Goodbye Thailand. Hello Jordan.

Thailand was great, don't get me wrong. But there were things I didn't like so much, nearly being mugged on my first day in Bangkok (don't worry he didn't get anything as he was a tiny man and I stood my ground), the spiders also, not a fan. However, the islands were beautiful (Thanks Jim Carrey for helping me to always spell that correctly). I met some great people and had some amazing food but now it was time for some history, it was time to head to the Middle East.

Flying from anywhere in Bangkok airport is like any other flight, but getting there from the islands was always interesting. The little island airport didn't have walls, it was just little wooden huts with leaves for a roof, even the baggage conveyor was made of bamboo canes... 

The journey from Bangkok started as ever with an 8 hour wait for my flight which was helped along swiftly by music, I boarded my plane and was ready to go. The flight was fine nothing to note on except the landing where everyone starting standing up and getting their bags from the overhead compartments while still on decent and all the hostesses began shouting for everyone to remain seated (to no avail).

We touched down, I grabbed a quick visa stamp (which if you've read my USA travel blog you may know the trouble that got me into) and was waiting for the taxi arranged by my hostel. I was late. Nice early landing at 5:40am and somehow I was late! Another taxi driver came to meet me instead and drove me from the airport, down highways that were incredibly stereotypical for the Middle East. The driver then stopped. We were sat in the middle of nowhere, sand blowing around and only a run down hut next to the lay by. He grabbed his phone and began a loud conversation sounding very angry. Another taxi came screeching up and I was asked to get out and change cars. At this point I began to feel a little suspicious, the way the media shows the Middle East really sticks in your mind. Eventually I climbed in looking for anything I could use to protect myself in case of any such event. The driver reached to the compartment next to him roughly and pulled out... a kitkat and a mars bar. "Here you must be hungry," he said in a thick accent. "Sorry about the change in taxi, he needed to take his children to school."

I felt guilty for even thinking I was in danger. And this event stayed with me to prove a lot about the people of Jordan.

The Sea Was Blue and The Drinks Strong

Being stuck in airports is something that nobody likes, but I've got to say that I didn't mind waiting in Koh Samui's. It was much more of a beach hut with some planes next to it and a few mini buses out front. I purchased from one of the desk a ticket for one of the mini buses and boats leaving from a miscellaneous port to Koh Phangnan. The taxi was very pleasant and so were the other passengers, a few being English travellers also. We eventually reached our port where we had to wait for about an hour and my breath was taken away. The sea, was beautiful. The white sand, bordered by the bluest water topped by the peer stretching out like an arm reaching for peace. A taste of a real paradise.

We took the hour as our free time to swim and simply float around in the warm water. The relief of laying down my heavy bag in the sand and letting the water soothe the aches away. We chatted with a man who moved here from England who lived on the beach front, he'd been here for about twenty years and apparently was now bored of the sun and beaches. I couldn't see how. The boat eventually arrived at the end of the peer and we made our way still dripping with sea water. I took my seat at the front of the large boat, my feet hanging overboard, the large waves reaching them and shining in the sun. I reached my port before long and found myself a taxi accompanied by two Norwegian girls who offered to share their fare with me as my hostel was on the other side of the island. Driving through these island towns was an unusual thing, they were more palm tree jungles, dotted with houses, dirt roads and the odd tarmac one too. After driving for quite some time I was eventually tipped to the front of the taxi as we drove down a very steep hill, down towards the beach I might add, and came to a halt by some cabins. Shiralea Backpackers Resort was where I had arrived, and as I climbed the wooden steps there lay on a rug with a beer was Brian, "Hey! You made it!"
"Told you I would".

I had paid a little extra for my room here, after Bangkok I wanted a room with aircon. However when I arrived at my little hut through the little jungle path I found I not only had aircon but also two double beds and my own little hammock on the decking outside over looking the pool.

