Thailand, water festival and island paradise - photos to come.

Thailand, what bliss to be heading there again, it always feels like my second home (well third at the moment, after Cambodia and Australia) Our trip starts with Cambodia giving us a hefty kick up the backside as we leave, in the form of $25us departure tax, which we never saw coming, and I accidentally eat my first piece of chocolate in three months but other than that the start of our trip is a smooth process until our taxi from Suvarnabhumi airport stops along the motorway to Bangkok city. The driver gets out and after a while I follow him - we have a flat but it’s ok cause the driver has already rung his mate. We stand on the side of the motorway and wait while streams of bright pink and yellow/green taxis all with tires ready to burst they are so full of air, zoom past us. The motorway police turn up and hospitably pose for a photo and provide Cara with a light for her cigarette. We don’t wait too long before our driver’s friend turns up and us, our luggage and spare tires are swapped between vehicles. Arr, so that’s why he didn’t change the flat. Our driver was a really cheery fellow and assured us “we no have accident” demonstrating by pointing to the Buddhism markings on the ceiling of his cab and the photos of the King and Queen and his mother on his dashboard – apparently we were in safe hands! That made me feel much better, especially as the faint bouquet of alcohol wafts over to the back seat and I’m pretty sure his eyes are closed as he veers precariously across lanes. We decide the best bet is to keep him talking and tried the New Year festivities as a topic. This roused him from his stupor alright but created other dangers for us as he became very animated and proceeded to take his hands off the steering wheel repeatedly in order to clap in demonstration of his excitement! It's reassuring to know there are many similarities between Cambodia and Thailand and the very first we discover is that taxi drivers in Thailand also say they know where your destination is when in reality they have no idea. The nice twin room in our hotel had turned into a grotty room with a double bed during the flight but we decided to make do that night but pay the extra for the upgrade for the following couple of nights. We found a great little restaurant called The Gallery, close to our hotel on Sukhamvit Road that first night. It was all old wood and looked like an old two storey Chinese shanty, lots of character. The menu was huge and the food great although the prices and the chilli I got caught in my throat were enough to make my eyes water. The people watching was also great, I’d forgotten how wild, crazy and funky people in Bangkok can be. We shopped for most of the next day – doing MBK some justice then on to an Electronics mega to buy Cara a laptop. We heard the protestors before we saw them as we crossed the walk bridge between the Paragon Centre and MBK. The trucks crowded with red shirts passed below us, loud speakers blaring and flags waving. We decided to take the tried and tested backpacker route that night and headed to KoSan Road by Tuk Tuk. The Tuk Tuk’s in Bangkok are on speed compared to their Khmer cousins, traveling at, at least double the speed and with twice as much noise. On reaching our destination I soon realized my fashion faux pas as my top became see-through and my jeans soaked as we were not only squirted with water from plastic guns but bowls of water were emptied on our heads! Then there was the Tiger balm talcum powder which relieved aches and pains as it decorated you in traditional New Year fashion. We sat and watched the shenanigans as we ate a meal and tried to dry out although there was really no escaping these festivities as water shots were fired and found their mark as random guns passed by. We found somewhere dry with music and a dance floor later on and danced in soggy jeans and see-through tops in airconditioned air! Brrrrrr. Two sisters good natured and full of fun joined us on the dance floor. Unfortunately the night ended on a bit of a sour note as a fist from an angry partner connected with my face instead of its intended target – one of the sisters. It wasn’t really what you'd call a king hit and I was stunned more than anything. The sisters were horrified and apologetic and there were tears when I told them not to ever let a man treat them like that. They tried to get us to carry on with them for another drink to apologize but I thought that was probably enough excitement for one night and our first in Bangkok - you know how the song goes . . . something about humble . . . I got up the next day with a very sore head (hangover) and sore eye socket (punch) – but was pleased to see no bruising. We managed to stay dry the next day long enough to have breakfast and book a bus to Koh Samet for the next day. We made the mistake of going to KoSan Road again and saw that things were just the same as the night before which meant there was no chance to shop – all stalls were packed away for the duration it would seem. To get away quickly and avoid getting saturated again we made our second mistake of the day and got into a Tuk Tuk! I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so wet with clothes on before. Groups of people lined the streets and if they didn’t have hoses to wet you they had bowls and buckets of water. Cara, until then, fairly hung over was quickly brought back to life after the first bucket filled with ice cold water was thrown at us. Our Tuk Tuk driver was considerate enough, to the crowds, to slow down so they got a better shot at us! It really was pretty hilarious as the mayhem continued along the roads and passengers in Tuk Tuks squirted water at other Tuk Tuks as they pulled up at lights or drove past. If only we were armed! There was one