That's about it, really...

So, that about sums up our honeymoon and the first few weeks of being married. It's taken a while to finish, but that's because the other weeks of being married that we've had since have been kind of hectic!! We've got a couple of projects on the go at the minute which are quite time-consuming - the house needs to be finished, decorating-wise, and we're on a mission to get the garden sorted ready for spring next year.

Also, we've been given a VW Beetle as a gift so we have that to put back together ready for the Blue Ridge Runners show next September. Possibly a tad ambitious, but we'll see!! Mike and I have been very fortunate in the presents we've received to start our new life together, and we are eternally grateful to everyone who made our wedding day and honeymoon so special.

We'll keep y'all updated with the garden and Vdub projects as we go along, should be quite interesting I think!!

Anyways, catch y'all soon.

Lots of love,

Mike & Nicky Perry xxxxxx

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Our little garden had suddenly turned into a colourful mix of tulips, bluebells and cherry blossom, how cool is that? It cheered us up, that's for sure!

Many many presents!!

The day after we came back from Asia we had the wedding presents delivered. Mike was like a kid at Christmas open all the boxes, bless him!! This is a good time to say thank you again to anyone reading this who gave us a present, they were all very much appreciated.

Yay, welcome home!!

When we got home, we discovered that my folks had been in and made a little display of bits and bobs from the wedding - the guest book, the knife that we cut the cake with and one of the weights from the balloons. Nana had also bought us the cute celtic style clock that you can see at the front - very cool. :-)

Happy the cat!!

Boost was very well looked after by my sis and new brother-in-law while we were away, she managed to convince them that what she really needed was pouches of Whiskas meat rather than just dry biscuits - she's not as daft as she looks, y'know!! I think Boost was quite pleased to see us though, especially as our return meant that she could lounge around on Mike's lap again!!

Awesome airport...

Mike and I both reckon that this is one of the coolest airports we've been to - the architecture is kind of out there, especially when it's highlighted by the blue neons. Considering how many people were inside the building, it didn't feel at all crowded. And the food hall had its own tractor beam that meant we had to spend ages there munching on yummy noodles and mango with thai sticky rice!!

Not like Heathrow!!

I think this is one of the best views I've ever seen from an airport depature lounge - this is at Krabi Airport in Thailand, waiting for the flight back to Bangkok.

Ain't it sweet?!

I think that this is the last day of our honeymoon and we're waiting for a boat to take us back to Krabi. In which case, I think that the smiles are slightly hysterical due to the thought of going back to cold, grey Britain :-(

Don't think anyone could get bored of looking at this!!

The view from here...

And this is what we could see while sat out on our verandah, not too shabby!!

Old married couple!!

The picture at the top is where mike has written in the sand, can't see it too clearly but he's an old softie really!! This was taken after we'd been upgraded to a superior hut type thing - very plush!

Aww, we wanna be togevver!!

How sweet? Anybody would think we'd only just got married!!

Boost will be jealous!!

My cat, Boost, loves to go out on the decking and lie on her back so she gets the sun on her furry belly - I think even she would admit that these kittens have got the right idea by crashing out in the shade!!

Here's the proof!!

Just in case y'all thought we'd just downloaded some gorgeous pics from the internet to make you all jealous, here's a photo of us in the shade of a tree on the white sands of Rai Lay Beach. Not at all smug...

The other side of the bay...

Mike and I spent pretty much our entire time here sun-bathing in the shade of the trees right by the water. I would also like to point out that I actually went swimming in the sea right over there under the cliffs - Mike assured me there were no sharks nearby and I believed him. I also made sure that he swam in front of me, just in case!!!

And now for something completely different!!

Bit of a change in pace from rushing around Myanmar (not that I had any complaints about that - far from it!!). This is Rai Lay West, just along the Thai coast from Krabi. We arrived in one of those boats you can see in the background, I can't even tell you how tricky it was dragging overloaded suitcases across the beach to the resort!!

Time for a little smackerel of something...

