Agnes' blog

Fraser Island

2008-11-18T04:03:00.000-08:00

3 days, 2 nights sailing around the Whitsundays Islands

2008-11-18T03:44:00.000-08:00

One of the most beautiful beach in the world: Whitsundays Island

L'une des plus belle plage au monde: Les iles Withsundays

On the sailing boat

Le voilier

Cairns and Green Island

2008-11-18T03:33:00.000-08:00

While I was in Cairns I didn't do much. I was quiet tired from the trip road between Alice and Darwin and especially the flight from Darwin to Cairns via Brisbane :s therefore I had a quiet time there.

The only things I've done were rafting on the Tully River and visiting the Green Island.

Lagoon in Cairns because there's no way to swim in the Ocean with the stingers and crocodiles
Laggon a Cairns car impossible de se baigner dans l'Ocean a cause des meduses et crocodiles

Cairns' Lagoon

Rafting funtime!
The Great Team

Rafting funtime!
The Great Team

Me on Green Island

Green Island

Alice to Darwin in a camper van :-)

2008-11-03T22:16:00.001-08:00

On Oct 22nd with Philip we started our fun drive between Alice Springs and Darwin. We rented a camper for 4 days, so we had plenty of time. The day before leaving Rob (my footy mate) gave me about 40 sausages!! Philip cooked them all and for 4 days we ate sausages cold, watm, in sauce, etc.. By Sunday we were sick ot it!! Lol. Leaving Alice was a bit difficult for me. I made really good friends there and it felt like home. We actually left Heaven twice (the backpacker I was staying + working) because I'd forgotten to say goodbye to a few of them the first time. We finally left around 11am and headed north. Our first stop was the Devil Marbles. Basically it's rocks in the middle of the desert. It's incredible, you could think that they've been put there on purpose on the top of each other. According to scientists, the 'marbles' are the rounded remains of molten lava eroded over aerons. That was nice and not crowded so perfect to look around. For our first night we stayed next to the Tourism Office in Tennant Creek. I'm not sure we were actually allowed to but we did anyway. We watched a nice sunset and had sausages for dinner!! Lol. The first day we drove ...kms.

After a good night sleep and a nice breky (Oz word for breakfast) we hit the road again. We wanted to stay in Mataranca for the second night. Mataranca is known for its crystal-clear Rainbow Springs thermal pool shrouded in rainforest. It sounded like a good plan after a day driving. On our way we stopped in the Daly Waters Pub where all good backpackers have to stop. The walls are covered by foreign currency, t-shirts, underwear..pretty much everything except wallpaper. It was a cool place to stop and get a nice rafreshing drink. We were also "lucky" to see a controlled fire on the side of the road. Basically the lands are being set on fire regularly to allow the nature to survive better with the environment. That was impressive and a bit scary!

We finally arrived in Mataranca just before sunset and that was so nice to cool down in the thermal pool sourounded by rainforest.

On the 3rd day we drove to Katherine where we firstly stopped at its hot springs. Then we went to an 2hours cruise on the Katherine River. That was very nice. The rainy season hadn't started yet so the river was low but I enjoyed it anyway. After the cruise we quickly drove to Pine Creek where we wanted to stay overnight. On our way we stopped to Edith Falls for the sunset, very nice! Nothing special was in Pine Creek, only a good location to stop before doing the Kakadu National Park the following day.

The next day we got up early and started to drive through Kakadu. A bit dissappointed we couldn't do much apart from looking things from the car cause we didn't have a 4WD to access the best place. But, well that was all fine anyway. The waterfalls wouldn't have been great anyway because of the hot season, so no big deal. We stayed overnight in Humpty Doo - close location to the Crocodile Jumping that we had planned to do on Sunday morning before heading to Darwin and end our nice road trip.

We then went to the Crocodile Jumping on Sunday and I have to say it was impressive!! But I don't know what most hillarious.. the crocodile jumping to get some meat or the birds stealing the crocodiles' meat!!?!! lol

We finally drove to Darwin where we dropped the camper van and had a rest for a few days before flying to Cairns.

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Sign just out of Alice

Panneau a la sortie d'Alice

Our camper van

Notre camper van

Devil's Marbles

Sign at the Daly Waters Pub :-)

Panneau au Daly Waters Pub :-)

Lands on fire

Terres en feu

Katherine's Gorge

Natural Rock in the Katherine's Gorge
Formation naturelle d'une roche dans les Gorges Katherine

Sunset on Edith Falls

Coucher de soleil a Edith Cascade

Jumping Crocodile Show

Hungry crocodile

Outside the Croco Jumping Place

3 days Safari in the desert

2008-10-19T00:10:00.000-07:00

I decided to go on tour for 2,5 days doing the touristy things which are around: Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon and the Olgas. Philip, my friend from Melbourne was in Alice and we did the tour together.

