My life is so exciting!!

So I'm back in Bangkok for the third and final time.  At first I didn't like the city but I must admit it has grown on me but not enough to stay here for a fourth time anytime soon!

We arrived back early Sunday morning and said bye to a few of the people from the group and then made our way to our hotel along with Amy, Lindsay and Christina as they couldn't book themselves in anywhere else.  I decided that today was gonna be a lazy day so all I did was catch up on some sleep...man I'm lazy! hee hee

That evening however a few of us decided to meet up at the local stadium to watch some Muay Thai boxing, you know as I said before experience some of the Thai culture.  I was a little disappointed though - no blood was shed!  Also when the main event arrived my belly decided it could not deal with the noodles I had ate about 10 minutes beforehand so I spent the first round in the loo!  Not impressed!

We then moved on to the famous Calypso Cabaret to watch the 'ladyboys!'  It was really good though - we enjoyed it.  There were a couple of 'ladies' that were pretty damn convincing though - I had my picture taken with one of them so when I get the chance I'll upload it on here for you.  I must admit though we were all looking in amazement at where they 'put' their 'bits' coz it was intriguing.

Unfortunately we were up at like 5.30am the following morning to go on a day trip to Kanchanaburi but it was worth it.  We saw the famous 'Bridge over the River Kwai' and walked from one side to the other which was a little dangerous coz there were no barriers or netting to either side of the track.  We then took a ride on the 'Death Railway train' for about an hour and then in the afternoon we went to the 'Tiger Temple.'  There we got to stroke the big furry cats and have our pictures taken with them (again I'll upload a couple) and also a little tiger cub too.

Because we were up so early yesterday morning we decided to stay in for dinner and plus Amy was leaving so her and Lindsay decided to order in Pizza Hut so I had a tasty deep pan pizza in their hotel room!  

So today I decided to sleep in (yet again!) and now we're off to see Wat Arun (a temple that I actually want to see) and maybe also walk around Khao San Road again - pick up some goodies that I don't actually need!  We need to be back by 7pm tonight as we meet up with our next tour group and we leave Bangkok tomorrow afternoon to head south towards Singapore.

On a separate note Sara and I have only had one argument since we've been away which is a miracle coz it'd usually be at least one each week!!  I think it's helped that we've been in groups though.  I haven't killed her......yet! ha ha ha

We went up to the Golden Triangle on Thursday and took a little trip over the Mekong River from Thailand to Laos so I got a souvenier stamp on my passport and sent a couple of postcards too!  We then left there to go to the 'most northern part of Thailand' where we could see the Myanmar border (Burma to me!) so we took a few snaps... as you do!

We arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday and spent the afternoon on a songthaew (extremely uncomfortable) driving up to a mountain to see yet another temple...I'm soooo over temples! lol  The weather hasn't been as nice up in the north either, a few downpours which last an hour or so but when it rains, man does it rain!

We had our 'last supper' last night as tonight we are on the overnight train.  Again I had a few shots of tequila along with the cocktails and I even danced again - for some strange reason though I was still pretty sober but hey I was having a good time.  We even saw a few ladyboys - some in the womens' toilets - I only realised when I saw the adam's apple! lol

We arrive pretty early back in Bangkok tomorrow morning and we're hoping to go out tomorrow night with a few others from our group to watch some Muay Thai boxing - you know me I love martial arts!!  Also we're in Thailand and it's part of their culture so we should experience it ... that's what I told Sara anyway.  We might also go to a ladyboy show afterwards and possibly even a 'ping pong' show!  When I first heard that term I was like 'err why would I wanna go watch some table tennis' and then someone explained it to me!  It sounds intriguing - you never know we might go and see how good they flex their 'muscles' lol

Oh yeah....today I took the plunge shall we say and I did a 50m bungee jump and nearly touched the water below me but I decided to instead jump off the platform - Sara got some good footage of it on my camera.  There was a moment of doubt when I was at the top but I just thought to myself 'you only live once - what the hell' and I did it - for some weird reason I was spinning around so I got a little dizzy.  There was three of us that did it and coz I'd rather get it over and done with I decided I'd do it first - I'm so proud of myself!  Sara didn't do it though - she took the footage/photos.... what a wuss eh?! lol

Thursday, we went to the Cu Chi tunnels which were used by the Viet Cong in the war - I went down one of them and man was it small, Sara didn't go down it though as she felt a little claustrophobic. Afterwards - and this bit is good - I bought 5 bullets and shot an AK-47...missed the target completely but hey at least I fired it. We were given headphones to block out the sound but geeze it was loud - the stuffing inside the earphones must have been 'shot' ha ha ha.

We then took a cyclo tour (yes another tour) around Saigon and ended up at the War Remnants museum where we saw out of commision tanks, planes and a helicopter along with missiles etc. Inside the museum we saw photos from the Vietnam war showing mostly American soldiers and then also some photos from other wars which basically depicted the Americans in a bad light....

Saturday arrived and we decided to see some of the city so we took a tuk-tuk to see Rama V statue (Sara's choice) and so after one photograph we moved on and she went on to see a palace and museum whilst I went back to meet up with Cathy. We ate lunch and had a gossip etc then Sara met us and we took a walk down Khao San Road (the place to get dodgy id's and degrees!) and after that we went to Chatuchat market but unfortunately couldn't stay long as I had to get back to meet up with the new tour.

Said bye to Cathy and even hugged her (Cathy doesn't hug much! lol) and then we officially started our new tour. Me and Sara are the only English people on this tour - the majority are from Calgary, Canada for some unknown reason! We then went out for dinner and finished up in a bar on Khao San Road with Amy. Christina and Maryanne - I only had one tequila sunrise though...I promise! lol

Yesterday, we took a boat ride along one of the canals in Bangkok and then onto Wat Pho (the massive reclining buddha statue) and then left the city by public coach (with air-con!) and headed to Sukhotai...after 6 hours we finally arrived! Today I could have gone on a lovely trek but decided against it at the last minute - and I'm glad I did too from what the others were saying! ha ha. So I enjoyed a nice, relaxing day on my own - ahhhhh bliss!

So tomorrow, we do a bike ride (hopefully nothing like the bike ride I did in China!) and then we move onto Lampang where hopefully I should be able to have a horse and elephant ride - obviously not at the same time! lol

Yes - as the title of my blog says I really did eat some frog last night - it tasted like a piece of chicken except that it had an odd taste to it but I did it.  Luckily in a way I was allergic to it because I started to sneeze and get an itchy throat (that's about as awful as my allergies are lately lol).  Last night was the final night of our tour and so we moved on to a bar after dinner and I had a couple of tequila sunrise cocktails - pushing the boat out I know!

Tomorrow, Sara and I have arranged to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels (used by the Viet Cong) and also the War Remnants museum - more education! lol  Then Friday we leave in the afternoon and fly back to Bangkok in time to start our tour on Saturday of Northern Thailand - another 9 day trip.

Oh yeah - I nearly contemplated two things whilst in Cambodia...no. 1 eating tarantula (don't worry though I didn't - it was those big furry legs that put me off) and no. 2 adopting a sweet little kid - awww they're so cute...some of them anyway! lol