Bangkok

Still in Bangkok, have turned into something of a nocturnal character for the time being so not getting too much organised. I’ve found a place to get my Vietnam visa done though, and am considering going straight there or I might go to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand first. Decisions, decisions, to be made over a Starbucks coffee in a minute (ugh!)

The Sukhumvit girlie bar scene is more gross than I remember it being, with numerous old, fat ugly blokes, mostly English or German it seems, with young Thai girls hanging off them, or young Thai boys in a lot of cases. I decided to quickly retreat to the hotel and watch HBO instead. Today I’ve come up to Khao San Road by boat in a filthy black canal, driven by a nutter of course. They zig zag through the narrow waterway trying to avoid countless obstacles as well as other boats coming the other way, at one point the whole roof collapses down on you when they have to go under a low bridge. There’s a tarpaulin on each side which you’re meant to hold up as you go along to try and stop the black water splashing on you, but it doesn’t really work and it’s funny to see the commuters getting off in their business shirts with specks of black shit all over them. Anyway, Khao San Road is the heart of the backpacker zone, and I dropped by for a nostalgic visit to a bar I used to frequent when I was here before. I was horrified to find the price of a beer has doubled, and of food tripled in just two years, but this is the price of increased tourism I suppose. Conversely fierce competition between travel agents, internet caffs and phone offices has brought prices of their services right down.

Only one more day of junky pills to take for my ear which is slowly improving, thank God for that!

BESbswy