Thailand April 14 Left Kalkata after a wonder around the Victoria Memorial. Amazing building, missed it first time I was here. Huge marble white elephant of a place dedicated to the ol Queen but with a good exhibition of Mohan Roys painting and graphic work. Dated from the 1920s but still worth looking at. Beautiful pencil and pastel drawings. The inside has an incredibly high rotunda reminiscent of St. Pauls Cathedral. The old back and white photos show the development of the building as a lavish tribute to the fading Raj. Am now in Thailand. Arrived about 6 am and got a taxi to Kho San Road. How so utterly different is Thailand. No diesel spewing, horn honking, squashed up Tuk tuks, no enormous holes in the road, not quite the same levels of sewage and ammonia smells. The Tuk tuks here are as I remember them, spacious, comfortable(ish), stylish, gaily painted and relatively safe. Taxis and cars actually leave space between each other and will occasionally stop at zebra crossings! KSR has developed beyond recognition. Its now more like Portabello Rd on a Saturday or Pettycoat Lane on a Sunday. Thronging with 20 to 30 year old somethings, all Tshirts and shorts with samurai top knot hair styles. Party people. Tattoos are of course derigure. At night balloon sellers rub shoulders with folk selling deep fried black scorpions, yummy fat centipedes and crickets on sticks like gruesome lollies. Other locals are selling odd but intriguing toys that hover in the air and through out rainbow coloured lights. Lots of bars with some very decent live performers. Helen feeling more relaxed as weve move from outright chaos to mere confusion. Both countries are caught up in election fever. In India there are a mulititude of parties looking to align themselves with one of the main candidates. The English language news papers are full of impenetrable headlines The BJP refuses to endorse the JJK while Modi seeks support from Congress etc. Its easier in Thailand as the two main parties are colour coded, the Yellow Shirts anti government and the Red Shirts pro. Much to Hels apprehension we managed to navigate our way through a Yellow Shirt protest- barred roads, hundreds of food stalls, Tshirt sellers (Shut down Bangkok. Restart Thailand is a favoured slogan), loud tinny PA system lectures and various barriers to find the tourist office. They are knocking 30% off tours for foreigners (do they put 30% on the price theyre knocking down so it stays more or less the same, or is that my suspicious mind?). We booked our trip for month first to the south, then back up to the north, including a jungle treck, ending up in Laos on the 22nd April. After 4 days of being conned by Tuk tuk drivers who take you to expensive jewellers and clothing shops we managed to find our way around to some glorious temples and palaces. Although Ive done a lot of this before Ive forgotten so much that the palace was a real pleasure to revisit. Caught the overnight train to Chumphon and then the boat to the island of Kho Tao in the bay of Thailand. Did a couple of dives there for £16 each (a bargin including all the gear). Kho Tao is the smallest of the three islands in the bay of Thailand and is already a bit over developed but still a great place to relax for a few days at £12 a night each for a lovely big wooden bungalow/room with flat screen, nice bathroom and veranda. There are some quiet, pure white sand beaches down some very steep paths and I hired a scooter to find them. Spent the day exploring the island and snorkeling at different sites. Lots of brightly coloured fish and good quality coral all in a warm balmy sea. Only downside was coming off the scooter trying to go up one of the steep paths. I was OK apart from nasty big graze on my back which now stings like hell. Sorry to leave there after 5 days but were now in Karbi- another beach resort on the south west coast- and off to see local islands do some more snorkling tomorrow. Southern Thailands been great so far. Developed as it is its still worth the effort to visit. The locals seem to be aware that to much of a good thing- bars, massage parlour restaurants arent the answer to economic development. theres some restraint. Our tour takes us back to Bangkok and on to Ayutthaya, Sukhothai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and a slow boat to Laung Prabang in Laos, where the tour ends and were back to finding our own way round.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 13:39:45 +0000
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