Good-bye Thailand

Whenever you sit in a bath for hours and start to get all wrinkly - that was a bit like the Songkran Water Festival.  A festival whereby the Thais welcome in the New Year - they use the Tamil calendar and their New Year is something ridiculous like 5114, not 2012 like we do.  It is a time of cleansing of themselves, their houses, everything and respect of their elders and Buddha. 3 whole days of getting absolutely saturated. Myself and a few of my friends could only manage one day of all the water before hibernating in someones house for the other 2 days. It was great fun. As soon a someone walked out of their door, they were attacked by people young and old throwing water everywhere and covering you with either perfume (which stank - if it was some fancy named expensive brand that was nice it would've been great), talc or orange paint.  Ice water was the worst, especially if you had to go indoors to the air conditioning, then most people started to freeze to death. 

There was an earthquake that occurred in Indonesia a few days before Songkran and whilst we were training in the gym an announcement came over the tannoy about stopping classes and staying away from certain parts of the island, as a tsunami wave was expected to hit 40 minutes later.  The earthquake hit Banda Acheh (where the last tsunmai destroyed thousands of lives and wreaked havoc) so some of the people in Phuket weren't taking any chances. Neither were some of us. 

So off we went back to our apartments, 3 of us jumped on Hermie my scooter and went to the nearest evacuation route - which was at the Big Buddha, which sits 6km high up on the hill (the same place the running of tyres on your shoulders occurs).  Myself and 2 other girls, Tina and Emma looked ridiculous all squashed on Hermie, legs and arms hanging over the scooter in any direction, trying to drive slowly and get up the hill as quickly as we could without falling off. We made it up with hundreds and hundreds of Thais all up there already. Everyone waited eagerly for the tsunami - we had a good view of the sea - hours passed and the all clear came.  There was a tsunami ok, but I suppose you could say a bit of a baby one. Actually, some people could probably cause more of a ripple if they had a bit of a 'wind' problem and let off in the sea. The tsunami wave was apparently 4ft high - even smaller than the tide coming in!  At least we were safe and no-one was taking any chances this time round. 

Have had my last week of classes and have now moved on from Phuket and am back in my little hotel in Bangkok, the one I was in before.  No more sweating constantly, no more tyres, no more Hermie the scooter :(  I had the most amazing time there and met so many fantastic people. Met so many people from everywhere around the globe and will keep in contact with a good few of them. Never met a Norwegian before, now I've met a handful. Well, let's just say I won't forget the likes of Tina, Nikita and Ted - 3 different characters, each from different parts of Norway - each totally different from the next, each adding a different dimension to my daily life, but all completely nuts (in a good way). Most of our waking hours were spent together: training, eating, going out, watching movies in each others room during rest times, going to the beach, going on the scooter... a few of us nearly morphing into each other in little ways. I suppose training at Tiger Muay Thai was a bit like being in a jail, but a brilliant jail at that, spending your life with these people. Thailand has been stunning - it's right up there with South America, beating Oz and NZ. The country is so pretty and the Thai people are just something else - and Thailand is known as the 'The Land of Smiles' - never did I meet an unhappy Thai person.  Every single one of them were charming, always willing to help and always smiling and saying hello, asking if you'll come back and visit.  They just love their Royal Family and their Buddhist religion, unlike many other countries in the world. The last 6 weeks have  just been fantastic, but time to move on again for my next destination...?

Laos - I'll be flying there in the next couple of days and have no idea what to expect. Looking forward to it and then it's back to South America and Cusco for 6 weeks of studying Spanish and volunteering again. After that, more travel to Columbia and Ecuador. I never plan too far in advance as things can change at the last minute, depending on what is happening at that particular time. That's just one of the many things I've learned over the last 10 months of travel.

Songkran with Nikita, Tina and Emma

Songkran Parade

Soaked on the streets

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People driving up to Big Buddha on the tsunami evactuation

Tsunami wave coming in?

