Christmas London 2008

Flew home,as usual,for the Christmas Holidays.At Gatwick train station the weather wasn't too cold no bitterly cold wind trying to blow through me!Roast Pheasant for Xmas dinner this year!
Tony and me visited the Doctor Who exhibition at Earls Court ;brilliant!

http://www.doctorwhoexhibitions.com/earls.html

New Prime Minister

A t the young age Abihisit .....becomes the new Prime Minister of Thailand;with the political situation still volatile how long will Abihisit survive?

Pak Chong:Hot Air Balloon Festival

On the King's birthday I went to Pak Chong for the Hot Air Balloon Festival.My train ticket to Pak Chong was just 36 Baht and the train station two guys gave me a lift to a songtaew which took me to the War Dog Battalion ground the venue for the 2nd Hot Air Balloon festival to be head there.Originally there were to be many more Hot Air Balloons but because of the closure of the airports many people had cancelled coming to Thailand.

Airports reopen

On Monday night the moon 'smiled' (the planets Jupiter and Venus were postitioned beneath the moon giving the impression that the moon was smiling);this was looked upon to be a good sign for Thailand;the land of smiles needed something positive and in a court ruling this week Prime Minister Somchai and other members of his party were judged to have committed electoral fraud so yet another Prime Minister is kicked out.
The PAD supporters have moved out of Government House and upon the news being announced they also decided to terminate their occupation of the aiports.
The aiports are now nearly back to normal and hopefully the thousands of passengers who were stranded as a result of the PAD's action will soon be able to return home.

Airports closed

In their final battle to overthrow the Thai goverment thousands of anti-goverment (PAD)last Monday and Tuesday stormed into the domestic airport Don Mueng and the International airport forcing the two airports to close leaving many passengers stranded there;many tourists now unable to get home after their holidays.
Do the PAD supporters represent the majority of the Thai people?
Whatever happens in the next few weeks Thailand's image has been badly damaged with the tourist industry likely to lay off at least a million employees.

Day Trip to Hua Hin

The day trip to Hua Hin would have gone much smoother if we had gone by train but I didn't really fancy getting early for the first early morning train.Instead the buses ,every 30 minutes and the journey taking 3 hours seemed a good idea.However,I didn't reckon on the taxi driver taking us to the wrong airport and then having to take a second taxi.In addition to this the bus after a three and an half plodding journey the bus didn't stop at the so called bus station but instead continued out of town to the next town.At the bus station in Bangkok the destination sign only read Hua Hin!;If I'd only realised!.....

Samui

Samui nice relaxing time swimming in the sea and the swimming pool.Nice,quiet,peaceful atmosphere.

Laos:Ventianne,Vang Viang and Luang Prabang

Recently my mum and I went to Laos for a week visting the city Ventianne,the town Vang Viang,and the city Luang Prabang.
The highlight of Ventianne was the Buddah Park,though the stautes in the Buddah Park in Nong Khai were in a much better state in Ventianne the statues had been mostly blackened by dark green mould and the rain.Mum enjoyed Luang Prabang best of all especially the morning market next to the Ramayana Hotel,hwhere the local people were selling a wide range of dead animas from dead frogs,a blackbird, to weasels. The night market was very colourful often selling very similiar items to Thailand.
My mum also enjoyed chatting to the other holiday makers and the local people that we met in the different places we stayed at and visited.

http://bikecommutetips.blogspot.com/2008/07/paris-vlib-celebrates-first-anniversary.html

http://bikecommutetips.blogspot.com/2008/07/paris-vlib-celebrates-first-anniversary.html

Green Bangkok Bike

I tried out the Green Bangkok Bike ride circuit.First of all a photo of my passport was taken.
Apparently there's green cycle lane to follow but the green lane isn't always clearly laid out or not.
I got a bit lost on the way to the Swing monument.
Before hand I'd stopped at a Chinese Phamarcy for a breather;luckily the people working there gave me a cool refreshing glass of water.
Between the Democracy monument the cycle lane was on the pavement!but the Thai people aren't really aware of the cycle lane and of course it was blocked;not really a good place for a cycle lane!
Cars double parked on the way back even though there was a No Parking sign made it diificult to stay on the cycle lane.
Interesting bike ride but it would have been more enjoyable without the traffic jams,exhaust fumes from the Tuk Tuks and the old run down buses so sometimes it was better to cycle on the pavement.
It was better on the few stretches of green marked cycle lanes when there was a very lttle traffic.Still it was good to explore by an environmentally friendly means of transport but I could obviously do without Bangkok's pollution!

