Southeast Asia

Woke in the middle of the night with my right eye itching, knew immediately that i had conjunctivitis, took 2 antibiotics and used an antibacterial wipe on my eye. i think that helped a lot because it was much better by the morning. Wondered if i would have to find a hospital to get a prescription for Chloromycetin, but it turns out prescription drugs are very easy to come by in bkk. An email from dad told me the active ingredient in the drops i required and i found them in the local chemist for 30B.

Didn’t head out until after lunch because i was feeling lazy. Decided to go to the national museum. Caught the skytrain as far as possible and then a tuk tuk who charged me 90B and dropped me in the middle of nowhere. Had to get a metered taxi the rest of the way. Was running out of time so i decided to go straight to the grand palace since it closes at 3:30. Entry was an outrageous 250B but it turned out to be worth it. i was completely blown away. I’m not sure what i expected but it wasn’t that. The place was huge and every inch of it shimmered with gold and coloured mosaic tiles. Photos do not do it justice.

Also saw the emerald Buddha. Didn’t think i would run out of time, but i managed to and by the time i walked to the national museum they were closed. An information guy on the corned suggested few Buddha’s i go and see and since i had nothing better to do i let him get me a tuk tuk. i have discovered that tuk tuk drivers get little coupons clipped if they take you to certain places and with the coupons they can get free petrol from the government. i didn’t mind very much since i was getting a 2 hr tuk tuk ride for only 40B. Saw the temple of the standing/sitting/reclining Buddha’s, it was ok, I’m a bit over the temples. More interesting were the about 20 monks cleaning every square inch of the Wat.

Next i saw the big Buddha which was great, the name is far from an exaggeration. it stand over 32 meters tall and 11 meters wide and is covered with gold mosaic. They were clearly setting up for a festival of some sort and they had very loud Thai music playing. There was a little girl dancing under the archway of the Wat and when I pulled out my camera to take a photo she got really excited.

After visiting 4 shops i had no interest in buying from just so my driver could get his coupons clipped i told him id had enough and he dropped me at the nearby docks. there were some great markets set up at the docs and i stocked up on water because it was only 5B. Got on a boat with no hassles & went all the way down the river as the sun was setting for only 13B.

All the lights from the shore looked so pretty at twilight. By the time i got off the boat it was almost dark and i was at the main pier where the water ways connect with the skytrain. i had obviously stumbled across peak hour since you could barely move at the station or on the train. it surprises me to find that without fail, people give up their seats to the elderly on every form of public transport. the skytrain at night is beautiful, there is so much colour and vibrancy to bkk with all the lights and noise. There was a grand opening of a new shopping centre at Siam where i had to switch trains. i went to have a look at the festivities, there was a big band, dancing and a light show, but it was impossible to move and i gave up and headed back to the hostel.

Went and got dinner with Derek at one of the street vendors just outside the hostel. Chicken and rice with a great sauce and a huge bowl full of chicken soup cost only 25B. It was delicious. I have extended my stay in bkk for another night.

Passed out last night and didn’t wake up until 8:30. Breakfast is provided at suk11 so i ate enough food to try and avoid lunch for a while. Spoke to a German girl who suggested i head to China Town for the day. Also met Derek, a crazy Irish guy.

Ventured out towards china town about 11:30, didn’t take long to find the subway station, it was only a 10 minute walk. i thought the sky train was easy, the subway is amazing. instead of a ticket you get a cool little token which you press on the machine to get through the gate. Took no time at all to get to Hualamphong station on the other side of town. Walked around for a while in search of china town until i stumbled across Wat Traimit, home of the golden Buddha. it was a good thing i had a long sleeved top in my bag because it meant i could go in and have a look. the Buddha is 15.5 feet high and 12.5 feet in diameter and is made of solid gold, it was quite impressive.

Left the golden Buddha still searching for China town. While standing on a street corner i was adopted by an old Thai man who worked at the hospital across the road, he told me china town would not pick up until after 3 and wrote me a list of places to visit first. He then hailed me a tuk tuk, told the driver where I was going and bargained the price for 50B for 3 hrs (exceptionally good). I was slightly sus, but he seemed genuine. After thanking him he said “no, you are very good person, you come to Thailand”. Everything worked out great. First we went to the old temple where i saw the lucky Buddha and a guy working there told me it was over 1000 yrs old. He also wanted to tell me all about his wife who worked for Thai airways and his trip to Sydney a few weeks earlier.

