flyadventure

[flyadventure]

The White Temple / It's A Small World

The White Temple caught my eye when one of my Dutch friends skimmed through her pictures to show me something. I had to stop her and get a better look at it and I knew there and then that I couldn't leave Northern Thailand without seeing it.  I had lost my confidence a little after my overnight trip to Mae Rim. It had me feeling like I'd been deserted by civilisation. There was no access by buses or other public transport so I made things easier for myself by booking a tour to the hot springs, the White Temple and The Golden Triangle via Long Neck Hilltribes and some other filler items. I wasn't interested in taking up the whistle stop tour agenda that had been laid out and arranged to be dropped off at The White Temple for the full day and collected from there at the end of the tour that the others went on, so I could take my time.  On the bus I met yet another Dutch traveller; also a young woman from a town very close to home, who was intentionally travelling alone like me to see if she could do it. She was ten years younger than me and I was very impressed that she had the confidence to do that at her age as I have recently had to admit to myself that I probably didn't have this at 18. They thought me rather odd at the time when I got off the bus knowing that I would miss most of the tour but at the end of the day when we reflected on how we had spent our time, they could see my logic as they had spent most of their day on the bus and not more than half an hour in each place. Also, their experience with the long neck tribes was as I had expected, like driving through a human zoo and tipping the animals. Something I have deliberately avoided as, though I know it is a source of income for tribes, it still feels exploitative to me.  The White Temple itself has a different feel to others as it is only ten or so years old. It is custom made by an artist and is more a political and artistic statement than a place of worship but is treated with the customary respect and does house Buddha images in the main chamber. The detail and craftsmanship is fantastic and it really does needs a few hours to really take it in. 

The White Temple

   The detail down to the skulls on the traffic cones by the main roadside is great. Inside there are detailed and fantastical images of people worshiping the Buddha in floral spacecraft and the art isn't finished yet. I spent quite some time watching someone color in the designs. On the back wall is a strange assortment of characters from Batman to Harry Potter and Michael Jackson. It is odd but skilfully painted. There are some art galleries there too with some of the most imaginative and amazing artwork I have ever seen.  The White Temple holds appeal for temple trekkers like myself but art lovers and atheists alike would marvel at it too for the sense of irony and humour it encompasses. I was very travel sick in the mini bus. I seem to stop forgetting how travel sick I can get. I will have to carefully plan my trip to avoid further distress like I had on the way back from the north when the tourist in front of me kept moving his head to block my view through the front windscreen which was the only thing making the long drive bearable.  It had been a long day but I then went exploring the new market that had popped up in town afterwards with my new local friend and indulged in a bit of "normal" conversation i.e. no accents or regional slang barred from the conversation. Simple pleasures and tasty dinners are a nice indulgence!

[flyadventure]

"Silent" Meditation Retreat

When I arrived in Thailand I was desperate for some quiet time, introversion and solitude.  Long established workaholic habits had made me mentally exhausted. This was a fact that I had finally come to acknowledge last summer when I had some time off work for stress that I could no longer hold on to and carry.  Three weeks into my trip I finally had the opportunity to go to a quiet place and absorb the silence. As usual, the best laid plans need a little re-arranging. Having eaten my meals alone for three weeks I arrived early to the retreat and met some lovely girls; two of whom were also travelling alone at the time though had been with friends in parts too. The temptation to exchange stories and experiences was too great in the end and since the "silence" during mealtimes and breaks was never remotely enforced by our Monk, it sort of didn't happen.  I have mentioned before that I underestimated the heat here. It transpired that Meditation - like Yoga and Capoeira was more difficult in the heat. Also there's the sitting. Having suffered with back and neck problems for years, I knew that would be hard but it was a major challenge. Luckily we had some walking meditation too which I enjoyed and found physically easier. 

Meditation

  The main thing that I took from the retreat (aside from some great new girlfriends who really inspired me and some great mealtimes) was the learning about Buddhism and Monk life in Thailand as we were able to ask a lot of questions and make sense of a lot. Obviously having spent so much time in silent contemplation called for some social eating and I had a lovely meal with new friends at a Mediterranean restaurant that evening and another of those beers that I'm being conditioned to drink hehe.   Though it didn't come in the expected way, I did leave the retreat feeling energised in a sense through the uplifting experience of meeting some incredibly strong and independent women rather than finding some Buddhist inner silence.

