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South East Asia - Week Five

Monday, we were lazy again and got up late. Not much to do here other than chill out. We wanted to move so that we had wifi in our room but after searching all of the bungalows, not many have it that are reasonable or have good connection so we stayed in our lovely one and got ourselves a full breakfast, full indeed with ants! WE lazed on the beach, played in the sea and walked into town to buy flips flips to replace my now broken ones and swap a book for Tom. All in all a relaxing one. Non eventful except, as we were walking into town we passed a couple.....who we were in the Borneo jungle with!!! We stopped and said hello, small world, weird place to meet again etc etc. Se are going to a party tonight with a free bbq and cheap thai buckets to drink and catching up with them again. After finishing writing this we are showering and the plan is for Tom to chop my hair!!! More to come on how that goes! Well it went well, i got nice chopped hair. After my new hair chopping, we went out for the night to the partay which was good fun. Free bbq turned out to be a bit lame and consisted of only one free kebab but there were loads of cheeky travellers who came for the free food, some didnt even buy a drink. The barman was a nut case and the music was good. Everyone got pretty drunk and we sunk a few beers and a few buckets, after one bucket we could have stayed up all night, all down to the industrial strength red bull. We people watched mainly, none of us daring to join in with the dancing, and oh what dancing there was. One girl thought she was on strictly come dancing and shimmyed her way across the room, nose in air and false dance grin, she must have thought she was the bees knees but we all couldnt help but laugh as she didnt seem to be getting the desired attention she was planning on. An old hippy bounced his way round, bumping and grinding into anyone that would let him. There was a young couple who had obviously had a fight and were now dancing with other people to upset the other, the guy didnt seem to care at all, all in all the people watching tonight was great. At about midnight, one of the drunken revellers had had enough, quite literally, so for his own safety, the barman escorted the man...to his moped. The man could hardly stand by this point and nearly dropped his bike getting on it. It took a while for him to figure out how to start it but once he did he was off. We all got up and went out to watch how far he made it, we never did find out if he made it home but we all imagined that he would probably wake up in a bush in the morning after falling off and passing out asleep. At the bar i paid and also found a jar of body paint which i painted whiskers on with, for the walk home. We stopped at the shop for after drink munchies of noodles, and for the girl to giggle at my whiskers and then trekked home in the dark.

Tuesday, was hangover day. We planned to get a motor bike an explore but were warned of the many accidents that happen at the moment because of the building work that is taking place on the island. We made it for breakfast, then home. Today was another full day of snoozing and reading. Today, i also decided that i want to write a book and for some reason the book writing juices were flowing so 4 pages of trashy womens novel was written. I am writing this blog 10 days later, and there are still 4 pages of novel, oops! At night we went out again with Mike and Carrie stopping again at a party with a free bbq and psychedelic music. We filled on the free seafood and then walked to the beachfront and had another dinner at the hands of a waiter who thought he was mr funny, he wasnt, he also didnt receive a tip. After food we made our goodbyes and headed home, again stopping for a chocolaty pancake which i was devouring and also spilling all round my mouth as we again walked into Mike and Carrie, what a mess i looked, plonka.

Wednesday we were up early for a boat the the mainland and back the Bangers (Bangkok). Our boat was at 10.30am so we went for a taxi at 9.30am, not far to the pier. It then became apparent that taxis only go to the pier on the hour and if you want to go at another time, they double the price! Great. We had to wait till 10am for a 40 minute drive to the pier, luckily we were allowed on the next one and didnt miss our bus. Since when has taxi driver meant 'i will only drive you where you want to go at certain times of the day' surely the clue is in the title? Once we did get back to the mainland we had to wait blumin ages for our bus to leave, all the morning panic again or nada. WE had a beer and a water and waited until we could get on board the bus. When we did we had nice seats at the bottom of the bus and watched Avatar, with the occasional person getting up at the cinema to use the loo, on the tv. Our bus stopped, a lot, we were totally oblivious to why, until the driver came onboard and got the tool box out. Supposedly the brakes were broken and every now and then, the fix they had made broke again. Just what you want to hear! This meant that the bus took ages to get to Bangkok, about 2 hours more than it should so it stopped for us to have some dinner. While we were eating our dinner there was a loud crash and bang from the road. Someone had swerved to miss a motorbike and hit the central reservation, spinning the car and snapping the axel. The police arrived and plenty of locals stopped for a watch, oh the drama. We arrived in Bangkok at 7pm ish and headed straight down the Khao San road to places we stayed before, only to find that they were now really expensive. We managed to find a room above and Indian restaurant with broken air con, a pavement firm mattress and graffiti on the walls, it was 'lovely'. Once bags were dumped we were out to see what changes there had been since we were last here, and there are loads!!! There was a giant new hotel, new indian restaurants, Price stuff all over. The people have changed to, now there seems to be more holiday makers and families than the hippies and travellers that were the only occupants when we were last here, the changes were almost a bit sad but we were back in Bangkok and that familiar feeling is still there, we loved it. We popped into the travel company that we booked with when we were last here, and the same man was there. As we walked in he said 'Welcome home'. We werent sure but it seemed he recognised us, he also said that Tom had got bigger, Tom took this a chubby which didnt go down well, im sure he meant musclier though!

