Crazy Bangkok

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Well it's been a few days but Not much to report until today. Spent three very lazy but welcome days tanning, burning, beaching and relaxing on Koh Samui, one of the Thai islands in the Gulf of Thailand. Beautiful if a bit overdeveloped. I stayed away from Chaweng beach, the biggest and most resorty and went for the quieter, more family oriented Bophut. Cute fishermans village with quiet restaurants and bars and some shops along a lane by one end of the beach then resorts and hotels up the rest of the beach. It was perfect.

First day I was careful and just spent an hour or two sunning then retreated to the shade or kept covered up and didn't feel like I got any sun. So day two I spent 2 hrs sunning then swam in the ocean for a while and that did the trick - can you say lobster?? Sleeping was brutal, and I couldn't do anything the next day really so I had to skip the motorbike. Was really looking forward to it but at the same time traffic is intense and I'm a novice so maybe it's for the best. So I sat around the resort, went for a quick swim when it got cloudy and just hung out. Went out for a delicious supper to Tom yong soup (spicy chicken and veggies) and pad Thai. Yum yum. And a coke of course! Had a fridge in the room so I also managed to buy some fresh milk and special k to have for my breakfast each morning. God I've missed milk, 3litres in 2 days.

Got up early this morning for my 915 Bangkok Airways flight to Bangkok. 50 mins but still served a nice meal: sandwich, quiche, fruit, cake, oj water and tea. Hit the spot since I slept in and didn't have time for breakfast!

Bangkok is just as crazy as I remember. Although I gotta say I don't remember much. Got in around lunchtime, went to the mall up the street to the biggest food court in the biggest mall in southeastDasia for some lunch. Then went on a nice long walk through downtown, about three hours as far as the grand palace and around Chinatown and back. What a sweaty ordeal but worth it. The sidewalks are so packed with people, animals, beggars, food stalls , holes, motorbikes, anything. So many smells, different foods,exhausts, garbage, millions of sweaty people. And again Witt the contrasting rich and poor, developed and undeveloped. In ah hours walk down one road from glitzy flashy neon lit ten story malls with huge fountains, McDonald's, dolce and gabana, well dressed ladies and men in suits to dirty, sooty, metal bars over the windows windows broken out husks of buildings with squatters, beggars, children wearing rags. A few canals/rivers around but so disgustingly green,smelly and full of garbage. More than once I just wished I were walkingshown water street with space on the sidewalk to move and a breath of fresh salty air. Even the harbour smells better than la lot of the cinhere and that's saying something! Soon enuf I'll be complaining about that again I'm sure. Traffic is so insane, three lanes on the road equals five lanes of traffic all vying for that sacred space with any and every gap gilled by a motorbike or tuk tuk orbicycle or food vendors that are just a motorbike with a sidecar attached with hot plate and all.

Be home Even sooner than expected actually been checking the whole time about changing my flights a bit bc my route home from Bangkok to Tokyo to Chicago to Newark to st Jhns was gonna take 33 hrs with one close connection on Tuesday but I finally found a different flight on Sunday with no Chicago and taking "only" 26 hrs with no close connections for no huge fare difference so I took it. I'll be home Sunday night!

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Comments

[Eliabeth]

Motor bike
Gald you cancelled that Jason, sounds like a no brainer, what wih the heat --you'd fry on the open road, not to say the absolutely crazy traffic hazard. Good to cut your travel time on such a long flight. You'll be in just ahead off Jeffrey with a few hours to rest up -- good timing. The air is getting cooler and more refreshing now as the summer wears down -- so pleased the humidity is reduced. Bye for now, see you soon, Nan