I'm alive and in Paris

OK, it has been a little while. I'm sorry that i've been a little lax with my entries here of late. Internet in Paris is a pain in the arse. The internet cafes are a bit difficult to find and they are expensive. Then once you've found one and paid, the internet is slow, the keyboard is totally screwed up with letters in different positions, and the place is either too hot or cold and badly lit with smelly people all around you. Needless to say it is not condusive to writing a well planned entry on a internet site as well as spending a reasonable amount of time emailing and uploading photos.

I'm going to hopefully find another internet cafe to upload a little later, but for now I've just got to get an entry up the site so everyone knows I'm alive.

Paris is incredible. I love this city so much and I'm delighted to say that it hasn't changed since I was last here. Things are different but the city is the same. It is a beautiful, strange and interesting city, but the kind of place everyone recognises as special. The streets and the apartments are so beautiful, there are so many sights to see, and simply walking around the streets is a wonderful experience. It is like a heap of small villages all together. It is both dirty and clean. People walk the streets until late, kids play in the parks, dogs are everywhere, random people say bonjour and bonsoir to you when you walk around, people smile. The sights are busy but controlled. Life just seems to be good here. The food is spectacular, and the gardens and parks are almost perfect in their symetry and cleanliness.

I've been here a few days now and I'n starting to get the hang of it a little. My french is poor but acceptable and I can understand reasonably well when people speak slowly and don't say too much. I have a feeling that my pronounciation is a bit Australian but I'm going to work on that. I'm doing some french lessons next week in an attempt to open up some kind of secret vault of french in my brain which has been accunulating in the past years of french that I have studied. Following the improvement of my french I hope to find a job and get some form of long term accomodation, but about the two I really have little idea. I have to work it all out for myself because no-one seems to know anything.

Yesterday I went to Versailles on a bike tour. We took the train there then rode around the vast parks on our bikes, then had a beautiful pique-nique avec des baguettes, des tomates, beaucoup de fromages, et bien sûr des vins. C'était formidable, parce-que j'étais avec mes amis nouveaux et le canal et le palace étaient beaux et fantastiques.

I miss you all very much and i'll let you know more as soon as i can.

Return to the East End

I was determined to find a better place for internet access because easyInternet was not overly cheap (£2/hr) and had no access for usb (ipod and camera).

I woke early due to the jetlag and looked at my watch. It was something like 4am so I lay in bed trying to return to sleep. I could see light and hear movement on the floor above so I looked at my watch again and saw that it was on Melbourne time. So I flicked it to London time and it was 6:30am. I rose, had a shower, and headed upstairs to breakfast.

Brekkie was basic but good for a UK hostel. There was a choice of cereal, toast, juices, coffee and tea. After I'd finished eating I headed out to see some sites and solve my usb problem. I bought a venti vanilla latte from Starbucks and returned to easy internet at Piccadilly because I'd already paid for 5 hours there. While there, i discovered that i could fit my hand down the side of the panel housing the computer and plug in my ipod usb to charge it. cool.

Whilst in London I wanted to catch up with the Browns, the friends I stayed with last time I was here, because it had been ages since I'd been in contact with them. However, I didn't have their phone number or address with me, so i decided I'd head out to East Ham to see if I could track them down at their work. I was successful and very happy to see them when I did because it had been so long. I then took some time to check out East Ham and all the places I'd been on my last trip. It was nice to be in familiar territory.

I grabbed a large double cheese bacon beef burger at burger king then hopped a train back into the city. By the way, I grabbed an Oyster card and charged it up with £30 for my travelling on the tube. It automatically works out the fare when you scan it at the start and stop of the trip and promises to be cheaper than a normal ticket, especially off-peak.

I found a new internet cafe on the way home from Piccadilly station that i'd found on the internet. The website of the cafe claimed that it was cheaper but turned out £3/hr. So I uploaded my photos then headed back to the hostel. However, on the return I found another easyInternet where it was £1/hr. I was anxious to get back to the hostel because I knew drinks were cheap in the bar from 6 - 9pm and I had a free drinks card to use between 7 - 7:30pm.

