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Asia

September - November 2019
Our two month journey through SE Asia to show the kids a broader view of the world and share our love of travel with them. Read more
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  • TravelerAsia
    Day 1

    Leaving Home

    September 9, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    See you in two and a half months Te Awanga! Leaving home there were mixed emotions among us, some trepidation from the girls about what they were going to be missing while away on their big adventure and some uncertainty around what lies ahead for the coming months. Jacob was looking forward to the whole experience and happy to be missing the school production in particular. Matt and I, well we were both ready for a little adventure and excited to be travelling somewhere new. Goodbye New Zealand, see you soon.Read more

  • TravelerAsia
    Day 2

    Arriving in KL

    September 10, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Hello Kuala Lumpur! It was quite a shock arriving in KL at 6am after a 12+ hr flight with no sleep. Fortunately KL arrivals is super easy so we breezed through there, stripped off our NZ layers and were ready to explore.

    Pounding the pavement in KL in the steaming heat all day with no sleep was a bit of a challenge. We were able to find respite in the amazing food courts and found the Telecommunications museum with free WiFi and clean toilets so the kids were happy there for ages. Then Crofty led us to the forest park in the middle of the city and made us walk through and marvel at the lovely trees. Well, the Mum was getting pretty scratchy by now so decided to head back to the hotel lobby to plead for early check in, the girls went too, hoping for a wee couch to lay on. Jacob and Crofty carried on their tour and went up the Sky Tower looking for a grand view of the city. At this time of year the smog is really thick in KL so they didn’t see much but loved it all the same. By 3pm they joined us back a the hotel, ready for a nap.

    It turns out the Hotel didn’t have a room for us after all as they made a mistake with our booking which was not good news at this time in the late afternoon. Not to worry, we finally found a better place right near the Petronas towers and famous KLCC park. That was right after we found a really horrible joint and had to walk straight back out. Thank goodness for online booking sites, it makes travelling so easy, back in our back packing days, 20 years ago we would have had to keep on walking around until we found a vacancy. We were all happy to find our pillows that first night and excited to see more of KL the next day.

    Stayed at Summer Suites, Jalan Ampang. Lisa our host was great, we loved the pool, yoga platform and Jom Jom’s kitchen, serving traditional Malaysian breakfast of either noodle soup or fried rice with peanuts, anchovies, boiled egg and cucumber on the side.

    By Rachel    Read more

  • TravelerAsia
    Day 3

    Kuala Lumpur 3 days

    September 11, 2019 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    There is so much to do in Kuala Lumpur and it’s an easy city to get around, many people speak enough English to point you in the right direction and offer good sightseeing advice. It’s a happening place with lots of employment and development and young people come from all over Asia for work and a better life so it’s a really vibrant place with a good standard of living. We mainly used the monorail to get around which was cheap and efficient. Grab taxi (like Uber) was also really useful being half the price of a metered taxi.

    We spent half a day hanging around the food and shopping area of Bukit Bintang and meandered down Jalan Alor for dinner in the street food Mecca of KL. Times Square mall which has an enormous indoor amusement park was our air conditioned haven for the best part of one of our days in KL, Crofty and Jacob got to ride their first rollercoaster, three times and Livvy went on everything her height allowed. Meanwhile, Chloe and I indulged in a pedicure and reflexology for Chloe. We also went to Kidzania, a mini city designed for kids where they were able to do job training for different careers and then practice that job around different parts of the Kidzania city.

    Petronas Towers at night are really beautiful and we hung out a KLCC park at night to watch the fountain and light show at Symphony Lake and to see the lights come on in the towers at dusk. We also went to a cultural show at MATIC which was pretty funny and then ate at the canteen behind which was super cheap and delicious.    Read more

  • TravelerAsia
    Day 5

    Bankok 4 nights

    September 13, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We extended our stay in Bangkok for an extra night as we became so comfortable there. The first night we arrived, we walked down to the closest ferry, Phra Athit and jumped on a river boat to orientate ourselves by the river. The kids were not really into it on the first night after a day of travel and we’ve come to accept that the travel days are not days to engage in tourist activity or push it too hard with them. We did learn how the river boat system works though which was really useful for the rest of our stay. The orange river boat, pulls up at the pier, you jump on really quick before it completely stops and it pulls straight out again, then pay THB15 (NZD 0.75c) once you’re on. The blue boats are the tourist boats and cost THB60 (NZD$3) for the same journey and are much slower.

