JUST GETTING STARTED

        South East Asia somehow never appeared on my 'to travel to' list. Not that I ever doubted its beauty or interesting culture, but I felt it was a little too far removed from mine and was not sure if I could connect with its people. On all of my trips I have always met plenty of local people more than happy to show me around, host me and helping me out with my million questions about their country and personal and national history. This has always taught me so much, while enjoying good company.

For the first few weeks of this trip, this has come true. Both in Bangkok and Northern Thailand I did find people to stay with. Foreigners who do not speak the language, have no local friends and who both say that Thai people just keep to themselves. Most Thai do not speak a word of English and I can just about remember the three words I learnt: 'hello', 'thank you' and 'vegetarian'. Gestures don't seem to help much and overall there is a strong reservedness. It is a new and almost alienating experience to be somewhere where I cannot understand anything and I am not understood either...

But let's not run ahead of myself....A four day journey through Dusseldorf, Zurich and Abu Dhabi had me finally arrive in a hot and sticky Bangkok. A lot of time was spent on the underground, in between the high rise buildings, I visited my first temple there, the stunning Wat Pho (wat = temple) with a massive golden reclining Buddha. I met two older British gay men on the boat and one of them read my hand, something he does for a living. An elderly Thai Tarot reader did not appreciate that and started saying all sorts of things in her limited English, while holding a knife. Well, you can all rejoice, as I will apparently be around for a long time.

Leaving Bangkok is not as easy as it sounds. Finding a bus to get me to the busstation and actually then getting there takes over two hours in crazy traffic. I am off to the north: Chiang Mai. Not sure what to make of this place. Tourists love it, and like to chill there for weeks. To me it feels very little authentic; just travel agencies, tourist shops, hotels and so on. I meet up with someone I had gotten to know a few weeks prior in Bristol, but decide against joining her on an excursion, as it involves elephant riding. An industry in which elephants are mistreated. Instead I opt for going to an elephant sanctuary where they look after abused and sick elephants. We feed and wash them and take lots of pictures. In the evening I find my aforementioned friend and we wander over the Sunday market at night, which has a nice mix of locals and tourists. That is what I call a good day!

 The following days are spent tracking in the jungle, where we endure the rain and mud for two full days (and no, nothing dries). It is tough and I push my boundaries on a few occasions (climbing over rocks out of a cave, while the dark abyss awaits me and being pulled against the stream into a waterfall), but I enjoy it thoroughly.

Moving on to Chiang Rai to see the white temple. On every corner there is a temple and since I have already seen a bunch of them, I am not sure how this one would add anything to my experience...oh it does. A massive modern construction that totally impresses me, even though you probably cannot get more kitschy than that. This is an interesting note to leave Thailand on and to start heading for Laos....