Loved this photo of Kate fencing with the monkeys that blocked our path on our climb this morning and bared their teeth at us (just before she threw rocks at them) !!!

Extra bits

Matty keeps trying to censor me - he kreeps up on you like that.. you think he's being nice and helpful then you realise he's editing... so I've sent him away - ha ha. He is the better blog writter - no doubt - mine would be too motherly. he stopped me writing a blog full of tips for travelling with children which I keep feeling brewing up in me.

Anyhow... we are here in Railay in a lovely backpackers jungle resort with limited electricity - and lots of climbers with amazing bodies - sorry matty. Never before have I looked at sheer limestone rock formations and wanted to scale them so badly... same with Toby.... still time. A rather keith jones type climber told me - 'teach em young and they never forget' so tomorrow tobes and I will scale 200 metres up the ropes... no will still - nothing to leave! Pete - I finally get climbing... Olly - you would be proud of your nephew - I told him you were a climber altho I have to say M and I discussed this and I had to concede that mountains were easier than sheer rock faces - sorry to let you down.

matty by the way... as a side note to those of you who were suprised he came... is really settling in. he came back from a night scooter drive and declared he could live here!!! When pressed it seemed to come down to the fact he could park where ever - whenever - a little bizarre... but my evil plan may yet come to pass and I may make an expat of him!!

Toby has the inevitable squits... the precursor is a sad face and him anouncing his tummy hurts - i then run frantically to nearest loo - praying for a western loo and that I remembered wipes... or I have to make do with a bush and the sea and hope the other swimmers don't notice what I am cleaning..... sorry all

his diet is limited - i have not convinced him to eat noodles - which saddens me. matty and I take small comfort from the belief that banana pancakes contain protein (eggs), carbs (sugar) and fat ... and vitamins in the bananas.. and that ovaltine milkshakes are full pof vitamins (they drank them in the olden days at night - no??) . We supplement with plain rice, cucumber, occasional frankfurter, pineapple.... mmmm Matty tried to convince him that V8 (tomato and other veg) juice was like sprite today - as it was in a silver can - did not suceed. Still he's perky ... I will feed him diorelite tomorrow.

The fact we will be away for so long is sinking in now... esp as we are no longer holidaying so much. it is a funny feeling having a day stretch in front of you... bizarrely tiring at time - I know - no sympathy! How can one fill a day on a beach in a beautiful country. I am also possibly tiring of the beach. But letting experiences happen seems to really work - just suddenly deciding to cayak through limestone caves, coming across a long boat making pat thai for 60p... these are real highlights.

Matty declared today that he misses marmite most!!!! I declared I missed Toby having his friends & nursery - not so selfless as one might think - both these = me time!! It is tiring having toby all day ... especially as he has taken to mauling me regularly - why does he like eating my hair??? why does he think it;s funny to pull my pants down in public or open the loo door when I'm not yet finished. So yes I miss all Toby's friends because he misses them and I love them/ you all - but also you do save me some of this mobbing.

But he is amazing travelling. It is currently 10.36/9.36 pm ( we are not sure - we think the clocks have changed - must ask - I did point out to M it could be useful) . Toto is sitting in a lazy chair- feet on a tool box - curled up in blanket - asleep having fallen asleep in pram - then the lovely internet guy gave me the chair for him - he's just switched the music from David Gray to Motzart (says it's better to help him sleep - tool box to lift the legs up - better for circulation according to internet man) . People are so lovely with him. He is maturing so quickly - he understands about mosquitos (pretends to be one - much to my annoyance) and animals - but is so so calm. Rather oddly tonight he announced he had 4 babies - 2 in his tummy, one round the neck and one on top of his head - he offered me one to look after in my stomach - I asked if daddy could have one too and he said no - No pressure then!

The censor has returned - i must publish now for fear of the black pen - I will endeavour to creep another message past him soon. Love you all so much - happy birthday Olly and Abi M - please print this off for Granny - Hel love to the bump

Kate xxxx/ alias the mothertongue!

