Thailand
28 March, 2012
As we entered Bangkok we were introduced to pure chaos. Kamikaze mopeds find gaps in the traffic that don’t exist, dodging between bright pink taxis and Tuk-tuks. The chaos is met with 37 degree heat and 85% humidity with makes getting around a tiring task. Street vendors and temporary looking markets are set up street side ready to serve up fresh food, although the meat especially looks questionable. However, after being in Australia where everything is horrifically expensive, Thailand has been a welcome change. A starter, Fresh Thai food and a beer comes in at under £5.
On our second day we took the sky train to the famous Chatuchak weekend market. A maze of over 8,000 stalls ready to sell you anything you could imagine from fake clothing to dining room furniture. There are even shipping companies within the market ready to send larger purchases home for you. It was difficult to resist buying too many souvenirs but when we did we quickly found the market sellers love to barter.
That afternoon we took a taxi ride to backpacker central, Koh San Road to sort our transport for heading south. We couldn’t walk for a minute without someone offering us a suit, a Tuk-Tuk or restaurant food.
In the evening it got even worse, street sellers were shoulder to shoulder offering Thai massages, fake driving licences and degree certificates. You could come back from Thailand a ‘doctor’ if you wanted.
We’ve heard lots of stories about Tuk-Tuks, mainly ones about people being taken to suit shops and jewellers rather than where they want to go. The drivers get free petrol vouchers if they bring tourists to certain shops in the hope they’ll spend money. We met one couple who were on one for an hour and still hadn’t been where they wanted to go. Despite this we wanted to experience it for ourselves. Five minutes into our journey the driver’s phone rang and we were soon back where we started. He said his friend had phoned and he was off to drink whiskey with him, sorry.
After two nights in Bangkok we were ready to leave the city and head south. Our first stop was Koh Phangan, a small island off the east coast. Our trip included a 12 hour overnight bus ride, a three hour wait in the middle of nowhere, a two hour ride in a mini bus and then a four hour boat journey! Was it worth it? At first I thought no. It appeared similar to the Cook Islands but dirtier and less friendly. This is where the full moon parties are held once a month. Up to 30,000 people party on the beach but unfortunately there wasn’t one on while we were there. Because of this you are seen as another westerner with a back pack and money to spend which is less than welcoming.
We then arrived at our resort to what can only be described as a hole and the receptionist as the devil. We encountered too many problems to mention but here is one. She asked if we’d like to leave the island on the 6am or the 12pm ferry. We chose the latter, not wanting to be up at the crack of dawn. So imagine the shock we had when at 5am the next morning we were woken by a man standing in our room shouting ‘taxi, taxi’. It was like a strange dream and by the time we were fully awake he was gone. At first I thought he was robbing us, luckily he wasn’t as with my snail like reaction he would have cleared us out. Later we went to reception to check we were leaving at 12pm and she said we had booked the 6am ferry and tried to charge us to change it. She also told us that as we were now leaving at 12pm we might miss our connecting bus to our next hotel, in which case we would have to pay for a nights accommodation where ever we were dropped off or an hour taxi ride to where we were staying. It was her that gave us the option in the first place! I look forward to writing the review.
Despite this, we met some great people at our accommodation and ended up having an amazing three days blasting around the Island on our rented mopeds, visiting different beaches and temples across the island. One day we tried to find a small beach recommended in our guide book, what it failed to mention was the 30 minute ride of the roughest off road track I’ve ever seen. 4×4 trucks carrying people in the back laughed as they overtook us. We were two up with the power of a dead slug and the steep hills were too much for our little bike as we avoided rocks and ruts. Luckily our skinny tyres held up as god knows what would have happened if we got a puncture out there.
One afternoon we planned to find a temple, once we got there we found school kids in Prayer with four monks. The headmaster encouraged us to take photos and to talk to the children. We then walked around the class rooms and since it was their last day of school most of them were playing games.
The rooms and facilities were very basic so when our friend Nic introduced them to his iPad, their faces lit up.
On the west coast of the island we found Malibu beach, perfect clear water with fishing boats a plenty.
There are various temples scattered around the island and I asked this monk if I could photograph him outside one of them. They wake at 4:30am every day and stay within the temple grounds until noon.
Our last night on Koh Phangan was the night of the black moon party although a lot of people weren’t going in as they were overcharging on the gate and people were reporting it was dead inside. So we took a taxi down to Haad Rin beach where there was a fire show and fire limbo. Excuse the poor compact photo.
