Sydney Australia

My first impression of Australia was from the air, our flight was 8 hours long and after 4 hours we were flying over Australia, its big!  On the ground was pretty much nothing other than sand coloured mountains, and small mountains more like hills!
Approaching Sydney our captain advised us of high winds and duly our plane was pushed from side to side  and tossed around, soon enough we landed safely.  One thing to be said about the 8 hours on the plane, remember to take money or pre pay for the meal with AirAsia as they do not accept cards for food purchases, perfume yes, food no!  We arrived a little hungry.
We had two reunions at the airport, one was Prunelle after 5 months travelling by herself, the two sisters ran together and slid on their knees towards each other to embrace, very sweet! The second was our friend Amy whom we had met in Turkey at Bodrum EcoFarm some 11 months previous, she hailed from Sydney and had agreed to let us stay with her and her parents whilst we found a van to buy to start our Ozzie road trip. (Thanks Amy, Neil, Lorraine and Matt.)

CBD from the ferry

Family selfie

Sydney is a beautiful city, abet cold in the winter, and rather expensive. We caught a ferry down the river which would take us into Darling Harbour and then under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and dock next to the Opera House.  Blue skies the views were superb and the hype of the opera house was realised.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

City by night

Giant Chess in the park

Anzac bridge traffic

Sunset on the ferry

What struck us about Sydney was how clean it was, how unpolluted, maybe the benchmark had been left low after 10 months in India and Asia but all the same, a pretty good job.
We took the time to visit the iconic Bondi beach, which in my head was a massive stretch of sand that went on for miles and miles, it does not! Quite a small beach in fact, with cliffs on one side that give you great views.

Bondi Beach

Graffiti on Bondi beach

The world cup foot ball was in full swing, but with matches starting at 2 am you did feel you were the other side of the world from everything else, needless to say I did have a few late nights.
Our search for a van was a little frustrating with very few vehicles available in our price range, but we were starting to get the hang of what was out there and what it cost, in the end we settled for an older ford van, did a little renovation to the existing conversion and were ready to cruise.
Sandrine had an old friend living on Manley beach where we spent a couple of nights camping in the van and seeing people and sites during the day.
Sadly we had to say goodbye to our new friends and to Prunelle whom is staying with a lovely family close to Bondi and working as an au-pair.

Hasta Pronto Sydney!

Kebun Kaki Bukit, Kuala Selangor, Malaysia

Arafats farm, Kebun Kaki Bukit, part two.

You can follow the farm on their FB page, and contact them if you wish to volunteer.
Face Book Link


For the first time in our trip we returned to a place, why? Firstly it was about air planes our next stop was going to be Australia and we found an amazing deal with Air Asia to fly from KL to Sydney.  So we decided to go back and see our friend Arafat and the farm that he is building..

When we originally arrived in February he had been there just one month and everyone was living in shipping containers and cooking on the industrial part of the property, there were no growing beds and no water irrigation systems, when we had left we had moved to the new accommodation moved the kitchen to a new place and cleaned up the area and started digging fields for crops.

We arrived for our second stay in the evening and immediately felt at home reuniting with a good friend and some other great volunteers who would also quickly become friends.  One thing that shocked me was the presence of new buildings, a kitchen, a place to eat protected from sun and rain, the main house had walls!! Wow it was great to see how much can change in just a three month period with a little effort and help from willing hands!

The next morning I woke up and had a look around some of the land and was happy to see that there were crops growing in the soil!  Not everywhere but a good area,  Okra, Spinach and Corn were planted and ready for harvest... and of course weeds!! A new water irrigation system had been built with sprinklers to help the plants in the dry season.

The first morning we started weeding, which is back breaking monotonous work or great meditation depending on you! We had a great team of volunteers which made the time at the farm the more enjoyable and we hope to stay in contact with all and see you all again.

