After a very long flight to Singapore in which I lost five
hours and the night, I found a very beautiful and so well-organised airport. I
got on the sky train to change terminals and found myself at a coffee shop with
no Singapore money! A very nice Englishman must have seen the need for coffee
look on my face and he offered to buy me a cup! It has been amazing to see how
kind people are as I travel around. It just shows me that we all need to be
aware of those around us even more. I have sometimes helped people with their
luggage and even with lifting pushchairs – so easy to do! After a four-hour
wait, the next flight was to Bangkok. I was exhausted and planned a nice
two-hour snooze BUT was surrounded by American teenagers in a tour group
heading for Bangkok and boy were they LOUD! It made me very proud of my beautiful Eurotour
children who always get complimented about their lovely behaviour. To top it
all, the girl seated behind me – obviously the loudest one - said “like” so
many times, she drove this English teacher mad!
There is such a clever taxi system in Bangkok – you are
given a ticket number and sent to a bay so each driver gets his turn. After driving for 45 minutes into the
unknown, I arrived at my tiny Airbnb hotel and what a blessing it was to be
there! The two receptionists, Bea and Ann, were so charming and I was in a
perfect location – by accident, especially as my booking was so last minute! As I walked around, my first impression was
that it was very like Vietnam but calmer… the same smells, horror electric
cables, street food, tiny shops selling everything and gentle people were
everywhere.
After my walk, I found myself sitting in my gorgeous room
and I must admit to feeling quite shell-shocked and asking myself… Why am I
here what am I up to? What is the point of this whole journey? I realised I was
tired and stressed by the sudden change in destination and by my total lack of
preparation. Then I realised ….I am in what was SIAM – I am finding out about
life in other countries and I am blessed! I took an antihistamine tablet, slept
for eleven hours and felt much better!
The next day, after a gorgeous breakfast and a nice chat to
a young Chinese guy keen to practise his English, I headed for the Palace and temples,
which were all in walking distance! It is
such a blessing to be in an area from where you can walk everywhere. A rude
guard sent me back to get a T-shirt, despite the fact that I had covered myself
in a huge shawl. I think my red hair was the problem! The palace and temples were very beautiful,
but I soon found myself where I always seem to be drawn… back on the water! I
went on a lovely long canal ride in a longboat – I was the only passenger. The river
is quite smelly, but it is interesting to see a city from the water. Back on
the land, I went to another temple, got the ferry across the river and decided
to have a ride on a tuktuk to the Siam Centre! I chose a wild guy! Another
tuktuk pulled up next to us and the young English chap who was the passenger
and I started chatting….we carried on the conversation each time we got to a
robot, with our drivers dicing each other! Mine won! The Siam Centre is a huge,
very modern mall – such a contrast to the tiny homes along the river!
On the plane again for the flight to Phuket, I was seated
next to a Jordanian lady solar energy professor who had studied in Germany -
the world is full of interesting people! Fortunately, taxis are cheap in in Thailand as
I had a 45-minute trip to Kamala Bay and another lastminute.com Airbnb
blessing. My hostess, Poupae, was so kind. She even drove me around in her own
car. She drove me to Kamala Bay that
evening and I pulled a real Shirley Valentine, as I sat looking at the
beautiful sea and eating alone….. but this was not Greece, so there was no
Costa – just as well – what would I do with him?
On Sunday, Pupae dropped me in Patong – it was quiet because
it was a Sunday! I sat in Starbucks – reading an American newspaper and
watching people and hearing Afrikaans! It is quite strange to be anonymous, but
also interesting. It has been lovely travelling with friends, but travelling
alone is also fine. It gives me more time to observe and also to make the
effort to connect with people around me, if I want to do so. I walked a lot and
then got lost so I grabbed two nice Thai girls and showed them the photo I had
taken of my meeting point and they took me there. Pupae took me to the market
on Talang Road and I had some nice Thai food there.
The next day, I decided to take a chill day – then I
realised that I needed to make more effort so facebooked my friend, Bev
Gibbens’ connection in Phuket – Wantana Annie! She was ill so she sent her
husband in their tuktuk to take me around the island! We had a great time –
went to the bird park (to see some of “my” birds – ostriches, hornbills,
crowned cranes) and lots of other beautiful ones, went into tiger cages, saw
the Big Buddha, saw more temples, ate nice Thai food … this trip gave me a good
feel of the island.
I had an early flight to Kho Samui on 21 July. I was seated
next to a man, called Eric, on holiday with his four children – aged between
sixteen and twenty-three. I heard him talking French to them, so – as usual – I
had to show off! And so we had a one-hour conversation all the way to Bangkok –
only in French! I managed quite well I think – I did get mixed up between the
verb “to cry” and “to rain” so I think I was talking about crying clouds! Eric
is a baker in Perpignan, near the Spanish border. He is also a homeopath – a
very interesting man. He reminded me of Juliette Binoche in “Chocolat” – wisdom
mixed with food!
Arriving in Kho Samui, I found a pretty little open air
airport and a very efficient minibus system so I was dropped at Big Buddha
Pier, only about 3 kilometres away where I was met by my Russian host, Nikita,
and taken to my huge room. He and his wife, Dara, work on their laptops all day
– selling murder mystery games in Russia and placing ads in google! They even asked me to help with names of some
of their games.
I had no idea what I where I was really – just when I get used to a place and get it
sussed out, it seems to be time to move on! That’s one of the challenges I am
learning to overcome! Learning to chill as I go along is a good lesson. I walked
about 3kms to Fisherman’s village which is really pretty and had a snack and
drink at two places. I took a chance and booked a day trip for next day – the
weather was not great! There were big clouds on way home so I took ride on the
back of a motorbike!
On Wednesday, I was so lucky to enjoy a stunning day out – everyone
was in couples or groups – poor me! But it all turned out fine…. 3 young people
from the UK – street dancers - and Australian couple and I sat in the front of the
speedboat and made friends. I also chatted to Tung, the guide, who comes from
Myanmar and has left his family there to work in Thailand. Life is tough for
lots of people. We had a lovely boat
ride to some reefs, went snorkelling, climbed 160 steep steps to see a beautiful
inland lake, had a lovely Thai lunch and went kayaking – one of the English
chaps paired up with me. That night, I was having supper alone in hotel across
the road as was a young girl – so I asked her to join me and we had a lovely
chat. She is from England, but works in Dubai. I then went with her to shop in the main town
– me to look, her to shop! I think I saw a lady boy? Anyway, then it was home
to pack for my three flights the next day!
 |
| Another huge room - in Kho Samui |
I had to get up very early and was at the airport in Kho
Samui at 6am on Thursday 23 July – it was my big travel day – three fights and
three countries. The man across the road from where I was staying was my taxi
driver. What a beautiful airport at Kho Samui. It is bright and colourful and
very open air. In fact, duty free shopping is all outdoors. I got a huge fright
to see that the flight to Phuket was cancelled – and then I remembered that I
was flying to Bangkok! We flew on a small Thai airlines plane and were taken to
the plane in cute little open trolley buses. I was seated next to another
interesting lady – Merethe from Bodo in the north of Norway – I gave her some
travel tips and she told me how best to cruise the fjords – definitely on the
list! We got on very well – I am really enjoying meeting so many people from
other countries!
Three hours after landing, I was on the way to Singapore and
that flight was really comfortable. I sat with two Chinese ladies – so no
chatting – just lots of reading. Singapore’s airport is absolutely beautiful. They
even measure graciousness levels among their workers – and they are very
gracious and kind. I had another break there and then, the four-hour flight to
Hong Kong. That was on a huge Boeing 777. Hong Kong airport is also huge and it
took a long time to collect luggage and get through Customs. I bought an
Octopus card and found the bus into town – it left at 10.45 and took over an
hour to get into the area where I was staying. The driver was wild, to say the
least, and luggage was flying around downstairs! When I got off, I found a very
kind man (walking in the streets at midnight!) who grabbed some of my luggage
and walked with me trying to find my hotel. I have been so touched by so many
kind people…. Although finding a man at midnight in Hong Kong to help you find
your hotel is quite strange. It is amazing how much easier it is becoming to
trust people now – we are always so nervous in South Africa.
I am so so
grateful to Janique Klingelhoeffer, my Hong Kong guru and guide who just loves
Hong Kong and who has drawn up travel plans for me! here's to an exciting time in Hong Kong! I think I am getting used to this way of life!