Green Bangkok Bike

Sukhothai

Sukhothai is very similar to the city of Athuytha with its many temples and Buddah statues.But on the way there during a short break in the seven hour coach journey the onset of food poisoning hit me in fact just ten minutes;the Thai dish of beef,vegetables and rice didn't agree with my stomach at all.I don't normally eat the food from those kind of places but I thought I should eat something;a big mistake,the food had most likely been sitting in the tin tray all day long.
Anyway the full impact of the dodgy food really hit me in the afternoon while cycling the Historical part city of Sukhothai.My stomach started aching and my whole body ached and I started sweating profusely well I won't go into more details.
The higlight of Sukhothai for me was the Buddah at Wat Chum especially after seeing many photos and postcards of it.

La Fete closing show

La Fete's closing show was spectacular a real visual feast for the eyes!
A mix of projected film,animation and live dancers to the music of Rameau's ballet music interspersed with bursts of hip hop.

Phitsanulok

On the train to Sukothia via Phitsanulok I got a call from the newspaper The Nation telling me that I won two tickets to a jazz concert by a Danish jazz singer ,Benny Chawes,who I'd seen the other night.Lucky me! Quick change of plans;I decided to come back on the night train Bangkok!

Jim Thompson receives a Royal Visit

Sunday afternoon at Jim Thompson House museum:while I was purusing the view from the balcony a large group of suited men VIPs arrived for a tour.
I went to the terrace to have lunch and while relaxing and gazing at the fish jumping about in the waster I decided to start reading my book"Atonement "but I stopped after one page as the overwhelming gassy smell of the canal,running alongside the restaurant,put me off my reading.
I went over to the shop;the large group of suited men and their entourage were coming out;
it turned out that the VIPs were a group of people from Jordan which included the King of Jordan's brother.

The Bangkok Olympic Torch Relay 2008

Arrived in Chinatown to find the relay hadn't started quite typical things not running on time and things seemed chaotic when the first runner set off.
I didn't see the runner as there was the relay route wasn't very clear and the public was mixed in with the runners,the area wasn't cordoned off.

The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque wasn't easy to get to;first I caught a local train then outside the train station I waited in vain for a local bus to get to the mosque.But then it seemed pointless waiting for the bus especially as the young couple next to me were completely clueless about the time of the next bus.
Luckily I got a lift from an Indian Malay man who had just dropped off his son.
Was the Blue Mosque worth the effort?Well the building was architectually interesting with its stained glass coloured windows and the spider-like canopy side entrance on the second floor of the mosque.At the end of my visit I again had to rely on getting a lift to get back to the train station.

Flying visit to Laos

Visited Ventianne and Vang Viang.I enjoyed Vang Viang most off especially the picturesque river with the Karst hills in the background.

Eye on Malaysia

Great view from the Eye of Malaysia ferris wheel which was originally constructed for the 50th anniversary celebrations of Malaysia's independence.
Later on the Eye of Malaysia will be moved to Malacca to boost it tourism.

The Perhentian Islands

Lovely beautiful beaches on Besar Island.I had a great time swimming and snorkelling even manamged to see some turtles on the last day of my stay on Beasar Island though only from the boat as it was very difficult to follow in the sea as the sea was very murky and the turtles swam so quickly.

Taman Negara National Park

Great time in the rainforest of Taman Negara!
Spent 6 days there more than the average backpacker; they usually spend just two or three days.

Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands bus cheap but had a pit stop to change tyre and later on the engine overheated making the 4 and half journey into 6 hours.Great scenery of the mountains!

Checked into very cheap hostel 25 Ringit a night

Strawberry farm cream tea at Ye Olde Smokehouse

Highest mountain in Cameron Highlands then Mosssy Forest,later the tea plantation very beautiful but no tea tasting.

KL

kl batuu caves F1 race

Chachoengsao

Last week I went on a little day trip to Chachoengsao a small town famous for its new castle-like temple and the buddha statue which was found in the river behind the temple.
The town is also famous for its "mummy"monk,which was found mummified while in a hpynotic trance while mediatating!
Nice trip up the river to the Chinese temple where this monk could be visited;would have better without the very loud commentary. Also visited a market place but as it wasn't the weekend it was very quiet with many places shut.
Anyway it was good to get out of Bangkok and add a new place to the many places that I've already visited in Thailand.

Year of the Rat ! The Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year next week the 7th February.
Well it's nearly the end of the Year of the Pig,my year actually.

Splashes of red in some parts of the city in the form of red lanterns or lights well mainly in the shopping centre,or shopping malls as the locals here call them.
Well the celebrations this year are subdued to the country still mourning the recent death of Princess Gali so no lion dance or parades in ChinaTown.

KON KAEN

KON KAEN

Last week I went to the 3-day TESOL confererence in the city of Kon Kaen,apparently the 4th biggest city in Thailand,though it didn't seem like it.
I didn't see much in the way of tourist attractions apart from the lake and a couple of temples but it was a nice break from hot humid Bangkok.

My presentation on blogging in EFL went well,better than I expected.

Back in Bangkok while waiting in the taxi queue the humidity soon swirled around me.Missing the cool weather of Kon Kaen already.