[flyadventure]

Songkran, Here I Come!

Following my escape from the countryside, I have been busy implementing plans.  The upside to 24 hours of isolation and being cut off from places to walk to and eat at was that there was nothing to do but read my guidebook. I did just that - skimmed and read and took pictures of all the useful bits until I had a clearer idea of what I NEED to see in Thailand and what is more of a nice frilly extra.  I got back to civilization in the late morning and went straight out to get chocolate. I have my priorities. Once I had eaten a decent meal and could think clearly I decided that I would stay in Chiang Mai for Songkran. After all, if I tried to go elsewhere I may run out of time and get stuck somewhere else that’s worse like I did in Mae Rim and if you can’t beat em, well, you know what they say. Decision made, I then needed to secure accommodation for the duration. My usual day at a time system wasn’t going to cut it in busy guesthouses over the New Year celebrations week. So I checked with my nice guesthouse with the grumpy, unfriendly staff which I had returned to (better the devil you know or something of the sort) and they were "apparently" booked up for Songkran. So I walked down the street trying other guesthouses and found a friendly lady who has a guesthouse with her mother that they run together and she showed me a basic but clean room with the necessary essentials - ensuite, insect netting and a bolt behind the door so I feel safely locked in at night. The room she had was at the end of the corridor and two floors up so hopefully no reason for people to pass the door or loiter there really. It was the cheapest place so far but what sold me truly was her friendliness, warmth and the fact that when I mentioned wanting to get a train south on a particular date she advised me to pre-book as it could be very busy. Friendliness and free advice have been scarce thus far and rarely come from someone I can communicate with so I took the room and paid for a week and that was my Songkran sorted.  Once I had a place to rest my head I could organise some activities I’ve wanted to do but held off on financing. I went to a travel agency where I once bought a postcard and happened to meet a nice young Thai man with long hair and a Minnie Mouse ear headband. I liked him immediately and being someone who likes to give my business to people I like and feel comfortable with, it was him that I booked my day Thai cooking class and daytrip to the White Temple with.  The White Temple is calling me to see it while I’m up here. It looks epic and people who have been won’t talk about it but just tell me to go. Unfortunately the day tours are designed for whistle stop tourists and stop there for 30 minutes (30 minutes!?!?!), then squeeze in the Golden Triangle and some other tick box rubbish. Luckily the company were happy to tweak it for me; so I’ll be dropped off there for the day and collected on the way back. (After going through the expense of trying to organise long distance solo travel off a train route, I’ve decided that it’s better to join a tour like this than to try to get transport individually to the temple as it is a few hours drive away). The Thai think I’m mad but when I explained that Doi Suthep took me two and a half hours they got it.  That sorted, I went to the train station and got one of the last three seats on the train to my next destination. When the ticket agent wished me good luck I knew that I would be in for a crazy journey but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. No use in worrying about it now.  Last but not least, I can’t go to Chiang Mai and not do at least a taster on silent meditation, so I’m going to organise that too. 

Singing with Tam

In the evening after this busy day of organising, I relaxed in my new found "local" and found myself being serenaded by the effeminate young bartender who plonked himself down at my table with his guitar and belted out some Whiteys in an impressive soprano. This led to an impromptu duet and the couple at the table behind getting an evening’s entertainment from two pretty good singers (I think it’s a fair time to toot that horn) as part of their dinner package. The resident extrovert queens at the bar were rather impressed too. All in all, a good days work! It is nice to have a plan once in a while.

