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Published: January 7th 2007
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So it appears i am a big hit with the thai ladies. i dont know what it could be, i just have to walk down the street and they try and lure me into bars for a drink and utter something about longtime. they are so very friendly. No, but seriously now if i had a pound for every time i had been offered a lady i would have about 13.50 by now ( 50p for ladyboys). Anyway enough about the infamous sex industry. that is just one of many good things about this fantastic country*.
I arrived in bangkok from india and it came as a very welcome break. The place is amazingly laid back and more westernised than many western countries. living is not too much trouble at all here and it is no wonder it attracts so many tourists. the people know how to have a good time and seem to work very much on the ethos of work hard and play hard. so it is no surprise that i ended up staying two weeks in bangkok.
In india i had trained my mind and body, next in my quest was some kick ass moves and
so it was i signed up to a muay thai boxing gym that accepted beginners. this is the real reason i stayed so long. it was hard work but a lot of fun and probably one of the fastest ways to get fit. i stayed down the khao san rd which is famous for its party atmpsphere so going out was unavoidable. a week of training combined with the lethal chang beer and i was in a bad way. i needed a break and so headed to kanchenaburi for a couple of days rest.
kanchenaburi is on the kwai river which has a bridge over it made famous by a film but i cannot remember the name. i visited the various wargraves and a museum and was made aware of the brutality inflicted on the pows. i also went went to the tiger temple where i got friendly with some orphaned tigers. having regained my strength i returned to bangkok feeling like a new man and completed the rest of the training.
from bangkok i headed north to chaing mai where i met up with matt an american friend. chaing mai was described to me as a big
city with a small town feel and it certainly is. it comes alive at night with a lively night market and bars and restaurants to cater for all. it was a good place to celebrate xmas.
Next was pai. pai is an old hippy hangout in the mountains and although busier now it still retains a cool vibe. the beauty of pai tho lies in the surrounding countryside and what better way to explore it than on two wheels. there is no better feeling than 100cc of pure power between your legs. the buzz of the motor, the wind slightly displacing your hair. me and my scooter wouldnt look out of place in the movie easy rider.
i wanted to do some trekking from pai but the treking scene in northern thailand is rumoured to be quite commercial. so it was a great relief to me when i found out about mr chart. mr chart lives, eats, sleeps, breathes jungle. in a survival contest mr chart would have ray mears for breakfast, wrapped in a banana leaf with a fern salad as a side. former tribesman and member of the black army he has guided the likes of
steve irwin. and so it was myself, a german called martin, mr chart and his sidekick boom headed out to the jungle for 3 days. it started off well when i arrived at his house and i was presented with a big knife, a bottle of rice whiskey and a gun. we spent a night in the jungle and a night in mr charts village and learnt how to live in the jungle. we ate squirrel, frogs, fish, birds and all manner of local flora.
all in all hard work but a fantastic experience. i returned just in time for new years and pai was one big party. something special was the lanterns everyone let off that filled the sky.
next stop was soppong. a beautiful place as yet relatively undiscovered by the masses. i stayed in a guesthouse on a mountain by a lisu village and spent some time exploring the local caves and villages. time on my visa was running out tho and i had to keep moving so after three days i left for mae sariang with a stopover in mae hong son. mae sariang is just a regular roadside town, nothing special. the reason i
came tho was to visit a village i had been told about on the thai burmese border and so once again i got my motor running and headed out on the highway 50 km west. i arrived feeling a bit saddle sore but it was great to visit somewhere that doesnt see many westerners and i received a warm reception.
so here i am back in chiang mai. sorting myself out before i have to head out of thailand. just like to wish everyone a belated merry xmas and a happy new year.
* - joke, please dont exclude me from any wills.
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Dave U
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Happy new year
Hey tom, belated seasons greetings to you too mate. Kickboxing, petting tigers, hunting squirrels, you really are making my life feel very mundane! Looks like you were about to unleash real venom on guyu in that photo. Hope you didn't hurt him too bad. We had a bit on a shindig at ours for new year, and your pipe was smoked in homage. Keep keepin on, and look forward to your next update.