Serbia, through Hungary to Austria..

If I thought Sophia was dull it was nothing compared to Belgrade. To be fair Belgrade has a reputation for having a seriously good nightlife but a lone parent with a three year old tends to miss out on such things.

Armed with a fistful of Bulgarian lira I tried to change them at the exchange office in Belgrade train station only to discover that the only place for Bulgarian currency in Serbia is in the toilet. They wouldn't touch it. I wasn't the only one facing this problem, I spoke to some young Bulgarian backpackers who were facing the same situation.

A taxi driver appeared and tried to offer the two of us help. He told us that the closest ATM was a good taxi ride away, something the exchange office confirmed, but he just happened to have a bunch of euros and a brother in Bulgaria who he could pass the lira on to. Reluctantly I eventually agreed to change 70euros worth of lira for 55 euros. The young Bulgarians did likewise.

Afterwards we discovered that there was in fact an ATM in a different building in the station so we could only assume that it was a well organised little scam involving the currency exchange guys. Though it is genuine about the lira being comparable to toilet paper in Serbia, they won't touch it.

After "breakfast" in one of the station cafes we booked the luggage into the left luggage office and set off into Belgrade for a mooch. It didn't take long to realise that it's really not a city for kids. Not only is it not possible to escape the cigarette smoke, even the streets are thick with it, but there is just nothing for a young child.

Among the bland concrete buildings there are one or two interesting ones and, surprisingly, there are still some bomb damaged buildings that seem to have been left just as they were when they were hit by NATO missiles. After taking a few pics of one such building i asked a group of soldiers what the damage was caused by. One of them who could speak a little English pointed at me and said, "Your NATO did this." What do you say to that? The first thing I could think of was, "Bit of a mess that, thought you'd have cleaned it up by now." I did say it with a smile and very tongue in cheek but they didn't seem to find it amusing and just looked very serious said goodbye and wished me "good luck."

It didn't take long to realise that this was another place that we didn't want to stay in for too long. I think walking past yet another sex shop near the train station that had a life sized blow-up doll of what looked to be a child probably did it for me to be honest. So, where next?

Options open were bus or train to Vienna, train to Zagreb, then Llubjana and across to Venice, or a more expensive train ride straight through to Paris after a change in Zagreb. The daughter and I did Vienna the other year and after a fairly serious conversation for a three year old we concluded that now she'd eaten Turkish delight in Turkey all she wanted was France. As much as I would have liked to mooch about in Croatia or Slovenia it didn't seem fair to be dragging the daughter around yet more places that had little amusement for her.

In the end and after much consideration we bought a coach ticket for the overnight train to Vienna, going through Hungary. From there we'd try and get to Paris by whatever means we could. The 1640hrs coach was due to get in to Vienna at about 0230hrs the following morning which was a worry as I couldn't imagine we'd be able to do much until at least 0700hrs.


The coach out took us through the flat lands of northern Serbia towards the Hungarian border. Once again at the border we were presented with yet another beautiful immigration official sadly from the same charm school as the last one. As with the first official this one too seem concerned about a lone man and a child and actually took my passport from me which set the daughter off in tears. I could feel the glare of the rest of the passengers on me and could only imagine what they were thinking. We were the only non Austrian or Serbian passengers on the bus.

Eventually I got my passport thrust back in my hand and it looked like we could go. But no. Instead we were ordered off the coach and told to take ALL our belongings into a holding room. Then we were each ordered to open all our luggage, one at a time, in front of all the other passengers. The daughter began crying and wanted both the loo and a drink. Request denied.
One tobacco smuggler was found, a middle aged Austrian woman.


Having repacked our luggage we had to wait whilst the coach was given the once over, and under and then it was time to move. Though sadly only to a small inn a few miles up the road whilst we waited for our smuggler friend to negotiate with the officials. There followed two hours in a smoke filled inn with Serbs, Austrians and Hungarians watching Man United and AC Milan battle it out. As a Newcastle fan they just couldn't understand my lack of passion for the Man U, though I confess I was secretly gunning for them on this occasion.

With smuggler now with us again we made a start into Hungary, only to be pulled again by the police for yet another search. Luckily this was more a search of the drivers than us. And then again about an hour from the Austrian border we got a full shake down on the side of the road which involved pulling up floors and inserting small cameras into the ventilation system. I'm sure the two drivers had something to hide and were the real target but maybe they'd been warned this time. Eventually we made it into Austria several hours late.

Serbia, through Hungary to Austria..

Bulgaria to Serbia...

A day in Sophia was more than enough for the daughter. Having viewed all the graffiti that seems to plague just about every part of the city and covers everything from historical monuments to kids' playgrounds to public buildings and roads, and visited the main attractions in the city we booked an overnight train to Belgrade in Serbia.