[flyadventure]

Stuck In The Country

Almost three weeks in Thailand and I’m still up and down about this trip.    This morning I left my cheap and conveniently located hotel (the downside is unfriendly and unhelpful staff) for an "upgrade" to a self-contained, more rural retreat in Mae Rim. After the fiasco with the taxi driver who initially attempted to drop me off at a Chiang Mai hotel of the same name, not to mention the taxi that my hotel booked for the airport rather than Mae Rim (because when people don’t understand you they don’t let on that this is the case) I arrived at my hotel in the late morning.    It was soon obvious that the hotel was not in the shape it reported to be on the website. I’m sure it was lovely once but the pool is full of debris from the surrounding trees as well as some metal objects from god knows where which looked pretty hazardous for bare feet and children. The room was ok but not worth the trek out here and the staff were more helpful than I’ve experienced so far but that was off-set by the fact that they spoke hardly any English and could not understand my now well-rehearsed Thai phrases either.    Last night I finally made it to Monk Chat at the Buddhist University just off the western gate of the old Chiang Mai city and enjoyed asking questions about Monk life and making sense of rituals and practices I have seen local people perform.

Learning how to bow to a monk

 I also had the first Manicure/Pedicure since my last vacation to the Caribbean and was in high spirits anticipating this nice retreat of the new hotel.  I think if you have use of a car and do not expect something too much nicer than what you’ve had, then this hotel is OK but the food is pretty bad and the restaurant not very clean and as though anticipating the hassle it would take to get Chocolate or anything else for that matter, my body craved Chocolate in the extreme all afternoon. It’s at least 250 baht each way to get to any kind of civilisation from here and the hotel shuttle service advertised online clearly does not exist so I went without and was stuck in the hotel all day.    My problem is that I didn’t plan this trip. I didn’t work out where I wanted to go and how I would get there and that same "freedom" with which I can determine my itinerary as I go along leaves me feeling a bit lost for direction at the same time. Songkran is creeping closer and I may struggle for accommodation in Chiang Mai soon so I really need to find somewhere I feel comfortable and soon. I also need to be prepared to accept that this sort of thing may not be for me and that this trip isn’t about impressing people by roughing it and trying to be someone I’m not, it’s about finding out if this is my thing or not, seeing and doing some awesome things in the process and being OK with whatever the outcome is. That’s why I call it my FLY adventure, because to fully love yourself is to feel that you’re OK regardless of what and who you cannot be and failure isn’t when you can’t, it’s when you can’t try.    I gave up a lot to come on this trip and it may not last a long time and I may not see all there is to see while I’m here but the greatest shame would be in not learning about myself during the process. That’s what I really came to do.

[flyadventure]

Drink, Pray, Model

A couple of nights ago I stumbled upon a nice bar near my hotel, where I spent the evening chatting to a Dane and a Frenchman who have been living out here for a while. It's nice to be able to relax and chat to someone once in a while and I had the chance to learn some useful little Thai phrases which I’ve been practicing since.  Yesterday I was in a more positive mood and set off to Doi Suthep temple via my first Thai bus. The driver offered to wait there for me an hour and take me back down to Chiang Mai but I politely declined. It seemed incomprehensible to him that a tourist would have cause to stay longer than an hour and I guess from what I see all the time, it is unusual. I like to take my time and make the most of my aloneness in these spaces so that I can really get a feel for the energy of a place and notice the little things. I found some steps covered in bougainvillea petals from a plant I could not find and that reminded me of my wedding day where my bridesmaids assaulted some bougainvillea plants on the beach and meticulously plucked their petals to freeze overnight and scatter down the aisle. I stumbled upon a hidden garden off the beaten track where a resident monk was watering the real orchids which were growing there (the main visitor area is populated with fakes) and I found a disused and neglected staircase leading down to the forest walkway. I sat in silence near the entrance to a temple watching some flying insects shoot in and out of the little hole in the supporting beam that they had made their home and listened to the disjointed melody of the tourists and visiting Thai ringing the temple bells for luck or blessings. About three hours later when I felt I’d seen what there was to see I found a bus to take me back and waited in the back until the driver was satisfied that it was full. I was dropped off at a shopping centre I had just found out about on the northeast corner of the old city and went in to find some lunch (breakfast) and to have a look around. It was there that I discovered the best playground that a grown up girl can respectably visit - a photographer’s studio where you choose an outfit and have your hair and makeup done so that you can be photographed looking like a Thai in gold jewellery with traditional background decor. Needless to say I was all in. That was one of the most fun experiences to date. I love to dress up and it was well worth the time and money. When I returned to my hotel I washed my feet from all the temple walking barefoot and finally treated myself to a foot massage which was one hour long, very thorough and professional and an unbelievable 170 baht. All in all I had a great day and am looking forward to seeing what my family think of the pictures.

