....see our time working at Birdnest in Kl here.......
Our month or so “recovery” in our little hut right on Sritanu Beach on Ko Phangan (east coast Thailand) did us the world of good, and
when our sleep patterns returned to normal and the stress dreams/nightmares
about hostel bookings ended, we relaxed as much as two people can, and let
ourselves feel OK about doing nothing for a while.
By the way, anyone looking for a cheap, easy beach place to unwind over the June/July/Aug in Thailand (when the west coast weather can be horrid), Sritanu Beach has many bungalows for less than 200 Baht a night, a wide range of cheap places to eat, and quite a chilled atmosphere .
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| "Our" view |
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| Unwinding |
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| Relaxed at last! |
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| Any more relaxed and he would fall out! |
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| Our bungalow |
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| View from bungalow-right on the beach |
Sritanu Beach seems to have become one of those places that attract serious yoga types,
more than travellers, and we were practically the only people at our
bungalows not involved in yoga in some way. The tantric yoga class sounded intriguing, what with the "yoni massages" and the like, but at 300 Euros for four days, well out of our budget! A very chilled out
and relaxed vibe surrounded the place, with most people out most of the day at classes and gone to
bed early!!
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| Morning view of one of the neighbours |
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| Didgeridoo healings??!! |
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| Yoga fanatics abound |
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| More healing...... |
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| Yogic bread- why not? |
The time
out was also a great opportunity to slowly start some proper research about the
next part of our lives- our trip to India
and beyond. Our days spent reading, walking, swimming, sleeping etc flew by,
and before we knew it, we were feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world
again! It was time to leave and tackle the serious business of getting
ourselves Indian visas in Bangkok.
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| Richard's shell collection |
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| Friends we'd met at the Birdnest, Kuala Lumpur |
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Storm
coming- time to get out of here!!
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Last
time we visited India, we simply walked into the visa
office in Kuala Lumpur, filled in a form, gave them a
reasonable amount of money, and went back a few days later to pick up
our lovely six months visa. Now, the KL office
no longer deals with us lowly foreigners, hence our trip
to Bangkok to apply from there. The process now
involves planning, great organization skills, huge amounts of money
(especially from the evil British passport holders), and a great deal
of patience. We won't bore you with the details, but let's just say,
when we realized the box marked "visible identification
marks" had to be filled in, we knew we were in
trouble! We are glad we put aside two weeks for the ridiculous
procedure, although it is no hardship to be in and around Bangkok for
a longer period of time.
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What
we needed for our Indian visa in Bangkok!
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We
were surprised to realize our
last time in Bangkok was
February 2011- KL really
seems to have become our base for the last few years, thanks to Air
Asia. We were lucky enough, this time, to be able to spend some time
with my sister Jo, and her wifey, G, in their gorgeous highrise
apartment, which was a bit of a change from our first week
in Bangkok in
a cheap hostel. We were quite happy with our room in Banglampu (the
backpacker's area in Bangkok)
until we saw our stunning new room at Jo and G's place!!
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Our
guest house room.......
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Our
room at Jo and G's place
|
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Jo
and G's luxurious apartment in Bangkok
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Apart
from obtaining our Indian visas, there seemed no end to the small
last minute jobs we needed to fulfill before leaving South-East
Asia for what could be up to one year. We visited
Pantip Mall, the computer/tech centre in Bangkok for
the first time, and found it quite inferior to the similar Low Yat
Mall in KL. However, the amazing Chatuchak market was as
varied and original as always, and we spent the best part of a Sunday
there, wandering part of the 27 acres, and browsing a fraction of
the15,000 stalls. And, as we do every time we visit Bangkok,
we loved using the public ferries up and down the Chao Phraya River
to get around. For 15 baht (50 cents) to travel right to the end of
the line, and watch the changes along the river, it's still one of
the best bargains in Bangkok.
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Food
stall at Chatuchak Market, Bangkok
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Food
stall at Chatuchak Market, Bangkok
|
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View
of BTS train
|
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What
a view!!
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Once
all our jobs in Bangkok were done, we were left
looking forward to the coming trip, and the adventures we will surely
have........
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Us
in the park, Banglampu, Bangkok
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.....amazing India next, starting with Calcutta.......
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