On one of the night on the first week we had an incredible storm, the rain and lightning were intense and we had thoughts of Noah and his ark...!  After many hours of torrential rain it finally stopped, the sun came up and we got up to see what the effect was of that much rain in such a short period... the moats were full, but holding.  This time round the Malaysian wet season had forgiven us it did not rain again so the waters dissipated after a few days and returned to hot and dry conditions.

Arafat also organised that we volunteer at the KL zoo with some kids, we went along and helped were we could that the kids had a good day out at the zoo, Lili was sick that day, so we put her in a wheel chair to push her around the zoo, she fitted in well.

Sandrine has started making jewellery and hopes that she can make a business from her talents, so far every item has been a real work of art, although very time consuming, but well loved by all.

We also returned to the waterfall where we had previously lost our camera, this time it was a necklace and Arafat told us that previously one volunteer had fallen and broken her leg!!  The place is obviously cursed.. stop going there Arafat!

Kuala Selangor is the local town and it has a market where Arafat started taking his produce to sell, we also visited the local nature park where you can see lots of crabs and mud skippers, and crazy aggressive monkeys who will steel your food.

At the end of our stay we spent two days in KL and stayed with Arafat's friends in there art cafe Findars, which is a very cool place, art gallery and music jam seasons plus a place to chill have a coffee etc.  Lili was allowed a free reign of the drums and the stage and loved it!!  The room that we stayed in was like a small oven but I kept reminding myself that our next stop was Sydney and it would be winter!! OMG

Chiang Mai; Coups, curfews, dentists and dragons

CHIANG MAI CITY OF DRAGONS

After arriving to Chiang Mai by train from Bangkok we were welcomed by a wall of heat..  Chiang Mai is in the far north of Thailand and renowned for its cool temperate climate... well at least for two months of the year, we happen to visit in one of the hotter months when daily temperatures are in the late 30´s...  mid afternoon early evening can be quite unpleasant if you have to do anything physical.. better to just relax in the pool or head to the mountains... we did both oh and a little A/C from time to time.

Lili finds the perfect place to keep cool.

We were staying with Carol a lovely American lady whom after 20 odd years living in Fiji has now retired to Thailand... we were couch surfing which is hit and miss to what you get, but its generally free... we have been very lucky so far with couch surfing and this occasion was no different.  Carol let us stay in her spare room, with very comfortable beds and an on suite bathroom, even had a fan..perfect.. she then went even further as to invite us to stay for the entire time we were to stay in Chiang Mai, we accepted her invite for around 2 and half weeks.  Thanks Carol!!

It seemed it wasn't just the weather that was hot in Thailand but politics as well and shortly after we arrived the army took a decisive move into the arena... originally not a coup d'etat  it soon was with troops visible on the streets and a curfew put in place... for us being there it seemed very low key and did not effect us one little bit.. some of the messages some of our fellow travellers were getting from friends back home seemed a little more excited than was reality... get out now.. was one that I remember from one American friend...

No loose triggers boys! Children present

We hired a moped to get around as parking in Chiang Mai is an art form, even if your into visualising that parking space just for you, you have little hope as there just are not any, mopeds however ..no problemo amigo!  The moped we hired though did seem to have its own issues, constantly smelling of petrol, in the end it did break down and need to go to a garage, plus a puncture and running out of petrol twice, which I believe was not my fault but the bike losing fuel whilst being parked, others may disagree!

Chiang Mai is full of temples, and Starbucks according to one other visitor, I want to add dentists to that list. Sandrine took advantage of the good quality dentistry and very good prices, she now has new front teeth!  The temples were not just in the city but outside in the countryside, one time I took the bike out for a cruise, drove into the middle of nowhere and suddenly came across a newly built 4 storey temple, accommodation etc... the only thing there was a dog, quite strange... Of all the temples and there weird and wonderful designs, colours and various animals dragons were the common factor.. Chiang Mai could be named city of dragons, there are hundreds. If stairs are needed to ascend to the temple then the dragons body will follow you all the way to the top with its head at the bottom facing you when you approach, a fierce looking security guard for sure.

