I would like to preface this entry by pointing out that I actually wrote it two days ago but due to bum Vietnamese internet this is the first time I've been able to post it. I'm sure this delay has caused you all terrible distress. Anyway:
After an entire day or so of travelling, we finally made it to Thailand. First impresions: it's so dang hot! Thirty eight degrees it turned out to be that day, and 95% humidity to boot. But, riding a tuk-tuk at dangerous speeds does generate a good breeze so we cooled down soon enough. We eventually found our hotel, sweaty and dishevelled after wandering the grounds of the university in which it is inexplicably located, and basically just showered, ate biscuits and went to sleep.
The next day we set out to explore the many delights of Bangkok. While walking in the vague direction of some temples, we were accosted on the street by two seperate incredibly friendly English-speakers who were very keen to tell us about all the cool stuff to see and where it was. Weirdly, they weren't even doing it for a tip; they were literally just being nice to some haples white folk. It was very strange. But their good moods may have had something to do with the fact that we had once again accidentally walked into the middle of a public holiday of some kind. This meant that lots of things were cheaper than usual and loads of people were off work, all of whom seemed happy. But the best thing was that this meant that the Temple of the Lucky Buddha was open, for just this one day of the year. So obviously we went there and got blessed with luck. So that was fun. We also saw a bunch of other temples and palaces and the like, several of which were, as usual, under construction. Our new-found luckyness manifested itself in the acquisition of a government employed tuk-tuk driver, who took us around the whole day and waited outside half a dozen temples for forty baht, a.k.a. about ninety pence. He also took us to the place where I bought my new suit, for which I imagine the commision made up for the low rates. Still cheap though!
The next day the same driver picked us up again and we hit a few more temples, then a cat cafe. Which is like a normal cafe except with a dozen cats rubbing round your ankles. Then it was time for our main Thai attraction to begin; we decamped to a hotel much fancier than the on we booked to meet the rest of out tour group! This is not the sort of thing we would normally do, but in a country as busy and bewildering as Thailand it seemed like a good idea. Also, having spent over two months just the two of us we thought it might be nice to see some new faces. And we were right on both counts. We ended up with an amazing group of people with very similar notions of travel to us. It was mostly Britishers and Canadians, with a token investment from the USA, Australia and Europe. But despite our widely varying opinions on gun control, it was a very harmonious group and we have made a lot of new friends (it's on facebook so it must be true).
I'm not going to try and blow-by-blow the tour as they crammed so much into those eight days. We came out quite sleep-deprived. But there were several awesome highlights: one night we stayed on some river rafts in the middle of the jungle - the main entertainment was flinging yourself into the river's strong current and floating downstream to the bottom of the rafts, then walking up and doing it again. We swam and waterslid in the Krung Sri waterfalls with some fish that ate our skin. We ziplined between treetops on a mountain (the longest zipline was 800 metres!). Mel learned some Muay Thai. We both learned how to cook some Thai food. Both instances of learning were very sweaty in thirty degree heat. We bathed some elephants. We crossed the bridge on the river Kwai. We bicycled between ruined temples. We ate a lot of Thai food, and Matt, our illustrious tour guide, found the only bar in Thailand that has cider. All in all, it was an amazing time an an excellent way to see a lot of Thailand in a short amount of time. Does make you tired though.
To combat our tiredness, the obvious solution seemed to be to go trekking through the jungle for three days. Elementary. We thought Thailand was hot before, but we were so very wrong. There is no heat like the heat of jungle trekking. It is the sweatiest I have ever been, by some considerable margin. Luckily, we had a quality shower of a bucket of cold water waiting for us at the end of the each day. Which was actually really nice. Not to be all complaining though; it was truthfully a really fun experience. Exhausting, yes, but rewarding also. We got some incredible views from the hilltops, and I've never had to machete through the undergrowth to find a seemingly-mythical waterfall before. And at one of the villages we stayed in the local children decided to make Mel some kind of nature princess, with jewellery and make-up made entirely of plants. It was fascinating to see into the homes of the people who live in these remote villages, whose lives, we learned, have been revolutionised in the last five years since the government installed water pipes and they got a few solar panels put in. It is a very different world, which is quite humbling to look in on.
As always, we had a great time. And I haven't even talked about Thai massage. Anyway, that last little adventure finished off our Thai times, and we flew down from Chiang Mai, centre of northern Thailand and home to famous temples, spice markets and Italian restaurants, to Bangkok and then onwards to Vietnam! Where I am now. And I'll probably tell you all about in two weeks after we leave.
