so i'm going to try and blog with a tad of a hangover.........twas me burp day yesterday, im now an official old bag. we had planned a few drinks and dinner at our coco restaurant and bar, so the staff from the clinic came - there was my friend Nathan, and Avril, Lot, Sheena, Alex, Brendan, the 4 new English teachers that came out yesterday too (from POD - they do other voluntary work placements too and they are staying at our bungalow resort - 2 of them from Swindon can you believe, Walcot and Park North - how strange is [View Full Entry]

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Kept awake most of last night by a mother of a storm - the rain was lashing like a massive lash, and the lightening and thunder were just darn scary! the thunder woke me (and everyone at clinic too) and it shook the bungalow and cracked on and on for ages each time. I felt quite scared! loudest i have ever heard in me life. anyway, we had popped to Haad Rin beach bars and Cactus bar with Alex, Brendan and Sheena to meet Phong (yes, prounounced Pong!) and her chap - Phong is one of the Thai vets, she's about [View Full Entry]

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Well, after our general lazing about and drinking we had to start work proper. We had a toss and I got the first 2 days and Sat morning. First day on my own was Thursday 25th October, which happened to be surgery day. Tues and Thurs are when they do the neuterings and are the busiest days. Arrived at 8.30am, to be greeted by the dogs and cats, they come running up to you as you walk across to the clinic, they are happy dogs and cats and give you a great big greeting. I started off feeding all the critters, [View Full Entry]

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By the way - we are in Thong Sala, near to Baan Tai.................cheers Richard, we have indeed discovered the evil brew, but alas, we will be going to the Full Moon party this FRIDAY! bring it on......... Monday 22nd, Subai met us and showed us round Thong Sala, where the shops, banks, etc and night market for food is. Its been monsoon raining and there are floods all over the place. weather is heavy rain and thunderstorms. We have met up with a lady called Patsy, she's 58 and staying in our bungalow park. She is brilliant, loads of fun and [View Full Entry]

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http://www.travelblog.org/fred.php?id=212312 if you want to get her take on things..................... [View Full Entry]

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Big old journey down to here - we had our 2 hour bus to Bangkok (full of soldiers) where we arrived in rush hour and after being sat in traffic for ages, the driver asked if we wanted to just get out there in the middle of half a dozen lanes - which we did - then fell straight into a tuk tuk - it was hilarious as we were packed up to the rafters with all our packs and then us on the bottom. The fumes were bloody awful as you get it all in your face on the [View Full Entry]

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After another gruelling (well, more boring really) overnight train journey from Chiang Mai to Bangkok - where I didnt get a wink of sleep incidentally, well maybe i had a doze for an hour or two at the very end but this was usually interrupted straight after i dropped off by Ting Tong wandering through the carriage braying loudly "yip naaah ding dong waaaah" loosely meaning "do you want anything from my bucket?" - the bucket contained foodstuffs (I presume they were edible anyway) but all i really wanted was to be left asleep. It was hard enough to drop off [View Full Entry]

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Since our last blog, we got the 11am bus to Pai (pronounced Pie), 3 hours along a good stretch of very windy roads. We chatted to an English couple and 2 dutch women. Pai is lovely, a smaller town with guest houses, bars, restaurants and a river running through, set in lush countryside. We found ourselves a nice wee guest house complex of bamboo huts along the river bank called Baan Tawan, (next to Toady and Ratty), and bagged ourselves a lovely hut with balcony and en suite hot shower and toilet. The huts are set in lush tropical gardens and [View Full Entry]

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So, a bit more detail now we have a leisurely day in Chiang Mai, after a yummy breakfast and now a coffee shop/internet place. Aah, its a hard life. This may be a bit long for some as it's also my own diary so just skim it or email me to take your name of the distribution list at any time. Not sure you guys at work will be ok with getting blog updates all the time! Or just delete em! I doubt you will want to read all, I want all details for my own diary so i can [View Full Entry]

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So here we are, arrived safe and sound. 32 degrees - its hot. khao san road is a tad mental, but having fun. we spent the day being thrown around the streets of bangkok on a tuk tuk, visited a temple or two and other bits, then when the driver's wife called he decided to ditch us and told us it was a short walk back. liar. we tramped back eventually! had quite a few beers already, and plenty of complimentary whiskey and vodka on the plane over! we've booked a trek in Chiang Mai, leaving on overnight train tomorrow and [View Full Entry]

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