Day 108 - Planning and Chilling

So we went to the pool today, although I couldn't swim due to my knee, and discussed what to do - due to the state of my leg I don't think we'll be trekking in the national park with Marie's friends, instead we might go back to Asha, where I was staying before, as the guards at Marie's tried to charge me 500 Baht for staying last night, and did so to another girl as well - apparently this has never been an issue before, so they must be having a crackdown of sorts. Also, Asha is a better place from which to explore bits of Bangkok we haven't seen, as I'm not sure if Salaya is even in Bangkok.

We ended up paying the 500 Baht, as it was easier than arguing, and was only 19 Baht more than going and getting an aircon room at Asha. In the evening we went to a place called Rob's Bar, run by a guy who is a student at the Uni, and also went to King's Bruton, and knows my mate Rob Child! Wierd. They had an open mic night on which mainly consisted of a chap called John from Derby singing various songs by the Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon and a few others. I enjoyed it a lot, the international students seem like a cool bunch.

Day 106/7 - Back to Bangkok, again

Tuesday was a rather unremarkable day, overcast and grey, so all we did was sit, read, and eat. In the evening it was rather odd, we couldn't find anyone around - there were a few people in the bars, but nowhere near as many as there had been in Sunset. We met some friendly Dutch people and chatted with them for a while, but I decided to have an early night as I had to be up at 8 to go and get the Songthaew/Ferry/Bus back to Bangkok. This was fairly uneventful, I made all the connections without any problem, talked to a cool guy from Bristol called Bill at the bus station. The VIP bus was reasonably comfy and cheap, although I ended up sitting next to an old monk for the journey, and this meant I was constantly aware of where my feet were pointing, which sucks as I am a little taller than the seats allow, meaning that the most comfortable position for me is with my feet up on the seat...

My knee isn't as bad as I feared, although due to the placement of the missing skin (all the way round my kneecap) it won't quite heal, or at least it does if I stay still for a few hours, then cracks the second I walk. I was hoping it might have healed a bit more by the time I write this, but it is still a bit of a problem. I arrived back in Khao San, picked up my stuff and headed off to the public bus stop, to head up to Salaya - this was an hour long journey, mostly made standing, carrying both my bags, which must now weigh upwards of 30 kg combined. After 40 minutes or so I managed to get a seat on top of the engine, which was extremely hot, and resulted in me burning myself a couple of times, although quite minorly. On arrival at Marie's, we had to sneak our stuff in over the hedge to avoid detection, although I still had to be signed in. The life of an international exchange student in Thailand is pretty much the same as that of a student at home - everyone was sitting about watching pirated american TV shows, which we joined in, before going for dinner at the poolside restaurant. I currently have no plans for this weekend, although I'm sure some will crystallise pretty soon.

Day 105/6 - Addendum

So last night I met Sally and a couple of other people (a dude she worked with in Vancouver called Dave, and the sister of a friend of Marie, from Sydney) and we had a few relaxing drinks at Treehouse, before going to the place next door which was BANANAS. There was drum 'n' bass and it was packed full of people dancing out on a deck over the sea, which bounced a good inch or so with every beat. At about 4 this morning Sally suggested we go for a swim, so we did, but I think it may have all been an elaborate ruse for Sally and Dave to get together, although I have yet to confirm this - if this is not true I apologise for any sleight on her character, however she only got in at noon, and is now passed out in the bungalow in the still-damp clothes from last night. Golly there were a lot of contradictions in that sentence.

edit: Turns out that was a sleight on Sally's character, and nothing happened. Sorry x

It was pissing down for a few hours (apparently) last night, and as a result the island seems deserted today, and covered in puddles - I plan to read my book and lie in a hammock, convalescing. Also, I thought my flight from Singapore was on the 31st, i.e. Thursday, however I have just learnt that it is in fact on the 19th, i.e. far enough away that I needn't worry about it. Phew.

Day 105 - Motorbike Mayhem

Today I woke up feeling great after the best night's sleep I've had in weeks, had an awesome breakfast and rented a motorbike, aiming to head over to Long beach on the other side of the island. As we got to the northern tip, going round a particularly sharp bend, I lost control of my bike, wobbled a bit and fell, sliding along the ground on my knee and elbow with the bike on top of me. Arse. I could see Sally behind me looking shocked, so I gave her a thumbs up as I slid by. The wing mirror snapped off, and I ended up with the bike wedged under the railing, and noone stopped - about 20 cars and bikes drove by, seeing me on the floor, before one guy shouted and asked if I was OK. We headed back into town to find the clinic, but by the time we got there I found out that it wasn't as bad as I thought, so I went to the Pharmacy where the guy told me I had now got a "Koh Chang Kiss", and recommended I go to the garage down the road to fix the wing mirror, as it would be cheaper. He was right, and while we were there the owner's pet monkey took quite a shine to my friends Sally and Lauren, jumping on their heads an picking stuff out of their hair.

Back at the bungalows, having sent the girls off to Bang Bao, I realised Sally had the key to our room, so I had to get back on the bike (which I really wasn't up for) and head down to the stilt village to try and find them - I succeeded, and w ended up having a delicious, if somewhat messy, meal of fried fish, crab and prawns, before riding back and cleaning up my various cuts and bruises - I have an entirely mummified toe, huge plasters on my knee, and a bandaged wrist where I bent it backwards - in case anyone hadn't noticed from the last few weeks, I seem rather accident prone. When we returned the bikes, I thought I was going to get away with it, but the dude checked the bike and ended up charging me 4,500 Baht for the damage - that's 58 quid I wasn't ready to spend.

I'm going to go back to Treehouse and try and get a hammock, using my wounds as a bargaining tool if necessary. Tomorrow I'm doing nothing strenuous or dangerous, just reading my book on the beach and saving money.

Day 103/4 - Days & nights on the Beach

Day 103 (Saturday 26th) - Happy Australia Day!

Well, what happened today... after a leisurely breakfast, Marie and I spent the day on the beach, during which we got sunburnt (but only a little bit), swam in the awesome warm water, and generally chilled out. Other than that, today was pretty empty, but wonderful. We went to Treehouse bar for sunset and dinner, then watched the fire show at Nature bar, until it poured down with rain and everyone ran for cover, except Marie and I who remained out in the warm rain. We sat in hammocks, drank buckets and chatted for a while before returning home - yesterday there was talk of motorbike hire, boat trips and the like, but none of this ever came to fruition.

Day 104 (Sunday 27th) - See you in Bangkok...

Last night when we got back to the room there was a 2 inch cockroach sitting on our mosquito net, which I had to chase out of the door with a plastic bag. Just thought I'd mention it. Today we did much the same as yesterday, having an awesome breakfast at our place before making the 10 metre journey to the beach, where we met Sally - now that Marie has to go back to Uni Sally has kindly offered me her room to share until Wednesday, when I'll go back to Bangkok. Marie and her friends left at 3 this afternoon, to start the 8 hour journey back, at the end of which there is an assignment to be done which is due in tomorrow morning. Rubbish. I spent the rest of the day on the beach with Sally, and finally finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, after weeks of very enjoyable reading - I recommend it to anyone, and now have to find someone to take it off my hands. On our way to Treehouse, we found a fresh looking coconut and spent ages getting into it, using rocks, knives and our bare hands, culminating in us slurping milk out of our hands and gnawing on the flesh. It is a lot harder than it looks to get into a fresh coconut. After sunset at Treehouse, I moved my stuff up to Sally's, which is really fancy, especially compared to our bamboo hut, even if it is a little bit away from the beach. Now we're off for dinner and an adventure, maybe ending up at Lemon bar, where it is Male night, whatever that may mean.

Day 102 - to Koh Chang!

