The airport has been under siege from anti government supporters and despite the fact that there have been riot police outside the airport for days, nothing is happening for fear of bloodshed. Things have swung between peaceful protest to the brink of civil war and there have been grenades, bombs, shootings and attacks alongside gentle marches.The country is in absolute chaos and the tension is rising. Today there is a court case which could in effect dissolve parliament and put the country into military rule. Generally it's all a bit shit. Fortunately, I have not witnessed the clashes first h [View Full Entry]

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My hospital appointment went relatively smoothly. The nurse was amazing, I was (relatively) calm and I didn't even feel the needle go in!! My blood test came back well - everything is back as it should be although my liver is still recovering. Perhaps it is withdrawal from the lack of wine?! Anyway, I have the all clear to fly (again)!! While all this had been going on, my Thai visa had expired a couple of days ago. Normally this would not be a problem - you just pay a penalty equivalent to £10 per day of overstay at the airport [View Full Entry]

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It seems I have certain privileges with my room. One is a breakfast buffet at the top of the hotel. It is on the 24th floor and the view over Bangkok is amazing! After breakfast, I went down to the gym as I had been feeling so sluggish after not doing anything for the last couple of weeks. I managed a short run and session on the bike before hitting the outdoor pool! If only it wasn't so cloudy - I am white again. My tan had been sooooo good! Can wait for the NZ summer! I went to see Joey [View Full Entry]

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The hospital doctor had given me the all clear to fly but the travel insurance doctors disagreed. They prescribed more rest. The hotel was lovely. I managed a couple of swims in the pool, although it is rainy season here and there have been constant storms. The peels of thunder were the longest and loudest that I remember hearing and while this was exciting for a while, it became dull very quickly. Because everywhere was constantly wet, the mosquitos were out in full force and I was being eaten alive again. Eventually, the travel insurance people agreed that this was counter [View Full Entry]

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After a few days in the hospital on Koh Tao my temperature had come down a bit and I was getting restless. As it is only a small island, the facilities were not that great and I was left of my own for several hours after my painkillers had run out (longest was 8 ours when I couldn't get up). I quickly discovered that the only way to ensure I remained as pain free as possible was to monitor the timings myself. There was no call button and my room so every 4-5 hours I had to get up and walk [View Full Entry]

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Another day spent packing and getting ready for the overnight train to Southern Thailand ready for sun, sea and sand! The train left Bangkok at 19.35 with an estimated arrival time of 03.47!!!! A van was booked to pick us up at 05.30 to get the boat to Koh Tao at 07.00. Sounds like a lot of waiting around at ridiculous o'clock to me! Thai time is nothing like real tim so we shall see what happens! It is the King's Sister's funeral tomorrow and Bangkok has gone mad. There are people and cars everywhere. The traffic is worse that you [View Full Entry]

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Up early to lay claim to my lounger by the pool! It was time to get some sun!!! I did a few laps of the pool and then relaxed with my book- this was the life I had been planning! Joey and I were booked on dives at 12.00 so we headed down to the front and grabbed our kit. Afeter a 5 min speedboat ride we were on the diveboat and ready to head off. I was still feeling pretty rough but put this down to the travel sickness the day before. Fortunately the best place to be if you [View Full Entry]

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So, the train arrived at Chumphon at 08.30 (instead of 03.47!) - just a little late!!! We had obviously missed the boat and there was no way of getting a refund so we had to buy new tickets for the 13.00 boat instead. Great. We wandered around the town (there is nothing at all to see here) and found a little cafe to wait in. Eventually it was time to go to the port and we were greeted by a rather large catamaran. Joey had already warned that this crossing was particularly bad and we had dosed up on travel sickness [View Full Entry]

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The minivan back to Bangkok was thankfully fairly calm considering my past experiences!! I met Joey in Khao San for a wander round and for dinner and the most painful wax I have ever encountered!! I didn't even care that the magazine I was reading for distraction was from 2003!! The rest of the evening was spent uploading a lot of photos and trying to sort out the blog. Tomorrow I am off to Southern Thailand for the last part of my trip - 10 days on the beach and diving so I apologise if the next few entries aren't as [View Full Entry]

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I hired a motorbike for the day as I couldn't find a tour that covered what I wanted to do and I was fed up of being sat on a bus!! I found a great deal for a 125 manual at 3 quid for the day with half a tank of petrol!!!! Ther was even a helmet!! Amazing! After getting a 'map' from the coffee shop next to my hotel that rented me the bike (as I write this I see that it may not have been the wisest idea!) I headed off to the Erawan waterfall. According to the 'map' [View Full Entry]

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