I suck. I officially suck. I really, really did want to add frequent and entertaining updates from New Zealand and Thailand, honest, but somehow I never had the flow for it. I blame it on company. Travelling with company means you tend to be able to output the thoughts and observations on the fly and not have a big store of it all to frantically blog when opportunity allows, like er, a mental bowel movement.
So, in short! New Zealand was stunning, and unseasonably warm for winter. I trailed around after LV and his extended family, politely refusing cake and cookies often proffered and had a thoroughly pleasant, if family oriented time. LV’s Dad took us sailing too, on Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown which was a highlight for me, and briefly made me consider buying a boat and becoming a wandering hermit on the seas. For a minute.
Thailand was excellent. Bangkok was dirty and seedy and fast paced and we had an abortive attempt to see a ping pong show. A tuk tuk driver instead dropped us off somewhere else for late night drinking which was mostly western men and Thai girls partying. Still fun, and we danced to bad pop, high on super strong Thai Redbull until the sun rose. Chiang Mai was like a nicer, more functional small city.. then off up to the mountains to a little town called Pai which is famous on the backpacker trail as a kind of Bohemian retreat. Unfortunately, the opium dens are apparently long gone from the tourist trail, and mention of them strikes fear into the hearts of the locals, as the police have cleaned up a lot (cleaned up, as in the more violent, execution style cleaning) of the visible drug trade. Which is a shame, as I’d had that particular picture in my head for years, all lounging around on cushions, in hazy, smoke filled rooms sucking on a shisha pipe. They still had shisha pipes in Pai, with fruity tobacco, but I declined on account of hygiene. ;-)
Absolutely would love to go back and see some more, this time of year is the low season due to humidity and temperatures that render you weak and incapable of much between about 11am and 6pm. Doesn’t stop you eating excessively, which of course I did, and my travelling companions discovered that hiring small bikes were a cure too, as you’re cool as long as you are in motion.
So, some things learned:
- Quantas are rubbish to fly with although the VOD service is quite reasonable when it works. Pre-ordering veggie meals has the pleasant benefit of you getting fed before everyone else in economy, and the food is piping hot (if still shit airline food). Others passengers’ jealous glances sideways suggested “Why are they special?”, which made me happy.
- Kiwis like pies (although I sampled one and would disagree), say “hello, howareya” as if it were one word, and their students have a tradition of burning couches on their porches.
- Don’t do overnight bus trips, ever. Even if they pay you to.
- Check your Thai taxi driver isn’t blind drunk before commencing an hour long ride to the airport.
- 97% of women in the Chiang Mai women’s prison are there for possession of “Ya ba” or methamphetamine, a plague of addiction which has also been “cleaned up” with aplomb by the local police force.
- Chang beer, at approximately 6.9% (it’s not regulated and is rumoured to vary wildy) is both your best friend and your worst enemy.
- Barter at markets for clothes and trinkets! Prices can often be talked down to about two thirds the first price, any lower than that, the seller reacts as if horribly insulted. I was too polite to find out if this was part of the ritual. I am English after all.
- Bring nothing but one set of clothes, buy everything there. Only electronics were disappointingly pricey there.
- Plan some time to get your teeth fixed! The dentists are really incredible in Thailand and a filling comes in at about 500 baht, or 7 pounds and 84 pence! A friend had a large amount of work to be done (he’s Australian) so opted for it to be done in Thailand. Not only did the Thai dentist manage to save more teeth than considered possible by the Aussie dentist, but on his return the Aussie dentist was in awe over the work done, and called it “Art”!