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I'm not really in Koh Samet, Well not right now anyway, I was though!
Just wanted it on the map!
Got back from my lovely holiday at about 4am yesterday morning! Had a great time and left myself a day to relax before school today. Although all is as usual crazy here and i'm actually writing this as I should be teaching but none of my class turned up so after 20 minutes of waiting I figured there wasnt enough time to do my lesson anyhow so I'll head down here to the library. We're in school again tomorrow but we dont have any lessons, some sort of presentation? I dunno? Its all very confusing but I just turn up and take it as it comes! Also its the king's birthday sunday so we all have monday off! Jen was gonna come over from Kalasin for the weekend but now shes hurt her toes so I'm gonna head over there!
Where to start? got the overnight bus to Bangkok with Love on Thursday night, we were booked on the VIP bus so the seats recline almost completely and its actually very comfy (for a bus)! She was heading south of bangkok to visit her sister so it worked out well for me that I had a bus helper at bangkok when we arrived at 5am and I was a bit groggy.
Made my way via cab to Jenny's (different one, shes based in bangkok and only teaching thurs and friday) to find her awake at 6 am (she has to leave at 6.30 to get to school (think of a london commute, bangkoks pretty similar)). She let me in and told me she didnt have to be at work today as the kids had a monk exam? (not just my school thats crazy then!) so instead of going back to sleep we chatted for hours and hours. I thought I'd leave jen to some peace and I headed to Siam Paragon shopping centre (felt like a proper Thai taking the bus, metro and sky train all on my own, guess thats where having lived in london helps!) in the centre of Basngkok to catch a showing of Harry Potter. I'd bee reliably informed that Paragon is without question one of the most impressive cinemas in the world and my source wasnt wrong. 8 floors up in a very swanky shopping centre that makes the Trafford centre look a bit like a pound store and I come upon an 18 screen cinema plus two imax's, and even better than that... A STARBUCKS!!!!!
So after grabbing a giant frappucino and a tuna melt I headed into an English showing of Harry.
Its alright isnt it? not too bad, bit depressing though, could do with a bit of cheer! - anyway
I'd organised to meet Phil (I met him last time I was travelling here and we got on great, he lives here now as a tour guide for Gap travel and when not taking tours out is living in bangkok) after the show and sure as you are there he is not looking a bit different!
We grabbed a coffee and swapped Thailand stories and he terrified me with some of the things he's delt with as a GAP tour guide!
Its was getting on so with promises to meet for a beer before I go back to the UK and for Phil to come visit Sakon Nakhon at some point (hes never been here (- no one has!)) we make our exits - me back to Jens and him off to his girlfriends!
Anyway a quick shower and change and were off for food in a bar near jennys with some of the other interns and the lovely Pen. Pen works for AYC and was the one who brought me and sorted me out here in Sakon ?Nakhon, shes sooooo lovely and I'm honoured to call her my first Thai friend! She is just lovely, calls me all the time and by coincidence lives in Jenny's building. Jenny has been teaching Pen the idea of sarcasm and shes picking it up pretty well too!
After some more people arrive and drop bags off at Jennys - people from far away (none as far as me but that'd be Laos) popping down for the weekend, we head into Silom (a less touristy part of Bangkok but red light zone for expats) and pay our way into the Absolut vodka ice bar, once in you get free shots for 30 mins and lots of warm clothes which we needed as Bangkok is bloody boiling!
Once done with the vodka we all tried to head into nana plaza and more drinks but we all kinda split up there and a few people who shall remain nameless had downed a few to many vodkas and needed to go home!
I was so made up to go to nana, Love had lent me a book of hers called private dancer that is a true story written about a travel writter who gets into a relationship with one of the 'bar girls' from nana plaza, I was almost finished with it so was top for me to put all the images of the streets and bars around there into real life! Dont get me wrong its sleazy as anything but you have to accept that its part of bangkok and when you do its fascinating to people watch round there and the book had nade it very clear its not all one sided! some of the lady boys started chatting to us and I swear you wouldnt know until you hear them speak!
Anyhoo, the next day me, jen and beth headed into bangkok to meet up with Anna and Lauren who had come down from the Lop Buri direction. Soooooooo good to see them! Much shopping to follow where I bought myself a 50l backpack to replace my laptop bag for about 10 quid, north face apparently... hmmmm maybe not! heh, itll do though thats for sure!
We interrupted the shopping only to eat and a quick trip up to the top of the tallest building in Thailand (seemed only sensible since we were right next to it!) and an ice cream, from Svensons of course.
We headed back to Jens (all of us staying in that room!), found a nice little Italian for pasta before showering and heading out to meet the lovely Joe, Jen and Fiona on the Koh Sahn Road. What was supposed to be a reasonably quiet night ended up with us all dancing ourselves crazy on the roof of Gazebo once again?! just like old times! Theyre bands are awesome! at some point I think I dance to obla di obla da (I was the only oldie to recognise this i this in our group) but mostly just awesome tunes!
Everyone was leaving on sunday so after many goodbyes and promises of meeting up again for christmas (oh and a banana pancake!) me and jen jumped a "van" cheaper than a bus, the two hour journey to Ban Phe pier and a boat over to Koh Samet island. By the time we'd wandered round and found somewhere cheap to stay it was 7 so we grabbed a beer and some food and sat on the beach enjoyng the quiet!
The islands in now way thought of as one of Thailands most beautiful but it is the closest to Bangkok and reasonably undiscovered by English tourists so its a lovely chilled ou place that still has the traditional white sands and turquoise seas!!! Perfect for the two nights I had left!
One of the teachers and Jens school has been going out with one of the Thai fire dancers for a few years so we headed to their show and said hello. Very buff they are too! They all have kinda bruce lee esque figures and range in age from about 15 to 30.
The next day was spent relaxing on the beach and in the afternoon we jumped on a short boat ride around the island that took us to a few snorkeling spots and a random fish farm. Another delicious meal anda few more drinks watching the fire dancers again and a lovely relaxing end to the week!
The next morning we headed back to bangkok where I met up with Love for the journey home together!
All in all a very busy yet perfectly relaxing few days! Can't wait to see everyone again though! That funny thing of all of us only really spending a week together but I guess a combination of everyone being here for the same reasons and all being similar types of people has already made some, what i hope will be, great friendships!
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