Notes from Thailand – Part 1

The holiday began when my Mum decided to warn me of the dangers of travelling in Thailand. Just when I thought I’d heard it all (thanks to a bunch of films set in Thailand) , her thoughts “flew” way ahead of her leaving me to decipher this - I was to jump into the sea with my inhaler when I heard the sea gong so as to save myself!* What!? I know, I know, bizarre advice indeed.

I didn’t end up in prison or jump into the sea with my inhaler but I did get goose bumps watching the lovely transvestites perform at the Tiffany’s Show in Pattaya. The only mistake we (that would be Poo and I) made was to leave our cameras behind as they had mentioned it wasn’t allowed. What we weren’t aware of at the time was that the lady boys step outside after the show so you can pose for a photograph with them.  Oh well, you live and learn.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

We also made it to The Bridge on the River Kwai. I know you must think that it’s just a bridge (and now only a part of it) but thanks to the film (This would explain why I’m incapable of calling it anything else) I just had to see it. So see it we did but only after jumping in and out of a minivan (easy enough), bus (it took us a while to figure this out), taxi (yeah, we missed our stop!), minivan (this was at The Southern Bus terminal where we finally found one person who spoke a smattering of English) and finally a shared taxi.  That was some adventure. Was it worth it? To me it was worth the while as I love stuff that’s a part of history. Fortunately I had a travel buddy who was game for this almost-wild goose chase.

War Cemetery - Kanchanaburi

The rest of the time was spent shopping and thanks to Poo there was nothing vague about it as she knew where she was headed. It finally boiled down to MBK Mall, the Chatuchak weekend market and JJ Mall (Shopaholic, that was for your benefit) and I must say I have no regrets about the hole in my pocket. What can I say, it was a “happy ending” after all!;-) 

The River Kwai

Oh yeah, and then there was Krabi, but wait, let me give you a breather before launching into Part 2**. 

* The real deal: I wasn’t to forget my inhaler as I wasn’t too good with water (a tendency to fall ill when exposed to the elements), and so was to be careful when going (typo alert: gong) into the sea.

** Part 2 hath been launched!

(Photographs contributed by Poo and Moi)