Railay

Ok .... backtrack on the bit about me keeping Kate sensible ... our penultimate day in lanta we hired a scooter and explored the Island some more ...... but in my defence - it was a Tiny Scooter and an even smaller Island with next to no traffic !! We did get to see some amazng places with stunning scenery and by the end of the day were feeling so confident that we headed for the dirt track up to the waterfall marked ' experienced bikers only ' !!! How much more experienced can you be than four hours?? Toby sat in between us singing to me the whole way but we didn't quite make it all the way as the 45min walk in baking heat got the better of us - the only time we have bottled it so far and quite a shame in hindsight. On the plus side ... we did see some more elephants and some stunning scenery. It also gave us a cghance to see some other deserted beaches where we stopped for a swim.

The next morning we packed up and headed for the ferry to Railay beach with High expectations and no accommodation !! Everyone had told us that railayt was the best beach in this part of Thailand so we were really looking forward to it ... and the 2 hour ferry crossing came with stunning views .. particularly approaching the shore. - Actually 'approached' is a loose term as a few hunbdred meters out we were unceremoniously dumped onto a longtail boat for the journey in ... fortunately Toby was game as ever jumping down. On arriving Toby and I hung out with our bags on the beach while Kate went in search of accommodation. 5 minutes later I had met a young couple travelling for a year who told me of a great cheap resort with space and we were sorted ... if only Kate knew !!!! Two hours later she returned full of despair that there was nowhere decent around and the place was a bulding site. A short hop on another longboat round the rocks to the next beach - Tonsai - and we found a great resort of backp[ackers bungalows. No frills and little luxury but picturesque, clean and most of all a bed for the night !!

Heading down to the beach in the morning we decided to walk back to Railay accross the rocks ... but were stopped in our tracks awestruck at the climbers hundreds of feet overhead dangling on ropes !!! (lesley ... you and Pete would love it here ... climbers everywhere !!)

Inspired we headed for the trickiest route across with daredevil Toby leading the way (surprise surprise) pulling himself up by rope and skidding away.

Down the other side we decided that the young adrenaline junkie hadn't had enough ... so headed off in a kayak trhough caves to the other side of the bay ... how he is going to keep this up I have no idea !

Railay Bay itself though has been quite disappointing .... compoarted to the other places we've been it's quite crowded, touristy and loads of building work .... even if the natural scenery is stunning ! We may have come here too late but from all we'd heard we couldn't wait to get here and felt a bit let down.

2 more days here and up to chiang mai is the plan so far.

p.s. Kate is finally admitting that she isn't quite as game as she thought ... turning up with no accommiodation really stressed her out and the lack of cupboard in her room is driving her mad - it's quite fun to see !!

Much love to all

K, M and T

xx

Jungle Home

I think that like drugs and tatoos (i speak from experience) and murder (i don't but I have heard) ... ordering your first cheeseburger and chips in a really nice Thai restaurant is one of those things that takes loads of building up to first time ... but just seems so easy and natural after that ..... I feel slightly ashamed !!!



Ok well it feels like ages since we've updated this and seems like so much has happened but when I go to write it down my mind goes slightly blank and I just wish I could upload some photos ... but all those of you who said that would be easy in all the Internet cafes were 100% wrong !!! So far despite having sophisticated memory card readers not 1 cafe has been able to both read my photos from it and also upload to the internet .... and best of all the last 1 I went to wiped three weeks of photos and destroyed both memory cards i was carrying !! Fortunately I found a small photo workshop where the guy was able to recover the photos to disk ... and amazingly .... for we are now on one of the smaller Islands (Ko lanta ... but i'll get to that !!!) ... told me that he didn't like chelsea anymore cos we sacked Mourinho ... wtf ??? don't you have better things to worry about ... you can't even understand the man !!!!! Haters everywhere !!!



On to the travels ... well to be honest we have still been lame and not really started any sort of 'travelling' as such and have just moved from one amazing resort to the next ... although the 6 hour bus and 2 ferry journey here with Toby showed us how good he is getting at this whole think ... he behaved brilliantly except for announcing he 'really needs a wee' at the back of a cramped minibus in the middle of a traffic jam in torrential rain which necessitated kate clambering over people with him and getting passengers to get out into the downpoor to let her out with him (an ever popular move !!)



