Learning curves

I am sure that Brian Phillips on the Isle of Seil - who is a real sheep farmer - would have had a laugh or two at my expense this week and that Peter who sold me the sheep is still laughing behind my back.
Examining the two ewes in the light of day after they had been sheared, it was clear that they must have been on very thin rations for a few weeks. In addition, the grass on our paddock was a bit too lush for them and particularly for one of the lambs. Ended up at the vet's on Monday evening with a very bloated lamb which needed to be treated with 5 ml of washing up liquid followed by some antibiotic, feed supplement and bottled milk.
After an anxious night - under a heat lamp in my workshed - he was well enough to join the others who had been moved into another shed - via Linda's flower beds.
Linda was right into the bottle feeding but when it came time to encourage him back onto his mother's teat, she felt a little too close to the action.
On the same night, when we were concentrating on moving the sheep, Molly the donkey took advantage and went for a wander - she almost made it into the vegetable patch before we caught up with her.
Then, just to make it interesting, the contractors showed up to cut, bale and wrap the grass on the paddock for silage. By the time they finished it was after midnight and we had 4 bales of silage which I have traded with Keith for some hay later in the year.
This evening we had to vaccinate all the sheep - my 5 and Keith's 16. Mine were easy - confined in a limited space - while catching each of his 7 sheep and 9 lambs in his large shed was like playing a game of 7's. Not only was I bruised and sore by the end of it, I also had that distinctive odour of sheep.
After we had finished and let them out into the field he realised that we had missed the youngest lamb and we spent an amusing 10 minutes cornering and catching it - flat out rugby tackle to catch a hind leg in a field recently grazed by cattle was effective but resulted in an odour of a different type.
We are off to Waterford tomorrow to see the Tall Ships and we are both really looking forward to a day off!

Just for Jim

Realise that it has been a very long time since my last post - 11 weeks for those who were counting - and that there has been lots going on here at Moyhill that I could have written about.

My only excuse is that life here has been busy with animal and poultry husbandry and with preparing and planting our new veg beds - Linda currently has 20 different vegetables planted out. We still have the hockey girls and Rocky, 5 ducks and three meat hens which will be ready for the chop next week and we have already butchered two meat hens and 9 bantam cockerels - so there is still plenty in the freezer.

Jim commented today that he was missing the blog not knowing that it was a special day here at Moyhill because we have just collected our first sheep - two ewes already christened Maureen and Isobel (Mo & Izzy for short) - with three lambs. Should have lamb ready for the freezer by late October!

Will try to report on a more regular basis - and perhaps even catch up on some of the things that have happened over the last month or two.

Can now add 'sheep farmer' to my CV!!!

Say hello to Rocky

Mistaken Identity!

After a couple of days of our new rooster's hen-pecked performance, we decided to check him out in more detail only to discover that Reginald was actually Regina. It turned out that Pat - who had supplied the rooster - was in a bit of a rush that morning and picked up the wrong bird.

All was put right this afternoon when we returned Regina to her flock and picked up Rocky and introduced him to the Hockey Girls. No messing this time -Karen pecked at him once and he grabbed her by the back of the neck and Wham, Bang, Thank you Mam!! Then off to strut his stuff around the pen, and see if any of the others were interested.

Still on Calf watch and despite regular checks, went down this morning to find that the second cow had calved on her own without any problem while the last of the ewes had just started to lamb - luckily Keith arrived before I had to get my hands dirty!

Along with the day old chicks and the ducklings which arrive on Friday it is a busy place at the moment - helps to keep one's mind off the economy and another bloody war.

Another addition to the CV!

As we sat in the sunshine with our mid-morning coffee (it was 15C by 11.30), Keith called to tell me that one of his cows was about to calf and did I want to watch.

Within 5 mins I was in the cowshed - sleeves rolled up, blood, shit and afterbirth everywhere -helping to get the calf jack in place to help the poor cow deliver a very large calf which had started in an awkward position. Not sure how to describe this new skill on my CV but it was a challenging 20 minutes or so. The calf was a heifer which is good news - worth a lot more than a bull calf - and seemed in good health - it was so big with such long spindly legs that it was having trouble standing to feed. As a result, I spent half hour this evening bottle-feeding it as Keith was hand-milking the mother.

As if that wasn't enough for one day, our new rooster arrived today as well. A very smart speckled Maran cockerel who seemed very sure of himself - until he met the hockey girls!!

They seemed less than impressed and gave him a very hard time -Karen in particular was very agressive.

However by bedtime they were a little more accommodating and allowed him into the henhouse. Hope they are all well when I go to feed them in the morning.

Had originally planned to name him Rocky after the hero of Chicken Run but given his performance today, Linda has decided to call him Reginald.

Don't know how I cope with such stressful days - and Keith has two more cows which should calf in the next day or so.

Spring is definitely here

Wednesday 23rd March - 16C at Moyhill this afternoon and the weather is settled until the weekend at least. Pity its still snowing in Toronto


Have been getting the veg plot ready for planting and digging a new plot for the potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes. Linda ordered a variety of seeds and tubers from Irish Seed Savers before we left and they were here waiting for us when we got home - all we have to do now is plant them!


The hens have settled in well and the egg production is back to normal. We are getting a rooster this week to keep the girls happy and ensure that we don't sleep too late in the morning. If he is too noisy he will probably end up in the pot.


