TravelStream™ news feed for member widdecj on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/widdecj en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:36:36 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1212759300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1212759300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1212759300/tpod.html Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:36:36 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Kanchanaburi, Thailand

jbrghbergba
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1212585240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1212585240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1212585240/tpod.html Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:15:27 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Bangkok, Thailand

bangkok crazy
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1210593720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1210593720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1210593720/tpod.html Sun, 25 May 2008 08:04:19 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Ko tao, Thailand

scuba diving pictures from ko tao
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1211091780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1211091780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1211091780/tpod.html Mon, 19 May 2008 03:23:34 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Myanmar, Myanmar

What a pain in the ass. First we had to head to the border town of Ranong, which is a complete dump to do our visa run. We left Koh Tao at 10.15am and got the ferry over to Chumpon, then we got on a coach which was apparently going to Ranong but the coach driver just dropped us off of chumpon town, and we had to get a mini bus from there to Ranong which took 3 hours. When we arrived there we had to get a taxi into ranong town and find somewhere to stay. We were not impressed, it is a really poor and run down place plus we are the only white people here so stand out like a sore thumb. After about half hour we found somewhere half decent to stay, and were starving so looked for somewhere to eat. This took a while as nothing here is in English, hardly anyone speaks English and all of the food places looked extremely dodgy. In the end we found a restaurant, which had a menu in English and looked pretty clean so we had chicken and rice for tea. Then we spent the rest of the night in our room thinking what the hell are we doing here.The following we did our visa run with a tour company that we found near our hotel. First they drove us to the pier, which was a very intimidating place. Then we had to get a long tail boat (rickety old wooden boat that hopefully wont sink) to Burma. The boat ride was around 40mins and thankfully there were 5 other westerners on the boat with us so we felt abit safer. When we arrived in Myanmar we literally had to get off the boat, get our passports stamped by a dodgy looking immigration and then get back on the boat and head back to Thailand, get a passport stamped on the way back in, which gave us another 30days. Thank god that was over. Then we headed back to the hotel in Ranong stayed for one more night, and then headed back to Koh Tao. As we have decided we want to spend the last part of our trip in a place that we love, stress free. so we now plan to head to Bangkok about 10days before we go home, see the sights visit Rodger and Dianne, and then go home.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1210398480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1210398480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1210398480/tpod.html Mon, 19 May 2008 02:23:00 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Koh Tao, Thailand

We were very excited about going to Koh Tao as we were planning to do our Padi courses. We arrived there feeling very sick as the boat journey over was very choppey. On the way over there were touts trying to sell dives courses, one of them a guy named chet seemed pretty genuine so we decided to go and have a look at his place first. We did have a look around some other places but we decided to stay there as the dive course was pretty cheap, he gave us 5 free night accomidation, and our dive instructors jenny, damian, and nathan were really nice. Also the island was pretty quiet so the max number of people in our dive group would only be four. However it ended up being just the two of us and jenny, which was fab as that was you get more time exploring and less time practising techniques, as well as not getting someone elses fin in your face every 2 minutes.The Padi course was wicked. The first day we spent a couple of hours in the classroom watching videos, doing quiz's. Then in the afternoon we spent three hours in the swimming pool learning all the techniques, such as clearing your mask of water, emergency procedures ect. It was abit scary at first but we soon got the hang of it, and we both picked everything up really quickly. Our instructor Jenny is really cool, and is from Exeter, how wierd. We had dinner in a really nice restuarant called In Touch, you sit on bean bags right next to the beach, so it's a great place to chill out and relax. Then we spent the rest of the evening revising as we had to read two chapters of the book for the next days theory, it was truly painful lol.The following day we got up at 8.30am did a couple more hours of theory, then went out and did 2 dives. The boat ride to the dive site was pretty crazy 4m high waves chucking the boat around. Thankfuly Jenny had given us some sea sickness tablets to take before we left. It was really good but visability was pretty bad as there was a storm th night before, we stil saw lots of cool stuff though, and we both had to show Jenny we could do the techniques under water, thankfully we both did really well, we will be pro's in no time.On the third day we had to be up at 5am to go diving at 6am. We did another 2 dives, this time the visibility was alot better so we saw lots of funky coral and hundreds of tropical fish, including a school of baracudas. We also had to do a few more techniques to finsh off the course. Jen made a right prat of her self on one of the dives. When you jump in you can either step or roll. Well she did a mixture of both which meant that she hit the water face first, and the tank smashed into the back of her head, giving her a huge bump and abit of concussion. After the dives we headed back, had a couple of hours to have lunch and revise and then we had to do a test, and then we were finished. We both passed the test first time thank god. Then we spent the rest of the day snoozing as we were exhausted. After the course we had a couple of days off to relax, then we did 2 fun dives, which basically means you just get to look around, as we are now qualified divers. The weather was gorgeous so visibility was great. This time our dive master was Damian and we rented a digital camera so we got lots of fab pictures. Near the end of the dive jen could see something big but couldn't tell what it was as it was too far away, when it came closer we realised it was two sharks AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. They shot past ant and scared the crap out of him. Check out the pictures, damian just managed to get a pic of the shark for us. Then we spent the afternoon sunbathing on the beach.The following day was our last day in Koh Tao so we decided to rent a quad bike and explore the island. We had a really amazing day. We got to see lots of the other little bays around the island such as shark bay, tanote bay, and aow leuk which a really beautiful. Driving around the island was a challange in itself as there are only a few paved roads and all of the others roads are just dirt tracks, which are very bumpy and steep. It was hillarious and we nearly got stuck a few times. Some crazy people rent mopeds to get around the island, we considered it but thank god we didn't as i seriously think we would have killed ourselves. lol. (so far our favourite place in Thailand).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1209646740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1209646740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1209646740/tpod.html Mon, 19 May 2008 01:47:48 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Ko samui, Thailand

