Bus Trip to Sukhothai and Ancient City






Hello Everyone,

We have started our journey to the southern beaches in Thailand. The first leg from Chiang Rai to Sukhothai was by a very flash bus that we were basically forced onto even though we asked for the cheapest bus. We got air conditioning and a seat each and it cost the same as seven nights accommodation.We are stating at the 'Friend' guesthouse in Sukhothai. We then went to the markets for dinner and enjoyed trying all the different foods, lots of local woman in Sukhothai have hugged us, squeezed our muscles and one lady grabbed thomas' but! Johanna and Maddy have gotten a lot of sweets and gifts for their blond hair and mum has been asked at least ten times a day if we are all her children, then there scream and laugh!

Today went we to a World Heritage Historical Park. We had trouble getting in but inside were huge Shrines, Temples and Big Buddha. It was amazing and hundreds of years old. Maddy saw a snake and we all had Banana Shakes from a very energetic lady because it was so hot! Thomas was going to get his hair cut at a Barber but saw how short the 'one style for all' cut was so Mum did it instead. Right now there is a huge dust storm and the power is out. We are hopefully going to have a spicy peanut curry for dinner that Mum had last night. The food in Thailand is delicious!

The Nieuwys

Luang Prabang to Chiang Rai

The trip to Thailand took two full days aboard a large slow boat up the muddy Mekong river. Along the way we passed lots of villages and fishermen using bamboo poles attached to fishing nets. There were also lots of water buffalo bathing on the silt beaches. Right now the river is very low and the banks and rocks were exposed but s impossible to imagine what the river in the monsoon floods would be like. We had an overnight stop in the isolated town Pak Bieg where the power turns off at night and travellers end up suck in the shower with no lights and no way finding a torch. Lucky for us our house had a generator which gave us lights for dinner. At we end of the journey we found a guesthouse to spend our final night in Laos. We went out for dinner with three other travellers at a buffet restaurant. The difference was we had to cook every think ourselves on small charcoal cookers at our tables.

The next day we crossed into Thailand and board a local bus to Chiang Rai. We then got lost because we arrived at a different bus station to the one on our french map. After asking around and borrowing a GPS we were still lost, thankfully a nice Thai lady gave us a ride in her air conditioned Hilux to a temple so we could get our bearings and organise a place to stay.

Next afternoon we went to the White Temple with a guide called 'Kai'. The temple is very modern and filled with murals which are traditional but also have symbolic, modern images like Superman, George Bush and the Twin Towers. The designer also had an art gallery beside the temple which had pictures of Buddhas and imaginary worlds which were magnificent and contained amazing attention detail. Kai then took us to his home of a drink and lake for a swim and we met his family.

The next morning we took a boat trip up a very shallow river as part of the deal we had to get out and push when ever the boat got beached. We then rode on  elephants down the river and around the local village. Our guide Kai then drove us to the jungle where we hiked up into the hills, covered in bamboo forest. As we walked Kai and his helper 'Jumpa' used there machetes to make things for us from the bamboo and banana trees. He made rockets, walking sticks, hats and cups to name a few. We experienced Thai rain which bucketed on us as we walked and the thunder clapped and lighting flashed. The village was made of bamboo huts with grass roofs. The dinner was delicious cooked on a small fire we had rice with yellow curry and sweet and sour pork. To top it off we had fruit for dessert, sliced mango, watermelon, pineapple and lotus apple.

 

After a night in the huts we had fruit and eggs for breakfast and the walk across the valley through a tea plantation and more jungle. The villages were really friendly and we met some poor, refugees from Burma which had fled to Thailand to escape the troubles in the country. We stopped by a creek for lunch and made pots, bowels, cups and chopsticks etc. to use for lunch which was Noodle soup cooked on the bamboo fire. We went to a waterfall for a swim and visited more villages. One of the villages grew 'Leechees' which are jelly like fruit and taste like pears. To end the trip we stopped at some hot springs and soaked our tired limbs. Some of us would wished the water was cold!

The Nieuwys

Happy New Year!!!

It has been lots of partying here in Luang Prabang. Out on the streets people have been dumping water on one another and riding around on the back of utes while really loud music plays in the backround. We have been squirting everyone with our two water pistols and having a blast. Some people also smear black charcoal or rice flour on your face. There have been the tradional buddist celebrations for the Laos new year. There have been parades of monks and this morning there was a procession to a Wat. At the Wat people gave gifts of banana leaf crafts, candles and flower arrangments. They also tipped holy water down a dragon which funneled it over a buddist statue to represent cleansing. The celebrations don"t stop there. Last night the people of our guest house invited us to be part of a traditional ceremony for good luck where they tied string around your wrist and they gave everyone a gift of money.One of the pictures is the eldest (108 years old) blessing William. They also invited us to dinner as we celebrated our host's, sister's birthday.

On thursday we all took a tuk tuk up to a national park with a water fall and swimming areas. A tuk tuk (took took) is a taxi but not your average one. It is usually a motorbike or ute with a cage sort of thing on the back with two bench seats where you sit. It has no seatbelts and if you have big bags they go on the roof. There are no doors so you can fall out the back if you aren"t careful. On the way to the waterfall we passed lots of people with buckets of water so buy the time we reached the falls everyone was soaked.

