So here I am, at home, in England and yes, I have been to Tesco to do my shopping and yes, it was expensive! I have a good excuse for not writing though which I will explain...
Anyway, last time I updated I was in Pai. Well, Pai was brilliant actually. The night we got there we got friendly with an Ozzie couple, a Kiwi couple and a lady from London and decided we'd hire scooters the next day and whizz round the mountains and see some of the sights which turned out to be a mega fun day. I rode on the back as I wasn't feeling brave enough to get my own scooter and actually felt pretty comfortable the whole time (except for a numb bum in the evening). We visited a couple of waterfalls, temples and some natural hot springs. These were amazing, when we got there they were steaming and depending on which part of the water you go in, depends on how hot the water is. So the hottest parts are 80 degrees and obviously not for dipping your toes in whereas the nicer ones to lounge in are about 40 degrees. I'd never seen anything like that before all completely natural so we stayed there for a few hours just soaking ourselves!
From Pai the trip for me turned for the worse really. We had the 3hour windy journey back to Chaing Mai and then a 12 hour bus to Bangkok and I don't think I recovered. I was pretty sick for the last 4 days of our trip and didn't have much energy so spent an awful lot of time in our hotel room. I did however manage an organised day trip to Kanchanaburri where the Bridge over the River Kwai lies along with memorial grounds for the prisoners of war that died whilst building the 'death railway' between Burma and Thailand throughout WW2. I was dreading the trip to be a cheesy tourist day but we actually had a real good time. We were the only english on the trip with a bus load of Koreans who were really friendly. For some reason all the women wanted photos with me which I think might be due to my natural paleness???
Well asides from the River Kwai sightseeing we managed to squeeze in a quick bamboo raft along the river and an elephant trek. This was actually quite scary and I didn't feel that safe perched on a chair on the poor elephants back. I know it's what they do all day but I felt a bit bad for it having to carry round annoying tourists all day so we bought her some bananas for her efforts!!!
So that was pretty much it for our Thailand trip. We spent the last 3 days in and around Bangkok just hanging about really and me having Bangkok Fever (as I liked to call my sickness) until we got to the airport...
This is a really long story and hard to explain in writing but I shall try and believe me I am not exaggerating. As we were on our way to the airport my neck started to feel funny and was slightly hanging to one side and feeling very heavy which I thought was strange but put it down to lying funny on it. However, my neck got worse and worse as we arrived at Bangkok International airport it actually started sinking into my right shoulder and cramping right up. This carried on for 5 hours with my neck spasming into several different and uncomfortable positions. At one point, imagine the top of your head trying to reach the bottom of your spine without any control over it - I looked like I'd been possessed.
Well by the time we got onto the plane I'd calmed down a bit and just slept for the rest of the trip thinking that whole 'spasm' experience was over. Well, was I wrong... Monday night, the second evening back in England, the same thing happened again but much worse. I was by myself and couldn't stop shaking. I tried lying on the floor but my neck and back had a mind of their own and were moving about in all ways. After speaking to a doctor James' Dad drove me to A & E while my cramps and shakes were getting worse. I was given a bed straight away and soon developed lock jaw and was biting the inside of my cheek off without my own consent; parts of my body had just developed a mind of their own.
To cut this very long story short, after another 4 hours of severe discomfort the doctor made the link between my symptoms and the side effects of an anti-sickness tablet I'd been taking in Bangkok. I was given an injection and within 10 minutes felt almost normal except for a very stiff neck. It turns out that spasms, cramps and lock jaw are a known but not common side effect of the anti-nausea pills I'd been prescribed in Bangkok when I wasn't feeling well - it didn't take me long to flush those tablets down the toilet after that!
So there's my excuse for not updating my blog on the last day of our trip like I had planned - I was not really in a good position (literally) to do so.
So that's it - the end of my 7 months around Dubai, Sri Lanka, Australia and Thailand and I feel like I have seen so much. Just looking through my photos I can hardly believe that we drove 27,000 kms in Australia, that Sri Lanka really was 6 months ago or that one little pill can make your body react so badly.
