Worldwide Wanderers

Happy New Year from Bangkok…..

After some packing disagreements and some UN style negotiation..apparently 6 kaftans and hair straighteners aren’t deemed essential travel necessities by Pads…we managed to zip shut the backpacks….not sure the kids fared too well looking at the end packing result. We headed off to Heathrow on a coach (yes an actual coach) well we did say we’d try new things…I haven’t been on a coach since the Manchester – London Megabus in the late 90’s…slightly different experience this time…

After the 48 hour journey back from Uganda via an unexpected East Africa adventure (would highly recommend Rwanda) the flight to Bangkok was always going to seem rather easy and we weren’t disappointed. We’ve spent a great few days in Bangkok wandering the markets, temples and eating amazing street food which is ridiculously cheap. Gabsey’s vocabulary has generally consisted of “that stinks” or “that’s disgusting”…the only time he’s been quiet is when he saw the Bangcroc street food stall…nothing like a spit roast crocodile to make him lost for words. Evangeline has been seduced by Thai foot massages and the flowers in the temples….incredible to see the Buddhist New Year celebrations.

The hostel which I feared was going to be so close to Khao San Road I was going to have to explain to the kids why the ladies were wearing their underwear outside bars, I was slightly relieved to find it a couple of streets back in a much quieter residential area. A traditional Thai house converted into a very small and charming hostel located on the banks of the canale….idyllic…well unless it’s New Years Eve in Bangkok. We managed to squeeze the kids to stay awake until 11pm with the promise of sparklers only to be woken by the dulcet tones of German Techno pop at 5am by 3 young lads in the room next to us. Amazingly the kids slept through so Pads and I had a big box, little box dance off until they ran out of steam and passed out…

Next stop Vietnam where we’ll spend a few weeks travelling down from Hanoi to HCMC. South East Asia is apparently “all mine”….I thought this meant just booking some accommodation….failed to understand that I needed to book transport too so this may be an interesting few weeks. Backpacks are all repacked although Pads has implemented a strict no backpack sharing policy (always thought sharing was caring) so I’ve already had to sacrifice some clothing…