Not much news....

Not much is happening down here. But i have to admit that i haven't done much on updating the pages here as you all probably have noticed by now... I'll try and do better soon. Tomorrow Kyaw Kyaw and Sandra have planned to go to the immigration office and see what can be done with visas and stuff. Depending on the outcome plans wil be made.. Frans & I will see...

Moved

Today Frans, Kyaw Kyaw, Sandra and me moved to new diggs. We've found a small room, even smaller bathroom and tiny balcony for 2.500 bath a month. That is around 50 euro. We'll need to pay a little extra for electricity, water and the like but it'll be ok for a while. KK has started with his english books. Sandra found a coursebook + cd's in a bookshop here to learn burmese. We'll see how that goes. Frans & me aren't doing much. We play pool sometimes. And many an afternoon we play scrabble. We've got this really nice travel scrabble set that we're by now quite addicted to. Sometimes Kyaw Kyaw & Sandra play it too. And it is good practise for Kyaw Kyaw. Although we're all sometimes amased at the words he knows. Hoe, foe, quid are a few i can remember of the top of my head. The dictionaries are suddenly used a lot. For the rest it is Frans & me talking about what we can do next. And there are talks of going to Malaysia & Singapore and fly from there to Burma. We (Frans & me that is) can't wait.....

Tonight.... Thai boxing

Something i always wanted to see. At least once. So i know what it'll be like. Sandra is not so keen. And Kyaw Kyaw is looking forward to it. Though he keeps saying that if the Thai and the Burmese fight each other (there is such a thing as Burmese boxing) the Burmese usually win. Frans so far hasn't expressed an opinion. I think he is a bit overwelmed with all the colours, smells, tastes and all that of Thailand. It'll be a Swede and 2 Spaniards against Thai opponents. Before that, some nice curry or so. To get the gastric juices flowing ;-)

Soon i'll be posting all the pictures from our Europe-trip. I promise. Most faithfully....

Denied on the bus

Kyaw Kyaw and Sanda as bough tickets for the bus to Chiang Mai. One of the VIP buses that leave from Khao San Rd. Frans & me were safely and snugly tucked away in our traveling bag. And we were waiting in our hotel for the person who would take us to the bus. The woman from the travel agency in the hotel hang around a while longer then normal. And we had, against all former habits, decided to pay a half day more and keep our room till 6 (we would have the bus at 6.30). An australian woman was also waiting for that bus and she had been working for a while in Burma doing eye operations via a monastery (with a charity organisation). So you can imagine it was an interesting time. Finally the girl showed up to take us to the bus. First she demanded in not such a nice way to see KK's passport. Since Thai weren't allowed on the bus. And then when she saw his passport she said 'bye bye'. Which turned out to mean that he couldn't come along. OF course we were upset And a bit fustrated. She was argueing with the travel agancy's lady. And KK was talking to Sandra. And suddenly she lashed out to KK telling him to keep his mounth shut. We were all quiet for 10 seconds before Sandra, KK and the travel agency's lady began shuting at her. She'd been already so rude and then this. Anyway, we didn't get on the bus. Nw we have tickets for a government run bus tomorrow morning. SO we'll have to get up real early (not one of my favorite things). Ok, of to my fried rice with pineapple...

New developments

Who showed up yesterday evening completely unexpected.....? Kyaw Kyaw. He managed to get a last minute ticket that day with Thail airways and it was hardly more expensive then flying with air asia... So Sandra is really happy. And Frans & me are equally so but of course for an altogether other reason. Finally something is happening so we'll probably be doing something soon... Kyaw Kyaw managed to get a 3 month visa so that chances things completely. They are now thinking about going to Chiang Mai and stay there a while (rent an appartment/studio if that is possible) so Sandra can get her TEFL-certificate (teaching english as a foreign language) so it'll be easier for her to get teaching jobs. Me and Frans are thinking about doing a massage course. It might help us bonding with cute girls. Kyaw Kyaw doesn't know yet what he will do. Massages are not really his thing unless he receives them. But while in Burma he got some usefull info so who knows what comes his way.. We'll see and of course keep track of it.

