Last days in Bangkok

I'm missing my travel buddies already. Is it possible to miss people who were complete strangers to you a month ago? I decided to spend a couple of extra days in Bangkok to unwind before flying to Malaysia and Singapore tomorrow to see the relatives. I'm spending 7 days in total there...I think....

After the tranquility and serenity of Laos, Bangkok is a blast of unexpected adrenaline to the senses. I was planning on visiting the Grand Palace yesterday but after being defeated by the heat and losing the motivation to find the entrance to the palace, I spent an hour in the beautiful public park opposite the palace. The hustle and bustle of Bangkok disappeared and all I could hear was the rustle of the leaves. I strolled to the back of the park and discovered an open air free-weights gym where scary looking men were pumping iron. How random is that? I also saw a man jogging round the park, completely covered up from head to toe, wearing a balaclava, hat, gloves and boots too. Military-style training maybe? Who knows? I then wandered to Chinatown where they sold tat and stuff that I have not seen the likes of since my pre-teens. And just round the corner from there was Little India. Amazing how these two nations have succeeded in establishing a presence in practically every country in the world. It's all down to their entrepreneurial nature I suppose.

I was supposed to go to kickboxing today. Instead I had lunch. I'm going to try to go tomorrow morning. So I spent my day practising my bargaining skills and trying to buy as many gifts as possible for my cousins with the little money I have left. I have a very strong feeling that I am going to be terminally broke for the rest of the year. I then went and had a traditional Thai massage to get rid of the kinks I still had from my kickboxing session 2 days ago. The Thai massage was INTENSE. There were definite cracking sounds during my session. I feel fine. Now. As for tomorrow? I'll let you know.

Stuck in Chiang Mai

The trains are on strike. So no overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, which is perfecto as it means we now actually get to stay the night in Chiang Mai as opposed to swing through it for a laughable 4 hours. FYI: I have had 3 mozzy bites since I logged onto my blog a few minutes ago. And they ain't looking too pretty. They're actually swelling up and looking quite horrible. Anyway, to more important things. I went to Muay Thai Kickboxing with Stevo. The dude who was teaching LOVED Steve. "Steve, 100 swing kicks!" "Steve, 50 jabs!" "Steve." "Steve." "Steve." At school, he would be dunked into a toilet for being a teacher's pet. I think the teacher thought he'd found his ultimate fighting champion. Even worse (for me) was that he didn't even remember my name. Instead he proceeded to call me "Lady" for the next 3 hours. But I had a lot of fun. Kick-boxing is always fun. The gym was an open air kinda setup with a boxing ring, some floor space and a few punching bags, all shaded by a metal roof. Saying that it was warm is an understatement. But the heat kept us loose and nimble. I think I drank too much water too quickly and still feel kinda sick from it. Quite a few holidaymakers turned up later as well. I guess the locals train early in the morning or late after work. I think I might give it a go again when I'm in Bangkok for a few days.

Ok, I think I should go and take some anti-histamines to deal with this abnormal bite-reaction swelling issue. I feel heat emanating from them. That's not a good sign right?

Back into Thai World

I had a shower by torchlight this morning. At 4:45 am. Why? Because we stopped over at a little village called Pakbeng last night, where electricity is only available from 5:30am-10:00am and 6pm-10:30pm. Yes, there was no electricity ALL night. Translation: no fan or air-conditioner. Consequently, very little sleep. I decided to bite the bullet and got up at 4:30am. 3 minutes later I heard a rustling outside my window. I was convinced that not only was the heat going to kill me, but some native was going to finish me off. Turns out it was the local cockerel doing his wake-up call. But it wasn't all bad. Since the heat was unbearable and prevented me from sleeping, earlier that night I went outside to a village blanketed by darkness, and watched shooting stars light the sky and small halos of torchlight leading people to their homes or hotels.

We got back onto the boat at 6:45am and finished the remainder of our journey up the Mekong river, stopping over at a hilltribe village to say hello and play football. These people live in abject poverty but were more than happy to welcome strangers like us. It was humbling. The Mekong is lined with numerous villages hidden within the thick jungle vegetation, their presence made known by a little bit of roof poking out from the trees, or footprints on the sandy shores leading away from the many fishing poles set up like infantrymen along the jagged rocky portions of the river. Large parts of the jungle have also been cleared, with smoke from fires used to clear the land billowing into the sky as trees are chopped down and logged off and the land prepared for planting rice and other foodstuff by the natives.

We're now back in Thailand (in a bordertown called Chiang Khong). Which means this Indochina adventure is nearly at an end. How is that possible? Where did the month go? I don't want to go back. Seriously. As much as I want the blood-sucking orgy the mozzies are having with me to end, the prospect of returning to "normal/boring" life in 2 weeks is more traumatising. And no more Yatzee too. What am I to do?

Day 1

The smells intoxicating. The colours vibrant. The streets chaotic. Welcome to Bangkok! Where the roads are jammed packed and the noise never ceases.
And what a coincidence! My Uncle and Auntie were on holiday in Bangkok for the next three days so we met up today.

Our first stop, the precious gemstone centre where you can watch expert jewellers shine, shape and set sapphires, rubies, emeralds etc into rings, earrings. Whatever really. A place I wouldn't have considered going but it was fun.

Next, the malls of Bangkok. By the 2nd one, we all agreed we were bored of window-shopping. So to liven things up and see Bangkok local-style, we jumped into a pink tuk-tuk. It was awesome! The tuk-tuk pulled out into incoming traffic that was actually on the WRONG side of the road. But the driver was a pro and quickly sped away down bustling streets and alleys decorated with electric cables snaking across the Bangkok sky. 30 min later, we jumped onto a boat and rode down the river (dont' know what it's called) and saw a different quieter side of Bangkok. Kids training to be monks lounging along the shore. Fishermen trying to catch dinner. People hanging their laundry. Normal life in Bangkok.

Bangkok is nothing like what I expected. And hopefully so will the next 6 wks. Gotta go and me the rest of the crew now. A bientot!