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Published: January 25th 2009
Just a quick side note before we start this blog. The two of us have been having some 'differences of opinion' over how long each entry should be. If you could let us know whether you think they are currently too long and detailed - about 2000 words every 2 weeks - and if so, we'll try to cut them down in the future, thanks! ..... and now the update you've all been waiting for!:
The Sari's have become mini-skirts, the monkeys have turned into Monks, there's meat on the streets (of the cooked variety), and (apparently) most of the women have penises..... that's right - we're in Thailand! Flew in to Bangkok early on the 19th of January, and we're currently in Kanchanaburi.
But first, to finish the Indian chapter of our adventures. After the extra day back in Udaipur we caught the overnight train to Ahmedabad, which (rather annoyingly) turned out to be the first train yet on time, and meant we arrived at 4.20am. What followed was a long day wandering around Gujurat's capital city trying to fill the time before out 10pm bus to Diu. We visited a couple of unwelcoming mosques, and sat in a number of cafe's, before deciding to take a rickshaw the 12km out of town to the 'Science City'. Only once we were there did we discover that the whole complex was closed to the public for the 'Global Investors Summit 2009'. This wasn't ideal but, undettered, we proceeded to sweet-talk the security guard, who let us in to look around for a while. James ended up doing an interview for a US Indian TV Channel (apparently 20 million viewers!?) on what had brought us to the summit that day - very amusing - and we spent another couple of hours exploiting the numerous food hospitality tents and napping on the grass. Back in the main city that evening, we had to fight through horrible traffic, pollution and crowds to get back to the train station for our luggage, and then waited during the obligatory delay of our transport to Diu.
The overnight journey was bumpy and hot, with little opportunity for sleep, so we were very glad to arrive in Diu the next morning. Diu is a small island (about 11km long x 3km wide) just off the coast of Gujurat and, because it is centrally-governed, not 'dry' like the rest of the state. This abundance of cheap booze, along with fantastic seafood and great beaches, makes it a top destination for holidaying Indians. It also features some of the best, flattest, and emptiest roads in India, so its the perfect place to safely hire mopeds - more on this story later!
Our first day was spent sampling these treats - a little cycling, lots of beach lazing, some lovely seafood, and a ridiculously cheap post-dinner drink (about 50p for 2 double rum & cokes & 2 bags of peanuts!). The following morning the moped temptation became too much and we hired one each. Very exciting, and a little nervous at first (neither of us had driven one before), but we soon picked it up, and were off! After a little island exploration, we headed for the main beach: about 7km from the town centre. Our time here was short, however, due to the abundance of pesky/horny, young, Indian men, desperately and very unsubtly trying to get a photo of Hannah in her bikini. That evening we found an amazing restaurant near our hotel, with delicious (and, more importantly, cheap!) seafood dishes on offer, plus lots of magazines and games to enjoy - it was to become our 'local' for the rest of the stay.
We were up early the next day and drove 10km to the far-Western fishing village, in time to see the locals bringing in the days catch at 9am. It was great to see all the boats lined up, and the men offloading their cargo while the women (still in their sari's!) were spread all over the dock, preparing the fish for market. We spent a good hour soaking up the atmosphere, and have some fantastic, colourful photos. After all this excitement, we deserved a break and planned to spend the rest of the day on a more secluded and more Western-friendly beach than the day before. However, the day took a rather different turn when James decided to enjoy an impromptu moped ride along the coastal road; an unseen speed bump and some distracting/waving school children combined for the worst and - you probably guessed this would happen from the first mention of the word 'moped' - he went ass over tit. Before the parentals panic too much - he is still alive, and no-one really needs two arms anyway...... 😉 In all seriousness, the injuries are very superficial - just a couple of bad grazes - but we still had to return to the hotel to wash and dress them properly. Hannah was quite distressed at first, but this quickly became a perverse kind of excitement when she realised James was OK, and that she would finally get some good use out of the extensive medical kit her sister prepared for us - thank you Dr. Swan! Even more fortunate was the cheap alcohol on offer, and James was right as rain again after a couple of strong rum and cokes! By the evening he was feeling confident enough to get back on the bike (best to do it as soon as possible), and we had a long, slow ride to a pleasant beachfront restaurant. More fabulous seafood and an incident-free journey home finished the day in a more upbeat fashion.
We only had the mopeds for half the following day (our last full day in India!), but we made the most of them with a thorough tour of the entire island. This was great fun, and the children from small villages that don't see many Westerners were thrilled to see us ride past. The afternoon was spent back on the beach (just for a change) before another visit to our favourite restaurant. Our last meal was the best yet - steamed king prawns, butter garlic potatoes, prawn pakaros, a seafood salad and 2 beers - it was our most expensive meal so far, totaling nearly 10 whole English pounds! The next morning was spent getting fully prepared and packed for our flight to Mumbai, where we had 9 hours to kill before our flight to Bangkok - cue lots of sitting around, and slowly spending our last, few, precious Indian rupees.
