North Nam!

Hey everybody once again!

After Hanoi we took a 4 hour bus to Haiphong city only to find that all the boats to Halong Bay and Cat Ba island were full for the next 3 days. So we got straight back on another bus for 2 hours to Halong City. We booked a 2 day boat cruise for the next day and spent the night in $10-a-night luxury with a/c - whoa! In the morning, after much waiting around at the port, we finally got on the boat and started cruising through the mist of Halong Bay until we saw the beautiful islands start jutting out on the horizon and all around us.

Halong Bay is an amazing natural phenomenon and seeing it from the water on a nice boat was perfect. We went to a cave inside one of the islands that was nice but with caves it's a bit "seen one, seen em all". We cruised a bit further and then got out of the boat and into a kayak. We paddled around a few islands and then right up to one of the villages that literally float on the water anchored to the rockface of the islands. It was intriguing - we looked in through their windows to see them watching tv which was a bizarre scene for somewhere so remote and - on the water!

In the evening we parked up next to about 10 other boats and there seemed to be a competition going for who could make the most trashy noise to ruin this idyllic and tranquil location. Our boat opted for karaoke... Great...

In the morning we got dropped-off back at Halong city and got straight on a 5hr bus to Ninh Binh where we bought a ticket for the 13hr night train to Hue. After so many days on buses we chose the luxury sleeper ticket called a "soft sleeper with a/c". Ironically it was probably the hardest bed we've slept on and that's saying a lot after the rock solid beds of Nepal. We arrived in Hue and went straight to a hotel and stopped doing anything as a matter of urgency. We needed to relax and it just so happened that our room had a computer and a tv, internet and HBO. Dreamy!

So we've spent 3 days now in Hue. It's a really nice friendly city and full of history with a beautiful old Citadel and ancient Pagoda. Unfortunately Rozzi hadn't been feeling great over the past few days and as soon as we settled in our hotel we went straight to the hospital. The doctors diagnosed her with Dengue fever, which usually last only around 1 week and is nothing serious. Luckily after just a couple of days on the medication the Vietnamese doctors prescribed, she is almost perfectly recovered and is ready to move on to the next destinations - Hoi An and Nha Trang. We'll keep you posted!

Lots of love

xxx

Laurence and Rozzi

Good Morning Vietnam!

Hello from Vietnam!

We have now safely arrived in HaNoi and spent yesterday aimlessly walking around the city. It is the busiest city ever, with mobs of motorcyclists carelessly and dangerously driving all over the place. Crossing the road is a scary experience and you feel lucky to be alive when you reach the other side!

We haven't really seen many of the attractions - we missed civilization so much in Laos, we decided to go to the cinema instead!

Today we are hoping to head over to Halong city (or HaiPhong) and get a boat over to Halong Bay tomorrow! That's the place where Top Gear filmed - with the millions of little islands. Paps, just for you I'll take loads of pictures! Again, we may be cut off from the interent for a few days (Nooo!), as we plan on getting a 2 day boat around the islands, but of course we will report back as soon as possible.

Lots of love from us both!

Rozzi and Laurence
xxx

Laos - Part Deux

Hello!

We havent had a chance to update the blog in Laos, as our journey after Luang Prabang took us to some pretty remote areas, where they had no internet and electricity ran for only 4 hours per day!

So we went on to a little riverside village 4 hours north of Luang Prabang, called Nong Khiaw. It was beautiful with limestone karsts surrounding it. Unfortunately we chose the cheapest and also worst accommodation there which kind of tainted the experience, but we still enjoyed nice long walks to the local cave and waterfall.

From there we took a boat upriver to another smaller and even more remote village called Muang Ngoi Neua. We found a bungalow with a balcony and hammock looking out over the river with the most stunning views! We loved it so much so we stayed there 2 nights and did pretty much nothing other than appreciate the views and seriously chill out.

It was a good idea to get some rest before the next part of our journey in Laos, as we had 2 solid days back to back in cramped local buses going through windey narrow mountain roads on our way over to Vietnam. Our first taste of Vietnam wasnt ideal, as our bus drivers tried to con us into paying unneccessary fees to cross the border and then they tried it on again when we were arranging our transport to HaNoi. We are still open-minded though and are welcoming new Vietnamese experiences!

Lots of love,

Rozzi and Laurence
xxx

Laos

Hi,

Just a short update to say that after 2 days on the slow boat, we have finally reached Luang Prabang in Laos. The journey, although rather uncomfortable, was very beautiful and we got to see some fantastic views along the huge Mekong river.

First impressions are very good - the people are nice, and a few have been totally fascinated with Laurence's beard! It's very interesting how some French influences have lingered around, such as cafes, good french baguettes and crepes!

This morning, I had a little fall and hurt my foot, but it's nothing serious - probably just some bruising, but it meant we had to cancel a cool boat trip to the local waterfalls.

So we're off to do a bit of sight seeing now and soak up the Laos culture at a very slow hobbling pace.

Lots of love,

Rozzi and Laurence
xxx

Pai and plans for Laos!

Hello everybody,

We have just come back from a couple of days in Pai, which is a bit further north than Chiang Mai. It was a horrendous 4 hour bus journey going over 762 hilly and almost U-turns!! Let's just say some of us were sick... Despite that, Pai was brilliant and nothing like the rest of Thailand so far. It's quite hilly, with scenery similar to that in Nepal. We also got to dip our feet in natural hot springs, whilst cooking eggs at the same time!! Unfortunately our eggs got stolen by some local hooligans (must have been at least 10 years old!) so we never had the chance to taste them :o( hehe The rest of our time there we spent scooting around to waterfalls and drinking with some travelling hippies!