We are planning to raise some goats for meat this year and will probably raise some hens and ducks for the freezer as well. Could be tempted to try another couple of pigs but we still have at least half a freezer of pork to get through before I dare suggest this.


So life is back to normal - had our first Burren walk - on the green road at Fanore - on Monday and managed to spot some of the earliest wild flowers although the atlantic winds were a little cooling.

St Patrick's Day

This time last year we were at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun with our Canadian friends and their kids for St Patrick's Day. It rained from dawn until dusk and the entertainment team worked very hard to keep us amused with green beer, dancing competitions, Irish quizzes and a variety of games. After the evening karaoke (did we really sing Hotel California??) I somehow ended up in the mirror pool in the lobby with a 6ft 2in mexican leprechaun on my shoulders and still managed to stumble through the beach disco - although my drinking buddy Mark sloped off early to bed (lightweight)!

This year was a little less lively - champagne, guinness and the Ennis St Patrick's Day parade - but still good fun and in brilliant sunshine.

We brought the hockey girls home last night and I was welcomed this morning with 3 fresh eggs - we thought it would take time for them to settle in but apparently not.

Moyhill - at last

After 69 days travelling, we made it home to Moyhill yesterday afternoon - according to my notes we have packed and moved on 31 times, been on 9 flights, 8 ferries, 3 trains, 2 long- distance buses, 8 minibuses, 26 assorted taxis, songthaews, tuktuks etc. and visited 7 countries - it's good to be home!

Back in Blighty

Gales HSB, Whitebait, Steak & Kidney pudding, Shrove Tuesday pancakes - and that was just one meal!! After 8 weeks travelling in the East, there are certain things which are very welcome.

While Linda is in Scotland where it snowed on March 9th, I am in Port Solent - sunshine and 12C - helping my folks look for a new home as the town house is no longer a viable option. After a couple of 'read my lips' conversations with estate agents we managed to view about 8 properties in two days only to agree that the first one we saw was the ideal place.

Now we are faced with the challenge of English house purchase and conveyancing practices - I hate to admit that the Scottish system is better - but it is! Luckily I remember how to play the game so hope to work it to our advantage particularly since the agents seem less than the smartest people I have come across!

Just realised that this time last year we were arriving for our all-inclusive holiday in Cancun with Linda's BMW driving, CC&Coke drinking banker cousin and family and friends. Don't even need to look at the photos to remember what a good time we had - but I am still looking forward to getting back to Moyhill on Sunday.

Stocking up

After a day in London to catch up and change from summer to winter clothes - it was below freezing on our first morning - we decided to pop over to Reims to pick up some champagne - our supplies having reached danger level. Great deal from Eurotunnel - £40 return - and a clear drive to the terminal meant that we arrived early only to find that the service was disrupted. Despite initial fears of a 3-4 hour wait, we managed to get on the shuttle just over an hour late - thanks to all those daytrippers who decided to cancel and take the refund.

Since it is three years since our last 'champagne run' we decided to head straight for our favourite Cave only to find that they no longer produce our 'house' champagne. This of course meant that we had to start from scratch -tasting as many as we could - trying to find a replacement. Think I managed 17 tastings before I realised it would probably be better to get the car to the hotel car park before I had any more!

Reims has changed quite a bit in the last three years - they have managed to complete the installation of a new tram system which wasn't even started when we were last here. Perhaps they could offer some advice to Edinburgh City Council.

Thanks to our sterling tasting efforts we managed to select a new 'house' champagne, loaded up the car on Sunday morning and headed back to Calais with enough time to allow us to stop and buy a few bottles of wine as well. Less than 27 hours on French soil and back in London in time to reorganise and pack again ready for our separate trips to Edinburgh and Port Solent this morning.

Heading Home

Despite an evening arrival in Bangkok, we still managed to get to our hotel within 2 hours of touching down - pity we couldn't manage the same at Heathrow. We only had time for dinner, sleep, repacking - again - and breakfast before we headed back to the airport and our EVA air flight to Heathrow.

Didn't seem to be so many packs of single men on the return journey and the dayflight was relatively painless - even managed to watch a couple of movies. Unfortunately our arrival at Heathrow confirmed why it is an airport to be avoided at all times. It took us 60 minutes from landing to make it to the immigration desk - huge number of UK and EU citizens being herded around like cattle in a terminal which is always like a construction site. At least - I thought - our baggage would be waiting for us when we had been processed by the Border Agency officer who could neither smile or respond while examining my passport. I felt a degree of pity for the weegie at the next desk who had drunk at least half of his litre of duty free vodka and greeted the officer with a cheery 'all right pal, how's it going' and then couldn't understand that he was supposed to hand over his passport. There was still no sign of him in the baggage hall 20 minutes later when our bags finally appeared.

Next year we will have to find a better route which allows us to avoid Heathrow altogether!

Penang

With a couple of days to spare, we decided to stay in the heart of Georgetown which - despite the major changes to the surrounding city - seemed largely unchanged from my only previous visit in 1976!

This is our third World Heritage Site of the trip and it seems to be a much better example for how such sites should be managed than those in Laos.

