Tropical Paradise...

So this post was meant to go along the lines of "omg thailand is amazing, a pure paradise on earth, I mean look at this sexy photo i've just taken from my camera... this was meant to be a post that makes you all jealous of my easy life at the miunte, a blog update that would make you write on my wall "I wish I was there"...but as I say...it was meant to be that...what it is infact is a jolly update to inform you all of how fun it is to be stuck in one place...I received a email from sta travel today...let me just copy some of the best bits for you guys...

The Foreign Office have updated their travel advice for Thailand in relation to storms and heavy rainfall along the southern coast and now advise against all but essential travel

Storms and heavy rainfall have caused flooding and damage along the southern coast of Thailand. Affected provinces include Krabi, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Surat Thani (including the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao), Phattalung, Chumphon, Trang and Satun. Electricity and communications are currently disrupted across the region and there is a continued risk of mudslides and flash flooding in these areas

British Nationals on these islands should consider leaving if it is safe to do so.

Please be aware that travel insurance may not be valid if you visit an area that the Foreign Office advise against travel to.

Great banter hey? - well I won't get ahead of myslef though, im in Phuket still however the place we were meant to be traveling to (Krabi) is one of the severly affected areas and the weather forecast for the next 10 days is the same pissign thunder storms... me and Adam have basically got little option at the minute but to sit tight and see if anything clears up, This is a large section of Thailand that has been afected so its not just as simple as moving onto the next city...I guess we might have to start heading north again and see if we can get to a full moon party at a later date than what we had originally planned...So hopefully in a few months time I will be able to update you with beautiful pictures instead of scense of torrential rain!

Phuket takes it to another level!
So basically if we thought that Bangkok was crazily forward and an eye opener, wow we werent prepared for Phuket, LADYBOYS are everywhere trying to pull you off the streets "hello darling, we the same, but different"..."We like lions and tigers, different but same"...F**K OFF!!! however in and amongst the many lady boys there are 'genuine' hookers(I say it like it was a relief to see them!) however they are even more scary...the best line I have heard being thrown at me whilst I casually tried drinking a beer was "I like you, you hansome, I want your baby in me"...errr please stay away from me! - however this kind of chat does work! - and again you see endless amounts of western men lapping it up.

The best quote from a western man was when he had finished his meal on a table next to where we were sitting, the waiter gave him some banter saying he was a big man...he goes "The bigger you are, the richer you are...that is why you are skinny" - ignorant P***k!

Hopefully the sun will come out soon and the beaches will be filled with sun kissed bodys and I can lounge the days away drinking beer and getting massages on the beach (no fears of happy endings being thrown in when your on a becah...I think? )And when this happens, my posts will start reflecting on what a beautiful paradise this country can offer.

7months on the road now!

xxxxxxx

"The industry that caters for these men-acting-like-boys is a diverse social phenomenon"

So two guesses what this blog post is going to be about? - The Lonely planet guide book describes certain areas of Bangkoks nightlife with the description provided above...wow can certain things really open your eyes. (it's ok mum, I am no where near closer to bringing ting tong home for a marriage),
However the first bit of this blog will explore what mine and Adams poor eyes have had to endure over the last week...

I guess when people go to Amsterdam there is a fascination and a must see feeling to head towards to the red light district, I guess maybe due to the whole feeling of "this would never happen at home" you become lured to see how some women,men, he/she's go about making a bit of money.

In Bangkok you are bombarded by street punters trying to sell what they call "ping pong shows," - something that me and adam and many other people from our hostels wanted to go and see out of curiosity...so before we knew it on a dark evening last week a group of us (I must add there was equally as many girls withus as there were lads) to help reduce the seedyness, however what we witnessed is simply mind bogglingly disturbing, a show of different "talents" shall we say that certain 'women' in bangkok possess...these range from erm shooting ping pong balls out of their lady parts, blowing whistles, shooting darts, pulling razor blades, flowers, birds, fish, writing messages and smoking cigarettes. I must admit, it wasn't as exciting as it sounds, the constant dribbling of middle aged western men drooling over these women, makes it hard to think that these girls enjoy what they do...however I am not naieve enough to think that one protest will bring this industry crashing down, so instead of winging about the outrageous demeaning manner these girls are treated with, I guess I have to fall back on the old saying "when in rome", and just accept that there is a booming industry for these pretty disturbing shows...