First things first though, I needed food. And the burger I got was amazing, huge and cooked perfectly. I might add that so was the cocktail, not cooked but mixed to be strong but fresh tasting. Fresh because I watched Joy, the bartender, blend the whole fruits.

Not only was this place homely, set slightly in the jungle area with its own pool, still close to the beach, serving great food and drink, but it also had an eclectic mix of people from all over the world. Not only that but a group from an "Under thirties" cruise, spending time at this place before moving on. Among the people I met where a Dutch couple Mark and Tamara, Brian obviously, Leah and Rahul, who actually used to work in my home town! Julian from Germany, Carl from Sweden, Luke, Victoria and Scott who have only just returned after nearly a year away, and Lucia an Italian girl from Florence. This not being everyone obviously and I'm sorry to anyone who's names I cannot remember!

On one particular night, Joy's bar had switched on some UV lights, and then out came the UV reactive paints... We painted each other for a good hour drinking all the while. The artist in me quite literally shone. After the painting finally stopped, we went to spend some time at a party on the beach called "The Black Moon", similar to the "Full Moon" parties which you're probably familiar with, one problem that is when we got there they had decided to charge quite a lot of money for entry and none of us had brought enough. We decided then because of this, to make our own party outside of the gate using their music! With a whole load more people joining us, including many more Germans! I swear I met more German people on my travels than actually live in Germany. The night that followed, sat on that beach with plenty of Chang, Chang is a Thai beer that we could never guarantee the strength of, one night we could have five bottles each and feel fine, another night we could have one bottle each and be on our backsides in the sand, was great. More fun than you can imagine. Gentle breeze and the cooling sea, contrasting the ever warming bottles of beer we collected. However, that can be one of the worries in Thailand, recently a girl was told she was drinking Gin to find it was actually Methanol, she went blind and died. Be careful where you get your drinks from. I don't want to ruin the happiness or fun, but always buy from a real store.

The taxi ride back was eventful, as we would not all fit, some of us had to hold onto the roof while standing on back step of what was essentially a pick up truck with a cover. The hills proved dangerous but a lot of fun at high speeds, in my drunken state my hands slipped. I'm gone. This is going to hurt. As I fell briefly, hands gripped me and pulled me back into the taxi, thank you whoever the hands belonged to. For that, I could easily owe you my life.

When we arrived back home at Shiralea it had begun to rain, slowly washing the paint from us. As the night was late we retired to the pool hut, we sat and played into the night under the bombardment of water, the odd cicada and lightening. That night when I returned to my hut, the electricity had shorted out. But I did not mind, what a memorable night it was.

My Street 

My House

and My Hammock

The Endless Sea

Songkran, The Floating Market and The Night Train

It was pretty refreshing to be honest being covered head to toe in icey water, either from the water guns, cups or buckets. Being forty Celsius and around eighty percent humidity, as you can imagine it was pretty uncomfortable! Songkran for anybody who doesn't know is basically Thai New Year or The Water Festival some call it, mainly because as you read above drenching everybody with water is part of the cleansing ritual! To quite literally wash away the bad things of the previous year. The only problem was that if you wanted to take a look around anywhere, particularly in Bangkok where there are thousands of people, it's pretty difficult to stay dry! Also pretty hard to eat from the street kitchens when you keep having to run around the damn cart, spilling all that awesome food everywhere.

After running from the locals covered in a plethora of Thai curries we jumped onto a bus, lead by the lovely Sylvia (a Swiss singer) and Zeineb (whos name I struggled with so much I ended up just calling her Zee) who were staying in the same hostel as me. Our adventure today, was to the "Floating Market", a short trip by bus and by far one of the most unusual sights to behold.