Graffiti on artwork in kids' playground

Giant Easter eggs in Sophia

One shocking thing in Sophia was the sex shops. It wasn't the fact that were quite a number of them but their location. We'd stopped to browse the window of a toy shop and the daughter was telling me about some cartoon character or other in the shop window when my eyes wandered through the open door of the shop next to the toy shop. It was one of those situations where you have to do a double take. In full view from where we were standing was the biggest array of sex aids I've ever seen, and right next to the entrance of a perfectly innocent toy shop. Luckily I managed to steer the daughter past this without any embarrassing questions.

Alexander Nevski Church

St Nikolai Russian Church

We managed to get shafted at one point. We'd been to the train station in the afternoon to book a ticket. The taxi there was about 3.5lira. Once we'd booked the tickets we grabbed a taxi back to get our luggage. The meter started at 6lira and was racking up the numbers faster than I could count them. I looked around for an explanation. Was I reading the meter wrong? Nope, we were being scammed.

I mentioned it to the driver, a huge unshaven guy who looked something like a super-sized version of Bob Hoskins chewing on a wasp, and he immediately got aggressive and said we could get out. We did. After about a quarter of the journey we'd racked up a fare of five times what it cost in the opposite direction. We both knew he'd scammed us but what could I do? There were no police about, for all the good they would have done us, and there was no way I was going to start jiving on the streets with this monster, he'd have torn me apart. So, I just had to accept the fact we'd been fleeced and move on. Oh yes, it was a very bitter taste.

The train was basic to say the least and our compartment was like an oven. Just as I'd put the daughter on her bed the guard came in with two enormous, thick, heavy blankets of the kind you'd expect to see Russian soldiers in Siberia using. I thanked him but couldn't see why we'd need them. Two hours later I was praying that the guard would bring more blankets, it was bloody freezing.

I was first made aware of the fact we were crossing into Serbia when I was awoken by a border official ripping the door open and shouting at me. I'd locked the door and put the "safety latch" on, and then added an extra measure which meant he could open the door but couldn't actually get inside. Quickly I jumped from my bed, tried to wake myself up and opened the door. He started barking at me, "Sprechen sie Deutsches, sprechen sie Deutsches?" I shrugged and said I was English and he wandered in to the room, blew smoke from his cigarette all over my sleeping daughter and buggered off.

A few minutes later and another goon appeared and demanded to see our passports. Bulgaria now being part of Europe they don't bother stamping other EU passports so he just checked them over and left.

Now it was the turn of the Serbians. The Serbian immigration officer was a drop dead gorgeous woman with a stone cold expression who looked like she hadn't smiled in twenty years. Still, she really was the best looking immigration officer I've ever seen. She looked over the passports and then began examining my daughter's and then comparing her three month old face in the picture with her now nearly four year old sleeping self. She wasn't happy. I quickly pulled out my daughter's Thai passport which has a much more recent picture on it as proof of her identity. This helped establish her identity but then made her question why I was entering Serbia with a young girl, without her mother, heading for the UK when the mother was in Thailand. She made me feel like I was guilty of something just by the way she stared at me. She wrote down my details from the passport, threw the passports at me and told me that she would be "making a check" of me. Then two more officials came in, both smoking and both feeling the need to lean over my daughter and blow smoke at her. Finally it was over, we'd arrived in Serbia.

About an hour before we pulled into Belgrade station there was a commotion out in the corridor and then banging on our door. It was an Asian guy from the room next door, the only other non-local on the train, and the train guard. During the night someone had broken into his room, removed his bags, then removed all his money and valuables and left the bags in an empty compartment. They wanted to know if I'd had anything stolen. Nope.

The Asian guy was getting really pissed at the guard and started to lay the blame in his direction which I didn't think was a very wise thing to be doing. The guard laughed and wandered off singing to himself while the Asian guy started shouting that he was going to get the police involved. Though what he expected them to do is another matter.

Welcome to Belgrade.

Bulgaria to Serbia...

Back in England's green and pleasant land...

Arrived back in the UK last night. Having travelled several thousand miles by train and bus through foreign lands and not putting a foot wrong we managed to get on the wrong train at Paddington and were nearly in Somerset before I realised. Splendid! We wanted platform eight and we got on the train on platform eight. However, there were two trains on platform eight and we managed to get the wrong one.

Anyway, managed to get the situation sorted and after several changes we ended up home again. Now got to download all remaining images etc onto the laptop and then make a serious post about it all.

Back in England's green and pleasant land...

Quick post

Hectic and no access to internet. Travelled up thruogh Serbia, through Hungary and now in Vienna waiting for train to Paris.

No time to write proper post. In brief; smugglers on coach got arrested in Hungary, coach stopped and everyone searched three times, my passport was taken away for check twice because my daughter doesn't look like her passport photo (she was three months old then) and finally we made it hours late.

Quick post

Leaving Bulgaria and pictures from Istanbul...