The flight was too short to get any decent sleep, so we were very tired on arrival in Bangkok. Once suitable accommodation had been found near the famous tourist haven of Khao San Road, it was time for a well deserved nap. We made the most of the afternoon though, visiting some of the numerous nearby Buddhist temples, including the famous Wat Arun and Wat Pho - which houses the worlds largest reclining Buddha. On returning to our hotel in the late afternoon we were in for a bit of a culture shock - we were surrounded by white people! It may sound odd, but after 5 weeks in India it felt a little strange to be with so many other Westerners (mostly Brits) - almost as if we'd returned home early and it was just unusually hot! The Khao San Road at night was an even bigger shock; it felt like a drunken holiday on a Greek island, with big groups of tattooed skinheads and Thai girls wearing little more than a belt and selling 'very strong, very cheap' cocktails - this is when it really hit home that we weren't in India anymore!
The following day we decided to move away from the touristy area, and explore the real city a bit more. First, we took a river taxi down to the city centre pier, jumped on the sky train, and headed to Lumphini park. This is like Bangkok's version of Central Park, and it was very pleasant to stroll around the skyscraper-framed lake. Next, we visited a very odd shrine in the corner of a hotel car park; surrounded by phallic-shaped structures and offerings. Women visit the area if they're trying to conceive - Hannah stayed outside, just to be safe. The remainder of the day was spent in Thailand's biggest shopping centre, stocking up on essentials - cosmetics for Hannah, and a portable DVD player with 15 (perfectly legal!) DVD's for James. A similar pattern was followed on our last full day in the capital, more exploring and lots of retail therapy. Bangkok may be a little too touristy for our liking, but the shopping is fantastic! In order to try and get back under our daily budget we shunned the expensive restaurant options for most meals, in favour of cheap street food - the variety on offer is huge, and everything tastes so good!
Early on day 4 in Thailand we caught the train to Kanchanaburi (about 3 hours West of Bangkok). This small town is based alongside the River Kwai, and its centerpiece is the famous 'Bridge Over the River Kwai'. The area next to the river is so serene and peaceful (if you ignore the 'karaoke boats'), and we're currently in a great backpacker's lodge with a lovely garden overlooking the water. On our first day here we decided to visit the local museum to learn more about the infamous bridge and the 'Death Railway' that runs over it. Basically, during World War 2, the Japanese were in control of most of South East Asia, and wanted to build a ralilway from Kanchanaburi to the Burmese border. This was no easy task however, due to the unforgiving, hilly terrain, and the very optimistic deadline they set for themselves. In order to meet this deadline they used tens of thousands of POW's and hundreds of thousands of civilians. The treatment of these forced workers was vile, and the conditions terrible; many were given barely any food or medical supplies, and made to work until they literally dropped dead - some of the photographs in the museum are pretty harrowing. In total about 16,000 POW's (mostly British, Dutch & Australian), and 100,000 Asian labourers died while working on the line, and many are buried in cemeteries around here. The museum provided a very humbling experience, to say the least.
It's possible to take a 2 hour train ride along the 'death railway' to a little place called Nam Tok, and this is how we spent our second day here. It's a very scenic and beautiful route alongside the River Kwai, if you can put out of your mind the circumstances under which it came in to existence. Our train ended up taking twice as long as advertised (of course!), so on arrival at Nam Tok we had no time to do anything other than turn around and come straight back!
Yesterday we hired bicycles again, and set out to explore the area surrounding Kanchanaburi. There is some lovely scenery around the town, and it was a very enjoyable day. We visited an intricate Buddhist Cave Temple that went deep underground and turned into a bit of a maze, some other religious monuments, and a war cemetery just out of town. The highlight of the day though (especially for James) came with a visit to the nearby 'Monkey School' - where abandoned Monkeys are trained to work as coconut-pickers. You can feed all of them and also play with a couple of gibbons. It was great fun and only deepened James' already huge obsession with all things simian.
Today we started early and were picked up at 9am for our pre-booked kayaking trip along the River Kwai. We were driven 6km out of town, given a kayak, life jacket and paddle each, and told to make our way back along the river. We were initially a little shocked as we'd foolishly expected a guide, or at least a 10 minute tutorial. But, it was very easy to pick up, and we both ended up really appreciating the freedom and seclusion. It was lovely to slowly paddle our way back into town, and we spent a good couple of hours on the water. We're currently spending this afternoon chilling out and topping up the tans, before getting an overnight train down to South Thailand, and some more island action - it has been over a week since we've been on a beach! After that we plan to head back to Bangkok for more 'essential' supplies, before heading into Cambodia early next month.
Love to everyone, and hope old Blighty isn't too humid this January 😉 xxx
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Cousin Leanne and family
non-member comment
hi guys !!
Another fascinating read....such an experience, am sooo jealous !! as for the length of the blogs..keep 'em coming as they are...can settle down with a cuppa an take ten to read the instalment, they are very entertaining ! look forward to the next one guys....take care xxxxx