Brimful Of Asha

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Wow!!! The heat just hits you like a big slap round the face with a warm kipper. It was just unbelievably hot. I was stood there just dripping with sweat. It's December and it shouldn't be that hot. We were in Boots in Terminal 4 at Heathrow and it just shouldn't be that warm.

Anyway, when we got to Bangkok, it was lovely and air conditioned with a liberal sprinkling of sushine so can't complain. Flight was fine, 10 hours, watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 which was ok.

Before we left we had all the inlaws and outlaws together for a big meal for Mrs Deane's 28th which was all very nice. Then we were off.

When we got to Bangkok we made our first mistake. We spent about 30 minutes at the airport looking for the elusive 29 bus (listed on our directions for the guesthouse) before realising that it would quite happily transport you from the old airport into town but was as much use as a chocolate bicycle in transporting you from the new airport. Eventually found a 551 bus that got us into central Bangkok.

Mistake number 2 was underestimating the distance between central Bangkok and our hostel. Mistake 3 was trusting the map on the hostel website (not accurate). Needless to say, I spent an hour guiding Cathy round the back streets of town with her looking more and more ready to head home after a day rather than face 7 months with me in charge of maps and directions.

Anyway, finally (with the help of a taxi driver) made it to the Washington Hotel. And once we explained to the taxi driver we didn't want to go there, we finally arrived at the Asha Guesthouse. Place is fine, got a bed, bar (which we sampled last night at 2am - hence the lack of humour in this blog article), warm showers and bog roll. What more could a travelling man want.

We were at our guesthouse for half eight and asleep by nine which would probably explain why we were wide awake at 4am and we were actually out and siteseeing by 8am.

Been out and about in Bangkok which is a bit of a crazy place with lots of crazy people. Tourist stuff so far - royal palace, lots of temples, a few markets, trip down the river in a boat, lots of fun.

Last night we met up with a friendly face - Fish. He was 75 minutes late and his only excuse was that he had no money, no directions and no watch. We spent some quality hours quaffing beer, talking about the travelling lark and watching Utd beat Reading while Chelsea laboured to a 2-2 draw against Fulham. Good result.

Almost time to go as I'm getting hungry. Talking of food, so far have had spicy sausage on stick, chicken on stick and spicy chicken with rice. Seen an advert for the local McD's speciality - a McRice Burger. Looks tasty and I shall be sampling that in the next couple of days.

Take care people and Happy New Year. Having trouble with the photos so you may have to wait for them a bit. - They are now up and running. Internet in this part seems a little slow so have put fewer on than I wanted to.
Dave & Mrs Deane

BEER DIARY

Beer 1: Leo Lager, Thailand, Bottle, 5.5%, 7.0, Crisp tasty and went down nicely. A good start to my beer tour
Beer 2: Phuket Lager, Thailand, Bottle, 5%, 6.0, Bit watery and not as tasty as first.
Beer 3: Asahi Lager, Japan, Bottle, 5%, 7.0, Decent crisp lager with nice shiny silver label.
Beer 4: Singha, Thailand, Bottle, 6%, 7.5, Nice
Beer 5: Chang Lager, Thailand, Bottle, 6.4%, 8.0, Very nice and tasty with a decent kick. Could and did drink more of these, hence the mild hangover and poor blog posting.

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Comments

[Concerned mother-in-law]

Fasting or Feasting
Just wondering, Dave, what Catherine is drinking and eating while you are giving us the lowdown on your intake!! :) Also, to understand your whereabouts and whenabouts - what's the time difference? (And I don't mean in your eating and drinking habits!) ttfn x