on jetlag and ping-pong balls
Been a while since I’ve posted anything, but I have an excuse this time — I was in Thailand again. Well, only for a couple of weeks. I even tried to go without checking email but ended up with 400 messages in my inbox (350 of which were spam, mind you.)
Anyhow, I’m back now and the jetlag appears to be wearing off and I figured I’d post a little recap of the journey (having to take a Gravol every night to fall asleep is pretty sad; however, lying awake until 3am each night this week even AFTER taking the Gravol is worse.)
Hayley and I spent nine days with my uncle and his partner in Bangkok, and another five days on the beach at the Sheraton Krabi. Well, technically it worked out to one day on the beach, one day of travel back and forth to Bangkok, and three days sick in bed with door locked, the drapes pulled, and a nurse visiting several times a day to administer various medications that a horse would have trouble swallowing. We both ended up with some kind of food poisoning (I blame the hotel breakfast buffet, but I don’t have any proof), a couple of bad sunburns, and heatstroke. The nurse actually laughed at me at one point, telling us he hadn’t seen so many things wrong with a patient in one go. :/ Either way, the beach was excellent for the one-and-a-bit days we managed to enjoy it.
A word to the wise, though: when in 37-38°C heat, even if you think you don’t need it, wear some sunblock. And a hat. I learned this the hard way, from sheer overconfidence that my already dark-ish skin could handle it. So much for that. The various layers of flesh that have been peeling off my shoulders, chest, arms, and neck for the last ten days can attest to how wrong I was. :o
On the upside, the rest of the trip was a smashing success. I had taken a bit of a different perspective and really taken in the local culture the last time I visited Bangkok back in 2005, so this time was much more about “experiencing” the city. We spent a lot more time in the downtown core and shopping districts, restaurants, relaxed, and took in a bit of the tourist nightclub scene (which was eye-opening, among other orifices.) I don’t think I’ll ever feel the same about ping-pong balls again, let alone be able to eat a banana…
On the way through, I picked up a new toy, Hayley acquired a half-dozen pairs of shoes, and we must have spent at least a full day inside MBK bartering with vendors for various trinkets, knock-offs, and gifts. In case you’re feeling voyeuristic, I have a bunch of photos taken with my shiny new Nokia n73 up on Flickr. I even included one of the 45 minute lineup we had to endure coming back through Canada Customs, right before we spent another half hour being searched for drugs. Good times.
No Comments
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.