Hermie the Scooter

Hermie is my scooter/motorbike and it is a he/she and keeping with tradition here in Thailand, it's a kind of lady-boy motorbike. Its name is Hermie (like a hermaphrodite which is both male and female) and I've been having a great time travelling all around the island most afternoons after training with people from the camp. On most days myself and another Norwegian guy sometimes go off to see the sights. To rent the bike for the week costs the equivalent of 20 pounds. All you need is payment, your passport, no insurance/driving skills needed whatsoever. You get shown how to turn the bike on and then off you go onto the roads of Thailand with all the other crazy drivers.

Here's my top 10 road tips for driving over here: -

1. Carry as many people on your bike if you want. A family of 5 squeezed on has been the most I've seen so far.
2. A 2 wheeled bike is like a juggernault on the road - place as much as you can on your bike - groceries, animals, coffins...
3. Buckle your child in between parents and other siblings - standing room is perfectly normal, as is sleeping on the back of your mother, as you travel at high speeds on the road.
4. Undercutting is the new over-taking.
5. Red lights can mean stop or go - whatever takes your fancy at that time.
6. Zebra crossings are just white stripes painted on the road to brighten it up - take your life in your hands if you decide to cross using it.
7. Roundabouts - circles of confusion. As long as you get on it wedged between other cars, you'll live - no giving way to the right over here.
8. U-turns are perfectly legal in the middle of a busy intersection.
9. Pot-holes, wild dogs, elephants, loose goats etc may find their way onto the road. If the monsoon rains start, take shelter under the nearest awning.
10. Safety clothing - dodgy helmet that escapes from your head over speeds of 60 kph. Flip-flops, shorts and singlets are perfect for the wind-chill and if you fall off you'll lose most of your skin to the road.

It has been great seeing all the sights with Hermie and the island of Phuket is just stunning. Not only do you get to see the sights but it's lovely driving through different streets with all the smells of street food being cooked as you whizz past. It's also great for drying out constant body sweat in the heat and humidity.

So what else has been happening? Obviously, I'm still training everyday and the Buddha runs with the tyres are getting easier. I've finished first in my group in the last couple of weeks and the tyre is becoming a friend. I've now been moved from 'Beginner' Muay Thai into the 'Intermediate' section - so that means I can break more bones as I'm a little bit better than before - so don't catch me on a bad day ;)

Yesterday, myself and 2 girls; one from Sweden and the other from Norway hired out bicycles (push bikes, not motorised scooters) and cycled for miles - my God, the hills over here nearly killed us all. The locals were looking as us as if we were crazy as no-one is on a bicycle here - all motorbikes, because the place is so hilly. We had to get the bikes back by 7pm, so at 6pm we were miles from Kata (the place where we hired the bikes) and managed to bike to Surin. It took us a few hours to get there, so we had about 45 minutes to get back. We managed to hitch a ride 3/4 of the way there (the Thais are just the lovliest of people who would do anything for you..Buddhism - what a lovely religion) and caught a tuk-tuk back (we were squashed into it!). Such fun.

Next weekend is 'Songkran' which is the Thai New Year and unlike us Westerners celebrating by getting drunk, falling out of pubs, singing Auld Lang Sang at midnight, the Thais celebrate by soaking everyone. From what I've heard, the soakings are bad, but great fun. The soaking of water starts at midnight and lasts for 2-3 whole days. Yes, all day long. It doesn't matter who you are, what you are wearing - if you are out on a street in Thailand, be prepared to get drenched. So we've all bought water-guns and are getting together to join in the fun. I'd say after my third drenching, I'll be getting hacked off - maybe I'll use my Muay Thai skills on someone? Nah, it should be good fun - if you can't beat em, join em. Watch this space!

Running up Big Buddha with a tyre

More tyre work on the beach

Me on Hermie the scooter

Nikita and Pernilla - our cycle day out. Here we are hitch-hiking

Bodyfit Beach Thursdays. Proof that I'm not the only nutter that does this.

Muay Thai training

Running up and down steps with tyres