The big one

December 2021 - October 2022
That's it! We are finally off to somewhere far from London. We'll put updates and photos so you can travel with us ☺️
Ça y est! On est enfin parti loin de Londres. On va mettre des photos régulièrement pour que vous voyagez avec nous! 😊
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  • Day 1

    The journey begins

    December 17, 2021 in England ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    We booked our selves into a hotel next to Heathrow to avoid an early morning taxi, and to escape Ben's (our housemate) COVID cough, 3 tests each in 3 days, all negitive so keeping our fingers crossed. Quick hop to Doha then change for the final leg to Bangkok. Thailand here we come!

    L'avant veille de notre départ Ben (notre coloc) a testé positif au Corona virus, on a donc décidé de rester à l'hôtel près de Heathrow pour notre dernière nuit à Londres. Après 3 tests négatifs on embarque dans notre premier vol pour Doha notre escale avant Bangkok!
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  • Day 3

    Bangkok

    December 19, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    After a day quarantine and another negitive PCR test we were let loose in Thailand and free to roam, still a little jet lagged we headed over to Khao San Road for some dinner, now a clubbing mecca with bars blasting music the entire length of the street we really felt our age and made a swift exit to have a more relaxing beer in the sanctuary of Soi Rambuttri. After a good night sleep we headed out the next day to take in the sights of the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and the Saranrom Royal Gardens. Both temples complex were impressive. All buildings are kept so well that, every stone that is supposed to shine, shines. And there is a lot of it! We discovered the story of King Rama who rescued his wife from the evil Ravana through some very nice wall paintings. Finally, we saw some little buddahs, medium buddahs and a very big one!(the biggest in Bangkok!)

    Après un jour de quarantaine à l'hôtel et un autre test négatif, nous voilà libre de découvrir la Thaïlande ! Nous essayons de lutter contre le décalage horaire et sortir découvrir les alentours et la fameuse rue Khao San. Cette rue anciennement très touristique et devenue un rue où chacun essaye d'être le bar avec la musique la plus forte, on a senti que ce n'était pas pour notre âge et avons trouvé une rue plus calme pour boire une bière bien fraîche.
    Après une bonne nuit, on découvre Bangkok de jour. On a visité le Grand Palais, What Pho et Saranrom jardin royal. Les temples sont super impressionnants. Ils sont recouverts de petites pierres très brillantes et sont tous super bien conservé. On a découvert l'histoire du roi Rama qui à sauvé sa femme après qu'elle ait été kidnappé par Ravana sur de très belles peintures murales. Puis nous avons vu des petits bouddhas, des moyens et un très grand Buddhas (le plus grand de Bangkok!).
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  • Day 4

    What wat?

    December 20, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We spent our last two days in Bangkok, until we fly to Krabi, more relaxed. We've gone to Sea life, an aquarium all under ground! What we enjoyed the most was seeing the feeding of some of the animals there. Sea life is part of a shopping mall so we also had the opportunity to try new food at the shopping mall. Delicious food, but still need to work on the 'no spicy' order 🌶️🥲
    We've also discovered a bit more the neighborhood where we're staying and saw a few more Wat. Less touristy but still spotless and beautiful. They are a nice bubble of zen in the middle of the city!

    On a passé nos deux derniers jours à Bangkok, avant notre vol pour Krabi, plus relax. On est allé à Sea life, un aquarium sous terre! Ce qu'on a préféré c'était le moment où il nourrissaient certains des animaux. Sea life fait parti d'un shopping center et on a pu tester de nouveaux mets! C'est toujours délicieux mais il faut qu'on travaille notre commande pour rajouter un 'no spicy' à la fin! 🌶️🥲
    On s'est aussi balader dans la quartier où nous dormons et avons découvert d'autres Wat moins touristique que ceux du premier jour. C'est fou le nombre de Wat un peu cachés partout. Ils offrent une bulle de zen au milieu de la ville, ce qui est toujours la bienvenue !
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  • Day 6

    Krabi

    December 22, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    After busy Bangkok we're visiting less busy Krabi! It's a cute little town on the Pak Nam Krabi river. One side is the town and the other side is mangroves and limestone karst formations (the little spikes on photo 3). We visited the town one day and the second day went for a little adventure, to swim in hot springs, in an emerald pool and visit Wat Than Seua. This wat is famous for its Buddha status on top of a karst...only 1262 steps!

    Après Bangkok on a visité Krabi qui est plus calme! C'est une petite ville très sympas sur la Pak Nam Krabi rivière. La ville est construite sur une rive et sur l'autre il y a juste la nature avec une majorité de mangroves et des formations karst (les sortes de montagnes sur la photo 3). On s'est baladé dans la ville le premier jour et le second on a fait une activité en dehors de la ville. On a nagé dans une sorte de cascade d'eau chaude, puis dans une piscine naturelle émeraude et enfin on a visité le Wat Than Seua. Ce Wat est connu pour son Bouddha en haut d'un karst. Seulement 1262 marches pour le voir!
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  • Day 8

    A Railay nice Christmas

    December 24, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We came down to the beach to spend our Christmas relaxing, checked in to a cheeky 3* resort and enjoyed the luxury of a king size bed and a properly hot shower 🤩 . A 45 minute longtail boat from Krabi, Railay is a small peninsula that is only accessible by boat. Consisting of a eastern,western and southern beach the area is very relaxed and perfect for the festive season.
    The water is warm enough to stay a long time just floating around and trying to see some fish 🤿
    We have also been kayaking along the karsts (lime stone cliffs) , between rocks and even through a little cave!
    🎅🤶Merry Christmas!