[flyadventure]

Losing Direction And Running Out Of Steam

Yesterday was a bad day.  In the morning it dawned on me that I was officially unemployed for the first time since the day after I finished my GCSE exams - when I was 16 (up until now, I was using my annual leave at the end of my contract with work). There's something scary for me in not having a job or a purpose. I am a hard worker and work gives me a sense of achievement and justifies my existence on some level. I work with young people which is very rewarding but also can be thankless work but that's OK because I know and those who are like me know that what we do is worthwhile and good.  Last year was a rough year for me because I came to realise that the path I was walking was not leading me to where I wanted to be.  No amount of hard work in my job was going to take me where I wanted to go which was into a profession with scope for ongoing growth and development so I had to re-evaluate where I was and how I was going to re-route my path. Part of that planning and thinking involved me getting some time and space for myself to learn about me and understand myself better and I have found that on a pre-verbal and instinctive level I need to prove to myself and to others that I am good enough and worthy enough - and work subconsciously lets me do that. Now that I have been freed to have nothing to do in particular and no responsibilities to do anything other than look after myself and ensure I eat and have a place to sleep, I am feeling a little lost.  My family keep reminding me that I have a little bit of time and money with which to enjoy myself and relax; and here I can't decide what to do with either. I want to leave Chiang Mai and see other things but don't know where to begin, which way to go and what I really want.  I worry too much.  I am enjoying myself but conservatively. I'm not letting loose too much because I worry I'll run out of money too fast and have to come home early but if I enjoy myself and can live with that then surely that's my choice?  Yesterday I was ill and stuck in my room which was really depressing - it's not nice to be sick and have no one around to help you get what you need but I managed it, like I've managed everything before. I always make the best decisions I can with whatever resources I have to work with at the time so maybe that needs to start feeling OK.  I'm feeling that I want to meditate for a few days so I'm off to try to find somewhere that I can do that. Maybe along the way I'll get my first Thai footrub. Lord knows I've earned it with all this walking about.

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Coming Out Of My Shell

This morning i set off to find a yoga space. Armed with my map of Chiang Mai and a couple of leaflets for training places, I sought them out and chose a place that had a good vibe about it. I agreed to return for the evening class and went back to my guesthouse to finally brave the swimming pool.   Amidst the young men who were showing off on the pool by jumping in from the balcony etc. I met a nice young woman from the Netherlands and we chatted a while. I met her friend later with whom she travels and it was nice to start chatting to people properly as I have been a bit of a hermit so far on this trip.   On my way to the yoga class in the evening I stumbled on a lovely display of Thai dancing and culture. I'm not sure what the occasion was but there seemed to be a re-enactment of the arrival of the queen at an official event whereby rows of dancers paved the way and were followed by the queen on a throne carried by several young men who were in turn followed by some young men bearing gifts and riches. A tourist watching alongside me asked if the woman in the throne was their queen and I clarified for him that it seemed she was acting in the role of Queen. He promptly informed his travel companion that the woman was pretending to be queen and was not in fact the actual current queen of Thailand (who I don't imagine would be parading around Chiang Mai for tourists with no security on a Thursday evening).

Chiang Mai street show

  I got to the yoga class to discover that I was the only student, so got a personal class from the nice instructor which was quite in keeping with my favoured teaching style so I look forward to going there again.   On the way back the Thai dancing had been replaced by a night market and catwalk display of traditional Thai fashion which was another treat and a nice way to end the evening. I think that I could get used to Chiang Mai and may try to stay here for the Thai New Year in a couple of weeks time.

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Learn To Count Your Money Or Someone Else Will!

I suggested in my last blog post that the less helpful locals in the guesthouses where I have stayed so far are possibly used to tourists with lots of money passing through (hence the disinterest in whether they get your business or not).  As if to confirm my assessment of the situation, I was sitting in my local restaurant later that day and overheard an exchange between an enthusiastic young traveller and the tour salesperson. The young tourist was saying that he had little time but wanted to see everything he could and go on all the tours before he had to leave and the saleswoman was offering all sorts of "special" prices for him which were of course discounted from the normal amounts. He asked about the fees for using his credit card to pay and was told there would be an additional charge of 3% on top of the tour charges. Another young man joined the discussion and added his opinions about what was good to do and before long there was a long list of packages being totalled up. The tourist was keen to save himself money on the fees he was getting charged for withdrawing his cash so he wanted this one transaction to cover all his tours at once. He didn’t seem to grasp that the fee of 3% of the total cost would rise as the cost rose. The tour salesperson certainly wasn’t about to point this out to him but was looking happier and happier as he added to his list of tours.  It seems that the standard charge to withdraw cash in a Thai ATM with a foreign card is 150 baht so by my calculation - any transaction over 5,000 baht is cheaper with cash (IF you withdraw your maximum daily limit [around 13,000baht] not little amounts as they will charge you for each withdrawal).  

Thai Currency

 5,000 baht is about £116; so there’s no chance the tours this man was lining up: (1 day cookery classes, overnight jungle treks, ziplining in the rainforest, learning thai massage) were going to come in under that amount.  Things here are sometimes very cheap but sometimes very expensive and you need to keep an eye on your spending and scrutinise prices e.g. There are starbucks cafes everywhere and a bottle of water there costs 15baht (less than 50p) but an iced drink will set you back 125 for a small size. A can of coke in my guesthouse is about 25 baht but I can get a little coke bottle in a 7/11 for 10 baht. A burger and chips is 70 baht at my guesthouse but a full english there is closer to 170baht. I have kept a full list of all my spending since I arrived in Thailand by using a fantastic app called wunderlist. I simply make a quick note of what I spend as I go (it lists single entries like a to-do list which you tick off later) and every couple of days I get out pen and paper and list things into categories like food, accommodation, internet use and then I can see where I'm over or under spending. I used the same app for things I needed to do or buy before the trip and I highly recommend it. It saves you walking around with lots of bits of paper,  just don’t lose your phone!

[flyadventure]

Who Put Sugar On My Toast?

This morning I got up and had my first hotel breakfast. I had paid a little extra to have breakfast included in my room rate thinking that it would be good to start the day with some food in my belly as I hadn't had an actual meal for a couple of days between the busy day in Bangkok and the all day train journey yesterday.  The breakfast hall was deserted though and a lot of food left over and possibly untouched. When I tried it I discovered why. Cold eggs and sweet toast - the bread and pastries here seem to have a sweetness to them that is unfamiliar and unappealing to me. The orange juice was also strangely syrupy, so breakfast was a bit of a write off.  Once I had checked out of my room, I had an hour of internet time to gather my ideas and plan my next move. I decided to go to a cheap guesthouse just outside the walls of the old city to see if they had any rooms. I figured if they didn't there would probably be other options nearby. I made a quick decision to try to walk there as the woman in reception of this hotel advised that it was about 3 km away which I figured that I could handle with my now slightly lighter pack. Buying the small pack that I did (35 litre with some external pockets rather than the standard 65 litres) seemed an ingenious way to keep myself from accumulating too many things but in retrospect I wouldn't recommend people do that unless they are sure that what they need will actually fit inside. My best friend  who has done a bit of travelling in her time came to see me off at the airport and was surprised at how little I was carrying for so many months and that was when I had the second bag and 50% more stuff than I do now.  Anyway, setting off on a 3 km walk at the hottest part of the day is not clever. I made it there but by the time I arrived I could barely follow the girl upstairs to look at the room before paying for it and I had to spend the rest of the day relaxing in the hotel to recover from the last couple of days. 

Pool side relaxation

The upside was the chicken burger with fries at the hotel which tasted familiar and filled me up for the heartiest meal I've had since I arrived. I'll definitely be having that again before I leave here.  At the risk of sounding a little jaded (already), I do get the sense that the cheapest rooms here which I'm told are full are actually empty and that customer satisfaction is not much of a priority. It seems that for every disgruntled customer they lose, there are plenty more who will follow so some staff in some guesthouses are less than helpful and are disinterested in having people return to them in the future.  I wonder whether (of the thousands of tourists passing through Thailand every year) the louder, ruder and more demanding ones who expect everything to be cheap and wave their money around expecting local people to run after it, have left a lingering bad impression which is rubbing off on the rest of us. What a shame.

[flyadventure]

Longest Train Ride Of My Life

On Sunday evening, having sold some of my excess stuff and gotten my bag down to a manageable and manoeuvreable size, I decided to get out of Bangkok and head up to Chiang Mai which is reputedly cooler and calmer and I was advised by friends that it has some great temples too.  I did some research online on the evening to see which train station I needed to be in and how much the ticket would cost but the internet in my guesthouse was slow and frustrating so I didn't manage to organize accommodation. My train was the 8:30am - 8:30pm pm train and so I planned to find accommodation on arrival. In a city the size of Chiang Mai, I thought it would be easy enough to find somewhere in the evening. As I have discovered before, best laid plans can be totally useless. The twelve hour train journey was going to be a push for me at the best case scenario as I don't like to be cooped up for too long but the air conditioning in the carriage was a welcome respite from the stifling heat of Bangkok this past week

Train getting a wash at the station

.  The problem started when the train abruptly slammed its brakes the first time and came to a stop. Brake slamming can't be a good thing and whilst no one around me spoke English, it was evident from their faces that they weren't expecting sudden braking either and that it wasn't a good sign. We started moving again shortly afterwards and things seemed to be okay but there were a couple more sudden braking episodes followed by stopping for a long time and passengers from the back carriages being moved into ours. All this time no one was explaining anything but passengers were talking amongst themselves in Thai.  To cut a long story short the train arrived in Chiang Mai at 11 pm, three hours late.  My phone was out of credit because unknown to me it was using my credit to give me WiFi access and the battery had also about died. I arrived in Chiang Mai with a vague idea about where nearby hotels were thanks to my husband looking them up and emailing me earlier in the day but despite the quiet and air conditioned journey I was pretty fed up and stressed out. Luckily I found the cheap hotel my husband advised pretty easily and got a decent nights sleep.  This morning I'm off to find somewhere cheap in the midst of the temple area where I hope to be able to stay a week or so in relative calm and have time to read my guide books and decide where to go from here.

[flyadventure]

The Big Little Buddha and Preparing To Move On

On Sunday I woke up early to go and see the temple of the Emerald Buddha. The Thai's most revered Buddha image. I discovered on arrival that I was not appropriately dressed as vest tops are banned despite the wrap I was wearing over the top. I 'rented' a shirt and an audio guide and fought my way through the crowds of Chinese tourists on huge tour groups to get into the temple.  My guidebook recommended borrowing the audio guide but I just found it stressful trying to get from one part of the temple compound to another to be in the right place to listen to the right recording.   The Emerald Buddha itself was stunning and it was nice to sit quietly in its beautifully decorated Wat but the heat outside was overwhelming (37 degrees I saw somewhere) so I didn't complete the tour properly and decided to head back to my hotel

Temple compound

. The audio guide is a two hour rental which is enough to stand in the right spots and listen but not to take your time and notice the details so I think I need to go back to this particular temple on a cooler day and take my time to fully appreciate the details and the beautiful buildings.  In the evening I sorted through my belongings - I knew I wanted out of Bangkok but was not sure where and I had clearly over-packed in the toiletries department and needed to make it more manageable to get to my next destination. Having brutally reduced the contents of my bag to the things I really needed, I walked to the Khaosan Road area and negotiated a sale with a market stall which was displaying a "we buy everything" sign.  As I was going to throw the things away and they were not of much value to me, I had nothing to lose. It was embarrassing and amusing watching the two Thai market men going through my stuff. They were amused by my empty spray containers (100 ml for flying) and my clear plastic toiletry bags (also for flights) and they were keenly eyeing the blue luggage bag I didn't need and couldn't carry. It was an old bag I once bought for cheap in London after the zip on a suitcase broke and I haven't used it in years. I was going to give it to a charity shop but I used it to fly here because I was not allowed to take all my liquids as carry on luggage due to the security restrictions (I brought over several months supply of contact lens solution - enough to last me for the full length of my time away). I asked for 200 baht knowing that they would barter with me and a passing Englishman stopped to examine the goods and take an interest in buying things to encourage the sale. I walked away with 150 baht - enough to buy myself a pretty nice dinner at a tourist restaurant or a slap up meal in a local eaterie. Not too bad for a bunch of stuff I was going to throw away. It's something to write home about at least :0)