Chiang Mai has zoos, safari parks and botanical gardens, that are well priced and offer a good day out for dad and his busy little daughter... Lili got to see some of her favourite cartoon friends up close and personal Kong Fu Panda was one of my favourites and hers too.

Feeding an animal with the longest tongue I had ever seen

Lili meets Bambi

Between dentist trips we decided to go to the mountains.  Thailand's highest mountain is in the Doi In national park.  Situated about 50km south of Chiang Mai we decided to take the Moped and spend a few nights in the park.  We arrived at the foot of the park entry and the bike stopped working...trip to a local garage to replace a snapped drive belt.... better it happened at foot of mountain not halfway up... the mountain was pretty steep in places and at times I wondered if the bike would make it to the top, well on the first day it did.. it got us to the camp site, which is halfway to the top.  The weather was refreshingly cool.. fortunately we had bought some rain protection at the bottom and it got used several times over the next few days... the wet season had arrived!!  On our second day we attempted to get to the summit, which we did, just not on our bike... straining on an almost vertical climb, crawling at 4 or 5 km an hour,  she just could not get up one final slope.. we went back to the checkpoint, the guard kindly offered the use of his bike.. we accepted and stood on the highest point in Thailand.  Doi In is a national park and the forests are fantastic with plenty of bird life and great waterfalls to wonder at.`

Beautiful Sunbird

View from the summit

We had made a decision to go to Australia, largely based on very cheap air fare tickets becoming available.. so Australia in the winter!!  Its been a while since I felt cold!  In the meantime we have returned to our friends farm just outside of KL, and its raining...

South East Asia

So its been quite a while since the last time I wrote anything on this blog.  Part of that is due to laziness and part due to losing our camera over a waterfall.  The good news is we have a new camera and I feel inspired to write again and upload some pics.Yeah!

So Malaysia! Hot hot hot was the news and very dry.  We arrived at the end of February spent 3 nights in KL and were quite culture shocked after 5 months of India... capitalism in your face... giant shopping malls selling the latest everything... get me outa here now!!!   The one redeeming feature of KL for me was the magnificent Petronas towers, I had always wanted to see them and was not disappointed, although maybe I thought they would be taller..  We also stayed with some nice people in their spare room, thanks!

The twins!

Next stop was to Arafat's farm about 1 and half hours north of KL, kuala Selengar... Flat land situated next to an industrial unit cleaning metal pipes.  Arafat's dream; to convert this land into a successful organic farm which can be used as an educational platform to residents of KL. Our mission was to build a farm, we stayed in a tent for the first week and then moved into a converted shipping container.

Raised beds I tilled.

The water tank crew

Arafat and Lili

We learnt about the principles of organic farming and helped build banana circles, tree pits, raised beds, mulching, painting a water tank, making a dry compost toilet, cooking for a group, composting etc...

Arafat´s a great guy and the reason we stayed for a month. On one of our days off we went to a waterfall and suffered an accident.. the camera went over the waterfall plunging down never to be seen again... I felt lost.. so much of my time had been consumed using that camera,, what would I do.?

We decided to see a part of Malaysia to the north before going into Thailand.  We stayed at a small village name Semelling on a yoga retreat run by a nun.   The grounds were mixed with orchard, recreational grass areas and an organic farm.  The farm had been leased to a farmer for many years and was now being taken back...  much of the orchard was in bad condition and it was asked of me to research what was going on and to suggest remedies...  I had much fun searching the internet for solutions to some of their problems, and I hope that I solved some of them.  The place looked much nicer after we left and much greener as the rain arrived!!

Beach in Penang, most people were from Saudi Arabia!

Pergola and vine support that I made 

Banana Pit, permiculture 

Thailand.