So, as (sort of) planned, Marie and I set off at half 6 this morning on our way to Koh Chang. This involved a ridiculously long, slow and expensive cab ride, followed by a 4 hour bus ride, an hour on a ferry, some time in the back of a Songthaew and a while wandering around looking for a room. We eventually found one for 700 baht a night (which is extortionate, by the way), and were in the sea by about half three, and we stayed in until sunset - it's perfect, so warm and clear, the beach is fine if a little crowded, and all's well - when I was here 5 years ago there was only one place to stay on this whole beach, now the whole thing is lined with resorts, bars and bungalows. It seems like a completely different island. We went to Ting Tong bar last night for a few drinks with Marie's friends (ohm I bumped into Sally on the beach today as well, which was cool) who sang a few songs as it was open Mic night. There was also a Thai guy playing called Ricky who was truly awesome, really nice to listen to. It was Marie's friend Michelle's birthday too, which resulted in various drunken dramas, all centred around Michelle, but as an outsider they were just sort of absurd and amusing to watch the various Americans getting all upset about nonsense. Also I went and chose a hammock as a present for her, which seemed to chill her out for a bit. We ended the night lying on the sand watching the stars and listening to old reggae, which was a pretty awesome end to a pretty awesome day. The only worry is how long will we be able to stay here, and is Marie going to skip Uni on Monday...

Day 100/101 - Woohoo!

Wow, that was a pretty awesome day. Dave went off to get his suit pretty early, and I read my book and dozed by the pool for a few hours. I texted the girl I met at Culture One (Marie) to tell her I was leaving Bangkok and it was a pity we didn't meet up again, she promptly replied and said she'd been trying to reach me yesterday, and did I fancy going out for a drink with her and some mates. When Dave eventually returned, we discussed this and after dinner and a fond farewell, (which included some really in depth discussion of past relationships, for some reason), I went off to RCA to meet Marie and co. On the way there I was chatting to the cabbie, and he asked if I wanted 'boom-boom' and proffered a variety of postcards of girls - I politely declined, and had a small nap instead. RCA is a mental street of bars, often with many sharing the same entrance before becoming a bewildering array of music and lights, including a live band in the toilet of Route 66. After chatting to Marie for a bout 5 minutes, I mentioned I might go to Phi Phi tomorrow, to which she replied "come to Koh Chang instead, we're going for the weekend!" After about 2 seconds of deliberation I accepted this offer, as it was my favourite place when I was here before. We had a really cool evening together, and I think I'll be meeting her after Uni today maybe, it's all an exciting mystery...

Day 99 - MORE shopping, and a tumultuous last night

I woke up having had almost no sleep, as I had been coughing all night for some reason. Having decided to take it easy, today was yet another day of shopping, although more for the others than for me. Rob and I went to MBK again and met Dave and Sally there, it was an uneventful trip apart from one rather awesome treat - Dave snuck off for a while, and came back with presents for Rob and I - badges reading "Sorry Girls" (see the Vang Vieng pictures for some sort of explanation) which we both are sporting proudly on our Japanese man bags. Yes, you read that right. We got a Tuk-tuk back to Khao San, and the driver got lost along the way, meaning that a tiresome journey became almost unbearable. I also received a present from Rob, which is a t-shirt which says "a city built on rick 'n' roll would be structurally unsound", which I saw the other day and had been searching for ever since. What awesome chaps, I haven't got them anything yet, I've decided to pick up something on my way to Melbourne/ Sydney.
After meeting the girls on the roof we went for a final dinner with Jane (the Thai girl Rob met at Spicy) at O! Hungry - Sally and Jane get on incredibly well, which is really awesome. We went to a bar called Gulliver's at the end of the road, where everyone except me got pretty wasted - due to my lack of sleep and some mild illness I was feeling pretty crap, and actually snuck off for a 20 minute nap at midnight, before doing the fastest ever sleep-dancefloor turnaround in history; under 5 minutes I believe. Rob and Hannah hooked up, meaning that occasionally it was two couples and then Sally and I, which can't have been much fun for her while I was in my exhausted state. Dave and Hannah disappeared for a while, as did Rob and Jane, leaving Sally and I up on the roof talking and trying not to speculate upon what was going on, but this was fine as afterwards we all sat in our room writing long lists of music/films/stuff that we should all get hold of before we see each other again, until Rob left at 5 this morning, leaving us with a whole 6 hours before we had to get up, check out and check me into my (depressingly) single room.

I'm close to feeling terribly sad about having to meet new people again, as it's a scary day or two when you're on your own. It's also sort of exhilarating in a way, and all will be well as long as I resist the temptation to do what I did last time I was lonely in Bangkok, and book flights home... I now have to book things (I think I'm going to Phi Phi tomorrow night to go diving), pack things (I seem to have acquired more t-shirts than I can remember buying) and post things to Australia (as I will have no need for jeans or jumpers for a while), all of which is terribly tiresome, especially since Emily has not yet replied to my request for her address. I could worry about all this, but instead I am going to go and sit in the sun, as I haven't really slept for a few nights, and am in need of some rest.

Day 97/8 - Shopping, Clubs and Garages

Day 97 (Sunday 20th) - Markets, Ping Pong and Spicy

After a slow start to the day, we met Jim, Sally and a girl called Hannah (who went to exeter, and knows John the Viking) at Chatuchak, where I bought an awesome cowboy shirt and a hammock, both red, and Rob bought another shedload of various goods. We went for an Indian to celebrate Jim's birthday, after which we failed to persuade the girls to go to Bed Supper Club, which I failed to go to when I was in Bangkok before. Instead, after some deliberation, it was decided we should go to Patpong and see a Ping-Pong show (the girls' idea, I might add). We fitted 6 people in a taxi again, which took us to a dodgy backstreet, so we made a sharp exit and headed to Patpong proper. We were taken to a club called, subtly, Super Pussy, which was horrendous, even by Patpong standards. We went to another slightly less nasty one, where we witnessed various ladies, all of whom were older than expected and looked incredibly bored doing various somewhat unspeakable acts - in summary, darts in the ceiling, eggs, bottles, flowers, ping pong balls, needles, and ropes.

We headed up the next street, apparently known as Ladyboy Street, where Sally's dad's bar is, then took a Tuk tuk to Spicy, one of a few after hours clubs in this city. The Tuk-tuk ride was the best I have ever had, and involved the guy pulling wheelies with Rob, Dave and I in the back (Jim and Hannah have photos, which will follow soon). Spicy was dead but filled up pretty soon, we had a pretty good time and met some cool people, especially Rob who met an incredibly gorgeous Thai girl called Jane. I was chatting to someone when I felt a rather invasive hand grabbing me. I turned round to see someone in a Red and White stripy dress who I had admired from across the club earlier, who had hold of me... and was clearly, if not now than at some point in her life, a man. I spluttered and ran, and when pressed on why I had been mildly ogling her earlier I may have uttered the immortal line "Well, she had pretty good boobs... for a dude". After all this nonsense, Dave and I caught a cab home via McDonalds, got in at 4 am, and haven't yet seen Rob...

Day 98 (Monday 21st) - Poolside chats and odd Bars

We didn't see Rob until 11, just after I got a call from Jane asking if he'd made it home safely. Today was spent by the pool, as we were all far too exhausted after yesterday's baking heat and shenanigans. Jane came over after work (she teaches acting), and Hannah's friend Thea has also arrived, so beers and chatting in the sun were the order of the day, until sunset (obviously, I suppose). We gave Jim his birthday present, which he seemed pretty happy about - it was a black and white print of monks at Angkhor Wat, with the robes in vibrant orange. We went for dinner at a noodle stall on Soi Rambutree, staffed by a crazy lady and her Mum, before going for buckets at The Station - this is a Shell garage by day, bar by night, complete with candles, and ashtrays (see the Culture One/Bangkok). The girls went for a massage and I met Sally later and went to try and find Rob and the others with little success, and ended up talking to her about various aspects of her life (including being in a fitness competition which involved close scrutiny of her body symmetry in the bikini round - she came second) up on the roof for hours - I think I know more about Sally than I do about myself now. Jim has departed back to England now, the first one to leave - Rob is off on Wednesday morning, the girls on Wednesday at some point, and Dave on Thursday morning. I'm going to be really sad to see them all leave, it's been really cool hanging out with these guys; having said that, I'm going to stay with Rob and Dave in Australia anyway, so it won't be too long. Now all I have to do is make some plans...