Leaving for Belgrade in Serbia this evening. Should be interesting if nothing else. Probably won't be staying there, just try and move straight on towards Paris, the daughter really wants Paris and keeps trying out her limited French vocab. I can't imagine there's much to hold the attention of a three year old in Belgrade anyway.

Here are a few shots from our time in Istanbul. Just random ones from the hard-drive

Woman cooking on the street

Detail inside Aya Sofya

Also inside Aya Sofya

Chestnut vendor

Couple in the park

View from hotel window over the Bosphorus

Leaving Bulgaria and pictures from Istanbul...

Blogging from ...... Sofia, Bulgaria..

The overnight bus was torture. The daughter has a small jacket but I'm still, having expected more from the European climate, in tropics issue jeans and t-shirt. To be short the border crossing was ball freezing cold. A nice Bulgarian woman gave me her coat to wrap around the daughter whilst we stood shivering in the cold. The rest of the passengers on the bus were locals except us and they were all suitably prepared wearing half a sheep a piece. Dumb Englishman and his poor daughter!

Sofia, Sofia, Sofia! I'm tempted to use just a two word description for Sofia (apologies to any Bulgarians reading): f#@%*$@ depressing!! But I won't. That was my first impression. However, things have changed since I discovered that not all the buildings in Sofia have been defaced by mindless graffiti and not all it's inhabitants have been turned to stone by Medusa. Just 80% in both cases.

Despite my feeling better about the place I still want to leave ASAP as there seems no point in lingering any longer. Off to the train station we go.

Taxis and food are cheap. There's a chain of restaurants in town called Happy, and it is. Not just because the food is delicious, or because it is excellent value for money, but because they seem to hire stunningly attractive girls as waitresses which really does make the dining experience a Happy one.

More later when we decide where we can go.

Blogging from ...... Sofia, Bulgaria..

Blogging from Istanbul...

Still can't get the b@#£$* pics to upload, try again later.

We're leaving tonight for Sofia in Bulgaria. Should be interesting.

Blogging from Istanbul...

Blogging from ... Istanbul...

I wouldn't say quite love at first sight but Istanbul is definitely somewhere that has my eye. The history, the architecture, the magnificent old markets, the smell of roasting chestnuts on the street, the chaos and the people all make it interesting and quite extraordinary. Last night I even considered ditching the overland route back home and just hiring a car and exploring Turkey, then flying back. But no, business as planned.

The daughter seems happy here, if a little uncomfortable at times. She's getting far too much attention from everyone and has free gifts from strangers, offers of dining for free in restaurants and too many people pawing her and generally making her feel agitated. As an over protective dad I watch cautiously trying to work out the scam angle but so far it just seems like genuine friendliness. Still, the guard remains up.

Yesterday we walked and looked around Sultanamhet, the old town. The parks were full of families and so many young couples being very open about their courtship, which seems surprising in a Muslim country. We wandered around Hagai Sophia from the outside as there wasn't enough time to do it justice last night, that's on the cards for this morning after breakfast and ticket purchase at the train station.

We hit the famous Grand Bizarre as it was closing, a shoppers paradise. An undercover maze of shops and stalls with a very eastern feel the wife would have been in heaven there. After possibly the best Indian meal I've had (yeah I know, Indian food in Turkey but the daughter wanted nan bread so that was where we ended up) we managed to get completely lost. As light was fading we stumbled from street to street in vain and totally unaware that we were, in fact, walking in the opposite direction.

"Daddy, if we're lost will we have to sleep on the street?"She's a darling, she took it all well and seemed to think it was all good fun. "If I sleep on the street will I get squished by a car?" I assured her that we wouldn't be sleeping alfresco and daddy would eventually find the hotel for her, which he dutifully did.

Well, now time to go. The sun has arisen over the Bosphorus and the mouth to the Sea of Marmara whilst I was writing and breakfast is ready to be served so I must move from my little perch by the window and leave this fantastic view. I'll try and upload some pictures later but the connection is too slow at the moment and I haven't the time to sit and wait. Still not sure which country to hit next. Coming soon...

Blogging from ... Istanbul...

Arrived in Istanbul...

So, here we are in Istanbul. The sun is shining and it's very cool and refreshing. I can see the sea from our hotel room on the west side of Istanbul, looking across to the east side.

For a city with near on twenty million people it seems incredibly quiet. There are people about but not as bustling as London or Bangkok. Everybody seems very friendly so far and the daughter is getting a lot of attention on the street from just about everyone we pass.

We're aiming to stay until tomorrow and then move on but we haven't decided where to go yet, hopefully get that sorted in the next few hours. Too tired to write much now, been walking since we got here. Off to get thirty minutes sleep and then try and hit Hagia Sofia. I'll try and post some pics later.

Arrived in Istanbul...

No really, I am going..

I was going to finish my stink in Thailand with an account of the trip to Luang Prabang, Laos pt2 but I haven't got the time to do it. That will have to wait.