We crossed the border between Malaysia and Thailand via the train border and stopped at the border town of Hat Yai and went straight o the beach town of... about 1 hour bus ride away.  When we arrived we had no idea where to sleep and wanted to avoid expensive hotels.. looking like lost tourists melting slowly under the hot afternoon sun, a car stopped and a young woman and her husband asked if they could assist us, we explained what we were looking for and they offered to take us to a few places to find somewhere to stay.  After about half an hour of stopping and starting we found a great hotel for a great price, we said goodbye and thanks to our good Samaritans and went to the beach!

We spent a few days there then moved to Koh Lanta on the west coast.  One of the best beaches I have seen on our trip and beautifully warm water.  We were staying at a workaway location, staying in a bamboo hut and doing a couple of hours work a day to cover our rent... it was nice and relaxed except for the constant mosquitoes and threat of Dengue fever which most people had!!  After 2 weeks it was time to go... our visa was only a 1 month one and so much to see!! We arrived on Koh Samui on the East coast, a place I had fond memories of from over a decade ago.. we stayed in the region of the big Buddha as my friend was living there whom i wanted to see. After the first day Sandrine got sick and Lili a little too... I thought cant be dengue if they both fever a same time.. but Sandrine thought it was so went and got her some Papaya leaves to make a drink which is supposed to help (tastes awful). Later that day I also started to feel feverish... so we had the dreaded Dengue fever...poor us... Lili was better after 2 days, me after three...Sandrine still felt bad...  Our friends that we met in India were on the next island so we decided to meet them, meant moving all luggage catching a boat, taxi etc... it knocked the stuffing out of Sandrine, she spent the next two days in bed.. myself and Lili chilled in the pool and did some snorkelling... moved again and this time Sandrine says take me to hospital... shes admitted and they confirm she has Dengue..  2 night later she is released and feels much better, a bit thin and weak but getting better..

Where we were volunteering 

Koh Lanta beach family

The Big Budha

Its time for a visa run!!  Off the islands onto the mainland, down the coast to Hat Yai, find a room, sleep! wake up find a cheap shared taxi to take us to border.. get new vias... ok.. so I tried to get into Thailand witout first going to Malaysia, it was hot, we had to walk about 1 km in the sun carrying Lili.. but border guard who had stamped Sandrines passport for a 14 day visa, says to me, where's your Malaysian stamps?  I said what you talking about fella?  He sends us packing and cancels Sandrines visa... we walk across to Malaysia get stamped in, walk around the other side, get stamped out and walk back to Thailand.. this time the guy stamps all our passports for a 30 day stay!! Great news... ok.. now back to Hat Yai, only two hours before our train leaves, rush rush, I look at the time on somebodies watch, shit we re going to miss out train its already 4 oclock, shit times goes fast when you dont need it to... get back to the hotel after we could not find it ande nobody spoke good English... surprise its only 3 o´clock, guys watch was showing Malaysian time one hour aheasd of Thailand time.. great relief... get to train station... trains late delayed 2 hours!!!! Time for a beer!
Ariive Bangkok after a night on the train... where are we going to stay... I suggest Limpuni park area as its nice and quiet.. no says the internet cafe guy, its full of protesters, go to koh san road like all the other tourists!!  So we do... Bangkok is not full of touristy things but it has some great markets, fun water ferries and great street food.  And they sell cameras at good prices with good selection...

Water taxi

Edge of street market

Bangkok street food

Sandrine was really feeling much better now so we wanted to get out of the city, where to go?  I had wanted to go to Chiang Mai many years before but had not, so I looked into our options... couch surfing turned up one host that sounded great, a lady named Carol, we contacted her and she accepted us!  Next day we are on the train to Chiang Mai, its the over night one with small beds, we chose fan class, which has a good price but was bloody hot, we kept popping into AC class which was like a fridge...you cant win!
Breakfast in the restaurant car was fun and soon enough we were arriving into Chiang Mai!