Day: The Fourth To The Seventh

Sorry for the big gap. I got busy once April arrived and had major technology hassles. My smartphone got way too smart for its own (and my) good, and reset itself to Thai language. Unfortunately, I don't have:

a: the Thai language pack installed

b: the ability to read Thai eden if I did.

This meant I could not change it back to Engerish, and nor could anyone else. In the end April opened up the same pages on her phone and eventually muddled thru and got most things going. There's still lots of stuff that is just gibberish. During the process Facebook and Blogger decided someone else was trying to hack my accounts and locked me out. I still can't get into Blogger via my dashboard, so I have had to sneak in through a back door program, meaning I can't see my blog as you see it. What also happened in trying to get the blog back up is that a major update that took me hours to write disappeared. Its very demoralising to think about writing everything all over again, so I didn't. Let me know if its not working out.

So, a quick run down on what has been happening. I took the sky train out to the airport to meet April and Amanda. Its an overhead express train that runs to the airport and other places. Very modern cheap and fast with lots of doors that open with a hiss just like on Star Trek. As I wandered around the fourth floor of the terminal, amidst thousands of people, thinking I'm never going to find them, I hear a shout of "NIGEL". It was April, wearing my bright green Mambo shirt paid off as she came running over to meet me. Big hugs all round, and it was damn fine to see her. We took a taxi back to the hotel, where she had a room with a view of the golden buddhist temple, that I didn't even know was next door. I think she liked the place as it is very different to the plush resort they had been staying in. There was also a visit to a massive dept store fitted in there too.....

That night we had a mission to complete. April had bought clothes with her that, for various reasons, she wanted to get copied. When they stated in Bangkok before going to Phuket, she took them to a taylor near their hotel. To cut a long story down, they had two or three visits, each with rising tensions, ending with a massive shouting match, and some of the original clothes missing, while the copies were far from satisfactory, to the point where the new clothes even had pieces of the originals sown on, not even matching colours! Our mission was to try to sort out the worst of the mis-matches and try to get the missing items back. The sleazy Indian taylor kept calling me "brother" and patting me on the back. The story was he had sent the work out (I suspect he actually does none of the work he says he does) and there was a police raid on the factory. For some reason the police took the clothes as evidence!? So we spent and interesting hour or two at a Thai police station while he tried to explain in his limited Thai to a series of different people, each more disinterested than the last. Needless to say, no joy there. However, we did get an undertaking from him to fix the various problems, and arranged to collect the clothes the next day. After that we went to Khoasan Rd, the backpacker area which was really pumping, bright lights and drunk travellers, markets and touts, food and smells. Fresh orange juice, pad thai, and banana pancakes, all from street trolleys. April ordered some IDs, I tried to find the ones I had paid for, we did some shopping and went home.

The next day we organised a boat trip on the Bangkok River. It was in one of those skinny long-tail boats, with a car engine on gimbals (sp?), that speed up and down thai rivers. As there was seating for about 12, I asked two Dutch families staying in the guesthouse to join us. Great fun, saw a 1 1/2 meter long lizard sunning itself, travelled various Klongs (navigation canals built way before anything like them was ever made in Europe, and ended up at the flower and vegetable markets down river.

That afternoon April had a bit more "essential" shopping to do.....so she went back to heaven.. errrrr MKS, eight storeys, more than a kilometre long, more than 5000 shops, many of which are maket stalls so you can bargain. And does she what.... I doubt if the locals could do better. I stated back at the inn, chatting with the two Dutch families, and playing with the dads and kids with my new toy steam boat in the little pond, while having a few cold ones. I think we both could not have been happier!

When she got back, we sallied forth to do battle with our friend from the sub-continent. We arrived an hour later than we said we would but nothing was done. He said we had to wait an hour (yeah right, there was lots to do, it would take more than an hour, and it was 8pm already). We said we had been waiting for long enough and that he could send it to our hotel. April even offered to pay for the motorbike delivery. The while thing ended up with him shouting, me trying to explain that it was actually his responsibility to sort out what he had been paid to do, and please, stop calling me brother all the time, and his wife trying to calm him down. In the end we left, took a photo of his business (the petty prick took a photo of us taking a photo) and walked away, not expecting to see Aprils clothes again. However, some time around midnight they did turn up.

