Bangkok
We have arrived back into civilisation, to Bangkok the land of lady-boys. I am still having the dilemma of if to say 'cop-coon cop' or 'cop-coon car' i.e to a male or a female, would they be offended either way? We stayed in a much busier part of town, there was a market at the top of our road and there was a large Tesco's just a short walk away too. I couldn't believe it, and was so excited to walk around. We spend most of the afternoon looking around the food court then into Tesco for some cheep wine and snacks, we were getting no hassle, it was fantastic. I was surprised at how much cooler the weather was too, it was actually really pleasant and I could even comfortably wear a cardigan or something in the evening. It is fantastic not to feel sweaty.
We spent the evening sat outside our room on our little balcony as the rain fell down (luckily there was a roof) playing cards. I am not really one for playing cards. I have played only a few times in my life and usually when I do I can never remember the rules for next time. Firstly we played 'Rummy', which I lost, Next was 'S**thead', which I actually won despite not knowing what I was really doing, finally we played 'Bulls**t': which was certainly my favourite as it requires no brain capacity and is fun despite how much disgusting red wine you drink! We crawled unto bunks at midnight, I could hardly contain my excitement that we would soon be in Australia.
30th August - Tescos
I awoke in our hot room, with back ache from the terribly uncomfortable lumpy beds and a head ache from too much crappy red wine and to top it off a stomach ache from too much junk food!
I spent the morning on the Internet soring out my renewal of my travel insurance, I have now been away for a year and my insurance was due to run out tomorrow, I was extremely tempted not to bother but I decided against it and forked out another couple of hundred quid for another 6 months cover. It would be sods law that If I hadn't I would break my leg or loose my backpack tomorrow (touch wood)
After that we made our way to the market. It was so much nicer than the ones we had been used to seeing in Cambodia and Vietnam, the food actually looked edible and fresh too. I could see no bugs, there was no suspicious looking raw meat mixed up with the fresh fruit and there was coverings to prevent flies. However the best thing about walking around this market was that no-one was staring at us or hassling us or even really noticed us, i t was fantastic, being in this multicultural society again. It will get me used to it before heading to Australia. I did love my time in Vietnam, but now i have left it behind me I do appreciate how communist it was. It is so strange still to be in Asia but to see normal things and western influences (not to say that is particularly a good thing!)
I then couldn't resist going back into Tescos to endevor to find replacements for my truly ruined tops. It was so cheap and everything was normal sizes. I can now throw out two that are stretched, stained and with holes in the seams. I felt a lot better so then went around round sampling loads of food..yum.
We enjoyed a cheep roadside meal of Duck and noodles for dinner, then we retired back to our hostel and Brian called. Again it is always lovely to catch up with him and I was excited to hear that he will soon be on his travels to Europe soon.
31st August - Siam Department store, Jim Thompsons and KhaoSan Road
We caught the 'sky-train' into the centre of Bangkok, before going to Jim Thompson's we got distracted by huge mall. It was the same one we sheltered from the rain in seven weeks ago, it seems like a lifetime ago, we have seen and done so much in the last seven weeks, but it strangely also just seemed like yesterday when we were plodding around all wet, excited for going to Cambodia and Vietnam. It was actually so cold inside with the air conditioning blasting out, so we weren't in there for long. It was all trendy designer shops, with many lady boys working in all the beauty places, they were so glamorous and many of them stunning, but for me it was still rather obvious that they were no ladies! I came away with nothing but a little torch so I can read at night when the hostel lights are off.
We eventually made it to Jim Thomson's later that afternoon. Basically for those of you that don't know his beautiful designer items, he was an American who devoted himself to reviving silk weaving. As I said he designed beautiful things such as bags, scarfs etc and did lots for Thai charities. We took a tour around his beautiful house, it was very tasteful with a strong Thai influence. It was also interesting to learn about his way of life and how he miraculously disappeared on day and was never heard of again.
Nearby was an art exhibition; displaying modern kitchen and house-ware, I also enjoyed looking round there too. By the time we had finished we were pretty hungry so headed off in search of the legendary Thanon Khao San.
When we arrived, it was certainly clear which street was KoaoSan. It was crazy, filled with sidewalks selling cheap things: from backpacks to fake designer goods, pseudo Rolex watches to ornaments. The streets were also lined with people getting tattoos, piercings, their hair braided and many thriving bars. I can't imagine that it is very good for all the drunk tourist youths I could see. I bet many of them go home with an unwanted tattoo or something. Then of course there was the sex industry, what the street is actually famous for. I actually found that it wasn't so in your face as I expected. I was actually OK for us being girls, we didn't get too much hassle. It was mainly focused on the men, with scantily clad women all over them trying to lure them into bars or off down dark alleys.
We managed to get away with out even seeing a sex-show, or ping-pong firing, instead coming away with only a cushion cover and necklace for a very good price. For dinner as we wandered up and down the street we chose a beef and vegetable skewer, a spring roll, some noodles and a chocolate and banana crepe. All together all this food cost us about a quid - fantastic! Despite my apprehension I had lost of fun on Khao San Road. I actually felt very safe despite all the drunkards and options we could have taken. I also remembered many of the smells of the food from when I was a child and came here with my parents all those years ago.
1st September - Goodbye Asia
We were our of our very uncomfortable beds bright and breezy, packed our bags and nipped back to the Siam centre for some food and also to hunt for warm clothes to take for Australia. We could find nothing but shorts and little tops, I guess there is no point in selling warm clothes in countries like this. Then off we went. I was jigging about in the taxi and really couldn't contain myself at check in. Seeing that I was in a queue saying 'Sydney' I just couldn't stop smiling and singing. I felt like I have wanted this for so long and it was finally happening! It wasn't just the fact that I have been in countries for over a year where people can hardly comprehend what I was saying and I am constantly being stared at, but also that I have wanted to go to Australia ever since I can remember and I know that my main food will no longer be RICE...yippee.
After checking our bags in, I skipped and jumped into duty free, where Kat and i tried on all the makeups and perfumes that we could get our hands, biding time until we were able to board. I said goodbye to Bangkok, but know I will be back again in three months then I settled down, trying to get my excitement under control. I was delighted to see those little TVs in the seat in front of each chair meaning that we could chose which movies we were going to watch. Needless to say I watched movies the whole way. First was 'Blades of glory", which was hilarious, then "Lucky miles" which was the sort of thing my mum would have loved about an Iraqi, a Cambodia and an Indonesian all trying to get residency in Australia. Maybe that will be me in a few months time. The next film was "Wild Hogs" about a group of grumpy middle aged men deciding to take off on a road trip on their Harleys. It was silly but pretty funny too. Finally the last film I chose was "Land of women", I decided that after all that testosterone I needed a girly film. It was good, but made me cry almost the whole way through. At 3am Asia time, 6am Australia time, I checked the flight schedule to find that we were actually flying over South Australia. I could see the sunrise, it was beautiful, just lighting up the country. After about a hour or so we begun to decent. After not a wink of sleep, I was more than ready to begin my first day in Australia.
When we landed I felt a little apprehensive seeing people out on the tarmac in fleeces, hats and jeans, but I was optimistic that would be due to the planes flying in and the time in the morning. Once we were let off the plane; my heart galloped with excitement with the realisation that the next stage of my journey was to begin. I became even more excited as i made my way through customs and withdrew my Aussie bright coloured dollars, and breathed in the fresh air and off we went into Australia.
- Posted by emily1183 on 09/09/2007.
- emily1183's site
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