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Other blog site

Please see my other blog site below for the more up to date entries. That site proved to be more suited to a trip than this and as I have limited internet access I am only managing to keep that one up to date properly. When I have time I will post pictures onto here but it may be when I return from my trip. Thanks 

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Opportunities, options and assertiveness

Since it's Saturday I decided to go to Chatuchak - Bangkok (and the World’s) largest weekend market. On the way there I met a nice German who I got to chatting to on the Skytrain since he was wearing a Capoeirista's Batizado (baptism/grading) t-shirt. He was on the way to the market too and then to the North for some scenery and fresh air. We had essentially the same ideas about where to go next and what we wanted to do and I guess if I hadn’t wanted to be alone for now and if he wanted some company we could have explored the market together and met up to travel onwards. I can see now what people say about how easily travel companions and new friends can be found. When I arrived at the market I wished him well and went my own way and within seconds of getting out onto the street and experiencing the humidity, I knew that I wasn’t going to stay long. That’s the upside to solo travel. You can change plans at the drop of a hat and please yourself. Within the hour I was at a huge and air conditioned mall sourcing out a cinema, some upmarket eateries and familiar but up-market clothing stores. It’s good to know where to go to find familiarity should I need it. I also realise how extra important it is to be able to be assertive when travelling. Especially whilst alone. When wandering around a temple yesterday a Thai man stopped me and started giving info about reduced fees to enter temples etc and even gave me a tourist map and marked out the tourist office but when he hailed a tuk tuk and instructed the driver to take me somewhere I was all out. I won’t have anyone dictate to me about where I will go and when. Unsurprisingly, he was more than a little put out that his kind advice was not being followed to the letter. I don’t think that I was necessarily at risk of anything bad happening but I couldn’t know for sure where the tuk tuk driver would take me, how much he would want and how I would get back to a familiar area afterwards. I always follow my instincts and if something doesn’t feel right, I assert myself and get out. One thing is for sure, I want out of the big city. Like London, Bangkok has a lot to offer if you know what you want and where to look but I tire of hussle and bussle and crowds pretty quickly and I want to find some more calm and quiet somewhere with more to see.

Tuk Tuk

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'Breaking' In to Bangkok Living

This morning I checked out of my pricey (1200 baht a night), noisy but nice (though windowless) hotel room in Banglumphu near the Khaosan, stored my luggage in their locked room and went off to the river boat again. This time I caught the local boat (15 baht instead of the 40 baht tourist boat) because I'm practically a pro after yesterday and went off to see the temple of The Reclining Buddha.

  I hadn't settled on new accommodation for tonight but I wasn’t going to let that ruin my day. After seeing some gorgeous Buddhas and the main reclining one of course, I had a cheap and great Thai massage in the well reputed school located within the temple compound.

  When I returned, I went wandering about looking for a cheap guesthouse. It is common and acceptable practice in Asia to ask to see an available room before paying so I looked at a few and some were still fairly pricey whilst other, cheaper places had reasonable rooms but were full. It was 7pm and a Friday and I was starting to get a little concerned that I would have to keep overspending on rooms due to running out of daylight and planned options, when I stumbled on a guesthouse with a large and clean en-suite for 490 baht. I nipped off to get my bag on foot (checked the reviews online having learned my lesson on my first night) and walked it over. I paid for the room after confirming it was the same one that I was shown earlier and was off out for my first beer. Ever. I usually drink Baileys but with ice being off limits, I decided that it was time to choose a beer and when in Thailand....Singha :0)

The highlight of my evening was a group of young Thai men turning up some hip hop and breakdancing right by my street-side table. Good vibes!

