Shit Happens.....

so my friends when I left you last I was in gokarna which was a miniature paradise, deserted beaches hidden amongst the headlands only accessible by foot. I could of stayed for months but I had a flight to Thailand so that couldn't happen. I spent my last couple of days in India in Bombay which I loved,. I just finished reading Shantaram ( for those of you who haven't read it, you must) which is based there and is a true story so I spent some time checking out the places mentioned in the book which was great. It a really friendly city and for a place so big it felt very homely I got offered the chance to be an extra in bollywood movie several times but unfortunately I was not there long enough to oblige, but I will return and next time I will give bollywood a go. It was a wondrous city, a city of extremes. On the one hand it was amazingly clean by India's standards and on the other the slums are so big when you drive past there are makeshift shacks as far as the eye can see. Kind of heartbreaking but the people seem happy and thankful for the life that they have, that is what makes this country so special I guess.


On to Thailand.....

When I arrived I was blown away by the cleanliness and efficiency of the place and the fact that when you asked the staff at the airport a question they were help full and informative instead of just waggling their head in that yes/no/maybe/I don't know fashion that you get in India.
I met Fran from her flight and we embarked on a air conditioned bus journey (one of many) to Kanchanaburi on the river Kwai. We awoke the next day ( my birthday) in a lovely backpackers right on the river. We booked ourselves onto a tour bus and went off to a temple which has become a refuge for orphaned tigers. It was amazing to be so near these amazing animals but also very strange to be walked in have your photo taken with them and then walked out again along with 30 other tourists on a little conveyor belt. As I was soon to learn Thailand just seems to be set up as one big ac conveyor belt for tourists with little opportunity to get off the beaten track, if there even is one anymore!

Anyway after a couple of days of tour bus existence we made our way to Koh Samui for our 7 day sap fast. Unfortunately on the way we were robbed on our ac bus as we slept. The fuckers took my Ipod and some cash from us both not much from Fran but over 100 quid in rupees from me which i was quite fucked off about but never mind. Because of this little hitch we spent the first 2 days cancelling cards and writing police reports which was hard going but we were lucky to be in our luxury spa room with a TV and an endless supply of chick flicks for comfort so we made it through. We embarked on our fast which along with no food consisted of a 16ltr colonic twice a day. I was quite daunted to begin with but after the first couple it gets easier and starts to feel good especially when you see what comes out! The smell is horrendous and whatever it is that was in there I am very glad that I flushed it out cos it just seemed wrong. We didn't stray too far from the spa for the duration of our fast for various reasons, lack of energy and the necessity to consume these weird clay drinks every three hours. So my days were spent lounging by the pool and having two massages a day, obviously I loved it, who wouldn't! To begin with the lack of food was not a problem but by day four we were fantasising about chips and beans and roast dinners and cake and other very unhealthy things. Despite our cravings we made it through and we both looked good for it, bright eyes, glowing skin etc. And we spent a few more days at the spa reintroducing ourselves to solid food which was great.

We then attacked bangkok in a 2 day shopping frenzy to find Fran an fsb out fit and generally spend more than we could afford. It ended with a tearful good bye as Fran got onto a bus heading to the Airport and then home and with me preparing myself for my reentry to India ( which I was much looking forward to). And that, I think, is enough for now xxx