The falls are in a regional park which also has a bear rescue centre where there were Asian Moon bears. There were in big enclosures with plenty on logs and things to climb on. The rescue center helped protect bears from poaching and bile farming. Bile is used to treat things like heart and lung disease and headaches. To get bile the bear is kept in a cage and bile is extracted from the gore bladder. The limestone waterfall was crowded with lots of people all on holiday. We then went to a smaller waterfall where we swing in or jump off the falls. People were amazed when Johanna and Madeleine used the swing and they all clapped and cheered. All down the stream there were terraces and pools. The water was cold but refreshing. After many hours of swimming we got drenched again as we drove back to the guest house.

 

Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang

On the 10th we rented three motorbike/scooters and drove to a blue lagoon. We would have biked but it was along long way to go in this hot weather and we figured that for the smae cost we could see alot more of the area. The lagoon was about four metres deep and was shaded by a large rubber tree. There were two branches for jumping off and two swings. We had heaps of fun jumping and swinging into the cool refreshing water. Above the lagoon were huge limestone cliffs whiched surround the entire valley. In these cliffs were caves so we went 'spelunking' (caving) for a while. The cave we visited was 400m long but we just went into the beginning of it. it was full of stilagmites and stilagtites and in the middle of the first room was a buddist shrine of a golden women. After having a final swim we then continued up the valley until we reached a river. The only way accros was via a toll brigde which we decided was to expensive and we had to turn back. There is lots of smog and smoke and it was hard to see the hills around us while driving through the valley. Back in town we returned our motorbikes before going out anf experiences our first real asia dinner.

The 'VIP' bus ride to Luang Prabang was eight hours of long, windy, narrow road, up and down mountains with another crazy driver. Mum booked five seats to save money so we all squeezed across the back seat.  That night arrived at our guesthouse in Luang Prabang (Laos). We all have our own bed! The hosts live downstairs, and they are very nice people! It is New Year in South-East Asia and there are alot of celebrations going on all week. For the last few days we have been playing cards, walking in the beautiful night markets full of paper lanterns, silk scarves and other hand-crafted treasures. We have tried some interesting food down alley ways and it's not that bad. We have been 'eating out' in restaurants most nights but they are not like NZ restaurants. We like fried rice, fried noodles, fruit shakes and curries at the restaurants. During the day we have been baguettes/French Bread and Bananas. We have to by are find safe drinking water all the time because we are always thirsty. One day we were lucky enough to see elephants parading down the street as part of New Year celebration. There are Beautiful Temples and Buddha images everywhere and this morning we got up at six in the morning to see the monks in their orange robes receiving alms, mainly rice. Yesterday and today the whole town goes on the street and splashes and sprays water on each other to cleanse and purify each other for the Year to come. We have bought water pistols and it's been lots of fun. Everyone is partying and we went to a carnival two nights ago. The celebrations are very interesting and it's cool to be a part of it all.

The Nieuwys

Brunei to Vang Vieng

Where do we start. We spent a few days in brunei visiting the Fuller/Walker
family while we adjusted to the heat and humidity there. One day we took a boat ride to the water village, the whole village is built on stilts. We also saw proboscis monkeys swinging in the trees, they have very long noses. We saw the Sultan's palace. Everyone has flash cars and big houses. Most of the women wear colourful Burkas. We loved walking into buildings with air conditioning. People were wearing jeans and sweatshirts!!!
It was Johanna's Birthday on the Seventh and we had pancakes and birthday cake. That night we flew to Kota Kinabalau, Malaysia. We spent four hours in the airport then flew to Kuala Lumpa, Malaysia - there we slept on the floor. It was hot, we were tired, dehydrated and hungry, We couldn't exchange any money. All the food looked 'interesting', Because our third flight was rescheduled we spent 17 hours in the airport. Dad got a meal on the flight to Vientiene, Laos (which Mum accidently clicked on when she booked the tickets). In Vietiene we stayed in a nice guest house (Air Conditioned). It was late we were still tired and the food still looked 'interesting'. We ended up eating in a sort of Asian Pizza Hut, it was good. We managed to exchange some money. We were all confused with the money, $1US is $10,000Kip. Mum's wallet looks pretty thick!
The next day we took a Minibus to Vang Vieng. We had a little language problem. Mum thought the ride was $80,000Kip for us all ($8US) But it was $80,000Kip each. We knew it was too good to be true. We did a little bartering. Our driver was crazy! People are supposed to drive on the right but we did get here
We are staying at the 'Elephant crossing' in Vang Vieng right on the Nam Xong river, we walked around town and soaked up the atmosphere, us kids just had banana pancakes from a street stall and Mum and Dad are trying some 'interesting' food for tea. We're glad we aren't the Guinea Pigs.
Some of us are missing home but we are just going with the flow.

The 5 Little Nieuwys

High in the sky...

We drove to the Auckland airport and checked in. The airport busy and we got scanned by lots of X-Ray Machines and scanners. Before we left we looked on the Internet if we had little TVs but when we boarded we didn't. I'm sure Anneke and Johanna were going to cry! The plane was blessed We took off and blasted into the sky

The plane was going 910km/h, almost 11km above the sea!!! We flew over Australia and Indonesia. We were well feed. We arrived safely in Brunei to a Lightning Storm. It is very hot and sticky. Luckily our friends-The Fuller/Walker Family, picked us up we are staying with them for the next few days.

By Madeleine and Thomas.

(Please comment on our blog but it is read by everyone)

The Beginning...

Well the last few months has gone very quickly. We spring cleaned the house, fixed up the farm and said our goodbyes. After a night in Hastings with our close friends we took the bus to Auckland. We are staying with Nanny and Pa. We have too many bags so we are re-packing before our flight to Brunei tommorrow (Easter Sunday).





The Nieuwys