Wanting to delve deeper into this really random culture they have out here, we, as a hostel group of people headed for an area of Bangkok, known as "nannas Plaza; a 3 storied "shopping mall" of prostitutes, so basically a smaller version of say like meadowhall where you can go and sample all breeds of life. Again a massive eye opener, mainly due to the equally large population of middle aged over weight western men who actually believe that these girls will fall madly in love with them and their disgustingly seedy manners. - It is a pretty repulsive and equally depressing realisation that these women are working in a very dark world, fueled by what are probably very respectable western men if they were in their own environment back at home.

Shakespeare must have been a backpacker.

So I guess we all know it, the famous scene in Mcbeth where the witches are making their disgusting cauldren of potion...the whole "bubble bubble, toil and trouble" - well I now think that Shakespeare was actually just describing what his stomach felt like after eating lots of thai street food, - either that or my stomach feels like what I imagined this cauldren to have tasted like. The vast majority of food in Thailand comes from street vendors who sell a range of all types of food, I must add that I absolutley love thai food and I have fully thrown myself into eating food form these street vendors...however, stagnant chicken that has flies buzzing around it and sitting in a humid high 30's temperature is not a recipie for a happy tummy. Now the food I have tried out here has been exceptional, I can't explain the explosion of different taste you get for a disgustingly cheap price, however after being back on the proepr backpacker trail for less than a week, I can happily admit that I once again have a very tempromental stomach. Thank god for Imodium!

So we have now left Bangkok as well, currently living it up in a pretty swanky twin bed hotel room for less than 6quid a night in Phukett. However what we failed to realise is that obviously its the monsoon season at the minute, so after a 24 hour long ridiculous bus jouirney from bangkok we are now here chilling in a massive electrical storm...good one!.

However the next few weeks should deliver plent of beautiful beaches, island hopping, scuba diving and plenty of drinking!

Hewwoah weecomme to thaywand

Bangkok craziness
So we have arrived, finally, we are in Bangkok and my god is this place something a little bit "Special"

After leaving (L)adelaide with an emotional goodbye with Natalie, and Kathleen, at stupid o clock in the morning on Monday 21st, we finally arrived in Thailand at around Midnight, this was not before getting an announcment in Adelaide airport saying the following "Would passengers Andrew Meadowcroft and Adam Mcleish please make their way to the nearest desk"...this announcement being made over the main speakers just as I had sat down on the toilet to go about my morning business...a little bit flustered we made our way to the nearest desk...excited that maybe we had been upgraded? - or even worse that Adam maybe had become a secret drug dealer and his stash had been discovered in our bags?...nah nothing that exciting jus thte airport staff wanting to see if we wanted our bags to be exchanged directly at Sydney onto the Bangkok flight...pretty dull ending.

So bangkok it is, thinking as it being our first day, we should just go for a gentle wander to see what our surrondings are , and to get a cheeky barings of this over populated crowded city...no soon had we left the hostel, are we being bundled in to a tuck tuck and taken on a crazy misison around Bangkok, what we thought was a nice man helping us turned out to be what in bangkok is a tourist scam where everyone is in on it at a different level. Basically your taxi driver (or tuck tuck - like a bike with a cart on the back) offeres to drive you to the place you want to, whilst showing you a few cheeky little things here and there, all being offered at a stupidly low price...however the reality is that you are taken to all the places and businesses that obviously give him a commission on any purchases made, this ranging from Suit shops, Restaurants, Tourist agencies and Boat companies, So our day turned out to firstly being shown what suits we could get made for us in Cashmere for 40quid...think I might have to go back, then we were bundeled into a tourist agency who wanted to book us a 40 day trip around Thailand including a lot of things that we want to do whilst here but the reality being that the joy of backpacking is being able to be flexible and chnge your plans, not have a rigid schedule which you have had to pay a large lump up front. After this we were taken to a place on the river for a Boat ride...again bundled into a random boat, of which I have no idea how it is still floating, we were whisked up and down this river for no reason really apart from to see Bangkok from the river...being harrassed by women selling things on small boats, me and adam were convinced to buy some beers and our journey continued, all whilst our tuck tuck driver is sat waiting for us to come back.

