Living in Bangkok with Two Lurchers

As we're approaching one whole year in Thailand, I thought it might be nice to check in with the dogs and see how they've found the whole experience.  How have they survived the rainy season? Have they made any new friends? Do they miss the rolling green fields of Northamptonshire? Charles the laziest dog in the world... Let's start with Charles. Now he is the older and larger of the two, and definitely, the dominant one, which quite frankly is a good thing as goodness knows what would happen if Siale had to take the lead! Charles is more greyhound than any other type of sighthound. He looks very athletic, he's very agile - able to jump very high and very precisely from a standing start. He's a complex character, sometimes behaving aggressively towards other dogs (which actually works pretty well to keep the soi dogs at bay) but also loves nothing more than being spooned on the sofa. He is obsessed with cats but is constantly battling his urge to chase them ...

As I sat in Siem Reap International Airport watching the various travellers preparing to depart on the next stage of their adventure, I couldn’t help feeling as if I was living life in a bit of a strange order. I don’t think I’ve regressed exactly, despite my new found interest in travel my 35-year-old body does demand a certain level of comfort that a hostel can’t provide. But I do seem to be retracing the steps that my friends took in their early 20s. Weekend Break So last weekend we visited Siem Reap - the novelty of being able to hop on a flight on a Friday night to visit somewhere that previously seemed remote and exotic has certainly not worn off! I’d pre-booked a 2-day tour -I use the word ‘tour’ is used in the loosest sense as it was essentially a driver and a car who drove between the various attractions and gave us water. That being said it did take away all the thinking about where to go, where to get tickets etc., and as it was insanely hot getting into an air-conditi...

There doesn't appear to be much sign of any Thai lessons starting through work any time soon - I really wish I'd had the thought earlier! The Basics But anyway I've decided to try to expand my knowledge of basic, everyday Thai phrases. I quite quickly learned the various greetings, the numbers and how to say left and right, which essentially qualifies me to get a taxi and buy things! Actually, this basic level of Thai has served me well so far, but there are a few more things I'd like to be able to say. So this week I have learnt to tell the time in Thai. The main reason for this is that I have a daily conversation with Chaiwat, my driver, about what time we need to leave the next day, or when I need to be picked up. He's managed to learn how to tell the time in English and actually since I've known him he's definitely made an effort to learn more English words. I at least need to maintain the same equivalent level of Thai as Chaiwat's level of Eng...