Levesque Thai and Burmese escapades summer 2017
| Vessel Name: | Saint Emilion |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Sun Odyssey 409 |
| Hailing Port: | Phuket |
| Crew: | Nick, Joanna, Elodie, Zacharie, Audrey |
| About: | Ze Levesque clan is going Thai-tastic! After 6 years of flotilla training in the Med, we are launching into real exotic bareboat charter just to remind us what it is all about. |
| Extra: | Dear Friends and extended Family, this blog is for you to share our adventures, hopefully inspire you and make you laugh.... or just reassure you mum! |
28 August 2017 | Mandalay
27 August 2017 | Mandalay
23 August 2017 | Yangon
22 August 2017 | Myanmar Yangon
16 August 2017 | Koh PhiPhi Don and Phang Nga bay
16 August 2017 | Koh PhiPhi Don and Phang Nga bay
13 August 2017 | Ko Ngai
08 August 2017 | Langkawi relatable marina
04 August 2017 | Currently in Koh Lanta
31 July 2017 | Ao Nang near Krabi
29 July 2017 | Ko Yao island in the middle of Phang Nag bay
15 July 2017 | Home: UK - London - Wimbledon
Recent Blog Posts
22 August 2017 | Myanmar Yangon
Last days on the boat and onwards to the land-based expedition
Sorry we have not blogged for a while and just for your confirmation everything is fine.
trainee woodcarvers
28 August 2017 | Mandalay
Jo
27.8.17
Woke up in Mandalay this morning ready for more sightseeing. Taxis appeared to be exorbitant so set off geared up for major walking. But the Burmese are good at deals and within about 10 minutes we had agreed a deal with a pick up truck driver to drive us around for a much lower price. This was a good thing as distances turned out to be large. We are all a bit pagoda'd out now so the highlight was finding some teak woodcarvers in action and letting the kids have a go. Zac was quite a dab hand..
After a rest we left again to see the Mandalay sunset from the top of the hill - very beautiful and struck up a conversation with a group of monks who had come to practise their English. Many fascinating insights on offer here. Day rounded off with a marionette show which was fantastic. More upmarket than Punch and Judy but similar levels of farce!
Back to Bangkok tomorrow for the final stop ...
Woke up in Mandalay this morning ready for more sightseeing. Taxis appeared to be exorbitant so set off geared up for major walking. But the Burmese are good at deals and within about 10 minutes we had agreed a deal with a pick up truck driver to drive us around for a much lower price. This was a good thing as distances turned out to be large. We are all a bit pagoda'd out now so the highlight was finding some teak woodcarvers in action and letting the kids have a go. Zac was quite a dab hand..
After a rest we left again to see the Mandalay sunset from the top of the hill - very beautiful and struck up a conversation with a group of monks who had come to practise their English. Many fascinating insights on offer here. Day rounded off with a marionette show which was fantastic. More upmarket than Punch and Judy but similar levels of farce!
Back to Bangkok tomorrow for the final stop ...
Bagan and now Mandalay
27 August 2017 | Mandalay
Zacharie, Elodie and mummy
24.8.17
Today was our last day in Yangon and we needed to get out of the city - unbelievably dirty and noisy. We took the ferry across the river to Dalla and then a cab to our destination - a snake temple. Supposedly more than 40 pythons have chosen this particular temple as their home and are worshipped. Interesting for everyone as its not every day you can stroke a python. Quick walk round the lake and onto the nightbus. Yes we are really backpacking and took a nightbus to Bagan.
25/8/17
At 7o clock we got off the our overnight bus ( kids slept fantastically adults wrecked....) and got a taxi . When we arrived at the hotel dad had an argument with the driver about what price to pay. Once resolved we got our bearings, mum and dad had a quick nap, a dip in the pool and we were off to Old Bagan. An old walled city with some of the most important historical monuments in Burmese Buddhism - Bagan was the effective centre of the original nation state. Really interesting, really hot too...
