So the time has come for me to leave the land of the British criminals and set sail for the of Thailand (though set sail is a bit misleading, as no boats were involved at any point).
On my last day in Oz, I had another wander round the City, encompassing the Harbour Bridge. For $11 you could climb one of the towers (or Pylons£ at the City end of the bridge, and look out at the area. As well as this, there was an exhibition telling the history of the building of the bridge which was actually quite interesting. To give them credit it's a hell of a bridge, especially considering it was built 1926-31 [though would like to point out to any proud Aussie that it was designed by a firm in Middlesbrough, so technically English - Ha!]
Now the journey to Bangkok was a hell of a trip, one that stressed me out quite a lot. Firstly on arrival at the airport, I was politely told that as I didn't have proof of how I was leaving Thailand (ie a ticket) that I wouldn't be allowed entry. So I then spent an hour trying to find a computer and book a flight out of Bangkok, baring in mind that I had to coordinate this with Lucy as we'd both be getting the flight out. After I eventually did this, I was turned away from the check in desk as my email confirmation which I had on my iPod was not good enough proof - I needed a paper copy. So that meant I had to find a printing area and pay $3 for something I had on my phone. By their good grace this was good enough for China Airlines to let me in - in the end I wasn't even asked about it going through Customs in Thailand!
After I got through security I promptly
headed to Duty Free (like all good Brits). This was only because I wanted a bottle of Bunderberg Rum which I've never seen in the UK but is really nice. However, I was told by the cashier that as I was transferring in Taipei, that I wouldn't be able to get them through security because they were Over 100mls...despite the fact I was walking off the plane straight to the departure lounge.... Stupid bloody terrorists, ruining it for everyone....
Luckily, the flight was actually quite good. I was welcomed onto the plane by Harry Gosling's Chinese Cousin Again the film choices were top notch and the food, whilst heavily Chinese-influenced was good. The it bad thing is that during my 9 hour flight to Taipei, 3 hour transfer and 4 hour flight to Bangkok, I only slept a couple of hours, so upon arrival it was fair to say I was knackered! I then had to queue for an hour to get through customs, not happy!
The taxi ride to Khaosan Rd then took nearly an hour itself, partly due to the fact the airport seemed to actually be in Burma rather than Bangkok, partly due to traffic.
Now the famous Khaosan Rd is mental. It's absolutely packed with tourists and Thai people trying to flog them stuff. I walked around for over an hour trying to find a hostel, and in te end picked an absolute dive - standard. At the end of Khaosan Rs (which does actually mean I get a pretty good view of it), no a/c just a fan that moves the hot air around to warm up parts of the room that might be slightly cooler - though I say room, I think they cleared out the Janitor's closet for me.
At night, the atmosphere changes. Slightly cooler (which is a godsend) The Del boys and Del girls come out in force, and you can't move for looky-looky traders or Tuk Tuk drivers offering to take you to a ping pong show, accompanied by the noise of...such a thing. In fact by the end of the night, they were just making the noise, not even saying it!
After wandering the streets I met done guys from Kent, who were waiting for their mate to arrive from Australia (clearly fate) and so had a few beers with them - and half a fried frog, which actually tasted like the bottom of a slightly over-fried egg.
When their mate arrived, we got a Tuk Tuk to their hotel, about a 10 min drive away. Now, 4 people and a 26kg bag on what was basically a 3wheeled scooter that at the best of times could take 2 people was and experience (though nothing to Uganda's Buda Buda's, still my favourite form of transport anywhere in the world, especially down a dirt track!) we then headed back to Khaosan Road and had a few beers before I nearly passed out from exhaustion...
That's effectively all that's happens so far here, given its quite a lot in a day. On the bright side - Lucy gets here Tomorrow :)
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