It quite clearly states in the bible: "give a man directions and he will be lost for a day - but give a man a map and he will be lost for life" - i'm not sure whereabouts in the bible it says this - but it does - i just get lost every time i try to find it....

Since entering the - ahem - "third age" - i have acquired the unerring knack of always turning in the wrong direction upon emerging from a station or a car park in a new town or city....

I went looking for Diethelm Travel's office in Wireless Road - easy - take the BTS to Phloen Chit - wander down to Wireless Road (almost opposite the British Embassy) - cross to the same side of the road as the embassy but turn left & walk away from it - but no. I turned right & wandered for a while in the wrong direction - finally got my bearings, crossed the road & went back in the correct direction (passing the embassy) - only to walk straight past the block that their office is in (no. 140) - walking for ages before giving up, turning round, walking back and seeing the number "140" writ large on the entrance - what an arse. Now, the total distance walked was just a few kilometres - but in the searing heat & high humidity of Bangkok i quickly became quite damp - so it was a real treat to discover that the visit was largely a waste of time as they do everything via phone & internet - still, there's a trip to Isan i want to do - if i can get a into g - of which i've done very little of here - mostly lounging around & reading - see www.diethelmtravel.com - they offer tours throughout SE Asia

A previous excursion had me setting off to find the BA sales office on Rama 4 Road so that i could change my return flight - again, pretty straightforward - take the BTS Sukhumvit line & change onto the Silom line - but for some reason i it got into my head that i needed to get off at Ratchadamri - so having wandered around there for a while i looked at the map again & of course Sala Daeng is the obvious station to get off at - which i then did & of course then proceeded to walk up Rama 4 in the wrong direction...

Of course, you can't write about Bangkok without mentioning the pavements. In Europe, pavements tend to be for walking on - although we've taken to parking cars on them, too, in England. In Bangkok, however, pavements are multi-functional - the Thai for pavement is "baat withee", by the way - they are home to random fire hydrants; phone boxes that take up 90% of the width; stalls selling all sorts of things (including food); impromptu restaurants; the occasional sleeping dog (left to lie in peace, traditionally) and so on - such that walking along pavements is replaced by weaving as everybody weaves past each other and the various obstacles and occasional cyclist & motor cyclist - plus, you'll quickly discover, the surface of the pavement is equally random - with pot holes; loose slabs; dips and bumps - requiring careful navigation but the Thais seem to float along quite merrily in their flip-flops ("thongs" to any Australians reading this)....... - Bangkok traffic is legendary for being very heavy & slow moving - but then - isn't that true of most big cities? Crossing the road on a zebra crossing (as opposed to light-controlled crossings) is a challenge - but fun once you've mastered the art (art?) - if you've ever crossed a main street in either Hanoi or Phnom Penh - then crossing here is a breeze. I had to phone Lucy to find out how the devil you cross a busy street in Phnom Penh - standing on the pavement gibbering elicited no sympathy whatsoever, let alone assistance. I didn't fancy 50:50, either, as clearly that would have entailed ending up mashed into various bicycle spokes - so phone-a-friend it was. After the first couple of attempts, however, i was away - like a natural...

Sad, isn't it? I used to be quite good with directions. I even found myself struggling in Melbourne - you can't get lost in Melbourne as the centre is designed around a pretty straightforward grid - but goodness me you can walk miles if you're not paying attention........

Well, the Thais had a public holiday on Friday (May 1st) and they have another one on Tuesday (5th) and again on Friday (7th)- the Thais like May as much as the English for the public holidays...

This is the third entry for Bangkok, by the way - to read the others just click on the drop-down date box.....

So - it's now the 4th (May the 4th be with you) and if i really want to do the trip to the North East of Thailand - Isan (also spelled Issan/Isaan/Esarn) (i guess that really ought to be Wai-Isan) then i'll need to go on Wednesday & be back for Monday to pick up my passport... - in the meantime i have now finished "Fool" - which is in fact very good - it just required some concentration as it is very clever and finished "Pool and its role in Asian Communism" - which isn't a great title and it took until page 130 to get into - but the last 2 lines of page 130 should grab your attention and then you'll be away - well worth reading - now, i really ought to get on & finish some of the others...

This trip is fast coming to a close but - fret not - i'm considering another one - if the second trip goes ahead is anyone out there interested in reading about it? In other words - shall i keep this blog going? Answers on a postcard....

The Death of Korkut

(On the Kobyz a swan's cry was played as he crossed the Syr Darya with the fifty women that his life depended on)

Death came calling disguised as a snake

And he cried: "That's no disguise!"

But it is when mesmerised by both eyes - seduced

And in an instant falling