New Year, Koh Phangan - Koh Phangan, Silvestr 2009

Surat Thani has to be the most boring, lazy town we have visited. Trying to get any information or service from people is like pulling teeth! Also, it seems to be in a time warp, its like nothing has happened in the town since 1979, you walk into a restaurant and the waitress looks shocked you’re there.. Anyway, I suppose the point is that you don’t hang around long as it is the main gateway to the eastern thai islands and our port for the ferry trip to Koh Phangan.

Surat Thani je jedno z nejvice nezajimavych a nudnych mest, co jsme doposud navstivili. Pokusit se dostat z lidi nejake informace a zadat o nejake sluzby je skoro nemozne. Vypada, jakoby se tam nic nedelo od roku 1979, takze kdyz jsme vkrocili do restaurace, servirka na nas s uzasem a otazkou ve tvari zirala, co nas tam asi prinasi. Jeste, ze jsme se tam nemuseli zdrzovat dlouho. Hlavnim duvodem proc jsme navstivili tohle mesto, byl pristav, z ktereho nam vyplouvala lod na ostrov Koh Phangan.



We arrived around midday and jumped straight in a truck which took us a little way up the west coast of the island to a beach called Baan Hinkong. Just before Christmas we spent quite a few stressful days trying to book something last minute for new year, and even though we’d paid about triple price, we still weren’t sure what we were going to get. We were pleasantly surprised, although the beach was a bit of a state, there was something quite charming about the view and the sunsets were spectacular. There was some confusion as to what was gonna happen on new years eve though, we’d paid a fair chunk towards a “Gala Dinner” and this place certainly didn’t have anything planned for us so we told them they’d have to work something out, we‘ll come to tat later.

Na ostrov jsme dorazili kolem poledne. Sedli jsme na dzip, ktery nas odvezl na zapadni stranu ostrova podel plaze, ktera se jmenune Baan Hinkong. Nekolik dni pred Vanocema jsme stale nemeli rezervaci na Novy Rok, coz bylo trosku stresujici. Nakonec to dopadlo tak, ze jsme si rezervovali misto na teto plazi za asi 3krat vyssi cenu a ani v podstate nevedeli do ceho jdeme. Byli jsme mile prevapeni. I kdyz plaz zrovna nevypadala, ze se na ni da vegetit, sledovani zapadu slunce z teto plaze byl prekrasny a pokoj byl velky a utulny. Jak jsme dorazili hned jsme se snazili informovat o tzv. Gala veceri na Silvestra, kterou uz jsme meli predplacenou. Jak nam bylo zdeleno, nevypadalo, ze by se nejaka vecere konala na onom miste, ale recepcni rikala, ze neco zaridi. To nas trosku znepokojilo, protoze to zrovna nebyla nejlevnejsi vecere, ale k tomu se dostanu pozdeji.

We spent the next couple of days exploring the island on a moped, including some nice dinners on the beach, a trip to an almost dry waterfall, and the lovely Haad Salud beach where Veronika went crazy and got a tattoo . . . a henna tattoo. We also decided to do a little recon of the beach that would be our new years full moon party Haad Rin and tried some of the buckets (to see if they were up to the task of getting us drunk on the night!).

Par dalsich dnu jsme strvavili na motorce jezdenim kolem ostrova. Tak jsme si mohli zajet na veceri na jine plaze, taky jsme se jeli podivat na skoro vyschly vodopad a stravili den na plazi s nazvem Haad Salud. Na teto plazi jsem si nechala asi hodinu masirovat telicko a taky jsem si nechala udelat hennu (tetovani, co se smyva po nejake dobe) a pripravit se tak na oslavy Silvestra se vsim vsudy. Jeden vecer jsme se rozhodli omrknout plaz, kde se ta velka plazova party bude konat a taky ochutnat par kybliku s koktejly at vime, do ceho jdeme a jestli nas tyhle thajske kybliky udrzi v nalade az do rana bileho.

Then before we knew it the main event was upon us, we spent the day relaxing and building up energy, and then found out that our guesthouse was giving us a ride to another hotel where our Gala Dinner would be served, and where we get a lift down to the beach. The dinner was lovely, a buffet of all kinds of meats, fish and yummy thai dishes all washed down with as much punch as you could take. And so it began . . .

