The driver took his 3 year old son along with us who simply stood between his legs and spent the whole time babbling away.
I was smiling all the way there at how normal this sort of thing has become.
The past couple of days have been lovely and hot and I have been by the pool all day chatting with various people.
So many people I talk to have been on mega trips, I spoke to a couple this morning who left UK 6 months ago and have been to South America (which I must say sounds fab from every one who has been there) and then got married last month on a beach in S Thailand (before the rains).
I saw all the photos including the ones of her hen night spent on Phi Phi island, oh what fun they had.
They now plan to spend a year in Australia.
There are so many others on really long trips, its so nice to meet and speak with people who have been to the same countries I have or give me ideas of where to go next, or where I have missed this time and would like to see next time.
Before she left, Niki and I spent time chatting about travel and she has now been bitten by the bug, she hopes to be able to travel for 4 months next year.
As she left she said she was going home to a flat with a tv, 'a box in a box' is how she described it, hmmm, not far off how regular life is.
It got me thinking about my experiences here in SE Asia and what an amazing time I have had...
It all started in Thailand, the beginning of an adventure, the end of a friendship.
It was an organised trip with a varied itinerary with the highlight being my 4 days in the elephant village.
Then on to Cambodia, the start of my solo travels.
This included a trip to Phnom Penh, the place of mass torture and genocide.
And the magnificent Angkor Wat temple complex seeped in history, a truly awesome place to visit.
Another massive highlight.
The nearby villages with the glorious countryside and rich green rice paddies.
The beautiful children running barefoot and barely dressed with happy smiling faces.
Being constantly amused by the many different things being transported on a moped or bicycle.
And of course going to the beach and meeting the lovely Frans on Christmas eve and spending Christmas and new year together, I couldn't have wished for a better time.
We then went back to Thailand, and spent 2 weeks going north to Chiang Mai and then to Kanchanaburi (where I am now)
Then on to Vietnam, arriving in the crazy Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) trying to cross the roads in between 3 million mopeds.
Every one of them beeping their horns!
The wonderful Mekong Delta trip to include the floating market and witness family life on the river boats was a great experience.
Then onto Phu Quoc island where we spent the local new year celebrations.
Back to HCMC to begin the long journey north by 'sleeper bus' they were a story of their own, people and luggage crammed in wherever there was a gap, the isles taken with boxes, sleeping bodies and plastic stools for others to sit on.
And while on the buses, the constant sound of cheesy disco mobile ring tones that always took an age to be answered, followed by very loud conversations.
There were some very varied and interesting towns along the way, but it was not one of my favourite countries.
By the time we reached Hanoi in the north it was useasonally cold and so I made my exit.
Within an hour I was in Laos, the contrast was great.
The sky was blue, the town was beautiful and clean and the people smiled, and there were no honking of horns, bliss.
I was joined by Frans 4 days later who, never to be deterred had continued the journey north and then crossed the boarder overland.
It was then that I had my one and only bout of food poisoning but it more than made up for it.
I had the squits for 6 days.
We continued on by very iffy 'VIP' buses through beautiful countryside to other towns.
I exited across the boarder half way down the country and took an overnight train to Bangkok.
Once again Mr intrepid continued on and went right to the southern tip of Laos, meeting up with me on Ko Tao 6 days later.
The plan had been that we would meet on an island and spent 3 or 4 weeks island hopping, ending up in Langkowi, Malaysia.
However, Mother nature had other ideas, we were caught up in some of the worst rains the country has ever seen, causing all sorts of problems.
We were marooned on Ko Tao for a week and it was then we made the decision to go our separate ways.
The roads south were all but impassable, the islands were mopping up after the floods and generally it was not the beautiful scene it should have been.
And so, I said goodbye to someone and something very special.
And once more found myself a single traveller.
This last week has been one of reflection, I have had time on my own, I wonder if solo travel is so called as it can be so lonely or you can be so loving it.
At the moment I am feeling more lonely than loving it as I miss Frans.
Some of the many things about my travels to SE Asia I am am leaving behind are:
Eating every meal outside for 5 months.
Not using a hairdryer, an iron or make up.
Only wearing long sleeves, shoes and socks for 3 days out of the entire trip.
Cornettos for 30p, bungalows right on the beach for $15, nearly all my meals for under 2pds, the most expensive one was a fiver!
Rice paddies, wandering through night markets, haggling for everything and getting stuff for up to half the original price asked.
Geckos, beautiful butterflies and sandy beaches.
Endless blue skies and sunshine for the first 4 months, never having to consider what to wear, a t-shirt and shorts is the every day attire.
Hand washing in the sink at night and it all being dry by the morning.
Thai green curry, rice and noodles on every menu and chilli sauce available with every meal
Mosquitoes and putting on repellent every night-and still being bitten!
Relentless heat and forever sweating, buying copious bottles of water and paying for the Internet (as little as 20p per hour to 2.50 an hour)
I have loved having company almost every day and night and meeting total strangers and hearing amazing travel stories.
(Sorry to all the friends who said I would enjoy being alone, I don't, I much prefer to have company.)
Book swaps at the guest houses, in essence you only have to begin your travels with one book, this can be swapped for another along the way.
I have read around 15 booksandFrans must have exceeded 20.
I did buy a couple of the copied books from the street kids but Frans never did.
Good, cheap roadside food at all hours of the day and night, the smell of tiger balm.
Palm trees, coconut and banana trees.
Ladies that will wash and dry your laundry in a day for around 40p kg.
One hour massage for 3-4 pds, pedicures on the beach
Only needing to set the alarm or know the time if I was going on an early morning trip, the rest of the time it didn't matter, often not even knowing what day it was.
No work stress and never meeting anyone with any either.
Workmen with pneumatic drills wearing flip flops, small children on mopeds with no crash helmets.
Babies as young as 4 months old in a basket on the front of a push bike.
Squatting over a hole in the floor and having Frans carry an emergency supply of tissues.
The lady boys in Thailand (many of whom work in 7 ELEVEN) many others are prostitutes, and the seemingly total acceptance of it. Indeed Asia is a non macho culture.
People- mainly men, sleeping anywhere and every where, in their tuk tuks, on the side of the roads, in hammocks, camp beds in their shops, I have even seen them asleep on motorbikes with their legs dangling over the handle bars.
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| This guy was asleep in the luggage store of a coach |
The ease of travel, every town having endless amounts of travel agents and roadside stalls selling onward journey tickets by air, land and sea.
Internet cafes in abundance, some free in the guest houses, others full of travelers or in less touristy areas full of rowdy young boys on computer games.
The list is endless but each one holds a memory, and many a smile.
I have been reminded of the wonders of travel, the freedom, the beauty and meeting like minded people.
I have spent every day for 5 months experiencing or seeing something new.
South east Asia is a truly amazing place, would I come back? - absolutely!
Will I come back some day?- you bet!
I will definitely be dusting off my rucksack once more i the near future in search of more amazing places and experiences.
Lisa's Travels will continue.....
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