Thailand - Goodbye

Our tour officially finished when the night train arrived in Bangkok, an hour late. My original plan was to spend the morning visiting the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddha, this would involve leaving my luggage at the train station taking two underground trains and a river bus, then returning the same way to collect my rucksack, the broken wheely bag and the additional meter square pink monstrosity holding the treasured gifts, before taking more underground trains and the airport link. All with very little sleep.

Thailand - Beginning of the End

What better way to end my Thai experience than with a Thai massage on the beach? Booked in for 8am I literally rolled out of bed and promptly lay back down on a lounger. Listening to the breaking waves and chirping birds, watching the crabs darting and dashing across the sand, would have been more relaxing if fingers and elbows weren't pressing and prodding me. Plus the added exhilarating experience of exfoliating sunburnt skin when the sand mixed with the oil.

Thailand - The Island

Woke up finally to a clear sky and blazing sun. Being within a tourist resort also meant we could wear shorts and vests that haven't really been appropriate in the Muslim and Buddhist traditional communities that we have previously visited.

Thailand - Fishing Village

The rain late yesterday threatened to halt our morning plans but it cleared overnight and we met for another pre-breakfast boat ride out on Songkhla lake.

The village where we are staying, Baan Kho Mak, revolves around fishing, so out on the lake we see three more styles of this livelihood in action. The first two involve setting traps. A rectangular three-hooped trap covered in a net sits in the water allowing Crayfish to climb in, but not out. The fisherman checks each trap by standing neck deep in the lake and unending the cage over his boat, he can then open the closed net and release his catch. 

Thailand - Lake Life

Up at 4:30am we watched the sunrise over the lake from the vantage point of a bridge. Being close to the equator the sunrise is surprisingly quick from the first glimmer to full day. The rain stayed away and the clouds were formed in at least five layers creating spots and shafts of light.

Thailand - The Road to Phatthalung

We should have left our resort in the mangroves and gone out on the boats this morning, to experience the fisherman's way of life and look for white shells. But the days of persistent rain had made it too dangerous and the sandbank island on which we would have spent the morning and eaten our picnic lunch had no shelter to offer.

Thailand - Thai Boxing

From my top windowless bunk I didn't see any of the passing landscape but at around 6am, with the arrival of orange juice and morning coffee, our beds were converted back to seats and we watched the muddy rivers flow beneath us and the passing Palm Oil plantations that have replaced a lot of the dense forest towards the end of our journey.

Thailand - Bangkok

All my guide books told me that the King is most revered and one should say complimentary things about His Highness to please the local population. Fortunately before I could spark a conversation about His most endearing qualities we were handed black ribbon badges to show our respect to His recently departed soul. This accounted for the black and white fabric adorning major buildings along my route to the hotel last night. A lucky save.

Thailand - Luggage

As always my packing was done well in advance, and several times over - in my mind. The actual physical packing however, was left to the morning of my departure. I knew exactly what I wanted to take and even knocked up a light-weight sarong the night before departure using some fabric I'd picked up in Borneo. Therefore it was the morning of my departure when I checked the camera, kindly borrowed from my parents. Camera, check; zoom lens, check; Camera charger... missing. A quick phone call identified the missing battery charger as being plugged in at my parents' house, 200miles away.