Pres den na Silvestra jsme nedelali skoro nic a snazili se tak nacerpat energii na vecer. Nas hotel nam oznamil, ze nas vyzvednou v urcitou hodinu, aby nas mohli odvest na jiz zminenou Gala veceri. Vecere byla, po tom vsem, nad nase ocekavani. Spousta dobrod, thajska kuchyne a taky celkem silny punc, ktereho jsme mohli vypit, co hrdlo racilo. A tak nas vecer zacal. . .

. . . We were whisked down in a truck (me and 7 girls, I got some rather jealous looks from trucks full of guys), as we were approaching all the trucks and stopped in traffic, so we all jumped out and waked the last killometer, every step of the way there were people pour out going in the same direction, we got a bucket enn route, our entry wristbands and we were in, the biggest, craziest party in the world! Its difficult to put the Koh Phangan Full Moon Party into words, its like nothing you can compare to back home. 50,000 like minded people going at it from 10PM until 10AM and then added to that a New Year in between. We found ourselves walking around in the daylight, covered in body paint at around 8AM witnessing the carnage around us, bodies half covered in sand, smaller pockets of people still pumping to the music bellowing out across the beach and others just staring out at the sea with very glassy eyes. We got back to the guesthouse around 9:30AM and slept . . . woke at 4PM and ate . . . . back to bed around 5:30PM before waking again and watching a couple of films before sleeping until January 2nd!

Po veceri jsme byli odvezeni smer Haad Rin plaz, kde se party konala. V dzipu nas bylo asi 9. Protoze na silnici bylo tolik aut a lidi, byli jsme nuceni zastavit a dojit ten zbyvajici kilometr pesky. Ale to bylo to nejmensi. Uz po ceste tam, aby nam nevyschlo jsme si koupili prvni kyblik a nasledovali dav lidi smerujici na stejne misto. Pote,co jsme dostali vstupenku v podobe styloveho naramku jsme se ocitly na plazi. Nejvetsi plazova party, co si kdo dokaze predstavit. 50 000 lidi, kteri zacinaji se zabavou v 10 vecer a konci v 10 rano. Plus, to ze je konec roku taky udela sve. Takze v 8 hodin rano, za prvniho denniho svetla roku 2010 se prochazime po plazi, nekteri lidi vypadaji, ze uz pro ne party skoncila,jini uz jen tak posedavaji v pisku a jini jeste plni energie nadsene tanci, vsude kolem jsou odpadky. Do hotelu jsme dorazili asi v 9:30 a spali....probudili se kolem 4 odpoledne, pojedli..... a spali.....mezitim se probudili v noci, podivali se na par filmu a spali az do 2. ledna.



After that lost first day of 2010, it was time to check out and make our way around the other Thai Islands ending at Phuket where my parents are due to come and meet us for a holiday, cant wait. But before the boat leaves, we decide to launch a lantern for the New Year that we were supposed to do on the night, although its pretty windy, we go for it anyway. What a disaster, lets hope its not a sign of our 2010. Imagine desperately trying to hold a paper lantern whilst wind gusts blow the flames around and then release it only to find it flies 10 yds and crashes to the ground. Still, the wind blows the ball of fire towards the boat port and we’re chasing it through a little park throwing our last bottle of water at it. I think we prevented a catastrophe J.

Po prvnich dnech noveho roku straveneho lenosenim je opet cas zvednout kotvy a jet navstivit par dalsich Thajskych ostrovu. Posledni bude ostrov Phuket, kde se potkame s Peteovyma rodicema, kteri v ten samy cas prijizdeji na dovolenou. Moc se tesime. Nez ale nastoupime na lod musime jeste zapalit balon stesti, ktery jsme na Silvestra nestihly vypustit. Jaka pohroma. Ne jenom, ze fouka silny vitr a ze nam balon pri zapalenim malem parkrat uhorel v rukach, ale jak jsme si mysleli, ze by se snad uz vznesl, pustili jsme ho a v zapeti utikali asi 10 metru za nim, protoze pristal na suche trave. V panice na nej nalijeme posledni pitnou vodu, co mame. Ja se muzu smichy potrhat, Pete tu situaci zase tak smesnou nevidi. To nam to ten Novy rok ale zacina, co?