Still in Bangkok and bored stiff

We're still in Bangkok. The first days it was fun. We saw Ursula again (whom we'd met last year in Burma). And we hang out a bit with the american guy that we sat next to on the bus from the airport. But both have left now and Kyaw Kyaw hasn't shown up yet. He's spent the better part of the week waiting for his thai visa and of course he needed a day to get the special exit paper that he needs so he can leave Burma. And now there are no tickets and they give him a hard time about not booking a return flight (he needs a return flight to get into Thailand but of course we already have that part covered). Anyways, Sandra has spend most of her time in internet cafe's trying to sort things out and trying to call to Burma. Which is an exercise in patience and should be listed as a patience-training program somewhere. Then again it would probably be too expensive since even if you have no connection you're charged for trying to get through (after hotel and food it must register as the most expensive item on our expenses list. And definitely the item with the worst cost/quality ratio). And even if you get through it seems quite frustrated. I 've seen Sandra bang her head on the table a few times since she got through and then got someone on the line who spoke just enough english to not understand a thing and still keep on trying...

It seems like we'll soon start to see the end of this ordeal though. Hopefully Kyaw Kyaw will arrive tomorrow or the day after. If nothing goes wrong of course. Sandra will not think it over until she actually sees him coming through the doors at the airport. She thinks customs might just as easily give him a hard time... We (Frans & me) have tried to convince her that we could of course go to Yangon. But she claims she has way to much stuff and is surely not allowed to carry all that on the plane. We tried to tell her that she could of course leave some here in Bangkok and pick it up next month when she has to do a visa run. But she has heard rumors that it is possible again to extend a visa for anther month and since she doesn't like flying she prefers to wait. No matter how boring it is here. So we try to stick it out *sigh*

Back in Bangkok

Thankfully it isn't terribly hot here at the moment. A nice 25 c or so i'd say. We're in a small hotel just of Khao San rd. Sandra doesn't really care much for this popular backpacker street but i like to watch people there. It is so much fun. And of course i have to show the 'real' backpacker life to Frans. He's the new addition to our crew. He's french so a bit pecular but good company non the less. He's just a bit too warmly dressed for this weather. Anyways, the flights weren't nearly as bad as we'd assumed. And much to our, and especially Sandra' s, dissapointment we were not 'left behind' in Bahrain. We had a very unexperienced lady checking us in at Charles de Gaulle airport. And since our flightplan had changed (to our advantage but done by the airline company) she did everything wrong. It took at least 3 bagtickets before she got the correct one (with help from a supervisor). And we got both boarding passes, the one from Paris to Bahrain and onwards from there to Bangkok. The second one Sandra stowed away for later use. On the plane we found that me and Frans had to get back into our bag since the whole plane was fully booked (and then some we found out later). The french guy that occupied the seat turned out to be much fun so it wasn't so bad. But Frans and me did miss the nice views we could have had. With 2 hours waiting in Bahrain we drank loads of coffee. In the company of the french guy and 2 other french guys with whom he had been on the stand-by list. The plane was that full. While in line for boarding Sandra looked on her boarding pass online to find that it says the 4th of january. And it was the 3rd! Sandra quickly went to talk with one of the ground staff and indeed we were booked for the 4th... They thought she'd be terribly upset of course (she being the only one booked for the 4th) but of course she thought it the best joke ever. And when they informed her that the airline company would provide the hotel she told them not to search to hard for a possibility to get her on that plane. We'd never visited Bahrain before and this seemed such an excellent opportunity.... The only thing they needed to do was to make sure her luggage was not on that plane (as if Sandra would have cared if her backpack had arrived in Bangkok before she did). So we waited while everybody checked in and we had a blast with the ground staff. Unfortunately just before the last people went through the message came through that our luggage was already on the plane. And with the security rules it meant that we had to be on that plane too. Or the whole flight would be cancelled. We were all so dissapointed! We'd already 'adjusted' ourselves to the idea of spending a whole day in Bahrain and having a good look around there. But well, we could hardly refuse to go on that plane and postpone everybody else's holiday.. But deep in our hearts we were definitely thinking about it

Happy new year!

We all wish you a very good 2007. Filled with love, family, friends, laughter, good health and of course chocolate!

A 'quick one' from near the german border

Plans change. Again and again. And then some more... So even though we had no plans whatsoever to go this far east in the Netherlands, we're writing this blog from almost ON the german border. I can't see Germany from here but i wouldn't be surprised that if someone would take me upstairs and put me on the windowsill i would see Germany through the trees... Anyways.. A quick update. Being back home in France was awesome. Time passed way to quick. Katinka, Bart and their 3 kids were next on the list. We say their new abode. Very impressive. A nice party on a boat was an easy way to see/talk to everybody on one side of the family.. Christmas eve was at Gran's home. Christmas day was gone while driving through the Netherlands to drop Gran of at someone's place, drink tea there and head on to were we were supposed to have arrived way earlier that day... Yesterday we had a great day in Amsterdam. One of Sandra's friends came over from England. And Katinka came as well. So did Cathja (were we are now) and of course Nicole. Again time made a run for it... A few days left to spend here and then back to France. As soon as we're in Bangkok i'll post all the pictures and of course more stories

Arrived!!!

