on alton towers' oblivion and couldn't even see outside the boat as it was covered in spray. The thai crew also started to hand out sick bags which were as flimsy and crap as the plastic bags you get at supermarkets to put your fruit in. So i started pill popping travel pills like they were sweets which helped me reach a drowsy coma like state, and i spent the 2 and a half hours sweating like crazy trying not to be sick and gripping the chair in terror. Poor dad did have to pause reading for a bit too- it's so not fair why i feel so crap and everyone else is fine!

We then got to our 'straight friendly' declared (eh?) hotel in Koh Samui, designed to look colonial thai..whatever that is..and our bath was the size of a small car..which excited me..although didn't really want to spend more time in the water it did make me feel a lot better! We had a posh lunch and dinner on the terrace, unfortunately my choices weren't great and it was the kind of strange ingredients which could work and ultimately didn't. The next morning we raced to the airport to send dad off and then me to the pier so i could catch my boat to Koh Phangan, the driver was late as usual, dad was appalled and i decided not to worry and let fate take care of everything. I got my boat with ten minutes to spare and panicked as weather was bad but it was only a 20 minute journey and the sea wasn't as rough as it first looked.

I arrived in Koh Phangan and got a taxi filled with as many foreigners as possible, my backpack was almost on my head and got dropped off halfway up a hill in the middle of nowhere. I had booked boom cafe bungalows out of terror that everything would be full by the full moon party (i was right- met some people who had to sleep on the beach) and swore outloud that the lonely planet did not mention the descent down mud and half broken steps to the bungalows. Not great trying to balance as it is let alone with a 20kg backpack on my shoulders! Luckily the bungalow is lovely and it has a private beach and a beautiful view of the sea and Koh Samui. I was worried as the clientele seemed to be all older couples so i breathed a sigh of relief when two swedish girls susannah and josephine came to my rescue! We made friends and went to the full moon party together which is the most crazy thing i have ever been to! Yes believe the hype! People dancing on tables on the beach, in the sea, on monuments, swimming pools in bars, everyone covered in neon paint, fire shows, dancing in rings of fire (quite fun actually)not to mention the buckets of alcohol redbull and sprite sold for like four pounds! We met loads of people from countries all around the world and even lots of brits, some of which had found scorpions in their bungalows..scary stuff!

Unfortunately the crowds at the party meant that i was pushed down a drop onto the beach and tripped on some sandbags falling onto my foot which i swear was almost backwards..some poor guy had to haul me to my feet and i spent the rest of the night hobbling, the next morning my foot looked fine until we noticed my ankle had doubled in size..i now have a sexy ankle support..and strangely enough when i popped into haad rin this morning everyone had one on..it's either a fashion statement or everyone has the same injury..a girl even asked me where i got mine from! Anyway the swedish girls left this morning and i decided to find a hostel by the main beach to meet up with more people.

Apart from that bit of action it has been relatively chilled here in thailand- apart from the weather which at one point was so bad i was convinced my bungalow would collapse while i was on the phone to dad. I expected him to reassure me but i got 'well be careful!' Anyway all is well, and me and the bungalow are still here, i just can't walk anywhere quickly! I will catch up again soon!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1237909380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1237909380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1237909380/tpod.html Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:53:49 -0400 Kate goes East!

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Phuket, Thailand

Have jumped around a bit since I last blogged and have done a full circle and am now back in Phuket, which seems a bit less poo due to the nice people I have met! So the last time I wrote I was going to the Similian islands, we got given hard core travel sick pills which were amazing and I didn't feel sea sick once- since we were on a hardcore speed boat which threw you around I was pretty impressed! We got to our first snorkel sight and the coral was amazing and I saw Dori from Finding Nemo (wish I was less childish and knew the actual name of the fish but at least you can all picture it!) and she does swim in that ditzy way which made me laugh (which sounds stupid coming out of a snorkel).