Thursday was shopping day! We also wanted to visit Attutaya tomorrow so planned a trip. Once organised we got a water taxi down the river and then the sky train to the MBK, shopping heaven. The river was great, its a good way to see the city and it took ages stopping at all the stops on the way. We passed loads of temples and posh riverside hotels. We have been planning for a while to spend some Christmas money here and buy things for teh house and send it home. We spent hours.....and brought a handbag, a very nice beautiful Mulberry (pretend but still leather and pretty!) one. We must have changed because we just couldnt justify spending the money and couldnt help but think that it was expensive, we actually have forgotten how to shop! Argh!!! So due to this shock, we had to treat ourselves to a Subway, which cost more than our room does, very naughty, very very naughty. Tom got upset because he couldnt get in the jeans, apparently skinny jeans for men and women are now popular in Thailand. Once shopped out and with aching feet we taxied home, this took ages with the traffic of Bangkok. Tonight we stayed again around the Khao San road, eating soup in the street stalls and talking to a lady who stayed in at 160 pound a night hotel here, which must have been luxury. We brought beer from the shop and drank that with dinner, and then i succumbed to the massage place. We havent had one in Thailand so i had a foot massage. Ahhhhhhh, not only was the massage great but the chair was like a marshmallow swallowing you up. I was truely monged when we left there.

Friday we were off to Attutaya, the ancient city and old capital of Thailand. We were as usual a bit late and so we had to get 7/11 breakfast, a now not so exciting prospect. We got our bus, which we hoped was the right one because the man meeting us took our ticket and then disappeared, it was luckily. The ancient city was beautiful. Our first stop was a monument with millions of steps up. Next we went to another temple which was our favourite. As you enter there is a huge reclining budda with the traditional orange robe. Within the same area there is also another temple and around the outside is a row of buddas around the perimeter of the temple, it was just like the pictures you see and was really stunning. Due to not wanting to offend i always cover my shoulders, as i have no sarong i have to use a blanket. Today was bloody boiling and with a blanket wrapped round my shoulders i thought i was going to pass out. We sought some shade inside the temple. Inside there are 9 Buddas, here you can buy gold leaf and place it on the budda, we did this. After here we went to visit anotehr reclining budda and then headed the the biggest part of the city where we saw the Budda head inside a tree root. This picture is a famous one and we imagined it to be bigger. WE had our photos, all the time kneeling down so that we were lower than Budda. There were rows of Buddas here, all with their heads removed. During one of the wars, the heads were removed by the Burmese. In Buddhism, the head is the most sacred part of the Budda and without it it loses its 'power' as such so this was a big offence. The story is that the Budda head was too big and so was left, the tree then grew around it or it was placed into the the tree root. One german lady in our group got told off by the guards for trying to get a photo of her standing behind a headless Budda with her head being the head, we were pretty sure that it would be considered disrespectful, idiot. Lunch was lovely and by the river. While eating we saw a huge Thom swimming, Python until it climbed out onto the bank, it was a lizard, a huge lizard! After lunch we visited the old palace and the elephant camp. We walked around the temples and buildings that each king had brought or built for the next and then went to watch the elephants. They seemed a bit restless and dancing on the spot like, not sure how good it was for them. That was the end of our trip then so we were off back to Bangkok. Tonight we toyed with the idea of heading to Silom Road to watch a ping pong shop, it seemed like one of those things you have to do, but we decided against it as there are many scams where people lose a lot of money and have a scare in the process, it was also a return taxi ride away and last time we were here, taxis refused to take us back from there. We instead decided to make the most of the cheap cocktails of which we had a few. Tom be friended all of the ladies selling their things, i think they liked his smile as they laughed and giggled and wouldnt leave us. From one woman we brought what looked like a banana leaf cigar, it also tasted like a leaf and probably not one thats nice to smoke. We also saw a little girl selling roses. When we were last here, we were sitting in a bar and a girl with roses came to sell them to us, when we said no she challenged Tom to a thumb war. Now Tom has double jointed thumbs so us in the know, know that you can never beat him, she however tried, for ages, it was hilarious. We wondered whether she was still here and as we thought that she asked us of we wanted a roses, when we said no, she challenged Tom to a thumb war. We werent sure but she looked familiar, just older. That would be a weird coincidence. The man with deep fried bugs was on the street with his stand and we went for a look at everyone playing the hard, yes this tastes nice routine. As a stood there mouth open, the man tried to put one in my mouth, cheeky git, note to self though, dont stand with your mouth open! We had a few drinks, some street food and brought a few more bits from the market stand. We soaked it all in and then went back to our hostel and had poppadoms and lime pickle for our drunkan supper. Stinking and satisfied, we went to bed.