We are now on a beautiful island ... Lanta ... staying in a resort cut into jungle/forest like scenery overlooking a beach which makes for the most stunning landscape but also an unbelievable array of insects and animals ... monkeys roam the grounds in the morning (although having never seen any I am prone to suspect a conspiracy and that everyone else in the resort is lying)



We have however explored the Island and come across a lovely elephant whose owner let Toby have a 10 minute ride in the Jungle just so we could check he was ok to go on a larger trek in Chiang mai ... and he had the best time ... just wish I could send some pics of his face !



We also hired a jeep for the day (please note all those of you who thought we would be ok here cos at least kate was sensible ... the jeep was my idea ... Kate wanted a single motorbike for the three of us !!! ) and in true Berger fashion set off around the Island with no map ! Stunning views from up in the mountains and a beautiful old village on the sea were the highlights.



We were also lucky enough to be here for the Islands annual 'Choa Ley' boat festival where small floats are made from palm leaves and filled with a lock of hair and some fingernails together with incense and money and sent to see as an offering to the water gods and wishes made. We went to the beach on the November full moon with Toby asleep and made him up a small bed while we made our wishes and it was really beautiful. We have just started putting him to bed ... waiting and then going out with him asleep next to us wherever we go ... so far hasn't been too bad except for the night we drove with him on the back seat of the Jeep to the most romantic spot on the island ... drove up onto the beach and got out to enjoy the view ... only to turn around to check him and find he had fallen off in the two minutes we were out of the car and was now screaming wildly.



Tomorrow we return to a different part of Krabi for a few days before on to Chiang Mai and then the temples at Angkor Watt in Siem Reap which did originally get cut from our itinerary but the more I hear about them the more determined I am to make the journey ... however circuitous it makes our route.



It's currently looking like Christmas and New Year in Nepal .. well if i get my way (unlikely I know)



Hope all is good with everyone and it's always so nice to hear from you all back home



M



x

Finding Nemo

ok ... last of four days in Krabi today and i'm starting to worry about having nothing planned past next week. !

It seemed like such a great way to travel .. planless that is ... but now people are worrying me with stories of fully booked hotels from now till xmas for high season and I have an urge to book the next three months worth of rooms - so as a happy compromise I'm trying to find cheap and easy ways to get from krabi to chiang mai and on to siem reap and then once I know I can get there I'll worry about accommodation.

In the meantime the last few days have been great ... Toby has already seen so much that I can just tell how amazing this experience is going to be for him. On our first morning here we went for a walk on the beach and he discovered a dead starfish and a dead puffer fish (huge!) both of which we let him poke / turn over with a big stick. He was fascinated and really enjoyed exporing them .... and the view from the beach itself was amazing. That may have been entirely natural but I have my suspicions that the elephant that proudly marched into the water in front of us on day two was staged for tourists ... although 1) no-one wanted any money and 2) there weren't that many of us around. Even so Toby absolutely loved stroking it although his initial reaction of 'Wow - an elephant ... Now can I see a giraffe daddy?' made me wonder if he realises how special this all is !!!

And as if all this wasn't good enough at broadening Tobys horizons .... even I may be mellowing to it all. When the friendly German couple with a child mentioned that they were also thinking about hiring a private longboat to Island hop and why didn't we share with them .. to my amazement I didnt recoil with horror and scream 'of course not ... get away bloody foreigners' but actually found myself agreeing that it might be a nice idea.

So today we went to some of the most beautiful, deserted Islands I have ever seen and swam with incredible fish ... we even saw a 100% replic Nemo standing outside his sea anemone guarding it ... although it was too deep for Toto to see. He did however feed some fish from the beach as they swam in shoals arond his ankles.

Krabi

enough stuff for four months with a three year old (considering one of the big rucksacks contains his large pop-up travel bed) ... hmmmmmm? remains to be seen !!