Day 94-96 - Back to Bangkok, and Hospitals

Day 94 (Thursday 17th) - To Bangkok!

We got up late and wandered Vientiane for a little while, although I mainly sat on the Internet as my foot was feeling pretty bad, I could hardly walk in fact. The Border crossing to Thailand was relatively uneventful, we played guess the ladyboy for a bit and I sat next to a french girl who cheerily told us she had acute food poisoning and was in real peril while on the bus. We caught the train from Nong Khai for the 12 hour Journey, and had a beer and played word games as I seem to have misplaced my playing cards. Rob and I watched Planet Earth on my laptop for a bit with the "Beer! Coffee!" seller, while Dave had a Velium (asked for Valium, was assured this was "same same but different" - seemed to work OK).

Day 95 (Friday 18th) - Shopping Trip

We arrived in Bangkok at 6:30 am, and promptly headed to Khao San Road to try and book into Rob's Hotel, then went for breakfast. It was still only 7:30, yet there were a load of English guys drinking beer and playing pool and generally being rowdy and letting the side down. After breakfast we went to the Adventist Mission Hospital to get Dave's stitches checked, and also my foot. Dr Elvie Villanueva proceeded to dig around in my foot with scissors and no anaesthetic, proclaim it to be rather inflamed, and sent me off for an injection which turned out to be a half hour drip of Rocephin! We eventually made it out of there and went to the MBK mall and Siam Paragon to get tickets for the Culture One Dance festival tomorrow night, and look around suits etc. for the guys. We spent ages in Hugo Boss, the place is amazing, it has a blokes' floor filled with gadgets, cars, suits etc. in which one could spend days. We came back in a Tuk-tuk, went for dinner and found Jim, played spot the sex tourist (1 pt for guy and a girl, 3 for guy-guy, 5 for guy-ladyboy), then went to the Cave bar, which has an indoor climbing wall and dancing girls in the smallest shorts we have ever seen, and The Club in which we met some girls from Staines and I felt ill, probably due to drinking on the antibiotics (although the nurse said it was fine).

Day 96 (Saturday 19th) - Culture One!

I went to the Doctors again, had another rough clean and Rocephin drip (this has cost me about £100 so far, I hope my insurance covers it). I went to Chatuchak market, failed to find the others, but bought some wicked t-shirts from the same store we saw at MBK. We met back at the hotel to get ready for the Festival, where Rob and Dave showed off some fine patchwork singlets, of which they happened to have a spare... The festival was AWESOME. We played the rejection game, and within 10 minutes Rob had a tiny Thai girl on his shoulders, allegedly called pussycat. We met loads of cool people, from all over the place, helped largely by the singlets. The Stanton warriors were good, David Morales was OK, if a little bizarre and weepy during his thank you speech at the end. I met the second girl from the rejection game again... there were problems at the end as we tried to find each other, then we met a load of teachers from the south and shared cabs back to Khao San, with 6 people in 1 cab, and went for the best Subway ever before heading home and laughing in bed at the awesomeness of the night.

Day 94 - A quick thought...

I just thought I'd mention that one of my favourite things about Laos is the fact that today I have been able to go for breakfast, a lemon shake, a cup of tea, charge my laptop and iPod and have an hour or so on the internet, all for the princely sum of about £1.50. I left the hotel this morning with £3 in my pocket, safe in the knowledge that this would almost certainly be enough for any meal I was likely to choose. I mean, Thailand's cheap, but Laos is a lot cheaper; or at least, is a lot cheaper immediately, meaning you don't have to haggle and argue for every bargain. Lovely place, Laos, I'll be sad to leave. Now I really must find a pharmacy and see what the recommend for my foot, and find a Beer Lao shirt too. Now, where's my Pince Cane...

Day 88-93 - Vang Vieng!

Day 88 (Friday 11th) - To Vang Vieng!

Had a bit of a disaster with the bus today; as I said, we missed the travel agent yesterday, so I didn't have a ticket and they didn't know where to pick up Jim from. Rob said he'd tell the guy where to come and get us, but apparently the guy wasn't up for this and nearly left without us, and only after an hour and a half of arguing did Joel persuade the guy to come back and get us, just as Jim and I were about to get a Tuk-tuk to the bus station. Phew. It was a long journey, in a tiny bus, and somewhat exhausting. We had a minor breakdown along the way as well, but everyone was too knackered and lethargic to mind too much. We arrived in Vang Vieng and found a hotel with a 4th floor roof, the highest in town, from which we watched sunset. We saw mysterious clouds in the distance, merging into one another, which we later discovered were bats coming out of nearby caves in the mountains, although it took ages for anyone to mention it in case it was a figment of one of our imaginations. We went to one of the Family guy bars (very odd phenomenon, all the bars here show non-stop Friends/Simpsons/etc.), followed by drinks at our rooftop bar.

Day 89 (Saturday 12th) - Tubing!

Today we went tubing - this involves drifting down the river from bar to bar in an inner tube, occasionally partaking in ziplines and giant rope swings into the water. It is INCREDIBLE. There are people with bamboo and bottles on a string literally fishing for customers, loads of really tanned, fit girls (and guys) all over the place, drinking and laughing. We left town at noon, went to the Organic Farm drop off point, and hopped out of the river at the first bar. The cruising down the river in the sun was nice, David and I did a tandem swing from one of the rope swings, twice. The gay shirt (see pictures) came into force for anyone who lost any challenge (I lost the breath-holding one). We got dragged the last 300ish m by some eager kids (mine was called Joe) who had caught some fish and were now acting as tiny river guides. we were exhausted upon our return, and could only just manage to slump in front of a screen in one of the bars.

Day 90 (Sunday 13th) - Bikes and Caves

We hired some bikes early, went north to cave, was quite nice, full of stalactites. then got lost a bit, kid directed us to his caves and told us we could swim. After a lengthy walk, with crappy torches, we reached a river, where he told us to swim 600m. Rob and I did it, it was absolutely dark and terrifying. we went round the corner for a while, maybe 600m, before giving up and turning back. It was really cool though, loads of weird rock formations (seemingly endless limestone steps for example), then we came back to the entrance eventually to find Jim had had his petrol stolen. We came back to town to find Chris, Katie and Emily sitting on our roof with a load of new arrivals. Rude. It's dinner time now, the swimming was tiring, and I sliced my feet up a fair bit along the way (much more than I realised at the time, actually).

Day 91 (Monday 14th) - Tubing Again!

We did far fewer swings this time, only a flying fox for me, although I got a bit too drunk and consequently can't remember a few things, like sharing the swing with Dave. The river seemed quieter this time, we didn't meet nearly as many people this time around. Also we started a lot earlier, 11ish I think, and made it back just before sunset. Along the way Rob and I played some awesome ping pong, while Dave and Joel played Volleyball. It was a pretty knackering day, I think we were in bed before 10. We are hardcore.

Day 92 (Tuesday 15th) - Private Beach

I went out biking solo today, out past the cement plant (which had big signs saying "no photo!" for a km around it) and quarry. I found a deserted bit of river with a beach(ish) and sat and read my book for a few hours. came back and bumped into Rob and Dave who'd been tubing, and got talking to a load of Aussie and Canadian girls, who were really awesome, although my chances were somewhat ruined by some boorish Aussies. At the end of the night, after an after hours bar, I was walking out of the bar and I completely missed the bridge, and ended up falling straight into a large ditch, cutting my foot again, and busting up my knees and side, rendering me entirely winded and useless.