I was happily watching the fish when suddenly everyone started shouting and swimming towards the boat, which did make me panic a bit - you can't help but imagine a shark, but I was so suprised when everyone laughed as a huuge sea turtle swam right up to me, we were told not to touch but was hard to swim away as he was friendly and kept bashing us with his head! It was an overwhelming experience and made the whole trip worth it! The rest of the day we spent on a tropical island with turquoise water and bright white sand beaches, the sand was so soft! I then spent a day chilling at Karon beach in Phuket before travelling the next day to Ton Sai in Krabi by ferry- an interesting experience jumping from boat to boat with a 17kg backpack, it's difficult to remain balanced (especially as the boats rock)and the thais are really lovely but they just seem to smile and nod at you as you struggle on!

Anyway I then had a private longtail boat to get to Ton Sai beach, Krabi is beautiful with limestone rock formations jutting out of the sea- if you've seen the bond ''Man with the golden gun'' you can imagine it better as it was filmed in Krabi! Ton Sai is a climbers paradise with great rocks to climb and a chilled friendly atmosphere. I met jo and her friend Fiona here, I had met Jo in Bangkok and we wanted to meet up again. We enjoyed ourselves watching the climbers, lounging on bamboo slats at the reggae bar in the sun and eating bbq'd fish with jacket potatos (this excited me a lot!).

That night there was a huge storm and it rained harder than i have ever seen before, since there are no roads in Ton Sai the mud paths became rivers and we found shelter at a restaurant to wait it out. We then went to the beach to take photos of the thunder and jo has a great camera and managed to get some wicked shots of the lightning.

The next day we decided to go on an afternoon and evening snorkel tour, we were met my louis, a tattooed covered climber from Kent doing a bit of work for the scuba shop while he was travelling. He was a bit negative about Ton Sai and very laid back, so it was destined to be an adventure from the beginning..

The sky was grey and thundering as we set off (a great sign) and we got completely drenched as the sea was so choppy which was quite amusing, we were glad we had dry bags for our cameras! The first two snorkel sights had crap visibility due to the choppy sea, so I got a bit freaked out as I couldn't even see Jo and she was swimming next to me (yep, imagining sharks again).

The next sight was around a big cluster of rocks and limestone formations, the water was clearer but really choppy, we were told to swim through the rocks by our ''expert guide'' and as I went for it I couldn't really see anyone else but kept swimming and was really thrown about by the waves. I suddenly realised the coral was a centimetre from my stomach and I scraped my knee, I started panicking about damaging the coral and tried so hard to stay near the surface and swim without hardly moving, then my snorkel filled up with water and I couldn't see either. It seems quite funny now but thinking about it makes me feel a bit panicky and I could never imagine how people could be swept around by the current but I was being thrown about as much as the fish, even though I am so much bigger! Amazingly I managed to get out of that tight spot and found a deeper point and swam round back to the baot..to which louis said 'oh yeah it's a bit shallow today...best not to do it after all'' hmmm..qualified guide I think not!

Anyway we then arrived on a deserted bit of beach to wait for another boat to bring us dinner, we drank beer and watched the sunset, we also hunted for crabs (as in just to find them to look at) and I even managed to pick one up - crabs just look like hard spiders to me and they move way too quickly! A few hours passed so it was pitch black and we had no lights, a few of us sensible people (eh hem) had head lamps, i then suggested to Louis that he call the base to check where the boat was, he did and our boat had broken down and they were bringing another. By the time the next boat arrived (with our dinner on) the tide had gone out too much so we had to walk barefoot at a snails pace on really rough and sharp rocks to reach it.

It was so painful and Jo even cut her foot. By the time we got on the boat we were all a tad fed up and didn't want to get back in the water, but we didn't want to be kill joys so we went to the cave for the night swimming. We jumped into pitch black water and watched as the plankton shimmered as we moved, apparently it reacts to movement and it was like holding a sparkler underwater! We then had to get from the sea to the boat without a ladder, i can't lift myself up using my arms, my legs have all the strength (ish) so I had to be helped up and nearly fell forward and landed on my head, but thankfully no one laughed.

We then realised that the boat crew hadn't transfered our flip flops from the broken boat onto the new one..so we had to walk home through the jungle on a sharp stone path barefoot..was not happy. But as a plus point these experiences do make for a funny story!

