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Published: August 25th 2011
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After a swift exit from Laos, and two more stamps, I was back in Thailand. It was at this time I realised I had lost another pair of headphones. That's set number three gone. With a twelve hour train imminent, I was driven from shop to shop by a crazy female Tuk Tuk driver. She was one in a million but all she drove me to were mobile phone shops. Apparently, Nong Khai citizens do not listen to personal stereos. Oh well, a half day journey probably sat talking to a mad local awaited.
Nong Khai had only one thing I wanted to see before I left for Bangkok: Sala Kaew Ku Sculpture Park. My Lonely Planet the area as surreal and this was pretty spot on. Gigantic Hindu and Buddhist images towered above me yet they all had a Dali like twist. My words will not explain it too well so just have a look at the pictures. My jaw ached in awe of these works of art. These sculptures were supposedly religious but one piece had a pack of dogs chasing an elephant, where one was riding a scooter. Just weird. Again, my time was cut short due
to the scorching heat. I was not too unhappy because my mind was melting, not due to the heat but the strange aura from the odd looking faces were making go mad. Not a place I would like to left alone in for a night. Freaky!
I made my way back to the capital city, for a return visit. This time it was different. I was to meet my university course mate, James Page, for a good old knees-up. The journey was a now easy twelve hours, by train. This was my first experience of the trains and I was very impressed. The beds were cool, comfortable and quiet, which is the polar opposite of Indian trains. It even ran on time. Only one mishap, the ticket conductor, being overly helpful, tried lifting up a little girl to the top bunk, to her mother. She had been cheery and laughing all journey. He did the worst thing in that situation: made her cry. By accident, he rammed her head into an overhead fan. She cried for 3 hours straight. Safe to say, he was a little embarrassed and whenever he walked by, she would hide from him.
James
The Nagas
Check out the bird on the tongue on the far right. This shows the scale and I met on Khao San Road and pretty much never left for five straight days. One time we ventured away but this was a mistake. Khao San was the place to be. I became one of the guys I despised, when I came here last: a man who likes to drink, eat, have a big hangover and not take in any culture. My excuse was that I had already seen the big sights and I was here to let loose. In fact, James was a man who needed freedom more than myself, for various reasons. The phrase "wingman" came to mind. I was not wrong. Four nights of clubbing, street-made Pad Thai and Mai Thai cocktail buckets made this a time to remember. One night, it was so good I decided to do a bucket in five minutes, by myself. Bad idea! Imagine putting your head down on your pillow and a Tsunami hitting you. That's me, that night. Anyway, we even met two beautiful ladies, Gift and Saiy, to make our time together even more special (before you ask, they were ladies!). This is the wrong forum to discuss some "surreal" moments during our Bangkok adventure, but if
Just Your Average Dog on a Scooter
The most surreal religious image I have ever seen! you ask me nicely I might spill the beans. I'm not going to forget those moments fast, that's for sure.
Then James broke me the good news. he was coming to Cambodia with me. The temples at Angkor were to become more than ruins by the time we left, if Bangkok was anything to go by.
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