I have to share one piece of typically Thai news from the Bangkok Post. The government, it seems, has discovered the source of its problems - a lack of Feng Shui. Yes, the boys at government house have called in the Feng Shui guys to give them a bit of luck. Everything from new cat's eyes in the road outside to fountains and "auspiciously" (oh how the Bangkok Post does love this word) named pot plants are being put in place. They're also removing pictures of previous PMs. It's the end of my time here so I don't want to be harsh but come on, really? This is worrying!


And finally, a few photos.

Wat Arun at night, taken from a river cruiser last week.

Girls performing traditional Thai music by the river.

Does anyone know what laid these eggs? The bird made a nest in a dying hanging basket outside my office window, so we now have to keep a basket of near dead petunias up until the eggs have hatched. I know very little about bird types. She sits on these regularly and I'm guessing they're due to hatch fairly soon. Sadly the daughter won't be here to see the chicks.

No really, I am going..

Just hours to go now..

The daughter had her last afternoon of play with her best buddy today, there were tears. They were making lots of arrangements to visit each other, which if were to be carried out as they were reeling them off would probably bankrupt her buddy's parents and me too. And yes, I feel pretty guilty about this sad parting.

I've got some serious planning to do in a few short hours. Need to firm the route and try to book accommodation online. Have done for Istanbul but still haven't confirmed anything further. Any blogger from Romania, Greece, Bulgaria or France please advise. I'm trying to do the whole trip completely online and without planes (well, after Istanbul anyway). The PDA mobile is slowly filling with various files and details to act like an on the go guide book, batteries are charged but I haven't made a start on packing.

Watching the third season of 24 last night, the last four hours, and just an hour and a half from the end the DVD had a problem. So having sat through twenty-three and a half hours I don't know what happened. I could fill the page with expletives at this point.

The Land Rover is still in my hands, so to speak. I'm not going to sell it, much to the annoyance of the wife. The daughter is completely in love with it (she christened it Tindy after we got it) and has begged me to keep it for when we come here on holiday. I wonder if Land Rover know how appealing their vehicles are to three year olds.

I have a plan. Maybe next year, funds permitting, we'll get it to a garage for a complete makeover. I've had a quote for most of the work and it won't be tooooo much. Alter the bodywork slightly, new diesel engine, new shocks/suspension, better sealing all round, new more efficient air-con and a re-spray and it will look a lot less like a thirty-three year old shed. The daughter and I have this idea of driving it back to England then - something that will surely precipitate a divorce in our house.

Just hours to go now..

Nearly time to move..

That's it, time's up. Just enough time for a couple of posts before we start our meandering back to old England. As it stands the route looks like being Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, France and then England. However, things remain fluid and that route might change once we get going.

There were some last minute nerves yesterday an hour before the shipping company came to collect our things. I suddenly started to seriously question the sanity of going back and my finger was poised on the call button of my mobile for some time whilst I ran everything through my mind. In the end they arrived early and so we just went with it. Maybe it's going to be a huge mistake that I'll regret but how can you tell.

The daughter said this morning that she misses her gran in England and she can't wait to see her again. At which point I realised the one I miss most is in fact our dog. He was going to join us but I didn't want him to come out until we were absolutely sure we were here for the long haul. As it has happened it was a good job we didn't rush him out here otherwise he'd be facing a long wait in quarantine on his return.

Anyway, many goodbyes to make.

Nearly time to move..

Meme..

I've never done one of these meme things before but here goes. I was tagged on one by Liza at somethingsomething so I thought I'd give it a go.

Name five things you love in your new country:

1. The heat (sometimes)
   
2. The Tamarind Cafe vegetarian restaurant.
   
3. Delicious pineapple.
   
4. Can do attitude of educated Thais.
   
5. The beaches.
   

Name four things that you miss from your native country.

1. TV - sad, I know.
   
2. Variations in the weather.
   
3. Good manners - yep, some people in the UK still have them.
   
4. The food - ok, stop laughing!
   

Name three things that annoy you a bit (or much) in your new country:

1. Tendency of everyone to put their heads in the sand when faced with a problem.
   
2. Sticky humidity of Bangkok. Heat is one thing but this close stickiness gets me down.
   
3. The government, Thai police, corruption, racism of locals towards just about everyone else, lack of consideration for the environment, and on and on......
   

Name two things that surprise you (or surprised you in the beginning) in your new country:

1. Can't get Shredded Wheat!! This is serious.
   
2. That they are still having military coups whenever they have a political problem.
   

Name one thing that you would miss terribly in your new country, if you had to leave it:

1. Close proximity to wonderful beaches (there are some left here). I am leaving and I miss them already.
   

Tagging:

MyThailandDiary

The Lost Boy

Moving to/Living in Argentina

Care for Dogs Diary


Meme..

Kayaking in the park and holiday death count good..

The novelty of getting soaked and doing the soaking wore off pretty quickly, like an hour or so after it started. Been avoiding the water throwing gangs since then.