Next, Island hopping, Koh Tao, Krabi, Chicken Island, Koh Lanta and Phuket . . . To be continued . . .

Dale navstivime ostrovy, Koh Tao, Krabi, Kureci ostrov, Koh Lanta a Phuket . . . Pokracovani priste. . .

Christmas, Chiang Mai - Vanoce v Chiang Mai

We arrived in Chiang Mai at our guesthouse GongKaew sometime during the afternoon. Gongkaew was beautiful, lovely clean rooms, helpful staff, pretty garden and eating area, everything we could wish for from our christmas stay. We explored some of the town but took it easy as we had booked to go on a day trip treking, rafting and elephant riding the following day.

Do Chiang Mai jsme dorazili v odpolednich hodinach. Ubytovali jsme se v apartmanu Gongkaew. Byl to moc pekny bungalow, se vsim ochotny pomoci personal, krasna zahrada a mala jidelna, kde jsme si mohli delat caj, kafe a toust po cely den. Vse, co si muzeme prat od ubytovani behem Vanoc. Pak jsme se vydali na rychly pruzkum po meste, nejak dlouho jsme se nezdrzovali at jsme svezi na dalsi den, ktery jsme si vyhradili pro jizdu na slonech, vodni rafting a prochazkou pres mini dzungli.

We got up early and had free tea and toast from guest house and were picked up to be taken rafting. There a group of about 15 of us and we were shown a few of the moves and then its onto the river. Some of the boats were 4 and 5 people, but ours was Veronika, me and a guide. We had a great time and both did really well, i think our boat got through better than any of the others mostly down to our good team work and Veronika's action-man style jumping from side to side (she was pretty bruised the folowing day). Next we had lunch and then it was over to the elephants. We were up in a hut on stilts and then both climbed on and he was led through the forest and down the river. We'd bought a couple of bags of bannanas to fed him on the journey and he wasn't shy to ask for them every couple minutes. It was good fun and the elephants seemed to be well cared for and happy, some that didn't have people on board would follow us around for the walk (and i'm sure the odd banana that went their way). We then treked through the forest for an hour or so to a waterfall, found some local lant life that would make a nice christmas tree for our room and then it was back on the bus to the guesthouse. A really great day, we were shattered by the end but still had some xmas shopping to do. We both split up and went opposite ways around the local night market with a budget. To begin with i loved the idea, but then when i actualy got out there and started shopping i remembered how much i disike shopping and how stressful it is, nevertheless i got through it and it was back home to wrap the pressies and decorate our new christmas tree with veronika's beautiful home made decorations!

Rano jsme si privstali, abychom si mohli dat caj a toust, predtim nez nas vyzvedne miniautobus. Jak jsme dorazili na misto uz tam cekalo asi 15 lidi. Jako trenink nam bylo ukazano par zakladnich pokynu a pote jsme byli rozdeleni do skupin. Nektere rafty meli 4 az 5 lidi. Nas raft byl obsazen mnou, Petem a nasim pruvodcem. Rafting byl super, oba jsme se moc dobre bavili. Taky si myslim, ze jsme si vedli moc dobre, pac jsme zacinali posledni a dopluli jako prvni. Bylo to diky dobre komunici posadky a taky diky mym obcasnym manevrum a uskokum, ktere jsem bezhlave nasledovala po zaveleni pruvodce. Stalo me to par modrin, jak se ukazalo dalsi den. Po obede nas cekala jizda na slonu. Na slona jsme nasedali z bambusoveho pristresku.Predtim jsme si nakoupili tasky s banany, aby jsme ho mohli krmit za zasluhy. Sem tam to vypadalo, ze si myslel, ze si zaslouzi banan kazdych 20 sekund. Nekteri sloni, kteri zrovna nemeli pasazeri se rozhodli pro prochazku v lese, coz znamenalo prilezitostni banan i pro ne. Ja, Pete a slon jsme byli v doprovodu pruvodce. Vedl nas pres, jiz zmineny, les a reku. Po sloni projizdce byl cas na prochazku v dzungli kolem maleho vodopadu.V dzungli jsme si natrhali delsi stebla travy, ktere nam poslouzili jako vanocni stromecek. Pote jsme byli odvezeni zpet a ikdyz jsme byli trosku unaveni cekaly nas vanocni nakupy na nocnim trhu. Rozdelili jsme se asi na hodinu, coz pro me byl dostatek casu. Pote, co se Pete vratil na sjednane misto, nevypadal, ze si to uzival tak jako ja. Ikdyz se mu ze zacatku napad naramne libil, ukazalo se, ze si behem toho casu vlastne uvedomil, ze nema rad nakupovani a ze mu to pridelava akorat stres. Jak jsme se vratili zpet, byl cas na zdobeni naseho stromecku (s paprirovymi vlockami, ktere jsem vystrihla den predem) a baleni darecku.