The whole trip is probably still too fresh in my mind for me to know how it has changed me but it definately has. I feel like I know so much more, I may have lost a few academic brain cells along the way but have gained so many new ones by talking to interesting people, seeing different cultures and experiencing totally new things. I feel like I have 'done' Australia as far as being a traveller is concerned. I am happy with what we managed to see there and do not feel the need to go back in a backpacker mindset. I now want to try it out from a living perspective which is why both me and James will be going back there soon on a 1 year working holiday visa.
My opinion on Thailand is that there really is so much more to see. I could easily go back there (just maybe not to Bangkok) and visit other islands and other areas of the country. Sri Lanka is the same really, another country where there is so much more to see but for another time. I obviously enjoyed every country we visited but it was Sri Lanka and Thailand that really made me appreciate what I have here in England and actually how lucky I am. Australia is brilliant to travel around but you never step out of your comfort zone - it's very similar to England but with nicer weather. There aren't large areas of poverty or places where people don't speak a word of English or new religions and cultures to take in.
I decided that I hated England and probably never wanted to live there before I left for my trip but on hindsight, the opposite is probably true. I'm not saying that I definately want to live in England forever but I am saying that it isn't as bad as I thought. In Australia the threat of skin cancer looms over you on every billboard and in huge advertising campaigns, in Sri Lanka, people do not always have a choice of where they want to visit or live and in Thailand a lot of things are quite corrupt and the country lacks consistency leaving you unsure of where you stand.
Overall, my trip to these countries has made me realise how big the world really is and how having travelling as a hobby is a good idea as you will never run out of places to see. It has only pushed my urge to visit more countries and take in new experiences with the knowledge that home isn't too bad.
So for now I'll leave you with my thoughts until my next big adventure...
Tina :)
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Sunday, 10 August 2008
1 week to go!
So this time in 1 week I'll be back in England probably at Tesco buying food for the week! That's a crazy thought, I haven't even seen a supermarket for a while let alone had to shop in one! We've just had lunch in a cafe for 1 pound which included food and drink for both me and James and English people we meet keep telling me how expensive everything is back home now, I can't say I'm looking forward to that aspect!
Anyway, since I last visited my blog we've covered a bit of the country. From Krabi we took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi and then the boat, bus and another bus up to Chaing Mai in the Northern province and then another bus to Pai which is where I am right now!
Koh Phi Phi was a pretty chilled out island. We did a day of diving there which was quite an experience (and that's not because of the fish). Basically, when diving, it is a common rule that when the first person in the group reaches 50bar (you begin with about 200bar) on their air, the whole group makes their way up to the surface to make a relaxing and safe ascent. Well... the particular diving company we chose on Phi Phi thought it would be a good idea to keep going under the water until the last person had reached 50bar meaning me and another guy were breathing off our buddies secondary regulators (the thing which you breathe through) as our air had virtually run out. So there we were, 18 metres underwater, swimming alongside our dive partners sharing the same air tank, not good practice. Their reasoning was, 'well then you get your moneys worth as you get a longer dive'. I have to disagree completely there and say quality over quantity as being pulled along by James underwater sharing one tank whilst fighting current isn't exactly what I paid for and I was concentrating more on that than actually seeing any marine life!
Anyway, asides from the disastrous finish to both dives that day, we did actually get to see some really cool fish and got close to a large green turtle for a good few minutes while it munched its way through some coral, amazing!
We gave diving a miss the other days as our money is really tight now so spent our time sunbathing on the beach and wandering through the markets. There was a messy night out there involving too many buckets of Thai rum and red bull but all good fun!
Well we left Phi Phi on Tuesday and had a long trip to Chaing Mai via Bangkok, about 36 hours including waiting time between buses but actually not as bad as it sounds! Chang Mai was great, a much nicer city than Bangkok and so much cleaner and cheaper. Our very nice but basic double room with A/C, bathroom, cable TV and balcony was costing us 4.50 pounds per night for both of us, fantastic! There were literally hundreds of temples around the city so we visited 3 and then decided that we were quite 'templed out' by then so spent the rest of the time wandering around the street markets and eating more yummy food!
