Travelling in time and the end of things

Have you ever wanted to travel in time? Well, believe it or not, it's easy! Just come to Thailand, where right now it's the 14th September 2548. No, really. It's because they started counting the years from when Buddha was born not ol' JC so they have a 500 year+ head start on us.

And in the year 2548 they have massive shopping malls that stretch further than the eye can see, and internet cafes that have gigantic armchairs for people to relax in. Unfortunately they haven't come up with a replacement for oil and theres no cure for AIDS yet.

Our last week out here has been spent relaxing and treating ourselves and making the most out of cheap asia prices. These include:

• Albums (pirated of course): 1.50p
• Shoes (probably fake) : 6.00p
• Tailormade suits (actual quality): 61.00p
• T-shirts: 3.00p
• DVDs (of films that aren't even out yet): 3.00p

The awful Khoa San Road is best for cheap music and the MBK shopping centre in the centre of town is by far the best for clothes. I'm here right now in fact, with Ewan and Claire around somewhere.

Tonight we're having our last proper Thai meal – as you may have guessed, the food is something I'm really going to miss. Along with:

• The hot weather (although its the rainy season now!)
• The beer (BeerLao and Singha mostly)
• Exceptionally friendly people
• Feeling safer than I do back in the UK
• All the people I've met, from Thais, to Cambodians to Israelis, Aussies and Canadians. A right old mix.

Things I'm not going to miss however are:

• The Dogs – mingy rabid strays – there are around 120,000 wandering around Bangkok alone
• The cats – mingy rabid beggars, who make it obvious they want your food by sitting next to you and meowing incessantly
• Long bus journeys – 12 hours has been the average length of a journey..the worst was 20 hours getting from Bangkok to Siem Reap
• Thai Kareoke. Trust me, it blows.
• The toilets. Squatting. Enough said.
• People constantly trying to rip you off.

But it was all worth it for the past nine weeks. I've had a brilliant time and a proper detox from the Warwick bubble. The others I've had the fortune to hang out with from Kat and Haris, the Slovenian couple, to all my uni buddies, have made the summer an awesome one. Even if it's been a little expensive!

I've been able to do some awesome stuff to and getting down with the Thais and Laos and Malaysians and Singaporians and Cambodians has been well worth it. Each country is, well as they'd say out here, Same Same, but different. The Cambodians have an overwhelming friendliness and optimisim considering their past; Malaysians meanwhile are so honest it puts the rest to shame. And the Thais, well the Thais are always laughing at something, and that's enough to put a smile on your face.

So I'll be sad to leave, but there's loads to do back in Blighty, namely queueing for petrol it seems.

This then is the last "dispatch". Thanks for all the emails from everyone, and I hope you've enjoyed it as a brief distraction from Sudoku. Ta ta!

: 14 Sep 2005 12:07 |  Tags: Travel |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem