Things I'll Miss About Thailand

Since we'll be leaving the country soon (no, still don't know dates!), I've made a couple of lists that I'll potentially continue to build on...

The Things I'll Miss about living in Thailand:-

1. Easy going lifestyle
2. So many smiling, laughing people around
3. Being part of a real community
4. The views around my village – mountain ranges, rice paddy fields, rubber tree plantations
5. My father-in-law
6. Street stall food and being able to holler out my front door at food vendor people passing on motorbikes to stop and feed me!
7. Fresh food markets almost daily within a km of my house
8. Living 15 minutes from half a dozen beautiful waterfalls and a hot spring
9. How ridiculously cheap everything is (except petrol!)…$1 curries that feed 6 people, 1kg of oranges for 50c, gorgeous tops for $3, weekly grocery shop for 4 people for under $10, etc…
10. Being told by complete strangers that I’m beautiful (perhaps this should be top of the list!!;-)
11. Eight course Chinese style weddings every 3 months or so
12. Having farm animals
13. Having enormous amounts of space and land
14. Being able to travel 900 km for less then $20
15. Living only a few hours away from tropical paradise islands
16. Seeing the King everywhere you go and the nightly 8pm update on the royal family on every tv channel
17. Seeing 6 people on a motorbike with a poodle in the front carrier basket
18. Old ladies walking around in lacy bras with no shirts!
19. Seeing work men building roads, climbing up scaffolding, tarring roads wearing el cheapo rubber flip flop shoes
20. Seeing the police wearing those skin tight uniforms (won’t really miss it, but it is amusing!)
21. Fabulous shoes for under $5
22. Squalling rain storms
    

Things I Won't Miss About Thailand

1. MIL – goes without saying really
2. Living with the parents
3. Being surrounded by so much PORK! (and living next door to pig killers!)
4. Fish Gut Curry and Geng Som (spicy yellow fish curry, a staple at 90% of meals in southern Thailand)
5. Going to funerals and monk parties almost fortnightly and made to eat Fish Gut Curry whilst watching everyone else devour 7 different types of pork dishes…literally, I am not exaggerating!
6. Being stared at constantly
7. Having no friends close by
8. Cold showers in rainy season
9. The dust and mould the pervades everything
10. Being told that I’m slightly fat (although #10 on the above list kinda cancels this one out!)
11. Rampant corruption both locally and nationally at every level
12. The smell of wet rubber (think vomit mixed with baby poo…really!)
13. Seeing so many little kids with black, rotten teeth
14. Being woken up at 5.45am every morning by the obscenely loud radio news program over humungo speakers 10 metres from my window
15. Being ‘asked’ to do English school camps that I can’t say no to because my husband’s family are all bloody school teachers! (this is my number one actually.. it even beats the MIL!)
16. Gangs of howling dogs in the middle of the night
17. KARAOKE! (no, I really won't miss it, not even a wee bit!!)
    

Around Thailand in 80 Days...

Well, about 40 days or so I should say...so, what have us tiddly winks been up to this last month gallivanting around the gorgeous tropics of Thailand.

1st: Went to Hua Hin... otherwise thought of as a developing resort area for rich tourists. Us not being in the afore mentioned category, we stayed for free at J's sister's newly purchased 3 bedroom house that was sitting empty waiting for us to give it comfort.

The beach is nice and all but not a scrap of shade to relax under. The dozen horses that mill about the main entrance begging for release from the hot sun but must endure beach runs worth 300 baht for half an hour and the toe to toe deck chairs that line half the beach are a real turn off.

2nd: My lurvy palio of over 20 years (bring on the aged pension!) came to visit for 2 weeks and was treated to all the luxury of village life.. Yes we did venture back not knowing what to expect but the parents were on best behaviour and J's mom actually touched me (!!!!) and told me she really missed me! Should have taken action aaagggesss ago!

Anyhoo...went to the day spa
Went to the cave but the lights kept on spontaneously turning off just as we entered the really dark area (thank goodness for the fandango torchy thang on my mobile!).

Went on the lotus boat trip again but at sun rise and wasn't disappointed..was vury purdy.

And the overall reason we made the trip back in the first place was so J's brother could get his new car blessed by our village monk. In over 3 years living here, I've never seen this done before so it was beyond cool. Monkio chants while walking around the car 3 times , then walks around it again blessing with water, pretty much trying to cover every inch, including the tyres of holy water, then he jumped in the car to write some scripture, then jumped out and wrote some more on the bonnet.

Went to my favourite waterfall in the ville, which is about 20 kms from home and palio enjoyed some uber risque rock jumping (jokes..very deep, hardly any rocks!)