slightly sobering moment for us though, just after leaving KoSan Road we saw a road blocked off and at the entrance to it, a bus on fire. We could see smoke billowing from each end and flames devouring the tops of the seats inside, it was completely incongruous with the fun and celebrations two minutes down the road. With two sets of soaking wet clothes I headed to the rooftop pool and dried myself and my clothes out while I listened to the high-jinx’s going on many storeys below me on Sukhamvit Road. Away from the craziness (or so we thought) we headed in our mini-van (that amazingly was right on time), the two and a half hours south to Koh Samet Island. People were having water fights from the back of their 4x4 utes along the highway – don’t these people ever stop? We had to wait two hours for the next ferry so did what we do best and shopped. We were back at the pier in plenty of time to catch our ferry but had received no instructions on what part of the pier to wait at. Turns out we were in the wrong spot which we luckily discovered, after asking about a million people where we were supposed to be. A girl (our savior) knew English enough to race off on her motorbike and make a call to the ferry which had only just left (late) and was happy enough (well maybe not happy as such) to come back for us – thank god! On arriving on the island we too climbed on the back of one of those 4x4 utes with our luggage and proceeded to once again be soaked to the skin. Starting to get a little over it now, especially when luggage and electronic equipment is involved. The driver stopped, bless him, and his wife loaded our smaller bags and Cara’s new laptop into the cab with them. The resort was a welcome sight but unfortunately we were once again taken to a double- bed cottage and what seems to be an oft repeated enterprise – "of course we could have a twin room but unfortunately they’re only available in our more expensive rooms". Let us just say the final outcome of some fairly intense discussions involving the booking agency and the resort manager saw us upgraded to a lovely deluxe cottage with twin beds and a much nicer outlook! Game Title: “Try-it-on with Single Tourists”, Competitors: Cara & Jacqui vs Thai Hotels, Current Score: 1 all – thank you very much!!!! Koh Samet turns out to be a lovely small island, not too commercial or built up and with a pretty good mix of foreigners and Thai’s on holiday. We have a fantastic 5 days here and don’t wont to leave. We start the holiday with cocktails instead of dinner at a resort just a stroll away from ours. The prices are really reasonable but the English owner’s girlfriend-come-chef has gone AWOL. We get an (expensive) taxi 10 minutes along the road to another restaurant/bar on another beach where we sit cross legged on mats laid out under squat tables – brilliant! We venture to a couple more bars that night on the same beach. One which was a bit quiet saw the barman entertaining themselves by putting talcum powder on all the guests faces and at another we met two Cambodian barman who we got to practice our Khmer with. I also got taught some of the fundamentals of fire twirling and we had fun dancing in different wigs courtesy of the Thai couple who were the owners. Given the price of taxis (300 Baht – about $12aus for a 1/2km ride), we decided to hire a motorbike for a couple of days. The only paved road is on the part of the island where our resort sits but is not where the better beaches are. So we headed over the dirt and deeply rutted roads on a mission of discovery, building up my arm muscles as I struggled to keep myself, Cara and the motorbike moving in a straight line and upright! It was great fun and we did some great exploring, discovering a couple of beautiful, pretty, deserted beaches. We also found a sign saying “Sunset” and headed there the next night to watch the sun go down across the great expanse of ocean. We also did some walking, one day heading around a couple of peninsulas and some serious rock traversing to get to a secluded beach. Unfortunately it wasn’t a great beach and with concerns over the tide coming in and us being stranded we headed straight back. It was an absolutely steaming hot day and we followed our trekking with a swim at the beach in front of our resort. The water is like a bath but it still better to be immersed than sweating in the heat. I went to stand up in the water and put my foot straight onto a sea urchin. God, did it sting! I had no idea what a sting from a sea urchin entails so waddled to reception to ask their advice. One of the guys sat me down on the decking and dosed my foot in vinegar and then proceeded to tap it on the four puncture wounds with a beer bottle, luckily it was kind of numb. He told me what had entered my foot would come out of its own accord in about three days – oh good, at least I wasn’t going to keel over or anything. The rhythm of the island is go out late, stay out late and get up late, so that’s what we did. We met a local tattoo artist called Gai who also did a fire show at night so we went and checked that out. I have to say it was one of the best fire shows I’ve seen in Thailand and in 9 visits I’ve seen a few. There were 6 of them who shared the limelight and stretch of sand in front of the Silver Sands bar. They were all brown as berries with buff bodies bathed in perspiration so even without their fire show skills I think myself, Cara and every single female there, would have been kept entertained. There was cute factor as well as Gai’s nephew aged 7 put on his own fireshow – he was awesome, full of confidence and his own tricks! There were also gorgeous little puppies wandering around the beach mats so my world was pretty much complete – hot bods and cute puppies! We ate like kings, drank like fish and slept like babes – the perfect holiday!