That probably doesn't mean anything to you but looking at the pictures I'm sure that you will know what I'm talking about.

I came back from the tour only on Saturday 18th. I LOVED it!! That was huper cool. Great weather, nice group, wicked tour guide and loads of fun.

I can't wait to do another tour around Australia and visit a lot more.

We were a small group, only 15 people. That was nice.

The first day we drove to the Kings Canyon and stayed overnight in a camp. That was cool. I really had a wicked time.

The second day we got up at 5am, had a quick brekki and left for the Kings Canyon. There we walked around for 3hours. That was amazing and impressive!! Even if we started the walk at 7am, by the time we finished it it was really really hot!! about 40degres..
Once we finished the walk we drove to Uluru or Ayers Rock if you prefer. Nat our guide was cool, always playing good music.

Arrived there we decided that we had enough time to see the Olgas mountains before seeing the sunset on Uluru.

That was cool but we couldn't do the whole walk around for 2 reasons. Firstly because we needed to be on time to watch the sunset on Uluru and also because it was way to hot to walk for 1 hour in the heat.. But overall that was good.

We then drove to Ayers Rock and headed to see the sunset on Uluru. That was great. The colors on the rock at night are amazing. We even had a glass of fake Champagne.. sparkling wine. That was nice. Thanks to Philip I had 2 glasses cause he doesn't drink :p

Once the sunset was finished, we drove back to the camp and cooked dinner. We didn't do much at night as everyone was tired and also because we had to get up at 4am the following day to see the sunrise on Uluru.

It was a bit difficult to get up the second morning but we all knew that it was worth doing it so that was cool.

The sunrise was ok. I prefered a lot more the sunset. The colors were more impressive and it might have helped that we were drinking sparkling wine.. lol

After the sunset we all had a lazy day doing not much really. We headed back to the camp where we had some lunch and then Nat drove us back to Alice Springs.. about 500kms.

I loved this experience. Australia is such an amazing place to live, travel, have fun and meet people. That's great!! I am so pleased to have made the decision to come over here and travel :D

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Une fois bien travaille a Alice pendant 1 mois, j'ai decide de me payer un safari tour de 2,5 jours. Les principales attractions du coin sont Ayers Rock (ou Uluru), les Kings Canyon et les montagnes Olgas. Mon ami Philip, rencontre a Melbourne faisait egalement parti du trajet.

Cela ne vous dit peut etre pas grand chose mais je suis sure qu'en regardant les photos cela vous aidera.

Je suis revenue de mon tour le Samedi 18 Oct. J'ai adore!! C'etait vraiment super et une toute nouvelle aventure pour moi avec pleins de sensations avec des gens tres agreables, un guide (Nat) excellente et beaucoup de bonne humeur.

Nous etions un petit groupe de 15 personnes. C'etait bien.

Le premier jour Nat nous a conduit proche des Kings Canyon et nous avons campes tout proche.

Le deuxieme jour apres s'etre leves a 5h et avec un rapide petit dej, nous sommes partis pour les Kings Canyon. Nous avons marche pendant environ 3hrs. C'etait vraiment impressionnant et immence. Meme si nous avons commence la marche a 7h, il faisait vraiment chaud (environ 40 degres) lorsque nous avons fini la marche...

Parce qu'il nous restait du temps nous sommes alles aux montagnes Olgas avant d'assister au coucher de soleil sur Ayers Rock. Nat etait excellente et jouait toujours de la bonne musique dans le bus.

Les montagnes Olgas sont impressionnantes mais malheureusement nous n'avons pas pu faire la marche entierement du a la haute temperature et l'absence d'ombre, mais c'etait quand meme super :-)

Ensuite en route pour le coucher de soleil sur Ayers Rock, vraiment bien. Les couleurs sont tellement jolies et changent selon l'inclinaison du soleil. Une superbe experience. Tout cela orcheste par le vin mousseux que nous avons deguste. C'etait simple mais genial. 2 verres pour moi vu que Philip ne boit pas :p

Apres le coucher de soleil nous sommes alles a notre campement; des petite hutes, un vrai bonheur.

Nous sommes restes assez calme pendant le veillee sachant qu'il fallait se lever a 4h le lendemain puisque nous allions voir le lever de soleil sur Ayers Rock.