The Yeng Keng Hotel was converted from an early Anglo-Indian bungalow which was owned by the President of the nearby mosque. It was refurbished in 2008 and opened last year and it is without doubt the best hotel we have stayed in on our trip. It is situated in the heart of Georgetown and has been retained many of the original features of the 19th Century building - they also added modern bathrooms, AC and a large plunge pool which is unusual for a city centre boutique hotel. They also had some of the friendliest staff that we have encountered.

We both enjoyed Georgetown - it brought back memories for me of Singapore when I first worked there in 1975 - not least because of the food - nasi lemak, roti canai, assam laksa, malabar fish curry and many more washed down with Anchor beer and followed by ice kacang

Our last week

Before we left London we had decided to spend our last week at the beach and took up a very generous offer from David (my cousin)and Laurie to stay with them at their new home on Langkawi.

Not sure if they expected us to stay for so long but they were very hospitable and in addition to sharing their fabulous new home also took us around the sights of the island and also for an overnight trip on their yacht to one of the nearby islands.

With plenty of cold beer, a pool in the heart of the house and a 42inch HD tv to watch the 6 Nations it was as close to paradise as I can imagine. We had a wonderful time doing very little, relaxing by the pool and wondering what the weather was like at Moyhill!

It is less than 2 weeks until we will be home and I think Linda has already started making lists of what we need to do. We left Langkawi this morning for a couple of days in Penang on our way back to Bangkok and our flight home.

Old Friends

We had arranged to be in Bangkok to meet with Jimmy C and Mrs C - Barbican neighbours who spend each February on Koh Samui. Leaving Jimmy to organise a night out is always a risk - no matter how enjoyable - as he has the capacity to consume copious amounts of alcohol to no apparent effect.

Having travelled to Thailand for more than 15 years he certainly knew all the best places to drink and has figured out a 24 hour happy hour routine by moving from place to place! Luckily we were all on relatively good behaviour and managed two consecutive nights out without casualties although we did manage to set a new record bar bill for the trip - despite the happy hour prices!

The road to Bangkok

Our journey from Don Khong involved a short long boat ride across the Mekong followed by a minibus to Pakse Bus Station - very strangely our driver refused at first to stop at the bus station for us and insisted that he would only drop us in the town centre. Then when I offered him small tip to change his mind he agreed but refused the tip - very Lao?

The VIP bus service to Ubon Ratchatani (in Thailand) is run by a Thai/Lao joint venture and unfortunately we ended up on bus no 2 which was the Lao contribution -not the safest nor the most comfortable 2 hours on the road. When we reached the border we were turfed off the bus to walk through the two immigration offices and across the border and a clear demonstration of the difference between the economies of the two countries.

The bus station at Ubon was very busy and a long way from the town centre. We avoided the entreaties of the Tuktuk drivers and picked up an airconditioned pickup truck for the journey to the hotel. Ended up with dinner in the hotel - which was surprisingly good - as we couldn't find anywhere else open on Sunday night. In addition to the great food we had a great conversation with a French couple who had been on the same bus from Laos. He was a diplomat - currently stationed in Bangladesh - who had first been posted to Laos in 1975 just as the communists took over. They had some amusing stories about the changes they had seen and we had a very entertaining evening.

Taxi ride to the airport the next morning and our first AirAsia flight which left ahead of schedule, got us to Bangkok on time and a very speedy taxi trip meant we were in time for lunch. A 24 hour journey whic included 7 different vehicles - would have been easier to fly direct from Pakse but the Lao airline ticket prices were five times those of AirAsia and we'd have missed all the fun of the border crossings!

Si Phan Don - 4000 islands

The number of islands varies with the season - and the height of the Mekong - but there are definitely thousands of them. We stayed on Don Khong - the largest one - not as popular as Don Khon and Don Det but definitely a great place to relax. Mr Pon's Guesthouse was our home for 5 days and I think we ate in his restaurant at least 5 times. Don Khong is very relaxed and most visitors are there for a day or so on their way south to the smaller islands which attract mostly backpackers.

We managed one day trip by boat to see the waterfalls at Somphamit and Khon Phapheng which prevented the French from developing a trade route to China along the Mekong in the 19th Century and a couple of cycle trips around the island but otherwise managed to relax on the riverside deck at the guesthouse.

On our trip to Don Khon we discovered that Elvis is alive and well and travelling in Laos while our fellow travellers complained that the noodles that they had for lunch must have been made with 'virtual' chicken since there was no obvious sign of the real thing. We have met quite a few interesting people on our travels and the German man who joined us on this trip was full of stories of his 30 years of travelling in Thailand and Laos - he has enjoyed it so much that he is planning to retire to Northern Thailand because his pension will go a lot further there than in Munich and the opium is cheaper! There was also a Dutch couple, a pair of Belgians and a Swedish backpacker who all ended up with us at Mr Pon's restaurant for dinner when we got back - think this was the biggest bar bill of our trip (at least until we meet Jimmy C!)

Valentine's day!

Pakse has little to offer other than a gateway to Si Phan Don -Four Thousand Islands - and the road to Cambodia, the Bolaven Plateau and its coffee plantations and trekking opportunities or the road to the Thai border. It is also within easy reach of the Khmer ruins at Wat Phou which can be reached by road or by boat. We chose the boat trip and spent a pleasant day cruising down the Mekong - with a stop at a very old and decrepit Wat with only one remaining monk - to Champassak and a tuktuk ride to the temple site.

