Just had a look through your webpage and I'm so impressed with all that you have done and seen. You guys are really taking full advantage of being out there. Elephant trekking and cooking classes look great. Can't wait to be cooked a nice thai curry in Prague (following by a night of babysitting by Auntie and Uncle, lol x) Looking forward to seeing photos of the Islands as Gary said also, I am so envious!
Glad to hear Laura is feeling better, hopefully things on the up now.
Hopefully well get to chat to you soon on Skype (if you can pull yourselves away from the beaches and pool for a few minutes).
Take care and enjoy x
Tory and Lala (who is getting very visible now!)
Gary
Since you haven't posted any photos yet of Phuket or Phi Phi, I just googled some pictures of it. I can see what you mean about blue waters and white sandy beaches.
Came to work this morning in driving wind and rain, after a thorough soaking earlier while walking the dogs. So when I say how very envious I am of your current location, that would have to be THE understatement of the year!!
However, so pleased that you both seem to be really enjoying it and I guess that's what its all about! Get some pictures up soon.
So much better on Phi Phi than Phuket - no cars here just people walking and cycling and everywhere is within walking distance and despite what eeryone said no more expensive than Phuket - class. Best beaches we have been too yet - honestly have never seen water this blue and sand so white.....sorry to rub it in!!
Yea Maya Bay is supposed to be amazing - leave here tomorrow at 3 for our boat out then Thai BBQ on the beach, snorkelling and camping so praying for no rain!! Bout a DVD of "The Beach" so gonna watch it tonight to get us in the mood for it tomorrow! Having a chilled out day today - went to beach party last night and got in around 5:30 this morning so us 2 oldies are wrecked!! Did get a fry for lunch though in front of the TV playing the new series of the inbetweeners - was loving it!!
C.
Phil
well hows things on the islands? was looking at photos of the bay u were telling us about and it looks class v jealous! anything more happening where u are now compared to phuket? also craig whats ur e-mail address? spk soon Phil
Craig And Laura
btw more photos up from bangkok and chiang mai!
Craig And Laura
Best way to plan the trip Gary is to get an idea of the route they want to travel on then go and see someone like STA Travel (who we booked with) or trailfinders and they will help to go through the details etc.
As for budget it is hard to say as it depends on a lot of things like how long they are going to spend in Asia (cheaper) or are they planning on working etc. We budgeted for about £35 per day each for the 6 months we will be travelling but this is a rough estimate - you can live off a lot less than that per day in Asia but Australia or USA may be a bit more so hopefully it balances out although don't take our word for it as we may run out of cash ourselves!!
We were told at STA that the money you earn in Australia also will simply fund you while you are there so do not rely on being able to save money for the second half of a trip as you probably wont be able to. Any of the lonely planet books or website will also be able to give you a rough idea of how much to budget for each place.
Hope that helps a bit!
Craig and Laura
Gary
Hi guys
All well in Southampton and even saw some sunshine this morning! Cheryl spotted some pictures with tigers on Facebook last night so can't wait to hear the blog entry for that one. Great to see you are both having such a wonderful time and love being able to keep up with all your adventures.
Jen and her friend Becky are looking to buy their round the world tickets by the end of December - any tips for them on how to go about planning their trip? And how did you work out how much money you would need while out there - I can just see Jen heading off with nowhere near enough cash!
Gary
Craig And Laura
Hey Gary, aww that sounds like nice weather! craig got his back burnt a ltlle today too! so hard to believe its November with the weather out here! yea the hotel price is soo good, its a great hotel, staff are so so friendly, they cant do enough for you, and just a lovely atmosphere! were glad we stayed a week here but yea could easily stay longer if we werent pushed for time! our thai visa run out on 20th nov, and weve still all the islands to do before we hit Malaysia!
Yea Craigs loving the beer out here! although its more expensive here than it was in Vietnam - bout 50p out there?! no peach snapps :( altho we were in an irish pub few nights ago ( it wasnt great!) and they had something kind of similiar! but still on antibiotics so could only have 1! hows everyone back there??
Gary
Hi - just looked at the internet prices but I am sure they have their own "deals" which you have been lucky enough to get! £18 per night for a deluxe room is such a good price. Surpised you are not staying longer at that price! How's the beer out there Craig? Cool and made from Tigers? :-) Do they sell peach schnapps Laura?
Southampton is far from sunny - just had a very wet weekend and now its back to muddy walks with the dogs in the cold - not good with dark mornings and evenings thrown in as well. I'm sure that only makes you feel even better about where you are at the moment!! Keep us posted on how things are going.
Gary
Craig And Laura
Going really well on our own Gary - although we haven't done too much moving around yet!! Due to fly to Phuket on Tuesday night so we still need to sort out accommodation there!
Hotel is really nice - so friendly snd relaxed!! Not sure what rates you saw but that sounds expensive!!! We got a deluxe room for £18 a night so we staying put for 7 nights to make the most of it before the hostels start again!!
Hope all is well back in sunny Southampton!
Craig and Laura =)
Gary
Hi guys
Just checked out your hotel on t'internet - looks lovely. And also fairly cheap as well - standard room for about £30 per night! Can't be bad. How's it going now you are "on your own"?
Gary
Craig And Laura
Hi all - we have arrived at our Hotel in Chaing Mai, the Rainforest Boutique where we'll be for the next 6 nights! So glad of a place to relax for a while away from the intense heat of Bangkok. It is noticeably cooler up here - about 25 degrees rather than 40 which is great! Planning on flying to Phuket next week to do the southern parts of Thailand and Islands - flying is actually cheaper than the bus/train and takes 90 minutes rather than 20 hours so we are opting for that!
Next photos and blog will be up this week - keep in touch.
