Well here I am again, at an airport, waiting to board a massive flying thing that defies all manner of logic…. Tez and Shelly have already embarked on the next step of their Thai experience, off south to Krabi for a few days.
The cab ride to this sprawling plane space has always captured my intrigue, the cityscape ever-changing. From sky-high gleaming metal and glass to low-level slum areas, it’s all fascinating, and makes me wonder about the overall contentedness of its inhabitants…..whether ‘the land of smiles’ is actually real or just a gimmick aimed at the tourist trade.
I’ve got several hours to go before I board. Had hoped to get in a couple more hands of cards with the girls before they flew, but it would seem that flying had returned to its pre- covid popularity, because the queues have also returned….hence it was straight into the line for them and no cards…..Looks like it’s Patience for me! 😂
I’ve also learned to play ‘Yahtzee’! What a fun game….I’d not understood it was played with dice, AND had an insight into my daughters (possible) proclivity for gambling….
Khao San tonight, after a bit of pool playing in the ‘burbs’ was intense! Manic actually. Maximum decibel level at every bar. Each trying to outdo the next. The seemingly underage ( I may be exaggerating) young people squeezing the passers-by between them, hawking their wares….laughing gas, 2 for 1 beers, bucket of beer, half-price cocktails, anything to get the punter buying. Music throbbing, the intention being to work the crowd into a frenzy….maybe???
Then to the relative quiet of Happy Bar. The owner (from what I’ve gathered) remembering our drinks and eager to please. The same Asian guy singing the same old tired songs, badly. Hipster bar guy looking groovy and the head man, topless, working in unison when a party of 8 or so left….wiping tables, arranging stools, making ready for the next wave….
Escaping to Rambuttri to walk home. Sanity! Peaceful almost….tuneful! Then the Rambuttri extension…lovely. Stalls still operating, families having dinner, people talking! Music playing.
I get it, the madness. But maybe it’s age that prevents me from enjoying it anymore. I prefer the calm and moderate to the pulsating beat of music so loud I can’t think, and actually, although I appreciate the majority of music genres, nothing beats trip-hop!! 😎😎
With my girl now living in Switzerland, and her birthday approaching, a plan was hatched to have a surprise meeting in Thailand…A much easier option for me than going to the other side of the world, having been only 8 months ago!
From the depths of winter at home, to stepping into the sweltering pre-monsoon heat of Bangkok, the miracle of plane travel shines bright,….mere hours, but a world away in so many aspects!
We met at the airport, happily tearful, and progressed to ‘my’ neighbourhood…..Khao San/Rambuttri, where I’d booked accommodation for the first couple of nights. I find that having somewhere to go immediately off the plane is all you need really, and then move on to different housing as and when you need.
After settling in, we went exploring….a tuk-tuk took us to the river, thence onto a long-boat to explore the klongs (canals). I love to be on the river….any river really, and the Chao Praya has the added bonus of being a working river with all the activity that goes with that.
We disembarked at Wat Pho, and after an extended wander, eventually crossed the river again, to come home. It felt like a great introduction for the girls to such a diverse city.
The following day, it was off to the flower market, huge business in this Buddhist country. There are obviously farms dedicated to growing a huge variety of blooms. I’ve seen lotus farms which I found massively intriguing, but all the less ‘tropical’ kinds like carnations, roses and chrysanthemums I’m imagining have to be grown in houses…..or not????
Who’d have thought Tritonias would be in demand here??
On the eve of Tez’s birthday, my favourite’Happy Bar’ not being open, we eventually found one to settle in…right next to foot massage availability, conveniently enough 😁
A perfect evening ❤️
One minute past midnight, the band launched into “happy birthday “ and staff arrived with a wee cake aglow with candles….Shelly, Tez’s wife, had planned to perfection!
A slow start the next day (perhaps to do with the previous evening’s Margaritas?), we roamed until coming to rest at ‘Thai Line Tattoo’ , where Tez decided a traditional bamboo tattoo was the order of the day.
I’ve got to say, I was sorely tempted….
I’m happy to say, the ‘Happy Bar’ was open that night. This groovy wee place appearing from a graffitied alley has enthralled me repeatedly over the years, and I just love that it’s survived!
With the legalisation of cannabis a year ago has come a proliferation of ‘parlours’ and street stalls. Each have named jars of varying strengths and you can buy by the joint, gram or whatever, I imagine, to smoke there or takeaway…..We’ve come a long way…..🤗😁
This has been a fabulous time for me, to celebrate my beloved daughter’s 36th birthday in a city close to my heart….I feel incredibly fortunate and will undoubtedly weep, again, at the airport in another 2 days, but really, that’s what life is about, isn’t it 😍
My arrival in Brissy was early morning and confusion-driven! Again, the lack of sleep and multiple time-zone thing had me befuddled. My baggage had been checked through from Chiang Mai so I swear it was first- on, last-off, giving me the impression, as I waited, forever, for it to appear, that it had gone to Russia. It hadn’t, of course! Once I’d gotten it, and been signalled to take the exit, as I headed for the outside I was hoping that Tez had managed to get into her car, and was there to pick me up….(I’d had a message re the situation)….she wasn’t 🥹 The keys were still locked in the car…..A taxi, it had to be.
