One Month

Well fuck, it’s been a month, and we are back at our starting pint of Bangkok. We finished up our diving course a few days ago, and made the ferry and then bus ride back up north, another fairly monstrous day of relatively comfortable travel only spoilt by the movies provided of Miss Congeniality 2 and Racing Stripes.

Well I had a quick chat with Nicky this morning, she was at the Sydney airport, a little scared and scattered, and she’s a little trooper and will have no issues having a good time over there. So many of the people we have met over here have been traveling alone, they’ve said it's been great. Only a few of them have had issues, but that was mainly the quite ones so there’s not much chance of Nicky fitting that category. So understand the fear of the unknown, but through SE Asia at least there are a heap of lone travelers all having a blast.

**UPDATE** Just got off the phone again with Nicky, her flights been delayed so she has been put up in a hotel in New Zealand for the night....... **UPDATE**

I was really hoping to do some great big round up of all the exciting and entertaining things we’ve been up to, but I’m on holiday and can’t be bothered. It is funny some of the things I miss from back home, love and/or hate over here. It’s been hot and sticky I haven’t worn a single jumper or pair of pants since I got here, I really wish I didn’t bring so much shit, I’m at the point of starting to dump things. I had a pretty damn full bag when I left and now with the shit I‘ve been buying space need to be made. Today was by far the biggest purchase, and I‘m now sitting in my room typing up this email from my shiny new laptop. I managed not to go too far over budget but was pretty tempted by some very fancy equipment. It is nice though. I’m in the process of organizing my music and photos ( and I can nab music off other peoples iPods now ) I was considering holding out till I got to china but it will be nice having this around for the next few months. Today I’m gonna try and get one of the annoying Bangkok suit makers to whip me up a little case for it to stop all the dirt and shit from my bag fucking it up.

We’ve been staying at some pretty touristy places, so being able to order western food hasn’t been hard, its just once you get it in front of you, you realize it’s a pretty strange bastardization of what you would expect, Weird little hot dogs with your bacon and eggs. No bacon, just weird ham stuff with your bacon and eggs. To this date either Outback bar in Kho Pha Ngan or Choppers of Kho Tao have been the only ones to do something you would consider real bacon eggs, and did them friggen well.

I love the beer over here, well at least I dig the prices and love the wide availability of it. Every street vender, bar, restaurant, convenience store and even chemists sell beer. Chang ( a bit cheap and nasty ) you can often pick up for about $1.50 a long neck. Singa ( quite a good drop ) you would get a stubby in a convenience store for $1.50 or a bar for a smidge over $2.

I think it was in Phuket where I first saw beer in a chemist, only bettered by the fact that Roy had bought his pack of ciggies that day from a chemist, oh yeah that’s another thing a pack of ciggies is only $1.20 - $2, so while I’m considering making a bit of an effort to cut down a bit it is had not to smoke when its so cheap.

I don’t quite know if I’ve said it enough, but scuba was wicked. Really really wanna get into it a bit more

I miss doing nice regular firm poos in nice clean toilets, I also miss trough lollies, all we over here is moth balls, not even a hint of lemony freshness. I’ve only spent a bit of time feeling crook. I had a pretty decent case of gravy bum for the first and last full days I spent in Kho Tao, but apart from that I’ve been OK.

Some of my favorite foods I’ve eaten were the weird little taco things when we first got to Bangkok, still no idea what were in them but it was good and some pork skewers that in a drunken stupor were absolutely fantastic. I’ve had some great Thai soups and curries from lots of different places. Surprisingly good Pizzas, the Italian place in Kho Phi Phi was great. I think some of the only foods that I haven’t liked are the ones that made me sick, and at the time they weren’t too bad.

I’m really looking forwards to Laos, every one who’s been there has said its great off the beaten track adventures its cheap dirty and fun. It’s off to Kan Chan A Bury ( no idea how to spell it yet ) then up to Chang Mai.

Well I hope your all doing well, send me an email, tell me what you’re up to……


“Go Nicky woohooo”

Will Cowan.