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Email sent on Monday 10 July
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Email sent on Monday 10 July
Hi there everyone!
We are sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to London so we thought we'd send you an email and let you know what we've been doing. Bangkok is an amazing place! Very hot, yesterday was around 38 degrees with almost 100% humidity. Lloyd hasn't been feeling too good with the weather and the flying etc but is feeling better today.
Saturday we spent looking around town. Went on a tuk-tuk for 20 Baht for one hour! (NZ$1) Puts our taxi fares to shame.That was a real experience. 10 million people in Bangkok, and everyone seems to have a car, motorbike or tuk-tuk. Everyone is zooming in and out of each other in absolute chaos.The tuk-tuk driver took us past a few tourist areas, but we were later to find out he was more interested in taking us to shops down side alleys where he gets petrol vouchers for bringing customers in. Everyone has got a hidden agenda here in Bangkok. Lloyd was very close to being talked into having a 'genuine thai silk suit' made for him there and then at more than one shop!
Later that day, after recovering from the tuk-tuk experience we shopped along the street market near the hotel. Bought up large. All imitation gear of course. Lloyd was in his element as you can imagine. (He loves a bargain!) Bought t shirts such as nike, adidas, dolchi and gabana, hot buttered etc for about $6 each. I bought some kelvin klein sunglasses for $10. A tag watch for $15. And lots of other goodies as well.
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This morning we went to the weekend markets which is a maze of stalls and shops that sells everything you can imagine. It is so hot that it is like walking around in warm milk.This afternoon we went to the beautiful Grand Palace. What an absolutely incredible place. Both loved it. We also went to the largest jewellery shop in the world. Yes it is in the Guiness Book of Records! HUGE PLACE! Probably half the size of a rugby field! No kidding. A bit daunting with military style men outside with automatic machine guns.
Didn't make it down the river, but saw lots of other amazing sights such as where people live and everyday types of living conditions.
We both really enjoyed Bangkok. I got the hang of bartering - which was actually quite fun really. Still can't believe we are here. Will be in London tomorrow morning. Arrive there at 5 am. Love to Misty. (Misty is Miss Baillie's cat - you can see her in the Photo Gallery)
Lots of love,
Lloyd and Sarah
Hi there everyone,
We have just arrived in Cambridge, so we thought we'd send an email to you all and let you know what weve been up to. Our week here in England has been amazing to say the least!
The first day in London, after a very long 12 hour flight from Bangkok, after a much needed shower, we hit the tubes and went into the city and walked around Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and Covent Garden. The next day we went on an open deck double decker bus to look at all the sights around London. Went into Harrods, where we saw Diana and Dodi's shrine and the engagement ring - HUGE FAT DIAMOND!!!!! Saw Big Ben, Tower of London, London Bridge, London Eye etc. Crowds everywhere. Three day wait for the London Eye.
Third day in London Lloyd and I went to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard. The English certainly do everything in style. Lots of pomp and ceremony outside Buckingham Palace. After that, we were standing trying to work out how to get from Buckingham Palace to St Pauls Cathedral. An elderly man overheard us and offered to show us the way. It turned out he was an ex-postman who knew London and all its side streets and hidden secrets like the back of his hand. We ended up spending around 3 hours with him.
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He showed us all around London, had our photos taken with an English guard, saw where the first English dictionary was written, went into the oldest restaurant in London (the stone step had worn away and has a large groove in it) and many more interesting things. He also belonged to the Historic Society so he knew all about the old buildings and the history behind them. Finally ended up at St Pauls Cathedral at 3 o'clock. Closing time was at 4 o'clock so we thought we didn't have much time to look around.
The inside of St Pauls is absolutely mind blowing. Huge, high ceilings that are ornately covered, and the architecture was like nothing we had seen before. Very hard to describe the beauty of it. We made our way downstairs to the crypt area where we sat down for a quick drink. Ended up talking to a bunch of men who worked at the cathedral as stone masons. They offered to take Lloyd and I around. They showed us the stone mason work shop where they hand carve the stone to restore parts of the cathedral as an on-going maintanence programme. Lloyd got on really well with the head foreman, who actually offered him a job to work at the cathedral! Can you believe it!!!!
Then they took us up in a workers lift up into the roof space of the cathedral! Here we were walking on top of the beautiful domes that we had seen when we walked into the cathedral. Then we went and had a look at the cathedral library where we saw some very old books (over three hundred years old.) We also went to the very top of the cathedral. Amazing views, but quite giddy walking up the very small spiral staircase to the top. They must have been small people back then! Then, to top off our visit to St P's we were given two programmes from the Queen Mother's birthday celebration that was held at the cathedral the day earlier! Very rare, and we were told they would be collector items once she dies. Also gave us a large cross section drawing of the cathedral that actually took 5 years to draw. (We got the copy of course!) So much for the unfriendly Londoners we had heard about! We couldnt have had a better day.
Just spent the last four days touring around the south of England in a little car. Went to Stonehenge, Warwick Castle, Stratford upon Avon. We stayed in bed and breakfasts in lovely small villages, which are everywhere! Beers aren't as expensive as Lloyd had expected. The motorways are good over here, although my navigation skills aren't the best. I have caused a few little arguments on the side of the M1 (just kidding) although it is like a bowl of spagetti on paper trying to read the map.
We managed to watch the All Blacks in a little pub in a town called Cirencenster. Yay we won!!! (Lloyd asked most pubs in town to see if they could put it on). Well must go, this will be enough for today. Hope you are all well back home. I am using an iMac for typing this, so I know my way around this computer quite well. Thanks for your emails from home. We enjoy reading them.
Good luck for the first week back Nick!
Sarah and Lloyd =)
Hi folks,
We are just filling in time in London while we wait for Lloyd's mum to arrive. She's going on a European tour tomorrow and we are meeting her here in Picadilly Circus.We are sitting in a e-cafe that has 350 sites over 3 floors! Big!!
The weather has finally cleared up thank goodness,
today is a balmy 24 degrees. Very nice. Thanks for your emails. We
really enjoy reading them. 
Tell the children that I miss Misty very much. I forgot to bring a photo of her with me!!! Hope Nick is enjoying Rm15 - I'm sure he is. Time is almost up so I must fly.
Talk again to you soon,
Sarah and Lloyd =)
Hi everyone, it's us again!
We've had a great week travelling up to Amsterdam from London. We met up with Sue (Lloyds mum) in London before she started her tour. She was very tired after her long flight, but we still managed to take her for a walk around London and had dinner and drinks in a pub in Covent Garden.
On the day we were to fly out to Amsterdam
everything was going fine. We were up at 6.30am to catch the 8.00
tube to Heathrow. Half way there, the train stopped at Picadilly and
everyone had to get off because of a bomb scare. Sounds scary, but
apparently it happens all the time. More of an inconvenience really.
We saw people arguing with the attendents about just letting the
train go! We got to the plane on time after all that
though.
Amsterdam... What a city that is! We sppent three days in Amsterdam. While there we visited the Anne Frank house. A very moving experience. Incredible to see it in the flesh. What people must have endured during the war.
We managed to watch rugby in a pub. Sat with other Kiwis and South Africans. Great game!
From Amsterdam we went by train to a small town in Holland called Arnhem. Here we just spent the night and a bit of a break from the fast pace of Amsterdam, London and Bangkok. We are now in Belgium in a place called Brugge. Its a very nice medieval city. Lots of restaurants, cobbled streets, canals and tourists! Went on a canal boat ride today and visited yet another church and old building.
We leave tomorrow for Brussels or somewhere close to that area. We'd better sign off for now, until next week!
Sarah and Lloyd. xxx =)