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So after a couple of months of pretty hardcore 'travelling' (we counted that we'd stayed in around 40 different hostels, boats, tents, trains and buses) it was time for life to get a bit easier by visiting a few of South East Asia's best beaches in Thailand, and generally see what the fuss is all about! Before that however we had to travel back from Siem Reap to Bangkok [to catch the overnight bus to Phuket] in which one decision had to be made; do we go by bus or plane?
Now this was a more difficult decision than you might think. A decision that couldn't be taken lightly, or based on price alone - there were moral and self-conscious implications to consider.
At this stage we were actually accepting being categorized as "travellers", the second most irritating turn of phrase or description we've come across since we've started, and one I'd not envied being called. ('Traveller': tit in semi-dreadlocked hair, tattooed in Thailand, bit of string around his/her ankle, stealthily boasting about being everywhere off the beaten track) and although we've absconded to entertain any of the above there is, on the other end of the scale, the even more irritating 'Flashpacker' ('Flashpacker': won't admit to being a flashpacker, travels only by plane, has a backpack however it's as clean as it was when bought from the high street store, visits all the countries most touristy resorts (e.g. Goa, India or Phuket, Thailand) and then proceeds to claim they have ""Done" said country). The word "Done" being the single most irritating turn of phrase in the history of global travel and translates into them thinking they have conquered said country and quite frankly see no reason to return! - This angers me as you can tell.
So gladly to be seen to be leaning toward the Traveller end of the Traveller/Flashpacker scale, there lies the choice; do we endure the 12 hour bus journey on allegedly the worst road in SE Asia (rumours are that a well known government owned airline who monopolizes the route ensures that the road is never maintained thus pushing as many people into going by air as possible) and retain the moral travellinghigh ground as 'doing it properly', or join the perma-tans for the 1 hour flight complete with in-flight meal and hot towel refreshments?
Well after enduring what seems to be the worlds worst transport routes, it was definitely time to get with the honeymooners/rich folk/Americans and assume a centre point on the Traveller/Flashpacker swingometer - after all, who are we kidding, we secretly are jealous of the flashpackers, we'd love to have a piece of what they have!......don't we Belle?
Going back to Bangkok it gave us another opportunity to see a few more sights we didn't get chance to the first tine round.
Firstly we went to the floating markets which were pretty good, although my Mum and Dad's photo's from 15 years ago didn't show predominantly white tourists cluttering the narrow canalled streets as is the case now - I think the secret got out!! Back in those days [I understand] it was a real market for locals only (meats, fruit, veg, etc) now all the boats and stalls are still there, but instead of the Thai's competing to sell their husbands latest home grown produce, they instead sell tourist tat and food for their white visitors. All in all though it's still a pretty good place to visit. So anyone off to Bangkok in the near future get yourselves there before Tescos and Starbucks decide they fancy a piece of the pie.
We also went to Chatuchak weekend market, which has to be one of the world's largest and busiest markets selling everything from fake designer goods to arms/ammunition to fried scorpions. The only problem is that the sheer volume of people and the narrowness of the alleyways made it a very claustrophobic experience. So after a lap (which took 2 hours) we came away with our tails between our legs and empty handed.
So after a couple of early nights it was time to push our position on the Traveller/Flashpacker swingometer firmly back towards the crusty clan by jumping on an overnight bus to Phuket……now this was going to be character building!
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