After four nights in Koh Phangan it was time for another boat journey back to the main land and then a long bus ride over to Ao Nang in Krabi. As we drove through the main town it was evident that tourism had hit hard. This is because it’s the main base for visiting the famous islands such as Koh Phi Phi and Maya Bay where ‘The Beach’ was filmed. On our second day we booked in for a few hours of elephant riding. It was hard to choose which company to book with as we didn’t want to do it if the elephants were treated badly. The guys that run these two hour walks live with these amazing animals and you could clearly see they had a good connection.
1,237 steps later we visited ‘Tiger Temple’
When we went to book a boat trip for the next day we came across a lot of agencies offering low or high quality day tours which made us laugh. We later found out it’s just an excuse to charge more and the tours are exactly the same. Thankfully we paid a flat rate which turned out to be the cheapest. Who would actually want to pay for the ‘low’ quality day out?
So the next day we went out to the smaller islands by speed boat. While they were pretty amazing it wasn’t that enjoyable because of the sheer volume of people. These are tiny islands off the coast of Thailand, we didn’t expect there to be a problem parking the boat! Walking along the beach was laughable; it was like being in the centre of London. There was actually a queue of people waiting to have their photo taken by the sign too, god. Still Phi Phi beach had crystal clear warm water with some amazing snorkelling.
Our next day was spent travelling to the train station to hop onto the overnight sleeper train back to Bangkok. It was actually pretty comfortable, much better than the bus down.
So, that concludes our trip! It’s been an amazing three months and we’ve had very few problems considering how much we have crammed in. Lugging my camera kit everywhere has been a pain in the ass but it’s been worth it. The blog will be a good way to look back on it and I’ll be making a professional hardcover book when I get home of all the best images. Thailand was a great way to end our trip as it was different to everywhere else we have been. I will miss the amazing Thai food and cheap beer. However I will not miss getting eaten by mosquitoes, having to pay for the internet by the MB or Thai men shouting ‘taxi taxi’ at me everywhere I go. I also do not want to see rice or noodles for a good few months. Now where’s that roast dinner…
Australia – East Coast
15 March, 2012
As our four week road trip in New Zealand came to an end, another three week one began. Australia started with four nights in Sydney, staying at a small hostel in Kings cross. This area reminded me of Venice beach in LA (minus the beach), with its collection of ‘alternative’ folk, hookers, homeless people and sex shops. Oh yeah we’ve been staying in some classy places alright.
Over the four days we visited the usual spots such as Bondi and Manly beach, the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and botanical gardens. We had a few good nights out including ‘Tranny Bingo’ at a bar in Kings Cross. The two hosts were brilliant and later brought in other’ trannys’ to join their act.
Our time in Sydney didn’t end without a couple of stressful days though. I managed to get a few quotes for our campervan and played them off each other, ending up with a good price. When I came to book it online however, they had run out of vans for the day we wanted to leave. To cut a long and painful story short, we managed to get one and leave on the day we wanted. The next step was to drive through Sydney city centre and over the Harbour Bridge. Once we were on the right road we headed north and stopped at a small campsite next to a lake.
That night we had a bit of a shock, sleeping in the van after 32 degree heat in the day meant it was like getting into a sauna. We couldn’t sleep with the doors open because of the mosquitoes and after getting bitten over 100 times in the Cook Islands I wasn’t up for round two. Australia has been the hottest place we have been to so far and after three nights of trying to sleep inside the earth’s core, we’d almost had enough. Luckily, after the first night I found a fabric shop and we fitted the windows with mosquito nets which helps when there is a breeze.
We’ve stayed at a few nice spots, sometimes in campsites and sometimes in national parks. The national parks are sometimes free but they have no showers and basic toilet facilities. This meant washing with a saucepan and a tap in the morning which Emma really enjoyed.
It seems that most of the action is around Brisbane and towards the Whitsunday Islands. We were quite tight for time so unfortunately we couldn’t make it up to Airlie beach or the Great Barrier Reef. Since we’ve been to the Cook Islands and did some pretty good snorkelling there, we didn’t feel like we were missing out too much. Plus, for part of our second week we were side tracked by a cyclone warning. It rained and rained for days on end, one night we even upgraded to a cabin because the weather was so bad. We couldn’t even open the doors without getting soaked and there is only so much time you can be confined to the inside of a van for.
We stopped at various places on the way up to Brisbane such as Newcastle and Coffs Harbour, most have been nice little towns but that’s about it. The coast between Sydney and Brisbane is a bit boring to be honest, most of the small towns are very similar and if you can’t go to the beach because of the weather, there isn’t an awful lot to do.
Byron Bay was the first major stop before Brisbane and the town is literally crawling with travellers, hippies and surfers. This made a nice change from the place we stayed at the night before which was supposed to be a caravan park. We were one of two groups who didn’t live there permanently and we felt like we were in the depths of America, surrounded by red-neck hill billys.
