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Walking in Bangkok

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I suppose it’s probably about time I started writing about living in Bangkok instead of yammering on about nice walks in the Northamptonshire countryside. In fairness, I have only been here for 5 days, although, as is often the case in these kinds of scenarios, familiarity with my surroundings has developed at such a pace that I feel like I’ve been here for a few weeks. The First Walk Having landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport nice and early on Sunday morning, I was able to beat the Bangkok traffic (for once) and get to the house for 08:00. The most obvious thing to do after a 12-hour flight was to take the dogs on their first walk in Thailand. Chris had quite rightly opted to allow the dogs to settle into the house and garden for a day or so, rather than attempting to take on the soi dogs and whatever else Bangkok had to offer, but there was no avoiding it now. The roads were quiet, the temperature was relatively mild, and we had two pairs of hands. We set out equipped with a good sup...
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The Break Up

So our time in Thailand is over!  I have to say the last two weeks have been both the best and worst of my life. I’m not trying to compare what I’ve experienced to people experiencing genuine problems in their lives but it’s truly been an emotional rollercoaster. The actual logistics of leaving Thailand has straightforward and seamless. Chris left a week ago and has been getting everything set up back in the UK. The dogs got picked up, flew back and arrived safely. And our container has already docked and will be delivered next week. And finally, I’m on the plane currently passing over Kazakhstan, the biggest setback being denied the purchase of a bottle of gin at the airport as I have a connecting flight. But the accompanying emotion has been overwhelming. I feel like Thailand has been steadily tightening its grip on me, showing me all it’s best bits in a crazy, hedonistic and affectionate whirlwind. The difference between my departure from the UK to leaving Thailand this ...
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Carry On Camping Thailand

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We really are on the final countdown now! With just two weeks to go it's not going to be a gentle exit from Thailand. Instead, the intensity of the Thai experience is increasing, with everyone I know very keen for me to leave Thailand with extra special memories. The experience this weekend was camping in Khao Yai National Park with a motley crew of Thai friends from work. Camping is not something I would normally choose to do, even though as a child I was in the Scouts and went camping all the time in some pretty grim conditions! I am just drawn towards a nice hotel nowadays. But as it's very unlikely that I will get the opportunity to go camping in Thailand again, it seemed acceptable to do it for one night! But even my previous camping experience could not really prepare me for camping 'Thai style'. Here are a few things I learned over the weekend. 1. Plans are guidelines and need not be followed. This actually comes as no surprise, especially as the plan w...
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Raining Cats & Dogs

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After almost 2 years living and working in Thailand, I thought I was beyond the farcical mishaps I had encountered in my early days. I thought experiences such as my first ride on a  motorcycle taxi  were a thing of the past. But it seems that when you start to let down your guard and relax, Bangkok is still there waiting to take you down. Packing Up, Moving On The focus of this week was supposed to be the big packing up process. And as far as Monday and Tuesday were concerned, it was. We'd spent weeks organizing and decluttering, and now we were ready for the small army of Thai movers to descend on the house. And this all went on pretty seamlessly for two days and then that was it - empty house! At the completion of this milestone in our relocation plan, we were now looking forward to enjoying the last few weeks in Thailand. An Unexpected Visitor Part of our general merriment plans included trying to eat at all the restaurants, cafes, food vendors that we'v...
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