Arrival Bangkok

There is much to be said about embarking on an adventure knowing that there is a friendly face waiting for you on the other end of a 15 hour flight.

Life long friend and travel companion Jenna.  Not only an amazing friend who to be honest I can't even remember how we met as our friendship has always just existed in the fabric of my memory. Together we plan to explore as much of Thailand as we can before she leaves me to jetset back to South Africa and her job and I carry on to what will hopefully be a trip around Vietnam and Cambodia. But I'm getting ahead of myself...first Bangkok!

Art of miscommunication and its abundance. After checking into our hotel we found ourselves a little bit hungry and needing to break some big 1000 baht notes so we went into the 7 Eleven next door where  we discovered delicious looking sausage and cheese toasted sandwich. We ordered with glee and salivating anticipation only to receive sausages in a bag smothered in melted cheese. Lesson one learnt more hand gesturing and broken English is needed. Maybe learning some Thai would be good too.

Catching the river boats on our first night we got caught in the tourist net by getting the blue tourist boat for 40 baht when we could have gotten the orange boat for just 14 baht. You know what they say about hindsight...it's a #*$*

Oh well Bangkok 2 J&T  0.

Actually to be fair it all worked out pretty well the blue boat cruise was not as crowded and we could sit and enjoy the views while we stressed over whether we were about to miss the central pier stop. After a couple of false alarms we found the right stop and a short walk later we were ascending the 64 floors to the sky bar at the top of the Lebua State Tower like slightly underdressed superstars. Two expensive cocktails later we were sitting catching up while the sun did it's thing and set dramatically over the sprawling city of Bangkok. For just one night we lived the highlife literally.

J&T  64 - Bangkok 2

Being 64 floors up can make a girl hungry so next order of business was some dinner so off we went to get a taxi to a market and food area.

'You want tuk tuk 150 baht'
J: 100 baht
Driver: yes

And with that exchange and our first thai negotiation we were off in what I can only describe as a cross between a golf cart and a motorbike with a cart stuck on the back that would never have passed a road worthy test. Zipping and weaving through the traffic we hoped to goodness this guy knew what he was doing. Of course we were taking photos and selfies that our driver decided he would turn around and join us for! Who says you need to keep your eyes on the road when driving. Our first tuk tuk  ride and a massive check on our Bangkok to do list!!

Next item food with J ordering her first ever phad thai with roasted pork. Having had it before myself I decided to go with a soft shell crab version. Which as it turns out is in fact a small crab deep fried. He came sat on top of my phad thai looking at me. Let's just say I gave it a good ole  try but a lot of his limbs got pushed to the side.

Day two in Bangkok brought our first full day of exploration. Our goal was to visit the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha Temple, Wat Pho and anything else we could fit in. So it was off to the boats again this time buying orange tickets to make our way to the Grand Palace.

It was a feast for the eyes! So much mosaic, patterns, colours and different textures you almost didn't know where to look. The only thing I can think of from Europe that has this much colour, design and patterns are Gaudi's pieces in Barcelona.

The Grand Palace is a big complex of buildings and has been used for about 150 years as the official residence of the King. Inside the complex you find the Emerald Buddha Temple also called the Wat Phra Kaew. The Emerald Buddha is actually made of jade. When it was discovered it had a clay layer over it so no one knew there was anything underneath until the Buddha's nose flaked a bit a revealed green stone which they mistakenly thought to be emerald at first hence the name. It is quite small and located up high on a pyramid type altar but the Buddha is carved from a single block of jade which is cool.

What we have learnt about temples so far: they are called 'wat's '. They have strict dress code rules that are not always enforced. Although we enjoyed the Grand Palace J and I both agree that a guide or the audio guide would have been more helpful to actually know the significance of what we were looking at. Wat Pho was awesome to visit. It sits just behind the Grand Palace complex and is a UNESCO world heritage site. At this Wat there is a huge golden reclining Buddha who is chilling out. It's so big!! And the rest of the buildings are in all different stages of decay it was amazing and so much more relaxed than the Grand Palace. It kinda left like we were walking around scenes from the Tomb Raider movies.