It soon became apparent that there would have to be a period of sleep, so after a shower and sustenance, I crashed (the only appropriate word for it) for a couple of hours.
Upon waking I found Tez had gotten the key drama sorted, so we were soon off to Will’s house….The afternoon and evening were filled with laughter and pool, it was lovely!
The next day haircuts were on the agenda. Tez had booked appointments for her and I as I’d mentioned I was desperate after 2 months of mad hair!! I have the odd ‘long-hair fantasy’ but the reality of actually letting it get to that stage is an impossibility 😫 After getting over the shock of the price of the haircuts, we were back to Will’s for Skipbo and more pool. We did talk about going out and actually doing some stuff, but in the end….well, why?….It was just really nice hanging out together.
Before I knew it the time had come to get back on another plane….the end of this epic journey was nigh! It’s been an amazing seven weeks! Thank you world, and all my wonderful hosts 💚
Well, whatever I didn’t spend up til now will surely be swallowed over my 6-hour wait here!! The size of a small city with about as many amusements, this airport is legendary.
My feet feeling somewhat better today, I’ve been up for a bit of strolling. A cheerful surprise was a butterfly garden!! Dozens of the pretty things feeding and fluttering…and (people) free to come and go at will.
Next came a wander round the duty free shops. I was always under the impression that ‘duty-free’ meant just that….free of the taxes we pay day-to-day…I’m wiser now 😳😆 NZ$59 for a bottle of kiwi wine, a ‘special’ price of $62 for 3x pairs of undies….and the actual one that I did buy, NZ$36.43 for a Mojito!!!! I’m currently waiting for the ice to melt because I’m not leaving behind a DROP of that!!! I’ll probably even eat the mint…..
There’s a theatre featuring 24 hour movies. Checked…nothing that will quite work for me, and I have a movie fest of 11 hours coming up, so possibly wait for those choices. I think that goes for food as well considering the prices!
My flight not even on the board yet, my straws soggy and I’ve just been offered iced water ( my expression must have conveyed my feeling about the price of the mojito 😳), so I guess it’s time for another wander…the nap-room perhaps 😆
The flight between Europe and NZ is just sooo long, I couldn’t resist the opportunity for a halfway break in Thailand. The ‘Land of Smiles’ is a comfortable and easy place for me to be, another land that holds a space in my heart 🧡 So a short hop from Singapore and here I am in Chiang Mai!
My friend from home, Mike, and his partner, Riam, kindly met me at the airport, and a short drive away, we are at their home in Bo Sang. Having been in three different time zones in less than 24 hours, I was feeling somewhat less than energetic. But being determined to dodge any of that lag business by slotting into local time….. I had several hours to last before bed-time!
A trip into the city treated me to the sights and smells of wonderful Thai food, and I can never get enough of street Pad Thai….So with some of that and the fabulous Singha, and good conversation, I whiled away those hours and fell into bed at the appointed night-time hour. I was asleep before my eyes were closed!
A very relaxed day followed…once again resting my feet and keeping them elevated 🙄 By evening I was over the inactivity, so it was decided that we’d all go into the city for some dinner… and the splendid night markets, which even though my luggage is a whisper off capacity weight, it doesn’t hurt to look, does it….!? 🫢🤗
The night markets are a shoppers paradise! Everything so bright and colourful, different and intriguing ….and cheap! Which makes the wares completely indispensable, of course!!! So what can you do, but buy a little something or two??!!!
Which, needless to say, I did! 🤣
After dinner at the market, we progressed to a groovy little bar, and then to another, and a third. Number 3 belongs to a friend of Riam’s, so then came a few drinks, lots of laughs, and many photos, accompanied by some great music. A thing I love about Thailand are these little ‘sois’ (streets, or more appropriate, lanes), tucked away, which often contain a bunch of tiny bars all as big as your lounge. And they often have live music! We stuck our heads in one between 1 and 2, and there was a 3-piece band 😳 but it was just a tad loud…Number 2 and 3 were in one of the sois, together with 3 others!
Today we ventured to the ‘Umbrella Factory’, Bo Sang being the ‘umbrella village’. I’ve always had a fondness for paper parasols, but thought they were definitely a sun thing or purely decorative. Imagine my surprise, on this tropical-rain day, when we arrived and dozens of these gorgeous things were out in it!! They’re not paper but painted cotton, which makes them waterproof!!! And some are UV resistant, which means they won’t fade….Of course I immediately wanted to fill a crate to send home!
With one more day before I’m in the air again, tomorrow will be spent organising last minute details (phoning the airline and buying excess baggage perhaps 🙄🤣), and readying to bid a fond farewell to my wonderful hosts, and this wonderful country.
Waking up to church bells as opposed to the call to prayer was altogether quite displacing, (although they do share similarities) until I recalled that I was now in Rome!