Arriving 5 days before the Maha Puja celebrations meant that whole site was crowded with traders, entertainments, food stalls - even a mobile ATM - in preparation for the million or more visitors expected for the full moon celebrations and merit-making. This is the largest Khmer site outside Cambodia and I am sure it is a lovely place to visit at any other time but it felt more like a fairground with hawkers and traders in every open space around the ruins.

A very pleasant lunch in a riverside restaurant before our return journey was spoiled when our Swiss travelling companion discovered that his Iphone - with all his photos, contacts etc., from 3 months on the road - had been misplaced. By the time we got back to Pakse it was clear that someone had taken it and removed the sim card - he spent an hour or two grieving the loss of all the information but then put it behind him and started organising the rest of his trip.

Our guide for the day had spoken reasonable english and we had fun teasing him about his plans for Valentine's Day. Having booked a table at the Panorama restaurant - on the rooftop of our hotel - and allegedly the best place to eat in town - I was feeling quite smug. I reckoned without the organising skills of our French Hotel manager who had managed to screw up the booking so that we ended up having dinner on bar stools while the rest of the diners had white linen and roses for all the ladies - on top of that the food was nothing special.

We were glad to leave the place for our bus ride to the islands.

Heading South

Arriving at the domestic terminal at Wattay airport at 6.00 am on Sunday morning for our flight to Pakse we were surprised by a heavy shower of rain but it had passed by before we had to walk to the aircraft. It did make for a bumpy flight - on a Chinese MA-60 which was clearly designed for short people. It was impossible for me to stand in the aisle without bumping my head and the doors on the overhead lockers were lethal. Lao Airlines inflight service - hot drink and snack box - was a bit limited but having been too early for breakfast we both managed to finish the sausage roll with chilli sauce and the iced cake that went with it! A flight time of one hour 15 mins was definitely more preferable than a 10 hr bus journey - think we are way past that sort of travelling now.

Our booking at the Pakse hotel had included transfer from the airport and when we arrived to find no-one waiting for us, we spurned the advances of the many taxi drivers and called the hotel to be told that the driver was on his way. After 25 minutes - all the taxis having now departed - we called again and were assured by the French manager that his driver would be with us in 5 minutes. After a further 20 mins - still trying to maintain the lao attitude on 'boh peng nyang' (loosely translates as no problem / never mind) - I called again and after a lengthy discussion finally spoke to the manager again to learn that he had misread our booking message and had arranged a car to pick us up at the airport at Ubon Ratchatani - 3 hours away in Thailand. This time the Driver did arrive in the promised 5 minutes and we reached the hotel 2 hours after landing.

Having got off to a bad start, his offhand apology and the shabby state of the rooms did little to improve the situation - Linda took advantage of the free wifi to post a frank review on Trip advisor!

Coffee and pastries at the Sinouk Cafe around the corner put us in a better mood - owned by one of the largest Lao coffer producers and a great place to stop.

Back in the civilized world

After 5 weeks travelling in Thailand and Laos - although we have generally eaten well - you cannot imagine the joy of sitting down to lunch on the sun-dappled terrace of a French brasserie just next to Nam Phou with a chilled bottle of Chablis, a fresh green salad and an omelette aux fines herbes.

Vientiane shows signs of its French Colonial past amongst the newer concrete government building. This is most clearly seen in the Avenue Lane Xang - an asian version of the Champs Elysee, with its own Arc de Triumphe -Patuxai - at the end. Apparently the final sections were built using cement provided by the US in the 60's for the construction of an airport - hence the loacl nickname 'the vertical runway'.

The city is easily walkable and substantially cheaper than Luang Prabang and we had planned to stay for an extra day or two. Unfortunately, the flight we had planned on taking to Pakse was full and we had to leave earlier than we would have liked - literally since the flight out was at 0730 and Lao Airlines require check in 2 hours before departure.

Sat in a rooftop bar to watch the sunset over the Mekong which was spoiled by clouds of smoke from a big fire on the outskirts: ate good Sushi in a city centre restaurant and had an excellent Lao meal in Amphone restaurant. The jazz bar was a little disappointing - although perhaps we left too early, while the selection of cafes for breakfast - with real coffee- was excellent.

On the Road to Vientiane

Leaving the Plain of Jars, we had to retrace our route for about 80 miles until we reached Phou Khoun and rejoined the road south. Since our average speed over the three days was never more that 30mph, it was a long drive with a couple of stops to admire the stunning scenery - wave after wave of mountains seemingly marching away from the road on both sides. It was quite a relief to finally reach the Nam Song valley and arrive in our overnight stop at Vang Vieng.

The self-styled 'tubing capital of the world' is a must see place for any backpacker passing through the region and one that we would have preferred to bypass. Unfortunately after another 7 hours on the road there were no other options - but we had at least booked a room at a small hotel away from the main drag overlooking the river.

It turned out to be a lovely peaceful spot and one where we would have been happy to stay for a few nights if it hadn't been for the backpackers inferno which surrounded the place. Our guide book told us that despite dozens of restaurants and bars that we would have to search hard to find good food. They were right - we didn't.

We did however have a very peaceful night's sleep and good breakfast at a shady spot on the river bank before we were back on the road for the last 100 miles to Vientiane where we arrived in time for lunch.