26.8.17
Today we hired 2 electric motorbikes to see around lots of Pagodas .Unfortunately the
hardest part of the journey was right at the beginning when we were not used to them yet.It was a sand road ,dad,Audrey and Zac were fine but mum and I had a couple of skids which ended in the bike falling over on it's side.No one got hurt !Half way through the sand road I had to swap to dad's bike so it was easier for mum to drive.When the sand road finished I went back to mum.Then we went around some Pagodas .Luckily a few of them had murals to look at.After a few temples Audrey ,Zac and I got bored but to boost our energy we saw a monastery where monks live.
26/8/17
Today we went for a walk to see one final pagoda . One quite weird thing is that we ourselves are curiosities and people rush to take photos. Especially of Audrey then the other children but even of Nick - we think because of the burgeoning facial hair after 5 weeks! when we came back Zac ,Audrey and I got one final swim then we had to get on an four hour minibus to Mandalay . We had so many bags we took up all the luggage place in the mini bus, luckily the of the rest of the people were light travellers . We felt every bump.....
Keep the comments coming please.
Today was our last day in Yangon and we needed to get out of the city - unbelievably dirty and noisy. We took the ferry across the river to Dalla and then a cab to our destination - a snake temple. Supposedly more than 40 pythons have chosen this particular temple as their home and are worshipped. Interesting for everyone as its not every day you can stroke a python. Quick walk round the lake and onto the nightbus. Yes we are really backpacking and took a nightbus to Bagan.
25/8/17
At 7o clock we got off the our overnight bus ( kids slept fantastically adults wrecked....) and got a taxi . When we arrived at the hotel dad had an argument with the driver about what price to pay. Once resolved we got our bearings, mum and dad had a quick nap, a dip in the pool and we were off to Old Bagan. An old walled city with some of the most important historical monuments in Burmese Buddhism - Bagan was the effective centre of the original nation state. Really interesting, really hot too...
26.8.17
Today we hired 2 electric motorbikes to see around lots of Pagodas .Unfortunately the
hardest part of the journey was right at the beginning when we were not used to them yet.It was a sand road ,dad,Audrey and Zac were fine but mum and I had a couple of skids which ended in the bike falling over on it's side.No one got hurt !Half way through the sand road I had to swap to dad's bike so it was easier for mum to drive.When the sand road finished I went back to mum.Then we went around some Pagodas .Luckily a few of them had murals to look at.After a few temples Audrey ,Zac and I got bored but to boost our energy we saw a monastery where monks live.
26/8/17
Today we went for a walk to see one final pagoda . One quite weird thing is that we ourselves are curiosities and people rush to take photos. Especially of Audrey then the other children but even of Nick - we think because of the burgeoning facial hair after 5 weeks! when we came back Zac ,Audrey and I got one final swim then we had to get on an four hour minibus to Mandalay . We had so many bags we took up all the luggage place in the mini bus, luckily the of the rest of the people were light travellers . We felt every bump.....
Keep the comments coming please.
Old Burma new Myanmar
23 August 2017 | Yangon
Joanna and Elodie
23.8.17
Today we wandered into the old colonial quarters of Yangon .It looked so run down and old because trees were growing out of the buildings. One or two of the buildings have been renovated but it's definitely the minority. Still get a sense of the colonial atmosphere and a nice walk along the waterfront. Interesting excursion via a tea shop for some noodles for lunch. One thing we've missed is fresh milk. Fridges practically non-existent and so the tea was topped up with condensed milk. Since tea is never mummy's favourite adding this made it undrinkable! Rather bizarrely the milk is advertised everywhere with a white blond boy on the label - seems rather incongruous in deepest Yangon...
On this afternoon to the market for some souvenir purchasing and a bit of negotiation. Daddy was in his element and we had fun buying stuff. Ended the day in Chinatown with bbq-ed chicken stomachs (well daddy did)..
More Yangon tomorrow before we catch the bus on to Bagan.