After Byron we headed for Noosa where we sat and watched some surfers in the evening.
Next we headed to Rainbow beach, again it’s just another Australian beach but this is the main gateway for Fraser Island. At this point we decided there wasn’t any point in going any further north because it was over 1000km to get to the next major stop. So we headed back towards the hostel at Byron Bay where we knew there was cheap accommodation and a bit more going on.
On the way back down towards Brisbane we went to the Steve Irwin Zoo which was fantastic. I was hoping to see some of your stereotypical Australian wildlife before going but no such luck. As you’d expect there were kangaroos, snakes and crocodiles a plenty. Emma also couldn’t resist having her photo taken with a Koala bear for $20. It was fascinating hearing about how the zoo started as a reptile park owned by Steve’s parents. They introduced Steve to reptiles at an early age and he even caught his first crocodile by jumping on its back when he was nine. With the help of his wife they transformed the reptile park into the zoo with Steve carrying out of most of the construction work. You really get the feeling that they are keeping Steve’s legacy alive, there is one particular area that’s plastered with signed shirts with messages from friends and family. There is also a wall of photos with him holding the most dangerous snakes and spiders. In particular the Fierce snake, which packs enough venom to kill 100 men with one bite.
The company we hired the van from has arrangements with different hostels where we can park up and use the facilities for $5 but still sleep in our camper. The car park in Byron Bay was a sea of backpacking vans and we soon got used to cooking under torch light and having some ‘romantic’ car park dinners. On our last night the hostel held a talent show where various residents sang or played guitar. Pretty much everyone was really good!
Our last days were mainly spent making up for the bad weather by relaxing, walking along the beach in the evenings and enjoying the town of Byron Bay.
We are now in Brisbane after dropping off our campervan this morning. Our flight to Thailand is late tomorrow evening and we have a stopover in Singapore for a few hours, eventually arriving in Bangkok at around 11am. After two weeks in a campervan and a few nasty night flights we have five star luxury to look forward to in Bangkok for two nights. For the price of a Travel lodge we are staying in one of the top twenty hotels, we cannot wait!
I’ll put some shots up after a couple of weeks as I’m hoping it’ll be the most interesting one yet as it’ll be quite different from what we’ve done so far. Australia has had its ups and downs but it’s probably our least favourite place so far. We haven’t had the best luck with the weather and it’s horrifically expensive. It seems that most of the action is between Brisbane and Cairns but we’ve still had a good time over the three weeks and Sydney was probably the highlight.
New Zealand – South Island part two
22 February, 2012
The previous post ended while we were in Wanaka, just before heading to Queenstown. I haven’t really got any shots to post from there as it’s nothing more than the Adventure Capital. I could have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars doing every adrenaline filled activity, but I chose to do Downhill Mountain biking for the day. The trails ran down the side of the mountain with a view over Lake Wakatipu but sadly carrying an SLR would have resulted in its death. While driving out of Queenstown I did get a few shots en route to the historic town of Arrowtown.
Our next stop was planned to be the popular Milford sound – a scenic boat ride through some amazing landscape, but we decided to skip the extra long drive and do something else instead. We stopped over on the South East coast at a very small village within the Catlins. The main attraction here is the local wildlife and beaches. We went down for an evening walk and almost bumped right into a group of seals that were resting in the sand. They didn’t seem too bothered by us and one went in for a quick swim, posing on the way out before covering itself in sand to dry off.
After this we drove a few hours to the city of Dunedin, home to the steepest street in the world and small back streets that host coffee shops and bars.
Before heading to Christchurch we stopped for the night in Lake Tekapo. The lake is a unique turquoise colour because of the finely ground rock from the melted glacier. On the edge of the lake we came across balanced rocks scattered all over the beach. They reminded me of studying artist Andy Goldsworthy at College. This huge rock below stood out immediately.
That same evening we climbed to the top of Mount John for a 360 degree view over the mountains. The sky was flat, boring and not worthy of a photo. However, the sun set behind the mountains creating a nice backlight.
With Christchurch only three hours away from Tekapo, we were thinking of going straight there, but with two spare days after missing out Milford Sound we decided to drive five hours up to Kaikoura. This small town is famous for its whale watching, dolphin encounters and albatross sightings. Undecided between the dolphin or whale tour – we knew that either sounded better than going out on a boat to look for giant seagulls. Eventually we opted for the three hour boat tour to swim with dusky dolphins.
Kaikoura is said to be one of the best places in the world to swim with dolphins in their natural environment because the sighting success rates are so high. We felt that we couldn’t miss out on this opportunity, as unlike the majority of places, you’re swimming with wild animals in their natural habitat, rather than with tamed dolphins in a pool.