Day 93 (Wednesday 16th) - Kayaking, Injuries & Walking Sticks

I got up, still drunk, did some very bad packing, and left Jim in the room. We got in a little Tuk-tuk van, drove an hour and a half (I felt so bad) and got off for a bit of a kayak. I shared with Dave, it was good fun, got a bit sunburnt but the worst thing was that Dave jumped off a rock into the rapids, aiming to swim down, but he slipped and ended up cutting open the skin under his chin, which resulted in heavy bleeding and an intricate and hilarious bandage. The rest of the journey passed without any further mishaps, and ended in us all sitting exhausted in the Tuk-tuk all the way to Vientiane. I have had to adopt a walking stick as the cuts on my foot hurt too much to walk normally with my bag on. We just went to the international clinic to get Dave some stitches (only $25, bargain) and I opted against getting any treatment, I think if I just keep it clean and dry it'll be fine in a day or two. If not, I'll go to a doctor in Bangkok, where I'll be for a few days. In fact, we may be leaving as soon as tomorrow, getting the overnight train all the way. I also seem to have lost a day along the way here, which is rather annoying. The rest of our evening passed uneventfully, we just ended up in bed watching 'Let's go to Prison', a quite appalling and bizarre comedy. Dave has promised to get up early and go and book our train tickets to Bangkok in the morning. Our Hero.

Day 85-7 - Luang Prabang

Day 85 - More Travel

We got the slow boat to Luang Prabang, which was much the same deal as yesterday. On arrival in Luang prabang we went out for dinner and a couple of beers, however Laos has a curfew, meaning everything closed around half eleven. Caught out, we had to get one for the road and go and drink it in our room, rubbish!

Day 86 - Minor Annoyance

I got up and wandered the streets today, went up the hill in the middle of the town for the amazing views. I got the impression from Katie last night that they'd prefer me not to be tagging along with them, which is fair enough but came as a bit of surprise. I bumped into Chris and we discussed this, so I have started making other plans, maybe I'll do a mahout course, or cruise down the Mekong to Vientiane. We sat by the river and drank until sunset, and had the same curfew problem again. The others are off to vang vieng tomorrow, and I haven't seen Jim all day.

Day 87 - Kuang Si Falls

Chris and Katie have gone, however Jim met some Aussies last night, who were going to the Waterfalls today - I went too, it was one of the highlights of my trip so far. It was tunningly beautiful, so mucch so that it didn't seem real in the slightest, it looked like a film set or part of a caribbean resort. There was also a tiger and some bears in a rescue centre at the bottom. Have a look at the photos, they don't quite get the beauty acrosss, but they'll do. There was a rope swing over one of the swimming holes, from which Joel managed to do some backflips. After overnapping massively, aand therefore missing the opportunity to book a ticket to Vang Vieng with the others, we went out to the Lao Lao gardens and I found where everyone goes after curfew - bowling! We went there until 2am, and displayed an awful lack of skills - I came second, with the pathetic score of 76.

Day 81-4

Day 81 - Beginning of Illness...

Katie, Chris, Sam and I went for a Sauna at the Good Life Cafe, which was awesome, and Emily came in half way through to say that she'd sorted travel for the 7th (the day after tomorrow). I had a shake afterwards with ultra-healthy seaweed in, and was extremely ill for most of the next two days. Like, really ill so that I can't sleep, which is annoying...

Day 82 - Ill waterfall

I slept(ish) early last night having to get up loads in the night, including once when I vomited into the shower because I couldn't make it to the toilet, which was fun to clear up silently at 3 am. In the morning we went to waterfall, out beyond Nancy and Jessie's new land, which Emily may be going into business on (!). The water was freezing, so we all went off to Pailand for dinner, watching the horses wandering through the rice fields. The Pailand guys very kindly cooked us all BBQ pork and rice,m although I felt so ill that I could only manage about half. When we got back I pretty much went to bed, and so I missed my last night in the Irie, which apparently included a moment (while i was spaced out and trying not to be ill) when Nancy looked from me to Emily and said "i want him". Damn, too late...

Day 83 - Off again

I returned my bike at about 8am, having mustered the strength to not stay in Pai. We got the minibus to Chiang Mai, during which I sat in enormous pain and turmoil sit in enormous pain for most of it, having dosed up on imodiums and water. We changed to a worse minibus to Chiang Khong, where we stayed the night at PJ's guest house, dealt with an extremely screechy woman, and got charged 1400 baht for visa services, while it should only be $35, but we had no dollars and so were at the mercy of their ad hoc exchange rates. On the upside, I managed to eat something for first time since friday morning (it's monday today). I slept like a log, although the room smelt slightly of sewage.

Day 84 - Laos!

Ok, note form time... We were up at 7, I managed to eat some toast, then we transferred across the river through the most informal border crossing ever. I exchanged $100 traveller's cheques for about 1000,000 kip, ending up with a massive loaf of cash. We got on the slow boat, and were immediately offered weed by a guy jumping from boat to boat. We settled down for cards and beer lao, but it was really crowded so after a while we moved to the back of the boat (by the engine out of a truck - still had cigarette lighter and dashboard attached!) where we settled among the bags for a few hours of reading, eating and drinking - we gave the engineer a few beers, he shared his food with us, we give him fags and he listens to BRMC. He is then awoken from his beery slumber by the lady from the kitchen, yelling at him to get on top and see the boat in. Oops. We have now arrived in pak ben village, in the Questhouse (that's what the sign says) - we were ripped off a bit, it turns out, but never mind. The room is clean enough, run on a generator so the light flashes as fan goes, and shower stops when the toilet flushes. We were offered weed and opium once again immediately we got off the boat - we politely declined, and are going to the bar for a drink now. Oh, Laos is beautiful by the way, we've been going down the Mekong all day, just greenery, sand and cows all the way. I have only seen one vehicle in 7 hours.

Day 78-80 - Hippying about.

Well, the last few days in Pai have consisted of wandering around the town, going on motorbike (well, mine's more of a scooter really) adventures, and drinking in Irie every night.

Day 78 - Wednesday was really quiet, mainly because everyone who had bikes went out on little missions, leaving me and Katie a bit stranded, so I just read (Intelligent Life is really good, thanks Clare) until the evening when we celebrated Chris' birthday at midnight with a load of buckets, before going onto Pong's bar for a couple of hours.

Day 79 - Yesterday was Chris' birthday, so we attempted to go to some hot springs in the morning, but failed as the car couldn't get up the road, so we went to Pailand instead, which is beautiful. It's a series of bamboo buildings, surrounded by rice fields with horses in them, and mountains. We sat around a fire on a bamboo platform and watched the sunset, which was incredible. After a few drinks at Irie we went and watched some live music at Reggae Place, which was really nice - just the band and about 15 people watching, sitting around a fire (again) on bamboo matting.

Day 80 - Today we went for an awesome breakfast just outside Pai, which had baked beans in it - everyone else was more excited than me, but they have been away longer. I have just been on a small adventure on my bike, out towards Chang Mai for 20 km or so, past all the Elephant camps and up into the hills a bit, to gain more confidence on my bike. I'm now off back to Irie to corral people into going to Pai Canyon for sunset. Oh, apparently I'm going to Laos tomorrow - I voiced an interest in going before I realised how soon we were going. I'll be back here around the 10th of february though I think, for the 'Combat Global Warming Raggae Festival'. Damn Hippies.

Day 77 - Hangover and adventures

New year's day was a bit of a write-off. We eventually made it out about half 4, headed up the hill to try and find some cheap/free hot springs, and found elephant farms and the temple on top of the hill, just in time for sunset, and petted some elephants on the way back. We went out to a place called Reggae Place after dinner, and got chatting to a really cool, if slightly bonkers Nepalese guy. We (Sam, Catherine, Chris and I) were all talking about, well, everything, for ages, then went back to Irie and watched Jackass 2, which was quite the antithesis of the rest of our evening. I am thinking I might get myself a motorbike for the next few days, as it makes it so much easier to get around, rather than relying on lifts all the time. Oh, also I'm out of my tent, and sharing a room with Emily, which will hopefully be a bit comfier than my little sauna.

(Sorry these are all so brief, I'm trying to catch up on a week or so)

Day 76 - Happy New Year!