C'etait un peu difficile de se lever mais nous savions que cela vallait le coup. Le lever de soleil etait bien meme si j'ai largement prefere le coucher de soleil. Les couleurs sont plus impressionnantes et aussi peut etre parce que nous avions du vin mousseux!! lol

Ensuite nous avons eu une journee assez cool. Nous sommes retournes au campement manger un bout et nous apres apres pris la route du retour.. 500kms a faire mais ce ne fut pas long grace aux jeux et la bonne musique dans le bus.

J'ai vraiment adore cette experience et je suis si heureuse d'avoir pris la decision de venir ici et de faire quelque chose de tellement different de ce que je faisais en France ou Angleterre. Le retour sera dur dur..

Kings Canyon

Me at Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon

The group at Kings Canyon

Eden's Garden at Kings Canyon

Le jardin d'Adam aux Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon

The Olgas

Les Montagnes Olgas

The Olgas

Me at The Olgas

Sunset on Uluru

Coucher de soleil sur Uluru

Sunrise on Uluru and the Olgas on the right

Soleil levant sur Uluru et les Olgas sur la droite

Sunrise and me on Uluru

Ayers Rock - Uluru

1/2 of the group arriving in Alice

1/2 group arrivant a Alice

Nat and me.. lol

Yes! I like that :-)

Everyday in Alice

2008-10-10T15:16:00.001-07:00

Appart from woking everyday I still haven't done much in Alice. I like this place. The people are very friendly. Some of my friends I met here have gone. We were a bunch of French, a very nice group. I miss them but I know I will meet them again back in France.

Pictures of some of them, having a drink or having a bbq !! We're really having fun here.

Jono, Marion, Dennis and I

Sylvie and I

Sunset in Alice

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Travaillant tous les jours je n'ai toujours pas fait grand chose a Alice. J'aime cet endroit. Les gens y sont gentils et c'est tres agreable. Certains de mes amis sont partis il y a quelques jours, un groupe de Francais tres sympa. Ils me manquent mais je les reverrai bientot en France.

Alice Springs

2008-09-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

De Melbourne je suis allee a Alice Springs. C'est une ville en plein centre du pays, reputee pour le celebre Ayers Rock. Il faut quand meme savoir que le Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon, etc. sont a environ 300kms d'Alice!!!

Je suis donc arrivee ici le 19 Sept avec l'intention de faire un tour de 3 jours et d'ensuite faire mon chemin pour Cairns. Aujourd'hui le 30 Sept je suis toujours a Alice!! J'ai en fait decide de travailler ici pendant 1 mois et ensuite d'aller a Cairns. J'adore cette idee que rien n'est fige et que tout est possible a la derniere minute.J'appelle un backpackers pour faire ma reservation pour 2 nuits et Shelly, la manager me demande si je cherche un boulot. Je me dis pourquoi pas.. Une fois arrive ici, je me dis que 1 mois ici ca pourrait etre sympa.

Le backpackers ou je reste est une grande famille. Les gens sont trop gentils. Je passe un super moment depuis que je suis ici. J'ai 2 boulots. Je travaille a la reception du backpackers ou je reste et egalement au bar d'un autre backpackers. Tout va tres bien. Je suis bien occupee!! Avec une moyenne de 60 hrs par semaine je n'ai pas le temps de m'ennuyer.

Il fait super beau et chaud avec une moyenne de 35 degres tous les jours! Lundi dernier nous avons eu une tempete a Alice. Apparement du jamais vu.. Je dormais profondement et n'ai rien entendu mais les locaux disent que c'est la premiere fois qu'ils assistent a un si violent orage. Regarder les photos, c'est assez impressionant.

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From Melbourne I went to Alice Springs. It's a town right in the center of the country where the famous Ayers Rock is as well as Kings Canyon, etc. But because Australia is such a big country Ayers Rock is actually about 300kms away from Alice!!

I've arrived in Alice on Sep 19th with the idea to stay there only for 3 days, just the time to do the trip to Ayers Rock. Today Sep 30th I'm still here!!! I've actually decided to stay here for a month, work and then go to Cairns. I love that! The feeling that whatever you do, that will be fine and nothing is a big matter and that you will have a good time anyway. I call a backpackers to make my reservation for the following day and Shelly, the manager offers me a job!! I thought why not and once here I decide to stay 1 month in Alice.

The backpackers I'm staying in a big family. People are really friendly and I'm having a great time. I've got 2 jobs. I work at the reception where I'm living and working in a bar in another backpackers. All's good. That keeps me very busy as I work an average of 60 hours a week!!