Finding the local flower markets proved more difficult than we thought and on the way J discovered a Boots store! Which made her body lotion and my sunscreen (without whitening, yes they have ones that do that) dreams come true! The flower markets then just miraculously appeared in the roads behind the Boots. Where flowers cost only R3.25 / €0.30! A flower lovers paradise.

Question of the night: the difference between street food and a restaurant on the street?

Same same just different me thinks!

Bangkok, we didn't know what to expect from you. It was like a proper old school blind date and but after just two days our vote is you get a second date.

Venice

Venice known as the floating city, the city of bridges, city of canals, city of masks

 and to be honest a city you will get lost in.

Built on muddy sediment and salt marshes this city is a maze of narrow alleyways and little bridges crossing canals that weave throughout the buildings that are crumpling and dipping lower in the sea every year. But luckily for us getting lost is just another excuse to have an adventure and Venice is the perfect city to explore.  

A city held up by alder wood pylons that have been driven down into some 100ft of silt is of course always going to be a magical place. Yet with a population of roughly 60 000 people it is today a city whose population is outnumbered by tourists on almost a daily basis in summer, some may argue that it's magical allure is fading. I personally felt very overwhelmed by Venice and its crowds the first time that I visited it, but what Venice needs is a second chance. A chance for it to show people its quieter more normal side. Now after having been to Venice more than thirteen times with a group I was finally able at the end of my summer season to go back to the islands on my own holiday to explore more and I discovered that the magic is not fading at all, changing yes perhaps but Venice will always have its allure. And if you take a chance and a few wrong turns you will find parts of Venice that are quietly beautiful in their serene state of ruin with water lapping at its door.

The Bridge of Sighs is an enclosed bridge connecting the Doge's Palace (Venetian Duke's and the rulers) and the prisons. Lord Byron named the bridge after he imagined the sigh prisoners would no doubt give as they crossed the bridge for the last time on the way to be put to death. These stone lace windows on the bridge would be their last look at freedom and their beloved Venice. 

San Marco (St Mark's Square) is the most famous square in Venice and is crowned with St Mark's Basicilia and the campanile (bell tower). 

A view of Santa Della Maria across the grande canal. 

Graffiti art protesting against the amount of tourists and the use of automatic boats on the canals can be found throughout the city. 

Act like a local and go buy some fresh produce at the markets where all the locals buy their fresh fish. 

The contrast of old and new in Venice is everywhere.

The area for exploration is so wide with its 118 islands to go and visit. 

Always changing, Venice even floods during high tide and walk ways need to be put down to try and keep people dry in  the popular areas. 

What do castles, whiskey and dolphins have in common?

Well for starters they were all involved in my epic birthday weekend roadtrip! And yes you guessed it they can all be found in Scotland. 

My sister and I were told by her boyfriend Luke, that we were to keep the Sunday before my birthday open for a surprise roadtrip. Intrigued and always up for a surprise, especially when it involves a roadtrip, I was instantly game to give up my Sunday for whatever he had planned. My sister on the other hand is not too fond of not knowing what the surprise is so she promptly begun quizzing and trying to figure out where we were going to be heading. She was not very successful and against the odds Luke managed to hold out. The only thing he did tell us was that it was a three hour drive from Aberdeen and that we should dress really warm, wear our wellingtons and pack a change of clothes in case.....

And so we piled into the car at 7:30am (a timely rarely seen by me on a Sunday unless I have plans to photograph) and sipping condense milk coffee we zoomed off into the Aberdeenshire countryside with the Cairngorm Mountains greeting us with glimpses of its snow covered peaks.  