We've arrived safely and fairly sound in France. We'd had some trouble finding our way around at Charles de Gaulle airport but with Sandra's usual amount of luck we even managed to get the TGV (train de grande vitesse; speed train) even though we were late and Sandra had to run (which was quite a feat i must say, we had SO much luggage). Now we're 'recovering' (nicely). A bit of wine on the side (to steady the nerves.... Of course).

I'll write more as soon as Sandra has managed to connect her laptop. This french keyboard is driving me bonkers. The 'M' is not where it is not supposed to be. And the 'A' , 'Q' and 'W' have all traded places. Not to mention the other 'irregularities'.... Time for some more wine

In transit in Bangkok

A quick update since internet is expensive here. We've arrived in Bangkok already several hours ago. I must say i find the shops quite boring after a while. The only shops Sandra likes are bookshops. So no use hanging out with her for too long (that girl can seriously get stuck in a bookshop).
This morning started good already. At first the hotel gave us a wake-up call 15 minutes AFTER the time we'd asked (and with only 15 minutes to spare before the taxi would come and pick us up). I had slept fairly well but Sandra had not (mosquitos tend to prefer human flesh above skunk). And good that we were awake already. We did have the most awesome car to the airport again (Kyaw Kayw had arranged that before he left), an oldtimer mercedes. At the airport they gave Sandra a hard time because of her luggage. She thought that since she had paid for 2 seats, she could bring 2 pieces of handluggage. NO, only PER PERSON. No matter whether you had paid for 2 people. So that sucked but eventually all luggage got on. Now we hope they won't make the same problem with all the next flights. After all, apparently at Thai airways you can only have 3 kg of handluggage. Sandra has 2 pieces apart from a small 'handbag'. And both of those are way over 3 kg!!! We'll see. Well , i'll post this before time is up...

A long busride

When we came back from Bagan to Yangon we suddenly at around 9 o'clock saw a lot of smoke from the front of the bus at one side (our side). we thought the tire had exploded or something similar but it was a little bit different . A broken shock breaker. And as you can see it wasn't something that could easily be solved.So first a fire was made next to the road so other cars would see the bus and we got a bit of warmth (it was a tiny bit chilly). Amasing how some people love the boy-scout thing.. It was always the same people who tended the fire and went for more wood. Eventually most of us retired into the bus and caught a few hours of sleep. The new bus had to come all the way from Bagan (which we had left 6 hours behind us before the breakdown) so somewhere in the middle of the night/early morning we and all our luggage got transferred. 23 hours after we left Bagan we came to Yangon. And we still considered ourselves lucky. We had a very good driver who had been able to keep the bus on the road even when it slightly curved (if he hadn't.. there would have been a hug tree in our path).

Visiting kyaw Kyaw's village

In the village there is not much water so once a week water is brought from the river to these huge containers where people go with their bullock carts so get the water they need.

Us, on our way for the last mile or so from the Jackory factory to the village in one of burma's most used forms of transport... Can't say it was very comfortable. But then again, maybe i should have said NO when they asked me if i wanted to sit on back of the ox.

We were quite the attraction in the village. Nobody ever goes there (it was our Sandra & me) 2nd time there. Now the others understood why Sandra wanted them to come with us. The attention was shared. And David must have taken tons of pictures of all the kids. Every time a new kid showed up. The group became quite big.

On our way back we 'hitchhiked'. We had no clue at what time the pick-up was coming or whether it had already passed. So when after 45 minutes we got a lift, we got in as quick as we could.


Two days later, we went back. KK's father had made a whole burmese style lunch especially for us. Well mostly for Sandra since the girl stopped eating meat along the way somewhere. And of course she never ate fish to begin with. And i must confess, KK's father is a very very good cook.

Flying out

Tomorrow we fly back to Europe. Our plane leaves Yangon at 8.30 (so we have to get up real early). We'll arrive at BKK at 10.10 (half hour ahead of Burma time) after a flight of little over an hour. Then we leave Bangkok again at 17.30. We arrive at Muscat at 22.55 local time (with a stop in-between *sigh*) after 8.25 in the air. We fly from there at 00.20 to arrive in Bahrein at 01.00 local time (i have no clue if there is a time-difference here), a very short flight. Take-off again at 2.05 to arrive at Paris at 7.20 (local time again) with over 7 hours of flying time behind us . And then we have to make our way to the south of France still. Sounds exhausting doesn't it? Sandra keeps reminding herself that it'll be great seeing everybody again. And as an added bonus... 3 full weeks of mosquito free days and nights!