More later.

Day: The Third Part Too

I'm sure once April is here and we go on the road, I will not be prattling on so much. But in the meantime it's a good way to occupy my time, keep you up to date and as a diary.

I was going to have a nap yesterday, but again that didn't happen. I  went for a walk and then got a taxi to Khoasan Rd (Rice Thresher Rd), to do some shopping and see if it had changed. The answer to that is yes and no. It's still a zoo, with hoards of sweaty  young backpackers, with fresh angry-looking tattoos, and way too much skin showing, only a whole lot more than before. The touts are still the same, even down to the turbaned Indian sadus trying to get you to let them do your fortune. The main difference is that there are so many people and the footpath stalls have encroached on the road so much that it isn't really possible to drive up the road any more. Its now a pedestrian mall. I ordered some fake IDs for jake and I to be collected today. They are a laugh, you can even get diplomatic credentials, as well as student, drivers and scariest of all, PADI open water diving certificates! If anyone wants me te get them one, just email me a passport photo. Then I found a quieter street one block over, sat in a nice streetside bar and ordered lunch. One of my favorite Thai dishes is the spicy seafood salad, and this one was really spicy. I ate most of it wile being gently and carefully looked after by a nice waitress, in the Thai manner. A large bottle of Chang beer was welcome, and as the intense heat got to it, she kept bringing small amounts of ice to put in my glass. An hour and half slipped by, as the beer slipped down, cooling my chilli hit, and I people watched from my slightly elevated comphy chair. The waitress directed me to a shoe shop a few blocks away from the madness, and was very happy with the 30 baht tip on top of my 170 baht bill. All up that's $8.

I needed the shoe shop because I hadn't bought sandals. Not sure why, but some knock-off Diesel ones didn't blow the day's budget. Got a tuktuk home. You have to watch those guys, they are the only people I have come across here who will regularly rip you off. I now have the routine of getting a meter taxi (beware the unmetered ones, they are just luxury tuktuks) the first time I go somewhere to know the base price. For example the tuktuk driver who hovers down the end of the side road the inn is on tried to gouge me for 100 baht for the trip to Khoisan Rd, and wouldn't come down to my offer of 40 baht. I just walked away, grabbed a taxi (there are hordes of them, I have never waited more than a minute or two, and usually its straight away) that cost 45 baht and had the aircon up full. Coming home I used a tuktuk driven by a toothless old man, who couldn't read the address map the inn gives out for this purpose. Another driver told him where I needed to go, we agreed on 30 baht (starting price 50), and away we went in a cloud of two-stroke smoke. He was very happy with the 40 I gave him, posed for a picture and smoked off into the distance.

Showered, walked down the road to the 7-eleven for some beer and water and made it back just before the evening monsoon started. Sat in the nice covered area under the inn,  watched the rain tip down and the lightning flash, and relaxed. Went back out later for dinner, pork mince with Thai holy basil (one of my favorites) and came home to watch a programme on my 'droid phone. It's not a bad way to watch, especially if I take off my glasses and peer myopically at the quite small screen close up. Interesting thing happened on the way home (sounds like a start to a bad joke). The taxi driver who pulled over at my signal was stopped as soon as we started to leave by a cop who shook him down for 100 baht "instant cash fine" for stopping illegally... I paid half for him as the fare was only 47 baht (less than $ 2). The driver said "police worse than mafia" as he has to pay someone else some kind of money each week too. All in all, an interesting day. Oh yeah, got some new, quality, Tin Tin t-shirts in the tourist market. It was too hot to argue so I paid too much, but still good price really.

Me: 8/10 and having a great time

Best food: most definitely the breakfast

Best drink: the fresh orange juice from one of the many hand carts in the street. Squeezed from these very small, very green looking oranges, put in a bottle and stored in the bin of ice. Very cold, very intense flavour, very yummy. I want one now!

