Final day - massage and final goodbyes

Hello all!

So I'm writing to you for the last time on this trip, which is rather sad!!

Today Laura and I decided to have a nice relaxing last day. We walked about 10 minutes from the hotel and had a 60 minute Thai massage, a manicure and a pedicure. Well - I can safely say I've never been poked, prodded, pushed and pulled so much in my life. We both agreed afterwards that the massage was actually quite painful in parts, but it's the traditional Thai way to get knots out caused by stress (which we both had a lot of apparently!!) and we are feeling fabulous and refreshed now we have had it. I got through the painful bits by thinking about all the people I love that I'm going to see tomorrow!!

The pedicure and manicure was great, we both got red. Mine took heaps longer as apparently I had disgusting cuticles that needed lots of pushing back. Not being a girly girl I had never even noticed!!

We are now in a cafe waiting to have lunch with James and Tom shortly. We said bye to Emily and Lou at breakfast this morning which was sad, but have promised to catch up in November! We will say bye to tom after lunch, and walk with James to the station. But we have both promised each other it will not be the final good bye, I am certain that some time within the next two years I'll be going to the UK, and I'll try and see as many of the 'family' then as possible!!

We are leaving for the airport at 4pm to get the airport train, our plane leaves at 9.15pm and we arrive on Monday at 10.20am Melbourne time. 

I can't believe how quickly this past month has gone. In this time we have had 35 days, been to 4 new countries, been to 17 towns, made 16 new friends and had countless adventures and experiences we will never ever forget. I feel like I've learned a lot about myself and a lot about different cultures while I've been here, and it's been one of the best months of my life. 

I'd like to start to wrap up by thanking you so much for reading my blog and following our daily adventures! I've had so many lovely messages from people saying how much they love the blog and that they read it first thing when they get up, or just before they go to bed. I always get at least a little homesick when I'm away, and the blog is my way of reaching out to everyone and updating you on what I'm up to. It's nice to know people both at home and far from home are interested in what we are doing :)

Finally I'd like to end with a list of things I will never take for granted again, that have become glaringly obvious as privileges and not always rights on this trip. 

1) Running drinkable water. The amount of headaches I've had this trip because you consciously have to monitor how much water you have and have to buy it every so often. At home I merely walk to the tap and drink about six bottles a day!

2) Personal space. After that man shoved me in the Cambodian visa queue, and many others have stood far too close to us. 

3) My house and all the appliances in it. I have seen many dilapidated houses along the way!

4) Paved roads. Oh the potholes. My poor back!

5) A good bed. Again - my poor back!!!

6) RACV. Sitting in the middle of nowhere for 2-3 hours in Cambodia waiting for a replacement bus was not fun. 

7) Good toilets. We had a rating system. If they had western toilets, toilet paper and soap, you'd hit the jackpot. One word for the worst toilets (squat ones) - splash back. Enough said!

8) Proper hot showers. There was a week there throughout Laos that Laura and I didn't have a hot shower for a week, all our hotels ran cold water!

9) My health. Being so ill on this trip was awful, and makes you realise how much you take your ability to do things in every day life for granted. 

10) Internet. Might make me sound like a spoilt brat, but it was very disappointing getting to a hotel that had wifi and then it didn't work, made me feel very cut off. Mainly Laos. 

11) Clean air. My poor lungs on this trip. It's so polluted, dusty and dirty over here. 

12) Family and friends. I already never take my family and friends for granted though!!

13) Australia. Because we really, truly do live in the luckiest country in the world. No matter where I go, I know I'm very lucky to call Australia (in particular, Melbourne) my home. 

So thank you once again for reading, and be sure to tune in as of May 24th when I begin my five week solo adventure to the Greek islands, Sweden, Norway and Finland, then meet my parents to go to Estonia, Russia, Poland, Denmark and Dubai. 

Until then,

Signing off,

Love to all

Claire and Laura xoxox

Farewell dinner, Chatuchak Weekend Market

Hello everyone!!

Last night was quite emotional but great all the same. We all caught a taxi to a restaurant near Khao Sarn Road.  I had spring rolls, noodles and some strawberry daiquiris! 

Quinny made a speech and cried, which of course set me and some of the others off. He said some really kind things to us all. He said we speak different languages so it's difficult for him to express exactly how he felt, but the message I got was that we meant a lot to him and were one of the closer knit groups he had ever taken before. He said we really felt like a family to him, especially over the Tet holiday period in Vietnam which he usually spends with his family. 