Excuse me if the writing seems a bit distracted but the old guy on my left is looking at pictures of grannies performing lewd acts and the one on my right has a screenful of 'Thai Girls looking for sex in your area now' in various states of undress and I'm finding it hard not to stare !!!







Well 2 good changes ... 1) anyone can leave comments on here now you dont need to be registered and 2) I have photos !!

...ok ive just discovered how long photos take in thai internet cafes so that may be the only ones today.

The last few days have been good ... visited the Grand Palace in Bangkok, took loads of riverboats up and down to keep Toby amused and went to chinatown ... as bustly a place as I have ever been. Toby has coped well considering the fact that almost everyone here thinks it's normal to pinch him and grab his hand ... i think him shouting no loudly and covering his face with his hands may be considered rude but i dont blame him at all.

Having said that I'm glad to be out of Bangkok which is such a hectic place to start a holiday like this ... and down at a beach. We have a great room with everything we need plus a huge kids pool for Toby to play in ... hopefully he will enjoy some downtime this week before the next city. So excuse me if blog updates aren't too forthcoming this week but I rekkon 'lounged by the beach and had a massage in my hut' may be 1) a bit dull and 2) extremely annoying !!

please continue to leave comments / emails as it's great to hear from you all

Mx

(wow am i feeling self-conscious after seeing the size of the guy 'Mika 54kkk Asian Legend' is fellating on the screen next to me in her boldly titled 'comeback video' - get googling !!!)

comfort and luxury in Bangkok

Hello!

Well we are here and I am currently writing this from the Paragon shopping centre in Bangkok. A massive luxury complex whose air conditioning and lighting apparently uses as much electricity as a whole district/ country ...! So starting our eco holiday well!! But it's big bonus for a family with a 3 year old is that it has an indoor air conditioned soft play area - next to the computers ... and a children's karaoke area - we are being entertained by minipops singing 'Winter wonderland'.

The flight out was fine. Quite something to say of a 18 hour journey with a 3 year old. We booked a night flight hoping Toby wouldn't be able to fail to sleep - but of course he did! However he was amazing considering. He watched a lot of TV which helped keep us sane. I ended up dozing on the floor at one point trying to get him to sleep across the seats. A weird stopover in Dubai which reminded me of vegas. Emirates supplied a push chair to use in the airport - Toby finally slept and Matty and I camped on the floor eating noodles bought on credit card - with no idea of the exchange rate!! Luckily we later found out only $8.

We arrived in Bangkok and promptly got ripped off by a taxi tout - failing to listen to my mum's final waringin. But bonus - he did know the way to our friend's the salmon's house which is rather remote.

We arrived at their amazing thai mansion into the luxury of aircon and food cooked by their lovely housekeepers!!

The last 3 days have really been aclimatising in comfort. Highlight - me jumping in a tuktuk with no idea where to go so picking the first place i recognised on the map - a snake farm. A bit bizarre but it turned out to be amazing and we watched a demo of venom being squeezed out of a vipers fangs, and Toby had a python draped around him - very responsible mother trying to show Toby the dangers in life!

Yesterday we cooled off in a pool and Toby spent 2 hours playing with Ahaan and Freddy - I even had to shower and clean his two imaginary best friends (the real ones back in London) ... it was so so sweet - made me a little tearful. But on the positive A and F spared me and matty having to be cats for a while.

Also spent a few hours haggling at the Night Bazaar .. amazing how you get into the bargaining and realise you are arguing about whether to pay $1.90 or $2.20 for the fake watch but won't concede anyway.

Must go now as we are hungry and off to find noodles! (mattys highlight ... noodles and pork about 50p and really delicious !!)

Excuse this blog being a bit random to start with - we will get into the swing of it soon and once we have better internet access from friday Matty will add photos ! Plan so far is Krabi tomorrow, Ko Lanta Next Friday and then maybe Chang Mai followed by Cambodia and across to India for Vishals wedding (a client of Matty who is having a 5 day wedding in Gujarat!) but all is subject to change !!

tonnes of love and sunshine to you all and please post replies comments on here cos it will be lovely to hear from you all.

xx

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