Saturday, February 9, 2008

Chumpon & Hua Hin, Thailand


Steve and Denise headed to the airport from Kanchanaburi, whilst we stayed another night there with Jim & Barbara before catching the train south to Chumpon. A cockney, we head met on a train whilst traveling south on the same line a few weeks earlier, had raved about a beach,
Hat Tha Wua Laen, just north of Chumpon. "F^R%&g Beautiful mate", he wrote us loads of tips, places to eat, drink and stay. It sounded perfect and was. Jim & Barbara had a room with a balcony and sea view in a posh hotel with AC ... whilst we stayed in a simpler place just down the road.

It was a nice small resort, popular with mostly Thai's, and some ex-pats, with a beautiful long beach. We had great food at 'Paul's', Jim even eat Ostrich. There was some alright live music at a beach bar up the road. It was a great place to chill out, read, eat, drink and do nothing.

We had 4 nights in Chumpon then headed to Hua Hin for a few nights there. Which was perfect for Jim & Barbara as there was at least two good Fish & Chip Shops. We also had some great food at the restaurants in the night markets.

We met a lady in the street who was making pop up cards, we designed a card with her which we used for our wedding invites.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Kanchanaburi Province,Thailand


Hell Fire Pass, Kanchanaburi Province,Thailand, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

We got an early morning taxi over the river to
Bangkok's Noi Station aka Thonburi (Thonburi was briefly the Thai Capital after the fall of Ayutthaya), and boarded the slow, bare bones, local train to Kanchanaburi Province.

Part of this railway line was built by World War Two Allied Prisoners of War and became known as the '
Death Railway'. We rode the line across the infamous 'Bridge over the River Kwai' to the end of the line at Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi , where we turned around and headed back to Kanchanaburi town. It's a beautiful journey despite its sickening past.


We payed our respects at the Allied War Cemetery and visited The Thailand-Burma Railway Centre.

We hired a car and driver for a day and visited the beautiful Erawan falls, the moving Hell Fire Pass and Hin Dat Hot springs.


We had some great rooms by the river at
Sam's House, which had just been renovated and looked great. It was a pretty spot and not too many of the Karaoke boats,
popular with Thai tourists, seemed to pass us here but the frogs were bloody loud!


Kanchanaburi is a beautiful place. We had a great time chilling out with the folks. There were some good restaurants. We had a lovely meal at Apple & Noi's, and I asked Jim for Karen's hand in marriage, to which he answered "About bloody time too!"

We had been secretly engaged for a while, I had proposed to Karen whilst we were in
Egirdir, Turkey. We were keeping it a secret until we had decided more about plans, dates... We still hadn't got exact plans but said we plan to have a simple wedding with a big party this summer.

We had many a toast!


Saturday, February 2, 2008

Back up to Bangkok, Thailand


Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

We were then back up to Bangkok, like a Yo-Yo, where we met Karen's parents - Jim and Barbara. We had a few more days in Bangkok visiting the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, The Royal Palace and other sites along the river jumping on and off the excellent public ferry.

I could see Jim was missing some simple no fuss English food. I passed him a note, in an envelope, which read something along the lines of "We've been informed that a British Citizen is in need of some proper British food, please find enclosed details of a suitable establishment, 'Oh My Cod' which serves the finest British Fish & Chips". Glad to be of service - M15, British Secret Service."

Jim loved it ! Karen also enjoyed their mushy peas!



Team Tibet Film