Well that was a lot of fun. We had an awesome New Year's Eve, starting with waking up in my incredibly hot tent, then going up to Nancy and Jessie's temple to give food to the monks (Nancy and Jessie own Irie Bar, where I'm staying). When we got there, about 12 of us in all, including Puppy. We went in, gave them their food, and were all blessed (for want of a better word) in turn, while the monks chanted and we had water flicked over us, while the dogs fought around us. It was a pretty good way to spend a morning. Afterwards we raced back to town for as shopping excursion - they have a sort of secret Santa thing on new year's eve here, which we were all involved in, with a 200 baht budget - and then on to a nearby cafe which has 116 types of healing tea. It was then time to go and get Kate from the bus station, which we sort of succeeded in doing.

We had a BBQ back at the Irie (which Chris burnt a lot of), and exchanged presents, let off paper lanterns (which the town is now strewn with, the next morning), which looked amazing, and then realised we had done it too early and let off another load at midnight. After this we hopped on bikes to head out to Monkey bar, run by another member of the Irie crew, Pong. This was in the middle of a little cluster of bars just out of town, and was a bit odd - it was only really people who lived or worked at Irie in there, and Pong shut the doors pretty early, trapping us inside. Most of us then went on to a party down by the river, with quite rubbish music, for a bit of a dance. I bought some food, which turned out to be cold noodles with really spicy chicken on top, with a bag of garlic fried insects on the side. I'm not too sure why I bought the insects, I only managed about four spoonfuls before I threw them away - it wasn't the taste, they were just like tiny shell-on prawns, but the texture and number of legs, mainly. They kept getting caught down the side of my gums, where I couldn't easily fish them out.

We went on to Don't Cry Bar for some better food but the kitchen was closed (it was 3 am on new year's day, I don't know why we were surprised) so we just hung out in the hammocks. When we tried to return to the party we found that the Police had shut it down, possibly for noise, so we returned home on foot (I think) as someone else had already taken the Mopeds, and it was probably inadvisable for any of us to drive home.

Day 74/5 - Arrival in Pai, after 28 hours on the road.

After a ridiculous and awesome five days at home, which included a happily surprised mum and Hannah, unexpected awesome presents (mostly dvds and slim books, which I have brought with me) and a night out with the one and only Ben Bruce and John Kelly, I have arrived back in Thailand. It was a rather epic journey, taking about 28 hours and involving one car journey, two train, three planes, a taxi and a bus. Almost all of these were caught in the nick of time - I queued at heathrow for an hour or so, said goodbye to Clare and then found that my flight status was 'gates closing', meaning I had to dash (beltless and shoeless - since when have they had a machine specifically for scaanning shoes?) all the way to what seemed like the furthest departure gate in Heathrow. I was sitting next to an arab chap who Clare had earlier accused of having breath "like he'd been eating actual shit" for the first flight, which was lovely. In Doha we had a bout 10 minutes to rush through security and then straight back onto our next flight, which I (miraculously) slept straight through. At Bangkok I picked up my baggage for my 12:50 flight at 12:45, so I figured I was stying in Bangkok for a night. I turned my phone on and received a text update from AirAsia saying it had been delayed by 40 minutes, so I rushed through and got on it just in time. At Chiang Mai, I got in at 15:15, and the last bus to Pai left at 4 - I dashed to a taxi, made it there by 15:53, to be informed that the last bus was full. Shit. At the last second I got rammed into the back seat along with 4 Thai guys, and a four hour ridiculous journey commenced, along the windiest roads I have ever seen. Chiang Mai is only 175ish kilometres away, meaning we averaged about 40 km/h (we had a fried chicken break).

As we arrived in Pai, I was looking out of the window and I saw the Irie bar, and sitting in it I saw two dreadlocked folk who looked an awful lot like Kate's friends Chris and Katie. I asked the conductor (for want of a better word) to stop, he refused, so I jumped out at the next slow turn and ran back - I was right, it was them! Really friendly people, who sorted me out with a place to stay - I am in a tent on the first floor balcony out back, which is a LOT better than nothing. We had a few beers and played shithead for a while, then I hopped on the back of Sam(from Melbourne, lives in a place called Pailand, but more about that later)'s moped for a trip to an art opening nearby. we became deeply engrossed in conversation, which resulted in us missing the turning three or four times. When we got there, it was amazing - you walk through a sort of corridor of plants, over a tiny stream which leads to a waterfall, into a little gallery and on down to the main area - a big fire surrounded by rugs and mats, which in turn are surrounded by noodles, BBQ, local food stalls, a bar and a stage. There were bands playing all night while the guys from Pailand 'played fire'. This involves fire poi and firestick, which fitted in perfectly and was wonderful. Pailand is a sort of farm nearby, down by the river I think, where Sam lives, along with Ben, Joey, Bobby and Bang. They keep their horses out back of the Irie in the garden - last night they rode to the place. Seldom has horseback been a viable alternative to motorised transport. Anyway, the place we were at can best be described as a kind of permanent Glastonbury healing fields. In fact, the whole town can. The second you get out of town there are loads of little hammock filled bars and guesthouses, strewn with cushions and either playing reggae or umm, y'know, trancey indian music. Not sure of the genre.

This town seems really awesome - I can quite see why people come here for months on end. Everyone I have met has been really friendly, although Emily (also staying at Irie) was criticising people for being too hippy. I quite understand what she means, there were some people at the art thing who seemed to be using wafting as a means of perambulation, and others who seemed to be dressed as elves.

Day 73 - Flights and London

Once again, I'll be brief - I was up at 5 to get my taxi, met an English guy in the departure lounge with whom I discussed Japanese culture, and who later came and gave me a Valium on the plane. As a result the rest of the flight flew by, Doha was pretty dull, looking out of the window it is entirely sand, apart from the occasional wealthy Oasis of green, and one McDonalds right by the airport.

In London I was greeted by Jack (as expected) and Josh (big surprise!) who had made me a sign and everything. We got the tube to Oxford Street and went to a very London pub on a very foggy day, nice and stereotypical. I got the train home at 9, and met a couple called Max and Mika, who had a fake baby Panda in a box. Max and I talked about Mario, the concepts behind theories and hypotheses, and 10 dimensional space, which was really cool and made the journey fly by. When I arrived at home, Mum was really happy and surprised, so it's all been worth it.

Day 72 - Chatuchak

I'm writing this on the 3rd of January, so I'll be very brief - We got up earlyish to get the 10am bus to Chatuchak Market, where you can supposedly buy anything. The girls were a bit keener than Matt, Ville and I, but we spent the whole day there. Apparently they had a baby elephant in the pet section recently, but I didn't see any. Boxes and boxes of puppies though. It was also the hottest day so far in Thailand, meaning I was drenched in sweat for every second I wasn't in the shade. Nice. A couple of interesting transport options - the Thai Police, in their tight black uniforms with guns and aviators, were riding around the market on Segways, possibly tyhe most inefficient mode of transport in existence. Also, we managed to cram all 5 of us into one Tuk-tuk for the journey home, which was both awesome and terrifying.The guys all left for Koh Phangan about 5ish, I went to sleep until 9, meaning I was completely out of my sleep pattern, but as I was about to spend 24 hours on planes etc. it didn't seem so important

Day 71 - Boots, Boats and Buildings

We convened for a breakfast of fresh fruit, and headed out to our first stop - the Boots at Sala Deng, then on to Patpong market. Due to my lack of knowledge, we found out when we got there that Patpong is a night market. We got the Skytrain to Central Pier, where myself, Matt and Ville try to outhaggle each other to get a cheap longtail for a river tour. this proves to be an awesome Idea, as we tear along with only five people in the boat, getting up some incredible speeds in the boat around the small rivers near the Chao Praya. On our way back to the Skytrain we went to investigate a massive empty building we had seen from the river - we climbed the fence and went in for a wander. Apparently (according to a Thai guy we met at the bottom) the building was a victim of the 1997 Asian economic crisis. It's 46 storeys high, and possibly called SC Garden. Inside is truly bizarre - the place is full of cables and bathroom fittings, the escalators are in place, loads of the apartments are fitted out with flooring, plumbing, elecrical points and so on, yet noone lives there, in a city where loads of people live in tiny shacks. Odd. We went up to the first balcony level and admired the view, until we were shouted at by some workmen down below. The building leans a lot as you get higher - near the top a couple of storeys seem to have collapsed onto the ones below - we were toying with the idea of going to the top for sunset, but this was quickly nipped in the bud by the far more sensible girls.