    The next day we were all keen to see the Grand Palace so once again we jumped on the river boat and had a short trip to the Palace. Even though we arrived well before 10am, it was so hot and crowded that we were all a bit over it by the time we even bought our tickets. The price of the tickets blew out our daily budget as well and in retrospect we wished we had just enjoyed walking around the beautiful outer buildings and gardens without going right into the center piece. Once inside the inner sanctum of the Palace walls it was so full, we could barely walk around and could not enjoy it fully in the heat so we dropped off the back of our (free English speaking) tour and found the nearest exit. We did manage to see the Emerald Buddha and some other beautiful and elaborate structures while we were there but decided at that moment not to visit any of the other tourist sites during the rest of our stay but rather take in the atmosphere of our beautiful neighbourhood and amazing local restaurants so we jumped in a tuk tuk and headed back to Soi Samsen 8. Jacob and I went for a foot massage which I loved, Jacob not so much as he was so ticklish and made his masseur giggle the whole time.

    Our hotel, Peaceland Hotel Khaosan was in a great location on the edge of Banglamphu, close to Thewet. It’s a neighbourhood that has an old school Bangkok feel near the river. Right next to the hotel is a really beautiful neighbourhood Wat (temple) with grand arch entrances which we had to walk through whenever we were coming and going. Next to that is the Wat School where we could hear the children singing as we walked past. It was so beautiful and peaceful in an otherwise busy, loud city and we loved our hood on Soi Samson 8. In the adjacent alleys there were interminable dining options but our absolute fave was Jok Pochana on Samsen 2 Alley. Mr Lek is the chef and he cooks on the street with beautiful fresh ingredients, good looking seafood and a giant personality. His father started the street stall in 1973 and he since took over. We visited him every night and eating at his restaurant has been an absolute highlight of our stay in Bangkok. The girls also befriended one of the shop keepers nearby and visited her each day for a cuddle and chat.

    On Sunday we went to the locals floating market, Taling Chan, in Bangkok were we ate and shopped and ate and went on a long tail boat round the neighbouring canals and fed the catfish and ate more yummy food from the delicious stalls at the market. We loved this market, it was small and authentic and we spent the best part of the day there, eating local delicacies. Then home again for a swim before heading out for dinner.

    The following day, Crofty and the girls went into the city for some shopping at MBK Centre while Jacob and I chilled at the Hotel, not feeling too good, we slept and read and were thankful for the air con and a quiet retreat.

    Jacob’s favorite thing about Bangkok is the people as they are so friendly and helpful and I agree, they are always smiling and cheerful.    Read more

  • TravelerAsia
    1
    Day 9

    Koh Samet 6 days

    September 17, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Koh Samet is total relaxation. There’s not much to do on a small island other that eat the abundance of seafood, walk around the coast, read a book, get a massage, explore the island on motorbikes and swim so we did all that and fully took in the island vibe. We hit Koh Samet right in the rainy season which lasts for the full month of September, this meant two rainy days out of six, two sunshine days and two days with some overnight rain followed by sun or cloud. It was super quiet when we arrived on a Tuesday, being the off season but got 500% busier on the weekend when big groups of people come from Bangkok to party hard. We loved the restaurants and bars on the beach here with sandy floors, fairy lights, hanging lanterns, mosquito coils burning under the table and the nightly fire twirlers busking along the beach.

    We found a hidden gem at Ao Tub Tim, a large collection of bungalows right on the beach with fantastic food, just enough action to be entertaining and a cool pontoon to swim out to. The local Bangkokians who arrived on Sat thought is was their hidden secret and were surprised we had found it, coming all the way from New Zealand but nothing is sacred anymore with online booking sites! From Tub Tim we could do the coastal rock walk over to the busier beaches 10 mins away or south to the even quieter and equally beautiful southern beaches. We hired motorbikes and fully explored the island from north to south, east to west and Jacob enjoyed the motorbikes so much he persuaded us to do it again for a second day. We managed to track down a bar with an ex Englishman who, given a couple of days warning, managed to work out how to stream the All Blacks vs South Africa game. In this football mad country they have literally zero knowledge of rugby. We sat with about 10 south Africans for a pretty tense game, but a fantastic few beers afterwards.

