Bamboozled in Bangkok

On our first full day in Bangkok we took every mode of transportation bar the SkyTrain (way too easy to navigate, what's the fun in that?).

#1 taxi southeast to the Chinese embassy.

#2 requested scooter taxi to Grand Palace (near our hostel), but ended up being dropped off in the north.

#3 looked at taking the Metro, but seemed to take the long way around so decided to take the bus.
The driver said that we needed to change bus and kindly let us know when and wrote our destination in Thai on a piece of paper.  We got on the next bus, showed the ticket collector the piece of paper and she told us we had a long way to go.  Fine, we aren't in a hurry. We are dropped off, but there is no sign of the Grand Palace.  We ask a local if we can walk to the palace.  We're not sure exactly what she says, but it will either take 5 hours or 5 days to walk.  Either way, we get back in a taxi (we discover later that the bus took us to the far east).  We finally make it to the palace in the west at 1:30pm.
 As we walk by one of the gates, we are told that the palace is closed, but would re-open at 3pm.  In the meantime, a tuk tuk can take us to another temple, stop by the tourism office (TAT) and then drop us back to at the palace. (Does anyone see what is about to happen?) Because we don't speak Thai the guy got us a deal for 20bahts.  Before we have time to think, we are whisked away in a tuk tuk, #4 mode of transportation for the day.

We visit a temple with a giant gold standing Buddha while the tuk tuk driver patiently waits.  When we return, the driver says he needs to use the toilet.  There is a man sitting nearby who starts up a conversation with us.  After a few pleasantries...

"Where are you heading next?"

"Chiang Mai."

"Oh, I just got back from Chiang Mai with my family.  Have you booked your accommodation?"

"No, not yet."

"You need to book before you go.  It is school holidays at the moment and because of the tsunami in Japan there are more tourists here.  All the hotels are full.  I had to sleep in my car one night."

"Okay, thanks for letting us know."

"Ask the driver to take you to the TAT.  They can help you find accommodation.  They are run by the government so they don't charge commission."

Just then our driver returns and asks us where we want to go next.  "TAT, please."
We are taken to the TAT office.  We tell the rep that we want to go to Chiang Mai and then to Laos.  The helpful rep puts together a great package for us: train tickets, accommodation for 4 nights in a hotel, a 3 day 2 night hill tribe trek with elephant and bamboo raft rides including meals, mini van to the Laos border, 1 night accommodation with dinner, 2 day boat journey to Luang Prabang.  We hand over our credit card and book it.  We then book a day tour to the floating markets for the following day.  We pay cash for this trip.

Back in the tuk tuk we are quite pleased that we were able to sort out the rest of our stay in Thailand.  We arrive back at the Grand Palace at 3pm.  We thought the driver might try to charge us more than the agreed 20baht as we had been gone for so long.  No, he smiled and thanked us.

Over the next couple of hours, we slowly came to the realisation that we had fallen for the most common scam in Bangkok.  There were several times throughout the process that Yumi thought something wasn't right, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.  What we didn't know was if all the bookings were fake or if we were just overcharged for them.  Either way, we took action.  Thomas called the credit card company to get the payment stopped and Yumi went into research mode.

Thomas went for a beer while Yumi calculated that we had been charged £100 in commision!  (Just to give you an idea, we spend less than £20 a day on accommodation, food and transport)
The silver lining of the story?  Thomas met 3 nice Nepalese artisans at the pub, we found out how cheaply we can do things on our own and we know how to spot a scam.

View of our home in NZ

Bungy in Queenstown

Afer our adventures in Franz Josef, we drove all the way to Queenstown. It was supposed to be a quick stop...

When we arrive in a town we usually go to the "I-site", the information office which tells you what is to do in the area and then we plan (ish) our day. We just wanted to pass through Queenstown as we heard it was a "party town" and a "big place". It is in fact a "big village", located in the shores of the beautiful lake Waikatipu. There's a good atmosphere and it attracts many thrill seekers thanks to the many outdoors activities you can find here: Skydiving, sledging, rafting, mountain biking, bungee jumping, jet boating and many more. It's a "cool" place, hence why it is popular.

We had been driving for a while and we thought it'd be good to go for a drink and chill before carrying on to Te Anau and Milford Sound. The other (good) reason to stay in Queenstown was for Thomas to get a chance to jump from the Kawarau Bridge where the first bungee jump took place in the late 80's. Yumi already jumped from the highest commercial bungee in the world (216m) in South Africa so she decided to join the Asian crowd and watch the fool leap from the 43m high bridge instead. The "Asian crowd" was a group of people who just came to watch other people jumping. They were cheering and shouting for each jumper which was a bit weird but fun.

There was a "water touch" option and the guy who tied Thomas's ankles said to him he "may" touch the water but because it was the first jump of the day he was not sure and had to "guess" how much rope he should leave.

Nice.

As long as the bungee was too short than too long Thomas was happy.

