The land of the ladyboys!!!

Well hello from the land of lady boys!!!

I've been in Thailand for 3 and a bit weeks now. After flying in from Cambodia I was met at the airport by my uncles driver and taken to his house in the east of the city 'which was nice!'. I spent a few days with friends from the tour in Bangkok and enjoyed the food and shopping and the city which looks great and is good fun. The weather is amazing and there a hell of a lot to do. I met my uncles secretary Toom who took me and Olivia out for food and she has been good fun and a good eating companion. After the guys left for more tours I stayed on and waited for Elaine to arrive from the tour and after dong the usual backpacker stuff in Koa San Rd we booked a bus to Krabi. The plan was to get there early and do 5 days of diving while Elaine climbed and then the others would be there for new year.

The bus took 12 hours and allowed us to see what southern Thailand looks like. It was a good trip and on arrival we had a 30min ride in a pickup truck to the hotel at Ao Nang beach in Phranang bay. We checked, cleaned up and went for dinner. The town was a proper sea side resort and was fairly busy, just about everyone being Swedish. Even the menus were in swedish. The next morning I we went to the beach and looked around to book our activities. I found good dive shop but sensed Elaine was not 100% about Ao Nang so held of on booking my place to dive phi phi in case in ended up on my own and looking for a room. We took a long tail to Ton Sai and had Xmas lunch on the beach (This was xmas day). After lunch we walked to Raily and found some bars with full moon party planned and Elaine felt happier. Raily was very beautiful.

We headed back to Ao Nang and I went to book my dive trip but on getting to the shop a group of 10 Swedes walked out having booked every place on the boat....Damn!!! So I boked a trip on the 27th (a birthday treat I thought). The next morning I woke up to what felt like a bad dream at about 8.30 (I later realised that this was the earthquake shakin the room). Elaine left for her climbing on Raily and I got up to find a room for when she left as she had decided to pull after all having 'had enough of Asia'. I found a room and went back to the hotel.... I thought about finding another dive boat but decided to get the camera and do some work on Raily beach photographing the climbers. I set of to get a long tail from the beach to Raily but as I walked to the beach an english couple ran towrds me and asked a bike taxi to take them way as far as posible. There was a load crack which i thought was a gun and people were running saying a huge wave was coming. The crack was a boat snapping.

I felt no wind and no storm and carried on to the beach will everone running, driving and riding the other way. As I got closer I saw a huge wave coming to shore at great speed and it reared up.... people were just standing looking at it and then it hit the seafront with a load smack as it splashed as high as the palm trees!!! All the boats were smashed or in shop windows and well you know the rest.

I got very sick that night and the next day. Elaine, having had quite an ordeal went back to Bangkok but I hung on for Olivia and the others to arrive. We spent new yr together which was good and then one by one headed back to Bangkok and other places. I've now been back in Bangkok for a week and have gotten to know the town very well. Toom has taken me to many different eating venue including a home ook where a family open their backyard as a restaurant for locals in the evening and a local food hall/market where workers eat at lunch ... that was yummy. I've tried nearly every form of transport in an attempt to avoid the terrible traffic. Meter taxi, Motorbike taxi, tuk tuk, river taxi, sky train, subway...... only the buses have not been tried. My favourite is the river taxi with the collapsingroof to avoid the bridges. This is not the same thing as the big river taxis on the main river but the local takis on the small rivers running through the city. I've done a river tour, been to the reclining budha and been to the unfamous Phat Phong to see a ping pong show at a girly club (use your imagination). Getting to Koa San rd from my uncle's house involves a motorbike taxi in the morning to the sky train... then sky train acroos to the centre of town where I get the boat taxi to nr koa san ..... being on the other side of town to everyone has meant I have seen a hell of a lot to Bangkok and it's a great place. It's everything you imagine a south est asian city to be and more and getting around and eating in Thailand is incredibly cheap... you just can't believe it.

Anyway I'm off to Hong Kong for a few days as I need to get out and come back to renew my visa and then I willl make my way north and across the border into Laos!!! Can't wait.

Love you all and miss you loads.

If you want to go to Thailand don't be put off by the pictures. It's great here and tourism is the best thing for them now. I hope all your friends are safe and sound (Especially Kajsa, Gabriella and Joi. I'm very sorry for the Swedes. There were so many here)

Kaveh.