The Plain of Jars - and the legacy of the 'Secret War'

Our driver - Mr Oa - was very punctual and was a much better driver than some we have had. Probably just as well given the roads over which we travelled the next 400 miles. While the highest mountain here may be just over 2500m, northern Laos has to be one of the most mountainous areas that I have ever visited. For the first 120 miles of the drive to Phonsavan - although the road surface was good - we rarely travelled more than 100 metres in a straight line or on the level. Very impressed by the number of falang cyclists who were braving the mountan roads - some even with their weans in tow (literally).

Interesting to see the villages perched on the edge of the mountain sides and the land that they have cleared on the slopes to plant their crops. Since they have little land suitable for rice they are amongst the poorest comunities in the country but still had satellite dishes outside most houses and shacks.

We descended about 1000m to the Plain - which is 1200m above sea level and could immediately see the difference in the lifestyle and prosperity of the villages and the towns we passed. Much bigger farms and a lot of concrete houses - some of them very grand places - as Mr Oa suggested some had made money in agriculture or transport or tourism but the biggest were those who made their money from corruption!

Since Phonsavan was largely wiped off the map by US bombs in the 60's and 70's it was rebuilt in a very communist style with a lot of large concrete buildings along the main street - mostly Chinese / Vietnamese owned hotels and restaurants. Not a place to spend more than a night or two unless your business is construction, or clearing unexploded ordnance.

Our hotel was in the Chinese utilatarian style, a huge soulless place which was good enough for a one night stay -and a surprisingly good breakfast. Our first stop in town was MAG (Mine Action Group International) one of the Charities which is helping to clear some of the huge quantities of explosives left behind by Curtis LeMay's carpet bombing campaign. Have a look at the website to see some of the consequences.

With Mr Oa's help we found a local guide - who spoke good english - to show us the main Jars sites. Local legend says that the jars - up to two metres in height - were used by the previous inhabitants of the plain - a race of giants - to ferment their rice wine while the archaeologists date them to 500 BC and claim that they are funerary jars. I think I prefer the legend - with that much rice wine it would have been one hell of a party!

Of course Linda took some photos in Thailand!!

If you follow this link, you may even be able to see them -https://picasaweb.google.com/109254847766143856862/ThailandAlbum?authkey=Gv1sRgCIuM0JSa_sjX3gE&feat=directlink

Travelling in Laos

After a day exploring Luang Prabang - more temples and an excellent dinner at Tamarind - we spent our second day kayaking on the Nam Ou river which flows into the Mekong above Luang Prabang - a very peaceful alternative to the hustle and bustle of the town.
Stopped at the Pak Ou caves to see the Buddhas (apparently this is where they deposit all the old damaged / broken statues) and then had to paddle across the flow of the Mekong to get to the landing beach where we being collected. Tried a bit of local culture - at the Royal Ballet Theatre - with less than 30 others in a hall that probably seated 150. Very artistic and colourful but I was glad it only lasted for 90 mins and was followed by another very good meal at Coconut Garden.
We were disappointed by the range of tours on offer - despite the fact that almost every other shop front was a tour agent - they all offered the same sort of things with minor variations and it seemed expensive after Chiang Mai. We decided to have a couple more days in town and then head for Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars and onwards to Vientiane. The price from the agents seemed excessive - over $650 for two of us over three days with a tight itinerary - so we decided to organise it ourselves.
After a couple of false starts, we arranged to hire a car (minibus actually) with driver, booked our own accommodation and figured we would save at least $200 and be able to do things as we wanted.

Leaving Thailand - and those bloody bankers again!

Have really enjoyed Chiang Mai - could definitely come back here to spend more time - will have to plan another trip!

Our arrival in Luang Prabang went very smoothly -hotel car waiting for us at the airport and a very pleasant room at Villa Pumalin - stretching the budget a bit at $70 per night - but in addition to A/C, wifi and a roomsafe, it also had one of the best showers since we left our Barbican flat. The town is full for Chinese New year - both expats from neighbouring countries enjoying the long weekend, and tour groups of Chinese who seem to go everywhere in a mob (more on this later). It is a charming town and worthy of its World Heritage designation but the current levels of tourism - while good for the local economy - may soon destroy the special nature of the place.

Before coming here, we had been advised to take money in US$ and Thai Baht as it was often difficult to exchange other currencies and the ATM's were not always reliable. As we got off the plane - loaded with cash - we tried the airport ATM - just to see whether it would work or not. You can imagine our delight to get a message that our cards were declined and that we should contact our bank!

On Friday morning - after trying a couple of other machines with the same result -we were on the phone to Lloyds again to learn that our cards had been stopped for a second time - despite all previous conversations - as a security precaution and that we would have to speak to the fraud team. Unfortunately they only work UK business hours - so please call back after 9.00am!

When we finally got it sorted we were told that this was all due to the security systems on their computer systems and that there was nothing that they could do. Since we will be in at least two more countries before we head home, I assume that we will have to experience this again and again.

I would love to change banks but I doubt it would be worth the aggravation and they're all as bad as each other anyway. Perhaps I should move to Canada where the banks are - allegedly - more efficient.

Are there really only 84 temples in Chiang Mai?

Although we only visited 5 or 6 temples while here, it did seem that there were a lot more - almost one on every corner. However our guide today was quite sure of his figures.