The weather is great with an average of 35 degres everyday. Last Monday we had a storm here. Apparently a very big one and the locals never experienced this. I was actually asleep at the time so I didn't see it. See the pictures, it's impressive!

Oh dear!! Oulala!!

2008-09-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Bon j'avais toujours voulu savoir si le blond m'irait bien donc hier je suis allee chez le coiffeur et ai demande a avoir les cheveux blonds!! Je vous rassure je n'ai pas paye.. c'etait dans une ecole genre centre de formation. J'ai demande au gars blond mais pas trop qd meme!! A vous de voir le resultat!! Je n'ose pas regarder l'appareil photo..
J'y retourne cet aprem pour etre brune de nouveau!! Ouf.

I've always said that I'd love to know what the feelings are to be blond.. So yesterday I went to a hairdresser's school to have it done. Oh dear!! I've asked for blond but not too much cause I knew that will not suit me. See the result :-( I didn't pay for it, thank God!
I'm going back this afternoon to get my dark color back, can't stand the blond!!

:-( :-(

!!!!!!!!!

Bye bye Melbourne..

2008-09-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

Avant de quitter Melbourne Vendredi pour aller a Alice Springs, mardi je suis allee faire de nouveau un tour dans le centre ville. Il y a tellement de choses a voir et a chaque fois on decouvre de nouvelles sculptures, des toits peins ou de vieux batiments.

Ce que je voulais faire c'est le tour des vieilles arcardes du centre ville. J'ai egalement fait Union Street qui est une petite allee reservee aux graffitis (ca c'est intelligent au moins!).
Je vous laisse regarder.

Je suis egalement allee au Victoria Market, marche geant de fruits, legumes, viande, poisson, fromages et bric-a-brac. J'ai adore. Cela me rapelle le temps ou je le fasais avec ma grand-mere tous les mercredis!! Ah que de bons souvenirs. (desole j'ai pas pris de photos).

Melbourne me manquera. J'ai passe d'excelents moments ici avec des gens adorables qui m'ont ete si chaleureux. Merci a vous tous. I should say that in english cause they're all Ossies - Thank you guys!! You've been great to me and I had some awesome time with you. I will miss you!

Reach for the stars.. (pavement in Melbourne city)

Who had this idea to put a code barre on a building, mmm??

Pavement in town

Graffiti allee in Melbourne

I'm a princess

Cocorico

The first Melbourne post office erected in 1841 (GPO)

Inside the GPO

Who lost this purse??

Sculpture in China town

The block Arcade

Inside the Block Arcade

The Royal Arcade

Odd one out ;-)

Lol

The Great Ocean Road

2008-09-06T08:14:00.001-07:00

With Philip - my friend from Germany that I met at the backpackers I'm staying, we decided to go and explore the Great Ocean Road. It's very famous here and if you ever come to Melbourne you have to do it. It's basically a road along the Ocean for over 200 kms!! and the landscape is awesome!! We did it on 2 days cause it's a long drive and wanted to enjoy it the most.

We've been so lucky because the weather was nice, cold but dry! The main thing..

Look at the pictures.

Philip and I

Me having fun.. as you do!

Guess what?? The name of this is: The London Bridge!!!! I'm not kidding!

The first time I saw a lama.. emotional

Some Arborigen statue

If you count them there is actually only 6 left..

Waterfalls on the way back to Melbourne, still on the Great Ocean Road

Another waterfall

Mornington Peninsula

2008-09-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

While Jc was still around we both went on a day trip to the Mornington Peninsula. It's about 2hours south driving from Hanging Rock, so 1hour from Melbourne.
The landscapes were pretty amazing and we manage to see the sunset, that was beautiful.
The weather the whole day was brilliant.
We visited this garden, can't remember the name now but have a look at the pictures, they're quit funny.
That was an awesome day like they say around here!! Lol

Jc and I

Me on a reindeer tree!!

Love it! It says "Even pigs can fly? Isn't it amazing" :-)

Le bonheur est dans le pre..

Mornington Peninsula

Jc and I waiting for the sunset

Sunset

My 25th birthday

2008-09-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

I had a wicked time!! It was quiet but my dear friend Lys cooked dinner and even bought a cake so I could blow my candles. The funny thing was that she bought the candles but there were only 24 in the pack!!! so the 25th one was an odd one!! Really funny. The following day we spend our time with her horses. It was just so nice to spend my time with people that hardly know me but make me feel so good and special. Thank you soooooo much Lys + her dad for this special night. That will be for ever a memorial time for me :-)

Preparing the cake..

