It is our last full day in Thailand and I have finally got around to writing this journal so it may take a while, or to save you reading hundreds of pages a couple of articles.
After a long wait at Kolkata, which must be one of the most boring airports ever, we started our journey out of magical India. Singapore airlines looked after us very well on both our flights (to Bangkok via Singapore) and we arrived at Bangkok's new, and recently much criticised airport in the morning ready to head to the well known backpacker area of the Khao san road. From the window of the taxi as well as from the window of plane the view of Thailand after spending time in India was markedly different, more ordered roads and streets, less rubbish, people and animals, and i have to say i was more than a bit shocked by the Tesco sign on visible from a long way away! The taxi dropped us off at one end of the Khao san which was pretty much as i expected full of 'backpackers', hotels, bars and shops but here again i was suprised and in someways dissapointed by the presence of Boots the chemist and numerous 7-11's (which we were later to see all over Thailand). People maybe think of this as strange to be so suprised but in India there was nothing like this and i have never been to Thailand before so... With our backpacks back on we made our way up the Khao san road past all the tattoo shops, the hair braiding people on the street, the paad Thai noodle stalls and the fake trainers and sunglasses, as usual looking for a cheap place to sleep. After reading the guide book we decided to search out and find a place that was as far from box like as possible at a good price, took a little time to get used to Baht when still thinking and calling things in rupees. We found a room which was alright it had a big window, big bed and space to dump all our stuff and walk around, my only complaint was the none of the 3 toilets in the place had a working lock on them which can sometimes be a bit inconvenient! On one our first nights (maybe it was our first night i can't remember) we met up with one of Sam's friends from home along with his girlfriend, who were staying a hotel a bit more upmarket than ours across the road from us which had a roof top swimming pool (which sam later made use of)!. We went for a few drinks with them and ended up in a bar/petrol station. It was certainly a novel place, a little strange with people sitting smoking and throwing used butts in the direction of the petrol pumps, the place was also lit with candles. The whole thing could be seen as a little dangerous although i am not convinced that it traded as a petrol station during the day as someone told us!
We did not explore too much, the area surrounding was full of bars, massage places and there was definatly a sense of 'sleaze' purvading the place which i never noticed in India. I did like bangkok, there is a lot to do but from the start i missed India even the chaos and the dirt and the hundreds of 'come look my shop' people. I was also suprised that the Khao san was not as busy as i had expected, maybe the recent bombings in Bangkok are still having some affect. On either end of the Khao San there were police/security blocks i don't know if those are new or not but there was a sense of heightened security. On the night we met Sam's friend from home the main street seemed to have been cleared of many of its stalls by around 10pm which i am told is not a regular thing especially on the weekend, the surrounding streets were howver still buzzing!
On our second night we met Niall (Murray) who had just got in from his London flight to start just over a month of travelling around with us. We met in an 'Irish pub' and after dropping his stuff in the tiny room we rented for him in our hotel, a few buckets were consumed, the first of many, although i can't say i am a fan.
There were a few travel matters to get sorted in Bangkok like getting our tickets changed to extend our time in South East Asia, meaning a bit more time in Malysia. This was something that we had not really thought about until we met an Irish guy who told us about the Perhentian Islands, after finding return flights to the nearest airport for around 12 BP we could not see why not.
After Bangkok we took the first of our bargain Air Asia flights down to Surat thani on the way to the Islands down the East coast. It was definately nice to fly for a change, as much as i loved to get the trains in India we did work out that we spent nearly a week on them altogether, time for a break. It means we are spending less time in the actual process of travelling and more time in the places we want to be, the disadvantage is that we do see less of the countryside and 'real' thailand but so far it is working out well. We booked more flights up to Chiang Mai, saves having to keep going via Bangkok. From Surat Thani we headed to the ferry to Koh Phangan for the full moon party and some beaches.
