Paul & Lauren’s Travels

On Sunday evening (29th July) we went out for diner and dessert with Rudy, Lara Rudresh and their two children Ester and Zeina. The Rudresh family have been so wonderful to Paul and I during our week in Thailand. Even though they were in the middle of moving house, they made time for us and helped us with organising our holiday. I was lovely to get to know this wonderful family. As Rudy was leaving for a conference on Monday, we all went out to dinner together on Sunday. It was a fun night!

On Sunday the 29th of July, after two fittings Paul and I picked up our Tailor made clothes from Veingping Collection. This tailor was recommended to us by three different people. As a government endorsed tailor it was more expensive than others, but we were looking for quality, and we found it!

I really enjoyed choosing fabrics and designs for my smart casual pants (two pair in wool cashmere) and two shirts. It was bliss!

Paul was very happy to have his Business suite (wool,cashmere pin stripe), two shirts and smart casual slacks. When he first tried on his suite, we was so pleased he strutted all around the shop!

Who needs bond ?

Paul was cooking some eggs for dinner. He put his finger on one of the eggs to turn it, he felt a zap. Is that Static? He put his finger in again… That’s AC current! We found out from Rudy and Lara that this is a common occurrence in Thailand. The power points are unearthed, so the Thai ladies stand on a mat to cook. Once Paul put on his Aus flag thongs, all was fine (Welcome to Thailand).

Hello,

On the Saturday the 28th, Paul and I had the pleasure of undertaking an elephant tour. We had our own private tour guide and driver. We were first taken to an orchid and butterfly farm, it was beautiful! I have never seen such giant butterflies. After spending some time there we journeyed onto the elephant camp.

The elephant camp was amazing! We bought some bananas to hand feed the elephants. It was very special to be so close to the animals. We then watched the elephant show, they played soccer, played harmonicas, popped balloons with darts and painted art work, then they did a giant somersault. Ok, that last one was made up, but they were pretty spectacular. The highlight of the day was going on a half hour elephant ride through the mountain. It is hard to describe how great this really was.

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The name of a delicious yoghurt smoothie, “paradise” is not the term I would use to describe Chiang Mai, but Chiang Mai is a lot of fun for tourists. The people here are really friendly, there is stacks to do and the food is delicious and cheap. Lauren and I have been enjoying roaring, sometimes putt-putting, in and out of the City in all manner of taxi. The took-tooks are a hoot.

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We’re in Thailand! For months we have been using the thought of a week’s holiday in Thailand as a way of dealing with the stress of our departure from friends and family in Australia, however now that we are here we find ourselves fairly unprepared for it.

To begin with, it only occurred to us on route that Thailand would be hot and wet this time of year. As we exited the airport terminal were hit by a tsunami of humidity and air pollution. Experiencing the air in Bangkok could be compared to sitting in a sauna after consuming one too many red curries the previous night, accompanied by an idling bus.

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