[flyadventure]

Public transport - Bangkok

Today I successfully negotiated the river boat from Khaosan/Banglumphu past the famous Wats to connect with the sky train to go exploring alternative areas to stay. Highlight of the day was catching the sunset on Wat Arun which I was just in time to get some fab pics and views of. Loving this "me time" too as it lets me be my more introverted self and think and absorb the sights, smells etc in ways I could not if I was sharing it with someone as i'm such a chatterbox. Not that I haven't had offers. I was invited to party with some nice young travellers on my first day in the city but politely declined as I knew I wasn't ready to share my experiences yet. I want the confidence to find my way around to come from my own attempts and lessons rather than latching onto an experienced individual or group and learning from them. I don't want to feel like anyone is holding my hand. This is my trip, my journey and in some ways very personal to me.

[flyadventure]

When in need, play the race card (I have multiple options)

I was feeling a bit miserable this afternoon when I forced myself out of bed on a few restless hours of sleep. Off into the depths of the Khaosan road area I wandered looking for a local sim card and the first place said they charged 200 baht. £5 for a sim card with no credit is not happening so I followed the advice my father always gave that if you walk further down the road, someone will probably have one for less. Location number 2 said it was 300 baht. Definately a no. People tell you that in Thailand the locals are all chipper and helpful but people will be people (and are entitled to not think all tourists are wonderful) and I was meeting a string of unhelpful and disinterested people. So, desperate to get some helpful advice from someone I could communicate with, I wandered into one of the many businesses with Hebrew signs to say hello. I met a couple of nice chatty young staff who confirmed that they were an Israeli company and passed some pleasantries with them. I then asked for advice about the overpriced sim cards and was offered one of theirs for 100 baht with 60 baht credit. Sold. Then as he produced the original sized sim I explained that I needed a micro sim and would unfortunately not be able to use his and which he cheerily told me it wasnt a problem, being Jewish he could circumsize it! I expected a botch job with some scissors and a wasted 100 baht but no, but the man had a specialized sim card gilotine and asked us all to bless it before the snip! No lies thats exactly how it happened. And that was the moment when I knew i'd arrived. My adventure was really beginning and the little discomforts of the night before were forgotten.

[flyadventure]

Bangkok Jet Lag

I have arrived in Bangkok and the heat is stifling. I chose a cheap-ish hotel in a touristy area and arrived around 8pm. Having stayed awake as much as possible during my flight to Dubai and subsequently to Thailand, I had planned to outsmart the jet lag and set myself up on Asia time ASAP. Unfortunately sometimes the best laid plans go to waste.... My hotel is either on top of or right next to a nightclub. I haven't fully ascertained where the noise is coming from and while the well advised ear plugs take the edge off, they don't quite make enough of a dent on the noise. That and I'm now beyond exhausted having been up two days straight and therefore wired.   I was determined to start on a lower priced accomodation and having arrived here and seen the room I was thinking it was definitely a do-able accomodation. BUT, the ants in the bathroom aren't just in the bathroom they're crawling all over the table which means all over my toiletries and contact lens stuff which is pushing it a little for me.    Also the door locks when you close it and from the outside you can add your own padlock for extra security (another good pointer from someone that means I have one) but from inside there's only the automatic lock so anyone who can get to the hotel keys can enter the room. I have some stick on alarms that sound when a door is opened but my double sided tape let me down (heat maybe?) so I've had to settle for a balancing a glass tumbler on a small lipbalm makeshift alarm - just in case. First nights in a new area and hotel are the worst. The phone in my room has a dial tone but my husband tried to call and couldn't get through so it's as good as decorative. Last but not least when the toilet flushes the tank overfills and spills onto the floor, at least its the clean water coming in...   It's now 2;30am and having failed miserably at sleeping I'm waiting on morning. I think I'll be forced to upgrade to a nice hotel for a few nights or I'm not going to sleep at all and with that mindset i'm going to be going home very soon. Its hard to feel positive and enthused when you haven't slept for two days and you're jet lagged and stressed out.   Here's hoping the next couple days start feeling a bit more like what I had in mind for this trip. I think once my basic needs of sleep and food and a greater perception of safety are satisfied, I can start to plan my next steps.