43m is about 20 storeys high, it doesn't seem to be super high until your ankles are tied together and you have to hop to the edge of the platform. It was a sunny but cold day and Thomas was freezing as he only wore a tshirt (okay, and trousers too) which made his jump really easy: "The quicker you jump the quicker you get to your fleece" he thought.

Although the jump only offered more bouncing than freefall it was really fun and well worth it; Thomas would definitely do it again, but only if it is from much higher :).

Queen Charlotte sound

There are many sounds which surround Picton, on the North side of the South island. The legend has it that a Maori God created the sounds with his fingers.

Yumi had read about the Queen Charlotte sound and the track that goes along it. It is 72km long in total but we don't have that much time so we decided to walk from Torea Bay to Punga Bay, some 25km away.

A water taxi dropped us at 9am and would pick us up at 4pm. It was a cloudy day and it rained from time to time so it was not the best day for pictures but the views were outstanding. The tracks follows ridges so you can see both the QC and the  sounds. 

After we stopped for lunch we met some people who started from Punga Bay. It took them 4h to get there. It was 1pm which meant we needed to hurry up if we wanted to catch our taxi back to Picton. 

By the 6th hour we just wanted to get there. It was a nice walk in the forest but we were getting a bit tired and so were were happy to make ; we finally made it to Punga Bay after a long and steep downhill and chatted with local fishermen. There was no time for a beer refreshment as the water taxi arrived to take us back to Picton

Spot the ninja

Plan B gets an A+

We parted ways with our German friends and headed down the east coast to Kaikoura to do some whale watching.We booked on the first tour of the day, but when we arrived, the trip was cancelled due to rough seas.  It was difficult for us to comprehend this as we looked at dead calm water from the shore.  We re-booked for an afternoon tour and did some much needed laundry.  We asked a nice Australian gentleman for some change and joked about seeing him on the other side of the island later (Hint: remember this for a later post).

With our partly dried laundry hanging from a makeshift drying line in the van, we went for a walk along the coast.  Next to the carpark was a seal colony.  Signs warned not to touch or attempt to move the seals.  Who tries to move them?  The males can weigh up to 200kg!

We tried to walk along the coast, but we were met by a big sunbathing seal.  With the tide coming in, there was only a little space to pass him, but we didn't want to chance disturbing him.  Seals look cute, but they are known to bite.  So we decided to take the high road, literally.  We climbed up to the ridge and had beautiful views of the ocean and coastline.  Later, we made our way back to the coast and saw more seals on the rocks and even in the grass.

A takeaway seafood platter filled our tummies and on the way back to the harbour, Thomas pulled over to pick up our first hitchhiker.  Yumi was a little perplexed until she saw the sweet little Dutch lady Thomas had stopped for.  She had booked on the same morning boat and then the afternoon trip and decided to take a 5 hour walk to kill some time.  She was so thankful for the short ride to town.  It was her first trip staying in youth hostels so she wanted to show us what it was like inside.  We kindly declined as we were well aware of what they are like, but it was so kind of her to offer.

Unfortunately, the afternoon trip was also cancelled.  Disappointed, we started back up north to Picton.  Along the way we stopped at a hidden gem called Ohau Stream.  Yumi had spotted it in our Escape manual and we thought we would give it a go.  We missed it the first time we drove by and had to ask for directions as it truly is hidden.  It was well worth the effort.  We saw young seals playing in the stream.  They swim, wiggle, hop, squirm their way up stream from the ocean.  

The day didn't turn out as planned; it was even better.  That's why it gets an A+ (for those of you not familiar with the American educational system, A+ is the highest mark one can recieve).

Sailing on lake Taupo

Due to the weather forecast, we had to delay doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing hike.  With an extra day in Taupo (by the way, it ended up being a beautiful blue day), we decided to go for a sail on the lake where we met two lovely German women Paula and Theda.  

Fun fact: Lake Taupo is about the size of Singapore, but the population of Singapore is the same as all of New Zealand!

Captain Dave navigated "Fearless" to some Maori carvings in Mine Bay.  They were done about 30 years ago by a master carver and are over 10m high.  Then we found a nice, peaceful spot and went for a dip.  Paula is an ex-professional photographer and really liked our waterproof camera.  With beers in hand, we slowly sailed back to the harbour.

We decided to travel and do the next day's hike with our new friends.  

Sail away, sail away, sail away

Due to the weather forecast, we had to delay doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing hike.  With an extra day in Taupo (by the way, it ended up being a beautiful blue day), we decided to go for a sail on the lake where we met two lovely German women Paula and Theda.  They are also travelling around NZ, but in a more luxurious motorhome.

Fun fact: Lake Taupo is about the size of Singapore, but the population of Singapore is the same as all of New Zealand!

Captain Dave navigated "Fearless" to some Maori carvings in Mine Bay.  They were done about 30 years ago by a master carver and are over 10m high.  Then we found a nice, peaceful spot and went for a dip.  With beers in hand, we slowly sailed back to the harbour.  Another unexpected, delightful day.

We decided to travel and do the next day's hike with our new friends.