The next day we decided to avoid paying for a longtail boat to get to the next bay so we walked around the rocks and waded through water, I would just like to note that merrel sandals slip like crazy on any sort of rock and therefore should not be advertised as an outdoor/water worthy shoe! I nearly cracked my head open several times! I tried barefoot but that was even worse as some rocks were sharp. Anyway we made it and decided to walk around Railay, we found a beach with mangroves which were really beautiful and we then saw a sign which said lagoon and viewpoing..why not? Then the next sign pointed up a muddy stone vertical hill... I scoffed 'Jo it says that way?! must be straight on' we then looked up and saw some weathered muddy covered tourists coming down and confirming that no that sign wasn't a joke and yes that was the way.

I have no worries going up but it's going down that freaks me out, anyway decided that i might as well try a bit of climbing while I was here and some kind soul had attached some ropes to hold on to (and thank god for tree roots). We managed to get to the top gasping and covered in red mud (might have been clay) then we saw some crazy spanish tourists climbing down a vertical drop to the lagoon in bloody flip flops! Jo and I decided our lives were worth more than that and since I hadn't really done any climbing anymore it wouldn't be sensible..and it was waaay to slippy..ok we chickened out but it was nuts! We made it to the viewpoint which made the whole petrifying experience worth it and we got loads of nice snapshots.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach before there was a second downpour. We decided the following day to go back to Phuket where i had previously stayed to do a trip to the James bond island. We also got invited to a foam party in Patong- which is a resort full of gogo bars and ping pong shows and lady boy cabarets..don't worry we just walked past. It was quite sad to see all these thai girls following old fat westerners wearing tight spandex looking dresses, and the girls dancing around poles looked so vacant. We didn't think much of Patong. While we were there a thai man ran up to me and put the biggest iguana i have ever seen on my shoulder..I always thought i liked iguanas but it started to put it's claws into my back so i shouted at the guy to take him off. I then had to run away from every other thai holding an animal.

The foam party was hilarious and probably quite dangerous but we hadn't been drinking much so we knew where the stairs were and the steps down into the dance floor, though thinking about it I still slipped and fell on my arse, though was helped up my a cute kiwi so i'm not complaining! We went to James bond island the following day and they even played us the film on the way which was a nice touch (it is a bit of a weird bond..movies have come a long way!)

Before we got on the boat it started to pour with rain (people are thinking the monsoon is early) and we were given sexy yellow plastic ponchos and life jackets, really felt like a dumb tourist. We visited a muslim fishing village which would have been nice if it wasn't so geared towards the tourists visiting with a proper toilet and market stalls everywhere and children selling you postcards, then again it helps them make a living so its a toughy!

James bond island was great but we were only given ten minutes there which was strange so Jo and I were a bit disappointed we didn't get to have a walk round, we got an amazing sunset coming back on the boat though which cheered us up. Jo then went the following day to Khao sok National Park and I have stayed in Karon sunbathing and trying to save money and I may have treated myself to a private room with air con and a telly and a dvd player...sometimes it has to be done! And I watched Slumdog Millionnaire and Burn After Reading which are both great films! Slumdog made me miss India again and i urge you all to see it if you haven't already!

Tomorrow i am off to Khao Lak to try and get to the Surin islands which are rumoured to be even more beautiful than the Similian islands. Hope all is well in the UK, and rest assured that Thailand has been having grey days and a lorra lorra rain! x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1236774420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1236774420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1236774420/tpod.html Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:59:03 -0400 Kate goes East!

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Phuket, Thailand

I have been a bit quiet for a while adjusting to the change between thailand and india, a small part of me wants to go back to the chaos because it made sense, here it doesn't! I will explain in due course.. first i was in Saraburi and kindly put up by Russes brother Jon and his girlfriend Ana who have just had a baby..aw! And their family were lovely and taught me a few phrases 'gin kow' (eat food) and 'horng nam' (toilet) have been the most important i think! Ana's mum had a cute shop at the front of her house (which a lot of thai's do) with a kitchen and she made food for locals and her prawn fried rice was aaammmazing. Though there were a few things i tasted that made me want to vomit the minute it touched my tongue and soup that had the consistensy of snot, but i'm sure it appeals to some people - and i was grateful anyway!

