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Published: January 1st 2009
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Nellie The New Year Elephant
I can't imagine she was having the night of her life, but the tourists loved her Dec 30, 31st, Jan 1st
It wasn’t so easy to leave Richmond. I’d had a great time with my folks and family, met up with lots of old friends - most of the ones I was expecting, and a few I wasn’t. For once Yorkshire’s weather had been kind to me - very kind in fact - and it had been a good stay.
But Dec 30th was the day to leave. Mum and Dad gave me a lift all the way to Manchester, and we took the scenic route over the A66 which was spectacularly beautiful. The frost hadn’t melted all day on the top, the views over the dales were wonderful as the place looked like a winter wonderland - albeit without any actual snow. The A66 goes pretty high up to get over the top of the dales into Lancashire and Cumbria - it’s always the first major road in England to close when it snows. We went through Brough and Kirby Stephen and hit the M6 at Tebay where we turned south to head towards Manchester. Even along the northern part of the M6 I’d forgotten how spectacular the scenery is. There are some really
Statue
I took lots of pics of these guys...... big hills right next to the motorway. There are also some pretty bleak looking towns though……….
We got to Manchester Airport in plenty of time - as my folks always like to do - and it was pretty quiet to it took me 15 minutes to get through the formalities then 2 hours to sit around waiting. Staropramen, a great Czech beer (is it?) in case you were wondering.
An uneventful hop to Germany and then I had another hour to sit around before boarding the next one. Whilst most airports now are 100% non-smoking, the lovely Germans had installed little booths - airtight boxes sponsored by Camel and Winston - where people can knock themselves out and smoke to their hearts content. The aircon inside felt like it was sucking me upwards, not just the smoke, and there was a nice community spirit inside what with everyone feeling so stupid and all………
Not much to say about the next flight, except to lay into Lufthansa. It was, I think, the worst longhaul flight I’ve had. The legroom was terrible, the service was pretty lousy, the food dodgy……..thankfully I was sitting next to a Thai bride who
Reclining Budda
at 17 meters long and covered in gold leaf, he's pretty impressive was rather petite, as they usually are, so I got a bit more space, and her 50-something German husband sat on the other side. They didn't say much, too each other or to me.
It was great to land here and walk out of the airport into the heat, I’d had enough of being cold after New Jersey, New York, London and Yorkshire in the winter. Bangkok of course was sweltering, really sticky and humid. Perfect.
I’d forgotten how exciting Thai taxis are. Whilst Martin in Germany hit 220 kmh, my taxis was flat out doing 130, but bear in mind there were no seatbelts, no airbags, no suspension, no clear roads………….swerving across all lanes in between the other traffic…..it was a white knuckle ride but of course it was fine.
This is my first time staying on Kho San Road, which is backpacker central. A couple of people had recommended ‘D&D’ - an upmarket hostel / downmarket hotel, and for less than 20 quid per night it’s great. I have a nice room, my own bathroom, aircon, a balcony with a view of the carpark……an elephant with ‘Happy New Year’ written across its ass hanging around
roof tiles
you could write a personal message on each one before it got added to a new temple roof...... outside……..all good.
Landing at 3pm, I got to the hotel at about 4 and of course New Year’s Eve was looming. I was determined to make some friends, so a quick shower and change then I was off. Kho San Road is a frenzy of people - street vendors, market stalls, tourist-trap shops and cheesy bars. Great fun. After some more wandering I found myself in Gullivers - which I think was kind of an Irish Bar but had lost a lot - if not all of it’s identity - in it’s implementation in Thailand. It was still pretty early - I think I was there at about 730 - and pretty quiet. A couple of drinks at the bar, then I joined the smokers outside and sparked up a few conversations.
Chloe was my New Years Eve friend. She was also on her own, and determined to have some fun. She fended off the over-the-top local girls for me, drank almost as fast, and was great company. The fact that she was 22 and pretty didn’t hurt. She’d jacked in her job and had already been in Asia for 2 months, with another month to go before
she heads home to London. After too many drinks, we wound up on the podium in the middle of the dancefloor (I know…….I should know better) and had a bit of a pash at midnight. Bless her.
Jetlag and booze got the better of me and I retired hurt at some point later that evening. But Happy New Year everyone!
This morning - New Year’s Day - got off to a flying start. I had a light and refreshing breakfast consisting of water, Nurofen and cigarettes then went back to bed, to emerge at about midday and go for what I guess you could call second breakfast. Ethos is a nice little place just off the main road and proved to be a good choice for food and wireless internet.
My phone had been misbehaving since I arrived - it was refusing to send texts, and was only receiving email in bursts. Several people had sent me happy New Year messages, which I tried to reply to but (I think) failed. More worryingly, several people had sent me ‘are you alive’ messages because there was a big nightclub fire here last night. 60 people died - thankfully
for me at least it was on the other side of town. The Thais don’t seem exactly keen on health and safety and apparently it was a planned indoor firework display which caused the whole thing. Not good.
Feeling a bit more human, I wandered. First stop was the Grand Palace, where sadly I was refused entry because I was wearing shorts. I know the locals can get offended by westerners in inappropriate dress, but I thought that meant miniskirts and bikinis, not shorts. Bit annoying. So instead I went to Wat Pho - a major collection of temples. I’d been there before, but a long time ago and it was still worth a look. The reclining Budda is amazing, as are many of the buildings. I guess today must’ve been a national holiday as there were people everywhere.
The shops here will sell any old tat, but I stumbled upon a kind of car boot sale which eclipsed anything I’d seen before. Dodgy looking vagrants displaying their second hand wares on a towel, hoping that someone was going to come along and buy stuff. Or maybe it was just an excuse to sit around all day, who
knows.
So I’m writing this now because Bangkok is a late night city, and last night I definitely got off to a start too early. I’ve eaten, hydrated, watched the world go by from a bar (soooooo many pretty tanned young backpackers), had a bit of a nap, and now I’m ready to go. Quick trip to an internet café to upload this, then I’m off. Who knows, maybe I’ll bump into Chloe again……….
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