Happy travels friends :)
After an entire day or so of travelling, we finally made it to Thailand. First impresions: it's so dang hot! Thirty eight degrees it turned out to be that day, and 95% humidity to boot. But, riding a tuk-tuk at dangerous speeds does generate a good breeze so we cooled down soon enough. We eventually found our hotel, sweaty and dishevelled after wandering the grounds of the university in which it is inexplicably located, and basically just showered, ate biscuits and went to sleep.
The next day we set out to explore the many delights of Bangkok. While walking in the vague direction of some temples, we were accosted on the street by two seperate incredibly friendly English-speakers who were very keen to tell us about all the cool stuff to see and where it was. Weirdly, they weren't even doing it for a tip; they were literally just being nice to some haples white folk. It was very strange. But their good moods may have had something to do with the fact that we had once again accidentally walked into the middle of a public holiday of some kind. This meant that lots of things were cheaper than usual and loads of people were off work, all of whom seemed happy. But the best thing was that this meant that the Temple of the Lucky Buddha was open, for just this one day of the year. So obviously we went there and got blessed with luck. So that was fun. We also saw a bunch of other temples and palaces and the like, several of which were, as usual, under construction. Our new-found luckyness manifested itself in the acquisition of a government employed tuk-tuk driver, who took us around the whole day and waited outside half a dozen temples for forty baht, a.k.a. about ninety pence. He also took us to the place where I bought my new suit, for which I imagine the commision made up for the low rates. Still cheap though!
The next day the same driver picked us up again and we hit a few more temples, then a cat cafe. Which is like a normal cafe except with a dozen cats rubbing round your ankles. Then it was time for our main Thai attraction to begin; we decamped to a hotel much fancier than the on we booked to meet the rest of out tour group! This is not the sort of thing we would normally do, but in a country as busy and bewildering as Thailand it seemed like a good idea. Also, having spent over two months just the two of us we thought it might be nice to see some new faces. And we were right on both counts. We ended up with an amazing group of people with very similar notions of travel to us. It was mostly Britishers and Canadians, with a token investment from the USA, Australia and Europe. But despite our widely varying opinions on gun control, it was a very harmonious group and we have made a lot of new friends (it's on facebook so it must be true).
I'm not going to try and blow-by-blow the tour as they crammed so much into those eight days. We came out quite sleep-deprived. But there were several awesome highlights: one night we stayed on some river rafts in the middle of the jungle - the main entertainment was flinging yourself into the river's strong current and floating downstream to the bottom of the rafts, then walking up and doing it again. We swam and waterslid in the Krung Sri waterfalls with some fish that ate our skin. We ziplined between treetops on a mountain (the longest zipline was 800 metres!). Mel learned some Muay Thai. We both learned how to cook some Thai food. Both instances of learning were very sweaty in thirty degree heat. We bathed some elephants. We crossed the bridge on the river Kwai. We bicycled between ruined temples. We ate a lot of Thai food, and Matt, our illustrious tour guide, found the only bar in Thailand that has cider. All in all, it was an amazing time an an excellent way to see a lot of Thailand in a short amount of time. Does make you tired though.
To combat our tiredness, the obvious solution seemed to be to go trekking through the jungle for three days. Elementary. We thought Thailand was hot before, but we were so very wrong. There is no heat like the heat of jungle trekking. It is the sweatiest I have ever been, by some considerable margin. Luckily, we had a quality shower of a bucket of cold water waiting for us at the end of the each day. Which was actually really nice. Not to be all complaining though; it was truthfully a really fun experience. Exhausting, yes, but rewarding also. We got some incredible views from the hilltops, and I've never had to machete through the undergrowth to find a seemingly-mythical waterfall before. And at one of the villages we stayed in the local children decided to make Mel some kind of nature princess, with jewellery and make-up made entirely of plants. It was fascinating to see into the homes of the people who live in these remote villages, whose lives, we learned, have been revolutionised in the last five years since the government installed water pipes and they got a few solar panels put in. It is a very different world, which is quite humbling to look in on.
As always, we had a great time. And I haven't even talked about Thai massage. Anyway, that last little adventure finished off our Thai times, and we flew down from Chiang Mai, centre of northern Thailand and home to famous temples, spice markets and Italian restaurants, to Bangkok and then onwards to Vietnam! Where I am now. And I'll probably tell you all about in two weeks after we leave.
Happy travels friends :)
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