Blowing my 25 candles

Lys, me and my 25 candles

Me looking good!! I nearly fall down in the mud

Lys and I at the end of the day

Melbourne

2008-09-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

I love this town. Everybody non Australian told me that they loved this town. There's a bit of a war between Sydney and Melbourne.. I have to say that I loved Sydney but my heart definitively belongs to Melbourne. It's such a great city!!
You have everything and it doesn't feel like a huge city like Paris or London. There're loads of shops, tiny streets with great boutiques, the best restaurants ever and great people. Yeah! That will be my best city 2008, for sure!
See the pictures and enjoy!!

Outside the Library

Gardens near the National Museum

The National Museum

One of the numerous arcade that Melbourne counts

Botanic Gardens

Strange thing but very cool

... and me holding it!

Loving it!

View from the Eureka Tower

View from the Eureka Tower - sunset

View from the Eureka Tower

Good time at Hanging Rock Winery

2008-09-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

I landed in Melbourne where JC came to pick me up. I hadn't seen him since my A Level.. therefore for 7 years!! Even after all this time we had a great time together and through him I met some lovely and awesome people: Rob, Mark, Josh, Elysia, Ruth and John + Ann Ellis the winery's owners. They're all lovely people and I feel privileged everyday to be around them and have them as my friends.
See below the picture of one of our great night at El Rancho - the wine makers' house where we were all the time.

The Crew (Josh, Rob, JC, Mark, Lys and Caz)

I've been in Melbourne since July 14th... and I'm still here!! I love this town and its people. It's so great to go out and have a good meal with a nice glass of wine. The shopping is amazingly diverse and the atmosphere is relaxed at all time.
During this month or so I've worked a bit to help me to finance my traveling and enjoy myself more than what I already do ;-)
Every weekend we go out for a good meal and good wines.. See the pictures, they explain everything ;-)

Rob, me and Mark

The Crew again

Me at JC's farewell looking very tipsy!!

My first week in Oz

2008-08-31T00:24:00.000-07:00

The flight to Sydney was fine and not too long, so that was all good.
I landed in early morning of July 7th, when the weather was humid and chilly. What a change from Thailand!!! But at the same time it was so nice to finally find a bit of fresh air.
I stopped in a good backpacker's place in the city. The first 2 days I haven't done much cause I was a bit tired from the flight and probably needed to adapt myself at my new environment.

Once rested, I started to visit around. Sydney is a lovely city, especially the Sydney Harbour and the beaches around. The weather was good, a bit chilly but most of the time I had the chance to have a blue sky - Mr Blue Sky ;-)
I was happily surprised to find out that Ossie people are lovely and very friendly. They're very laid back and it's great to be around them cause you start to be more lenient, cool, relaxed.

I had to go and see the Sydney Harbour Bridge at first because I used to see the same everyday in Newcastle-UK. It is indeed the same, massive and beautiful! It was strange to be there and brought up some good memories. I didn't climbed it cause it was a bit pricey but I went up to one of the column of the bridge and got a very nice view. I didn't stay very long though cause it was so cold that I couldn't stand outside. It was very nice though.

At night I met up with Anthony and Kate, friends of a friend of mine back in England; lovely couple. Thanks for the drink ;-)

After ringing my friend Jean Charles who was working in a winery not far away from Melbourne, I decided to stay in Sydney for a week and then go to Melbourne and visit him for a while.

The next day I went to the Botanic Gardens and enjoy the sun and walked, walked, walked.. all day long!! It was so nice, especially this freedom that traveling and being in an new environment gives you. I watched the sunset on the Sydney Bridge from the Botanic Gardens and got a good night sleep.

The following 2 days I went to the beach. The first one was Bondi Beach. I walked all day long again. The walk around the beach is beautiful. I didn't do the whole of it but managed to walk for about 3hours.. not too bad. I actually had to stop cause my foot was hurting me. I guess Converse are not the best shoes to walk around so much..
The second beach was Mandi beach. That was also nice but a bit more busy. I've actually preferred Bondi Beach for its wild character.

I was flying on Monday night to Melbourne. So I had plenty of time to visit Sydney and walk around. I've also had loads of time to enjoy myself with glasses of wine every night with my room mates.. hihihi good nights at the Wake Up place!! Also, thanks Paul for the free cocktails night at your work. Loved it, it was awesome!