Like all good roadtrips music was played, lyrics were sung and car games were played. Our favourite two being 'Spot the hairy coo' and 'That town is named what?!'. To explain my sister and I have grown up with a mother who adores cows - I have literally lost count of number of black and white cow decorated items in our kitchen (Love you Mom) - hence we think that the hairy coo or Highland cattle are so cute with their wavy sometimes even dreadlocked hair. But since arriving in Scotland four months ago I had yet to see one besides on every Scotland postcard I have ever seen....hmm a touch of false advertising perhaps, but I digress. Where was I, oh yes the second game involved reading all the road signs and trying to pronounce the names of towns. Easy yes? No. I was probably the worst at this game. Some of the funniest names for towns that we encountered were Tomintoul (Tom-n-tool), Dufftown and Boghead. 

Finally on driving by Inverness, we saw a Moray Firth sign and it hit must sister well like a sign. We were on our way to Cromarty to see the dolphins with Ecoventures. And so it was a race to the RIB (rigid inflatable boat) and off out to sea that we went, hoping to catch a glimpse of the most northerly colony of Bottlenosed Dolphins in the world. 

The view looking back at the town of Cromarty as we headed out on our dolphin adventure. 

On our way out to the open water we pass the base of an old oil rig that is waiting to be sold. It has basically been sitting there for years and has become a nesting place for local birds and sea life. 

Pulling up alongside the huge pillars Sarah, our skipper, explains the history of how they got here. 

Sarah shares more local sea tales from the area. 

The HMS Natal was a Duke of Edinburgh-classed armoured cruiser that was built for the Royal Navy. A series of internal explosion rocked the ship on the 30 December 1915 causing it to sink within minutes killing between 390 and 421 people on board.  The remainder of the ship was blown up in 1970 to prevent it being a hazard to navigation. This is all that remains now to mark the resting place of this once great ship. 

The cliffs and rocks provide homes for a wide variety of bird life.  

Coastal batteries can be found on the north and south headlands. 

They were built to protect the port of Invergordon and Cromarty Firth during the 1st and 2nd World Wars. 

Our waiting is rewarded with a sighting not far from the boat. 

And with no more dolphins frolicking in the ocean for us to see we headed back to Cromarty's little harbour...

To get back into the car and go to the next stop on our adventure!

Discovering the Fittie

Footdee, or the 'Fittie' as it is more commonly known as in Aberdeen, is nothing short of charming. Upon reaching the end of the beach promenade you would be forgive for thinking that there was nothing next to the harbour expect grey, cold stone houses. But if you walk a little way up to get around a wall (and in my case climb over it) and then turn the corner you will be amazed to discover the Fittie that lies before you. 

The area itself has been inhabited as far back as the Medieval times but is mostly known for housing the local fishing community of Aberdeen. The Footdee, as a housing development was laid out by John Smith (a well known Aberdonian architect) in 1809 and has since then seen many seafaring families come and go. The rhythmical crashing of waves and the smell of salt reminds you that you are in close proximity to the beach. Although from the narrow streets of the Fittie you cannot see the sea as all the houses face inwards with their backs to the ocean to protect their inhabitants from the weathers cold grasp. 

In 1880 the Town Council decided to start selling the houses to their inhabitants and so began a time of reconstruction and individuality in the Fittie. Some people built 'tarry sheds' in the squares of open land that the houses faced. These sheds were originally built from drift wood but over the years some of them have been built and rebuilt using other materials. 

But all the houses and sheds have personality. 

It jumps out at you in the vibrant colours that scream knock on my door. 

It is whispered as you walk by the strangest decorations in the gardens. 

It is written in the history of a hard life lived. 

It is noticeable in the smallest of details. 

It laughs with you at the absurdity of it all. 

It smiles back at you as you realise that you just encountered a slice of something out of the ordinary 

But shhhhhh don't tell anyone.....

The 'Fittie' is hidden from the public's view by stone walls,  

but it's a discovery worth making.