Notes from the Road: 13 August, 2007

Hi All,

Since I've been on the road officially for one month today, I thought it Was time to send another update. I hope this email finds you all well and happy, and I wanted to thank those of you who have emailed me your notes from home. It's been great to know what you're all up to while I'm away!

As many of you told me before I left, the time has FLOWN by. It feels like I just left the UK.

I wrote my last email from India, in Udaipur in Rajasthan. Well, the next day it was raining quite heavily (really, for the first time in my trip, so I wasn't complaining). When I got back to the hotel, I had to walk down a set of marble steps. As you know, water and polished marble don't mix well with flip flops, and I fell down the stairs. No major damage done, but I'm sporting a few massive bruises (10 days later) in some attractive places.

That night, I was lucky enough to get my first batch of questionable India food, giving me a mild case of Delhi Belly. Oh well, it was bound to happen - it wasn't too bad, though it lingers a bit even now (don't worry – no details forthcoming).

The rest of India was intereresting - I went to Pushkar, a holy city, next. If I could go back to any place in India, it would be Pushkar. It's a lovely market town around a lake, and the vibe was terrific. Pushkar is in the desert area of Rajasthan (more scrub than dune), so I took a camel ride one afternoon. I spent 3 hours on the camel, which was, in fact, about 2 hours more than was comfortable. I'm glad I did it, but was a bit saddle sore for a day or two. :)

Alas, I only had two days in Pushkar, as I'd booked a tour, so I was back to Delhi after that. My last day in Delhi was brutally hot - 44C, I think, and high humidity. I melted.

By the time I left India, I was ready to go. I'm glad I went, but it wasn't easy going. I found it tiring to constantly be looking out for someone who was trying to hustle me. For example, the government worker at the post office tried to skim 20 Rupees from me when I went to ship a package to the US. And that attitude is everywhere, which I found exhausting. I think I'd go back to India again, someday, though not alone, and I'd go to the south next time. But the point of this trip was about new experiences and broadening horizons, and that's definitely happening, so I'm glad to have spent 2 weeks there.

My next stop was Bangkok, which is decidedly back on the backpacker trail. After an overnight flight from Delhi, I got the hostel and had a bit of sleep. I then hooked up with a girl in my dorm, Rachel (a Londoner), and we went into Bangkok together. There's a specific place in Bangkok called Kao Sun Road, which is the center of the backpacker universe in southeast Asia.

It was surreal to go from India, where I went days without seeing Westerners, to this, where I could have been in any city, so thick were the travellers.

I spent a few days being a bit of a tourist in Bangkok - I've seen my share of Buddhas and monks and Bangkok is a very colorful city. I know that lots of people don’t like Bangkok, but I think it’s a great place to spend a few days – it’s wacky!

Rachel and I decided to get out of Bangkok for a few days, and went to a lovely town called Kanchanaburi, 130km from Bangkok. It's on the river Kwai (yes, the famous bridge from WW2). We took a local train there, which was an experience of its own. When you think of train snacks, you think of sodas, water, potato chips/crisps, and maybe some nuts. Well, on Thai trains, people cook real Thai snacks and walk up and down the length of the train with them. Curries in bowls made from banana leaves, skewers of chicken, Thai omelets, fresh fruit. I was so tickled by it!

Anyway, Kanchanaburi was great fun. After we arrived, we booked a tour to a tiger sanctuary. In addition to successful breeding in captivity, they let you pet the tigers (the animals are sedated, which bothered me a bit, but I got to stroke a tiger, which kinda made up for it ...). They're stunning animals, and I'm glad to know that my money pays for their breeding efforts.

After a nice evening in a guest house (the Jolly Frog - a double room with A/C cost us each the whopping amount of 145 Baht, about $4.50), we went to an elephant sanctuary the next day (this morning). We had a trek on the elephant, which was okay. But the great part was that we got to unsaddle them, then climb back on for a bath in the river! So I scrubbed the top of an elephant's head and got dunked when she went under to get clean. It was REALLY terrific.

I'm back in Bangkok now, and my next stop is Cambodia, very briefly. I'm on a (LONG) bus ride to see Angkor Wat tomorrow, and will have one full day at the temple. Then I fly to Koh Samui, an island on the Thai peninsula.

I'll meet up with Rachel, the fellow traveller from above, and we'll island hop for a bit. The plan is 4 days on Ko Samui, 4 days on Ko Phangan, and then 4 days on my own on Ko Pi Pi, before I fly back to Bangkok to leave for China.

I was really torn about whether to extend my time in southeast Asia, because this is a pace that appeals to me so much. I'd really like to go north in Thailand (Chiang Mai), Laos, see more of Cambodia, and go to Vietnam. But if I did that, I'd never get round the world! So I have to accept that the 3 weeks I have is enough for now, and that I'll come back. The people are quite charming, and the place really appeals to me. I could spend months here. It doesn't hurt that it's DIRT cheap. :)

Oh, and by the way, Thai toilets are just as, um, interesting as Indian ones, except that there's often a water hose in them as well. Use your imagination. :)

I've managed to attach a few photos (camel, tiger, elephant). The hostel I'm at now doesn't have fast enough connectivity for me to upload any more. I'll try harder next time.

That's all for now. I hope you're well and happy, and know that I'm safe and having the time of my life.

Much love,

Dina