Thailand or bust

Well Gents and ladies

Its been a while since last writing but we have been busy now on our second stopsince finnishing on ko samui. We left the island and Ali about four days ago after a day riding elephants, riding buffalo and generally being a tourist on the island. it was fun lovely to see Ali who looks like she might be travelling home with us as well! after that we shot through Bangkok where i managed to to nearly miss our last of three trains listening to friendly locals about a Budha visit! I'll tell more later.

Anyway next stop was Kanchanburia which is famous for the river kui /qi ie biridge fame. The town itself has created itself as a tourist trap around the famous bridge of which none remains bar the bits in the museum ! however the area around is genuine jungle and up from the town you can go up the railway for about 100miles along the track travelling the railway the POWs and thia laboureres constructed under horendous conditions. We did all of this and visited the grave yard of some of the 6,000 dead from the railway . All in all very moving and a bit ghoulish but then wars are and so are memorials to them . The walk up to hellfire pass carved by the pows in the jungle just makes you feel humble and at the same time is simply idillic . A man died for each sleeper on the line and not a pretty thought. The town itself seems to contain the usual asortment of ex pat oddments on our first night i swear we met the original aussie who monty python modelled the cultural attache upon who just seems to have lived on thia whiskey for a bout as long has could drink , very funny! apart from that we made friends with a local bar run by a selection of attractive thia ladies who we played pool with and generally flirted with, again all harmless but none the less loving the attention of being a farang in thialand

I've been suffering with upset tummy since ko samui so thats been a drag but i'm back on near most solids! now we have just arrived in ayutthaya the old capital of thialand which is covered in temples and palace ruins on an isalnd created by the thia kings so lots to look at .going off now and going to eat

Well sorry its been some time since I logged on but I seem to be getting the hang of the gentle pace of life in Thailand. P and i are currently in Ko Samui after the usual horrendous bus trip that occampanies moving any where in Thialand. We have been here i think three days and I'm recovering after a bout of the old tummy problems having a day byt the pool while p finnishes his PADI course for diving! the weather is currently glorious and we have spent the last few days on adventures in the company of Ali and twigg ( Steve). Both are well and looking it and got lots of plans for the future which could include a move back to manchester. Yesterday was another red letter day as I went diving , yes, diving down to 12 meters with tanks and mask and everything. Just off a rock called sailors rock with a reef full of wildlife. it was amazing to see in real life all these wonderful fish, coral and sea urchins really out there in the wild . i think this maybe something that must be repeated once in my life time is not enough!

the first night we went out with Ali and a the maager of the hotel called lee , his boyfriend joe and had the most amazing meal prepared freshed from the market. had my first ever lobster and clams and then went on a cabaret full of lady boys and pole dancing. Not a seedy affair at all , as lee used to run a club similar here and Joe was , well a boy of the night as well.............the dancing was excellent and everyone so friendly and along with the copious amounts of cocktails drunk very enjoyable. got on well with Lee especially as we were the last people standing in the early hours after a few smokes! he used to be married and worked as a car sales man in the space of two years has left his wife, moved here , lost a business built another and now after sleeping with most of the cast of the above performance has a long term partner joe .....how mad can life be / quiet inspiring really.

We are leaving here via ko toa around Thursday i think ( although there is a full moon party this wekend!) for Bangkok and then of to Cambodia to Angkor watt then back to bangkok and up into noth Thialand if time allows. all is well and having a fine time and my holiday is all i could wish!

Charles