While i was in the area i visited the ancient town of Ayutthya which is full of buddhist temples, the climbing was tough on the thighs (I'm sure it's the whole pilgrimage thing again) but the views were amazing and i took lots of photos which are on facebook! I also got to have a thai massage at a salon near the prison which trains convicts to do massage..iiinteresting! It was strange as you keep clothes on and they just push and pull and click you..it was really good and i felt so relaxed afterwards, even though she enjoyed pushing my legs harder when i winced!

I then found this recommended guesthouse online in Pak Chong near the Khao Yai National Park which offers two tours so i booked the weekend there and chose to take part in both. The guesthouse was set on a highway but had a nice cafe at the front and the staff were so lovely and the people staying were friendly which gave it a lovely atmosphere! Our first tour was an afternoon looking for wildlife, we found snakes one of which i held after the guide convinced me ' go on kate' (i hadn't even told him my name and the fact that he pronounced it correctly made me go soft!)

Then we found some owls - god knows how he spotted them from the car but he was such an enthusiast, stopping the car every minute and rushing out with his binoculours 'quick you come!' and he would run off and we'd all grab the cameras and chase after him! Then he took us to a bat cave with a thousand bats and we'd look up and see miiilions all squeaking and flapping! They were so cute and didn't really fly about too much. Then the guide found a scorpion spider (yippee..) and somehow managed to convince me to hold it, but it was more of a beetle than tarantula and was good and still so i obliged. I was quite proud so a fear conquered!

We then drove to a hillside with a cave where two million bats fly out continously for an hour each night to feed on insects and hawks circle around trying to eat them, it was stunning- especially with the sunset as backdrop! Then one poor female bat got knocked out of the sky (bloke bats pushing as usual) so our guide picked her up and we got a good look and she was so sweet, and i stroked her back and she was so soft! Was great fun, we headed back very satisfied, though quite tired! I was still not well from india (lack of vitamins i think!) so was nervous about the trek the next day as it was so hot, but i managed the three hours. The jungle was stunning though we didn't see much wildlife, and it's difficult to look around as the ground is so uneven and constantly having to leap over fallen logs means you spend most of the time looking at your feet! We then had to cross a river on a tiny manky piece of wood..and who lost her balance and put her foot in to the amusement of the whole group?? of course it was me! My nice french friend kindly suggested that it would make me feel fresher..hmmm!

We then spent the remaining evening looking for wild elephants and we found one male by a man made salt lick eating the soil to get his vitamins and calcium. Apparently female asian elephants don't have tusks and stay with the herd so we could tell this one was a male. We were then fed watermelon and sat watching him as the sun set..was quite romantic!

I then said bye to everyone as i was getting the bus to bangkok the following morning, i had booked a guesthouse far from kao san so wasn't sure what to expect. I should have listened and got a metered taxi to the guesthouse but for some mad reason i got an overpaid scooter (keep getting ripped off!) with my backpack wedged between his knees and me sitting with a centimetre for my arse clinging on for dear life! I think my terrified expression as i watched my knees almost collide with other vehicles was visible in his rearview mirrors.. I did see a dog slung on the bag of another scooter so that made me smile and relax for a moment (how does he hold on??)

Anyway i arrived safetly at the soi1 guesthouse and the owner 'dave' is american with a great sense of humour and there was a lounge and i shared a female dorm so i got to chat with loads of people. I then went for a wander, bangkok is huge! and a bit daunting but once i started walking around i got my bearings and had lunch in burger king (shhh it was good!) Bangkok is really built up with huge skyscrapers and every mode of transport available, buses, tuk tuks, cabs, boats, skytrain..so i decided to just walk, easier to not get lost! No animals walking in the street unfortunately though they have lots of stray burmese cats!! I wonder if dad will let us have another??