Just before leaving the temple I had a group of young school girls come up and tug at my shirt. They kept giggling and wanting their photo taken. My tuk tuk driver was still waiting when I left the Wat and he took me to China town where he dropped me at the end of one street and told me to meet him at the other end. Took about 40mins to walk the street through all the stalls and yet much to my surprise he was there waiting for me at the end, I guess he wanted to be paid. We then went to another part of China town where he dropped me off. I ended up giving him 80B. Chain town was amazing, much more how I pictured bkk; very busy, loud and weird food for sale everywhere you looked.

Started to get really tired and my eyes were sore from my contacts and all the dust and pollution. Didn’t take long to work out where i was but the walk back to the subway took forever. Took a combination of the subway and the skytrain home. i have noticed a lot of western men here with Thai wives & girlfriends.

Slightly ashamed to admit i stopped at starbucks on the walk back to the hostel (they are like McDonalds here, on every corner) for a caramel frappe that i had been craving. it was so good though and it had been a long hot day. felt good to get back and have a shower.

Went downstairs to see who was around and ran into Dave who had sorted out the lost wallet situation. We chatted for a couple of hours and then went and got dinner at a great Thai restaurant next door to suk11. Restaurant was so cute, we sat on the floor and there were gorgeous decorations everywhere made of flowers. The rice came with a little banana leaf cone and a necklace of flowers on it, as well as being really well presented the food was delicious. Had a cocktail with tequila, lime and pineapple. all up cost 300B ($10). Didn’t get back from dinner until about 9:30 by which time i was drained. it really take it out of you walking around in the heat all day. So far the heat has not been overwhelming.

Got the hotel shuttle back to the airport and from there managed to find an airport bus that went into the city for 100 Baht. Bangkok has some serious infrustructure, the express way into the city was 12 lanes and there are rauised highways everywhere, none of this cross city tunnel shit. If the roads here are slightly congested they build another highway above it. I wasnt sure when to get off, but i saw a sign that said “soi 1/11” so i took a stab. Was walking down the street with no idea where i was going when i suddenly realised i was in the right place, a bit of dumb luck never goes astray. Now most people are probably thinking ‘well done nic you managed to catch a bus and get off and walk to the hostel’, but seriously it was a really big achievement to do it without getting lost, maps are almost no use here because everything is so chaotic. Checked into Suk11 with no problems, the place is so cool. Its almost hard to tell if your inside or out, the corridors are full of plants and wooden plank bridges and each room is made to look like a little hut, its so cute. I have my own room with air con and a bathroom for 450 baht a night.

Spent the afternoon wandering around BKK, had some really good fried noodles for lunch and then went shopping. Typical me, within 1 day of being in a new city ive found the 2 best shopping centres and an ice rink. Needed to find an adaptor so i could charge my phone. Finally found one in the MBK centre which was a shopping centre more like i imagined BKK to be, with tiny shops that are packed with items of questionable use. The siam centre across the road was gorgeous, very much like shopping centres at home, only nicer and with better shops. If it wasnt for the fact that i cant carry anything i would have spent all my $. Also got charged 1 Baht to use the bathroom in the MBK centre, its the first time ive had to pay.

It appears that in all the chaos of BKK there is a shed of sanity, the sky train. No form of public transport has ever been easier and for only 15B. Now i have it worked out im a little bit more confident about getting around. Despite feeling like falling asleep in the afternoon, i felt i should go out and meet some people. Met Dee from BnA, also Nic F and his friend Dave, along with a few others. Dee is heading to Chiang Mai tomorrow and Dave and Nic to Laos tonight.