Weddings, sunday rides and rude words

Emily, Kurt and Sobonn - heading out on our Sunday ride

Playing support crew at the Mekong River annual swim

Giving my wee silk selling friend a lift on Silk Island.

Having lunch at the beach, Silk Island Locals enjoying being in and on the water - Mekong River, Silk Island Dr Somuny's sisters wedding

Oxen and cart outside my apartment on Street 242.

Butchering pigs then shaving them also on the street along from my apartment

I love Cambodians! Leaving work yesterday one of the drivers (who never stops smiling and laughing) said to me “Yackie, you look very beautiful today” Isn’t that so nice? Of course, in my flustered state I said back to him in Khmer “It’s hot” instead of “thank you” but I think he got the message. And why Yackie?? there’s no “J” in the Khmer language so I quite often get called Yackie. “Yackie” –Yaklike, a bovine creature of hairy appearance with long horns. I’ll leave that thought right there. We had another trip to Sihanoukville and the beach the other weekend. We managed to get a taxi down there for a Khmer price – almost half of what we paid for the last trip. It’s great having Khmer friends to make the booking for you. Funnily enough it was the same driver and car that took us the first time. We were a few hours later reaching Sihnoukville, however, as the driver had to go to the market and then make deliveries enroute - we paid the Cambodian price it’s only fitting we receive the Cambodian level of service. We stay at “Cloud 9” bungalows this time, it's a great place with bugalows built up the hill behind the sea. They do food and have a bar with a barman that’s all character and pink shirts. He's a good choice of barman cause you want to sit and have a couple while he spins the lines in his Khmer-English with an American accent. Friday night is fairly eventful and not necessarily in a good way. We’re standing waiting for some food to be cooked when someone yells out “cool look, fireworks” we can see sparks flying into the sky across the road but soon realize it’s not fireworks but a fire! A whole guest house, newly built, goes up before our eyes. All that’s left is a shell in what feels like minutes. There’s no fire brigade and we fell sick as we wonder if there was anyone inside. As it turned out a friend of ours met last time we were in S.Ville was the only one staying there and thank god he wasn’t inside at the time. He'd had to race back in to rescue his possessions but wasn't lucky enought to save everything. Worse still the owners saw it as a chance to recoop some of their loses and decided to lay the blame for the fire at Rob's feet. He discoverd this the next day when he went to the Police station to make a report for his insurance. The police let him know that he was being held responsible and accordingly he had to pay a $30,000 fine. Thankfully he works locally and could bring in reinforcements in the form of a priest and the priests very ivfluential friends who happened to also be police – the charges were dropped straight away. Just shows how quickly things can go pear shaped here and just as quickly, if you're lucky, go right again. We spent most of the rest of the weekend lazing around Otres beach on sun loungers and frolicking (so maybe we weren’t frolicking but the word sounded right) in a sea with a very tepid temperature. The young girls that wander the beach trying to entice you into purchasing their wares are not aggressive. They’re just happy to spend time sitting on your sunlounger in the shade chatting and sharing a laugh until you know them enough that you give in and end up buying something that you really didn’t want or need. Well that’s how it is for me anyway. Over two days I ended up; getting a massage, buying a sarong and three bracelets (had to be fair, couldn’t buy off one girl and not another) and agreeing to having my leg hair plucked out individually with some lengths of cotton! Gees, these girls can be convincing! Five minutes into the hair extraction I was regretting my insanity as my calf cramped up and I leapt up off the sunlounger sending both girls (one for each leg) flying off the end of it. Quite an entertaining thing to watch I can imagine as the girls shrieked with surprise and then laughter. The next week saw me attending another Khmer wedding celebration, this time for the sister of our Executive Director. Amazingly, by Khmer standards she’s ancient for getting married, she’s 42! Actually that’s ancient by Western standards – there’s hope for me yet :o) The whole of MEDiCAM leaves from work at 8am and heads south for 40mins to Kampong Speu where the party/ceremony is taking place. As we arrive we are made to feel like VIP’s as we’re led to sit with the bridal party and their family. The Master of Ceremonies (who oddly has a Hitler type mustache drawn on his lip and a wig of dreadlocks on his head) draws attention to our arrival and especially to the two westerners. We’re just in time to see the third of the five ceremonies, the second having taken place at 7am that morning and the first the night before. The bride has her own stylist to assist with costume changes and hair and makeup throughout the day. Mr Hak our communications manager translates the proceedings to me which are like the Khmers themselves, steeped in tradition but also amazingly colorful, relaxed and full of fun. We watch one other ceremony and then head off in different directions until we all come back together at 4pm for the eating of the meal. The girls head off to get their hair and makeup done and the boys head off to the neighbors house to play cards and try and win money off each other. Me and Emily head to the markets for a look see. It’s like all Cambodian markets, tightly packed together stalls selling anything from underwear to offal and full of smells that make your eyes water. We get back to the wedding all dolled up (not to be outdone by our Khmer sisters) but don’t eat until the majority of the guests have eaten and left. I find it quite strange but most of the guests arrive, eat, provide a present in the form of a donation and then leave. It’s only family and close friends that stay around for any length of time and get involved in the drinking and the dancing. Of course MEDiCAM gets really involved in the drinking and dancing – myself and Emily struggle to get any time in our seats as we’re constantly approached for a dance around the table of fruit. The boys are drinking whiskey with soda and getting really quite merry. There’s no issue of getting pulled up for drunk driving however as the local police officer is drinking with them, that is when he’s not up dancing or singing with the band. He’s handedly parked his police motorcycle in amongst the wedding tables – hey there are criminals out there! We return to Phnom Penh the next morning with many a sore head, amazingly for once it’s not the westerners who have been the drunken bums and best of all we don’t have to be back at work until after lunch which means 1.30!