The bar was pretty good for a hostel- very dark, good lighting, pumping music and a good choice of beer on tap. The best thing was that pints were £1 (Au$2.50, good, even for Australia). I met a few interesting people that night, including an Aussie girl from Melbourne, a German guy from Dusseldorf, and a future Baptist preacher from Philidelphia called Abbie. We all had a nice discussion while we sank some beers, then played a bit of pool. Then as it got late I decided to hit the hay because I didn't want to be crabby for the next day.

Overall, it was a fun day and the Oyster card purchase was a great saving for my expensive train tickets of the future.

Twelve hours to London

The plane was a little delayed but I was in no particular rush and just chilled out. My seat was ace, the complete opposite of the less than satisfactory seat from Sydney to Bangkok. I had seat F and G, thanks to the guy at the check in counter, so it was pretty sweet. It was only a little annoying because the ugly lady sitting to the left of me in seat E thought that she had some sort of right to this new vacant seat F. I'd put something of mine there and then she'd cover it with her jumper. She ended up taking up the whole extra seat with all her crap: jumper, pillows, used napkins, blanket, headphones. So as a bit of revenge I quietly and secretly placed a red grape under her jumper and squashed it using the juper so i didn't get any grape on my hand.

The flight was pretty good and went relatively quickly because I slept for half of it. When the plane landed at Heathrow (LHR) the sky was blue and the tarmac was white (with ice/frost). I'm not sure if there are many places as opposite as London and Bangkok, yet the two are also rather similar. For example: they are both big, highly populated, have a big gulf between the rich and the poor, and a kind of class system, they both have a monarchy, always busy, unclean and rubbish in street, intimidating to a newcomer, noise and air pollution, rich in history, etc. However, these are mostly similiarities on the surface. Overall, London is rich and powerful, angkok is poor and weak. Trillions of pounds travel through London and have for hundreds of years. If you ignore the buildings/wealth of the King of Thailand and of the 'church', Thailand is very poor and most probably a third world country (although it is recently improving with new buildings and developments outside of the city).

Once I landed at LHR I lined up for aout 40 minutes at immigration. Then when I finally made it to the desks at the front I was given the third degree. It was a trainee and a supervisor. They thought that I might have travelled to London to work and that I was not planning to only stay for 10 days and not work. So I had to show them that I wasn't using all of my different documents and it became clear that I was teling the truth. (I thought that they might be worried that I was a drug mule because I had come from Thailand after spending only 3 days there and that I was a young male backpacker. Instead they were worried that I might work in London for a little bit.) I then thought i'd get hassled at Customs for drugs or something because I was coming in from Bangkok, had a big backpack, was dirty, bloodshot eyes, unshaven, tanned skin, a ponytail and was wearing a cap. But I wasn't stopped and walked on through. Maybe they really don't profile?

I muddled around the airport for a while because the train station at my Terminal (4) was getting renovated so I needed to take a special bus. I eventually made it to the entrance to the underground and, after paying £4 for a ticket to the city, embarked on my hour long voyage into the city.

I was on the Piccadilly line, so it took me all the way to Russell Square, no swapping lines. I was a little confused after I disembarked, but soon found my way to my hostel, the Generator. It was about 8:30am at this time and check-in wasn't until 2pm, so I put my large pack in their luggage room and headed out to London, my old friend. Damn it was cold (and still is!). I incorrectly assumed Spring would be a bit warmer.

