Well, what a complete and utter whirlwind the past few days have been!
The flight here was ok, but very long and quite cramped. I was sandwiched between a nice old man, who helped me put my things in the overhead compartment because I was getting in a muddle, and two canadian girls. I was loving the TV screen in the back of the seat though so managed to watch 3 films as sleep appeared to be off the agenda.
I was met at the airport by a little Thai man holding a piece of paper which said "Real Gap Laura Street" and he drove me to my hotel, which took about an hour because of the traffic.
My hotel is pretty nice. Good shower, flushing toilet and air conditioning, which is the main thing! In fact, i've been sleeping in my hoodie because im so cold! Prefer that then swealtering heat though, which i'm sure is what im going to be sleeping in for the rest of my travels.
Breakfast is included so at least i'm guarenteed one meal a day! Although when i walked into the breakfast room on my first morning, i nearly walked out again. Presented before me was an aray of noodle, rish, meat and vegetable dishes. I don't know why but the thought of that in the morning really turned my stomach. Luckily i found some fresh pineapple and watermelon and some american pancakes with maple syrup!
Bangkok is as hot and muggy and busy and polluted as you imagine. The roads are mental! I had to cross a really wide road on my way for dinner on my second night and it was the scariest experience ever. Zebra crossings dont mean the same as they do in England. The cars don't stop, you literally just have to leg it!
My first day, during which i had just planned to have a wander round the area then head back to the hotel pool to relax turned into a crazy Tuk Tuk journey to temples and buddah's and silk shops and tailors (the drivers take you there because if you buy something they get a coupon for fuel for their Tuk Tuks) and a boat trip down the canals of Bangkok to see the "real Thailand".
You get nagged by Tuk Tuk drivers constantly when you walk down the streets. "Hewo miss. How are you? where you from? where you going? you want to see buddah? only 50 baht for 2 hours." I spoke to and declined many in my first half an hour of wandering but after speaking to "The Tourist Police" I just decided to go for it. How often am I in Thailand after all?! So i hopped into Mr Boonmers Tuk tuk and off we sped through the busy streets of Bangkok. I ended up visiting 4 Buddahs, 2 temples, 3 suit shops and going on a boat trip. I'm sure i probably got ripped off somewhere down the line, but i had no idea how much things were meant to cost here so i just went along with it.
After my hectic day some food and a cold beverage was needed so i decided to try and find Khao San road, a strip of restaurants, bars and hostels that is known for backpackers. I managed to find it (all neon lights, loud music and tourists) and had a nice dinner and a couple of beers on my lonesome. Was o.k. though because there were others on their own and I felt suprisingly much safer being around a few chavvy English boys and drunk Australians.
Yesterday Gemma, one of the other volunteers arrived early in the morning so we spent the day together wandering, chatting and drinking. Was really nice to have someone to properly chat to at last as i was getting bored of talking to myself (which i did A LOT!) We also met Hannah, another volunteer in the afternoon and she came out for dinner with us.
We are being picked up at 1pm today to travel to the orphanage, which is about 2-3hours away. I just hope the bus has got air conditioning bacause it is so so hot. The weather has been nice everyday. It has rained a couple of afternoons, but only for about an hour and it is still absolutely boiling so it's quite a welcome refreshment!
I'm looking forward to meeting some more people and seeing where i'm going to be staying for the next month. I'm sure it won't be all power showers and white fluffy towels but i'm excited all the same! x x x x
