I'm pleased to report that we have made it safely to Bangkok, despite
the Tropical Cyclone heading straight for Thailand. Our flight was
rather uneventful apart from the Business Class upgrade Cathay Pacific
kindly gave us - until then we'd never wished for a flight to be longer!
Mumbai was much the same as all the other Indian cities we have
visited, apart from a smattering of swish bars, posh hotels, night
clubs and MacDonald's (Michael recommends the McRaj burger-so much for
the sacred cow). People still slept wherever there was a flat
surface-pavements, roofs and the taxi drivers preferring their car
boots. Mumbai harbour is the colour of over-stewed tea with a dash of
milk and stinks of rotten eggs. We spent our time watching some
impromptu cricket at the Oval Maiden, doing the main sites on foot and
being entertained by the current Bollywood blockbuster-Tashan, having
to stand for their National Anthem, eating the best caramel popcorn
I've ever tasted during the interval and keeping our fingers crossed
that we wouldn't have to action the warning at the beginning of the
film "IN CASE OF EXPLOSION RENDER HELP TO THE INJURED AND DO NOT PANIC"
I think I prefer 'Please turn off all mobiles".
Bangkok is
clean, calm, quiet, car drivers use indicators, there are women, monks
and nuns on the streets, people queue in a civilized fashion for boats,
trains, buses, Buddha is everywhere and the sun is shining but it's
hot. 10 degrees below India but seems hotter due to the 80% humidity.
We have fallen victim to the 'Bangkok scammers'. All I can say is that
I now own a lovely Thai dress-properly paid twice the price and you can
bet the "100 percent silk" has a hint of polyester mix but hey-'The
Full Bangkok Experience'. On the up I have experienced a Thai massage.
I felt a bit like I was bread in the making. I was kneaded, pulled,
pinched and knelt on. I remained tense with the thought that my limbs
were about to be dislocated and I winced when I was pinned down by the
masseurs knee, her entire body weight through my shoulder-this was no
willowy Thai lady, she looked more suited to be a bouncer at a Thai
boxing match. But by the end I felt inches taller and energized-I
think this was elation because I still had the ability to walk
properly. As for Thai boxing-'Muay Thai', it's aggressive, fierce and
ruthless. Not satisfied with boxing alone they knee, elbow and kick
each other with unwavering competitive passion. When they get
themselves tied up in the ropes the ref leans on them and chucks them
back into the middle of the ring whilst the spectators chant and
rhythmically point 'errrrrrr' and 'arrrrrrr' from opposite corners of
the ring, becoming louder and louder and faster and faster along with
the bongo drums and snake charmer flute for each body blow they
receive. It was great fun and we found ourselves doing a few 'errrrrrr'
and 'arrrrrrr' from our spit and saw dust ring side seats.
We are now in Koh Tao enjoying the tail end of the cyclone in between
short bouts of sunshine and torrential monsoon rains-joy. We are on a
ferry tomorrow heading for Krabi hoping to out run the rain!
We'll be in touch very soon,
Lots of love
Michael and Suzy
xxx
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