First of all thanks to all of you for those lovely emails you sent me. I will try to answer as soon as I can and send you lots of electronic besos meanwhile.
So after spending new year in the sky I landed in Thailand just 3 days ago. I suppose Bangkok is not the best place to arrive if you want a GENTLE introduction to the thai culture. Don' t get me wrong, I love the cahos of the city but as it is my third time here I decided to take it easy instead and work my way slowly through the jet lag process.
The fact that I am staying in a little heaven of a place made my plan all the easier. The hostel is called suk 11 and I strongly recomend it to anyone who is planning to stay in Bangkok (www.suk11.com).
Also travelling alone makes you much more of an observer and I am enjoying walking around the streets of Bangkok, eating out of the thai stalls and talking to people. The thai people are very friendly and my phrase book and I have been having some interesting social moments. So I am sorry to say that I have not really been on any tourist sites so far and do not have much photos to show you for the moment but I am enjoying myself very much.
As I said when travelling alone, one s attention spam is much wider and although it is an advantage most of the time it can also be a disadvantage. Especially in Bangkok where one cannot stop but notice the extent of the sex industry. I am quite tired of bumping into middle aged european loosers holding hand with beautiful thai girls. It is a very sad situation to witness especially when you realise that most of these girls do not have many other options. It gives much room for reflection on our own society where people are so succesfull and ... lonely that they need to go all the way to Bangkok to buy some love!
Aside from the sex tourists I have already met some very nice people though! While I was sitting at the bus stop at the airport I met a lovely Swiss couple who turned out to be going at the same hostel as me! So I spent a few days with them before they left for Cambodia (I am sure we will meet again at some border...)
Yesterday I whent to collect my visa at the Laos Embassy. Believe me it was an expedition in itself and I still am asking myself how I managed to get there in the end. But I did it!!! Just as well I met another American backpacker who knew his way back...
So tonight I am taking the overnight train to the north of Thailand (Chiang Mai). The plan is to go trecking near Pai which is about 4 hours from Chiang Mai and cross the Laos border from the north. Once in Laos I shall take a boat down the Mekong river to Luang Prabang. I am really looking forward to getting to Laos as I have heard so many good things about it. Only the transport systems are really bad (it can take up to 2 days to go 100 kms!!!) so i guess I will be spending a lot of time there. And yes I shall have photos to show you...