Back to Bangkok

2008-08-31T00:07:00.000-07:00

After the great experience from Chiang Mai, Kate and I took different routes. She went to Laos and I slowly made my way back to Bangkok. I had a few days left before flying to Oz, so before Bangkok I stopped in Sukhothai - another old city. That was beautiful, as it is anywhere in Thailand..
I stayed there for 2 nights and 3 days and took the over night bus to go back to Bangkok the 3rd night.

During my first stay in Bangkok I had met in a restaurant Toy, a Thai women. She seemed very nice and lovely and told me to contact her when I'll be back cause she would love me to stay at her house.. At the first place I thought, nah! I won't stay.. but after spending a month in Thailand I thought that she was nice without bad intentions.. so I gave it a go and I called her before arriving in Bangkok.
I have to say that it was a bit scary cause I didn't know her a lot and no one would know where I was going to stay.. Anyway, she remembered me and decided that I will stay for 2 nights at her house.
No without apprehension I stayed there and everything was very good and so nice. I've experienced living in a Thai family for 2 days and I loved it! She basically opened me her house and made me feel like a guest and I felt so lucky to have the privilege of experiencing this. Thank you so much Toy! You have been wonderful and you will always have this special place in my heart.

After 2 days, I had to go and fly to Australia where new experiences were waiting for me.. Oz here I come!!

Me and Toi

3 days - 2 nights trekking in Chiang Mai area

2008-07-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

The day after the Elephants Camp and the Long Necked Women Village, Kate and I were off to a wonderful adventure: trekking for 3 days and 2 nights. That would include elephant riding, waterfalls, hot springs, bamboo rafting and 2 nights in 2 different tribes villages.

Our group was small: only 6 people. That was rather nice. From our hostel we were 3: Kate, Maryne and I and we were joined by 2 Spanish girls: Erika and Maribel and finally Patrick from Ireland.

Maryne, Kate, Maribel and Erika
Coi and Patrick

That was a good crew. We had fun and it was really nice. Our guide was Coi, a local Thai who was really funny!!

Coi and Maryne

The first day we firstly stopped at the local market and Coi did some shopping for our group. We then headed to the waterfalls. Once there we found other groups but it didn't bothered us. It was just nice.

Once we enjoyed enough this, the car took us to the hot springs and left us there. We would carry on by walk.

The hot springs were .. hot!! Not surprising you would say but we were expecting to be able to go in.. but as the temperature was about 45 degres, no way! We therefore went to what they call "the pool" and managed to have a swim. The temperature was about 30 degres so that was manageable. We stayed there for a while enjoying the nature around us.

After a while the rain started and therefore we had to get changed and hope the rain would go away as we had about 2hours walking before getting to our village where we would stop for the night.. It stopped raining for about 1hour and then started to pissed down!!! We were soaked!!! but I thought it was funny and good fun as we should expect it knowing we're in Thailand during the raining season.

The hot springs (temperature 45 degres)

The hot springs (temperature 90-10 degres)

Once arrived at the village and after a nice cold shower (lol), we had dinner.. Actually only Maryne cause the food was way too spicy for us. Seeing that nobody was eating, Coi kindly cooked some plain rice for us. Thank you Coi!! We were so happy. Sometimes you don't need more to make your dinner :-) At night, Coi lighted a fire and we talked all together around. That was a nice, quiet and nice evening.

The following morning we were all awake by 4 o'clock by the chickens singing.. I think we managed to stay in bed until 8am for the breakfast to be served :-)

On the second day we walked 3hours. It wasn't so hard even if some peolpe might disagree with me.. The landscape were beautiful and it all worthed it! Once arrived at another tribe village, we had lunch and then we were off for the elephant riding! The best fun ever :D We were paired and we actually had a French team (Maryne & I), a Spanish team and a English team (ish cause Patrick's Irish..).

Landscape

The ride was soooo nice and we were very privileged cause we were alone, no other group. We walked manly in the river and saw loads of buffalos lying in the river. That last for 1 hour and we managed to sit each in turns on the elephant head. We really had a wonderful time and were sad to leave the elephants..

Me on the elephant head and Maryne on the background

After a few minutes walking we arrived at the village we would stay for the night. We had a good night that we shared with another group staying nearby. In their group they had only 1 girl for about 10 guys, the other way round than our group.

The night was better than the previous one even if this time we had frogs singing in the morning!! But we didn't care cause the bamboo rafting was ready for us!! We all packed our bag properly making sure to put our camera and anything else important in plastic bags as our bags will be on board with us.