Initially, I wanted to find internet access, so I decided the best way to do this was to walk the streets in a haphazard way. I eventually made it to Piccadilly and used the place under Burger King, which I used on my last trip. I caught up a little on the net then ventured out again. I explored more, checking out lots of little funky shops, until I found myself back at my hostel for check-in at 2:30pm. That was easy enough, just a bit of a wait in line, but one of the staff gave me a glass of beer to ease the wait. After I had my stuff stowed away in my locker next to my bed (number 13 or 14 beds in our room), I headed out for a late-lunch/early-dinner. I had a £3.95 burger and pint for dinner and by the end of it I was very sleepy. I thought that I better walk for a while and push past the tiredness so jetlag wouldn't be so bad. By 6pm I was walking back to the hostel buggered. I felt like I was floating and it felt like I was in a dream and everything was in slow motion. I went to my room on level 0, got my inner liner out, prepared for bed, and went to sleep. It was about 7pm and since I woke from my bed in Bangkok I'd been awake there for 18 hours, on the plane for 12 hours (minus 5 "sleeping"), then in London for 12 hours. A long day, but I was now in London.

Ráang laa Bangkok

Yesterday was my final day in Bangkok and as a result I woke up a little earlier because I knew I had to get everything together for check-out. I wanted to have things prepared for the airport so that when I got there I could easily grab a change of clothes and move all the unnecessaries into my check-in luggage. [God, some internet cafe's suck, I'm here at easyInternetcafe in London and this guy sitting 2 seats away has earphones on and keeps humming, jesus christ can you shut up and just listen to your music!] I arrived at brekkie at about 9:15am and had my "normal" - eggs, french toast, ham, potatoes, and tea. I then grabed my bags from my room and checked out, leaving my large bag in their storage (cost 20baht). As I left the usual happened - I was harassed by taxi drivers but I walked on, it was beginning to wash over me. I was going to walk to Dusit Park.

It was a bit of a hike to get there, but not as bad as the walk to the Paragon. I arrived at the corner of the park and there was a huge wall. Tis is due to the fact that, in my opinion, Dusit Park is not really a park. Is more like a palace with gardens. Its like saying that you're heading out of Paris to visit Versailles Park or the Parks of Versailles. Moving on, I didn't know which side the entry was on (and I expected that the Thais in their disdain for tourists would have no signage and only one entry, and this place was huge) so I picked a direction and started walking.



A security guard was standing at a roadway as I walked so I asked him where to go, and in his very limited english he instructed me that I was heading in the right direction, so i trooped on. I walked past 6 locked gates with no signage so I assumed the entry was on the other side. At this point I could see the main "palace" but I couldn't get into the grounds and I'd only walked a quarter of the circumference of the complex. At this point I saw the Dusit Zoo, which was next door, so i gave up my search for the entry of Dusit Park and headed into the back entry of Dusit Zoo. I just needed to sit down and relax and at a cost of 30 baht for entry I couldn't resist.

The zoo was beautiful and relaxing, probably because prior to being a zoo it played home to the Botanic Gardens. There was a large lake and plenty of flora and fauna. I sat nect to the lake just atching and relaxing for 30 mins. Then i had a look around the zoo. Many of the cages and enclosures in the zoo were rather primitive, especially for the primates (excuse the punn).



Like everywhere in Bangkok I was surprised by how few tourists there were around. I spotted about four other tourists, from 300-400 zoo patrons. After a few hours in the zoo, greeting tigers and elephants and monkeys, I left and looked for a tuk-tuk.

I'd decided as I was walking around the zoo that I needed to give myself and my feet a break. So I walked over to the tuk-tuk drivers and they jumped on me. I knew where I wanted to go and I wasn't going to get swindled. I asked, "how much to go to the skytrain?" They replied, "100 baht", as they always do. I replied, "50 baht". They said that it was too low and the best they would do was 70. I told them that it was a straight and easy diver and 60 was my last offer. They accepted.

Tuk-tuks are great fun! The danger just adds to the enjoyment. They zip around like a real-life rollercoaster. We arrived at the skytrain and I paid and hopped out. It took a tenth of the time and effort of that walking. The skytrain was 20 baht to go to Siam and that trip was a breeze. I then hit True [God I miss that place, this place is a dive] and spent three hours emailing, photoing and blogging. After this I was busting to go to the toilet so I left to have a look around the centre to some of the areas in which I had not explored. Then I finished at the Siam Paragon with a final hour on the net and a second iced coffee. It was heaven.