Little did he know we had all organised a surprise for him. Today (the 15th) is his 35th birthday. So we all put some money together and bought him some presents, including a Chelsea (his favourite soccer team) top and a book that we all wrote messages in. Then we all bought him a birthday cake at the restaurant and sang him happy birthday. We also all tipped him quite a bit to show our appreciation!! I'm going to miss hearing his little voice say 'familyyyyy! Can you hear me? Can you see me?'. I got so used to it over the last four weeks. 

We then walked down Khao Sarn Road, planning to have a pretty big night. But due to a Buddhist holiday no one was serving any alcohol. Some of the others went back, but about 2/3 of us stayed to count down til midnight and again wish him happy birthday. 

This morning Laura, me, James, Tom, Jo, Rhi, Lou, Em and Becky all had breakfast together. We then said bye to Jo, Rhi, Sarah and Becky and the tears started a bit again. I have told Jo and Rhi that I will take them to Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs in May as that is the only match that suits their dates, so at least I know I'll see them then :) 

Next me, Laura and James caught a train 15 stops to Chatuchak Park to the giant Chatuchak Weekend Market. We all did pretty well. James bought a shirt, sandals and some shorts, Laura bought some souvenirs, a dress and a shirt and I bought a dress, a top and a phone cover. The market was ginormous and bustling with life. It tried to rain while we were here but we only got a few tiny drops. All it did was make it even more humid than it already was! We are showering three times a day here due to humidity - it's disgusting. 

We caught the train back and I sat next to a very cute little girl who ended up wanting her photo with me, so her dad took one! I think that'll be my last celebrity moment - no one will want a photo with me in Melbourne haha!!

We relaxed this afternoon, reading and napping while James went to Wat Traimit which we did on 15/1. 

Tonight we had dinner with Tom in Chinatown, we went to the same vendor as last time. It was not full of life and light like last time. All of the decorations must have been for the upcoming new year celebration! Was still good though. James met his new tour for dinner today. We all keep joking to him he'll never be able to replace us all haha. It was strange meeting downstairs and it only being the three of us. I kept expecting everyone else to pop out from around the corner and it wouldn't all be over. But it is :(

The plan for tomorrow is to have breakfast with Emily and Lou, then have a massage, manicure and pedicure. And then lunch with Tom and James down the street. Then we have to say our final goodbyes and head to the airport about 4pm. 

I will post again tomorrow before we leave for the airport. Can't believe how fast this is all happening!!!

Love to all

Claire and Laura

Xoxox

Overnight train to Bangkok, canal tour

Hi everybody!

So we survived our second and final overnight train. We didn't have cabins this time, but instead had bunks that folded down, and all of them closed off with a small blue curtain. Laura and I were up top. I didn't sleep very well. For one it was freezing in there, which is saying something because I'm almost always too hot when I sleep. As well as this there were cockroaches and bed bugs, so I woke up today covered in a very attractive collection of insect bites, why must my blood taste so good? I have about 8 on my leg, some on my face and my arms. Hope they stop itching soon, I only have so much will power!! I also kept waking up thinking people were stealing my things, but I solved this by tying my backpack to my leg and hugging my small bag while I slept. Probably a bit extreme, but I've watched far too many episodes of 'The Amazing Race' on open sleeper trains like that to risk having things stolen. Also the toilet was awful, literally a hole onto the tracks, but I won't go into details haha!! It got us from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, I guess that's all that matters!!

We were meant to arrive at 6.30am but Quinny had warned us we would most likely be a couple of hours late. Sure enough, we pulled in at Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok at 8.30am. We had a shower and then had breakfast down the street at 9.30am. 

Laura, James and I then set off to the nearest ferry terminal, and got a long tail boat for a canal tour. We started off zooming up the river, flying over small waves which was heaps of fun! The wind in our faces was nice and cool and counteracted the humidity, I had forgotten how stinking hot it is here. We saw lots of little houses and temples, was interesting just to watch daily life pass us by. 

We stopped at an orchid farm and had a look around, I love orchids and the flowers were beautiful. I took lots of photos because I know how much you love them Nan, see below!!