The two guys who took us out on the boat knew where the dolphins were likely to be even though they are wild; they also get tipped off from other boats with sightings. As a result it was only about thirty minutes before we came across a pod of 200+ dusky dolphins. When the boat came to a stop, about ten of us unloaded off the back of the boat kitted out in wetsuits, snorkels and flippers.
Before we left there was a sever sea sickness warning. I don’t normally get sea sick, but Emma does and subsequently she sat in the corner of the boat, unable to move or talk for part of the trip as the boat rocked with the strong current. Meanwhile I was jumping over board with camera in hand, trying to swim closer to the dolphins.
We got in and out three times as the dolphins were always moving location. One minute you can’t see anything and the next, tens of dolphins come swimming past you from behind. It was pretty amazing; clear blue water with dolphins everywhere. I tried to get a few shots with my waterproof compact. Most were a bit hit or miss as the camera struggled to pick up anything more than a few feet away, but I got a shot of this group swimming right past.
After we dried off and changed we had time to take some photos so I went up to the top of the boat but it was very choppy. Trying to pan while on top of a rocking boat was extremely difficult and most of the acrobatic dolphins were too far away. My only chance for a shot came when this dolphin came right into view, jumping and diving a few times.
At the end of the trip a girl came up to me and said “I would love to have copies of your photos” even though she had taken her own. She then said,” do you use SD card? I can transfer the photos straight to my laptop when we get back.” I couldn’t believe it. Yeah sure, I’ll spend thousands on equipment, try to take some good photos and then hand out free copies at the end!
With our time in New Zealand nearly over we drove down to Christchurch for two nights. As predicted there wasn’t much to do there since the heart of the city has been destroyed by the 2011 earthquake. The CBD is fenced off but you can see construction workers inside, slowly clearing up the damage. Our second day was the one year anniversary of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake which claimed 185 lives. Remembrance services took place in parks dotted around the city and we attended a two minute silence which took place at 12:51pm. You can’t imagine what it must have been like after the quake, one minute everyone is at work as usual, and then the whole city is shaken to the ground. Even houses just outside of the red zone had to be evacuated as they are deemed unsafe. It’s going to be a long time before normal life resumes in Christchurch.
In the morning we have to try not to disturb the six other people in our room as we leave for the airport at 2:50am. Then it’s onto Sydney for four nights, before picking up our campervan and heading up the east coast, towards Brisbane. No doubt photos of fighting kangaroos and wrestling crocodiles will follow.
New Zealand – South Island part one
12 February, 2012
After a short ferry ride we arrived in the South Island and headed straight for Nelson. Upon arrival we discovered a small friendly town next to the coast. On Saturday morning there was a market selling fresh food and crafts. We picked up some fresh bread, hummus and strawberries for lunch.
From Nelson we drove up to Golden bay near the Abel Tasman national park. We drove for miles through the valley to another small town called Takaka to find it was their Mardigras festival.
New Zealand is covered in derelict farming sheds and I’ve been on the lookout for a good one to photograph. I spotted this one on the way to the Golden Bay but the weather wasn’t right. Luckily, on our return, storm filled skies made perfect conditions.
After a few days in the Golden Bay we took a pit stop back in Nelson for the night, ready for the long drive to the East coast towards a little town called Punakaiki. This place is famous for its pancake rocks and blow holes which have been formed over millions of years. High tide was 12pm the next day but we never got to see the water explode out between the rocks.
Our next target on the map was the Franz Josef glacier. We opted for the half day trek and were kitted out with oversized coats and boots, hats and gloves – it all seemed a bit unnecessary until we reached our highest point on the glacier. Taking photos at this point was tricky. I couldn’t feel my hands; I was trying to avoid getting rain on my lens whilst walking around on a glacier with an oversized bum bag on. Camera slung over my shoulder, I tried to grab what I could without holding everyone behind up too much as we walked in ant formation. The steps in the photo below are a few of many which are carved out by the guides every morning as they melt away each day.
Contrary to the weather we had in Franz Josef, the drive down to Wanaka was the best yet. Each place seems to have its own micro climate. The afternoon we arrived we sunbathed by the lake, the day before we were freezing on top of a glacier.
We’re currently in Wanaka and tomorrow we’re heading to Queenstown. There is still plenty to do in the south island so I thought I’d split the posts up, plus trying to remember what has happened and where we’ve been is a lot harder. We have eleven days left in New Zealand, in which we’ll head up the East coast towards Christchurch, drop off our beige wagon and catch the flight to Sydney.