This city percolates with its sublime and illustrious past. The sheer size of the buildings and monuments is testament to the empire that it once was, the architecture being monolithic.
The splendour! And the excess…information gleaned that in the Colosseum’s (completed 80 AD) first 100 days of its opening ‘games’, there were 5000 animals and 2000 humans slaughtered….
The dimensions of this amphitheatre, too, befuddle the brain with its enormity and the mathematical genius it took to to design and construct it…And what you see above ground isn’t all of it, by a long stretch, with excavations revealing more and more underground constructions ongoingly.
There are relics aplenty, but also even the more recent of the architecture makes apparent a resplendent past.
The Romans were heavily reliant on water, for reasons both practical and cosmetic. They were the foremost constructors of aqueducts and drainage systems, and many of these remain to this day. Not to mention the fountains…
Rome is indeed a city to visit, as is the country it inhabits. I’m sorry I didn’t allow myself more time to appreciate its myriad of delights….
Well, sadly, we leave Morocco tomorrow. I cried leaving this country the last time, and no doubt will again tomorrow.
Tangier has been a very pleasant surprise. My last visit to this city was 34 years ago, so in that time it has changed irrevocably….a whole new city having sprung up…the Medina though, remains virtually unchanged, I love that fact!
As we’ve traveled north the landscape has changed too. Now we have green grass whereas further south what grass there was, if any, was parched brown. The sky is less blue…a cloud of what appeared to be smog being blown in from the north. But, details aside, there does seem to be a vibrancy about the city, and I’ve got to say, I like it!
The Medina has all the temptations that are usually present, but, as is also true, there are new delights!!! If one considers coming here, bring an empty suitcase, the old adage “half the clothing and twice as much money”, never truer!!!
I’m still enamoured of this country, and hope to return…..with that empty suitcase!!!
I only managed one foray into the Medina in Fes….the foot problem thwarting anything more.
Fes Medina is notorious for being completely bewildering. It’s little wonder there are a continuing stream of guided walking tours being hosted, as there are a myriad of alleys, off alleys, off alleys….Had I been more able to while away several hours on my feet, I certainly would have!! Beguiling beyond words!
Fes is much bigger than I imagined….both the old and the new city, and quite sprawling, the two being a number of kilometres apart. Jen made a trip to the supermarket in the new town….a 5km round trip, while I lounged on the roof terrace ( needing to keep my feet elevated 😁)
Then it was time to move on….to the mountains, and Chefchaouan, the town that appears to be everyone’s favourite! Another 3 hours on a bus.
I enjoyed noticing a few Moroccan design details on the way out of town…
It was, by and large, an uninteresting landscape until we began climbing. With the hill country began plantations of olives, which continued the entire way. Very orderly, and very pretty.
As we were having 5 days in Chefchaouan, we’d booked an two-bedroom apartment with all the necessaries…..kitchen, washing machine etc and it’s turned out to be perfect.
And today, I got to see the Medina!! Chefchaouan is known as the ‘Blue Pearl’ of Morocco due to the blue wash that is used predominantly for the buildings of the old town. I had seen the colour used in other parts of the city, but go beyond the gates of the Medina, and it is completely enchanting! The blue and white buildings and the rise and fall of the cobbled lanes, the abundance of trees and potted plants, and the pleasant disposition of the traders, to say nothing of the less-touristy prices, make Chefchaouan altogether a must-visit!
We have just one more day to enjoy this gorgeous mountain town, and we intend to!!!
A decision having been made to make Essaouira a rest stop, began to wear a bit thin after a day indoors, so what better way to have an outdoor excursion than to go for a camel ride!
These great gentle beasts have been my favourites since my first trek into the Sahara a lot of years ago. They fascinate me constantly with their steady gait, their big soft feet sloughing through the sand, barely making an impression.
My boy today was ‘Cappuccino’, 11 years old, and towering. We set off, ostensibly, for an hour, for which there had been a price agreed upon. Along the beach, up over some minor dunes, onto a road, alighting at a cafe made famous by a visit from Jimi Hendrix in 1969…..somewhat careworn from the intervening years….
Back on our rides, we returned to the starting point, the journey taking a bit over 2 hours all up. Jen and I had decided independently that the experience had been worth a great deal more than the expected price, but what came next was a shock. We were both completely cleaned out of all the money we had….even down to my last 7 euros!!! Several lessons to be learnt from that!!!
Camel treks are always fabulous, as was this, pity it was a little soiled by the later experience….
Funnily enough, the day had been overcast, and I thought there was rain coming….Yasim, the camel guy, disagreed….but once back at our room, there it was….the pitter patter of rain!!! There had been none in months! There was a gentle drizzle throughout the night.
Rain, in the Medina, is a fortunate thing, cleansing, so going out the next day, the cobbled lanes had a discernible welcoming freshness. This turned out to be a shopping day 🤗😳 A trip to the ATM became a return trip to the ATM!! But my, what excitement to be had amongst all those treasures 😆😆
Alas, the next day we are on the bus again, back to Marrakech, then change to the train for the remainder of the journey to Fes.
Travel Tales 