Day: The Third

Awake at 7.30, but unable to get out of bed for an hour... on one level last night was a mistake, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything. This is an amazing city, a world of its own in many ways. Its my third day and I have not seen a blade of grass yet. That's the truth. Ten million + people, and you know it.

Ok, on with the show. Breakfast was another delight. I'm sure one day soon I will crave a Weetbix (phone keeps auto-correcting that to "cervix"!) but for now I'm loving the strange combinations of flavors that are dished up every morning here. Today it was fresh pineapple juice again with quarters of something that looked and tasted like a scarlet crisp pear, but wasn't. It had a side garnish of salt, lemon juice, sugar and fine chopped fresh chili, heated (I'm getting to know the chef! Booked a free cooking lesson with him on Tuesday). Then garlic chilli bread (very mild on the chilli tho) with a pumpkin mash that had a little cooked rice in it, lime, hint of coriander and topped with toasted sunflower. It came with a cherry tomato salad on lettuce with a Thai basil pesto over. Big cup (no small cup for me now, they are getting to know me!) of black coffee with a dollop of cane sugar syrup. All this is costing me $50 a day WIFI included. I could consider never going home if me darin' was here with me.... Not sure what I will do today but back in my room with the aircon on, feeling full and tired. I can see a nap attack in my near future.

Day: The Second

For hours sleep isn't too bad in the  circumstances. Great breakfast, included with room. Fresh pineapple juice, watermelon, mushroom boiled rice, with traditional side dishes (a kind of soup with flat asian mushrooms, rice, and various fresh herbs like coriander, basil, and celery leaves as well as some unidentified dried roots; very good so I threw everything in the soup) and two cups of espresso. The tea and toast also on offer wasn't difficult to turn down.

Then out for a walk around the neighborhood. I needed a belt as braces don't work with your shirt untucked and its way too hot any other way. A small shop a block away had belts, so 80 baht later ($ 2.60) I could walk without fear of flashing the natives. The nice lady even punched the holes in. Around the corner was a little hole-in-the-wall cellphone shop, so I bought a Thai SIM, and some phone credit. Just over $ 2 for the SIM, and local calls 8¢/min. Then the fun started as we tried to get the data side to work. After an hour on the phone to the telco, then the local samsung support line, we finally had it going. The phone is not a model sold here so it took a bit of sorting. Crossed the road to a glasses shop, and got an eye test and a pair of prescription bifocals, with unbendable titanium frames for 1/3 nz price but still a very big hole in my holiday budget (gulp). Wandered the streets on the way home, found a Vespa shop, and tried to hire one but no go. Got the number of someone selling one so will call about some kind of buy-back for my trip down the coast after getting back from Chiang mai. Back to the inn to cool off and dry out my shirt!

I've seen some sights already, like a guy up to his armpits in a sewer, a bus company which I swear was called "Strapon Buses" and a snack called "HoboSkank" (I think I would steer clear of that one for at least two reasons!). Check out the photo of the gas bottle delivery guys vehicle too.

Tried to sleep a bit in the afternoon, but brain would not shut down so watched Stephen Fry in America on my 'droid before going out for the evening with someone I know from the Suzuki TS motorbike forum I admin. Wisit is an in-house graphic designer for a major Singapore  based company. I met him at an up market plaza in the centre of Bangkok, about 12 km from here. Lots of expensive brands and two story high video boards showing all the same ads for the same movies as we see in NZ. When Wisit arrived he had two friends from his work with him. Wisit doesn't speak much English, but one friend was the translator in English for his company and the other was the translator for Chinese. It was really good to spend time with real Thai people, and just doing the stuff they like to do. There's a night market that Wisit wanted to go to, to look for parts for the ' 76 Suzuki GT250 he had just bought. It was amazing, a big empty lot with lots of old car and motorbike parts, as well at old and new clothes, books, household items, toys etc. Not that much different to a market in NZ, except for the monsoon shower, skewers of chicken bits abs squid cooking, complete lack of Europeans,  and the fact that it ends well after midnight. There were even the usual counter-culture types, long hair and tattoos, VW Combies etc. What excited me was the old cars and motorbikes that people turned up in. Honda Benleys, Suzuki T125, Minis, Fiat 131, Beetles, big american tanks, old Datsuns, even a Vauxhall Viva. Nothing earlier than the '60s. I bought an new toy boat like I used to have as a kid, with the candle powered putt-putt steam engine, and arranged to meet a guy next week when I'm back to look at a lot of old Suzuki stuff he has. By now it was midnight, and the boys wanted to party, but I had a body that was telling me it was 5am, so they kindly drive me back to the inn. 14 km took about 75 minutes even this late, and involved dozens of back streets and narrow one lanes alleys as the GPS directed. Every street was busy, with garage factory doors open to the hot humid night, people working on sewing, and packing, assembling, and selling. We went thru a market that stretched for blocks, where covered market walkways disappeared into the night, and the guys told me this was where the prostitutes were. They knew who they were in the street, but I couldn't tell. Its sure wasn't like Manchester St. You can't mistake the business women there!

