Shit happens…

Shit happens (pardon my language) – and life goes on…

I’m still not at a point where I can laugh about what happened yesterday as I’m NOT IN NEW ZEALAND but still in Bangkok   The good news, though, is that my headache is gone

Today’s question is which book to read – I have two to choose from: “Merde happens” by Stephen Clark and “The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama. I’m not quite ready for the audacity of hope, but can still much more relate to ”merde happens”

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll check out of my guesthouse again and go to the airport to wait and see if I can get on the flight to New Zealand – this time knowing I’ll be on STAND-BY. If I don’t get on the plane tomorrow evening, then I’ll be stuck here for at least another week… And my Thai visa expires on Friday, the 13th

What’s going on back in Thailand?

Today is a rather uneventful day that I spend walking around town (including post office, bank, laundry, etc.). Having breakfast at the Scandinavian bakery, which is becoming my favorite, I overhear a man say on his cellphone that he’s stuck because the airport in Bangkok is closed. The TV is not on today at the Scandinavian bakery so I wonder what happened – I heard on Monday morning that the Thai were preparing for big protests in Bangkok. Well, I don’t know what happened there and it doesn’t matter that much while am traveling here in Laos. I’ll find out soon enough anyways. And the next time I’ll be in Bangkok is at the end of January…SO don’t worry about me, I’m fine here in Laos

I meet Wolfgang and Doris and together we take a tuk-tuk to a wat (Wat Pha Baht Tai) South of the city and watch the sunset there Later, I stroll through the Hmong night market, which I really like, and meet Rachel at the “Big Brother Mouse” stand. She tells me the kids did some fundraising at home and sponsored a book they have for sale here now. It’s in Lao, otherwise I would have bought it. I end up buying some childrens’ books that are bilingual (Lao-English); I’ll keep some for myself and send some to Veronika who is taking care of my mail in the US.

http://www.bigbrothermouse.org/

Back in Bangkok – Loi Krathong Festival

I arrive at the bus station in Bangkok at 8:30 am. There are a lot of Thai people, no backpackers. I am approached numerous times by Thai tuk-tuk- or taxi-drivers who want to know were I am going. I tell them that I’m going to Khao San Road – BY BUS! They are actually all very friendly and instead of bothering me more, they tell me where to go to get the public bus and some even tell me that it is bus # 511. I eventually find this bus and take it. It only costs 17 baht. Back in Khao San Road I check in at Khao San Palace Inn – this is the first time that they have single rooms available upon my arrival and I take it. The room is not great, so I go straight to the roof-top pool. The pool here is very sociable. I talk to a number of backpackers and I must say that at this point I have met so many people that I’m almost finding it too much. Not that I’m complaining, but I’m almost finding it difficult to remember people’s names ;-) I realize I need some time by myself and also get stuff done – like updating my blog, sending some stuff home, figuring out how to get to Chiang Kong, the Northernmost Thai border with Laos, etc.

Today is a big festival in Thailand, the LOI KRATHONG FESTIVAL, where banana-leaf cups with candles are put into the water and then float down the river. Well, actually, the river here in Bangkok is too rough for theses little floats and most of the candles are put out the moment they touch the water.

In the evening I went to Santichaiprakan Park. The most fun was to walk along all the food stalls they had. They had an unbelievable variety of Thai food and I had no idea what most of the stuff was. I often asked, but noone spoke English well enough to explain it to me, so I just asked to sample and I sampled a lot of food that night. Don’t ask me what I ate, though The people were really friendly and some were almost excited that I wanted to sample their food

http://www.loikrathong.net/en/

STARTING MY TRIP AROUND THE WORLD :)

… in Bangkok. Arriving at 14:35 at the airport in Bangkok, I went through immigration (I can stay in Thailand for 30 days without a visa), got my backpack (20 kg – too heavy; will get rid of some stuff), and went straight to the ATM to get some Thai money. The currency in Thailand is BAHT and the exchange rate is approx. $ 1 = 35 bt. and 1 euro = 45 bt. Then, still at the airport I went to the information desk, found out that the bus to Khao San Road is AE2 and costs 150 bt. for more than 1 hour ride – nice and cheap I waited and eventually around 4pm the bus came and as soon as I got on the bus it started to rain, well, actually, to POUR!!! Fortunately, it stopped about 1 hour later, just before I got off at Khao San Road There I went to a couple of guesthouses only to find out that they were fully booked  (Did I already mention that I’m going to get rid of some stuff because my 20 kg backpack is too heavy?) I decided to try the Rambuttri Village Inn again, where I already stayed the last time in Bangkok – July 2006. It’s decent and clean, but there is not much atmosphere. Well, I thought, I’m going to stay here for the first night and then find a better/friendlier place…

In the evening I went out, checking out a few other guesthouses only to find out that they were 1) fully booked, 2) worse than my place, or 3) had no sinlge rooms (only doubles = more expensive). Slightly frustrated, I had dinner at the Wild Orchid Villa, a nice place that I also knew from my last time in Bangkok (though some backbackers report rather negative things about it on the internet). I think this place is becoming one of my favourite places in this neighborhood, quieter than a lot of restaurants in Khao San Road, and so far I have always met nice people here: SO, it’s the first night on my trip around the world and I am sitting by myself  – but not for long. 3 guys join me and I’m having a wonderful first evening here in Bangkok with Peter, Sepp, and Sylvester, 3 ski-instructors from Austria. We had a few drinks and a lot of fun And the beers helped me fall asleep easily, considering the time difference (+5 hours from Austria, +11 hours from New York).

LUCKY ME

Protests in Bangkok

Still in Austria; busy getting ready for my trip…

Protests in Bangkok escalate - I hope the situation calms down by 10/20/08, when I start my trip. First stop: Bangkok. I checked the website of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (= US Dept. of State, British Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Australian Dept. of Foreign Affairs & Trade) which informs about the protests and what’s happening in Thailand, but it doesn’t say that you shouldn’t go - meaning neither travel warnings nor travel alerts were issued. That’s good news, as these websites are often overanxious.

The New York Times reports:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/world/asia/08thai.html?scp=3&sq=bangkok%20protests%20oct.%207&st=cse