BKK KSR

So - onwards.  The departure from Bombay was, of course, fraught with negotiations with over-enthusiastic Sikh taxi drivers and their brothers and the airport wait was supplemented with my remains 50 Rps.  But that was it - India done.

There was something of a relapse from the very first flight of the trip with paranoia about crashing and paranoia about everyone else on the plane being more friendly to each other than they were to me.

But the change once touching down in BKK could not have been more marked.   Got a taxi from the airport to town with a couple and a chap called Michael.  The couple had come from Thailand to India and back again - had only lasted a couple of weeks before the dirt got the better of them.  And Michael - a lone traveller who was gradually trying to get his motorbike home.  

And The Khao San Road - that famous backpackers Mecca of banana pancakes, street food and drinks over a pirate copy of Back to the Future II.  We naturally chose a spot off of the road, at the far end - just to prove our 'distance' from 'them'.  But I couldn't have been happier - a comfortable bed that was the location of my first siestas of the trip and a sense that this place was going to be considerably easier than the last five weeks.

Temple hunting is, of course, a must in BKK but these, as you'll know, redefine the word 'breath-taking'.  My natural propensity for not having prepared myself properly resulted in my being taken entirely by surprise as to the beauty and the meditative glory of these places.  The sitting, reclining or standing buddhas - every single one was a source of delight and wonder.

Even the 'last day of the gem sale' hawkers were worth a chat.  Even the 'getting lost looking for a meditation centre' was stress free.  Michael and I hung out (occasionally with others, mostly alone), celebrated his birthday (33), went to the weekend market, went to see 'True Lies' and lay in the guesthouse room, reading (where he had the rather unedifying habit of playing with himself whilst doing so).

It seems I was rather preoccupied with looking out for those girls from Hampi whilst tucking into my latest banana pancake with condensed milk and chocolate.  But to no avail.  I was overwhelmed with wonder at the ease of arranging my next 'leg' and that was it - onto the River Kwai!