Anyway i then did the true british thing and sat outside with other backpackers chatting and drinking beer, and i met a girl called Jo who suggested we go to the golden temple the day after. It was beautiful and we had to walk up to the top and around the stairs there were waterfalls and bells, it was like a mini paradise! We then got my bag and went to the infamous kao san road as my bus to phuket went from there. We wandered around the market and bought cake (cake in thailand is immense!) and found some bridal ad books with old men and young thai women...hmmm!

My bus to phuket was interesting, we left at 6 and got to a stop at midnight for 'you eat food, thirty minutes' so i bought pringles and an orange juice and was still in ruppees mode so didn't calculate in my half asleep state that i just paid 6 bloody quid!!! so the motorway services rip them off here too eh? Then we got off at 5am in the middle of nowhere and were given stickers with our destination on, i felt like a piece of luggage as i had no idea what was going on. Then got on a minibus which faffed and stopped and faffed until we arrived in Phuket town 16 hours later..it's not even that far from bangkok! Then a lovely travel agent ripped me off to get a local bus to the wrong destination..you're meant to keep your cool in thailand but i really was in a foul mood. So i got an overpriced tuk tuk to my guesthouse which is in the middle of a middle aged holiday town...get me out! I suppose at least everything is in english!

To make myself feel better i am doing a snorkelling trip tomorrow in the similian islands and i might meet my friend jo in Krabi, which apparently has backpackers in (i feel a bit tatty with all the brits on holiday getting dressed up for dinner!)

I haven't commented much on the culture yet so a mini low down of what i found different...there are pictures of the king everywhere, apparently the people love the king but other people say it's propoganda, they also wear yellow on a monday to support the king. You also must use a straw when drinking something out of a bottle or can otherwise it seems rude - this is my favourite strange rule! And thai women wear soo much make up, god knows how it stays on in this heat! That's probably also why i feel so messy when they look like dolls!

Anyway hope reading that doesn't make you as out of breath as i feel, i am hoping to chill on the beach after my snorkel sesh before i brave the thai travel system again..! A bientot!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1235552520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1235552520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/katyannwilkinso/1/1235552520/tpod.html Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:47:43 -0500 Kate goes East!

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Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

So we have moved on again..we got an overnight train to make our way to Aurangabad to see the caves and had a 8 hour wait from 9.30pm to 5.30 am overnight at Nanded train station, we tried to sleep on the benches on the platform but the police rapped my bench with his cane and said only one of us could sleep while the other watched the bags. I then told him not to worry as everything was padlocked and attached to my wrist, he walked off as didn't seem too bothered, then we were surrounded by literally 20 Indian men pleading with us to not get robbed and sleep in the womens only waiting room, so they carried our bags and took us there- quite sweet i suppose! We slept next to a snoring (more like roaring) granny and made friends with two rats..we made a trail of biscuits for them, if only they weren't diseased i would take one home, they are so cute!

We then proceeded to Aurangabad and found a nice friendly guesthouse by the train station, Aurangabad was great as there were loads of ice cream parlours and internet cafes and western style shops and supermarkets!!- these things are missed! We got the bus to the Ellora caves which were stunning, the Buddhists go up and meditate in the caves in the morning, we saw some coming out as we arrived. An Indian guy showed us that if you chant om it reverberates off the wall, the acoustics were amazing. We saw Hindu, Jain and Buddhist caves. The Buddhist caves were right at the end so after 7 hours of trawling up and down stairs we were knackered, though i woke up when we entered a room FULL of bats! Someone spooked them and they all flew around me, It was amazing!! I thought i would've freaked out but it was so exhilarating, i then annoyed the girls trying to spook them again to show them, but it only happened the once! We were then surrounded by Indian families wanting our photo with every family member, it's cute at first but by the 9th photo I'd had enough! We found the Indians quite disrespectful at the Buddhist caves as they were screaming and shouting, and one was even weeing in one of the rooms! We didn't see that in the Hindu caves... then some boys tried to take our photo and Elle freaked out shouting at them, when you're hot and tired and people keep thrusting cameras in your face it gets irritating! (again i never want to be famous!)

