Cheerio, Thailand

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I thought I'd write one last entry, before leaving.

We arrived today on the overnight from Chiang Mai. We boarded in disbelief, as we discovered this train was of a different class to the last one - little "cabins" - very similar to a Chinese train. Oh, and of course, people were serving food and drink.

Unbelievable.

We were sharing a cabin with an Irish couple from Cork, who were traveling through Thailand, Oz, New Zealand, Fiji, before ending up in Vancouver, and hopefully finding work. They said the situation was pretty dire at the moment, back home, but people were just sitting back and taking it, which was somewhat frustrating. We talked about how expensive it was back there ("we've no idea why it's more expensive in Ireland than anywhere else in the world - we've always just accepted it, but everywhere we go is cheap in comparison"). Aleko enjoyed talking to them - "I LOVE your accent... although about every seventh word, I can't understand". Connor and Donna (I believe those were their names) were headed south to the islands (the islands we should have gone to), and were having a blast, here. We told them some of our accounts of the trip so far, and they were amazed at the bad luck we'd encountered.

Still, nothing overly bad has happened. They told us of an American guy who was on a tour and left his belongings up front with the driver. He began to doze off and then realized they were there, so banged on the front, to be let to get to his things. When the guy finally pulled over, he checked his bags, to find his passport and money (about 22000 baht) missing. Fortunately there were other backpackers there to help him, as he demanded his things back. A man on a motorcycle was called, to return the money (he must have dropped it with the guy, while the American was dozing). The passport was hidden somewhere within the van, they found on turning it upside down.

As horrific as this is, I can't help thinking What An Absolute Muppet. Rule 1A surely is Don't Let Your Valuables (especially money, bank card, passport) Ot of Your Sight!!!

But anyway, they had other similar tales. I guess us whities are easy meat. There are so many scams... but I won't rub too much of the sheen (if there is any) off of this trip. I just don't feel like we've really got to know the country at all... like I'm missing something - all the people that go on about how amazing this country is. Did we just visit the wrong places? Do the wrong things? To be honest, I'd say we got to know Koh Chang and Chiang Mai to a certain extent, but it just seemed deserted (Koh Chang in particular). The photos that depict Koh Chang are very different from what we saw - perhaps due to monsoon? I feel a bit bad for dictating the course of the trip, in that I was adamant I didn't want to go to a Full Moon party, or visit any of the crazy party islands like Koh Phanang. Perhaps I'll try and be a bit more open in India.

Today, we didn't do a whole lot. Back at the guesthouse we intially stayed at, which is thankfully away from Khao San Road, we rested up, and then went to Siam Square - mainly because that name stuck in my head. It turned out to be little more than a shopping center, so we ended up (I cringe to admit it) going to see a movie. The new Planet of the Apes Movie. Bloody depressing, and made me very unsympathetic towards apes. Ugly animals! The film was highly unrealistic - not just for obvious reasons, but for the guy at Animal Control, who had a chip on his shoulder, starting a fight with an ape, aided only with a stick that gave off electric shocks. I don't know about you, but it would take more than a zap stick to get me in a cage, alone, with a bunch of those brutes! And he still comes back for more, after his pride gets hurt, being slapped around a bit. Very silly. There was a bit of a Mr Poppers' Penguins (we saw the trailer - I have NOT, I repeat NOT watched it) vibe to it. James Franco, as per usual, desplayed signs of a stoner - not getting very passionate about the fact his best friend - Caesar the Ape - was being taken away by animal control. He took it all in his stride... probably just wondering where he could go to roll his next joint.

*spoiler alert*

The whole movie was a bit of a downer. Humans are on the brink of being wiped out by virus which was conjured up by Franco (thanks, *sshole), in an attempt to combat Alzheimers. His alzheimers-ridden dad dies, by the way, so he didn't exactly do a good job there, either. And the ape he was feeding this crap too, turns power-hungry, after he gets locked up for protecting the father, from an angry neighbor (if I was their neighbor and knew they owned an ape, I'd probably keep my temper in check). So... humans dying, and apes getting powerfull, killing any human that gets in their way, and running off to live in the redwood park near San Francisco.

I hope no one here was planning on seeing the movie.

So, Thailand. Yes, it's our last night. It's thunderstormy out, so... I'm guessing we'll just grab some food, and maybe a beer, and go sit on the roof of our guesthouse, that happens to have a great view of the city, which we were unaware of last time.

Oh, and there's the lightning.

I think up until now, I was saying "lightening". No, it has been lightning.

So, Calcutta/Kolkata tomorrow. We may well just go straight to the train station in the hope of getting a ticket out of there, straight away. It looks a bit pricey, like all Indian cities, whereas there are cheapish options in Darjeeling. Kolkata itself sounds fascinating, although the Lonely Planet is somewhat biased, and the writer is airing his/her views about the British Empire, saying that the Victoria Memorial would possibly be one of the world's wonders if it had depicted a beautiful Indian princess, and not a dead colonial queen. Oh shut up.

Well, I'm off for now - wish us a safe trip! I hope all is well with you guys!

Here's hoping India is as inticing, and random as I left it.

Much love to everyone! xxx

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