We trusted Coi and started the 2hours rafting on a bamboo!!!! That was an experience! More than once the rafting nearly went in the water but each time Coi managed alright. That was really good fun. The weather wasn't great on that day therefore we were a bit cold but it all went fine and we enjoyed ourselves witch was the most important thing.

On the way to Chiang Mai and its beautiful surroundings

2008-07-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Hi,

After Ayuthaya we took the overnight train to go to Chiang Mai. We got tickets on the 2nd class with beds. It was actually all good and we managed to get some sleep. Once awake we enjoyed the view. That was so beautiful, a bit wild and so green!!

The train and its beds

View from the train

A train staion on the way to Chiang Mai

We were expecting to arrive in Chiang Mai with at least 1hour late.. cause the train kept stopping but we actually arrived on time! This guy on the train who took it already twice said that we were very lucky :-) Yes that's us!

We managed to find a good hostel even if the one we wanted was full. Trying to find another one we met Maryne, French girl who was traveling on her own. We therefore decided to go all to the same hostel.

The day after, undecided on the program for the day, we talked to the owner of the hostel who arranged our afternoon. We would go to the Elephants Camp and the Long Necked Women Village.. I was so excited about the Elephants Camp cause I knew I would see them painting. It saw it before on UTube and that was amazing!

Once we got there (just on time) we saw the elephants having a bath in the river and then they produced for us a show. That was so nice. They played music with an armonica, played football, one of them did a Thai Massage to a of the team personn and finally they all painted.. My favorite moment. I let you have a look at the picture and admire.

Nice bath in the river before the show

Elephant playing football

This painting was made by the elephant on the picture: AMAZING!!!

Fianlly after this we went to the Long Necked Women Village. That was interesting as the lady in the picture with me below could speak English so she told us more about their culture. That was an afternoon full of emotions.

Long necked woman

From 4 year old they were those necklace

Making my way up North .. slowly

2008-07-04T03:09:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

After Kanchanaburi Kate and I decided to go up North. Before Chiang Mai we stopped 1 night in Ayuthaya - the Sacred City, Siamese royal capital from 1350 to 1767.

That was nice and it's amazing how many old temples were there!

Lying Buddha

Fresh news

2008-06-26T03:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!!

Right, after Phuket I went to Hua Hin in order to meet up with Mr T. my old GM from CP Marlow. That was lovely and so nice to actually meet someone that you know :-) He came to pick us up (Kate and I) in Hua Hin town and we went straight near to his resort about 35kms from Hua Hin. He showed us some beautiful landscapes around and we had our own show round of the resort. OMG!! That was amazing! I would recommend to anyone to go there. It's so peaceful and relaxing. We had a spritzer near the pool and a lovely dinner :D :D :D

Mr T's resort

We stayed 2 nights in Hua Hin but not in Mr T's resort.. unfortunately it was over the budget for us. That just gave us the time to go to a Jazz concert and see Mr T and we were off again to Kanchanaburi. In the meantime my tonsilatices was very very painful so the trip between Hua Hin and Kanchanaburi has been a nightmare - train + coach = 6hours!!

Thank God after nearly 2 days of rest I fell much better :-)

In Kanchanaburi we went to visit a lot: museum, cimetery and bridges.. We also did the Tiger Temple but we didn't want to go with a tour so we rented a motorbike!! That was really good fun. Kate having a problem with her eye, I drove the motorbike! Knowing that traffic here is nothing like back home I had to be carful all the time but I would do it again!

Kate and I on the motorbike!!!

The Death Railway Bridge

The Tiger Temple was very touristy but we got there at a good time and escaped the crowd :-) Enjoy the pictures :D

After Kanchanaburi we went to Ayutthaya - the old city. That was nice. We only spent 1 night and 1 day there and we got yesterday the night train from there to go to Chiang Mai. It was actually ok. We left Ayuttaya with 30mins late and actually got here on time!! How's weird is that??

2008-06-26T03:16:00.000-07:00

School Bus in Phuket

Horse Riding in Phuket

2008-06-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

Hi, today I went horse riding on the Chalong Beach in Phuket. That was amazing!! I did it for 2 hours and beleive me I can feel it now.. lol tomorrow it's going to be difficult cause my bottom already hurts tonight.
We took the local bus to get there. It was at about 15 kms from where we're staying. It was all fine except to come back home we didn't find any bus to take us back. We waked for about 5 kms before finding a sign for Phuket town, our destination: 9.5 kms!!! It was way too late to walk so we got a tuk tuk which stopped during the route to get some petrol :-) Welcome to Thailand! You would never see this in France or the UK.
Hope you're enjoying the pictures.

