Big Dave II

Short one So we got back to Bangkok to go to Chang Mai, the biggest city in the North. After having purchased our tickets at the bus station in Bangkok we had some time to kill, and so decided to head in to the centre - I journey that cost us 100 baht (about 150p). We did our thing in the centre then tried to head back out to the bus terminal. The first taxi driver wanted 400 baht. We said no straight away, refusing to pay 4x the original fair. He turned away in disgust as did we (with what we consisdered good reason). We got an altogether different response from the next guy. He simply stuck his two fingers up at us. I thought he was joking and so laughed at him. It was ... read more

We are still in Kanchanaburi. Much of the stuff to see here is war related but there is also a fantastic landscape that surrounds the town and so we thought before we engaged in yet more 1940's conflicts we would divulge into nature. Once more on the bus, and once more some Thai person started to try and talk to me. When will they realise I don't speak Thai! (I often struggle with English). People hail me down on the street for a chat (height is approachable) and it takes at least 5 minutes before they realise I smile or nod at everything they say, and it takes me 5 minutes to sometimes realise they are in fact not even talking to me. Anyway; waterfall. We went to the wrong one. A vivid imagination is needed ... read more

Following on from my last entry.... So we got on a bus to take us to Petchaburi, made famous by the exploits of bridge building that occured here in the second world war. It is more commmonly known as 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' or simply 'Death Bridge'. As I said, a bus. It was not however a direct route. When we boarded it immediately became clear that this was not to be a journey of comfort. The coach was jam-packed full of scouts both male and female (who, annoyingly burst into laughter at the sight of us - they were obviously aware that this was going to be a very bloody amusing journey). The bus truly was packed. Neither myself nor Sam could stand up but as there was no where to sit (and ... read more

Another one for you.... We left the peninsular of Raleigh due to thinning wallets. It wasnt entirely a shame to go because it was absolutely pissing it down and so all there was to do was essentially eat and converse with other travellers (not a bad thing at all but fairly mundane and repetitive). We left to go back up further north and so got a coach back up to Bangkok. Nothing exceptional really happened as it was a 14 hour cramped coach journey (I could hear moans of anguish fom behind me at times, but the bastard deserved it). When we got to Bangkok we immediately headed out again to catch another bus - one that would take us to Petchaburi. The normal custom is for the bus conductor to alert farang to their impeding ... read more

I forgot about my massage!!! I was very bored one evening and so far I would trya Thai masage (the painful one). This was truly amusing. I stepped in and had no idea of the protocol of what occurs. I fumbled round and her english wasnt the greatest. Eventually when lying down she said "now I put on relaxing music". She put on christmas songs. brilliant. Frequently I choose relax to those classic hits. what was funny is I dont thing shes ever had any one as tall or as immobile as me. fair play to her she put in alot of effort, and I think her joints cracked more than mine did (crack=good). she had to stretch to probably an unprecedented level in her personal history of massages. Her effort was probably equal to my ... read more

Yo people Ok so its been a while since my last entry but Ive been waiting for something more interesting to happen. We left Bangkok on the 3rd (my birthday) because the city is not entirely to my taste. its good for a few days but then it begins to get slightly tedious, being constantly harassed by taxi drivers. So we left for Ko Tao, an island in S Thailand. Before we got on the bus to gt there a guy told us that our company was notorious for having things stolen - hence I barely slept on the journey, scrutinizing the baggage hold during the night, waiting to leap up at any thieving bastards. At 2 in the morning we got dropped off at a bus station and nobody bothered to ask why. eventually another ... read more

This is a shortened down version cos I can't be bothered Bloody longest journey ever. As we were taking off from Heathrow in our quality Arab jet the pilot pussied out of flying, and as we were about to take off he braked, throwing us all forward. It was actually bloody hilarious. After they had sorted out the engine failure (about an hour) we were off. The planes are like old school virgin ones with very little in flight entertainment. When we landed we waited 14 hours in Bahrain airport and got some funny looks from Arabs as we were the only white folk there and we slept on the floor. They put everyone else in a hotel which slightly took the piss (they refused us as we were from London). Once on the next plane ... read more