We exited the boiling pan of a bus and straight into what was stalls set right up into the carpark. I found myself stuck with thoughts of how this market was definatley not floating in any way. Unless you counted the smell, it definatley has a hovering notion about the nose, which was caused by the odd fruit you are not aloud in certain places, because of the smell. I believe it's called a Durian, we were offered to try some but as the smell really got up in my head I refused, however Sylvia did say it's taste was rather pleasent! I followed Sylvia around the next corner to find quite a sight, the reason this was called The Floating Market was because the next section was floating, made from a ramshackle of miscellaneous boats and stalls around a central pool. I watched as a young boy threw what looked like a handful of Wotsits (curly cheese flavoured crisp) into the calm water. What is that?! The pool suddenly came to life. The water bubbled and rose, filled with life as hundreds of catfish begin writhing over each other fighting for the food. Some, even left above water for minutes unable to return to submersion due to the unexplainable amount of fish. And then, stillness. Only gentle ripples left on the pond as remnants of the sudden life. Then, mere seconds later, another passer by repeated the spectacle with the addition of another handful of cheesy snacks. You could also buy baby turtles to release into the river as a good luck charm for the year!

My attention was now drawn away, by the rising of a machete out of the corner of my eye. Which was brought down quickly, into the top of a Coconut. And, with terrifying accuracy of several intense hacks removed the "lid" of the poor Coconut, a straw was placed into the now Coconut bowl and it was passed to me. The milk of the Coconut was intensely smooth and sweet. Probably the freshest thing I've ever had the pleasure to drink. And with that, I was hit with a sudden sense of dare I say it, paradise. Sat by the water, the sun shining, boats passing and drinking from Coconut. Instantly surreal.

Then once again the water guns came out, the cold water onslaught eventually drove us back to the streets and we began to walk back. The houses down the streets were filled with life and a local shop with an open front had a barrel of water and ice, surrounded by children who were playing in the street with buckets and water guns. We were chased around by the children and then pulled into the shop by the adults and forced to drink pints of beer for free. I mean literally forced. Not the worst thing in the world! Sylvia, Zee and I all danced into the music and water sprayed all around us, enjoying the beer and kindess of the locals, but as it always does time had come around to head back. And, upon the family finding out we needed to leave, they sent their children into the road to stop a bus, to which they entered the bus armed with waterguns. It was a massacre, no one was left dry.

For the next few days Songkran continued and so we spent a good amount of time drenched, during one trip back to change my clothes I met Brian, sat drinking coffee in my hostel waiting to check out. We chatted for a while about travelling and how our trips were going, he was an American teaching English in Korea and this was his holiday period. He told me about an island, sounds like the movie The Beach right? Well unfortunatley there was no map, but I did have an island name and a hostel. Feeling particularly spontaneous I turned to him and said "I'll meet you there next week".
With that he left for his flight and I left for the train station. I regret that I missed Sylvia and Zee before I left, I really hope that we will meet up again in some other random hostel somewhere!

Tonight I was taking the night train. Chiang Mai. This line is way too long. I stood waiting and eventually purchased my overnight ticket, and I was going economy. This meant my seat and bed were not a secluded room but just a regular train seat. But for only £14 to travel from one end of the country to the other, pretty good if you ask me! After sitting and reading for a while I was joined by a Thai girl, whos name regrettably escapes me, who sat quietly across from me. We began chatting as the train pulled away and settled for a long journey.

As night fell one of the train stewards came to my seat and asked me to stand for a moment, he folded away the table and slid down the seats to form a double bed, it now occured to me that I may be sharing my bed with this random girl. Until he also folded down a second bed from the ceiling! Probably best to be honest I hardly knew her. I was shocked firstly that I fit in the bed, and secondly because my bed was level with the window, so as I lay with my aisle curtain drawn, I was met with the view of a sunset. Casting purple and orange clouds across the sky above the sea of trees and jungle below as the great red disc settled on the horizon. The steady rocking of the train was kind of relaxing and I thought this would be a good nights rest, which it was, but when I woke I found myself still in the jungle. The train had broken down.

My Tuktuk ride

A picture of children during Songkran, consider it had NOT been raining.

My room on the train.