Veronika's Christmas (24th Dec)
We woke to the unusual xmas feeling of heat and sunshine pouring through our window, although not the usual christmas morning, the feeling of summer is always nice. After breakfast we took a walk around town, regularly stopping for christmas day drinks. its so weird being out here during this time, thailand is mostly a buddist country, particularly up here in the north, and they dont seem to celebrate christmas at all. Walking around town in the heat, everyone is going about their lives like any other day, children at school, people at work, hardly any decorations anywhere. Eventually it was time to skype home for a couple of hours and then after a few more drinks we chose to ave dinner in a german restaurant as we felt the menu seemed to have the closest we could find to czech food. It wasn't the same same, but it was very tasty and we both thoroughly enjoyed dinner. When we got back, as is Czech tradition we opened most of our presents after dinner leaving some for tomorrow and christmas day number 2.

Vercin Stedry Den (24. prosinec)
Pri rannim probuzeni jsme citili jake je venku opet horko a jak se Slunce snazi dostat pres zavesy. Po snidani jsme se vydali do mesta, aby jsme si mohli dat par vanocnich drinku, tak jak by tomu normalne bylo doma. Bylo to zvlastni nebyt doma a vzhledem k tomu, ze Thajsko je zemi, kde vladne budhismus, prochazka po meste v horku, kdy deti jsou ve skole, lide pracuji a skoro nikde nejsou videt zadne vanocni vyzdoby - pocit, ze je Stedry den, je mizivy. Behem dalsich hodin jsme se spojili pres Skype s rodinami a po dalsich par drincich se rozhodli navstivit nemeckou restauraci, ktera se jidelnickem nejvice priblizovala nasi kuchyni. Nebyl to presne stedrovecerni kapr, ale pecena kachna se zelym a bramborovymi knedliky chutnala taky dobre. Pak nasledovala cesta zpet a rozbalovani vetsiny darecku.

Pete's Christmas (25th Dec)
If christmas spirit was flowing all around i'd have been happy to soak it all up in pubs etc but as it wasn't we decided we should do a thai cooking course. We were picked up first thing in the morning and taken to a market were they bought incredients and explained some of the differences between the foods. Then it was off to the cooking school out on a farm in the fields. We both had a wonderful day, we learnt how to cook thai curry, spring rolls, some thai soups, pad thai, some different stir-frys and a yummy stiky rice with pinapple desert. Be warned, this could lead to several thai food dinners at our place when we get home. It was my turn to skype home in the evening and afterwards we reheated some of the goodies we'd made earlier in the day to finish us off.

Peteuv Stedry Den (25. prosinec)
Rano si Pete rozbalil jeho posledni darek, protoze v Anglii si rozbaluji darky rano, coz uz je u nas Prvni svatek vanocni a kdyby jsme byli obklopeni vanocni atmosferou, asi bysme se vydali znovu zacit pomalu popijet nekde v hospudce, ale jelikoz ta atmosfera tu chybela, rozhodli jsme se absolvovat Thajsky kurz vareni. Prnvi zastavka na ceste do skoly, byla na mistnim trznici, kde nam nas kuchar ukazoval hlavni ingredience a vysvetloval rozdily mezi druhy ryze. Pak jsme byli prevezeni do skoly, kde mel kazdy sve kychynske nacini a sporak. Oba jsme si ten den uzili a naucili se jak varit spoustu Thajskych pokrmu. Pote, co jsme se vratili Pete Skypnul svou rodinu a pak jsme si prihrali to, co uz se do nas odpoledne nevlezlo.