I decided that I'd take another tuk-tuk to get home but that I'd start the trip by walking. As I got further along the walk I changed my mind, decided to push through the pain, and as Johnny Walker says, "Kept[sic] Walking". I had maccas for dinner at the democracy statue then walked the rest. Back at the hotel I grabbed my bags, it was about 8:30pm, and went to accept one of my adoring taxi fan's services.

As I walked out I spoke to the hotel taxi service. He quoted 500 baht for a trip to the airport, more than the rip-off on my arrival. I offered 250 and he said no deal, then offered 400. I said no deal. So another guy approached me and offered 400.I said 200. He said lowest was 300 baht. I was determined so I said no deal and left to find a more reasonable driver outside in the taxi man throng. But when I exited there wasnt a driver to be seen. Not even a tuk-tuk (not that i'd take one to the airport). After about 200 minutes, and with the help of a friendly tuk-tuk driver, I managed to secure a cab for 250 baht ($10) to the airport. (I later found out that it was peak hour and some kind of religious/Thai day and thats why it was difficult to get a cab.)

Getting my boarding pass was relatively straight forward and checking my luggage was a breeze. The gentleman at the desk even moved my seat to a couple of spare seats. I spent a lot of time while waiting for my flight looking around the duty free in an attempt to try and spend my final 570 baht. I eventually succeeded and bought some crappy thai brandy. Yum. Then I walked to Gate 55 and waited.

A fun and enjoyable final day in Bangkok. I look forward to the day I can return with a heap more money and a few friends to share it with.

Bankok's Temples and Treachery

Yesterday i set myself the task of hitting the typically touristy sites. Part of the reason I chose to stay at the Royal Hotel was its proximity to the main attractions, namely the famous and best temples. As a result it was a matter of a short walk to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew Temple. However, I took a bit of a detour to the Amulet Market, a large amount of stalls on a series of streets selling amulets - gold buddhas, metal circles and jade shapes to protect your soul and to bring good fortune. From there I made my way to the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace was huge, beautiful and incredibly ostentatious. It had lots of gold and beautiful tiles and mosaics. It also had some wonderful statues and murals. From there I walked around all the buildings and gardens and took plenty of photos. I then had a look at the nearby area and I was taken for my second con. A man saw me enter the monks area and said that he could show me the monks' prayer room. I figured we were in a holy place surrounded by monks, what's the worst that could happen? But I discovered much to my cynical self's dismay that religions are essentially the same whether they worship a dead carpenter, wear orange robes, or believe we descend from aliens - they revolve around money.

The man took me to a monk's quarters, instructed me to remove my shoes, and I started to think that something was going to cost money, but what? (I guess he could expect something for his time.) After some preparations the monk entered and my new friend instructed me to sit. The monk then sat and my friend narrated the monk's actions and explained the significance of different things. The monk attached a thin orange rope around my right wrist then flicked "holy water" on me. My friend then explained that we need amulets to protect us and help us and the monk reached to his right and produced a great choice of amulets for me to choose from. I figuered they couldn't be free so i asked how much they were. The monk handed me one and said 500 baht (AU$20). I asked him about some of the others and they were more expensive - 1200 baht (roughly $50). I'd come this far, been brought down monk alleys, walked into a secluded room filled with monk junk, sat down in front of this holy man with my friend to my right, he's got washed and sat down then attached my powerful orange bracelet and flicked water on me, but I wouldn't be a schmuk. I told them that I didn't have enough money and that i was sorry but I couldn't buy anything. The monk looked upset and he grumbled. My friend suggested a donation so I gave him 100 baht ($4). Then the monk stood up and just like that my religious experience was over. For a measly $4 I had tricked a monk into giving me salvation, godly protection and everlasting happiness and considering he wanted to charge me $20 for it I got a bargain.