Then we dropped James at the grand palace, but we did that a month ago when we arrived so Laura and I went back to the other port. I can't believe it's already a month since we left here. It is all exactly the same. Still protesters in the street, still stinking hot. We even remembered our way to the ferry terminal without a map, it's so fresh in our minds! I've no idea how we mustered up so much energy on that first day when we did the palace and all the temples. So glad we did though, now we have three days to unwind. 

We had lunch at a cafe on the way back and took advantage of their wifi and air conditioning for two hours. I enjoyed an iced chocolate, pad Thai with chicken and an ice cream. Now Laura has taken Natalie to show her the massage place we have checked out for Sunday, and I am relaxing in the room. Think I'll read my book!!

Tonight is our last night as a tour group. I'm going to miss everyone so much! Can't believe it's been four weeks tonight since we all met for the first time. Over that time I've made such great friends, learned a lot about England and had many laughs!!!! At least I get to see a few of my new friends when they come to Australia. Nathan and Abi are going to be in Melbourne in March, and we agreed we would catch up with them and Leah then as Leah lives in Richmond near my work. Might possibly meet Becky in Sydney if I have time on the weekend I'm up there at the end of March. In May Rhi and Jo are coming and I've promised to take them to an AFL match! In July I'm going to be in Copenhagen and Nina said we will have dinner together (she said you're invited too mum, you'll love her!), and in November Emily and Louise are coming to Melbourne and Emily wants me to take them to the trampolining place called Bounce Inc.! And as for the others, I'm hoping to go to the UK in the near future, and had already been considering taking next year off to do so. So we shall see! I will be there at some point in the next couple of years though I hope. 

Tonight we are all going out, it should be a fantastic night. And then most of the group depart tomorrow either for a different hotel or for the islands. I think it's just James and us left, until he leaves for his new tour and we fly home on Sunday. So will keep you posted on our last two days :)

Love to all

Claire and Laura

Xoxox

Lady boy show, Chiang Mai Zoo

Hello everyone!!

So I've kept my promise. Am currently sitting in a cafe with Laura and James having lunch, and I brought the iPad so I can share what we've been up to with you :)

So last night all of us except the boys went to a lady boy show after dinner. It was so much fun!!! So funny. It was a cabaret show and the costumes were very over the top, and the music was great. At one point one of them climbed off the stage and danced on Emma's lap. I got a hilarious photo - see below!!! They also dragged one poor man up and made him take his shirt off. Tom later told us "see, if I'd gone they would have picked me" he looked horrified haha. 

At the end one dragged Jo up on stage to dance, and after a little bit she beckoned some of us to come up as well. Some random burst of confidence came out of nowhere, and I found myself climbing up on stage and dancing like no one was watching!! Laura and I both did - it was so much fun!

Then Laura and I looked at the night markets (only 2 purchases were made and one was a new diary for James whose notepad had run out - be proud mum). Then we headed back in a tuk tuk. 

I dropped my camera on the floor in the hotel on the way back. At first I was really angry with myself and worried it broke. I joked as I picked it up that maybe the black spot would be gone....picked it up....took a photo....NO MORE BLACK SPOTS IN PHOTOS. Why did I not drop my camera sooner???? It will come back but at least I've dislodged the piece of dust for now haha.

Today, Laura, James and I got a tuk tuk to Chiang Mai Zoo. It was great! Absolutely huge, and we walked the entire place and saw all the animals. The only enclosure I didn't like was the elephants, it was tiny and made me feel sad for them, especially as they're my favourite animal. We are so lucky to have such an amazing zoo at home that cares for the animals so well. The mountainous scenery in the surrounding area was beautiful.

I really liked the pandas, which were given to the zoo from china to symbolise the friendship between the two countries. In the Avery we had a huge group of school kids behind us. I could sense they were behind me and talking about me in Thai...when a little voice said 'hello!', so I turned around and said 'hello!!' back, and the whole group erupted into laughter. James said he felt like the band One Direction at this point, being followed, giggled at and photographed! I'm going to miss feeling like a celebrity haha. 

Now we are having lunch, ordering take away pizza for the train and boarding an overnight train at 4pm (8pm Melbourne time, 9am UK time). The train takes us back to Bangkok which is depressing because that means mine and Laura's time here is nearly up. 

Will post again tomorrow in Bangkok!

Lots of love to all

Claire and Laura

Xoxox

PS: Laura just surprised me at the lunch table by giving me a little present for Valentine's Day, awwww :) made my day. Very thoughtful. Am lucky to have such a nice friend!!