Countdown Karaoke to Standing On The Sun

My next trip dawns ever closer, and I'm not even half way through this current blog. Which means you may see my little posts more regularly! Time in Tokyo was running out (not in a Godzilla kind of way) just that my time there was nearly up. What's the best way to celebrate your last night in Tokyo? That's right... Karaoke! But first food shopping, its a must. Even the food shops are odd here, although I think food companies would sell way more food if the packages here in England looked like this.

 

So after some more Sashimi to celecrate my last day we spend another day looking around the temple, bathing in the smoke from the well to cleanse our souls and waiting for night to fall.

We made our way to Shinjuku and crossed with the sea of people at the biggest crossing in the world which was weird, stood waiting with what could've been a thousand people. We found the Karaoke bar and if I'm honest it was different than what I was expecting. In my head I had picture a bar with a stage like what you would find here or any other country, but in Japan they do things a little different. We paid the fee and were shown up three flights of stairs and into a small room containing a TV, a phone, four microphones and a menu. I was still in awe from the weird art work on the way up the stairs.

See what I mean? Exactly. Face and Ass, such a classy piece. What came next was the most beautiful rendition of A Whole New World my ears have ever been punished with. Thank you once again for that Marcus, Sponge and Becky. Another unusual point was that you used the phone in your room to call the bar below to order and deliver your drinks!

My time was running out, my flight was at 00:30am and it was now pushing 11pm. I've left this too late! I had to say a quick goodbye to my friends, thank you once again for making my stay in Tokyo so much fun, and make my way back to the hostel to get my bags. I hailed a taxi outside and made my way to Narita Airport. The traffic was terrible, I had forgotten how busy this city was even this late. I was verging on missing my flight, it was getting down to the last half an hour now, and I was still stuck in traffic. I gave the taxi driver free rain to drive like a madman to get me there in time.

We arrived and I didn't have enough money for my fare... but, the driver let me off for making his shift exciting, apparently he didn't get to drive fast often! I ran through the airport straight to the desk, and made it to my gate as they were about to close. Thank God, made it aboard in time. I settled in for my trip back closer to home, closer in a sense anyway. I had nearly boarded the wrong flight due to a translation error on my part, but it goes both ways. A word of advice, make sure you're positive on what words say before you go ahead using it for directions or anything else...

 

We're landing.Time for a different climate. Don't get me wrong, Japan had its nice days but this next place was on another level. The surface of the sun to be precise... This place, was Bangkok.

 

As soon as the door of the plane opened I was hit by what felt like a literal wall of heat, I checked if my eyesbrows and beard were still there as I thought they'd been seared away. The first thing I saw there? A HUGE Manchester United logo. Am I home? Did I board the wrong plane? Those thoughts were quashed as I was suddenly, as if they popped into existence, in the presence of monks. Full orange robes and all, but talking on mobile phones. It was an unusual cross over of the new and old to be honest, like a pensioner sat playing an Xbox listing to Tiny Tempa or something.

I collected my things and made my way outside. Jesus Christ. It was even hotter outside, I found a taxi and climbed in. Onto leather seats which burnt and stuck you to them which was needed with this guys rally driving skills. Bangkok was an unusual city to see speeding by me, I saw again such a mix of old and new culture, my hostel was situated above a coffee shop which was perfect. I have never had such an amazing iced latte. After I checked in at 11am (I'd landed at 5am) I decided to take a little stroll and to see where I was. I was right next to a temple again!

 

Lovely as that was I was instantly almost mugged by a tiny hobo, more beardy and haired than myself! But I stood my ground. He was not having my money. I had had too little sleep to messed around. It was strange because as soon as I stood up for myself he went on his way, perhaps he expected for foreigners to hand out cash easily. This little triumph was soon dispersed as I was shot with a water gun, although to be quite honest it was extremely cooling! Then it dawned on me what I had read on the date I had landed, tomorrow was the begining of Songkran. The water festival.