Following that enlightenment I walked out of the temple/monk area and onto the streets. After being harassed by more thais offering their services i was fed up with the touristy stuff and I headed to the Siam Paragon. I decided that instead of walking, today I would take the river ferry for as great a distance as was practicable. I then had a much shorter walk than normal to the subway station.

I cooled off in the Paragon and drank a granday capuccino at Starbucks on level 3 while sorting through my finances (makes me happy). I then went to True and spent 3 hours on the net adding photos, replying to emails, chatting on msn, and blogging. I then checked out the gourmet supermarket, bought a new toothbrush (because mine tastes like soap) and went to an atm.

The walk home was a tonne easier than the previous afternoon, obviously because I'd done it already. The only difference was that it was in the evening and dark, however, I didn't have to check my map for the entire 5.5 kms. I grabbed a salad for dinner which was very healthy of me and I enjoyed it.

Funnily enough, I'm getting used to the city and all the annoyances. I could see how one could live here as a westerner. You learn to politely decline all the tuk-tuk drivers and taxi drivers the same as you would in Melbourne for people wanted to sign you up for a credit card in Flinders Street station. The difference is that there are way more of them and they are much more persistent. However, even though I say this, I can't deny that I'm looking forward to leaving the heat, the air, and the dirtiness. Thankfully London will be cold instead of hot, the air will be a tiny bit cleaner and the city a tiny bit neater. Oh well, maybe its not really that different? At least their English is easier to understand (or is it?).

Bangkok

Its hot and busy. This has to be a super quick post as I've spent all my time uploading and editing photos. Yesterday was a pretty good first day in Bangkok and first day of my trip. I woke early and revived after a good 7 hour sleep. I slept on the top of my bed in my silk inner liner as that was warm enough and I knew it was clean. I didn't fancy sleeping in the Bangkok bed, but maybe i'm overeacting. Either way I had a pleasant sleep and I got up, showered, secured my luggage, and left the room at 9am to have the complimentary breakfast on the ground floor. Breakfast was buffet style and I filled my plate. {Damn, I'm so close to finishing my time on the computer and I can't concentrate because I know this. Shit...Okay, I've paid for another hour so all is well. Fewh!} Anyway, I polished breakfast off and it was great. I even had a English Breakfast Tea, which, funnily enough, I'm becoming quite fond of. On the plane I had three on the way to Thailand. It just has a more relaxed feeling about it, instead of the hyped sort of feeling surrounding coffee. Its also harder to screw up compared with coffee. I think i'll wait until Paris before I head back to the coffees (although starbucks is good). Following my eggs and french toast and tea I stepped out of the hotel and received a copy of punches to the head. First a left from Bangkok's heat and then a stronger right from Bangkok's pollution. I could actually see the air pollution. It was like a light smokey fog surrounding everything. I was greeted (as I have become accustomed to) by a small throng of taxi drivers, it felt like I was some sort of taxi driver celebrity or something but instead of wanted an autograph, they all wanted to give me a ride somewhere, or help me find something or buy something. I politely declined and started on my walk. I headed down Th Ratchadamnoen Nai and past Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. After walking for about an hour I realised I'd been coughing and had a sore throat. It took me an additional 15 minutes to work out it was the polution causing this. (It is disgusting - in your breathe, eyes and mouth. When you wet your lips with your tongue to keep them moist you can taste the salt and dirt from the air.)

I took a left and headed towards chinatown to have a look at the market and the real city and people. I became lost a heap of times, having to backtrack to where I was not lost because the streets and lanes are so crazy and underneath those awnings you lose track of everything. I somehow managed to eventually make it through. It was terribly dirty and smelly with almost every building in a state of disrepair with cracks and puddles and rubbish everywhere. Along with the buildings, people are also everywhere - lying on almost every bench, huddled next to building and shops, on the street corners, in parks. Some are selling things, some are talking, but most are sleeping. Lots of people.

