Nothing about Germans yet, just a quick post to show you my photo site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25243091@N08/
Enjoy
วันอังคารที่ 29 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2551
วันจันทร์ที่ 28 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2551
The Man in McDonalds
A few days ago, a man in McDonalds changed my life. Not in a dramatic way, just in the sense that the next 6 weeks of our 'planned' backpacking trip are now actually indeed, planned. Because of the man from McDonalds.
You see I'm currently in Bangkok with my friend Bradley (you can read about his experiences at bradleyontour.blogspot.com). Bangkok is the starting place for all backpackers looking to head south to the islands. The problem was, we had no idea which islands we were going to. We had nothing booked, and when people asked us where we were heading next, all we knew was a few names of places referenced in Alex Garlands novel, 'The Beach'. It's because of this novel that we are living on the Khao San road. Its the road where the central character is living when he gets hold of the map which leads him to the beach. Apparently we don't use guide books, just Novels.
We have a love hate relationship with the Khao San road. We go to the same bar day in, day out, meet with the same people, the bar staff know our names and we feel at home here. I say 'at home', after a few days it felt more of a rut. We were stuck in a rut when we were sat in McDonalds. We were nursing yet another hangover, and Bradley had just spent an undisclosed amount of money on a suit he didn't need. So this man leans across and asked us who we were. He was a teacher at a local school, he enquired as to where we were heading. "South....beaches'. He asked us how we were getting there: 'No idea'. Our Australian working visas expire in June 2009, and we were worried that when we finally left Bangkok we'd only have enough time left on them for a day or two's work. He told us about the D R O, I forget what it stands for, but its like a travel agents, set up by Thai people for Thai people, with Thai prices. The many travel agencies on the Khao San road see that we're Western and add a few zeros on the end of their prices. This agency is Government run and therefore quite legit. We found it to be very laid back, and the guys in there knew exactly what they were talking about. They had just returned from the Full and Half moon parties in Kao Pan Nang and showed us their photographs. We knew our destiny lay there.
So an Hour later we've got coach trips booked to 4 locations in the Southern islands. Ko Samui, Ko Pan Nang, Ko Phi Phi and Phuket. It seems today when we leave on our 14 hour coach journey, we may finally get out of our rut. We currently live above a bar / internet cafe / retaurant next door to 2 night clubs opposite 2 or 3 more bars and 2 doors away from a 24 McDonalds. The room costs us $3.00 a night each. We found it on our first night here, the clock had just struck midnight, we were still carrying our extra Nepalese trekking gear (now on a 3 month boat trip back to England) and we were tired, I saw a sign for the Nat guest house. We chose to stay there because it was the first place we saw. We asked the lady if she had a room at the inn (sound familiar?) and she said yes but its noisy....Like we cared, we just wanted a place to put our bags, the bars are our real home. One bar in particular, Gullivers Travel Tavern on the end of the Khao San Road, air conditioned, pool, food, drink, 15 televisions all showing sport, table football and free internet. I'm sat here right now typing this. The place becomes a night club at around 11pm, the pool tables are replaced by podiums, and the music becomes louder and more hardcore. I love this place, but I can't wait to leave. My next post will be made just minutes away from a beach, and I'll tell the tale of when our 2 person room ending up housing 2 drunken Germans, 2 Americans and a Thai guy.
You see I'm currently in Bangkok with my friend Bradley (you can read about his experiences at bradleyontour.blogspot.com). Bangkok is the starting place for all backpackers looking to head south to the islands. The problem was, we had no idea which islands we were going to. We had nothing booked, and when people asked us where we were heading next, all we knew was a few names of places referenced in Alex Garlands novel, 'The Beach'. It's because of this novel that we are living on the Khao San road. Its the road where the central character is living when he gets hold of the map which leads him to the beach. Apparently we don't use guide books, just Novels.
We have a love hate relationship with the Khao San road. We go to the same bar day in, day out, meet with the same people, the bar staff know our names and we feel at home here. I say 'at home', after a few days it felt more of a rut. We were stuck in a rut when we were sat in McDonalds. We were nursing yet another hangover, and Bradley had just spent an undisclosed amount of money on a suit he didn't need. So this man leans across and asked us who we were. He was a teacher at a local school, he enquired as to where we were heading. "South....beaches'. He asked us how we were getting there: 'No idea'. Our Australian working visas expire in June 2009, and we were worried that when we finally left Bangkok we'd only have enough time left on them for a day or two's work. He told us about the D R O, I forget what it stands for, but its like a travel agents, set up by Thai people for Thai people, with Thai prices. The many travel agencies on the Khao San road see that we're Western and add a few zeros on the end of their prices. This agency is Government run and therefore quite legit. We found it to be very laid back, and the guys in there knew exactly what they were talking about. They had just returned from the Full and Half moon parties in Kao Pan Nang and showed us their photographs. We knew our destiny lay there.
So an Hour later we've got coach trips booked to 4 locations in the Southern islands. Ko Samui, Ko Pan Nang, Ko Phi Phi and Phuket. It seems today when we leave on our 14 hour coach journey, we may finally get out of our rut. We currently live above a bar / internet cafe / retaurant next door to 2 night clubs opposite 2 or 3 more bars and 2 doors away from a 24 McDonalds. The room costs us $3.00 a night each. We found it on our first night here, the clock had just struck midnight, we were still carrying our extra Nepalese trekking gear (now on a 3 month boat trip back to England) and we were tired, I saw a sign for the Nat guest house. We chose to stay there because it was the first place we saw. We asked the lady if she had a room at the inn (sound familiar?) and she said yes but its noisy....Like we cared, we just wanted a place to put our bags, the bars are our real home. One bar in particular, Gullivers Travel Tavern on the end of the Khao San Road, air conditioned, pool, food, drink, 15 televisions all showing sport, table football and free internet. I'm sat here right now typing this. The place becomes a night club at around 11pm, the pool tables are replaced by podiums, and the music becomes louder and more hardcore. I love this place, but I can't wait to leave. My next post will be made just minutes away from a beach, and I'll tell the tale of when our 2 person room ending up housing 2 drunken Germans, 2 Americans and a Thai guy.
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