So now we're back in Chiang Mai and finally have our Vietnam visas, so we are eager to get going! We are leaving tonight for the Thai - Laos border, where tomorrow we will be setting off on a 2 day slow boat ride along the Mekong river, all the way to Luang Prabang in Laos! We're very excited and can't wait to see yet another new culture. Not quite sure what the situation is with the internet connections there, but we will blog or call as soon as we can.

Lots of love!

Rozzi and Laurence
xxx

Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai

Hello!

On our journey to the north we stopped off first at Ayutthaya, the capital before Bangkok. We spent a couple of days cycling around this beautiful and quaint city, riddled with ancient temples and ruins. We had our 7th year anniversary there with a Thai massage and air-con room as a treat! As my personal opinion, anyone who wants a Thai massage has to be a serious masochist - you get elbowed all over and then hope the pain is worth it, but its really not - you still ache days later!

After Ayutthaya we got a sleepless sleeper train to Chiang Mai, where we've been staying for about 4-5 days, as we're waiting for our Vietnam visas (looks like it might be another 3 or so days). So we've been scooting all around the city, visiting the Chiang Mai Zoo, which by the way is the biggest zoo ever!! We got to feed giraffes (they have super long tongues!), elephants and leopards (these guys we fed through the bars).






The other day we randomly decided to go stroke tigers!! So for a small price Laurence and I stroked 9 month old lions who were a bit moody, then young 10 month old tigers, who were adorable and 3 big boy + girl tigers, who were actually the calmest and we felt safest with them!

On the way back from the tigers we were on an animal high and went to see a monkey show, after which we got to hold and play with a baby monkey!! All I can say is, I reeeeeeeaally want a baby monkey pet now! It was the cutest thing I've ever held and acted just like a normal human baby (except the occasional back flips) with sucking its thumb and pulling and playing with anything it touched.











Tomorrow we are leaving for Pai, which is a 5-6 hour bus ride from here and we'll probably be back in Chiang Mai in a couple of days to pick up our passports and then head off to Laos. Hope all is well at home and we'll update again soon!

Lots of love,
Rozzi & Laurence
xxx

Finally some photos!

We finally worked out how to add photos on our blog, so here are a few from Nepal. You can see lots more on our flickr site: www.flickr.com/rozziandlaurence

Course Correction

Greetings!

In our excitement about the Vipassana course we kind of forgot to apply for it in time, and as it turns out it is now full! Who would have thought so many people want to get enlightened in a random Thai town! It's not too much of a problem though - we'll just have to re-jig our plans and this time actually apply in advance for another course.

So this is what we're thinking now - travel up to Northern Thailand - Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and then take a long boat (2 days!) across to Laos. Spend maybe about a week in Laos and then cross over to Vietnam, and hopefully travel down the length of the country. Then over to Cambodia for about 1 week and then back into Thailand in time to meet up with Kim & Frazer who are flying into Bangkok in mid November. We will do the Vipassana course after this.

This is just a rough plan so far and it could change easily as we are soo chilled out at the moment and are loving going with the flow of things. So this means we are back on the radar for the next month and a half and we'll let you know of any updates and changes to our plans.

Lots of love,

Rozzi and Laurence
xxx

Vipassana

Hi again,

We're back safely in Bangkok after a not very private but surprisingly comfortable and loooong train journey from Trang. Tonight we will be leaving for Ayuthaya, Thailand's previous capital before Bangkok, which is supposed to be full of old temples and beautiful sights.

Tomorrow is a rather big day for us - our 7 year anniversary (!!!) so we plan on getting pampered with massages and some more chilling out. And the following day we are going to Khon Kaen, further north, where we will start a 10 day Meditation retreat! The course we will be doing is called Vipassana (check out http://www.dhamma.org/ for more info), and it involves Meditating all day from 4 in the morning in complete silence! It's not a religious thing in any way - the aim of the "course" is to bring clarity of mind and strengthen the link between mind and body. ( Oh no... we've gone all new agey!!) So it should be a thoroughly interesting experience amd can't wait to tell you all about it afterwards.

So for the 11 days from 6th October we will be uncontactable, seeing as we will be on some random hill meditating all day (hahah!) So please don't panic if we don't reply to emails or our blog isnt getting updated! The course should finish on 18th October and we will get back in touch as soon as possible after that, as new refreshed and revitalised people!

Lots of love from us both!

Rozzi and Laurence
xxxxx

Andaman Sea - Chillin out!

Hi everyone,

So we reached the South West of Thailand, the Andaman Sea coast. It is very beautiful down here and the landscape is so unique but we can not appreciate it fully as the weather has been quite erratic. It has rained a lot and the wind has been consistently strong making the sea choppy and far from the crystal clear snorkel-happy waters we hoped to find. Because of the weather (monsoon season) it is low tourist season which means wherever we went the beaches and hotels were empty. It's nice to get away from it all, of course, but we want some action.

We spent 4 days on the island of Koh Lanta where we stayed in bamboo huts metres from the beach and rented a scooter to explore the island. However, used to the excitement of true backpacking, we got bored quickly and after much "reading time" on the beach we decided to head back up north. We are in Trang currently waiting for our 15hr train journey to Bangkok from where we will continue north to some interesting cities and eventually the jungle near Chiang Mai.

We're contemplating stopping off on the journey for a 10 day meditation course (Vipassana) where we will be taught the ancient techniques of quieting our minds and spend our days in silence meditating most of the time with no material possessions to distract us. Would be quite a challenge I'm sure - no make-up (for Rozzi), no BEER (for Laurence - uh oh!).

After that who knows - we'll keep you all updated. In the meantime if you desperately need to contact us the Nepali number is out of action now so email us or drop me a text on my English mobile (07515148870).

Lots of love
xxx
Rozzi and Laurence