Thursday, June 16, 2005
apocalypse now
bloody hell,... 2 days in bangkok and i am already missing northern thailand. had such a wonderful time there, even got offered a few hilltribe women for marriage. had to decline, but might come back to the offer in future years/months. have to say the north is the highlight of this trip so far. it will be hard to beat. dirt cheap, friendly and honest people. the scenery wild, stunningly beautiful and very mountainous. for the last 3 days i rented a chopper (honda 250 cc) and raced up and down the mountains over some roller coaster hills, luckily surviving without a crash.
was hard to say farewell to all the friends i made in pai. first of all willow "the sadhu", a 75 year old american hippie who dropped out in the 60s and never came back, still munching acid, magic mushrooms and 5 joints a day as if there is no tomorrow. 5 days on his permaculture farm brought me back to a saner reality and slowed me down considerably, after buzzing for nearly 3 months in singapore. his discussions about life and the universe will be missed. realized my journey has just begun.
there was dang, a jolly 35 year old thai woman who cooked like a real pro and opened her heart and house to all kinds of weird people, including myself. one day i came back from a motorbike trip with some forest mushrooms, bought from 3 lisu girls on the side of the road, and dang made the most delicious meal. i will miss her smile.
spent my birthday getting back from pai to chiang mai in a weather beaten bus, with half the locals vomiting after the hundreds of hairpin bends. had dinner with a swiss friend and then to the railway station to get the night train to bangkok. fell in love with the female train attendant. some of these thai women are just stunning. as soon as i arrived in chaos city i realized i wasnt ready to leave thailand. luckily i was able to change my flight to sri lanka once more, thank you sri lankan airlines.
now i am back at kaosan road in bangkok, after not having been here for 6 years. the place has changed a bit, more commercialised. the big money has arrived. still the crowd is the same, a meeting point for travellers from all over the world. at night you just sit back and watch the circus in front of you, the different tribes of travellers parading up and down THE ROAD in colourful outfits, usually a telling sign where they just came from.
i am staying just off kaosan, in a real fleapit, the room wallsstained and live wires coming out from the light switch, the heat is unbearable, a huge fan hovering above my head, reminding me of martin sheen in APOCALYPSE NOW..... and loving it. just waiting for marlon to come through the door at any moment.
will be going to pattaya tomorrow and maybe check the area along the cambodian border, might find a few khmer rouge still hiding in the jungle. ah life is exciting....
was hard to say farewell to all the friends i made in pai. first of all willow "the sadhu", a 75 year old american hippie who dropped out in the 60s and never came back, still munching acid, magic mushrooms and 5 joints a day as if there is no tomorrow. 5 days on his permaculture farm brought me back to a saner reality and slowed me down considerably, after buzzing for nearly 3 months in singapore. his discussions about life and the universe will be missed. realized my journey has just begun.
there was dang, a jolly 35 year old thai woman who cooked like a real pro and opened her heart and house to all kinds of weird people, including myself. one day i came back from a motorbike trip with some forest mushrooms, bought from 3 lisu girls on the side of the road, and dang made the most delicious meal. i will miss her smile.
spent my birthday getting back from pai to chiang mai in a weather beaten bus, with half the locals vomiting after the hundreds of hairpin bends. had dinner with a swiss friend and then to the railway station to get the night train to bangkok. fell in love with the female train attendant. some of these thai women are just stunning. as soon as i arrived in chaos city i realized i wasnt ready to leave thailand. luckily i was able to change my flight to sri lanka once more, thank you sri lankan airlines.
now i am back at kaosan road in bangkok, after not having been here for 6 years. the place has changed a bit, more commercialised. the big money has arrived. still the crowd is the same, a meeting point for travellers from all over the world. at night you just sit back and watch the circus in front of you, the different tribes of travellers parading up and down THE ROAD in colourful outfits, usually a telling sign where they just came from.
i am staying just off kaosan, in a real fleapit, the room wallsstained and live wires coming out from the light switch, the heat is unbearable, a huge fan hovering above my head, reminding me of martin sheen in APOCALYPSE NOW..... and loving it. just waiting for marlon to come through the door at any moment.
will be going to pattaya tomorrow and maybe check the area along the cambodian border, might find a few khmer rouge still hiding in the jungle. ah life is exciting....