Coucou, aujourd'hui je suis montee a cheval sur la plage de Chalong a Phuket. C'est super! Je l'ai fait pendant 2 heures et demain va etre dur car j'ai deja mal a mon posterieur!! lol
Pour y aller nous avons pris le bus local mais malheureusement nous n'en avons pas trouve pour revenir a notre hostel en ville. Nous y avons mis de la bonne volonte et avons commence a marcher pensant trouver le bus en route car ici il n'y a pas d'arret pour le bus.. Apres avoir marche environ 5 kms nous avons trouve une pancarte pour Phuket town: 9.5 kms!!! Chose imposible a faire a 17.30 sachant que la nuit tombe a 18/18.30 Nous avons donc pris un tuk tuk qui s'est arrete prendre de l'essence sur la route!! incroyable.
J'espere que les photos vous plaisent.

Sunset on Ko Phi Phi Island

2008-06-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

Ko Phi Phi Island from the view point (du point de vue)

2008-06-17T06:10:00.000-07:00

THE beach - the one from the film (film la Plage avec Leonardo Di Caprio)

2008-06-17T06:07:00.001-07:00

Me having fun in the water

2008-06-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

Ko Phi Phi Island

2008-06-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Bangkok - Ko Phi Phi

2008-06-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

Hi from Thailand!! Everything's going well so far after a week of being here. After 2 days in Bangkok (I haven't done much due to tiredness) Eva, Kate & I were off to Ko Phi Phi Island right in the south of the country. For those who are wondering who Eva is, she's my friend from Paris who's on vacation just for a week & Kate's an english girl doing like me a bit of travelling in the same countries & that Eva met at the airport.
To get to Ko Phi Phi we took a night coach. It was long and painful: 15 hours on the bus, 5 hours waiting for the ferry & finally 1 hour 1/2 on the ferry!!! But it all worth it because the beaches here are so amazing!! On the other hand we felt really ripped off because we had to argue so many times to make sure to got what we paid for. I've only been here a week, but with the experience that I've got so far I can tell that you have to barter for, and keep track of everything you've bartered for here, or else you can get stung. That's the not best thing about Thailand.
The weather unfortunately hasn't been great since we arrived but it's fine. On Thurs night we went to a party on the beach. That was really good. There are so many people traveling like me. Some of them for a year! It's such a life style. People here say that either you like the island and will stay much longer than expected or you will just stick to your plans. Some of them had planned on staying 2 days & they've been here for 2 months!! I think I could stay here longer if I was scuba-diving. It must be so nice but it's not in my budget - maybe in Australia when I'll have some income :-)

Nouvelles de Thailande

2008-06-09T23:20:00.000-07:00

Bonjour tout le monde,
Enfin des nouvelles.. Le trajet Lyon-Bangkok s'est plutot bien passe, long mais ok. Depuis Samedi j'ai experimente la vie a Bangkok. Quel choc culturel!!! J'ai rencontre une Thailandaise qui m'a fait un petit tour de la ville. Les gens sont tellement gentils ici. La vie a Bangkok en 3 mots seraient: pollution, bruit et etouffant.
Hier soir Eva, Kate ( une anglaise qui a rencontre Eva a l'aeroport) et moi sommes parties de Bangkok a 19h en direction de l'ile de Ko Phi Phi dans le Sud. Nous ne sommes toujours pas arrivees mais le trajet en bus nous a pris 14hrs!!! La nous attendons le bateau pour aller sur l'ile. Le temps n'est pas top mais rien a voir avec la pluie que l'on s'est pris hier! Impressionnant.
Je metterai des photos bientot sur le site pour vous montrer tout ca.
Des bisous a tout le monde et a bientot pour plus de nouvelles.

J - 7

2008-05-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

God, it's scary!! In a week I will be in London waiting for my connection flight to Bangkok!! I'm flying from Lyon to London with BA and will arrive in T5.. I hope they won't lose my bag.. Keep the fingers crossed for me.
I've bought nearly all my clothes, bag and equipments I will need.. Thanks mum for all your help :)
This weekend will be the last with my friends before I go. It should be a good one.

My best friend Eva is gonna spend a week in Thailand with me. She will get to Bangkok on June 8th, just the day after me. Where are we going to spend the week?? Phuket of course :D

Getting there..

2008-05-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

J-12
I've got my tickets, my insurance and all the rest needs to be done. A lot to do!!
This week coming I will buy my backpack and the few clothes I will take with me. I don't want to have more than 12 kgs. I know I will find everything I might need in Thailand for a very reasonnable price.