Bangkok. One word, Overwhelming. A cultural melting pot and a beautiful blend of old and new/modern and traditional. Was almost brought to tears whilst watching two Thai cowboys sing renditions of Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan at a small bar, located on the street parallel to Khaosan Rd. where we're staying. Might have had something to do with the beers and famous "bucket" (half-jack of rice rum, Thai redbull and Coke), but the sentiment was genuine - I really fucking love Thailand so far!
Khaosan Rd. is mental. A crazy hive of activity. Good times city that never sleeps. Have been offered 3 ping-pong shows already, in one evening! Don't worry Bevan, we'll wait for you. Whole street packed with bars and restaurants and street vendors and tattoo parlours and silver jewellery shops and hotels eyc. etc. etc... It is at a hotel named Dang Derm that me and Vincent have been residing. For 1100bht (equivalent of R275) for the both of us, including breakfast, we are staying in a luxurious room with a rare and coveted en suite. Amazing.
Things are insanely cheap here, but the extravagance needs to be curbed! Have decided to toss quite a lot of my things, especially toiletries and shoes. Although I thought I had brought so little with me, it still turns out I have too much. As Vin says, I need to learn how to "rough it"... goodbye make-up! On that note, I am saying a small prayer of thanks for every toilet I have used to far. Goodbye Bangkok, goodbye tourist mecca, goodbye porcelain throne... you will be missed!
Have seen my first ladyboy as well. I repeat - I fucking LOVE Thailand so far!
Some words I've learnt:
Egypt:
* ahlan - hello
* shokraan - thank you
* mashy - okay
Thailand:
* sa wah di ka - hello (feminine)
* sa badi mai - how are you?
* sa badi - fine
* mai pen rai - no problem/worries
* ka koon ka - thank you (fem.)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
...and so it begins
Has been a mad few days! Left Johannesburg for Cairo on Saturday night. First international flight - long. Egypt Air's flight attendants are all male, with an unusual manner of service - very entertaining though! Juice spilt on a Chinese passenger resulted in laughter (from both Vincent & I & the attendant) and very little sympathy. All I can say, is be thankful it wasn't coffee!
Have discovered that international travel involves a LOT of waiting.
Cairo: ancient, magnificent. The most amazing place I've ever seen (not to discredit Egypt, but I have the feeling I'll be saying this quite often over the course of this year). Ended up in quite a swanky hotel for the day, which was included in our ticket price. Had a guided tour through the city, courtesy of our cab driver, Muhammed, on our way to visit the Giza pyrimads, which were, quite simply put, absolutely mindblowing. Seeing the structures for the first time, rising above the crumbling skyline of Cairo was quite an emotional experience. After having seen so many images of the pyramids throughout my life, it was rather overwhelming toacknowledge that the pyramids actually exist.
A "bollywood star" (or so Vincent and I chose to dub him), Zha, and his girlfriend, Zain, accompanied us on our epic voyage. Group photography and friendly banter followed. Upon arrival we were harangued by camel and horse owners alike with promises of rides into the desert from where one might view all nine pyramids and the Sphinx in all their glory. Granted, it may have been an awesome photo opportunity, but we were much more keen to walk it. The heckling was incessant! Every guy we walked past wanted to offer us the same ride or sell us souvenirs, and were not prepared to be put down lightly. Vincent met a "friendly" fellow who kindly offered to take our picture, bestowing us with props which were proposed to be presents. Turns out it almost cost us 200 Egyptian pounds (which he sneakily managed to swipe from us) - little skelem!
All in all, absolutely epic day. Well worth every penny. Thanks Egypt, Muhammed, Vincent, Zha and Zain xxx
Have discovered that international travel involves a LOT of waiting.
Cairo: ancient, magnificent. The most amazing place I've ever seen (not to discredit Egypt, but I have the feeling I'll be saying this quite often over the course of this year). Ended up in quite a swanky hotel for the day, which was included in our ticket price. Had a guided tour through the city, courtesy of our cab driver, Muhammed, on our way to visit the Giza pyrimads, which were, quite simply put, absolutely mindblowing. Seeing the structures for the first time, rising above the crumbling skyline of Cairo was quite an emotional experience. After having seen so many images of the pyramids throughout my life, it was rather overwhelming toacknowledge that the pyramids actually exist.
A "bollywood star" (or so Vincent and I chose to dub him), Zha, and his girlfriend, Zain, accompanied us on our epic voyage. Group photography and friendly banter followed. Upon arrival we were harangued by camel and horse owners alike with promises of rides into the desert from where one might view all nine pyramids and the Sphinx in all their glory. Granted, it may have been an awesome photo opportunity, but we were much more keen to walk it. The heckling was incessant! Every guy we walked past wanted to offer us the same ride or sell us souvenirs, and were not prepared to be put down lightly. Vincent met a "friendly" fellow who kindly offered to take our picture, bestowing us with props which were proposed to be presents. Turns out it almost cost us 200 Egyptian pounds (which he sneakily managed to swipe from us) - little skelem!
All in all, absolutely epic day. Well worth every penny. Thanks Egypt, Muhammed, Vincent, Zha and Zain xxx
Saturday, January 23, 2010
today (adv.) - on or in the course of this present day
This is my farewell message to all those I'm leaving behind, and my hello message to all those (ie: Bevan) awaiting me where I'm going. Flight time: 21h45 departing from OR Tambo International airport, arriving in Cairo, Egypt, at 05h40 tomorrow morning. Then off to Bangkok baby! Have been instructed to wait for certain persons to arrive back in the smelly city before witnessing my first "ping-pong" show... should be interesting! Updates soon to follow (perhaps even pictures *gasp*)!
Monday, January 11, 2010
The land of Thai... Thought I would slap this image on here so everyone who may be interested can see where I'm going to be at any given time. UPDATE: The date is the 11th of January 2010. The time is 17h44CAT. And the countdown begins: 12 days 'til blast-off. To all the merry and wonderful people belonging to my current world, happy happy 2010. To all those who I have yet to meet in the new world, prepare yourselves, I'm coming!
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