The next day we had a flight to catch to phuket trying to get down to the islands before new years eve. Everything went smoothly with flight, but we were a little nervous of how we were going to make it across to Surat Thani (another 5 hours) landeding in the midde of the afternoon, with nothing booked. Someone was watching over us though as everything fell into place wonderfully, we jumped in a taxi which took us to a local bus stop. The coach was waiting there ready to go and for £3 we were off to Surat the worlds most boring town but the gateway to the islands!

Dalsi den uz byl opet cas se posunout. Leteli jsme na ostrov Phuket, z ktereho jsme se jeste ten den chteli dostat trochu dale, blize k ostrovu, na kterem chceme stravit Silvestr a Novy rok. Let byl bezproblemovy, ale my byli i tak trosku nervozni, protoze jsme presne nevedeli, jak se dostaneme do pristavniho mesta a jestli bude sance odcestovat z ostrova v odpolednich hodinach (je to 5 hodinova cesta do Surat thani). Skocili jsme hned do taxiku, ktery nas vyhodil na autobusove zastavce, kde uz cekal nastartovany autobus pripraveny k odjezdu. Bez vahani jsme prebehli cestu, naskocili dovnitr a za pouhych 150Kc si nas autobus odvazel do pristavniho mesta (jednoho z nejnudnejsich mest), z ktereho budeme za par dni odplouvat smer Koh Phangan, kde nas ceka nejvetsi oslava Silvestra vubec!

To be continnued. . .

Pokracovani priste. . .

Lovely Laos - Laosek

The whole thing was pretty scary, i suppose its just natural that you don't want any complications with any kind of flight. We landed in Vientiane where we would have a stop while they refueled and they were hoping that during this hour the weather would clear. Earlier, before the drama in the air, we were a little worried that we didn't have enough cash on us to pay airport tax so whilst in Vientiane i saw the opportunity to go to a cash machine and was walked through a few back doors out onto the street. I think this was the first sign of Laos' famously laid back attitude.

Cela situace s timto letem byla ponekud stresujici, ale kdyz tak o tom premyslim, je to asi v kazdem z nas, ten pocit, kdyz se ledadlo vznese. Pristali jsme ve Vientiane (hlavni mesto Laosu), kde jsme cekali nez letadlo natankuje a pocasi nad Loung Prabangem se snad umoudri. Takze jsme meli prilezitost vysednout z ledadla a v nasem pripade, najit bankomat, protoze jsme behem letu zjistili, ze nemame dostatek penez na viza az dosedneme. Uz v tu chvili vypadalo, ze i kdyz by melo letiste byt zabezpecene pri vystupu a hlavne vstupu zpet, lidem, jak na letisti a tak i vsude kolem bylo sumafuk, ze si Pete prosel ven do ulic a zpet.

Well, we eventually landed in Luang Prabang without any more problems, and checked into our guest house, Spicylaos Backpackers. We really liked Luang Prabang, the scenery is amazing, we spent a really nice couple of days exploring the city and had some lovely food including a memorable Laos barbeque where you order the meat and they turn your table into a kind of barbeque and you do all the cooking. After the BBQ we went to a late night bowling ally with some people we met and had a good old drink. The following day we spent our hangover at a stunning waterfall and before we knew it we were off to our next destination, Vang Vieng.

Potom, co jsme pristali v Luang Prabangu bez jakykoliv dalsich potizi, nechali jsme se odvest od Hostelu SpicyLaos Backpackers. Luang Prabang byl super, obou dvoum se nam libil moc a moc. Priroda je kouzelna. Stravili jsme tam par dni, coz znamenalo i jednu z nezapomenutelnych veceri, coz bylo barbeque, kdy nam prinesli vsechno cerstve a sirove, promenili nas stul, u ktereho jsme sedeli, v male ohniste a pak uz jsme jen varili a opekali. Mnam. Po teto super veceri jsme potkali par lidi a zkoncili s nima u hry bowlingu v nedaleke herne. Dalsi den (a s malou opici na Peteovych zadech) jsme se vydali na vylet k malym kaskadovym vodopadum. Myslim, ze jsem doposud nevidela krasnejsi mini-vodopady nez tyhle. Den pote, jak uz to byva jsme byli pripraveni na cestu a na dalsi dobrodruzstvi ve meste Vang Vieng.