Oh, I should add that I've been truly rubbish at eating Thai food since I've been here. Due to the fact that the guys have only been eating Indian food for months, today we've had a Subway, a McDonalds, and some sausages and chips. Rubbish.

Day 70 Part 2 - Bugger

After talking to the lovely people at Jal for ages, trying to build
Seoul into my flight plan, I headed back and phoned Clare, only to
break down a bit, which was somewhat unexpected. I asked her advice
on what I should do - wait here, go to Krabi and find Kate, go to
Seoul, or come home, listed in order of increasing inconvenience. In
hindsight, I should have probably phoned an impartial advisor, like
Jack or Eddie maybe - Clare persuaded me to come home for a week, with
relatively reasoned argument, and we then went about the business of
booking a ticket for the 23rd on Qatar airways, coming back on the
29th, meaning I'll hopefully have enough time to get to (insert
destination here - still not too sure) for NYE.

Annoyingly, almost immediately after we booked the tickets, I went
downstairs and met two couples - Matt and Bel from Ireland/NZ, and
Ville and Cecilia from Finland. They met today on the plane from
Calcutta, and are going to Koh Phangan for Christmas. They told me to
come with them, tell Clare I'd met the love of my life or something,
but when she rang I couldn't do it. Shortly after finalising the
flight I got two facebook messages - one from Leo, Henry and Jim
telling me to come to Seoul, and one from Kate telling me where she
was staying and how to get there. Finally I got a message from Clare,
saying "Ha, you coming home seems a bit mental now doesn't it. We are
the worst at getting caught up in moments." Indeed we are. I really
must relearn patience, willpower and trust, or I may well repeat this
ridiculous situation. To soothe my baffled brain, me and the couples
drink a load of beers (they haven't drunk for four months in India!)
and go out for street food, while discussing plans for tomorrow.

Day 70 - Where's Kate?

I have spent all of today trying to find Kate. Trouble is, I have no way of contacting her apart from facebook, which is proving useless. I have also tried Jan, who I think is still in Thailand, and also Chris and Katie, friends of Kate's from uni, but all to no avail. I was going to fly down to Krabi today to find her, but that hasn't happened. I just spent an hour or so with the wonderful people at JAL trying to re-jig my ticket so that I could fly back to Seoul for a week, but that didn't work out - I am on standby for a ticket tomorrow night, which is a bit expensive, but better than Christmas on my own.

I even considered flying back home, but that's 561 quid that I don't think I have, although it's hard to put a price on christmas... I keep trying to remind myself that it's just another day, I have never felt this strongly about it before, but also a christmas day alone has never been a possibility either. Hmm, this isn't helping my burgeoning homesickness.

Day 69 - Leaving Tokyo, arriving in Bangkok

Soon after writing my last post I went to the bar at the Aussie's Hostel, called 23 bar. Seemed OK, and had 3 drinks for 1000 yen, which is not to be sniffed at. On my way to and from there I saw an amazing building - I think it's the head office of Asahi Breweies, and looks like it has a giant flame on top. Also on my way home I went to Denny's for a steak, and to contemplate Tokyo for the last time. In the morning I made it to the Post Office, posted all my warm stuff home, and made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. So far, so uneventful...

The flight was fine, I watched Shoot 'Em Up (ridiculous and violent), Stardust (good, with an amazing british cast, and De Niro), Hairspray (ridiculous but entertaining) and most of the Bourne Ultimatum (awesome, but got cut off before the end). The only unusual thing that happened was that the old Japanese woman next to me was sick, as in actually throwing up, for pretty much the whole journey. Made me realise I have never seen an old woman throw up before...

Guesthouse seems nice, but it's just for one night if I can get hold of Kate.

Day 68 - Akihabara

I was awoken today by Jason's morning call, and hustled out of bed to have a farewell breakfast - when I got upstairs, after 3 or 4 hours sleep, I was greeted by a steaming plate of Japanese curry, not quite what I would have chosen. Anyway, we said our goodbyes and I went back to bed. Later I went to Akihabara, the electronics centre of Tokyo. The first place I walk into, I see Phil and Mark (the Aussies from last night) - I find out that they haven't yet slept (it's 4 pm) and we decide to combine forces on a search for a cheap PSP. This failed, but we did see a hell of a lot of cool gadgets, including one which I ended up buying - a Game Boy Micro, which I have read about but never seen, as they were never released outside Japan as far as I know. It was only about 25 quid, and worth every yen.

Another thing they have in Akihabara is loads of manga porn - unfeasibly buxom schoolgirls are a common theme, but also pre-pubescent cover stars seemed to feature quite a lot - some of the things I saw were genuinely weird, going beyond quirky and kinky and into the realms of really unsavoury and worrying. Anyway, that was just an aside, I don't feel well enough qualified to make a judgement of their culture based on what I saw today - although myself and, umm, I forget his name but the Japanese guy I met yesterday, had a big discussion about the nature of Hentai, which apparently translates as 'beyond the norm', and as such encapsulates all sorts of weirdness, excess and perversion, sexual and otherwise. This country, as has been said many times before, is full of contradictions and strangeness, not all of it quirky and cool.

Oh also, I have pretty much entirely lost my voice. I can barely make myself heard above traffic, and it is proving to be very frustrating or me, and a source of much amusement for those around me. Bastards.

Day 67 - Jason's last night

Just after I wrote yesterday's entry, I went to bed for a nap at 9 ish, and slept for a full 14 hours, thereby missing the Aussies' departure, and a large chunk of my Monday. That was NOT a productive day. The evening, on the other hand, was quite a different story. I went for an early dinner with Jason, at a nearby Sushi place, during which we brokered a deal - I would come to Roppongi (the nightlife district) with him no matter what happened, and he would pay for my meal. The meal was awesome, we had some more belly tuna, and bearded clams and all sorts of other wierd stuff. We gathered quite a posse together - Me, Jason, Alex, Kal, John (English), Erin (French) and Shan Wong (sic - Korean). We went to Gaspanic club to begin with, after which everyone exccept me, jason and Shan went home on the last subway, which is rubbish. We went to an arcade and played on a drumming game and a bit of dance dance revolution, which I won! I should point out, this means I beat an asian at DDR, which almost never happens.

As we wandered the streets looking for a "bar full of Japanese" as per Jason's requests, we met a guy leaving a bar who seemed to speak good english, so we asked his advice. this led to a lengthy and baffling journey round the area, culminating in us finding a bar on the third floor of what may have been an apartment block, with a locked door, owned by his mate. This being Roppongi, we figured we were about to either (a) get screwed over with really pricey drinks, or (b) find ourselves in a hostess bar/brothel with no way out. As it turned out, neither of these were the casde - it was just a quiet little bar, with good drinks - the guys who had taken us there both worked in advertising, and their old schoolfriend owned the place. We chatted for a while, and had the two drinks we had agreed on, and then Moto (the older of the two guys) paid for it all! Th8is was an unexpected treat, to get free drinks in the most notoriously dodgy area of Tokyo after Shinjuku. We then went to a bar with a name along the lines of 'spunky event', where we met two Aussies and a Japanese guy, who took us to another bar along the street. For some reason jason then engaged the Japanese guy on the subject of collectivist versus individualist culture. As dawn rolled around, we headed back to the Hostel and the Aussies went to an Onsen, supposedly for a sleep - this wasn't the case, I later found out.

Oh, also I had a chat with Mum and my sisters - my Christmas parcel arrived early, so they rang to ask if they could open it. I allowed them to open a bit, and taught them how to say thanks very much in Japanese. It was really nice to talk to them all at once, and it made me feel a bit homesick - I'm sure this will subside a little when I'm with Kate in the sun.

