Day 56 – Bangkok
Mu bus takes 4 bladder-bustlingly-baffling U-Turns to reach its stop. I take a commuter boat then loose myself in Chinatown before discovering public aerobics.
Day 57 – Bangkok
Chatuchak Market furnishes me with a Rolega watch and many others with similarly shoddy goods. My red-light-district crawl doesn’t work during the afternoon. Mime entertainment at the theatre festival.
Day 58 – Bangkok
The two hour journey to Samut Prakan’s Ancient City takes four hours. This assortment of pilfered Thai architecture is, however, well worth a visit.
Day 59 – Ayuttaya
Missing train travel, I take one North to the ancient city, forgetting that ruins are generally boring. Heat necessitates napping. Incredible riverside green curry.
Day 60 – Pak Chong
Lying between two other destinations on my Westerly train route, Pak Chong boasts a few nature-based excursions. Increasing illness isn’t helped by a rare boozey night with friendly Floridians.
Day 61 – Surin
There’s an elephant festival! But is starts tomorrow.
Day 62 – Surin
There’s an elephant festival! But I can’t find it. Eventually I do. I am the only White guy here without a Thai bride and a pension.
Day 63 – Surin to Siem Reap, Cambodia
There’s an elephant buffet! Elephants eat a heck of a lot of fruit. Cambodian roads don’t, apparently, exist. Leaving Thailand feels markedly like moving continents.
Day 64 – Siem Reap
Sunrise at Angkor Wat is cancelled due to cloud. 4:30am was keen. Tuktuk tour today, followed by an afternoon of River Festival watching. Begin reading Paul Theroux’s ‘Ghost Train to the Eastern Star’ with the Siem Reap chapter; he writes about finding a bootleg photocopy of his book and I realise I too am holding one.
Day 65 – Siem Reap
Going it solo on a bicycle for Angkor today – a test of endurance both of the body and the mind, since temple-spotting can drag. Jungles are fantastic. Watch a hilarious teenage disco from the walls.
Day 66 – Battambang
Notoriously unscrupulous travel agents earn their status by messing up bundles of tickets, including my eagerly-anticipated scenic boat trip. Somewhat dejected, I take a bus. Touts stop at nothing to earn a buck.
Next…
Phnom Penh
Sihanoukville
Chau Doc
Ho Chi Minh
Japan