We decided not to visit the Ajanta caves as apparently you can't get up close and touch the stone and you only have 10 minutes in each cave, so we spent the day wandering around Aurangabad instead. We went to see some handwoven shawls, and an old man showed us how to weave, it is such hard work and so time consuming- yet he seemed content and got excited when we asked to take photos.

We then got the train to Jaipur and sat with a lovely Sikh family who gave us tea and biscuits and made sure we had enough room to sit even though they were all squished onto one bench! We ignored the signs saying 'do not eat eatables offered from strangers' (is eatables a word??). We made friends with an Israeli guy Yorav and he played cards with us, Indian men are fascinated when we play cards and they enjoy trying to guess the rules, was quite funny, and we are getting used to being stared at, seems less offensive now - typical when I'm leaving in 3 days!

We then arrived at our guesthouse which had a swimming pool advertised and then didn't...so we moved to a friendlier place with an attached restaurant where we met loads more travellers. As we put our rucksacks in our new room a guy knocked on the door and asked us if we wanted to be in a bollywood film (called veer)and get paid and fed...erm yes!?! So we got a rickshaw with two guys from Dubai to the film set at Amber fort- which is beautiful- so also got a bit of sightseeing done! Unfortunately as we were white we had to wear hideous Victorian style dresses, by some miracle i avoided being forced to wear a hat unlike the others (one guy tried to give me a straw hat and i had to bite my tongue not to inform him that Victorian ladies wouldn't have worn a dress a straw cowboy hat...!!)

We had our make up done by two lovely Indian men though we did end up looking a tad drag queen ish but it was fun, and i then had my hair pinned up by 5 indian women all fussing and cooing around me. We were then taken to the set, a roman style arena where two guys on horseback were filming a jousting scene, we were made to climb the red carpet to sit in the Maharajahs box..finally i am appreciated! Unfortunately i don't think we got in shot but was fun chatting to everyone and taking photos with all the other extras who were lovely and funny. We spent quite a lot of time looking at the star of the film Salman Khan who is 45 but sooo muscly, he obviously loved himself as kept posing topless holding a cigarette and flicking his long hair..but we were still staring!

As soon as i get to a better internet cafe i will upload the pictures, was quite funny watching the filming as there will be so many continuity errors and for some reason it was set at the time of the British occupation of India but the star was in roman dress (so roman times) jousting (isn't that medieval??) and us in victorian/very tacky dresses..hmmm. I looked like a Spanish prostitute..so should make good viewing!

As we left to get changed back into our less glamorous clothes we noticed the changing room was surrounded by slightly large monkeys, usually not bothered i stepped forward..bad move as one growled showing me his huge pointy teeth and jumped towards me, i swear i nearly had a heart attack, but managed to leap behind one of the boys and then run down the stairs...monkeys are EVIL! apart from the little cute ones... apart from that drama the day of being a Bollywood star went well, and we got a thousand ruppees( 15 quid)!

We then came back and one of the guys from Dubai invited me to a Muslim wedding so i went along and ate loads of gulab jaman (ok was going to describe it but i have no idea how to!) when they saw i liked it they kept bringing me plates, Indians do not take no for an answer! I then went into the garden with the guys and realised everyone was staring at me more than usual..i was the only girl, all the women were in a separate area..i know how to get myself noticed! However everyone was lovely to me and very respectful and the children were gorgeous asking for photos and practicing their English. I was then persuaded to go and see the bride, so a beautiful girl led me by the hand towards a lady covered in an orange sparkly veil, they poked her to lift it up and she looked amazing, the jewellery was stunning, i offered my congratulations and just grinned and said namaste a lot like a twit. But they were all lovely and waved goodbye as we left.

So two more days left in India, we might try and work on the film again tomorrow before we go to Delhi on friday and then i leave for Bangkok Saturday evening. I will miss India, i've really loved and hated it at the same time- if that makes sense. It challenges you in ways you would never imagine and i've learnt so much about myself. It's a fascinating colourful and magical country and I can't wait to come back in the near future!

I will next update when i am in Thailand, hope all is well in England!
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