We spent yesterday morning on the temple trail and managed to see Wat Chiang Man, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Pan Tao and Wat Phra Singh before a bottle of Chang beer dragged my attention away. While there are many differences between them, they all adhere to the same basic principles and the architecture is as stunning as the decoration. While the major Wats are on a grand scale, some of the smaller buildings are - in my view - much more pleasing to the eye.

We missed out on the Monk Chat - on offer at many Wats - but did have a conversation with an older monk at Wat Kat Karam today - after our Ping river trip on a scorpion-tailed boat - where our guide, who claimed 67 years but looked older, admitted to having been a mercenary in the Vietnam war - assume on the US side.

One more Wat to visit tomorrow - Doi Sutthep - before we head for the airport and our flight to Luang Prabang. Travelling over the Chinese New Year holiday -Kong Hay Fat Choy to all - has made hotel bookings hard to find. However Jinty's recommendation came up trumps and we have at least got a bed for our first few nights.

It will be interesting to see what differences there are between Thailand and Laos - we have enjoyed the friendly helpful Thai people we have met and are told that the Lao are even more friendly and laid back - watch this space!

A Walk in the Park

Doi Inthanon (2565m) is the highest mountain in Thailand and the National Park which surrounds it, while geared mainly to wildlife conservation, is also home to a number of Hill tribe villages -mostly Karen on the lower slopes with Hmong higher up. According to the guidebooks it shelters a huge variety of Flora and fauna - including 380 bird species and a number of orchids - which should all be at their best during the cool dry season (now).
It was therefore disappointing that our guide - Daeng, from a Karen tribe who live on the upper reaches of the mountain - did not make the effort to tell us about the trees and plants that we were trekking through. He led the group fairly well and the trekking (about 30km in total), meals, accommodation and rafting were all well organised but he rarely volunteered information about flora and fauna and was only really chatty when we were sitting round the fire in the evenings.
There were only 7 of us on the trek so there was no pressure on space but we did spend a long time sitting on benches in the song thaew (a covered pickup) on our way to and from the park. Our companions included a thirtysomething couple from Helena, Montana who were good company and three gap year graduates from London who could have been scripted by Matt Lucas or Catherine Tate - 'Am I bovvered?' was a regular response to each other in their nonstop inane chatter.
Two nights sleeping on bamboo mats in the Hill tribe equivalent of a Long House was enough for me - not least because it got down to about 5C on the first night and my sleeping bag was a little on the thin side - I was very glad to get back to the guesthouse and a bed with a mattress and pillow on Monday night!
On the subject of nonstop chatter I must acknowledge that two of our Austrian friend, Kai's, recommendations were excellent - the Blue Diamond has been the best breakfast place we have found in Thailand while the food at Taste from Heaven was also very good - even if it was veggie!

It seemed like a good idea.....

We had expected that our overnight train journey to Chiang Mai would be a highlight and at least worth the trouble that it took to book. Sadly - even though we had decided we could spring for the 1st Class cabin - it turned out to be an uncomfortable, relatively sleepless night in a carriage which was seriously past its sell-by date. In addition, the failed suspension system when allied with the poor state of the track meant that we felt every bump of the 12 hour journey.

Nevertheless it was good to arrive in Chiang Mai - our base for a week or so. It is small enough to be walkable and has a huge amount to offer. We are staying in a guesthouse run by a Thai woman who was married to a Frenchman for many years - quite refreshing to be greeted in French first by all the staff - and they do have decent coffee and pastries (although you have to be early to get any).

Started off with 2 days of cooking classes at the Thai Kitchen Cookery Centre - recommended by Linda's friend Eilish from Dublin. It all seems so simple when you are taught in easy steps - proof will be in the dishes we can produce at home. After cooking 7 dishes each on each day - and eating it all as well - we haven't managed to eat anything else. I couldn't manage my first Singha until after 8.00pm last night and tonight may be the same. Interesting group of people on the courses with us including an American couple with their three boys - 12, 10 and 7 -who had taken a year out and were travelling around the world.

Off trekking in the Doi Inthanon National Park tomorrow for three days - spending the nights in hill tribe villages - and then back to Chiang Mai for a couple more days to see the sights before we head for Luang Prabang in Laos.

Hellfire Pass

This was to be stage 3 of our death railway programme and was worth the visit -despite the fact that the tour meant we did not have as much time as we would have liked. The museum and the walk through the passes (a three hour circular walk which we had to skip) were established and funded by Australian veterans with some government backing. As you walk through the pass it is hard to imagine the work that went into cutting the stone over three months during the hottest part of the year.
The final part of the trip was the journey back to town on the train but having been rushed through the museum and the walk our guide got a call to say that due to an accident - 'no worry, nobody killed' - the railway was closed for the rest of the day. This was hugely disappointing and we had to settle for the trip back by road and a visit to the bridge on foot.

Travelling companions

We decided to travel to Hellfire Pass with an organised tour which included a trip to the seven levels of the Erawan waterfall - one of the best in Thailand, a visit to the Pass and then return journey by the train along the death railway (or DEAD railway as a number of Thai signs described it). Since it was difficult to do all of this in one day under our own steam, we thought we would take advantage of someone else's experience.
Turned out that there were only three of us on the trip - our companion was a youngish Austrian named Kai who had been travelling in Thailand since the end of December and had been on his own for the last two weeks after his girlfriend had left to return to work in Austria. To say that he was talkative would be a gross understatement - from meeting at 9.00am until we got back to the guesthouse at 5.30pm he never stopped. Guess he hadn't had much conversation in the last couple ofweeks!
He was also staying in the same guesthouse and as we sat down to dinner he arrived and joined us - without eating or drinking - for the whole meal and then did the same again at lunch time today. We picked up one or two helpful tips from the constant chatter but were very glad to wave goodbye as he headed for Bangkok and his flight home.