Managed to spend the afternoon in a park yesterday, hired a boat and all that kind of thing. Out on the lake we heard shouting and crying from a boat nearby. There was a mother and three kids, the oldest of which was shouting to us asking for help. He was telling anyone who'd listen that his mother was stupid and couldn't row the kayak.

That's her, laughing as he throws another insult

The wife got angry with him for his lack of respect for his mother. The mother just laughed as he insulted her for her incompetence but then he made no effort to do anything to help, except cause a scene. What did I do? Got my camera out and took a few pics of them.


Time is now running out, the clock is ticking and still I haven't finished packing everything for the shipping guys. I seem to have a thousand and one things to do and just can't seem to get around to doing them.

I recently discovered 24. It's been on TV back home for some time but I never bothered watching it, even though I'm quite a fan of Kiefer Sutherland. A friend lent me several series on DVD which I'm trying to plough through before I leave. It's addictive viewing. Typically American TV with very similar story lines: world's in trouble, Jack Bauer offers himself as a sacrifice to save the world, his daughter gets kidnapped every five minutes and nobody in the intelligence service and government can ever be trusted. Despite that it's cracking action TV. Just wish I'd bothered to watch it sooner.

Sun's shining, rains have stopped and it's another scorcher. The holiday period death count now touching 300. Sounds a lot but it looks like the final score will be quite an improvement on previous years.

Kayaking in the park and holiday death count good..

Songkran is here, Happy New Year to Thailand!!

Samakee Road was heaving. Every twenty metres or so a gang on each side of the road, adults and kids, armed with buckets, hose pipes, tubs, water guns and white powder. Open backed trucks crammed with revelers armed to the teeth with water dispensing devices were in full battle with the street gangs. Traffic was moving slow, cars being forced to stop and accept a good dose of water and powder.

We pulled up and resisted the invitation to open the windows and get drenched as the first gang emptied its receptacles on the car and smeared white hands on the windows and bodywork. Their ammunition spent I opened the window - payback time. The advantage of tinted windows meaning they hadn't seen the pump action three litre water gun I was holding in the foot well. The window lowered enough to get the barrel out and then SPLAT! Half a dozen soaked. Success.

Or so I'd thought. A small kid I'd not noticed still had half a bucket of water at the ready and try as I might I couldn't get the gun back in and the window up before most of his offering came rushing through the gap. We were soaked!

And so it goes. The annual Songkran festival is upon us and in full swing. For five days the entire nation is one giant water fight. If you leave your home there's no escaping it. They're everywhere and it's all in good humour. The biggest celebration in Bangkok is down at Khao San Road where thousands of foreigners and Thais get stuck in to it with all manner of water guns and buckets.

Sadly the death toll for this holiday is usually quite high. Last year the death toll for the five day holiday was something like 500, down from previous years. From Wednesday to this morning 100 people had lost their lives, mainly through road and drink related accidents.

Songkran is here, Happy New Year to Thailand!!

Trip to Laos - Vientiane..

The capital, Vientiane, is small and quiet and seems to amble along at its own leisurely pace. Asia and Europe mix here. Freshly baked French bread is sold on the streets in the morning beside noodle stalls. Pavements are level and clean and the streets buzz to the sound of the distinctive three wheeled tuk-tuk, that differs from its Thai counterpart in that the driver is perched high on the front end of a motorbike.

Vientiane is a walkers dream. The climate is perfect for walking and the city picturesque enough to make it interesting, with buildings a mix of temples, old colonial and more recent communist carbuncles. Art galleries, European eateries and coffee shops are plentiful and there's a pleasant absence of western fast food conveniences: the dreaded McClown, Colonel "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" Sanders and Starbucks have yet to pollute the environment with their presence.

Vientiane’s two centre pieces are That Luang and Patuxai (literally meaning Gate of Triumph). That Luang dates back to the mid 1500s and was built on the site of an existing Khmer temple and is clearly the main tourist attraction in town. Locals believe that the Khmer temple was itself built on the site of an even older temple that dated back to the 3rd century Mauryan Empire(from India) and actually contains relics of the Buddha. That Luang was destroyed by the Thais in the 19th century and then fully restored to its original condition.

Patuxai was built with money donated by the US for a new airport, which Laos instead used to build this monument to commemorate the struggle and victory for independence from France. And yes, it does resemble the Arc de Triomphe. Given the detestation caused in Laos by US bombing you can't help feeling that there's some justification for them getting one over on Uncle Sam when they got the chance.

Unlike in Bangkok an evening stroll by the river is a pleasant experience. The evening air is cool and there's a distinct lack of mosquitoes in the air (or at least there was when we were there) which makes dining alfresco an inviting option. And there's no lack of choice of what to eat either, from local cuisine through French, Indian and Italian to Vietnamese.

