Thailand, 2008 (II)

As I sit to write this update it’s 21:05 on Wednesday evening and I’m sat at a table in Molly Malone’s “Authentic Irish Pub” on the beach-front of Patong Beach, Phuket. It’s about 30′C outside – seriously warm – but in here, with air conditioning, it’s just about bearable. We’ve barely had a moment to stop since the last entry, but that hectic pace has all been an enjoyable experience and I’m doing my best to cram as much in as possible in the time available.

Thailand, 2008 (I)

How do you compress almost 72 hours of intense activity into a few lines in a blog entry? Well, this isn’t going to be easy then, is it? We made it to Phuket – via Bangkok – relatively unscathed. Our luggage had a slightly more entertaining journey, stopping off as it did for a brief exploration of Bangkok while we flew ahead.

Initial thoughts on Thailand are – for me – very similar to the experience I had when I visited Brazil in 2004 – can it really be more than 3 years ago now? – and take little time getting used to. There are huge numbers of mopeds everywhere – like swarms of buzzing insects – and most of the riders seem to be daredevils, with a wonderful sense of humour. We followed one with a T-Shirt that read, “Make out with my Butt” and which took us a little while to realise meant, “Kiss My Ass”, but hey, whatever…

Here are just a few quick images from the first couple of days…