Lost for words

We spent our first morning in Kanchanaburi visiting the Death Railway Museum and the main allied cemetery.

It is hard to describe the effect of the story which these two sites tell when taken together. Despite my previous research, the exemplary way in which the museum told the story and 7000 war graves in a small city block, I still cannot begin to understand the suffering that the allied POW's and the Asian conscripted labourers went through during the building of the railway.

Juxtaposed with the tv pictures of that grinning monkey - who was our Prime minister for far too long - trying again to justify his decision to start his own war in Iraq - it makes me wonder if we will ever learn anything about the futility of war!

Tomorrow we are heading up the railway to Hellfire Pass to pay our own respects - in some small way.

As a sideline it is interesting to note that the river over which the infamous Bridge was built was not the Kwai at all. Pierre Boulle who wrote the book which was turned into the movie had assumed that because the railway ran along side the KwaiNoi for much of its route, that this was the river that had been bridged at Kanchanaburi. In fact it was the Mae Khlong. Obligingly the Thai government renamed it Kwai Yai after the movie had been released and the first groups of tourists started arriving to visit the site.

More travelling

Minibus from hotel to Rama II in Bangkok suburbs - taxi to Sai Tai bus station -minibus to Kanchanaburi - soong thaew to hotel - all at breakneck speed. About 400km in 7 hours including a refreshment stop at a cost of £7.50 each.
We were both glad to reach Apple's Retreat on the riverside at Kanchanaburi - a friendly welcome, comfortable room (£10 per night) and cold beer. Also an oasis of calm after the rush of the day. Would recommend it to anyone not least because of the great food in the restaurant -however will leave the tripadvisor comments to Linda!

Life's a beach!

Golden Pines Resort at Pak Nam Pran had everything that you could want - comfortable room, balcony with great view of the sunrise over the Gulf of Thailand, Air con, hot showers, wifi, a great pool overlooking the beach and very friendly helpful staff - of course. Unfortunately it was sadly lacking in one commodity - other guests! A 33 room resort with only four guests (including us) felt a little empty to say the least - at any time the staff outnumbered the guests by at least 5 to 1.
The same applied to most of the places along the beach - even our favourite bar - Bamboo Beach - while busier than most others always had empty tables. The Thai owner Jane bemoaned the fact that there were so few western visitors in what should have been high season and complained that asian visitors tended to spend all their time in their resort hotels.
Naturally we were accosted in the bar - in a friendly manner - by the ubiquitous Scot(s). This time it was a pair of retired schoolmasters from Elgin Academy. They were keen to tell me how glad they were to have retired early - didn't believe that I had beaten them by 10 years!

On the Road

As we waited for the taxi to take us to the Southern Bus Station for our bus to Pak Nam Pran, the hotel concierge asked where we were going and then asked why we didn't just hire a car and driver to take us the whole way "much quicker, much better"!

That would have been my plan but since Linda was in charge of the arrangements, we are now aboard the #985 bus to Pranburi. So far so good - plenty of room to stretch out and to sit and type as well - probably more room than the Toyota Camry - and only 4 stops on the way down. Jury's still out but...

........Well, what can I say? Very comfortable bus journey which dropped us at the centre of Pran Buri in less than 3 hours - an hour ahead of schedule. Interesting discussion with a Songthaew driver to get us to our hotel - think we have now tried 8 different types of public transport with only tuktuks, samlors and motorbike taxis to go!

Pak Nam Pran is a very Thai resort and quiet during the middle of the week, but the hotel has all the comforts and, of course, very friendly. So far there are 2 english speaking staff - think we will see a lot of them!

The sights and flavours of Bangkok

I had been promised a couple of days to relax, so our sightseeing was restricted to Jim Thompson's House - an oasis of calm and tranquillity - and the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo - a hive of tourist activity. It seems odd that the temple of the Emerald Buddha should be the busiest place that we have been since arriving but I guess I could say the same about the Grand Mosque in Casablanca or the Alhambra in Granada.

My protestant upbringing has difficulty with the concept of merit-making while my western eye finds much of the decoration overdone.However I love the simplicity and functionality of traditional Thai architecture and the grain and texture of the teak.

As usual, we had identified a few places to eat - some recommended by friends, others the result of reading too many guide books. For simple meals, the Bus Stop and the Seven Seas on Sukhumvit Soi 4 were good - too early in the trip for hawker food! Cabbages and Condoms may be an institution but the food was still excellent- wonder if we could introduce the concept to the West of Ireland?

Brown Sugar - Soi Sarasin - was a great Jazz bar with a good resident band, a jam session on Sunday night and the food wasn't bad either (thanks PL). Curries and More... on Soi Ruam Rudee was upmarket Thai food and on the pricy side while La Gritta - Soi 13? was an expensive - very good - Italian which we chose by mistake because we had forgotten the name of the place Jimmy C recommended (La Giusta for future reference).

Been there - done that!

