Bangkok nights (& days).

After much hassle – and a chance to fly on a very well appointed Airbus A380-800 – I finally arrived a couple of days ago in Bangkok. The flight from Dubai to here on the super-jumbo that is the aforementioned aeroplane was much better than the journey I had undertook before it, cramped legroom, hit & miss service and a endless loop of crying babies, and Hell of course!

Getting out of the airport was no hassle at all, having been before, and done my research before hand I knew exactly where to head to get a regular everyday taxi into the city.

A note about Thai taxi drivers. They have obviously heard that every Italian drives like they are in the Ferrari team for Formula 1, however they may have contenders in Thai taxi drivers. Either that or they think they are in car-chase scenes in Hollywood movies.

Anyway after a couple of near-death experiences I finally found myself at my guest-house and lugging my stuff up 4 flights of stairs, which finally proved how unhealthy I am, but never mind that, I’m sure a reduced diet, heat and lots of walking over the next few months will cure me of my extra baggage. The place itself is pretty good, its cheap and has a pretty good location that is especially handy for the river boat services that plough the Chao Prayha river. It also turned into the unofficial guest-house of a Facebook group of which I am a member, with a decent number of us from it all staying here for some or all of our time in Bangkok. I really do recommend it if you want a good place to stay off the KSR and is still close enough to that area and the big sights of the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, that little effort is expended in getting around.

I have met and spent a couple of fun days and nights with a group of people from Facebook (Hi Fabian, Lucy, Rachel & Simona), after they approached me hoping that I was who they thought I was from my image on FB. I’d thought about yelling across the restaurant when they walked in to it on Tuesday evening but after nearly 40 hours of wakefulness, I just could not find the energy. Roll forward a couple of hours later and the 5 of us are – as usual with long term travellers – very merry and very much acting like we have been friends for much longer than a late night.

Being an old Bangkok hand I took it upon myself (it could be said I just decided what the 5 of us would do, but that just is not how it is at all.) to show them a couple of places they had not thought about visiting. We set out to do a few fun things over the course of the day including visiting Wat Thawit – home of a 5tonne SOLID GOLD Buddha:

exploring Chinatown (not easily helped by the river not staying where I wanted it too and as a result we may have gotten a little turned around), spending a good [sic] few hours at Suan Lum Night Bazaar, which has vastly improved since I was last here, even if shopping with 3 women was the worst idea I’d ever had! We managed to do all of this using local transport – both the riverboat and the sky-train – which was surprisingly for Bangkok, still as excellent as they had been on previous visits.

There are still things I need to do here, including see Wat Arun, get out of town to Kanchanaburi for the day, get my hair cut and maybe do some shopping (you just can not do stuff for yourself when herding three women around so they don’t spend all their budgets in 1 night!), but I know I’ll continue to enjoy myself here.

3 weeks till I leave…

So a tad over 3 weeks to go now. I really dont know if I have missed anything in all my preparations of late.

I have pulled out the old faithful backpack and am repeatedly deciding what to take / not to take. First few nights accomodation are all taken care in a few early destinations, I am doing that to slowly ease myself out of the comfort zone I have been in for the past couple of years. I’ve made my lists of important numbers and sent them to the four corners of the world in case of emergencies.

I really am stuck for wondering what else there is to do bar eat and sleep for the next 3 weeks! I hate this part of pre-trip preparations for that reason, and I hate the organised part of me more!

I was recently recommended a movie called “A Map For Saturday“, about a documentary maker/producer who jacked in his cushy NYC life and travelled the world backpacker style for nearly a year, its amazing how true to the majority of travellers it is, the comments made within it are what we concern ourselves with everyday while we are away from our own cushy lives.

Big Trip Destinations: Cambodia

Kampuchea. Khmer Rouge. Killing fields. Tomb Raider.

All of these conjour images of Cambodia, another destination for my upcoming trip. Cambodia is a country with nearly as violent a history as its neighbour Vietnam, yet another ex-francophile country that since the end of French colonialism has been torn by civil war and political upheaval that have left huge scars on the country and its people.

At this stage, I am uncertain as to how and when I shall I enter the country, either way it shall be an adventure in itself, as even today Cambodia has a “frontier” feeling to it, that makes every step you take there most interesting.

The main highlights in Cambodia are:

• Angkor Wat: Simply the most enthralling temple complex I have ever visited, it will be a joy to spend more time wandering the temples and ruins that this UNESCO site has to offer;
• Pnomh Penh: A city hugely influenced by the French in its architecture, as well as the Russians during the communist era. Has a great riverside culture to it yet beneath that is the heart of a city trying hard to move on from it’s bloody past – hard with Tuol Sleng and The Killing Fields in such close proximity to the city;
• Sihanoukville & Kampot: Beaches, islands and hillstations.

There is much more, but I have not yet fully read up cambodia, I’d like it to be a surprise, as I havent really ventured beyond the above in the past…

Update: 77 Days to go…

Well folks, its getting closer to my jump off date!

In the past few weeks I have dithered about things, and spent a touch to much money, but not enough to prevent this trip from happening.

However, that has all changed recently and with renwed vigour I am back on planning this excursion!  I have bought my insurance from Insureandgo.com at an awesome price; My parents have arranged a trip out to Thailand for Easter 2010 to visit me and feed me for two weeks and I finally got my hair cut so I’ll look respectable on the numerous photo’s I need for all the visa’s.

I had doubts about the trip, but I have been wanting this for so long that to not go would be a disservice to myself.

Big Trip: Phase 1 is done!

I have recently purchased my flight out to South East Asia.  I am flying with Emirates and shall be leaving in 253 days on the 25th January 2010!

Finally, this is beginning to feel considerably more real.

Travelpod

I have started a travelblog over on Travelpod, mainly because I like the little widget you can see to the side of these posts.

It will show my route as it happens and any images I link to the blog over there.  Do not be alarmed though, the majority of my posts will still be made here!

Follow this link to my Travelpod blog and marvel at it’s emptiness – however I do have a great image of Angkor Wat as my blogs image on that site

Traveller Jon returns…

…to the region he loves the most.  Yes folks, I’ll be off to Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, The Phillipines & Indonesia in a little under 10 months.  Planning has only just begun for this trip, and I am not going to plan too much like I normally do either. Just get there and take things as they come.

Rural Vietnam Refueling in Cambodia