    Getting off the island was a bit of drama, the speedboat we booked with didn’t turn up and after numerous phone calls, finally arrived an hour late to pick us up, as the waiter at Tub Tim said, “Thai time”. We stopped off at numerous other beaches until the boat was completely chockers then ran out of fuel halfway back to the mainland, so there we were bobbing around for 20 minutes or so until another boat pulled up to offer assistance. This would have been quite funny had we not had a long day of travel ahead of us and a plane to catch. Fortunately we had allowed plenty of time to get to the Rayong airport so made it onto the flight to Udon Thani in the far north east of Thailand, right on time.

    By Rach and Matt    Read more

  • TravelerAsia
    11
    Day 14

    Nong Khai, Isaan

    September 22, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Nong Khai is a stunning surprise. We had no idea where we were coming to but we love it already. It sits on the banks of the mighty Mekong River and looks across to Laos. This area was once part of Laos and the people here still identify more with Laos, when asked the locals say they are from Isaan, rather than Thailand. We arrived on Sunday after long travel day and were instantly refreshed by the cleanliness and beauty of the town, our guesthouse Mut Mee is right on the river so it’s cool and calm and incredibly peaceful and quiet.

    Thursday 26th Sept
    It’s 7am and I am sitting out by the river, it‘s slow flow is mesmerizing and it keeps distracting me from typing or doing anything else. I’m sure I could sit here all day just watching and breathing it in but we are working while we’re here so will have to save that luxury for the weekend. There’s a large pedestrian (and cyclist) only paved promenade that runs all the way along the river so we’ve hired bikes for the duration of our stay here so we can get around easily. Each day we ride to Open Mind Project (OMP) in the morning and back again at night after dark. Our first few days at OMP have been orientation where we are getting to know the eight young trainees and they are teaching us about some Thai and Laos culture, language and customs to help us adjust. The first day we were given a list of ingredients needed to make Laab Kai and Som Tam (spicy papaya salad) for dinner. We learned some Thai phrases and vocabulary, walked to the market for the ingredients and then all cooked together to make these traditional dishes accompanied by sticky rice. The sticky rice is a.maze.ing! super high in energy which is released slowly and the farmers live on this to keep them sustained during their long days of physical work (we are told that people from Isaan work harder than people from Thailand). Each meal, we cook together and eat together and the food is packed with plenty of chilli and flavor. The trainees here are all from remote Laos Villages and have come to Open Mind Project to learn English, IT, business development , discover their interests and develop the life skills and confidence required to prepare for a better future. The vision is a future in which young people are motivated, confident and empowered to realize their dreams.

    I know I need to write more about our volunteering work as our friends and family are all asking about it but it’s kind of hard to write about as I don’t have the words yet. It will come out in due course.

    By Rachel    Read more

  • TravelerAsia
    Day 15

    OpenMind Projects, Nong Khai, Thailand

    September 23, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Open Mind Projects was our home base and family in Isaan for 3 weeks. The students and staff have been so warm and welcoming to our family and we have made some really special connections with the Laos students who fully embraced us with warm smiles, hugs and their fun sense of humor. We were there to provide motivation and opportunity for the Laos students to get English language conversation practice through sharing and participating in daily life tasks together.

    The daily routine was very casual but there was usually time between 9.30-11.30am to learn some new vocabulary using fun games learning apps like Kahoot and Quiz lit, or to work on the garden development project or tourism projects they had going. This was followed by a big communal lunch session between 11.30-1.30 where everyone helped to prepare the daily lunch banquets of amazingly varied and delicious local dishes from both Laos and Isaan. The meals were always a delicious perfectly balanced combination of spicy, sweet, acid and salty flavors and it was really nice to cook together and chat, have a laugh and learn some new techniques in the very basic but efficient kitchen. Every meal was centered around a huge basket of sticky rice which we have not been able to find in other parts of Asia and we now crave every day. The sticky rice is grown and supplied by TT’s family and it is the staple food for Isaan people, where the farmers work long and hard and rely on the slow releasing energy in the sticky rice to keep them going all day. These routine lunch banquets where a highlight of our day, after which we would cycle down a few blocks to our favourite iced coffee cart to sit in from of the fan and order our regular yen cafe and na manaw. That’s iced coffee for us and fresh lemonade for the kids. From 1.30-3pm there was another learning session where we would help the students work on their projects. The afternoons were so hot and we were always lazy after the feast so not so much was achieved during this time. 3pm was Mala time. The students run a BBQ cart outside OPM and all money raised from the BBQ was used to supply all the food for the center. Chloe loved this time of the day when she could help Ty prepare and sell the food. Olivia always helped at the DJ station they had set up and Jacob was the best BBQ customer. It was a fun time where they had the music pumping on the street, delicious food cooking and a special Sichuan spice rub that we are also now addicted to.