I have another action packed weekend which includes breakfast at Java and a visit to the Russian Market to drop off a skirt to be altered. Then we move onto Khmer massages and a facial – oh what bliss. My body and my face are in second heaven! I’m then running late for dinner which is Indian with a very annoying Indian owner “oh no, you must have two Chappati, you cannot be having only one”. Then it’s off to a show – The Vagina Monologues and a full house. I’d never heard of it before but apparently it’s been on in Australia for a few years. A show created to bring awareness of and support to the abuse of women. The funniest bit would have to be the moaning sequence where when asked what the moan of a single female expat. in Phnom Penh sounds like . . . there was silence. Yep, there sure aren’t much moaning going on here!

Sunday, four of us meet early for lunch and then head off on our cycles across the Japanese Friendship bridge to watch the start of the annual Mekong swim. The fastest swimmer made it across in 7min the slowest in 45 - but hey he was 71. We hitched a ride on a ferry with our bikes and headed across to silk island where I’d been a few weeks earlier with Peta. It was nice cycling along the narrow dirt road surrounded by mango trees, fields and cows although it wasn’t really what you’d call peaceful as a lady on her motorbike decided to ride along beside us chatting. Even Sobonn who’s Khmer thought she could talk a lot. We eventually agreed to buy lunch off her and she left us be. We spent a few hours at the beach again and I gave in and bought a piece of silk and some scarves. The weaving is really exquisite. It was a glorious day in the heat and dust on our bikes, we ended up clocking up about 70km’s and our bodies definitely noticed they’d done some work. Monday sees me and Emily swotting for our Khmer lesson on Tuesday. Last week I asked our tutor if we could move onto the next lesson but she told us not until we'd past the first one - oh the pressure! We did ok though and have moved on although she did say we needed to be careful when we said "hot" as said wrongly could be a bad word. Of course we asked her what bad word but she just giggled and said it was to do with men but was too embarrassed to tell us. That would explain the reason the driver is always smiling and giggling when I talk to him. There's me thinking I've been saying "it's very hot" and instead I've been telling him he's got a very big . . . .