Vang Vieng is famous for tubing where you get taken up river with a large tyre inner-tube and you make your way back to town (about 3hrs). On the way there are loads of crazy bars and even crazier people jumping from them into the river on ropes/slides etc. It was really good fun but as the sun sets earlier behind the mountains overlooking the river, it gets pretty cold, and from the last bar its a good hour or two till your back on dry land. As we got out, Veronika shivering uncontrollably, we bumped into some friends from Luang Prabang, had dinner with them and made plans to do some kayaking the following day. This was even better, especially with some extra people to share the madness with. We were taken out to a cave and tubed deep into the mountain, then after a lovely lunch we were taken back to the same river but further up in the rapids and made our way down to the tubing bars. Veronika and I had a couple of steering difficulties at one point causing one of our guide to jump in and stop the kayak from turning. Some of our group weren't so up for the drinking part so we split into two and did some jumps from the bars and one epic slide (the back flop would stay with me for the next 3 days as i had to sleep on my front and would be constantly moaning about my sore back). The journey back wasn't half as cold and we took great pleasure it letting the tubers know there was a long way to go!* We spent another day with Jo and Steve at a blue lagoon but apart from the trips to the tubing river the town itself wasn't the greatest so with a few days to spare before we had to make our way to Thailand we decided to check out Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars.

* both these evenings ended with me in a local Irish pub and each time were finished by local, machine gun armed police closing it down at the midnight curfew.



Vang Vieng je prosluly pro jizdu po rece na dusich z traktoru!(dolu po proudu to trva asi 3 hodiny) Spociva to v tom, ze jsme si pronajali kazdy jednu dusi, tuk tuk nas vyhodil na urcitem bode, kde byli bary, hudba a spousta lidi skakajicich z provazu do reky, klouzajicich se po neskutecne dlouhych klouzackach atd. Takze jak tak plujeme na jedne z tech dusi lide z brehu po nas hazi provazy, aby jsme se mohli pritanout a mohli tak vypit kyblik koktejlu zrovna v onom baru. Bylo to super az do doby, kdy Slunce zaslo za hory a od posledniho baru je to dobra hodina a pul. Jak jsme se doplavili do konce, zmrzli jak rampuchy, narazili jsme na zname, ktere jsme poktkali v Luang Prabangu. Povecereli jsme a na druhy den se vsichni domluvili na spolecny vylet na kajak. Tento den byl mnohem zabavnejsi nez den pred tim. Vylet zacal opet na dusich, ale v jeskyni a po chutnem obede jsme byli vysazeni u kajaku. Bylo to na te same rece, ale o trochu vis po proudu. Meli jsme pred sebou 10km na kajaku. Vsechno slo dobre az na par vykyvu v kormodlovani naseho kajaku, takze se stalo, ze nas pruvodce pro nas musel jednou vyskocit z jeho kajaku, aby se muj a Peteuv kajak neprevratil, bylo to potom, co uz jsme projeli pres par krovi s par skrabanci. Jak jsme se opet dostali dolu k barum a vedeli jsme, ze se nemusime tak hnat, protoze se nemusime macet hodiny ve studene vode, chytla nas slina a tak nas pruvodce rozdelil na skupiny a protoze s nama musi zustat az do konce, tak ja, Pete a nasi znami jsme zustali a nasavali. Udelali jsme zastavku u jednoho baru, ktery mel obrovskou klouzacku do reky. Uz jak si kupujete prvni kyblik, nalakuji vam nehet silne modrou barvou, aby to bylo videt a pak si musite precit poznamku, ze od teto chvile delate vse na vlastni nebezpeci. Kazdy z nas absolvoval jedno sklouznuti, coz stacilo. Pete si stezoval na bolest zad jeste 3 dny pote. Pak jsme se vydali na cestu po rece a mijeli ty zmrzle chudaky ve vode. Byli jsme k nim uprimni a rekli jak dlouha cesta je jeste ceka, kdyz se ptali. Nebyli nadseni! Dalsi den jsme stravili se Stevem a Jo osvezovanim se v modre lagune a jelikoz mesto samo o sobe nebylo to nejlepsi a my meli jeste par dnu predtim nez se musime vydat zpet do Thajska, rozhodli jsme se navstivit mesto Phonsavan a znamou Planinu Dzbanu.




