Tagged with: traveljournal

  • Day 12

    We took a local bus for the journey back to Kanchanaburi, which seemed to take a lot longer than the minibus had in the opposite direction. The bus was full, and even had a chicken on board. Accomodation in Kanchanaburi was huts built on stilts in the River Kwai – though they were not really in the river as such, since the water was not flowing past the huts, and a lot of algae and lilypads covered the water’s surface for the most part. Facilities had become one step more basic, with no hot water this time, and no toilet paper either! There was a waste pipe attached to the sink though. Lorna and I got separate rooms this time.

  • Day 11

    Banana pancakes arrived as promised, and everyone agreed that they were much nicer than yesterday’s offering. A pickup truck arrived to take us to the start of our jungle trek. Charlotte managed to get the passenger seat, while the rest of us travelled cargo class. The drive was refreshing, though the guide seemed more interested in showing Charlotte his photo albums than in looking at the road, steering wheel or anything else normally indespensible to the task of driving a truck.

  • Day 10

    Lorna’s alarm clock didn’t go off, and I didn’t have one, but we were both awake anyway so it didn’t matter. We met Sue and Steve at the lodge and were just deciding what to have when Meo arrived saying: “GOOD MORNING BREAKFAST SETS COOKING EVERYONE HAVING SAME”

  • Day 9

    On Charlotte’s orders, we had to be in the lobby for 6:30am. I had set a wake up call for 5:45, and it didn’t work, but I was awake anyway, having slept fitfully on an aching stomach. I was still the first to arrive in the lobby though, and started to check out for the second time, as Steve and Sue arrived. The laundry I had done yesterday had cost me 650 baht, very high considering that you can get the same amount of laundry done on Khao San Road for 100 baht or so. Came back in very nice shrink wrapped packaging though.

  • Day 8

    I got up early to pack. After checking out, I met Charlotte, my tour leader. She looked puzzled, and asked why I’d checked out. Obviously we were going to stay at the Viengtai another night then. As I checked in again, to the general amusement of the reception staff and confusion of the porter, another member of our tour group arrived. Lorna, who was travelling alone, worked at a hotel in Edinburgh. The final two members of the group were apparently sleeping off their jet lag after arriving only this morning. I got a different room, with quieter plumbing, but a distinct smell of cigarette smoke. I put the aircon on and went back to the lobby in time for the first full group meet at 12:30. Sue and Steve, a couple from Swindon, completed the group.

  • Day 7

    I woke up to find it was almost noon. Wow – slept for AGES. Then I realised that I’d sent an email to Wee telling her I’d be in the lobby at 12 if she wanted to meet. I’d never make it in time, but fortunately she phoned just as I was starting to panic and asked to meet at 2, which got me off the hook. I had a chocolate croissant for breakfast. The regular ones had run out and the breakfast buffet was long gone. In fact, they were serving lunch. Wee arrived at 2:15, and we set off for the National Museum.

  • Day 6

    Today I was prepared for the poor organisation skills of the tour operators. I stuck a note to my door saying “I’m in the lobby, wearing a black T-shirt and dark green trousers”. I notified reception that I was sitting in the lobby – yes in that seat over there – and if someone asks for me don’t call my room. I waited in the lobby again, and this time the tour guide arrived and told me to follow him. He led me to a bus on Khao San Road, which I boarded for the drive to Ayuthaya. As I expected, there were a number of unpublished stops along the way, but not for cash-grabbing as on my last tour.

  • Day 5

    I was in the lobby by five to seven for my trip, and at 7:45, remembering what happened yesterday, I asked the reception desk to phone the travel company and find out what had happened to the guide. Turned out he’s already been and gone, so obviously he hadn’t looked for me very hard. I decided to abandon governments of Thailand past and go look at the current administration while I waited for the travel agent to open. A very moody taxi driver takes me there after I insist that he switches on his meter instead of charging a flat 100 baht. Saved 40 baht in the process.

  • Day 4

    As instructed, I was in the lobby at 0600 for the canal tour. The bus didn’t arrive until 0715, which didn’t seem like a very good start, though apparently it was the travel agent’s error. I picked up a croissant for breakfast and got into the bus to find only one other occupant – a costa rican girl working as a marine biologist in Australia. When we arrived at the pier there were more people, so the boat was actually about two thirds full. It motored down the river to the lock gates at one of the entrances to Bangkok’s canal system. As we moved from the flowing waters of the river to the stagnant canals, I was hit by the smell, which I thought would have to be unbearable for the people who lived here. Fifteen minutes later I had forgotten about it – it’s amazing how quickly you can get used to your environment.

  • Day 3

    Got up around 7:30, and went down for breakfast shaking off a light jet lag. There wouldn’t be any spicy food served for breakfast, obviously, so I got a plate of somethig that looked nice and took a big bite. How wrong I was. Strictly as a face saving exercise I ate most of it then rushed back to my room to drink several gallons of water. I phoned Wee, and we agreed to meet at 12, which left me enough time to buy a map of Bangkok. Wee arrived on time and suggested visiting a floating market but this turned out to be too far away. Instead she took me on a brief tour of the city by bus, ending up in her favorite hang out at Siam Square, a very westernised shopping and entertainment complex. We met Wee’s friend Jill (pronounced ‘Dew’ for some reason I was unable to establish), and I got my first proper taste of Thai cuisine, as well as a crash course in speaking Thai from Jill and Wee, who found my pronounciation very funny. To my amazement, Wee and Jill both support Enlish football clubs, Liverpool and Leeds respectively, although Wee doesn’t know where Liverpool is, and Jill only knows the location of Leeds because her boyfried lives there. As relationships go, I don’t think you can get much more long distance than that!