Been a while since a proper post. Sorry. Things have been a bit hectic over the last month – no time to kill sitting at computers. Until Today. We’re in Semporna, Sabah, Borneo for a day’s diving tomorrow at Sipadan. Woo!!
After enjoying our last few days in Laos we headed into Thailand and made straight for Chiang Rai in the far north where we spent a few days partly relaxing and partly deciding how best to overcome the land-crossing visa cock up. We had no idea they’d changed the rules to only give you 15 days visa exemption. Was 30 when we booked… From there we headed to Mae Salong which is a very quiet town up towards the border with myanmar.
The roads up around that part of the country are amazing. They wind up and down and round and round the hills and mountains and are all very nicely surfaced. Needless to say, we hired a bike for the day. Luckily, our guesthouse (the biggest and cheapest in town) owner had a dirt bike for rent – a little 175cc yamaha, but it struggled on all the hills 2 up and i don’t like off-road tires on-road – it’s a little scary. Better that though than a 100cc moped. A group of chinese guys came roaring through one night at dinner on harleys and goldwings and they were all dressed for the occasion. A strange mix of american bikes, leather, bandannas and chinese men…
After that it was off to Chiang Mai, where i got very sick for a day and we did a cookery course. Then we had to down a visa run to Mynamar. After that and some sightseeing we missioned down to little Petchaburi via Bangkok to await the arrival of Mr Brooks and Miss Bethany Ham. The craziness had begun! We were very very happy indeed to meet them off the train and begin our 10 days together. After a day of temples, movie making and monkies we hit Chumphon (board!) for the kicking ice cream scene. “Oh my GOD! You got blue eyes!! Where you from?” The scene got stale, so we took a ferry overnight to Koh Tao (don’t worry, it was all planned really, down the last, missed 15 minutes). Driven there by a nice lady in the back of her pick-up, gazing at stars. The night ferry was good fun and Beth did not lose her passport.
Koh Tao: tiny island, packed with lots of fun and very expensive accommodation. Snorkeling, relaxing, Muay-Thai, awesome food, beer and people. Thanks to Beth’s good friend Charlie and fiancee Tim who run Good Time Adventures.
Ferry to Koh Samui for the wedding! Ferry stopped off the collect Tana and Dave from Koh Phangnan. Queue much excitement from everyone involved. It was awesome to see them too and things were starting to seem surreal – people we know and love were sat with us on a ferry to an island where we would soon have our wedding. Phenomenal!
How very organised Thailand can be. Transfer to guesthouse waiting for us from ferry, really nice guesthouse. Meeting with wedding company. Tony and Donna are the best. Next day we got to the hotel and checked in. Very plush! Mum, Vicky, Roger, Pat and Lottie were already checked in. And so was my brother Ray. That was a huge huge surprise! The rest of our esteemed guests soon followed – Mr Squibb, George and Russ arrived from their 3 week tour and Leah, Simon, Liv and Claire too!! From this point on, things all got very emotional for Vic and I. We’ve never been so happy. The wedding day was unbelievable, happy, funny – everything we wanted and a whole shed load more. We still can’t believe it all happened. Thank you to everyone involved!! A little thank you too to all the extra swimwear-sporting spectators who watched the ceremony – you were not expected and added an extra bit of comedy to the day. Maybe some photos on here when we get home. I won’t write anymore about it as my word count in currently ridiculous and would become plain silly if I did.
Congratulations to you both from me and Lesley, sounds like you had a fantastic day! Look forward to seeing the pics.
It all got a bit emotional for us too, watching you guys so loved up and happy xxxx