    On a décidé de passer Noël sur la plage au calme est on a réservé un hôtel 3* pour nous faire oublier qu'on est loin de la famille ! Pour arriver là on a du prendre un bateau appelé long tail. Railay a trois plage qui ont chacune sont style et elles sont reliées par une toute petite rue piétonne pleine de resto très cool. L'ambiance ici est relax, parfait pour la saison festive!
    L'eau est assez chaude pour pouvoir juste se laisser flotter et essayer d'apercevoir quelques poissons 🤿
    On a aussi fait du kayak, longeant les karsts et on s'est même tenté à zigzagué entres les roches!
    🤶🎅 Joyeux Noël
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  • Day 10

    Lagoon and the caves

    December 26, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    For our last day in Railay we went to see the lagoon, a rough uphill trek and some climbing down to get to it, tough going but the view point and lagoon was totally worth it.
    After a drink break and a cool down we went to find the caves, one had a small temple dedicated to fertility ( look for the picture of the interestingly shaped offerings) and a larger cave full of bats. A really nice down to round off a great stay in Railay. Next we're off to the island of Koh Phi Phi for some more beach time and hopefully some diving.Read more

  • Day 13

    Koh Phi Phi snorkeling & kayaking

    December 29, 2021 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We went out for a tour of the smaller Koh Phi Phi island, it's a national park so visitors are not allowed to stay overnight but we were allowed to swim up to the beaches and snorkel in the calm waters of the it's bays. We were super lucky and saw a few young black fined reef sharks in their nursery pool. Even be at 30cm the distinctive shape and speed is still enough to make you keep your distance.

    The next day we went kayaking with a couple of friends we met here. It was fun and quite tiring, the wind was a bit stronger than the other days. We saw different animals that day! No sharks, but... a cat on what looked like a very remote beach! We also saw a few monkeys though we stayed far away as they can be aggressive.

    Next couple of days will be diving, so you may be see less pictures! Happy New Year! 🥂🥳🎊

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    On est maintenant à Koh Phi Phi ! On a fait un tour de la petite île qui est un parc national. Personne ne peut y dormir mais c'est assez proche pour y aller la journée ! Avec des amis trouvés en route nous sommes allés faire du snorkeling autour de l'île. C'était vraiment top! Nos trouvailles préférées étaient des petits requins, des serpents de mer et des petits nemos!

    Le jour suivant nous avons fait du kayak pour explorer un peu plus la grande île. On a encore fait un arrêt pour plus de snorkeling, pas de requins cette fois, mais quand même plein de poissons colorés ! On s'est aussi arrêtés sur la plage des singes où on a vu des singes !

    Dans les jours qui suivent on fait un brevet de plongée donc il y aura un peu moins de photos car ce seront des jours un peu studieux !
    Bonne année à tous ! 🥂🥳🎊

    สวัสดีปีใหม่ 🥳
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  • Day 16

    New Year, diving and Phuket

    January 1, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We spent new years partying on the beaches of Koh Phi Phi, a few cocktails and buckets, a fire show and some dancing in the sand ensured we saw in new year in style.
    Armelle completed her Scuba course and is now a certified diver 🥳🤿 Having seen some lion fish, Morays and even an inquisitive turtle it was a great start to the new year.
    We reluctantly left Phi Phi which had been our home for just over a week and headed back to the civilisation of Patong beach, Phuket. More of a holiday destination, we checked in to a fancy resort for 2 night before we head up north to do some more exploring.
    Patong has a crazy, seedy side to it, there is a vibrant walking street which is lined with bars blasting music all night long, we somehow stopped at a bar where the female seemed to be offering 'extras' to the single men, we were not the target clientel so made a hasty retreat. The upside of the more touristy areas is some home comforts, we had an amazing authentic Italian pizza ( a nice change after weeks of fried rice and curry) and some Ferrero Rocher ice cream.
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  • Day 21

    Thai cooking

    January 6, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    While James was working hard to create a perfect route to visit all the Wat in Chiang Mai, I've spent the day in a farm near by learning how to cook some Thai dishes!
    It was a really good experience where we've learnt all the different kind of herbs and ingredients that makes Thai food so tasty, and that we will probably never find in Europe!

    If you want to cook a perfect Pad Thai, I've put a little video!
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  • Day 23

    Wat a day

    January 8, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    If you're bored of our wat pictures, this post is not for you! We are definitely not bored of them and we are always impressed even with the small wats. Here is a selection of the most impressive ones that we saw in and around Chiang Mai.

    We first did our own Wat walking tour in the Old city. The first wat we saw was built on the location where the three kings that built the city had their quarters. According to the Chiang Man Temple Stone Inscription, Chiang Mai was founded on Thursday, the 8th day of a waxing moon, in the 6" lunar month of the Year of the Monkey, 1296 at four in the morning. (Yes, quite precise!)

    On the second day we saw 2 Wats that are a bit out of town, on the Doi Suthep mountain. We rented a car and went through a nice mountain road to reach them. They were both nice in their own style, the first one, quite mystic in the forest and the second one very golden shiny and quite busy! We forgot that we're Saturday, both built on the sites that a holy White elephant related before he died.

    In this remote place we've also visited the royal gardens of the king's winter residence. Very nice gardens with a lot of roses, we felt a bit at home! ☺️
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