Crazy Asia - Thailand

Sorry for the delay of this entry. I actually had written it in China, but because of the language issues, and then the subsequent lack of time to do something about it, it never came up on the site.

Thailand was alright, but a bit frustrating. The things I thought were close (ie within an hours travel) were more like 3 hours if not more. The first day I just relaxed and got to know some of the other residents. The next day I went to Ayuthaya, spent 3 hours there, I had a tuktuk guy drive me around, and I managed to see a bit, including riding an elephant. Quite interesting.

The next day I attempted Pattaya, a beach town south of Bangkok. However the bus trip took about 4 hours, and I was getting really annoyed at it, because the guys who collect the money always seemed to be getting off the bus and buying ice creams etc, and wasting time. One even didn't answer me when I tried to ask him how much longer it would take. Eventually I finally got there, after getting a ride on the back of a motorbike. The swim/snorkel that I had waited 2 years for was a waste of time. The water was murky, and the beach was overcrowded. You could walk along the beach and be solicited. Anyway, after a 4 hour journey, I had about 15 minutes in the water, and headed back to Bangkok.

The good thing about Bangkok was the friends I made at the hostel. One was a Canadian lady who was nearing 50, and was teaching English in the North of Thailand. She was the mother hen figure and advice source about Bangkok etc. It was obvious that she was revelling in the company of other native speakers after not having such company for long periods at a time. Another friend I made was a Spanish girl who was living in London. She was on her way to Australia via Bangkok. It turns out she would be in Singapore/Malaysia about the same time as me, so we exchanged emails in the hope of meeting up again there.

The thing I didn't like about Bangkok was the litter in the streets and the dodgy taxi drivers.