My first visit to Bangkok was 1974 - I remember meeting David Frost on the flight from Singapore - and my abiding memory was of the overwhelming presence of young US servicemen on R&R from Vietnam.

I was back again for a few days in 1978 - getting a visa to work in Brazil - but except for touching down at Don Muang Airport a few times on flights to Oz, I didn't return to the city until the 90's when I was here regularly on business and you couldn't move for the construction works for the MRT and the Skytrain and the new superhighways.

Linda's memories are of hockey trips from Hong Kong and Singapore and some of those stories will probably remain untold - 'what goes on tour.....'!

Landing at Suvarnabhumi airport this week it seems that the city has reached adulthood and taken its rightful place as another suburb of that sprawling Pacific city whch already includes Tokyo, Shanghai, Hongkong, Singapore, Sydney,Santiago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

Unfortunately, the city seems to have lost many of those features which seemed uniquely Thai and ended up like most of the others in the region - a fellow traveller described it as Blade Runner without the rain! Until you get to Sukhumvit or Patpong, of course, where you encounter hordes of attractive young women selling their services to the legions of fairly unattractive Farang.

Maybe my memories are rose-tinted, or perhaps I am becoming more cynical (is that possible?) butI am glad to be leaving the city behind as we head south for the coast and Pak Nam Pran.

Best laid plans

It seemed such a simple plan - a few days in Bangkok, a short visit to Kanchanburi and the Death Railway and then jump on the overnight sleeper to Chiang Mai. Unfortunately everyone else wants to get on the sleeper as well and there is no room for at least the next week. Guess we will have to settle for a few days on the beach until the rush is over.It's a rough life, but.....

Stop the banker's bonuses!

Despite notifying Lloyds that we were travelling to Thailand and Laos via their call centre and by email, they still managed to freeze our bankcards on both the accounts we had planned to use on our trip. In addition,when we called to sort it out they claimed that they couldn't do anything for 4 hours because all their systems were down for maintenance / upgrade.

For the same reason - apparently - we couldn't check the accounts via on-line banking. By the time it was finally resolved we had spent more than 15 minutes calling the UK from Linda's mobile - had to reorganise our plans for the day and grown a few more grey hairs.

I bet this wouldn't happen with a Canadian bank!

Taking a break!

Sunshine and 31C

Sitting by the pool with a cooling beverage watching the sun as it disappears behind the hotel tower next door.
10 days of visiting family and friends - driving 1100 miles and 14 restaurant meals later - was great fun but we were both ready for a break by the time we got into the taxi on our way to Heathrow.
Enjoyed being back around the Barbican for a couple of days but the taxi journey reminded me why city life lost its attraction a year or so ago. A lunchtime accident on the A4 had almost closed the road and even at 6.00pm it was still clogged justifying our driver's decision to take the A40. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so we crawled along from from White City to Park Royal.
Hour and a half to terminal 3 - thankfully we had checked in online and had plenty of time - and a very smooth passage through security left us with time for a farewell glass of fizz before boarding.
Flight was long and fairly uneventful - amazed at the number of single men of a variety of ages but equally bad dress sense and personal hygiene who were onboard. Assume they were coming here to visit their tailors and indulge in some personal grooming! Although having seen their ilk on our first night here they all seem to have engaged the services of a young(ish) female (mostly) Thai companion to help them cope with cultural differences - I assume.
So the adventure begins - so far we have agreed on 4 nights in Bangkok and then moving on the Kanchanburi and the Death Railway on Tuesday.

So what happened to 2010?

Well last time I looked it was around the beginning of October, we were busy fattening our two pigs, there were 23 geese on the paddock along with 5 of Keith's lambs and the hockey girls were settled and producing 28 fresh eggs every week.
Suddenly Christmas and Hogmanay are past and I am sitting opposite Linda on the Stena HSS ferry from Belfast to Stranraer as we begin 10 days of family visits in the UK before we head off for 7 weeks in Thailand and Laos.
Raising the pigs was definitely one of my successes for the year. By the time they went to the butcher at the beginning of November they had grown from 20-25 kg each to 85-90kg. As a result we ended up with nearly 120kg of meat in various forms (including 17kg of sausages) and 18 kg of Black pudding. Too much for our new freezer but thankfully our landlord took nearly 30 kg and paid a generous price for it – fair play to ye, Eugene! The meat has been very tasty with just the right layer of very sweet fat – not good for the cholesterol level but too good to avoid. Not sure if we will have pigs again next year – we will still be eating Billy and Bruce for most of the year – but it would be fun to try again.
The large flock of geese is definitely not to be repeated -too much effort and very little return – by Christmas time they were only selling for about 70% of their cost. They did reach a good weight – around 4.5kg when oven ready – and tasted really good but next time I think I would only raise a couple for ourselves.
The Hockey Girls were a great success for Linda - lost track of the number of eggs over the 6 months but there were never less than 24 per week. They were the only survivors as we packed up to leave – they are on their holidays too staying with Keith in a brand new “Celtic Tiger” henhouse – I may return to this later.
We had a great Christmas with friends visiting from the UK – more on this later too – it was so good to be able to share so much of our own produce with them!
So we packed up everything at Moyhill over the last weekend and are off on our travels again – sorry to all those regular readers who have commented on my indolence – there are lots of stories to tell so I will try to do better!!