Day 65/6 - A rubbish morning, a cool night and a lovely day

Day 65 - I would say that this ranked as my 65th best night's sleep since leaving England.

Having extended my stay in the cafe by 6 hours, and moved to a larger, comfier seat, I watched about a week of neighbours, chatted on MSN and read back issues of B3ta. Due to my inability to resist the lure of the Internet, I got to sleep about 5 am, and was turfed out at 6 - in total I got about half an hour's sleep. As I was up anyway, I decided to head to Tsukiji fish market which is the largest fish market in the world. I net a bloke there called Al who was a post-doc in Electronics at Imperial, and was in Tokyo for a conference. We met in a Sushi place, where I had some of the nicest, freshest sushi I've ever had. Presumably all the fish is straight from the market to the plate, and it was worth the somewhat higher than usual prices as a result - I also had the fatty belly of tuna, which was 400 yen per piece, and worth it. It was almost buttery in texture, and melted in your mouth. After a long browse in the lonely planet I decided to head off to Roppongi via Ebisu, to look at the fancy architecture there. However, I fell asleep on the subway and decide it was probably best to find a capsule and have a nap. I found one just around the corner from the station and booked in for an hour (ended up staying 2) for 500 yen. I made a few observations about Japanese TV while I was in there - there was a channel showing someone playing Pachinko, and nothing else. There was a quasi-titillating show involving girls in bikinis, seemingly in an office meeting room, blindfolding each other and trying different types of noodles, then celebrating getting it right by bouncing around. There was a channel, at noon, showing weird porn, but all genitals were so pixellated that when the camera zoomed in it just looked like someone was juggling Rubik's Cubes with only two colours.

Refreshed and showered, I walked to Shibuya, to the big crossroads you always see on TV shows about Tokyo. It was impressive, a huge surging mass of people for the entire time I was there. I found an internet cafe and rang a couple of Hostels, both of which said they were fully booked. I emailed Sakura hostel in Asakusa, who auto-replied saying that they would check and I should wait for a reply, which I did. For an hour. Just as my time was up, I got a reply saying that I had a room, and no longer had to sleep in another 'net cafe/capsule, which was a massive relief. I headed to Harajuku to go to the park and marvel at the people who supposedly would be thronging the streets with their weirdness, but due to the fact that it was (a) cold, (b) 4pm and getting dark, and (c) Saturday, there was noone about really apart from a few skaters. There' s a chance I went to the wrong park as well, but that's not important. I got to the hostel at about half 6 last night, having lugged my bag, which now somehow weighs about 25 kg, through the streets. I met some cool Aussies here, (Kate, Jay, Murph, Dr Ew and another one) and a Canadian guy called Jason, who lives in Seoul and seems keen to meet Leo etc. There were also a load of Argentinians here to support Boca Juniors in the club world cup here, who were singing loud football songs, clapping and shouting. At one point they got out an enormous (20m +) flag and started waving it around - the guy behind the desk objected and tried to roll it up, and when he wouldn't let go one of the Argentinians punched his arm to try and release the flag - there was a small ruckus, but nothing too unpleasant. We drank and chatted for a while, and they weren't really too up for going out, until Jay and Dr Ew got talking to a couple of Swedish girls who were going out for Karaoke, Easily swayed, we all ended up going - it was a shaky start (bad songs were chosen, noone knew enough words) but pretty soon, partly due to the choice of Last Christmas as a singalong and partly due to the 2 hr all-you-can-drink deal we had going on, we were all singing our hearts out. We got in about 3 this morning, and I ended up watching The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift purely because I recognised bits of it. Sort of like justifying watching all of Rush Hour 2 because you've been there - in retrospect, an error.

Day 56 - Somehow I managed to get up and into Yokohama for 1 today, where I met Hana - we had a great time, just walked around the (future harbour) area for hours, had a wicked meal, encountered an all Japanese gospel choir singing Christmas songs, swapped stories from the last few years and saw quite a lot of the city. But mainly, we walked, almost non-stop, for 3 1/2 hours - I reckon we covered about 10 miles in all, which is why (in conjunction with the shedload of free cocktails and the lack of decent sleep for a couple of days) right now I am absolutely exhausted. Just by where we had lunch there was a trio of female violinists in gold dresses playing Christmas songs, which overwhelmed me a bit due to my fragile state - I suddenly felt all festive and warm, much as I did when we saw the gospel choir as well. Yokohama seems pretty nice, has a manageable feeling about it, probably due to the comparatively few towering buildings they have there.

Day 64 - Fuji Go-Ko, Louis, and Tokyo

Right, I warn you - as I was on my own all day today, I took to writing down my thoughts in note form in my Memo book (I carry one everywhere now, thanks for the inspiration Jack). They may prove to be a little rambling on recounting, we will see. So here we go, from the top...


11:25 Right, I got lost again. I was up at 8:15 this morning, out of the hostel by 9:30, aiming to be on the train by 10. I walked up the street, looking for the station which should be very obvious, and I have failed utterly. On the upside, at this very moment I can see Mount Fuji, looming above everything else, and it is an absolutely perfect day - so perfect in fact, that I am in only a t-shirt, in spite of the altitude. I found a helpful lady and asked her "Fuji-Yoshida station dess-ka?" while gesticulating wildly. She answered with "Hai, (insert loads ofJapanese and pointing here)", I followed the pointing and asked three other women where to go, eventually finding that the station was a building I had walked past an hour previously, not more than 500m from the hostel. I had some delicious ramen in the station and got the 11:21. I am not good at the trains.


12:00 Well, I am currently sitting on top of Kachi-kachi Mountain, at the top of the ropeway. the view is awesome, I can see why Fuji seems to be such a huge part of the Japanese psyche. From where I sit in my t-shirt, if I look to my left I am blinded by the sun, to my right there are icicles, down the mountain there is a heat haze above the town, and ahead of me is the snow-capped peak of Fuji. This is a confusing place.

13:35 I am now on the sightseeing bus, which goes round the south side of Lake Kawagushi-Ko before making a loop of Lake Saiko. I can hop on and off at will, so I'm planning to go to the Onsen on the north shore, The Bat Cave and the Ice Cave, while enjoying the views of the lakes and mountains.

14:35 Well that's annoying. I have been informed by the driver (I'm the only person on the bus, by the way) that the Bat Cave is closed. I have been dropped off at the wind cave - I walked straight through the gate to find a load of guys having a bonfire, who cheerily informed me through sign language that the Wind Cave was closed for winter. The Ice Cave is apparently about 20 minutes up the road, so I hope for better things.


14:47 Now here's an odd thing. I can only assume the meeting went something like this:

Fuji Councillor #1: So, we have a problem, this bendy bit of road in the mountains gets awfully slippery.
Councillor #2: Let's put up signs?
Councillor #3: Salt it?
Councillor #4: Nah, let's HEAT THE ENTIRE ROAD AND FILL THE AIR WITH THE SMELL OF MELTING TARMAC ALL YEAR ROUND!
All: Awesome!

(high fives)

15:07 Well, that was rubbish. The ice cave (I am so disappointed I begrudge it capitals) was just a hole in the ground, a small tunnel to another hole, and a tunnel back again. There was a lump of ice down there, to prove it's 0 degrees down there. Hmm. I told an Australian family I saw on the way out that it was a waste of money, and also that the Wind and Bat Caves were closed. They seemed a little crestfallen, but went in anyway, I think. I feel I might resign from sightseeing - the touristy things I have attempted to see here have all failed, instead I shall sit, observe, or do something, rather than going to see things. Maybe I should have gone to Kyuku Highlands theme park. Maybe I should go to Tokyo Disneyland...

15:35 Having said all this, the area is very nice and picturesque. Lakes, pine forests, mountains... maybe it's just because I grew up in a flat bit of a flattish country, but these things all impress me maybe more than they would someone from Austria, say. However, my advice to someone visiting the Fuji Five Lakes area would be to go up the ropeway by Kawagushi-ko, and also hang out at the NW corner of Saiko, where the best views are.

