Well, we did say things would be minimal J The last couple of weeks have been pretty relaxed (for the most part) and have been all about quality time with family. We got back to Pattaya on Christmas eve, and it felt like we’d been away forever, not just seven weeks. Wayne had sorted us a room to stay in the same apartment block as his, but unfortunately that fell through due to someone not leaving when they said they would, so we ended up trawling the local area and found a room in a place a couple of hundred metres away – pretty nice too, no cooking facilities but nicely furnished and free wifi included for 6000 baht per month – we only wanted it for a couple of weeks but monthly hire is cheaper, so it worked out at around £10 per night.
Christmas day is quite different in Thailand – it’s celebrated, but there are no holidays, everything carries on as normal, as we found as we wandered round Carrefour mid-afternoon! We ended up heading down to Bali Hai pier on Christmas night where the whole ‘Pattaya countdown 2010’ was in full swing – big formal celebrations, markets, fun fair stalls, food, that sort of thing. It was all really nice, laid back but interesting, we bought a few beers from the 7-11 and sat down and watched a very impressive fireworks display. A very good night.
The next few days were spent doing various things: we did some diving with Wayne, some shopping, some eating, some drinking. All good stuff really, and pretty gentle compared to most of the last seven weeks, but not in a bad way.
On the 29th my mum and auntie Sue arrived from the UK, desperate for some of the south east Asian sun we’d been talking about – unfortunately, thanks to Air France, their luggage didn’t make it with them, mainly due to a hurried transfer at CDG in Paris and it not being shifted across in time! Still, they were here and that’s what’s important! It was great to see them both! Wayne had sorted them a room in the same apartment block as him and this time it all came through – their room was nice, and directly below Wayne and Nok’s! New Year’s eve was a really good night – we were originally going to head down to Bali Hai pier and join in the celebrations directly, but realised that the traffic was crazy busy and that we’d probably end up with a long walk home at the end of the night, so we headed down to the beach, hired a few deckchairs, popped across to the local 7-11 for beers and spent the night there instead. It was great – chatting, watching all the locals and farang launching fireworks (some tiny, some genuinely ordnance-like) and sky lanterns from the beach, and enjoying the Countdown fireworks compete with the Hard Rock hotel fireworks at midnight. We all agreed that Hard Rock probably took it! Then we headed back and spent a few hours in mum and Sue’s room chatting and drinking Sangsom, the local Thai rum! It was a genuinely great night, best NY I’ve had in a while!
We needed to shop a bit more, as the missing luggage was nowhere to be seen – in fact, it eventually arrived down in Pattaya some three days after they did, fortunately all intact with nothing missing! That created two very happy people J Again, the next few days were spent on the dive boat (this time we actually got to dive with Nok as well!), wandering round, shopping, eating and drinking. Well, until the 5th of January when the pair of us plus mum and auntie Sue headed up to Bangkok for a few days (Wayne and Nok were unable to make it due to work commitments).
We spent three nights in Bangkok, at Bossotel in Silom, near the Shangri La, right by the river; we did the usual stuff for a few days in Bangkok – a visit to Patpong (which has calmed down immeasurably since we last visited just over five years ago), the grand palace via the river, the Khao San Road to shop and people watch, and some shopping at MBK for last minute bargains! All good stuff, and very pleasurable with the exception of the cab driver who tried to fleece us 400 baht for a 60 baht cab ride because he thought we were staying at the Shangri La!
It’s now day 70 and we’re heading back to the UK tomorrow. We’ve been away a long time but it feels much longer than it actually is. It’s odd – we’ve lived out of a few bags with 50kg of possessions for the past ten weeks, yet I’m not sure I miss all the other stuff... Anyway, a few stats:
Number of distinct locations we’ve stayed: 12
Number of different places we’ve slept: 15
Top 3 hotels (and relative cost): 1. Blue Lime, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (2nd most expensive); 2. Beach Club, Phu Quoc, Vietnam (2nd cheapest); 3. Mandala House, Chiang Mai, Thailand (4th cheapest).
Bottom 3 hotels: 1. Paris Beach, Phu Quoc, Vietnam (middle); Nai Yang Beach Resort, Nai Yang, Phuket, Thailand (most expensive); 3. Bossotel, Bangkok, Thailand (3rd most expensive).
Top 3 experiences: 1. BLES; 2. Diving the Similan islands; 3. The temples at Angkor.
Different forms of transport used: 19 (foot, pedal bike, moped, moped tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, songthaew, car, minibus, bus, train, SkyTrain (LRT), bamboo raft, inflatable raft, rib, speed boat, dive boat, catamaran, turboprop plane, jet plane).
Biggest surprise: Vietnam – an amazing place and one we’ll be back to very soon.
Biggest disappointment: Phuket.
Top 3 useful items we found for travelling: 1. Leatherman; 2. Netbook computer; 3. Decent hat and shades.
Top 3 least-useful items: 1. Mosquito net (everywhere we needed them had them); 2. Raincoats (not much rain and just too warm to wear them anyway!); 3. Trousers (one pair each is definitely enough!) (Linda also adds: make up).
Number of books read: Linda – 9; Vin – 10 (For Vin – John Grisham books read before 30/10/10: 0; John Grisham books read after 30/10/10: 4).
In 30 hours or so we’ll be back in the cold of the UK after 10 weeks basking in temperatures that haven’t dropped below 20 degrees Celsius or thereabouts – we both know we’re going to struggle! Still, that’s what we signed up for, and this trip has consolidated in our heads that we need to do more of this, so when we get back we can maybe start planning the next one...