We got back about 1.30ish, sat in the courtyard and had a couple of beers and talked until 3. Amazing amazing night. Thanks guys, I will remember this. It was good to get to bed as I had only had 4 hours sleep in the last 50....

Me: 10/10 on one level, 2/10 on another....

Food:  The MK chain restaurant that the lads took me to for Thai-style steam-boat. Was sure it it would have been the breakfast, but that dinner was great.

Drink:  Chang beer was good, if a little savage for a lager at 6.4%, but the bottle of cold green tea Wisit bought for me at the night market was very welcome in the heat.

P.s Decided not to rate the good and drink, just award for the best of the day. Its all too different to compare by numbers.

Day, The First, Part Too

Last blog I did always finished with a small score section, the idea for which was plagiarized from someone else's blog. Somehow I don't think I'm going to find a whole lot of pies on this trip, so I have to come up with something else. As I was getting some money changed at the airport, the Malayan guy counting out the cash and I got into a conversation about food and why one travels. I said it was the second most important reason why I travel. He said it was the main reason, and by the size of him, I'd day he does a fare (pun intended) bit of traveling. So I think that that's what I will do. I love Thai food, and if Thailand hadn't changed much since last time, then food is going to be a driving force in our trip. And beer, of course. Its early in the day, but the beer they served with lunch is going to take some beating today. I have heard of James Squire, but its the first taste for me. Their Golden Ale is a treat; thick, very good colour, fruit notes (pineapple? Ginger?)  white dense head, rather malt-sweet, and enough hops to balance so without IPA pretentions. I couldn't say its the best Aussie beer I have ever had (how could you as long as they make Coopers Stout!?), but I really want to try their other brews. And they do make a stout and an IPA...

Lunch on the plane was pork sausages, pumpkin mash, green beans and salad. Nice!

Me: 4\10. Have problems with aching legs at the best of times, so no sleep til Hammersmith...errrrr Bangkok

Food: baby pork sausages on the plane. Big tick, Qantas... 9/10 on the airline food scale

Drink: 7.5/10 James Squire Golden. Forced me to rethink my opinion on commercial Aussie beers but Epic Ipa was never under threat of being knocked off the perch

Day, The First

It's no fun leaving your ever lovin' behind, but I am looking forward to this trip so much. Three weeks away riding most of the time. Woohoo! Here's the plan.

Arrive in Bangkok about midnight local time Friday. Crash, and not burn, surface sometime saturday. Most important, find the best banana pancake street stall. (time for a Marx aside; The backpackers trail in Asia is sometimes called the Banana Pancake Trail these days. For some reason so many people eat masses of banana pancakes while they're traveling and at no other time! If they are so good why don't we have them at home?) Sunday I will try to meet up with Wisit, a Thai guy who had some old Jap motorbikes that I met thru the Suzuki TS forum. Monday meet April at the airport as she sees her friend Amanda off. After that we pretty much wing it. Plan A is to head into the northern mountains at Chang Mai, hire scooters, and ride toward Laos. After that, April heads home  and I have about a week and a half, and will probably head down the east side of the Gulf of Siam toward Cambodia  again on a scooter.

I'm learning a new blogger program so the format may change as I get to grips with it

Its going to be a big day, it'll be about 6 am NZ time when I get there.

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