The highlight of that part of the trip and actually one of the best days here in Thailand was the Thai cookery course we did yesterday. We got to choose 6 dishes each so me and James chose different ones to get the most out of the day. First, we were taken to the local market to buy all the ingredients needed for the dishes whilst our teacher talked us through the various fruit and vegetables which was really enlightening. Tasting of the exotic fruit happened afterwards whilst we got to know all our cooking buddies. After that, we were split into small groups depending on the dish we were cooking and taken to the various kitchens to start cooking. It was so well organised and after each dish we came back to our original group so we could all taste each others food and enjoy what we had just made. I was so full by the end of the day and couldn't manage more than a taste of the last 2 dishes but now I have the skill to make them again at home as we were given a recipe book. All in all, a very fun and useful day!
So now we're in Pai, a small mountain village 3 hours from Chaing Mai which has a bit of an alternative vibe to it. There are quite a few other travellers here and I think it's quite a mecca for some! I haven't got my bearings yet as after 3 hours on a windy road up a mountain I just wanted to lie down. I'm hoping to book us onto an elephant trek and bamboo rafting trip tomorrow so I will keep you posted! Bye for now!:)
Anyway, since I last visited my blog we've covered a bit of the country. From Krabi we took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi and then the boat, bus and another bus up to Chaing Mai in the Northern province and then another bus to Pai which is where I am right now!
Koh Phi Phi was a pretty chilled out island. We did a day of diving there which was quite an experience (and that's not because of the fish). Basically, when diving, it is a common rule that when the first person in the group reaches 50bar (you begin with about 200bar) on their air, the whole group makes their way up to the surface to make a relaxing and safe ascent. Well... the particular diving company we chose on Phi Phi thought it would be a good idea to keep going under the water until the last person had reached 50bar meaning me and another guy were breathing off our buddies secondary regulators (the thing which you breathe through) as our air had virtually run out. So there we were, 18 metres underwater, swimming alongside our dive partners sharing the same air tank, not good practice. Their reasoning was, 'well then you get your moneys worth as you get a longer dive'. I have to disagree completely there and say quality over quantity as being pulled along by James underwater sharing one tank whilst fighting current isn't exactly what I paid for and I was concentrating more on that than actually seeing any marine life!
Anyway, asides from the disastrous finish to both dives that day, we did actually get to see some really cool fish and got close to a large green turtle for a good few minutes while it munched its way through some coral, amazing!
We gave diving a miss the other days as our money is really tight now so spent our time sunbathing on the beach and wandering through the markets. There was a messy night out there involving too many buckets of Thai rum and red bull but all good fun!
Well we left Phi Phi on Tuesday and had a long trip to Chaing Mai via Bangkok, about 36 hours including waiting time between buses but actually not as bad as it sounds! Chang Mai was great, a much nicer city than Bangkok and so much cleaner and cheaper. Our very nice but basic double room with A/C, bathroom, cable TV and balcony was costing us 4.50 pounds per night for both of us, fantastic! There were literally hundreds of temples around the city so we visited 3 and then decided that we were quite 'templed out' by then so spent the rest of the time wandering around the street markets and eating more yummy food!
The highlight of that part of the trip and actually one of the best days here in Thailand was the Thai cookery course we did yesterday. We got to choose 6 dishes each so me and James chose different ones to get the most out of the day. First, we were taken to the local market to buy all the ingredients needed for the dishes whilst our teacher talked us through the various fruit and vegetables which was really enlightening. Tasting of the exotic fruit happened afterwards whilst we got to know all our cooking buddies. After that, we were split into small groups depending on the dish we were cooking and taken to the various kitchens to start cooking. It was so well organised and after each dish we came back to our original group so we could all taste each others food and enjoy what we had just made. I was so full by the end of the day and couldn't manage more than a taste of the last 2 dishes but now I have the skill to make them again at home as we were given a recipe book. All in all, a very fun and useful day!
So now we're in Pai, a small mountain village 3 hours from Chaing Mai which has a bit of an alternative vibe to it. There are quite a few other travellers here and I think it's quite a mecca for some! I haven't got my bearings yet as after 3 hours on a windy road up a mountain I just wanted to lie down. I'm hoping to book us onto an elephant trek and bamboo rafting trip tomorrow so I will keep you posted! Bye for now!:)
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