Altogether we spent a total of 8days in Ko Samui. Our journey there was abit chaotic. First we had to get on a  us from Krabi for three hours which took us god knows where, then we had to get off and change to another bus, which was so packed that we had to share a seat, then we got the ferry over to Ko samui, then a taxi to Chewang beach. It was once again a scorcher so i sat in starbucks while ant went to look for somewhere to stay. After about an hour of searching he found us a really nice bungalows next to the beach. We spent the rest of the evening looking around, and had dinner in a night market as it's not only cheap but the best Thai food you can get.The rest of our time here we pretty much spent our days on the beach soaking up the sun, and in the evening relaxing with a beer in one of the many nice restaurants here. We really enjoyed our time here, its abit too touristy but still a really beautiful place. The only major downside is the bleady touts. There are thousands of them everywhere and they literally don't leave you alone. If you are relaxing on the beach literally every few minutes someone is trying to sell you ice cream, jewelery, silk, or drugs, they drive you mad lol. Also walking down the streets they try and sell you suits, jewelery, Cd's, shoes, photos with animals, like really cute small monkeys (don't worry we said no). There are also lots of cabarets, which are hilarious. All of the lady boys stand on the streets and try and sell tickets for the show, so of them aren't so convincing. But lots of them had a better ass and tits then Jourden. Ant was very scared as they kept on grabbing hold of him lol.We spent our last 2 nights in a really fancy hotel, as Jen wasn't feeling to well, it was gorgeous we had cable TV, fridge, air con, and a big double bed with a duvet, we where in heaven.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1210223820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1210223820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1210223820/tpod.html Mon, 19 May 2008 01:30:03 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Ko Pha-Ngan, Thailand

We arrived at Ko Pha-Ngan after a 1 hour boat ride from Ko samui. It was absolutely boiling when we got there and one of the bungalows was offering a free taxi so we decided to go with them and check it out. Thankfully the rooms where big, clean, reasonable and had air-con, so we decided to stay there and save ourselves the hassle of walking around trying to find somewhere. We spent the rest of the day on Hat Rin Nok beach, which was gorgeous, and its also the place where the famous full moon party happens. Unfortunately the full moon party didn't fit into our schedule so we had to miss it out, but from what we've heard about it we don't really mind, as we are not pill heads or mushroom lovers. In the evening we went to a pool party which was happening at our bungalows, had a really good night. Met a nice couple harry and Julia from OZ, so spent the evening chatting to them and ended up rather drunk on buckets of vodka and red bull.The following morning we had stinking hangovers, so spent a couple of hours recovering with a fry up, then we headed back over to the beach and snoozed in the shade. Spend the evening back at our bungalow bar with harry and Julia drinking fanta and had an early night as the next day we were off to Koh Tao.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1209188520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1209188520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1209188520/tpod.html Mon, 05 May 2008 07:55:15 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Ko phi phi don, Thailand