Today we wandered into the old colonial quarters of Yangon .It looked so run down and old because trees were growing out of the buildings. One or two of the buildings have been renovated but it's definitely the minority. Still get a sense of the colonial atmosphere and a nice walk along the waterfront. Interesting excursion via a tea shop for some noodles for lunch. One thing we've missed is fresh milk. Fridges practically non-existent and so the tea was topped up with condensed milk. Since tea is never mummy's favourite adding this made it undrinkable! Rather bizarrely the milk is advertised everywhere with a white blond boy on the label - seems rather incongruous in deepest Yangon...
On this afternoon to the market for some souvenir purchasing and a bit of negotiation. Daddy was in his element and we had fun buying stuff. Ended the day in Chinatown with bbq-ed chicken stomachs (well daddy did)..
More Yangon tomorrow before we catch the bus on to Bagan.
Last days on the boat and onwards to the land-based expedition
22 August 2017 | Myanmar Yangon
Elodie, Zacharie and Jo
Sorry we have not blogged for a while and just for your confirmation everything is fine.
17/8/17
Elodie and Mum and Audrey swam of the boat while me and Dad went kayaking to see a mangrove it was rocky. There was a beach only 4m long. When dad and I got back we realised that Audrey and Elodie and Mum were swimming off the boat
20.08.17
Leaving the boat...today we said goodbye to 'St.Emilion'...our boat for the month. She served us well and sailed very well. The boat charter company did a thorough audit - even to the extent of diving underneath the boat to check we hadn't scraped it, and a bit of negotiation on the anchor but all ok. On to hospital ( very swish private as we had forgotten 2 malaria prescriptions for Myanmar....) Finally we retreated to the pool...and moved to our hotel for the night before we flew to Myanmar. A bit of luxury for mummy's birthday before we went to the back of beyond.
23.8.17
We are now on the sight -seeing part of our holiday.Just to give it a starting boost yesterday we saw the Pagoda.It was amazing : every inch of the Golden palace (as Audrey put it ) was covered in GOLD ! - and every 5 years they put on more gold .Personally I think the gold was more amazing to mum and dad than Zac ,Audrey and I. Around the pagoda were small temples all of them had a statue of buddha inside.During the visit we followed the religious rituals following the day of the week we were born.For lunch we had a surprised and impromptu invitation for lunch at some locals birthday lunch.This generosity was to get merit from Buddha . In the afternoon we took the circular train around Yangon 's rice fields and poorest neighbour hoods.
17/8/17
Elodie and Mum and Audrey swam of the boat while me and Dad went kayaking to see a mangrove it was rocky. There was a beach only 4m long. When dad and I got back we realised that Audrey and Elodie and Mum were swimming off the boat
20.08.17
Leaving the boat...today we said goodbye to 'St.Emilion'...our boat for the month. She served us well and sailed very well. The boat charter company did a thorough audit - even to the extent of diving underneath the boat to check we hadn't scraped it, and a bit of negotiation on the anchor but all ok. On to hospital ( very swish private as we had forgotten 2 malaria prescriptions for Myanmar....) Finally we retreated to the pool...and moved to our hotel for the night before we flew to Myanmar. A bit of luxury for mummy's birthday before we went to the back of beyond.
23.8.17
We are now on the sight -seeing part of our holiday.Just to give it a starting boost yesterday we saw the Pagoda.It was amazing : every inch of the Golden palace (as Audrey put it ) was covered in GOLD ! - and every 5 years they put on more gold .Personally I think the gold was more amazing to mum and dad than Zac ,Audrey and I. Around the pagoda were small temples all of them had a statue of buddha inside.During the visit we followed the religious rituals following the day of the week we were born.For lunch we had a surprised and impromptu invitation for lunch at some locals birthday lunch.This generosity was to get merit from Buddha . In the afternoon we took the circular train around Yangon 's rice fields and poorest neighbour hoods.