18:29 On another note, as I have been reading Call Of the Weird by Louis Theroux, I have started to envy him to a degree - his ability to remain innocent and questioning, while also detached and sceptical about his subjects/experiences. I can't see him slipping into despondency while pondering elements of the human condition, as I have felt myself all too close to doing these lase few days. I no longer seem to enjoy my own company as much as I once did, although this may be because the novelty of being my own boss has waned somewhat after five years. It should also be remembered that I am here entirely of my own choosing, meaning that worrying and regrets will get me nowhere, as I will only end up blaming myself. Sack that, if I'm not enjoying myself just go elsewhere, find new people - I have only commitments to myself at the moment, so I should just shut up.
Also, back to Louis, while he is talking to the 'pimp' Mello T, he compares lifestyles - where Mello sits in sleazy strip clubs scouting for new talent, Louis says that last night he went to bed with a glass of wine and his notebook and did a crossword, much to the envy of Mello. I am sitting on the train with a glass of wine writing in my notebook, although I fear that is where the similarities end. Also, he discusses the need to not object to peoples opinions and beliefs where doing so would reach no useful conclusion and only create an awkward atmosphere - not what you want when trying to interview someone. I found myself in a situation the other day with Nick, where he made some odd claim about why he didn't want to go to India, and I said that he'd "put forward some pretty tenuous premises there". He looked at me in a kind of 'what the hell?' way before turning back to his conversation (this worried me a bit, as this was before we had agreed to go to Miyajima the following day, and I really didn't want to do it alone).

20:39 Made it! To Shinjuku at least. I have contacted Leona, found somewhere to eat, and decided to either sleep in a capsule hotel or Internet cafe (not as trampish as it sounds, apparently many young Tokyoites do this as a cheaper alternative to the capsule).

21:30 Wow, Negishi house red is even worse than Otsuki satation wine. Didn't think that was possible. Just finished Louis, found more little things in the epilogue that make me like him even more, eg: his fantasy of returning to school as an adult and knowing more than everyone else, having reasoned debate with teachers etc... one I share, but I'm sure everyone does. Also something about him being less susceptible to whimsy and coercion than his first documentary tour, and now I'm just rambling on about bollocks, this is no longer a travelogue, sorry.


00:40 Wow, that's how long that took me to write up the last three days. Three hours on the dot, as it turns out. guess I'm staying in the internet place tonight - they have massage chairs, PS2, TV, DVD players, free drinks, all for 1.50 an hour! Also, I went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building North Tower Observatory on my way here, and took MORE nighttime cityscape photos. So there.

Day 63 - Sleeping, Trains, getting lost in the cold and I AM MENTAL

Well, I screwed that up. I fell asleep the second I got in last night, woke up on the sofa at 1am, made up a futon for myself and set an alarm for 6am, figuring that two 4hr sleeps were as good as one 8hr one, and I could always sleep on the 3hr Shinkansen to Tokyo. How wrong I was... I woke up at 6:00, 6:10, and 6:15, and then fell asleep until 10:25. That's an oversleep of more than 4 hours! Somewhat annoyed with myself, I hurried out of the house by 10:45 - this time should be noted. I got the Subway to Shin-Osaka and Caught the Shinkansen to Tokyo, the Yamanote line across to Shinjuku, the Chuo Line to Otsuki, and the Fuji-Kyuku line to Shimo-Yoshida, where I was booked into the youth hostel. The Lonely Planet lied to me and sent me on a bit of a wild goose chase down the wrong road, I called Clare in the UK and got her to look the place up online, although just as she found it I saw the sign pointing me in the right direction. Check-in closed at 8pm, I arrived at 19:53. That's 9 hours and 8 minutes door-to-door, which is quite a long train journey by anyone's standards. And then it was time to go to bed, as I was unaccountably knackered. What a good use of a day.

Also, two odd things happened today. Firstly, I vaguely remembered two things about my dreams last night - firstly, someone punched me hard in the jaw, I think inspired by the Augment who punches Gordon in The Postman, which I read recently. Also, I was having a bad dream and wanted to wake myself up (this happens a little more often than I would like, I become trapped in my own psyche and cant escape, so I hit myself and shout in the dream, until I wake up into the real world - this has never happened when there has been anyone else to witness it, and I hope it never will - I can imagine noone in a hostel would want to talk to me if I awoke flailing and screaming). Anyway, I was slapping myself in the face in my dream, until I awoke, and even now as I write this, two days later, my jaw still clicks and aches, and is noticeably swollen. I can only assume, therefore, that I smacked myself so hard in the face that I have bruised myself, and possible the other dream was merely a manifestation of the real-world pain I was feeling, without disturbing the dream. Before I have actually accused others of hitting me in my sleep (sorry Bob) to account for having this jaw pain, but I think it's just that I am slightly mental and beat myself up as I slumber.

The second thing is less odd - I had a Mega-Tomato meal from McD's this morning - three burgers and a load of tomato in a Big Mac style bun - and the tomato one was more expensive than the one with a fried egg in it. I would have thought it would be the other way round. Anyway, please comment with any thoughts on the jaw thing, I am intrigued to hear others opinions on the subject.

Day 62 - Miyajima in unfavourable conditions

Right, I have three days to write up, and the last one is going to be a sodding mission, so I'll be as quick as I can. Also, sorry for any spelling mistakes which may arise as a result.


So, I made plans on Tuesday night with Nick and James, a Brit and an American respectively, to meet at 10am in the common room and go to Miyajima Island, to climb the mountain and generally soak up the atmosphere. We were all early, and walked to the station (I didn't necessarily consent to this, but I saw no point in arguing). As we were getting on the ferry at Miyajimaguchi we saw some boat racing going on, and swore to come back and check it out on our way back if possible. Already the day didn't look too promising, it was cloudy and misty, getting cloudier as we approached Miyajima Island. Upon our arrival we were greeted by a bunch of schoolkids proffering leaflets - Nick shrank back instantly (obviously fresh from China where anyone proffering stuff is probably going to ask for some money), whereas I engaged them in limited conversation - they were doing it for a school project, giving us a map and guide to the area, for free, which was very welcome indeed (as it turned out, the lack of scale on the map gave us problems later, but only to a minor extent). We walked through the town past a load of deer, similar to Nara, but with one major difference - there is very little traffic on the island, so the deer roam more freely than in Nara.

Having snacked on some beanpaste-filled-deep-fried-maple leaf pasties on a stick, we visited the main shrine on the island, Itsukushima. This was the main reason to come here, being as it is surrounded by water, looking out onto the Torii which is supposedly one of the three most photographed sights in Japan, although I have no idea how one would measure this.


We had been informed that the views from the top of Mt. Misen were spectacular, so we walked to the cablecar, to find once we were on it that the fog was pretty much impenetrable - not good for a scenic lookout. All was not lost however, as when we eventually made it back to the mainland (via Oyster Okonomiyaki in a restaurant on Miyajima - I wasn't a fan, but I don't think the oysters were up to much. Probably why I was ill all of Friday) we walked to the boat stadium I mentioned before, and caught a race! We decided, being backpackers, that frugality was essential, which is why we watched it by peering over the wall, therefore not paying a single yen.

All this sightseeing over, I booked myself onto the 18:30 Shinkansen to Osaka, raced back to the hostel, grabbed my stuff, and jumped in a taxi (anathema for backpackers in Japan, but I was desperate) and proceeded to miss my train by 1 minute. I got there at exactly 18:09:30, as the whistle blew for the train to leave. I have probably caught over 100 trains in Japan, including subways which run on a timetable, and not one has been delayed or run late by even 1 minute. This is quite incredible, I have no idea how they achieve this. The few buses I have caught have all run to the minute as well.

By the time I got into Shin-Osaka I really couldn't be bothered to get the next train to Nagoya then on to Fuji-Yoshida. I hadn't really slept the night before anyway, as I kept waking for no reason every hour or so, so I headed once again back to #303 Natty North, Kita-Tatsumi, for one final night before posting my key back through the door, never to return again.