hello everyone, yes we are still alive! so sorry we have not updated but we have been shattered and just not had the energy to update, plus ive been on antibitotics and they have drained me! loads has happened so i had best get on with it! For those of you plotting where we have been on maps i'm not going to do individual blogs fot the next few places as werent there long and didnt take photos so will summarise everything!

from the last blog we were in luang prabang, we left there on the 14th June for the Laos capital Vientaine. We only stayed one night as there isnt anything to do there and i was getting ill pretty quick so there are no photos from there. As soon as we arrived we booked ourselves on the next overnight bus straight to Bangkok. So we spent 24 hours in Vientiane eating in the nice bakeries and thats when disaster struck!...i decided to try and dye my hair back blonde...yes i know what you are all thinking...im blaming the lose of sanity of the fact i was ill! ...anyway it turned ginger...hmm nice...anyway i figured id get it sorted when we got to thailand.

So the 15th June we boarded the overnight luxury bus to Bangkok, Thailand and it was a really pleasant journey, we watched a film on the coach and we have an adaptor for si's ipod so we can both watch films so watched another. The border was fine but after you cross the border the thai police do regular stops and all the lights go on the bus. They check passports of only asian people (dont know why) and search the bus for drugs etc incase anyone is smuggling any in from laos. this happened about 5/6 times!! we arrived in bangkok at 5.30am and got a taxi to the bus station and boarded a bus straight to pattaya to mum and dads for some well earned luxury!! We arrived at the condo about 10.30am and where made up, the first thing we did was go shopping for ingredients to cook ourselves our own food!! ha ha! si spent the day round the pool while i went in search for somone to fix my hair...hmmm after 3 attempts i now have yellow hair of three different shades! not sure whether should have just left it ginger. dont be expecting many photos of me for a while as cant get it sorted till oz, i was petrified my hair was going to snap off!!

So we spent the next 6 days chilling and i went to the doctors and was prescribed antibitoics amongst other things for a chest infection. They never can give you just one prescription here and therefore spent a small fortune!! We really needed to have that few days as were just so tired, it was nice not to have to make a decision on best place to stay etc and the people in the local bars remebered us from songkran.

21st June - we left for Kanchanaburi which is what i have headed this blog as. We stayed here till 24th. Kanchanaburi was not what we were expecting but i think thats mainly because it was so quiet with it being low season and there was not as much to do as we had expected. Its the first time we have been anywhere where it has been quiet. We stayed in a lovely guesthouse called apple which had beautiful little bunglaows set in gardens.

Kanchanaburi is famous for the Bridge over the river Kwai or Death Railway. (photos will follow, no lauginh at my hair please!) During WWII the Japanese used Allied prisoners of War to build the railway. Thousands of prisoners died as a result of brutal treatment by their captors. The bridge is still there and still in use and so are the graves of the soldiers.

Our first sight seeing stop was the Thialand-Burma Railway Centre to learn more about the railway before visiting it. The centre offers a explanation of the railway, why it was built, why people died building it and what has happened since the end of the war. From there we visited the cemetires and then the Jearth Museum, another museum to help explain the war and the railway. This museum is run by a monk. From here we visited the Railway itself, which was pretty impressive. We travelled everywhere on one little rickety push bike, there is a hilarious photos somewhere of si on it! Its great, we must have looked a right sight!!

The next day i decided to go to Tiger Temple but Si decided it wasnt for him. The temple is meant to have been founded and run by monks, a monk took in an orphaned tiger many years ago and then the sanctuary grew. They advice that the tigers are tame and you can have your photos taken with them. We had heard good stories about this sanctuary as they are now housing many tigers and other animals but we had also heard bad stories that the tigers are drugged. Thats why si decided against going, i decided i was going to go and see for myself. It decided to tip it down the day i went and the photos arnt that good. I wouldnt say that the tigers were drugged, they were very playful but i didnt like the why they were chained up like a freak show and you had to pay extra to have your photo taken with them. Im still a bit undecided about it all. The photos arnt that good as it was torrential rain and the camera was getting wet.

We left Kanchanaburi on 24th June back toBangkok and decided in advance we were not staying in Khao san road again! Torie who we met in vietnam and then travelled laos with had recommended a hostel called HI Sukhumit and that was the ara we have previously been to and enjoyed so we headed there. We stayed in a dorm room as we were only staying one night. We had a nice day visiting old haunts that we have been to in the past and then went shopping. You will all be glad to know that we eventually found somewhere that sold Havanias (flip flops) simon looked like all his Christmas's had come at once, he now has a nice brown pair! That night we went out for a few drinks and tea in Gullivers then went for a drink at the restaurant Cabbages and Condoms which is to promote safe sex, there moto is that condoms are as cheap as vegetables!! It is a really nice restaurant and i am 90% convinced that Caprice was eating at the next table!!! Sorry Stu im afraid i couldnt get a photo for you!

The next day (25th) we were up at 5.30am for our first flight (i know we cheated!) to Koh Samui...see next blog entry! xxxx