We got to KO phi phi on a boat thats was absolutely packed. Arrived at midday and it was once again boiling, and once again we did things the hard way by walking around and around in the heat. After around 20minutes we finally used our brains and Jen sat in the shade with the bags while ant went to look for somewhere to stay. He walked around for quite a while and we ended up staying in the place Jen was sat in front of lol, we are such plonkers. We spent the rest of the day on the beach again, ant was huddled under the umbrella and it was a scorcher. watched the sunset on the beach with a beer, and headed back for a shower. The water was brown yuck, we don't even want to know why. For dinner we found a really cool place called Matt's grill. Huge chicken breasts, skewers, steaks, sausages, burgers, salad and the best mash potato we have ever had, ALL YOU CAN EAT. Ant was there in a shot. After dinner we bought some beers and went to sit on the beach, was really nice apart from when poor Jen woke up the next morning and had 52 mozzie bites on her legs as she forgot to put repellent on. Our room was nice but very hot, so we spent the whole night tossing and turning and jumping in the shower to cool down. The following day it was raining in paradise, so we went for a fry up, had a walk around the stalls and spent the afternoon in a bar thats showed movies, and had dinner at Matt's grill again as it was so nice.Thankfully the following day the weather cleared so we decided to do a boat trip to Maya bay, which is where the movie the beach was filmed. First we went to do some snorkeling which was really good, the water was crystal clear and there were hundreds of cool fish, we also visited a place called vikings cave, then we headed to Maya Bay. It was a really gorgeous place but not as secluded as it look it the film, the beach was packed lol. We decided to swim from the boat the the beach rather than get the small boat, big mistake. It was alot further than it looked, and the current was pretty strong so we were buggered by the time we got there. Had fried rice for dinner on the boat and watched the sunset, which was really beautiful. A wicked trip, not bad for only 4 pound each.The next day we headed back to Krabi and decided to stay another night in our nice room with air con.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1209101340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1209101340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1209101340/tpod.html Fri, 02 May 2008 09:56:49 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Railay beach, Thailand

We got a long tail8l boat from Krabi to Railay and that was an experience in itself. We got to the pier nice and early hoping that the boats we busy and we wouldn't have to wait long, that didn't exactly go to plan, it was really really quiet. We ended up waiting there for 2 hours. Then the stupid boat driver ripped us off, as he wouldn't drop the price no matter how many more people got on the boat, meaning we all got ripped off but as there is no other way to get there we didn't have much choice. When we finally arrived it was extremely hot and as per usual we did things the hard way. We couldn't find the place we wanted to stay so we ended walking up and down the beach 4 times, with our backpacks, sweating our asses off. No thanks to the many thais we asked for directions and sent us in the complete opposite direction. This is a small island so the laugh was on us as they would have known exactly where it was, FUCKERS. Thankfully we did eventually find a place which had nice wooden bungalows for only 400thb.When we had cooled down and had some lunch we decided to go to west railay beach which was gorgeous, and spend the afternoon relaxing there. Then we spent the evening chilling in a bar and having some well earned beers.The following day the weather was gorgeous so we spent the day on the beach again, jen had a foot scrub and Thai massage which only cost 3pound, she didn't enjoy it that much though as it actually hurts and the crazy woman's tries popping all your joints, which i hate. We sunbathed for as long as we could but it was way to hot so we spent the afternoon relaxing in the shade. Young boys walk up and down the beach selling drinks and pineapples, so we decided to have a pineapple for lunch. We managed to knock the price down from 60thb to 40thb, so the little git went to get it for us, when he finally come back he sold it to a couple sat right in front of us for 60thb, then told us sorry none left, cheeky little bugger. Enjoyed our time here it was a really nice place
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1208928420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1208928420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/widdecj/ant_and_jen/1208928420/tpod.html Fri, 02 May 2008 09:40:09 -0400 Ant and jens round the world adventure 2007/8, BRING IT ON!!!

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Krabi, Krabi, Thailand

Today wasn't as traumatic as we thought it would be, we got the ferry from Langkawi into Thailand, then a bus to Krabi. The guy who sold us the bus ticket told us it would take 4 hours but it took 5 and a half, luckily for us it was comfy and had air con. We got seats in front of the T.V but this ended up being a big mistake as the whole way they played the most annoying Thai music we have ever heard! We literally wanted to kill ourselves. Soon as we got off the bus in Krabi we were mobbed by people trying to sell us accommodation and transport. Thankfully we met a nice older English couple who had been there before so we shared a cab with them and they showed us a good place to stay. We were tired and hungry so we headed straight to a night market to get some tea. This was our first experience of Thai food and we loved it. We had pad Thai which is fried noodles with veg,nuts and chicken, in a really nice sauce. This time our meal only cost us 1 pound 40 for both of us including 2 large beers. WOW! We hadn't stopped up to this point so we decided to spend the following day in Krabi catching up on sleep, and chilling in our cosy room with air con and cable TV.
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