Two for the Road

Yes, there are plenty more hilarious titles to come.

“So”, I hear you ask with great anticipation, “what have you two been up to since your last blog post? And don’t you both look tanned and gorgeous?” Oh please, you’re too kind.

I recovered quickly from my food poisoning (you’ll be glad to know I’ll spare you the gruesome details), but still had a late rise on our last full day in Bangkok. Iris, full of the spirit of adventure, got up and headed to the Grand Palace by herself. Unfortunately, due to a National Holiday the palace was closed.

It was at this point that Iris got to experience another Bangkok tourist staple – being convinced by a tout to hop on a river boat ride to see the Big Buddha. Yes, it’s proof she shouldn’t be let out of the house alone, but in all fairness she took some cracking pics.

We met up and I was deeply jealous if Iris’ buddha spotting, so off to see the Reclining Buddha we went!

As we pushed into afternoon, we hopped on the Metro towards Centralworld shopping centre. It’s a massive shopping centre in the heart of Bangkok. After searching several stores for a diving case for Iris’s Go-Pro, we stumbled upon the food court. Tell you what, it’s a delight, not a Frankie & Benny’s to be seen. In its place are so many food stands serving noodles, Pad Thais, and a whole range of other goods. Several of them are in the Michelin guide! Zizzi in St. David’s Centre needs to pull its finger out with this sort of competition.

We had a few drinks in a bar overlooking Wat Arun before turning in. It was time for us to chill out in Phuket.

Our apartment in Phuket overlooks Karon Beach, a sandy beach with warm, clear, but turbulent waters (I tried to wash my feet off and almost got pulled in! If Iris had been filming we’d at least get an extra £250 for our budget) with hills overlooking it coated in so much thick forest you can’t see where the ground begins.

It’s more of a tourist destination than Bangkok is, everyone living here seemingly employed in the tourist or hospitality industries. The prices here, while still low by our standards, are higher than we were used to in Bangkok. It also transpires that most tourists here are Russian. Given the current global political situation, it’s slightly odd hearing so much Russian spoken, and some local businesses have signs in Russian.

If you ever end up in this next of the woods, though, then fear not! Your old pal Matt’s here with some basic Russian phrases to help make some polite conversation with the shaven-headed tourists –

• Привет – Hello
• Да, я пью водку время от времени. – Why yes, I drink vodka from time to time
• О нет, я обещаю вам, что Путин — отличный парень. – Oh no, I promise you I think Putin’s a great guy
• сука блять – (…actually, skip this one)

It’s been refreshing to have some time to kick back and relax. Our travelling hitherto has been going at some pace, and we want to hit the main sights to see, time permitting. With ten days in an apartment five minutes walk from the main streets of Karon, I feel we can take the time to unwind. Yes, we’re unwinding from our travelling so far. First world problems are still problems!

That’s not to say we don’t have anything planned or haven’t done anything. Iris has been out on the first of three days scuba diving, and tomorrow she’s about to dive into the open water. On Friday she’s of to the Ko Phi Phi islands, and I’m going to join her (staying sat in the boat the entire time). We’ll be sure to put up some good pics!

I think that’s enough from me now. Time to re-commence the unwinding. Sitting out in the egg-chair on the balcony and reading might do the trick.

Matt