sawas dee ka....

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.... hello in thai, accompanied by a wee nod (i'm learning)
So and update on the travels! Spent 2 days in Bangkok, the mad town. Saw lady-boys, rent-boys, middle aged, fat, white men eyeing said 'boys' up. Can't get used to that. And we were offered repeatedly to see a 'pingpong' show which we declined! Also, Wat Pho reclining buddha, the maze of Chinatown, a million motorbikes, crocodiles, elephants and snakes in the zoo. English bars, Irish bars (5 quid for a strongbow!), Japanese restaurants and a few Thai bars. Loving the warm weather for all you folks in sunny Scotland :D. Went on a boat (rip-off btw), went on a tuk tuk, trawled the markets and basically walked till we dropped. Bangkok is amazing, you can keep walking forever and never see the same street twice, and its all about ducking and weaving along narrow pavements with people begging, cooking, eating, buying and selling anything.

Everyone whos been to Bangkok says get out of there and head North, so we did! Chaing Mai via 12 hour overnight train.....not comfortable in the slightest, we were too late to get bunks, so had to sit all the way. But free food! (Don't ask about the toilets, I couldn't face them)
Any, journey was worth it, get off the train to be greeted by a driver from the hostel. which is lovely, has a wee garden, kittens running about outside. Chaing Mai is so much quiter and cooler than the city. Same tuk tuks but no where near as much traffic or people.

We went to see Muay Thai boxing last night in a 'beer hall'. It's basically a wee arena with bars all round. the guy in the bar we were sitting in was really chatty and even got us a free cocktail. but........the toilets.......had to pay 5 baht to get in (10p) so i thought id be safe. but no, 5 cubicles, just squatters and a bucket of cold water (i assume to 'flush') so i walked straight out!!! it stank and was flooded. yuck. an hour and a few drinks later i had to go! i made it but probably the most disgusting pee of my life. (Stef has a smaller bladder, she had to go twice, hehehe) but the fighting was good, pretty brutal and the boys were all quite young, from 12 onwards.

We had booked a trip in the jungle today and rode an elephant, now that was scary! No seatbelts and a long way down. but we made it back without injury. Then we went to see a really strong waterfall (been quite rainy recently) and had to cross it on a rickety bridge. Got pure soaked, my trainers are drenched, so onto the flipflops now. And it was raining pretty heavy too. Tis a strange feeling, sweating in the heat and it pouring with rain. But the rain rarely lasts too long, unlike Dundee, so its fine. Then we had lunch and got chatting to some american folk on the tour with us. Lunch, was amazing, as ever! And its so simple, steamed rice, omelette, vegetables and a pork dish, finished with fresh watermelon and pineapple.
After lunch we were going 'bamboo rafting'. Mental! And it was in the swelled, brown river! Basically 4 of us on a few bits of bamboo with a guy with a stick at the front 'steering' then off down the rapids! got pure soaked through again and for the first time in a week, got a bit cold. Great fun but because we were going so fast, the guy kept steering us into trees, painful.... to be honest we should probably have had a safety briefing and helmet, but no, just sit down and away we went. A raft in front of us threw a couple of people off in the rapids, and our guide (who didn't go rafting) kept telling us to be careful and hold-on tight. In the dry season the trip takes one hour but because it was so rainy, it took us 20 min.

Anyway thats all for now folks. we're off to the pub. Plan is to get an overnight coach to Bangkok tomorrow night and fly down to Phuket for some beach action, don't be too jealous!

xxx

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Comments

[scott]

Pix just look like a wet Scotland!Ok without the elephants,crocidiles, oh and about 30'c warmer.Enjoy the beach and remember the factor 50! x Dad

[nicnac]

factor 25
been putting on sun cream occasionally but no burning yet, we tend to walk about rather than just sit in the sun. the beasties would love you here. got a couple of bites myself