Neither of us were feeling great but it was hard to tell whether we'd over done it on the tubing or something more sinister, when we arrived in Phonsavan it quickly became clear we'd picked up food poisoning. Already booked to go on a trip to the jars, we just about made it to lunch but the night was terrible. hardly any sleep, plenty of sickness and the rest, we had to call off the trip and were bed ridden for about 36hrs. Despite both being very far from 100%, we went to the jars and had really nice time. Its one of the worlds great mysteries that a people who there is no record of put thousands of these giant jars around the land over 2000 years ago and still to this day no-one really knows what they were for. Added to that they are now part of a massive area of UXO from the Vietnam war where the USA were dropping cluster bombs, its pretty much turned the whole of this part of th country into a live mine field. As the day wore on we began to feel stronger and managed to get some soup into us and during the afternoon visited an old Russian abandoned tank and a rice wine making family.

Ani jeden z nas se necitime zrovna nejlepe, nejsme si jisti, jestli jsou to jeste zbytky unavy z "kajaku" anebo neco jineho. Pote, co jsme uz Phonsavan a zaplatili jsme si vylet do Planiny dzbanu na dalsi den, noc predtim vime odkud vane vitr. Bud jsme neco spatneho vypili nebo snedli. A tak celou noc nespime a stridame se na zachode. Vycerpani rano, presouvame vylet na dalsi den. Rano, i kdyz jeste nejsme oba na 100%, vydali jsme se do Planin Dzbanu (je na 3 ruznych mistech). Bylo to fascinuji, videt tolik dzbanu, velkych, tezkych a hlavne starych asi 2000 let. Je to jedna z nejvetsich zahad na svete, jak se tam dostali, na co byli atd., nejsou o nich zadne dochovane poznatky. Kvuli valce s Vietnamem je v teto oblasti mnoho nevybouchnutych bomb a tak musime byt opatrni, aby jsme nevykrocili ze stezek. Na konci vyletu jsme jeste udelali zastavku na obed, podivali se na stary rusky tank v lese a navstivili rodinu, ktera vyrabi ryzove vino.

The following day from Phonsavan we had our third 7hr mini van journey back to Luang Prabang where we could catch the slow boat over to Thailand. The previous 2 had been really pleasant journey's, good driving, up and down mountains, stunning views and lovely to see the villagers going about their daily business. This one however was horrendous! I'm not kidding, but I'm certain this driver had only been driving a day or so either that or his IQ was so low he shouldn't have been out there. Never before have i seen someone approach u bends in 5th gear and try to get round without changing.

Dalsi den nas cekala dalsi 7 hodinova cesta miniautobusem zpet do Luang Prabangu odkud nas ceka 3 denni vylet lodi po rece pres hranice do Thajska. Posledni 2 cesty byli poklidne se zkusenymi ridici, tak, ze se muzeme kochat nadhernou prirodou, zatimco jedeme pred serpentynky nahoru a dolu. Ale tahle cesta - je horor! Vypada, ze jsme meli to stesti, ze nas ridi ridic, ktery bud zrovna dodelal ridicak vcera v noci, anebo mu jeho IQ neumoznuje myslet dopredu, jak bude autobus reagovat pri zarazene rychlosti 5 v zatackach a do kopcu, a jak se v tom pripade vyhnout protijedoucim autum a nakladakum.

After another couple of days we were on the slow boat and on the way to Thailand and our Christmas. Yet again, a wonderful way to cross the border, 2 days on the river with stop offs for dinner and sleep in some funky little towns, and then we were there, another 6 hour mini van from the Thai side to Chiang Mai, and to our base for Czech Christmas (24th Dec) and UK Christmas (25th), for elephants, white water rafting and cooking mouth-watering Thai food ...

Po par dalsich dnech stravenych v Luang Prabang jsme byli pripraveni na cestu lodi do Thajska, kde stravime Vanoce. Je to super zpusob, jak prekrocit hranice, 2 dny pres den na lodi a vecer odpocinek na hotelu a vecere v pristavnim mestecku. Po dalsi 6 hodinove ceste miniautobusem jsme tady v Chiang Mai, kde stravime muj Stedry den (24.12) a Peteuv (25.12), kde ridime slona, projizdime malymi perejemi na raftu a absolvujeme Thajsky slinysbihajici se kurz vareni ...

. . . To be continued.

. . . Pokracovani priste.