24 hours of travel, and a curry as reward!

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13th



We have officially been on the move for over 24 hours! We should get a sew-on badge for our sashes now right? Please? Something to show for it other than sleep deprived eye-bags and body odour?!



I suppose two more stamps in our passports count as a brownie badge of sorts. We left Danang on the train at 14.15 on the 12th (after taking two taxis to the train station), arrived in Hanoi at 5.30am on the 13th. Took yet another taxi to the airport (after badgering the driver to put on the meter - cheeky bloke tried to get an extra 100,000 VND out of us), got on the plane for 9am, landed in Bangkok at 10.30. Caught another train to Hua Lumphong station in the city proper, which arrived late and proceeded to cough and splutter its way over the tracks for an hour. Next, after some confusion standing around the bus station and then learning that Google Maps had lied to us, we caught the 53 bus to the Khaosan Rd and consequently to our next hostel. This equally lung-diseased vehicle took about an hour and a half to get through Bangkok's incessant traffic, but was equally as cheap: 4/5 Baht for a ticket! Although we eventually arrived at the hostel for about 15.30, meaning it took roughly 4 hours to get from the airport into Old Bangkok, it was cheaper than chips. Genuinely.



This predominantly overground journey also gave us an insight into the real poverty that exists alongside the 5 star hotels and the new top-notch railway into Don Mueang airport. People are living under tarpaulin either next or on the building site, seemingly the family members of the construction workers that are unable to work. The floor is mud, or a puddle after the monsoon-esque rain, and food is prepared, cooked, and disposed of in the same space as sleeping, eating, washing, and everything else. Clothes hung up over an orange-brown puddle trying to dry in the sun. Grandmas preparing lunch on a plastic chair whilst she squats in the mud because they haven't got enough surfaces - this is the side of Bangkok the Khaosan addicts don't see, that the Thai government doesn't want tourists to see. One of the expats we met, who has lived and worked here for 5 years, glorified the lack of social help here in Thailand, and it angered me for this very reason. These are not 'lazy' people, or wasters - they're normal families! The minute you're too old /frail to continue working, you become reliant on your children and younger family because the Government certainly doesn't give a damn - and forced to live in unhealthy and impoverished conditions like that.



I will close this rant with the following comment. The expat I spoke of revels in the social justice and so-called 'progressive' attitude of this country, but keeps his British passport. Just in case.



All that besides, we're glad we made the journey but are sorely paying for it now - completely knackered! We had a glorious dinner and, after a drink or two, plan to spend the evening recharging our batteries. I feel we may have earned a Thai massage for tomorrow!

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