Back in Bagan

We did a nice stroll over the market the day after we had arrived. We'd met the others on the bus from Yangon.
Of course we were immediately cornered for Thanaka. Especially Sandra since she was the only western woman in the group. Me, i don't need sun protection. And the nice smell of Thanaka doesn't last long if you're a skunk....



Me, with my favorite 'veggies' :fresh chillie












Introducing everybody to Burmese tea. And pickled tea which you eat with peanuts, dried beans, roasted sesame seeds in any way you like. Preferably from a nice lacquerware box.

Relaxing at Ko Phi Phi

When we left Bangkok we thought we were only going as far as KRabi. But on the way we did change our minds. And even though we were only on Ko Phi Phi for a very short time, it was really really nice and absolutely worth it. On the day we went over, the sky was a bit grey but that didn't dampen our spirits in the least. We even made some nice friends along the way. Some of whom we found again on long beach the next day.

Kyaw Kyaw enjoying himself. Heck , so was I as you can obviously see.




Sharing experiences.....
And Ko Phi Phi in the distance...

There some serious good quality food on the island and Kyaw Kyaw and me really enjoyed all the 'fishy' dishes... Sandra of course kept eating her vegetarian one. Even this wonderful tasty lookign dish didn't tempt her.




Who did mention clear blue waters? Don't you just want to be there and jump in?

In Chiang Mia

We were quite a while in Chiang Mai (due partially to Sandra's dentist visits). And we had such a good time there. We spend most of our time with Kuatrina, another almost resident in the hotel were we were staying. And of course we spend many a time playig pool (or in Sandra's case watching the game) with the people from the hotel. Tim & Tony (not on pictures here, i plan to get a pic next time though), Jimmy, Lin, San & Chin (they also both managed to evade my camera).
I love maps so i couldn't resist taking a look over Tim's shoulder he was explaining something.

Kuatrina & me were such good friends. I loved talking to her but it wasn't always easy to get a word in when she was chatting with Sandra. They both are so good at it!

A little love & hugs -pose before we were leaving......

And the evening when our invited guests came over to taste

Our guests preparing for a nice 'dig in'. They all brought something to drink (beer/vodka/whatever so the stage was set for a very nice evening. Tee (our cooking expert) even opened up his (in) famous herbal-whisky so most of us left that evening in a less then sober state (and with a very satisfyingly full stomach)


Ginger, one of the cutest dogs i've ever seen, on her way to one of the local bars.

More Pai cooking class pictures

At first of course we had to read up on what we had to do.

Me here, inspecting my 'raw materials'.




And afterwards being a chef with ingredients and available wok. Of course the others did well too. See how high the fire is underneath Sandra's wok. Making the curry after you've done all the preliminary work takes only minutes....

Kyaw Kyaw is adding the final touch to his dish

And here are our curries. Don't they just look yummy?

A little update

Sandra & Kyaw Kyaw packed their bags this morning (Sandra dumped everything she doesn't need for the next 3 weeks in KK's bag. I do feel a bit sorry for him. His bag must weight tons by now). Kyaw Kyaw is leaving tomorrow on the bus to Bagan. His nephew is having his novice ceremony ( a big thing in Burma) and his younger brother is at the same time being ordained as monk for a week. Now he's contemplating joining them for that week. Sandra thinks it is a good idea. It'll give him time to think things over. And the festivities will hopefully get him in better spirits. He's been a bit down lately. And has a bad cold. So all in all, he can do with a bit of fun (the 2 days of festivities) and tranquility (the week in the monastery)

Sandra on the other hand is thinking about how to fit as many family and friends into a 3 week visit. And when she's not thinking about that, she's wondering whether she should buy sleeping pills for the first time in her life (she's definitely not looking forward to the long flight to France). Me, i'm sure i'll enjoy it. Especially since i have a whole seat for myself. I'm just hoping the flight-attendants will be nice to look at (hey, a skunk has to do something if his travel companion has been knocked out by sleeping-pills).

We (Sandra & me) will be transferring to a hotel in Yangon down-town. It is a place where Sandra & Kyaw Kyaw can't stay together in one room so usually they'll only use this hotel (very conveniently located and very reasonably priced) when they're by themselves. It'll mean that Sandra'll be frequenting her usual internet cafe, so i'm quite confident i can put some more pictures here (with Kyaw Kyaw gone she's bound to spend at least twice as much time in the internet cafe).