Dee and i decided to head to Khao San Rd, the big backpacker district, for dinner. Khao San Rd was packed and it seemed to buzz with excitement and energy. Passed on the cockroaches and silk worms for dinner in favour of chicken currry (didnt give me bird flu), the food was amazing. Did a bit of shopping in the street, the whole street had a party atmosphere, it was amazing to think i was in Thailand, it could have been a street in syd on NYE. We caught a tuk tuk there for 140B which was great fun and i didnt mind being ripped off a bit for the experience, although we did get the price down from 300B, it gets really tiring always being on guard to not be ripped off. Taxi back to the hostel only cost 70B.

i still cant get over all the fairy light, ive never in my life seen so many in one town they are everywhere and the whole city is so beautiful. i discovered that they are all in aid of the kings birthday which was on Mon. They really love their King here, there are shrines outside all hotels and most shops. Back at suk11 i ran into dave which can as a surprise since he was suppose to be on an overnight train to laos. Unfortunately he left his wallet in the taxi on the way to the train station so had his work cut out for him finding it / cancelling all his cards.

After not sleeping well the previous night and walking around in the heat all day followed by heading out for dinner, i got back about 11:00pm and passed out from exhagustion as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I hit the jackpot on the plane, despite the flight being packed to within an inch of its life i managed to score 2 seats all to myself as did the guy next to me. this meant a great flight since i managed to get a bit of sleep. Landed about 11:00pm.

Walking off the plane the first thing i was greeted with was a huge sign proclaiming “Thailand: Happiness on Earth”, i guess we’ll see. The second thing to greet me was a text message offering me 15% off all Thai duty free shopping. You just dont get a welcome like that in Sydney.

Immigration went smoothly, there wasnt a lot of people and i dont think the girl that processed me even spoke english so she didnt ask how long i was staying or anything of the like. Nothing was mentioned of the need for a tourist visa, fine by me. Baggage claim took a while.

Walking outside into the terminal i was greeted by about 100 little fobs holding signs with various hotel names printed on them, managed to find my ‘comfort suites’ little fob with no dramas. The airport reminded me very much of LAX except instead of balck people there was fobs (Just a word of warning: this blog is not going to be entirely PC, infact it will probably be far from it). Even though it was after midnight by the time i was outside the airport the temp was still high 20*c’s and the humidity was extreme.

About the last thing i expected to see whilst on the bus to the hotel was fairly lights, but they were everywhere, and it looked really pretty. When i got the the hotel i checked in and crashed, managed to sleep pretty well despite the regular earthshattering of aircrafts that seem to fly right by my window. Woke up this morning to the radio alarm clock playing, of all things, the Numa Numa song. Couldnt help but laugh, that was the last thing i expected to hear.

Hotel breakfast was so good i had the best omlette. Spent ages in the shower washing my hair. Its a give away though that your slightly taller than average when the shower head is at shoulder level. Luckily it was detachable and just reached above my head, wouldnt want to be any taller though. I love that check out here is a midday, it gave me so much time to reorganise my bag and try and work out how im going to get into the city this afternoon.

Well, my trip aroung SE Asia begins now. After a mad and frantic morning trying to pack, get organised, have a farewell breakfast with jess and a bikini wax i finally left for the airport.

Had to stop at Chatswood on the way to buy travellers cheques, US$ and baht since my supreme organisation for this trip did not include organising my money. Also had to buy nerw malaria tablets since the side effects from Larium have been unbearable. For the last week i have been exhagusted, constantly dizzy, had terrible headaches, nausea and some really horrible vivid nightmares; all thanks to Larium so its good to be on something different. So far i have had no effects from the malarone.

There were a few tears at the airport, Mum and I both cried a bit but it wasnt nearly as bad as i expected. My phone has been going crazy with people ringing to wish me well and telling me not to die etc.. thanks though guys, your too sweet.

Departing Sydney airport was smooth enough although at check in Qantas did question my lack of onward ticket after 30 days in Thailand. Got away with it, but i may hgave to apply for an extended tourist visa on arrival in Bangkok. Flight should take approximately 8.5 hours which lands me in BKK about 2:30 am sydney time or 10:30 pm Thai time.

What a huge farewell party / 21st. I really want to thank eveyone for coming and making it such a great night and drinking shit loads of alcohol and staying out until ridiculous hours of the morning even though most of you had to work the next day. Also thanks to those people who made speeches: Macca, Benny, Asty, V and Tor; I dont think im ever going to live down that text message. Also Minai who provided all the great music.

Hopefully everyone had the chance to vote on how long ill last in SE Asia, there are certainly some very interesting theories on why ill return early, including:

– contracting gastroendomitis(?) from the funky spicey asia food
– asia having smelly meat balls and everyone around me squinting
– so i can see the new season oroton ranges
– need of a facial, a shower, and a bikini wax

There were also quite a few comments on meeting and falling in love with prostitutes, taking up exotic dancing and joining the ladies with the pingpong balls. Or coming for home for missing numerous peoples birthdays and bootys.

