Bangkok 23-25 November 2004

The beginning

I had exactly a month off after leaving shell. Enough time you would think to pack and get things sorted out? Not nearly enough. Besides packing, saying goodbye to friends and clearing out my room to rent it out, there was a 5 day trip to London for my good friend Monty's 40th birthday. I also met the gorgeous Brenda at my leaving party. Good timing eh! It was quite an intense last couple of weeks! It was a great shame that I had to miss Dan's 30th as I'd been really looking forward to it. Sorry Dan & Nic! I was also packing and a had to say a last goodbye to Brenda. I was still packing until the last minute! ET drove me to the airport and Eva joined us. She was more excited than I was!

Bangkok or bust!

After a fairly uneventful flight except for a little girl spilling her orange juice all over my nice new rucksack (it smelled awful and i had to have it washed), I landed in Bangkok and waited for Patrick's flight to land. It was lovely and warm, mid 20's, when I left Holland it was rainy and cold. Bangkok is a great place :-) It's hard to describe it. The traffic is complete chaos, there seems to be no rules, just survival of the fittest! The tuk-tuk drivers have no fear. They weave in and out of traffic. They're fun to ride in but the traffic fumes can be bad. It pays to haggle here, especially with tuk-tuk drivers. A much cooler, fresher way of getting round is the river boat. There is a stop close to our guest house, the new Siam 1 close to the Kho San road (popular area for backpackers). The boat costs 10 baht (20 euro cents!), for the local and 15 for the express.

Food and drink are pretty cheap. what more can an unemployed bum ask for? A plate of noodles and chicken costs approx 60 baht on the Koh san road which is 1.20 euro approx. A small bottle of local beer in a bar costs 60 baht approx and a large one costs approx 2 Euro. Whisky is pretty cheap too, in a 711 shop a small bottle of Thai whisky was 80 baht (1.60 Euro!)

Last Day in Bangkok

We caught an express boat and spent a day wandering around the Chinatown area, wandering around, with all the traffic and the busy pavements, it gives you a feeling as to how busy the city is. It is a great place to visit but with the traffic fumes and the business of the city, I couldn't live here.

We went to watch a film in the evening. There are no cinemas I think, all films are copied and are easily available on the streets. Some local bars show them on big screen TV s. We went to such a bar. It's like having a night in at home with someone serving you beer! I went for a promotion of local beer, 3 large bottles for 180 baht and it came with a free tiger beer cap!