    We also had the opportunity to go to English club at the Monk University each Wednesday afternoon to give the novice monks an opportunity to practice their English language skills and also to go to a very poorly resourced local primary school to help teach English but that didn’t go too well as we didn’t know what we were doing.    Read more

  • TravelerAsia
    3
    Day 17

    Olivia's birthday

    September 25, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Thursday Sept 26th
    We are humbled by the openness with which we have been received by the trainees at OMP and the hospitality we have been shown over the past three days. Yesterday was Olivia’s seventh birthday. That’s ‘jet’ in Thai, she knows how to say “Hello I’m Olivia, I am seven years old and I am from New Zealand” in Thai. One of the Thai staff who works at Open Mind has a daughter named Neom who comes to OMP each day after school and she and Olivia have become instant friends. They are the same age, exactly. Sharing their birthday has bonded them for life. So yesterday evening they threw a big party for Neom and Olivia and showered both of them with gifts, and ice cream cake. I was so blown away by the generosity and attention that I couldn’t even take photos but Matt took some and I’ll put some on here for Olivia’s memories.Read more

  • TravelerAsia
    Day 35

    Our friends at Open Mind Projects

    October 13, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Some more photos here of our friends at Open Mind, they are young students aged 18-22 from remote villages in Laos who go to the Open Mind Centre to learn English, IT skills and gain confidence to achieve their dreams in life. They are initially invited for three months and are then invited to extend their stay if they prove to be motivated and hard working. Many stay for up to two years and become trainee leaders at the Centre where there can be up to twelve trainees living at a time. Most arrive having no practice in English but progress really quickly by learning and speaking with volunteers like us.Read more

  • TravelerAsia
    131
    Day 36

    Luang Prabang, Laos

    October 14, 2019 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Luang Prabang is a beautiful Paradise in the hills of northern Laos and is the absolute highlight of our trip. This is mainly because we’ve been lucky enough to meet up with Prue and Warwick and share some incredible experiences with these intrepid travelers, they are an ispiration and so much fun to travel with. The kids are always excited to be with their grandparents but to be in Laos together is very special indeed. It’s also because this place is magic.

    Luang Prabang is a UNESCO world heritage city that has been inhabited since 8,000BC. The scenery is magnificent with layers and layers of jungle clad mountains gently rolling down to meet the Mekong River, where Luang Prabang sits at the convergence of two rivers. The surrounding hills are dotted with golden temples, the air is fresh and clean and the Laos people are very calm, gentle and spiritual, and have a wicked sense of humor. I really hope to come back here.

    The first day we arrived was a huge festival day for the town so we were lucky enough to see the parade of dragon fire boats. 44 local villages make the boats, parade them down the main drag of Luang Prabang at night and then launch them into the River to be judged. It was hectic in town but we all joined the buzz.

    During our days we packed in as many activities exploring the wonderland as we had time for in a week. We spent a day cruising up the river in a long boat, taking in the river life of the locals, stopping at sacred caves, eating another best lunch ever and watching local weavers making scarves and rugs. The next day we went out to the Kuang Si waterfall to swim in clear, cool torquise water in the natural and beautiful terraced pools below the falls. As we walked up to the falls we passed through Free the Bears Sanctuary where they provide a safe home and rehabilitation for the Moon bears that are rescued from poachers who capture the bears in order to extract their bile for medicine. Our lunch this day was truly at the most beautiful restaurant we had ever been, sitting on a deck in a tropical garden with the waterfalls flowing underneath and all around us. We tried frogs legs for the first time but were not keen, will stick to the traditional Laos cuisine for now on. There is a lot of French cuisine here as Laos was colonized by the French and there are still beautiful bakeries and pasteries everywhere we go.

    Yesterday we walked with Elephants and I am a different person today after this experience. I’m going to write a separate entry about the Elephant encounter.    Read more

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