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Published: February 13th 2012
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Sitting in the car on the way to the airport felt different this time. As I tried to talk to Mum all I could think about was trying not to be sick, I couldn't talk and I could hardly breathe. Am pretty sure this was my first panic attack. What was I thinking? Could I do this? Will I meet people? Will I be able to handle my budget? So many questions and no answers. Just breathe I thought to myself, I am going to have a ball. I just need to get to the plane and everything would be alright.
After hugging Mum goodbye I walked through the doors and took a deep breath, this was it. I am off. As I searched for my flight panic mode kicked in. There was only a 15.05 flight to Bangkok and no 16.05. Could I have got this wrong? I tripple checked my itinerary, this couldn't be right? So I ran to the check-in and waited not so paitiently in line. What felt like hours later I made it to the check-in and the lady told me the flight was changed months ago, thanks STA, that's great. So off I ran
for my gate with no time to stop for anything. Oh yes, the adventures have begun already.
After a flight of chic flicks, red wine and plane food (Yes I was in heaven) the plane screeched down onto the tarmac, I had arrived. As soon as I stepped off the plane it hit me, the thickness of cigarette smoke, the plane fumes, the smell of pollution and the feeling of heavy humidity, this my friends was Thailand. After running around the airport for 3 hours I realised that travelling really is the best teacher, I was learning already. A meeting point of 'Just outsde customs' is NEVER a good idea, especially in an airport as big as Bangkok. After frantically trying to find Mel I gave up, sent her a facebook message saying meet you at the hotel. After a few worried beers trying to relax Mel arrived at midnight with a bottle of vodka in hand and we laughed about the fact we were both so worried and every white person that walked past we thought it was eachother. Even if they were 6 foot tall or as old as the hills. So the vodka, a kiwi and
late night rendevous at the market capped off our first night together in Bangkok.
Chaos is in the dictionary as:
1. A condition or place of great disorder or confusion.
2. A disorderly mass; a jumble
This is exactly what you get in this massive city of 12 million people. CHAOS! Bangkok has been described to me as dirty, busy, loud and unfriendly but what I found was a blink and you will miss it, can i help you?, watch out for the tuk tuk city with so much heart and soul. Sure, sometimes you're not sure where that heart and soul lies; 'My friend, my friend, kangaroo, special price for you' approach but the Thai's are always there with a smile.
The city itself is a massive metropolis of contrasts. Brand new BMW's, old tuk tuks with two stroke engines, beautiful gold clad temples to run down shanty towns. I haven't seen anything like it. Markets going on in the streets until after 3am. Monks both young and old wandering around, whole families on motorbikes and what looked like an entire school class in tuk tuks. This place was definitely something else.
Mel
and I spent the next few days drinking cocktails, eating amazing food, sleeping, drinking cocktails, sleeping and getting in a few tourist attractions. Our hotel was very plush and we quickly learnt the home away from hom for all the travelling Russians in Bangkok. Interesting.
One day we sat on Koh San Rd. just watching the world go by, getting sucked in by the people selling things. My friend, my friend, kangaroo. I learnt not to make eye contact but Mel on the other hand, well let's just say she walked away with an umbrella and whole family of elephants for a 'bargain, the elephants went from 1450THB to 450THB'. We got massages and decided it was a great idea to let fish eat our feet. My god were we wrong. This was the most unusual, uncomfortable feeling. It started horrible got a little better and then just got horrible again. Good for a laugh in the end but never again.
The one day we managed to get out for a touristy day it was a buddist holiday and all the temples had 100's of people lining up to pray. We saw standing buddah and were there
at the right time to go in and see lucky buddah who was only open to the public on this day. It was pretty special and we both made our wishes to lucky buddah and walked away feeling pretty humble. Humble for a while but a night out on the town down Koh San Rd. will change that feeling pretty quick. We started off at a bar where the signs said 'stong cockatils, we don't check I.D cards', so obviously we were in for a fun night. We met some great people and made it to a club and danced the night away.
We made the decision to head to the islands and of course the day after our biggest night it was time to get up early and head for the airport. Struggle town. We got a taxi so it was quicker but our taxi driver was a maniac much like the rest of the drivers in Bangkok and through the sea of trucks, cars, bikes and tuk tuks I was fearing for our lives. The good news was that when visiting lucky buddah the day before I prayed for our safety so I knew we would be
okay. A 10 hour journey filled with running for the flight, a taxi, a bus, another bus, a boat, another taxi and a walk we finally made it to Koh Phangan. When we arrived in Haad Rin (which was horrible and we planned to leave first thing to find paradise) we realised we had been robbed on the bus. Our big backpacks which were under the bus had completely been gone through and we lost a fair amount of stuff. We felt totally violated and after a few rants and raves we moved on, this was not going to ruin our holiday. After a well deserved sleep we were excited to let the island life begin 😊
Lessons learnt:
- Check on-line for up to date flight times before leaving for the airport
- Organise a better meeting point at any airport
- Don't make eye contact with selling or begging
- Keep all your valuables on you, not in your big backpack - even the smallest things
Sending lots of Zoshy love to you xxx
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Brendoni
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Fish feet
Hello Zos, Loved the blog and the pictures!! Had my feet cleaned by the little fish in Bali. It felt really funny until they started on my hairy legs, not so nice. Glad your having a great time, happy travels. xox OM