Elusive Leo and beach extravaganza
16 August 2017 | Koh PhiPhi Don and Phang Nga bay
Zach.... With help
15.8.2017
Tough night on anchor management for dad. In the morning we tried to go to ko phi phi. We tried to go to the really really nice beach boot mum said there are very big waves - managed to get the boat into the bay but lost the boat hook picking up a buoy. Further round started to make an attempt to take the dinghy to the rope ladder (yes really) that most tourists use but really not calm enough so had to abandon it. "The beach " remains elusive....
Easier night however and really coming back to Phuket now. Back in one of the resorts we ate at the first time enjoying a really good a la carte meal particularly tasty as food running a bit low now on the boat.
16/08/17
Beach extravaganza day
After a short sail we reached a string of spectacular islands in the Phang Nga bay. We tried to discover one of them with an interesting cove only to find it was already full of motor boat with tourist so moved on to the next one with much fewer visitors and with excellent snorkelling and amazing rock formation. This particular grouping of island was made of three islands almost linked by beaches so the children had a filled day trying them all!!
Tough night on anchor management for dad. In the morning we tried to go to ko phi phi. We tried to go to the really really nice beach boot mum said there are very big waves - managed to get the boat into the bay but lost the boat hook picking up a buoy. Further round started to make an attempt to take the dinghy to the rope ladder (yes really) that most tourists use but really not calm enough so had to abandon it. "The beach " remains elusive....
Easier night however and really coming back to Phuket now. Back in one of the resorts we ate at the first time enjoying a really good a la carte meal particularly tasty as food running a bit low now on the boat.
16/08/17
Beach extravaganza day
After a short sail we reached a string of spectacular islands in the Phang Nga bay. We tried to discover one of them with an interesting cove only to find it was already full of motor boat with tourist so moved on to the next one with much fewer visitors and with excellent snorkelling and amazing rock formation. This particular grouping of island was made of three islands almost linked by beaches so the children had a filled day trying them all!!
Elusive Leo and beach extravaganza
16 August 2017 | Koh PhiPhi Don and Phang Nga bay
Zach.... With help
15.8.2017
Tough night on anchor management for dad. In the morning we tried to go to ko phi phi. We tried to go to the really really nice beach boot mum said there are very big waves - managed to get the boat into the bay but lost the boat hook picking up a buoy. Further round started to make an attempt to take the dinghy to the rope ladder (yes really) that most tourists use but really not calm enough so had to abandon it. "The beach " remains elusive....
Easier night however and really coming back to Phuket now. Back in one of the resorts we ate at the first time enjoying a really good a la carte meal particularly tasty as food running a bit low now on the boat.
16/08/17
Beach extravaganza day
After a short sail we reached a string of spectacular islands in the Phang Nga bay. We tried to discover one of them with an interesting cove only to find it was already full of motor boat with tourist so moved on to the next one with much fewer visitors and with excellent snorkelling and amazing rock formation. This particular grouping of island was made of three islands almost linked by beaches so the children had a filled day trying them all!!
Tough night on anchor management for dad. In the morning we tried to go to ko phi phi. We tried to go to the really really nice beach boot mum said there are very big waves - managed to get the boat into the bay but lost the boat hook picking up a buoy. Further round started to make an attempt to take the dinghy to the rope ladder (yes really) that most tourists use but really not calm enough so had to abandon it. "The beach " remains elusive....
Easier night however and really coming back to Phuket now. Back in one of the resorts we ate at the first time enjoying a really good a la carte meal particularly tasty as food running a bit low now on the boat.
16/08/17
Beach extravaganza day
After a short sail we reached a string of spectacular islands in the Phang Nga bay. We tried to discover one of them with an interesting cove only to find it was already full of motor boat with tourist so moved on to the next one with much fewer visitors and with excellent snorkelling and amazing rock formation. This particular grouping of island was made of three islands almost linked by beaches so the children had a filled day trying them all!!
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