Sawat dii** from Thailand

February 11, 2012

** Meaning ‘Hello’

Unfortunately or fortunately from the Thais point of view that is as far as my Thai goes and luckily have not had to use it much. Thailand is, so far, very well covered for tourism and I am definately travelling along the tourist trail. This isnt a bad thing as this is a great trail and has been fantastic so far.

One week ago I set off from England to Bangkok and have spent a few days around one of the busiest, congested, craziest cities around! The ground space in the commercial parts of Bangkok are so packed they are definately expanding upwards, there are even pavements 20 m up from ground level, right below the ‘Skytrain’ the mid air train. Apart from aclimatising to the heat and humidity spent most of the time walking between temples or stuck in traffic wishing we were in a air-conditioned shopping mall.

The rest of the time has been in and around a northern, much more relaxed town called Chaing Mai. This is in the north and much less humid and as have discovered during a trek through the jungle covered hills very cold at night! Have not only ridden an elephant up here but also been chased by one whilst on a raft down a river! Not the most eco-friendly holiday – riding an elephant that appears to be chained up most of the time and angering a free one.

I have had the customary travel/language barrier issues associated with this type of holiday but is very easy to travel around compared to previous years and there are also a lot of others doing similar things which makes it very interesting.

Right, have to go now; I am currently waiting for a plane to Phuket… and a USB cable/ PC with SD card slot to upload some photos so be patient!

P.S. To all those that are looking after my house; hope it is ok!