More Nepal and Thailand

When we returned from pokhara, we attended a birthday party - yes, such sophisticated socialites we are, we even get invited to birthday parties in Nepal. This was Arjun's nephew's birthday: and there was cake, fruit, our old friend dahl bhat and of course... Dancing.  The days that followed were much the same as the last week as we settled in more to our routine of dal baht for breakfast and dinner, as well as teaching and looking after the kids. As our farewell, the children danced and sang, presenting us with tikka an wishing us 'best of luck'. We were inconvienienced slightly by the lack of organisation from Asim and co. which meant a 4am bus from Thulakhet to Pkk for a 7.30 onwards connection for KTM. The Happy Home that greeted us seemed like a 5* Hotel with pillows, and moreover the western toilets (with paper). We were excited about moving on to Thailand and this was carried onto the flight when we made full advantage of the offer of free beer. After a tight connection (after a longer toilet stop than planned by Dan) we were on the plane to Bangkok! Once there we checked into the Merry V guesthouse afte a recommendation from the lonely planet and a fellow 55yr old traveller who we shared a tuk tuk with to Khao San Rd. Pretty quickly we realised that the measly fan would probably do little to counter the increased temperature and humidity in comparison to Nepal and consequently for the 2nd night the upgrade was made. During the day we did the major sights- the big Buddha, Chinatown (closed for labour day) and several tailors due to the tuk tuk commision scheme that runs in Bangkok- petrol vouchers for the drivers (and so better rates for us) if they drop tourists at designated shops. We fell for one more clever one- because of the labour day we were told the government were handing out vouchers for discounted entry, of course the offer was only valid for today. We were skeptical, but continued based on the fact that we were going to be taken to the TAT (Tourism Authority Thailand), a government place. Where we ended up, unbeknown to us was unseen adventures a travel agent, and £150 later we had a trip to Koh Samui booked ready for the full moon party. the trip has been great, with luxury accomodation and a wicked party) but perhaps we did pay slightly over the odds for it. The bus down to the port was overnight and took a good 10 hours and 5 hours after that we were in our accomodation- silver beach resort with a 'bungalow' (triple room with ensuit) to ourselves. We spent the remainder of the day relaxing on the beach and taking a dip into the warm sea as the sun set. The next day we saw 2 of the 4 waterfalls on the island, accompanied by an elephant ride at the first and swimming in the plunge pool of the waterfall at the second. On the way back we tool a taxi to see Hin Tay and Hin Ya- essentially rocks shaped like genatils (yes on the tourist trail!) which were overrated for a tenuous resembelence, they have some kind of spiritual connection but we certainly didn't feel it as we returned home. The next day was preperation for the full moon. Water was consumed and stomachs lined ready for a heavy night. We booked the boat over at 6.30pm and partied all night returning home at 9.30am. The drinks were served in buckets-usually 20cl of spirit mixed with coke and redbull. This proved a little too much for Dan who passed out and showed us the contents of his stomach a few times (must have been dodgy meat?!) whilst Harry and Josh kept going through them. 4 hours later and some excellent medical attention, Dan was up dancing again on one of the several massive platforms on the beach. The scale  of the party was unpresidented to us- from the platforms all you could see for about a mile were people dancing, truly amazing. Once home we slept until 4 until a double omlette and 4 toast from our local resaurant serving 'poon pan' cuisine helped sober us up. After that we once again relaxed by the sea and contemplated an overpriced massage. The next day it was time to say goodbye to the luxury and say hello to the sweatboxes of Bangkok. The boat was late and consequently we were on the last overnight bus- a suprisingly modern and spaceous affair with few people on it. The later the bus left, the more reasonable hour we arrived so it wasn't all bad. When we did arrive (6.30) we went on the hunt for accommodation and found it in the form of Ban Saabi guesthouse- recommended by the lonely planet. They let us crash there and so we did for a few hours. After that it was time for more temples this time and extended visit to Wat Traimit and the stunning Wat Arun. In the evening we visited the famous Patpong night market, home of the fakes before giving in to our cravings and having our first mcdonalds of the trip, over here they do triple cheeseburgers and double big macs! Returning to our room at 1am gave a tough early wake up in the morning, especially after the poor night we had had on the nightbus, but we were due to have a  free guided tour of the National Museum, which was intersting but did drag on. After checking out our bags and leaving them at the station ready for our 10pm sleeper train to Chiang Mai, we once again visited the maze that is the huge MBK centre, but the cool aircon was a welcome relief to the hot and humid outdoors. That evening we paid Chinatown a visit, which had more street sellers than central Bangkok, some even selling delicacies like shark fin soup! We resisted and settled for rice and pork with a mango shake (total cost about £1) before walking to the station to get the train; older and slower than we thought, but still more comfortable and cheaper than the bus. We hope you like the latest set of pictures, we finally have a card reader so it will be much easier to upload. Please excuse the poor grammer- done on the iPhone   Harry, Dan and Josh