16 January 2009
Silom, Bangkok, Thailand
13°43'8.09"N
100°31'3.43"E
 20°

 

We got hardly any photo's in Bangkok, but we've made up for it since, so there will be a lot of family ones and my special ones, which will either make you laugh or think I'm a pretty sick person for thinking something is funny. Photo's take longer. I have filled 2 2GB cards, which means well over a thousand photos. Most of them will be complete crap of course, but occasionally I get lucky and get a good one.

When we left you last, we were in Hat Yai and it is was throwing it down day and night. That was early December, and we honestly haven't a drop of rain since. Just like being back in Melbourne (except it hasn't been 47º here – and that would be Celsius not Fahrenheit). We're both really glad that we got to go Lake Toba in Sumatra, which I still believe is quite probably the most peaceful place in the word, with some of the nicest people we've come across and one of the best places ever to chill. Not much to do, but 2nd hand book shops with a surprisingly good selection, lots of lazing around, swimming in a really clean, huge lake and great food. And genuine Marlborough for just $1 per pack. And magic mushrooms if you're young and foolish enough to be into that kind of thing.

So, we've been in Bangkok for almost 4 weeks, another 2 to go and I still haven't got around to arranging a night out with Randall and Joe. Did I mention I'm lazy? I haven't even sent a groveling email for my rudeness yet. We were going to go one day, but I got wind of some Chinese Acrobats and they were too tempting to miss.

We ended up staying in a fantastic place – the first two weeks were cheap timeshare rentals, then the following 4 weeks were negotiated as a rental direct from the property, just as cheap but the privately rented apartments are much bigger and better rooms, and they let us go into the better room almost straight away. Only a mini-kitchen with microwave, but full size fridge so it meant we weren't eating out all of the time (even though it is cheaper to do so at the places we frequent). And we got lucky – and I really mean lucky. With no prior knowledge of the event, we found out that he best spot to watch the New Year's Eve Fireworks display is from the Thaksin Bridge. We were less than a 5 minute walk from it. Woo-hoo! And Chinese New Year in Bangkok. So, another year gone, another Christmas and New Year in Thailand. Wonder where we'll be this time next year? I keep on saying that I'm going to do a review of our first year on the road – what has shocked us, what has surprised us, what has excited us and what has disappointed us. Yeah, Yeah. One day.

Oh yeah – Happy New Year.