Saturday and with still some Crimbo money burning a hole, we went to Chatabuka market, the biggest weekend market in Bangkok. It was next to the train station so we managed to find a taxi driver to take us there (again another case of choosing where they will and wont take you) that wasnt trying to con us and take us to his mates shop, booked our bus ticket for the night, left our bags and went shopping. Everyone was so helpful here. We asked one lady about the bus to Chang Rai that we needed and she walked us to the counter, then took us to the bag place. Then another lady told us what bus to get to the market and when we got lost finding the actual bus stop (in a bus station, duh) a passer by took us to the bus himself. Very nice people. At the market, we headed for the food area as we needed breakfast still. We got ourselves noodles which then turned out to be soup. Then off shopping. There is soooo much there. Everything you can imagine, literally. I brought a scarf so i dont have to boil when i need to cover up. We mooched around for ages, until we were desperate for something cold because this place was baking. We found a mr frosty style place and got ourselves icy drinks and then sat outside the posh shops with air con getting the occasional blow of cool air. Walking further into the market, we found ourselves in the pet area. here we found shops with hundreds of baby rabbits, probably only weeks old and too old to be away from their mum. They dressed the girls in dresses and i couldnt help but drop our bags and grab a bunny for a little squeeze. There were also chipmunks, squirrels, puppys, kittens, so many of them, too many for the spaces they were in and the little cages they were put into separately. We even saw hamster that had had too much, he was lying on his back, arms up and teeth out, poor mite. We antibacterialised our hands and carried on shopping. We again brought nothing, other than a book. We had a long journey ahead and Tom had no book so we got the Skytain into the city centre to visit the Erawin Shrine and book shop. The Erawin Shire is a Hindu shrine which is said to bring good luck for the lottery. Each time someone wins the lottery, they pay for dancers as a thank you to the gods. The dancers danced a lot while we were there, so we arent sure how many wins there had been recently. We then took to the coolness of the Siam Square shopping centre, to find a book and kill some time. We couldnt find a book and still had hours till our bus, then we saw the Imax. Since we didnt get to go in Oz, we went to see what was on. Nothing was on there but the cinema had a film on now so we went to the cinema for the afternoon. The cinema was posh, you could buy a sofa seat at the front of the auditorium. We only had a little while till our bus by the time we could find a bus to take us back to the bus station, again everyone was really helpful and told us when to get off (the end of the line should have given it away but it was dark!). We grabbed some dinner to take away and went to the bus. We got on and started digging in when someone asked us to get off because he didnt like the smell, more like he didnt like the Falangs (forgieners) as others ate. We jumped off though and the bus driver and stewardess brought us plastic chairs to sit on to eat and gave us bottles of water. I was upset because i got crab in my salad. Doesnt sound bad, until you know that it is crab, whole, shell and all, blue and raw, crushed up and when you open the box the legs great you like spider legs, no ta. The bus journey was long and cold. We are usually prepared but today we werent and were wearing just vests and shorts, we wrapped ourselves in the blankets on the bus but still froze. Lights off at 8.30pm and we tried to sleep.

Sunday the bus arrived early to Chang Rai, although whats early when you havent slept. We caught a tuk tuk to a hostel which wasnt open. We knocked on the gate and someone came to let us in, it was 6am and freezing. There was no room at the inn but they said we could come in and wait. We also had no small change for the tuk tuk so they paid that for us till we could change our money. Their 'inside' was outside in the restaurant. We made a bed on one of the seats and wrapped up. We got an hours kip or so before waking up, getting some breakfast and getting a room. We couldnt have been more thankful as these people were so nice, so many times people have just said no space at the inn and shut the door, its nice when people actually care. Once showered, warmed up and snoozed we went out to explore Chang Rai and also to get ourselves on a hill tribe trekking trip. We first visited the Emerald Budda temple which was next door to our hostel. We then walked to town to the post office to send my handbag home and then to the Hill tribe museum where they also arrange treks. The trek there was so expensive, we carried on looking. We had a good trek about town, visited another temple and then went in search for a book exchange, we found one in the home of a german eccentric. When we walked in he was talking to another guy and poo pooing religion. His main point was that if God had so much power and knew everything, why did he create Hitler and Pul Pot? He said that he would believe in a greater being if he could make the coin in his hand disappear, Neither have either of us wanted a coin to disappear more, just to shut up his preaching. The guy he was preaching to looked relieved to see us, I think we rescued his ears. We found some books and swapped ours in for way more money than we thought possible and chatted with the guy whos ears he had talked off. Turned out he lived here with a family that charged him no rent and accepted no money from him. He had the life. We stopped for a beer on the way back and stopped in a bar which had a good promotion on. There were 3 men in the bar, a cockney and 2 germans. The cockney sat behind us and was obviously not a well man, he must have been crazy and was talking to himself. When Tom heard him say 'no i couldnt kill a foreigner, it would be wrong, oh no no i couldnt kill a forgiener', we thought it was time to go. We downed our beers in record time and walked away, keeping check behind us. We now have 6 weeks or so to go till Everest base camp and we think we need to start some running so went went in search for some trainers. We want to find the worst looking cheap ones and went to the local market where they sold them for 4 pound a pair. We couldnt find the right one but had a giggle trying them all on post quick beer on empty stomach. After this we walked back to the hostel for a bit of a relax. We booked our trek with our hostel and with Kai who would be our guide. We went out for money, supplies and the cheapest dinner ever, 50p including soup, at a little restaurant and then got our sleep ready for 2 days in the hills.