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Published: April 25th 2005
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The battle is lost
Sal loses her brave fight against the sleep monsters after taking a few too many sleeping tablets Sal and Mick set out on their world travels from Sydney Airport on the 18th of April, 2005. Sal was a little liberal in her inbibing of sleeping tablets and had to be assisted by Mick through the terminal building in a somewhat groggy and woozy state. Sal lost her battle to keep the sleep monsters at bay only the briefest moment after sitting down. Never one to miss an opportunity, Mick recorded Sal's slumber for posterity.
Arrival in Bangkok and subsequent exiting of the terminal building was like getting a nasty backhander across the head - it was 11 o'clock at night and the temperature was about 32 degrees, humidity about 743%!! Gill Presland, an old friend of Sal's (that is not saying that Gill is old, but that her and Sal have been friends for a long time ...) met us at the airport and took us back to her spinster pad (doesn't have the same ring to it as "Batchelor Pad" does) near the centre of the city. "Generous Gill" (as she will hereafter be referred to, or alternatively as "GG" or "Two Gees") kindly put us up in her pad for the entire week, with only
Bangkok street market
Sal and Generous Gill at a Bangkok street market the sparkling charm and witty reparte of Sal and Mick as recompense.
What followed was a week that can only be described as a veritable orgy of shopping, food and some more shopping, punctuated with some fantastic foot massages. Bangkok has the most incredible outdoor markets, with the Night Bazaar (open on week nights) and the Chatuchak markets (open during the day on weekends) real standouts. Of course there are the numerous stalls selling clothes and shoes and whatnot, but there were the most incredible stalls selling all manner of items for home decoration. To borrow (and slightly modify) a phrase from General Douglas Macarthur, "Sal and Mick will be back" to Bangkok with an empty 40 foot shipping container and two fertile minds full of wonderful interior decorating ideas.
Words cannot describe how incredibly good the food here in Bangkok is. Sal and Mick have always enjoyed a little sprinkle of chilli flakes on their corn flakes (or whatever else they are eating), and Bangkok is like a chilli lovers paradise. Sal and Mick have been bashing themselves up with dishes so spicy that they are illegal in all mainland Australian states and territories (except the ACT,
What Po temple
Sal and Mick posing with massive, lazy, gold Buddha apparently) morning, noon and night. Needless to say, a couple of acres of rain forest have been felled so as to facilitate the replenishment of toilet paper supplies at the supermarket local to GG's house.
Whilst on the subject of food, there is the most interesting and delightful tropical fruit available here, the eating of which has become the central focus of Sal's life. The fruit is called Doorian, and it can only be described as a cross between a mango, a banana and custard. It really is quite breathtaking, you should try it some time. Apparently it is available in the far north of Australia.
Transport here in Bangkok is very good. The rail system, built only a couple of years ago, is clean, cheap and reliable. Taxis and tuk tuk's are for the most part cheap and reliable, particularly in the area GG lives, which is not a tourist area. However, on Saturday, GG took Sal and Mick to the What Po temple on the other side of Bangkok. To go off on a tangent briefly, this temple contains a "Reclining Buddha" which is 46 metres long, about 10 metres high and coated in gold. Very
Naughty Tuk Tuk driver
Photo of tuk tuk driver, moments before incurring Sal's wrath impressive.
Anyway (back on original train of thought now), we got into a tuk tuk outside the temple and asked to go to a nearby road, at the heart of the Bangkok tourist district. The tuk tuk driver appeared intent on taking us on numerous detours to various attractions at which more than likely other people would attempt to rip us blind. GG, with her modest grip on the Thai language, politely told the driver about 50 times that we simply wanted to go to our originally nominated destination by the most direct route. To cut a long story short, this guy continued to insist on us going to one million or so other locations first until Sal screamed words to the effect of "Shut up and take us where we want to go ... NOW!!!" The driver said not another word and from that moment forth we made excellent time to our destination. I don't think that that bloke will ever look on Australian women as a soft touch ever, ever again.
So, alas, today Sal and Mick will be saying farewell to Bangkok and Thailand as Manchester has sent word that they cannot bear waiting for
Dreaming of Daisy
Sal pats feral dog, in her mind dreaming of her beautiful adopted daughter Daisy us any longer. Stay tuned.
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