After a few hours walking, I eventually made my way to the other side of the river Mae Nam Chao Phraya. There I was conned into a 100 baht tuk-tuk ride (this guy caught me off guard i forgot about the whole haggling thing, damn it, I hate being a schmuk) that lasted about 3 mins. It probably should have cost 30 baht. He took me to the Hualamphong train station (ultra clean and elegant) where i took the subway train to Chatuchak Park and the Weekend Markets.

The Weekend Market was huge, like a Vic Market on steroids. Literally at least ten times the size of a normal market. It had everything cheap and nasty. A fake Diesel watch I was looking at broke as the lady took it off my wrist. I left the market after my legs and body could handle it (it was raining but I was already drenched from the heat) and took the new skytrain to Siam station then found myself in Siam Paragon, a huge beautiful high-class shopping centre. There I relaxed and got out of the heat and the rain. I went on the internet at True and then grabbed a coffee at Starbucks.

As I wanted to be home by dark I left and started walking back, only stopping to find my way and to buy dinner at a 7-11 and ask directions. I made it back to the hotel by 6pm and had dinner in my room. It was a tiring day overall but i pushed myself through minor jetlag and had a fun and interesting day.

Don't be afraid to comment and be sure to check out all the photos on Flickr by clicking here. If you join flickr then make me 'avecmatilda' a friend I'll do the same for you and you'll have access to more photos, some of which include me. heh.

My Trip Begins: Thailand

Yesterday in a whirlwind and a panic I left my room, my home, and my pets and headed off to the airport. I was very lucky to make it because, as usual, i left a lot of things until the last minute. I basically started packing my luggage the morning of my flight. It was very stressful. But we made it to the airport comfortably and I had a last 'meal' and coffee with my loved ones before saying a teary goodbye. Eleven months. That's a long time for a little boy like me. Its over 5 times longer than the previous longest time I've been away from my family and friends. Its basically an entire year of my life. But I've started and there's no turning back now.

The plane trip to Sydney was relatively easy. I had a reasonable seat in a three with a friendly couple to my right who were interested in my ipod, then later were interested in my camera. Upon arrival in Sydney I took a quick bus trip from domestic to international and was back on another plane. This time the seats were crappy, I was in the middle again but had two men to my left and one to my right, all of them smelly, ugly and uninteresting. So I bunkered in and watched family guy episodes on my ipod and then a couple of ordinary movies. Although, Pride and Prejudice was a surprisingly good movie. I'm slowly coming around to keira knightley.

The 747 touched down in Bangkok smoothly and then it was a matter of tracking down my luggage and double checking that I hadn't magically aquired more luggage on the way. Luckily all was as it should be and I walked out of the arrivals/immigration section without a hitch (probably because there was no one x-raying or working). Then I turned a corner and was astounded by the throng of people waiting for arrivals. I believe it was something around 400 people. I twas like parting the red sea as I walked towards them and past them. Then in the distance from there to the outside I was approached by about 15 people offering taxi services. I politely declined because I'd read in the Lonely Planet (LP) that they rip you off and you're better to go out to the taxi rank, which is what i did. It cost 400 baht (AU$16), a little expensive for Thailand but not outrageous. The driver was nice, but he (like almost everyone else) tried to get me to have a tour with him the next day, so he could show me all the sites.

The Royal Hotel is a great big place. It is my place of residence while i'm here in Thailand. It is huge. Upon arrival at 11pm a busboy grabbed my bags and after check in he carried them up to my room for me. (It feels like there are too many people and all these jobs which probably don't need someone get filled by a person. then jobs which only need one person are filled by three people.) After his help he stood at the door and I had no idea what kind of tip to give him, so i gave 20baht note (AU$0.80)? Then I unpacked my things, had a shower, and watched some funny thai shows while I worked out my stuff. It was a long and emotional day but somehow I got through it relatively easily.

Optus Email SMS

hello everyone. This is the first blog entry from my mobile phone. How exciting! This is gonna be fun.