Went to the hotsprings that are 7 kms from home and burned our lil bot bots off. It took a good half an hour just to get our feet fully submerged..scorchin'!

Then on another day we went to my other favourite waterfall..the biggest in our province and the place I fewl in lurve with hubby dear!

Back to Bangkok, went to Grand Palace (for the 5th time!)..is truly splendiferous though!

Also, just around the corner was Wat Pho, the home of the reclining Buddha and land of original Thai massage!

Went for a 15 baht, one hour boat trip on the Chao Praya River that runs through Bangkok and had a scrumalicious lunch at the other end of the public boat service at Nontiburi.

Then we went to see the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai at Kanchanaburi (2 hours west of Bangkok). I've always wanted to go there and made it my mission before we left the country to go there. Well, it could have been my last mission in life due to my near death experience. We were staying at the wonderful C&C Guesthouse right on the river, not too far from the bridge when we went for afternoon nappage time and a squalling gale hit our humble little raft room. After the room started lunging around a bit, I'm feeling a wee bit insecure on just floating bamboo polls, when an almighty current hit us and I thought we were gonnas down the River Kwai to fall off some monstrous overhanging waterfall or some such. I had grabbed my bags and was about to jump ship when we finally came to a stand still and we went to inspect the damage. All the bridges that connected our itsy bitsy floaty home were in piles at the bottom of the river (well, almost!). We were a stranded! J ended up skimming over the top of fallen logs while I acted the damsel in distress and awaited proper rescuing which took about half an hour. Oh...the adventures!

After a short recovery (next day!) we rode a hire motorbike 68 km one way, up to Thailand's most beautiful waterfall...Erawan. And what a beauty she be! 7 levels of stunningly aqua blue crystal waters. Definately worth the trip, even though got a bit of a numb bum on the return leg!

So, that's me up to date... back in the ville now just awaiting visa news for J to come to Australia!

Just Pottering Aboot...

No, I'm not dead! I just have no computer while in Bangkok and am sustaining my life through a paid internet shop down the street, so don't really have time/dosh to download pics and update the blog for now.

We're still in Bangkok, have just had a fab 2 weeks travelling aboot with my ol' buddy and visiting tropical islands (Koh Chang), visiting the village for 3 days and lolling around at waterfalls and hot springs and all the touristy biz involved with being in the big city (like going to Grand Palace for the 5th time! Not that I mind cos it's super deluxe beautiful!). Having an awesome time and trying to delay having to go back to the ville actually! Off to Kanchanaburi (as in Bridge over the River Kwai place) for a few days as it's only a few hours west of Bangkok, then reassess the sitch.

Still waiting to hear back about the Australian visa for J, but good news that we didn't have to have an interview because it was so apparent that we're a real couple. **Sigh**always good to know that I'm not a trophy wife after all ;-D

Hope all is well in your worlds....

Day Out in Bangkok

I had the most fabulous afternoon the other day with a group of uber lovely ladies from the British Women's Group in Bangkok. We went here there and everywhere but I have to say the highlight was the Flower Market. Absolutely gorgeous and a definite go to place for anyone coming to Bangkok. I can't believe I'd never been there and that my past visitors have missed out on it.. it really is wonderful and the flowers are so ridiculously cheap it feels like you're stealing them!

Firstly we went to Wat Phu Khao Thong - Golden Mountain Temple. Can't specify exactly where it is, but it was a short walk from the last stop on the canal boat ride (the one that goes past Jim Thompson House). Love the canal boats as they are super zippy, cost next to nothing and there's no noxious car emissions to breathe in on the trip. It can be slightly dangerous boarding said boats though, as the driver doesn't seem overly concerned if one of your legs is still inside the boat when they take off! Getting off at the last stop is always a safe bet though as they wait to fill up slightly before jetting off again. The view above is from the top of the temple.

Just as the heavens opened up we arrived at Bangkok's finest Pad Thai Restaurant on Mahachai Road. Twas indeed a delicious meal and funnily enough, the best Pad Thai I've ever eaten! By the time we'd finished eating, it was only pitter pattering so we soldiered on to see the giant swing just up the road. Not so scenic but a famous landmark in Bangkok. Then just opposite is another temple with a gorgeous Buddha statue and stunning murals on the walls that we had a looksee into.

From zee Wat we traversed via Tuk Tuk to the specialazzo flower market that was about 5 minutes drive away. By this time it was about 9 or 10pm and after the rain, it was just gorgeous. They also have a vege market across the street should you be wondering about the chilli shot!

I walked out of there at the end of the night with a massive bunch of over 3 dozen roses and a lovely bamboo ornamental good luck thingamee for $5....for both of them! Crazy man, crazy! I think one single rose in Australia costs $10!!