Catching onto this little money maker the driver was getting, we asked to be taken back to our Hostel...and all of a sudden his english understanding died...he was desperate to take us to a massage parlour where you can go "bump bump, all very good, full package 2 hours"...we quickly declined and eventually managed to get across we wanted to be dropped off back at the start from where he picked us up... So that is the start of our South East Asian adventure, if this was only the first day, it excites me to think what will happen in the coming weeks.

Lets pick up from where we left off...

It’s been a while!

Hello people! – so this has now been a long time coming, after blogging frequently throughout South America (which now feels an absolute life time since I was there!) I am about to embark on the next adventure which will begin at the end of March.

So why did I stop blogging once I arrived in Australia? – Well basically because my priorities changed dramatically, I was meant to be in Australia to be working so that I could top up the funds before heading off to Asia. Further on from this, unlike South America, Australia is very much like the world we already know, apart from beautiful coastlines and beaches and sun kissed ladies. This makes very uninteresting reading as everything is exactly the same. Also Australia has pretty good internet availability so I have been speaking to a lot of you guys on a regular basis as it is.

I am currently working in an Irish bar as a barman, and loving every second of it, the 16quid a hour makes it a lot better paid than most graduate jobs back in the UK, and it will be hard to leave. Despite this however, we are cutting our ties with Australia short and we will be heading out to Asia at the end of this month. Back to the proper traveller trail, and moving around places on a frequent basis...this means...oh yes! More long bus journeys! Disgusting toilets in countries with poor sewage systems, Back on the anti malarial tablets, eating street food and wrestling lady boys...the perfect mix of a true backpacker!

However before this adventure begins our fun in Adelaide is not over! – A week on Monday (14th) we are going to rip it up at a stinkingly big music festival, with a headlining act of the chemical brothers which should prove to be an amazing day!

Its going to be an emotional one to leave Adelaide, despite not being the most exciting city in Australia, we have been incredibly fortunate to have been living with two Australian girls who we met in Peru who have very kindly been putting us up, a favour that will oneday be returned if they ever venture over to the UK.

Lonely planet bought!
So in a previous post a long time ago, (can you believe i’ve been on the road for 6 months now, with a maximum of 4 months left!) I mentioned that you are stupid if you ever buy a lonely planet guide book, as it kinda does all the hard work for you , and it only creates expectations of places, however I must confess, me and Adam have invested in one of these bibles for travellers for Asia, only because we plan to be in Asia for 3 and a half months, and the names of places are more confusing than watching Australian “comedy”..(we saw a stand up comedian called Sam Simmons, who’s idea of comedy was to smash old el paso taco’s against his chest in some strange sexual manner.)

Therefore we plan to do a route that will take us all through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. We watched the Beach the other night, the strange film with Leo’ d’banterio and so we aim to get to this beach/island as well so keep an eye out for the photos in the coming months!,

However Asia is Cheap, so we can’t wait to spend time exploring this clutter of countries that have a totally different culture than I would have ever experienced, oh and I can’t wait to smash thai food on a regular basis .mmmmmmmmmm!

I hope you guys will start following me again on this, the next months will fly by and i’ll be back before you know it! Spending xmas, new years and my birthday in Australia has meant I have defiantly missed a lot of celebrations with you guys that I can’t wait to make up for when I’m back...

The adventure starts on teh 21st of March.

xxxx