Bangkok to Nong Khai

This is not a good day. Matt has planned out our twelve hour car journey to Nong Khai. We went to bed at five am. We were scheduled to start at 9 am. Matt is still drunk at 9:30 am, so we are going to be slightly delayed. Kim is nominated the as first driver. This means that until Matt gets better (he is also feeling rather ill) we need to reschedule. We work out that if we head off at 2:00 we have a small chance of getting to Nong Khai by 2:00 am.

FEAR

I notice a fruit in the complimentary hotel selection, which looks rather like a hairy testicle, so we have to ring David to check whether or not a) whether we seriously humiliated ourselves (Kim excluded) and b) whether a rambutan is the fruit that looks like a hairy testicle. The answer to both is, of course, yes.

Not the best drive

We finally check out of the hotel at around 2:30 and head to pick up the rental car. This goes remarkably smoothly. I am left sweltering in the heat as Matt and Kim spend ages providing the correct documents. I see the most miserably mangy dog, with a horrible rotten withered back leg, which makes me really worry about getting rabies. Matt has a scar on his leg where one of these mangy hounds stuck a fang into him. He, with three preexisting vaccinations for rabies, had to go and have a series of five injections. This fills me with the most spectacular dose of the fear, I stand on the pavement willing the dog to leave me alone.

Yet at the same time I can't believe that Buddhism allows such cruelty, it is really strange that someone will allow such a pitiful create to live. It wanders onto the main road, and is completely ignored. If I had a gun, I am sure I would have shot the poor animal.

Overlooking the mekong

We get into the car after the most protracted checking process, and Kim has to drive an automatic for the first time, through the incredibly bad driving of Bangkok. We are less nervous than we should be. After 3 near accidents we get out of Bangkok, Kim seemingly calm and relaxed. After her two hour driving stint we are passing through the mountains of central Thailand, which are beautiful.

We ring the guesthouse to say we are going to be late, and asking if we can arrive at 2am. The owner, who seems to be English (and gay), says that is going to be a problem. Our quite relaxed drive turns into a 130 kilometre per hour race against the clock. We stop for dinner at a roadside stall, which like all Thai food, cheap or expensive, is absolutely delicious. We point at the various ingredients we want, and they are turned into gorgeous little dishes. I have a not too spicy chicken noodle soup, which is fast becoming a staple, while Kim opts for the inevitable Pad Thai - her default Thai dish. I end up running the in car entertainment system, Matt and I spend the last two of Kim's driving stints watching the appalling Van Helsing on DVD on the laptop in the back of the car. Kim in her stints off uses me as a sleeping cushion. This is the sum total of my entire usefulness on the trip to Nong Khai.

Tired drivers

We get into Nong Khai at 11:30, and then my only real job, map reading to the guesthouse is called upon. I obviously get us thoroughly lost, and we have to ring the guesthouse to get directions. We arrive at the guesthouse to find Julian, the owner, an urbane and extremely polite former resident of Battersea Rise, waiting for us. His guesthouse, sitting on the banks of the Mekong river, is a delight. We settle in for a few beers, and a quick chat with him.

After about an hour we start chatting to two German girls and their male companion. Which is interesting, as unusually for Germans, their English is absolutely flawless. Later find out that two of them have been studying in Taunton, in Somerset, which is a bit of a shock. Matt heads off to bed, while Kim and I stay up for a while chatting, and trying to plan what to do. Decide that a couple of days relaxing on the banks of the Mekong, in the very pleasant guesthouse, is a good idea. Our previous schedule is slowly being binned.