last tango in bangkok

I've made it back to Bangkok. It took me two trains and thirty six hours to get up here. The first train was from Kuala Lumpur to Hat Yai (a border town in Southern Thailand) and took a bit over fifteen hours. I then stood/sat/laid on the station platform for five hours until the train from Hat Yai to Bangkok arrived and jumped straight on it when it did. It came two hours later than scheduled and took another sixteen hours before pulling into Bangkok. The journey wasn't as bad as it sounds, because I was able to sleep comfortably through the night on both trains. Both journeys were smooth and largely uneventful, and made very bearable by fold down beds and air-conditioning. This way of doing things also had the advantage that I didn't need to pay for two nights of accommodation - the train was my hotel on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

After I arrived in Bangkok I checked into the Four Sons Hotel, a hotel just behind Khao San Road, and a cut above my usual choices - it has air-conditioning, a television, and a private bathroom with hot running water. Khao San Road itself is much as I remember it although there is more security on show at the moment, which I take to be a consequence of the Christmas bombings. Each end of the road has been barriered and at night people are periodically searched as they enter and exit. There are lots of army guys with machine guns wandering up and down, and I've also heard a number of police helicopters hovering over-head, suggesting further that the Thai authorities are on red alert.

Once I'd had a shower, and a bit of a rest on my bed, it was early evening and I went out to a local bar I like called Hippie De Bar, and had a couple of beers to relax and celebrate having made it to my final stop before home. I really felt them after. I only had the equivalent of about three pints but still had quite a hangover this morning, and was sufficiently spaced out when I returned to the hotel after for the cheeky receptionist to ask me how many fingers she was holding up before she would give me my room key (she was holding up three and I got it right). This highlights a fact of which I have been aware for sometime: my drinking tolerance has slowly been ebbing away over the last six/seven months because, although I do often have beer, it is usually served to me in bottles (pints are pretty much unavailable out here) and I mostly have had only one or two per sitting. I'll have to do some work when I get home at rebuilding my capacity. Bit of practice and hopefully I'll be back.

This morning I went to the dentist and had my teeth checked, cleaned, and polished. It was good to learn that they are still in good working order, and wonderful to have them nice and clean again. They were beginning to feel the effects of backpacking and electric toothbrush deprivation. While I was there I asked the dentist if he thought I should consider having my teeth whitened. I was pleased to be told that he thought it really not necessary. I then went on to a beauty salon where I had my hair washed and cut, my feet pedicured (my hard and worn feet are now magically soft again), my hands manicured, finishing off with a full body massage. I feel like a new man, as the actress said to the bishop. I've also bought a nice photograph album for my trip pictures, and have begun looking at what I can chuck out of my back-pack. The House of Bury is slowly getting itself into order.