We stayed at La Villa Manoly just off Setthatitrat Road. It's in a quiet residential setting, walking distance from a market and the oldest complete Laos temple, Wat Sisaket. This renovated French mansion has a swimming pool set in the gardens and offers tasteful rooms with private bathrooms, balcony, and a fridge for US$25 a night (rates vary depending on the room).

I've read many times that you should skip Vientiane altogether and head straight for Luang Prabang. Having visited both now I disagree. Sure Luang Prabang is streets ahead of Vientiane in so many ways but I don't think it would be good to dismiss Vientiane altogether. It's a nice city and definitely worth a look.

What does take some time getting used to is the three currency system that seems evident in Laos. Often your bill for a meal or drink will arrive with the price in Laos kip, US dollars and Thai baht. Even negotiating with tuk-tuk drivers is a multi-currency affair. My advice is to get clued up on the exchange rates and equivalent values in all three currencies and carry plenty of 20 baht notes, deals can be had. One tuk-tuk driver would accept a kip less than 20,000 for a ride but then snapped the wife's hand off when she offered him 40 baht, which is the equivalent to 11,000 kip.

With only a few days to spare we opted for flight rather than road as a way to Luang Prabang. 30 minute flight as opposed to 12 hours in a bus meant that my green travel ideals had to take a back seat. The flight cost just over US$100 per person with Laos Air on one of their small MA60s. No complaints about Laos Air either, no bad from what I experienced.

More from Luang Prabang later.

Trip to Laos - Vientiane..

Packing to go and getting to Laos...

Back from Laos and now in a mad rush to say all the goodbyes and pack everything ready for shipping. The house is starting to resemble an indoor market with boxes and packing everywhere and the floor littered with various objects and items.

We're having a harsh de-clutter at the same time. So much junk that really isn't worth carting all the way back home. The daughter and the wife are the biggest collectors of junk. Personally I'm into minimalism and other than clothes have very little apart from books, techie gadgets and DVDs. As fast as I fill bags with unused toys and clothes for the local orphanage the daughter empties them, insisting that this little plastic toy that doesn't work is really something that she "needs". How is it that 3 year olds don't actually want or prefer things, they need them.

Having looked into the options for getting to Laos from Bangkok we opted for overnight train. Cheaper than air, more interesting, and environmentally streets ahead of any airline option it was a good choice. 1st class sleeper to Nong Khai was 1,200 baht per adult, kids go free. For that we had our own air-con compartment with two beds, a sink and a small amount of space. Breakfast and dinner can be ordered in advance and delivered at a pre-arranged time, though I wouldn't recommend the food on the train unless you're really desperate.

Vientiane isn't much to look at. Basic, dusty and geared up for the cross border traffic and trade that is clearly a big part of local life. The most disticntive things about Nong Khai was the tuk-tuks, the distinctive Laos tuk-tuk with the driver perched high up on the front half of a motorbike. They don't have the speed of the Bangkok tuk-tuk and certainly didn't feel anywhere near as safe, which is worrying.

1st class compartment

Nong Khai

We crossed the 2km friendship bridge in a rickety old bus, crammed against what felt like half the population of Thailand. Checking in to Laos was frustrating. The queues at immigration were long and painfully slow moving and the guys processing the visa on arrival decided to down tools for a lunch break just as we arrived. But then we made it into the former Land of a Million Elephants (Lan Xang), as it was prior to being renamed Laos.

The taxi ride into town was interesting. The driver was really friendly, like pretty much all Laotians we met, and happily chatted to us about Vientiane and handed some good advice about what to see and prices for various things. The taxi was reminiscent of one I went in in Rangoon: Japanese, right hand drive in a left hand drive country, and held together by rust and dirt.

Train: 1,200 baht per adult
Visa on arrival for UK passport: US$35
Entrance fee: 10 baht
Taxi to downtown Vientiane: 300 baht

More about Laos to come.

Packing to go and getting to Laos...

Back from Laos and still no YouTube...

Back from Laos and head still rocking from the train journey. I know the train to the north is hellishly long compared to air travel but if you can get the first class sleeper (there aren't many) I personally think it's better than flying. Cheaper, more environmentally friendly and more enjoyable than squeezing into a tiny seat on a plane.

Will post more and some pics when I get my head together and sort myself out.

I see the great YouTube debate is still raging. Having been out of the country and had chance to access the controversial YouTube I checked out the clips that are causing such a stir. One is just silly and not in the slightest bit offensive and the other one is clearly someone angry and making a point by being insulting. I can see why the more sensitive Thais would be offended by the latter but not the former, it's just someone making a point. Having a quick browse through the comments I noticed that most of the comments I saw were in fact in support of the video posters and against Thailand and its lack of freedom, contrary to what has been said here in Thailand.

As many have already said, if they hadn't caused such a fuss the original videos would have simply vanished without a trace and no one would have need to bother about it. The Thai government seems to have done a great job of advertising those videos and encouraged more. Thailand seems to forget that in other parts of the world people are free to mock and criticize at will and when that freedom is checked they will do it all the more. Respect can quickly turn to derision.