I have to say there are quite a few gaps in my memory of the night, particularly after sculling all that champas during the speeches and Kenny’s special birthday shot at 333 which was lethal. Although ive received plenty of phone calls filling in the missing memories. Good to hear that Candy passed out at the bus stop in North Sydney for an hour only to be woken by a homeless guy, and that Matt and a few of the others waited over an hour for the night rider before they realised it wasnt coming and finally got a cab home at 6am.

Special mention to Asty, York, James L, Laura M, Matt, Macca, Jamela and Andy who were still out partying with me at 4:30 despite the fact that many of them had to work the next day. How can i help but love people who will so happily disregard the stability of their income in order to celebrate with me until all hours of the morning.

I LOVE YOU ALL & ILL MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY………. xoxoxo

I got my pack today, its a 65 litre odyssey moutain designs pack, and its blue and black. I think its going to be absolutley perfect for my trip, it has a zip off day pack and all the nifty little features that all good packs have, like a rain cover and heaps of pockets etc. I can’t wait to start using it. i also bought a few other things that im going to need while im away such as a money belt and toiletries bag.

Thanks dad, its the best 21st present ever.

My going away party / 21st is on tonight ….

All of a sudden my trip is begining to feel very real. My exams are over and its now only a week and a half until i leave despite the fact that im completely unorganised. There is so much stuff left to buy, i dont even have a pack yet! I have had all my vaccinations over the past few weeks and i think my arm is very glad its all over, i am now protected against:

diptheria
whooping cough
tetanus
polio
hep a
cholera
japanese encephilitis &
rabies

As well as all of these my GP has loaded me up with a variety of pills and potions to take with me, including malaria tablets, customs is going to think im either a complete looney or a drug smuggler.

My going away party / 21st is on this thursday night and im looking foward to it so much. i love being able to get all my friends together in one place for a big celebration, although i am a bit scared about how much they’ll all drink. But they’re my friends and i love them so i guess i can forgive them.

9 days to go…….

It has come to my attention that my friends are of the opinion that i wont last the entire 3 months away. Why would i think this?? The fact that they have bets going on when ill be home is a slight give away, or maybe the fact that when i tell them where im going its greeted with a blank stare and a comment something along the lines of ‘you’re going to get raped and murdered’.

As far as i know the theories are as follows:

Ray – 2 weeks
Dad – 2 weeks
James – 1 month
Joel – 1.5 months
Minai – 2.5 months

ill keep this updated so that everyone knows whats going on. There are also a host of theories on what will happen to me:

raped
murdered
kidnapped and help for ransome
blown up by landmines
infected with bird flu
sold into white slavery
realise the whole area is full asians (shock horror) and come home
snap in the middle of a market and start yelling at everyone around me
get robbed
killed in a car accident
run out of $ (most likely)

its so nice to know how much faith your friends have in your ability to achieve something. This being said however, there are 2 gorgeous girls that i have to thank for their support from day 1 Asty and Jess, who never once said anything more than ‘you’ll be fine and you’ll have a great time’.

My solo travel adventure around southeast asia will begin on 7th December 2005 in Bangkok, Thailand. The current plan is to then travel north through Thailand passing through Ayutthaya, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Mae Sot to Chaing Mai and Chaing Rai, before crossing the border into Laos. From here I will travel south to Viennette and cross back into Thailand to explore the eastern parts of thailand, then cross back into Laos around Pakxe. Finishing my southern journey through Laos, my next stop will be Cambodia, heading toward Phnom Penh via Kratie.

My plan is to travel cambodia in a figure of 8 route heading to the southern beaches, then passing back through Phnom Penh and continuing northeast to Siem Reap and Angkor before looping around and heading back to Phnom Penh. Leaving Cambodia, I will catch a bus to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. From Ho Chi Minh City I will spend a few weeks travelling north by rail to Hanoi.

Leaving Hanoi, I will fly back to Bangkok where, time permitting I will grab an overnight train south to Phuket for a a relaxing end to my trip. My flight back to sydney is on 27th February from Bangkok.