We ended the evening on the top floor of the Banyan Tree on Sathorn Road. Amazing 360 degree view from the 79th floor. Since I'm acting out the povo student in me, I couldn't quite bring myself to pay 150baht (about $5) for a glass of coke. I just have this mechanism in me that screams "they cost 15 baht at 7/11!!"..that's about 50 cents. I know..the village gal in me is like a disease! Purge purge!!

Wondiferous evening all round and it's quite a shame I won't be able to hang around with this group more in the future as we all got along like a firey house an' all that. We are still gathering legions of paperwork to sink the titanic for J's visa! We won't have a computer after tomorrow so will be slim pickings from me indefinitely but I hope to give updates here and there when I pop into Internet shops! :-)

Mish Mash Tales...

I love storms. Especially electrical storms where you can just sit outside and watch the lightning. Of course it's not so much fun when you're actually stuck outside in the middle of one. Although on my adventurous walk home, I had a rather enormous grin on my face and kept guffawing about my crazy life....

J and I have pretty much decided to go back to Australia for a few years to live. Very easy to say, but putting that into action is quite the feat. Mountains of paperwork to work through, but the best part about applying for this visa in Thailand is that in this crazy ass country, if you want any of your original documents, you have to go to the original issuing office. There is no such thing as fax, post or email in this country apparently.

8 days ago, J arrived in Bangkok after a 17 hour minivan crushorama trip which took him 4 days to recover from stiff limbs and today, as we speak, he is on a bus going back 'home' for a 12 hour trip. Why does he have to travel over 1700km return trip so soon, you ponder? To pick up 2 pieces of paper. I kid you not. 1,700 kilometres people! FOR PAPER! Insanity. I can't even begin to tell of the drama vortex that is whisking us around in fluvial streamlets this week as it involves corruption, white lies, a midget, a wad of cash and a ceiling fan.

Oh, you're on the edge of your seat now aren't you?! To allude to the vortex... when Thai men reach the age of 20 they are required to go into a ballot to see if they have to serve in the army. Something about a red ball, you loose and have to serve for 2 years, or the black ball and you're free to go. Weeeellll, many a person (many a thousands of persons) in the country actually pay off officials to get out of the ballot...gasp, shock, horror, banish the thought of corruption in Thailand!! Well, yes, it does happen A.LOT.!! In order to serve in the army the minimum height is 160cm tall. If you're shorter, you can't serve. My husband is quite small (but not THAT small) and perhaps one day looooong ago, he may have been considered much shorter then he is now because no one actually physically measured them...and then there was that fan and the wad.. and that's all I'm saying about the matter!! Looong epic tales of woe anyhoo regarding the visa apps but tie in a bit of this story for a millispec of the details.

Back to adventure afternoon..I spent nearly 5 hours on buses today just travelling less then 20 km. The joy of Bangkok! One bus trip only costs 25 cents though, so can't complain about the price. The exhaust fumes on the other hand had me nearly retching. Advice to newbies in Bangkok...catch the air conditioned buses, it will add years to your life span.

Get this.. my trip from the Southern Bus Terminal to the closest bus stop to my place is between 12 -15 km, definitely not over. It took 3 hours for me to get home tonight. I left the terminal at 4.20pm and arrived at my door (~13 km away) at 7.30 pm! That includes the 15 minute walk in the torrential rain with lightning going off all around me also. The guffawing came when I turned into my street to find it a foot under water and traffic at a stand still. This flooding was the result of 3 hours of rain so I can't even begin to imagine what Bangkok is like in the rainy season.

Bangkok Weather brings Enlightenment...

Lord it's hot in Thailand at the mo. Advice to all the lovely people who stumble on my humble bumble blog.... don't come to Thailand in April. It's disgusting. The heat sucks out all the oxygen so you're left to breathe a mixture of moist air particles with carbon monoxide fumes, while the rivers of sweat cascade down your neck and between your bosoms if you are so lucky to have them. Thank god I was wise enough to rent an apartment with aircon.

There's a strange phenomena in Bangkok where you die of heat exhaustion while walking to the skytrain or underground, then board your preferred means of transport only to freeze your butt off. They seriously have the aircon blasting at icicle inducing temperatures...and don't even get me started on the cinema temperatures! We went to see the new Jet Li, Jackie Chan movie, which I didn't actually have any desire to see even though I love the Jet, but it was action which is right up J's alley, and I really enjoyed it, surprisingly. Quite fluffy but the fight scenes between Jet and Jack are pretty cool and definitely provide fluff redemption! And of course it was delightful to have my teeth chattering with the cold while thinking of all the silly folk outside the cinema..

And even through the oppressive heat, I'm still fond of the big city. I sure got a good deal on these glasses, right?!