More later.

Back from Laos and still no YouTube...

In Laos PDR

No posting for a while as I'm in Laos. Forgot to mention. Came here Thursday and should be back next week. First impression - really good!! Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Vientiane sooo quiet. On the way to Luang Prabang later today.

In Laos PDR

YouTube gone....

It's official, YouTube is banned in Thailand and it's caused quite a stir.

According to the BBC:

the site was banned after a 44-second film showing graffiti over the king's face was aired.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 79, is revered and it is forbidden to insult him.

The minister said a ban came after the Thai government asked YouTube's owner Google to remove it and they declined.

The contentious film also shows feet being placed over the king's face - an offensive act to Thais, who consider feet dirty.

Anyone who knows anything about Thailand will be aware of how seriously something like this will be taken here but to ban the whole YouTube site seems a tad excessive. Opinion is mixed. Matt makes a good argument against the banning here, some others are in favour of the banning including newbie Andrew here.

I fully appreciate why the authorities are offended by such a posting and I'm sure within a few days there will be protests outside the US embassy demanding that YouTube capitulates. However, how can this level of censorship ever be justified in a country that claims democratic status and is proud of its freedom of speech?

The internet is a wonderful thing but with all the good that comes from the internet there's a negative side. People from around the world can anonymously express their opinions to a potential audience of hundreds of millions, as should be their right, and some of those opinions will be offensive to many. But isn't that a price worth paying to keep the freedom of the internet intact?

It's no coincidence that the countries around the world that try to control internet content most are generally the countries who have the most to hide. Just imagine what stories would come to light if there was freedom of access to the internet in China and Burma, and potentially what atrocities could be prevented through increased exposure on the internet. Does Thailand really want to be lumped together with these guys in terms of personal freedom? It hardly fits with the Amazing Thailand image that they like to sell to the world.

Whilst this particular video, which I haven't seen and knew nothing about until YouTube got banned, sounds fairly pointless and plainly offensive to someone who isn't in a position to retaliate it does raise the question of why. Why did he/she do it? My guess is that it is some kind of reaction to the recent jailing of a Swiss man to 10 years in prison for spraying paint on a picture of the King. As yet the only thing known about the poster is that he/she is registered in the US.

So, what will happen? Will the people of Thailand be denied access to YouTube indefinitely? Will Google, owners of YouTube, agree to drop the video? Personally I think the latter. Despite Google stating clearly that they could see nothing offensive in the video in question I feel sure that within a short period of time YouTube will once again be available in Thailand.

YouTube gone....

Youtube.com banned in Thailand, snorting dead man's ashes and stuff...

As reported in the Bangkok Post today authorities have managed to block access to youtube.com from within Thailand. Having tried to connect to youtube.com today I can confirm that there is nothing but a blank screen.

Apparently no one seems in a hurry to claim responsibility but an anonymous source told the Bangkok Post that CAT (Communications Authority of Thailand) has blocked access to the popular video sharing site.

So, what's the problem? Why do the people of Thailand need to be protected from the evils of youtube.com? It seems that recently there have been some political postings to the site (possibly guilty of telling the truth, which of course is frowned upon here) and last week a video was uploaded that was in some way insulting to the king of Thailand.

Either way my youtube.com viewing days appear to have come to an end for the time being. No more music videos, no more humorous clips from favourite comedians, no more senseless home videos and, more importantly, no more videos from me. Arghhh!!

Almost as disturbing as the lack of youtube in Thailand is a report I just read on the BBC that says Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones has admitted to snorting his father's ashes during a drug binge a few years ago.

"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow."

Shocking but maybe more so if it wasn't Keith saying it. It somehow seems the kind of thing you'd expect from Keith Richards.

The daughter's got friends around here this afternoon so I have even less freedom than usual and certainly less piece. These kids brought with them several huge water guns with water filled backpacks. So needles to say there's an air of dampness around here at the moment. My request not to fire them in the house led to them mooching off into the garden and firing straight through the windows into the house. Lovely kids!

Youtube.com banned in Thailand, snorting dead man's ashes and stuff...

Flights booked and changing names...

The journey back home has turned up a gear, a flight has been booked. So now we have as far as Turkey confirmed, just need to sort out the best route from there. Several options available involving land and sea.

Looking like we might be off to Laos this weekend. Vientiane and Luang Prabang being the main focus. Whilst I'm happy to go I've got so many things to do here I'd rather stay but the wife wants some "quality" time with the daughter and I before we head off. Any recommendations as regards accommodation? Can't help feeling a beach trip would be better at the moment given the heat here.

There's been a suggestion that whilst the current junta are re-writing the constitution they could perhaps look into reverting the name of the country back to Siam. I must say I think that is a great idea. Re-branding is definitely what this place needs at the moment. The old name of Siam (first coined by a Brit) served happily as the country's name for about three or four hundred years until a military dictator (Phibun Songkran, who also declared war on Thailand's allies Britain and the US) renamed the country in 1932.