Firstly I'd like to point out that this wasn't all for me!! This is in a stupendous restaurant at Bangkok Airport - beats the Costa Coffee at Heathrow by a country mile!! We've got sushi, chicken curry, thai style veggies, rice and fruit sushi - all for about a fiver, bargain :-)

How breakfast should be served!

This was taken on our last morning at Inle Lake. We'd had to get up ludicrous early every other morning here and been able to take advantage of the lovely fresh fruit and made to order omelettes - we made up for that, believe me!!!

Priceless...

As they say in the adverts - there are some things that are beyond valuation and, to my mind, a sunset like this outside your window is one of them.

Dinner in the wine cellar...

Here we have Mike and I on the left and Misuu, Thomas and Audrey on the right. The table is a longboat that has been lacquered and given a glass and Shan paper surface. The holes in the walls behind us are for bottles of wine - it has to be said that it was wonderfully cool in here, just as well because my brain started overheating with the bizarreness of the dinner chat!!!

Heading home for lunch...

It took a lot of effort to look this much like American tourists!!

David Attenborough eat your heart out!!

Mike really got into the birdwatching, not difficult though considering the breathtaking countryside we were in and the awesome variations in the species of birds we could see.

Time for some munch...

It's true what they say in the Enid Blyton books - food really does taste better when eaten out doors!!

Off on the next mission...

This is us with our taxi driver heading off very early in the morning to do some birdwatching. I think it's about 6am and already the heat of the day is picking up quickly. That being said, our driver and the guide were both wearing jackets!!

That's better!!

And after an awesome massage, all is right with the world and scenery is too delicious for words.

The Wanderers Return!!

Here we are after our waterborne adventure - a touch sunburned and tired perhaps, but definitely impressed with everything we had seen. Moments after this photo was taken we scuttled off for yet another massage at the Spa!!

The Jumping Cats...

As a disciple of Terry Pratchett, the idea of a Jumping Cat Monastery really appealed to me. Where else but Discworld would you expect to see such a thing? Yet here we are, sat eating peanuts and drinking tea while the cats decide whether it is an auspicious time for chucking their furry selves through a hoop. One of the more surreal moments of our honeymoon....

Doesn't look particularly comfortable...

...but the two ladies here said that they didn't really notice the rings anymore. The girl on the left has only got a few rings on at the moment - her family will add another 5 when she's about 19 years old. The lady on the right is wearing rings that weigh about 8kgs.

The Golden Kite...

This is the restaurant in the middle of Inle Lake that we were telling you about in the blog - 9,000 miles from home and here we are about to tuck in to Bolognese pizza made in an actual italian pizza oven... We couldn't make this stuff up!!

Mike's new friends!

Not sure how he does it, but Mike always seems to attract a following of the local children!! These three thought he was great, especially when we handed out the Werthers and Smints - although having never tasted either before, their reactions were kinda funny!!

The long route home...

These covered steps run from the market place up the hill to the pagodas, the ladies have to carry their goods all the way up here and then off out into the countryside. At least this bit is covered as a respite from the searing heat. All of this is built by hand with supplies sourced locally or brought in by boat across the lake - upkeep and repairs seem to be an on-going project.

And here they are heading back to the village...

Having their picture taken was something of a mystery to these ladies - it was kinda cool to show them the image on the screen on the back of the camera, it's not like they have that sort of thing back at their village!! You can also see how they carry their goods back home using a Shan bag with a wide strap to anchor the shopping on their foreheads.

Shan market with obligatory pagodas in the background!!

These women have come down from a village situated beyond the pagodas at the top of the hill. It's a long walk down in this heat, yet they still wear black which confused me slightly!! I can't even begin to describe the smell that comes with markets in Myanmar - no matter where we went though, it always smelt the same!!

Even the Shan people have parking issues!!

Given that these boats are around 25ft long, the precision with which our taxi chap manouevered into this gap was pretty flippin' impressive!! Unlike Taunton Deane and Sedgemoor though, we didn't have to pay for the privilege of parking...