Thailand!

Wow!

Its been a long time since I posted anything!

I can only blame Thailand for being so entertaining that I haven't had time to post...

This is only partly true; I have had time, but somehow being in Thailand makes even doing nothing into a pleasurable experience! Thus my addiction to 2 hour massages!

So first I think I'll tell you about leaving Nepal. I have found that travel in Nepal is always a fraught experience. Buses breaking down, and being transformed into saunas as water is poured over the extremely overheated engine. Traffic jams that seem to stretch as far as the eye can see, and are made constantly worse by people trying to overtake, and blocking the little traffic that is trying to come the other way...

So anyway, I kinda hoped that the plane journey as i left Nepal would be less... incident packed. After all, if the engine starts smoking when you're 8000 meters up, it isn't a simple case of stopping in a lay-by and pouring water on it until it cools down... Nepal had one last surprise though.

As we waited in the departures lounge (I was only slightly worried that our flight didn't appear on the departure board), the shuttle bus parked up outside, ready to take us away from the lounge and towards the plane. People started filing on board. I waited, knowing that we would all be seated eventually, and having gotten to a good point in my book. So the first bus filled up, the doors closed, and it pulled away, and waited 10 meters down the road. Another bus pulled up, and much to every ones confusion... including the airport staff... it promptly pulled away again without letting anyone on board.

Confusion reigned for a while. The airport staff got into a little huddle, before pointing at the plane that was 50 meters away on the tarmac, and telling us to walk to it... the result being that we arrive at the plane before all of the people that had been packed onto the bus. Why we couldn't have all just walked to the plane is beyond me... I think they like to spice up travel in Nepal!

Since then I have been in Thailand. I have to say that I love it here. The people are so friendly. The women are so consistently hot. The scenery is so beautiful. The food is great. Just like the last time I was here, I am considering my options for moving here....

On the subject of the hot women. There is something very refreshing about the way that the Thai people are comfortable with being good looking. They don't seem to be overly self conscious about it. It starts at a young age... the children are almost without exception cute. And if you point a camera at them they will quite happily pull a little pose making them even cuter. The school kids are dressed sexlessly, and this is accepted without question. It is only once people leave school that they start to dress sexy. This makes a refreshing change to back home where young children are sometimes dressed in adult sexy clothes.

I have lots more to write about Thailand, but I may just leave it at that for now... there seems to be a darker underbelly to the country, that you don't see on first inspection. The ex-pats that live here seem to be split into those that still love it and wouldn't go anywhere else, and those that constantly grumble about undefined things, generally drinking every night. You find at least one of these grumbling ex-pats in every bar, but they are never that clear about what is wrong with the place... maybe it needs further investigation....

(I suspect that the grumbling ex-pats are those that have taken a "bar girl" as their partner, and been disappointed when she turns out to be only after the money...)