After he was removed Siam was restored for a few years and then another military ruler changed it back to the old new name of Thailand. Personally I think Siam sounds more mysterious, and gives it that special je ne sais quoi. Anyway, I doubt very much if anything will come of this.

Flights booked and changing names...

Israeli killed at the Full Moon Party, and a Thai cricket team...

This month's Full Moon Party has got off to a bad start with another tourist murdered by locals, this time an Israeli guy who had flown out specially for the party on Koh Phangan in southern Thailand. The Bangkok Post had this to say:

Police found the body of David Kakilashvili, 32, dead with eight knife wounds to the chest, arm, face and back and four head wounds at 2 a.m. Sunday at the Drop In bar in Phangan, an island situated 430 kilometres south of Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand.

Witnesses said the Israeli and his friends were drinking at the bar when a fight broke out with five teenagers from the island who stabbed and beat Kakilashvili to death before fleeing the scene.

"We know who the culprits are and will ask the court to issue a warrants for their arrest today," said Phangan Pol Sub-Lt Likhit Chumchuay.

"The suspects include the son of a local politician, who has a bad reputation for bothering foreigners," said Likhit in a telephone interview.

Sadly this was only considered important enough for the inside pages in a very small column in the print edition but the text above came from an online update. Presumably the fact that it was a politician's son at the centre of the investigations was the reason for this.

If you actually tallied up all the tourists and foreigners who meet a sticky end in Thailand every year I'm sure tourist arrivals would plummet. There was something like a dozen or more Brits alone killed since we came back, and that's just from actually being murdered not through accidents. Factor in all other nationalities and you'd be shocked.

What's even more shocking is the leniency of the sentences passed down to Thais convicted of murdering foreigners, and the speed with which they are released after serving very little time in pokey. I'm sure I read somewhere that the guy arrested for the murder of the two Russian women earlier in the year, who actually confessed, is out on bail whilst the police try and find more people responsible. And of course the world's media has now moved on to other things, the spotlight is focused somewhere else and all is forgotten.

On a lighter note the Chiang Mai Gymkhana Club is hosting the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes. A local team of young Thais have made headlines by beating an Australian side and look set to do quite well. Apparently cricket is quietly gaining popularity among Thais. And when I say quiet I mean seriously quiet, but it is happening and more and more kids are being won over by the game. I'm sure I read somewhere that it's quite popular in Japan too.

Israeli killed at the Full Moon Party, and a Thai cricket team...

Terrible shopping experience - again!

I've done it again. I promised myself last time that any big"gish" purchases would only be from Central World or Paragon, on account of they seem to be the only places where you get a good level of service. Yesterday, due to time constraints, I broke the promise and bought from Central Lad Prao.

It's the wife's birthday today and I bought her a video iPod, and at the same time another video iPod as a replacement for mine that I ran over a few months ago (long story). So yesterday I went into the Apple shop in Central Lad Prao with the intention of buying two video iPods.

After twenty minutes of being ignored by the staff, who refused to serve me and turned their backs whenever I tried to get their attention I lost my rag. I interrupted two members of staff having a good chat and a laugh behind the counter and asked where else in Central I could buy iPods, as no one there seemed interested in serving me. Sarcasm is wasted on Thais, they just don't get it.

When I finally got my point across the one seemed concerned enough to serve me whilst the other one laughed at me. I spoke Thai and asked her why she was laughing and if she had any manners. Sorry, sorry, giggle, giggle.

I agreed to buy the two iPods and said I needed to know how to get all the songs from my existing itunes library onto the new iPod. Sure said she, she'd get someone to explain when I'd paid. I paid and that was that. Get lost. No explanation, nothing. refused to help. I enquired about the manager. Not here today. Could I have a business card? He doesn't have any. Can you give me his telephone number? No, we don't know it. The one girl was still giggling as I left the shop.

I just didn't have enough time to get to town as I had to take the daughter to see Finding Nemo on ice up at Impact Arena so it was a case of desperation. Incidentally that was quite good, well if you're three it was. Oddly it wasn't full, probably about 60% of seats taken. I guess the Thai language shows probably have a bigger crowd.

Terrible shopping experience - again!

Hot with itchy feet...

HOT! Weather just getting hotter all the time. Last week some parts here reached 41c. I feel like I'm sweating all the time unless in air-con areas. I need a beach!

Uneventful weekend so far. All day filming yesterday, daughter to ballet this morning and have to take her to see Disney on Ice this evening - Finding Nemo I think.

Our trip back is almost worked out. It's going to be quite a journey taking in about seven countries, though nothing confirmed yet. Looking forward to this and can't wait for the off, though travelling thousands of miles by plane, train, coach and ferry with a three year old is going to be interesting.

Hot!!!

Hot with itchy feet...