Ah, Home Sweet Home! I am back from Thailand and in the process of unpacking. It looks like it will be somewhat arduous so I am taking a break. I was happy to come home after such a long trip. My feet are quite sore and I am badly in need of a hot shower. I have just put all my pictures on the computer and I have yet to see the photos taken by my fellow travelers but I will show you a few of mine any way. Here is a brief run down and where we went and what we got up to. We started off in Bangkok and spent quite a bit of time on Kosan road which is a shopping and eating Mecca. Then we headed off to the islands for what was supposed to be a few days and turned into many. We couldn’t bring ourselves to leave to gorgeous beaches and lazy lifestyle. We spent Christmas on Koh Toh and then New Years on Koh Panagan. Then we headed back to Bangkok to pick up our visas for Cambodia and Vietnam. Then we headed up to Chang Mai which is quite far in the north. We decided against leaving Thailand in the end though due to time restrictions. It was a delightful holiday and we indulged in everything the whole time. We ate, drank and shopped to the maximum everyday and stayed up late into the nights playing cards and telling each other stories about our countries South Africa, Australia, England and Canada). We came back with so much stuff it was ridiculous because everything is so cheap there. We had to buy more luggage to come home. We could live on about 12 dollars a day and have everything we wanted. The place is a lot like Mexico except the locals can afford to travel and holiday in their own country too which is nice. There was quite a bit of poverty though as you can probably imagine in a country where everything is so cheap.
We went to silk markets and food bizarres, kicking boxing matches and night markets. We took sleeper trains and high speed catamarans and lots of bus trips. I ate so much fruit and Thai food that I have probably gained a huge amount of weight. You will not be able to tell though because I don’t really feel like posting any pics of myself as I look like a bit of a troll in most of them. I couldn’t have a hot shower and I generally just don’t photograph very well. At any rate here are a few shots of the different things we saw and did.
It’s back to the grind tomorrow already and I have to say I am not looking forward to the breakfast I will have to make for myself of the cold bike ride to school. Don’t worry, a car is in the works I just don’t have it yet. It is Gisela’s birthday as well as both of the Toms’ this month so I have to do some quick gift wrapping tonight. At least it will give me a break from cleaning up the disaster area that is my house. Over all I am relaxed and glad to be back home though. My kerosene heater is plugging away and I will be having a nice long soak in the tub too.