Today, we were supposed to be on the Ping River, lazily drifting along, flowers in the water, weeping willows along the banks, etc. But we were both still mending and the day was wasted apart from walking a few kilometres. This city is ancient and has a crumbling, still beautiful, city wall and moat, about 2 kms square, around the older city. When I get the skills, I'll post some photographs.

The day started beautifully, a cinnamon-coloured sky slowly changed into apricot by 6am and then a glorious blue. I had my massage by a blind woman in a little shop across the soi (laneway). The manager, also blind, told me that he has two shops in Chiang Mai and his dream is to train blind people to earn a living by massaging, even having an international centre to train other blind people from south-east asia.

It was a gentle massage, not the traditional Thai, where this woman presses for about an hour on muscle groups and knots. It was not painful so I wondered how effective it would be. I'll compare it to a Thai massage that I hopefully will have tomorrow. But I'm 50% better than yesterday with health and Janet is about the same although she is still lacking energy and sleeps a lot during the day.

We had a wonderful breakfast for $6 in total, fruit drinks, tea, bacon, hash browns, toast, eggs, sausages, tomatoes, etc. All on a sun-drenched verandah surrounded by tropical plants and flowers. Janet said it was the slowest breakfast she'd ever had in her life.

The problem with money is that we can't estimate how much we are spending. With about 30 baht to the dollar, something that is 20 baht seems to have no price at all. It's all to do with there being so many to the dollar - a perception that it is like monopoly money. Gradually, we are seeing that 500 Baht = $15. It is going to be harder in Cambodia in two weeks' time for there the exchange is about 4,000 riel to the dollar, so is 2756 riel much money? How about 46,500 riel? Luckily, they use American dollars for items over $1 and their own money for change. But when we go to Vietnam on Boxing Day, the exchange rate jumps to about 15,000 dongs to the dollar. Is 90,800 dongs a good price for breakfast? Who can tell when you are disorientated?

Now, we are off to have dinner. Last night we could hardly move afterwards and it came to about 260 Baht, which I imagine is close to $9.

Tomorrow, the elephants playing soccer and painting pictures, all on high-definition movie.

I'm trying to will this nasal/throat infection away. It's robbing me of excitement and I'm not concentrating. Today, we nearly missed the plane to Chiang Mai. I misread the departure time from BKK, seeing instead the arrival time at Chiang Mai. So we blissfully set off for a 1115 departure, however on the way to the airport I casually looked at the times and saw the plane was to leave at 1000. We just got there with a lot of assistance from ground staff.

My friend from university days in the 70's, John Mountbatten, lives in Bangkok for 6 months of the year. In fact, John introduced me to south-east Asia a few years ago. On Tuesday night, he took me to a very laid-back tropical restaurant across the road from Penguin House, were Janet and I are staying. It is run by Ek, John explained, who was formerly a no-hoper and quite rebellious. Ek is good-looking and this may explain why B. "adopted" him, taught him English and accountancy, fostered Ek's interest in art and cooking, got him through university with a degree in fine arts and helped finance this great little restaurant. Along the way, Ek picked up awards for painting, including the prestigious King's Award, and developed a talent for hard work. With B and another friend, Ek now has a 12-room hotel in the centre of Bangkok as well as a restaurant and works 16-18-hour days, going between the two. He's only 30 and quite tough, although he looks like a choir boy. In Bangkok, you keep moving or sink to the bottom.

Now, late in the afternoon and before we go to the Blue Diamond for dinner, I'm going to book in next door to the blind masseur. This establishment highly recommends him for travellers' knots and stiff back and sore neck. After all that, it's the night market; travel is 40 B down the main street by tuk-tuk.

Bangkok, Wednesday. Unlike Taipei, where I never saw an internet cafe, Bangkok has about half a dozen in this laneway near my hotel. It is such a switched-on country and accelerating like mad. It can take 15-20 minutes to cross a road here, with thousands of motor scooters and cars descending on the traveller from every direction.

I have picked up the usual sore throat in Bangkok. Every time I come here, I get this raging hot throat with a swollen uvula. I brought some antibiotics with me from Australia so have started on them this morning. Janet is laid low, arriving in Bangkok yesterday with me and immediately wanting just to sleep. She didn't join me for dinner last night and left straight after breakfast to return to her room. She says she's exhausted, nothing more, and needs a lot of sleep. So, I'll wander off into the city and regain my confidence in using the public transport system and language again.

The taxi ride from the airport yesterday was in an illegal taxi and much more than I am used to paying. I still can't work out why, except that Janet was insisting on getting a bus into the city and it felt like I was being nagged a bit, so when some tout said 1000 baht, I argued down to 700 B and he accepted. The real taxi fare is about 300 B so god knows why I said yes. The driver was hitting about 125 kph on the 80 kph expressway and I was muttering "chi chi" which I thought was Thai for slow down, but my friend John says it is "cha cha" with a downward inflection. Anyway, the teenage driver took no notice of us huddled down on the back seat, fearful of a crash. Maybe the bus next time.

Breakfast was toast, bacon & eggs, tea, juice, etc, all for 90 B ($3) and taxi rides are 35 B for flag fall and that includes about 3-4 kms. Not bad for $1.20.

I went to Pantip Plaza yesterday where software is very cheap. The whole plaza is devoted to computers and phones, hundreds of stores selling the same things. I bought a small calculator with world times, etc, for 200 B but it doesn't work properly. Is it worth taking a taxi back into the city to get a new one?

24 sugar bananas for 20 B (60 cents) and other unbelievable prices for food - this is one cheap place to live. Three days' washing + shirts ironed for 40 B. The hotel is about 800 B a day but tomorrow we fly to Chiang Mai where accommodation is even cheaper.

Now, back to the hotel to check on Janet.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Taipei - Monday,

A flight of 8.5 hours, very cramped for Westerners when several thousand people are sharing a 330 Airbus, still left us excited to be in Taiwan. We caught the express bus into the city, a trip of some 30 kms for $A4 each, then a taxi to the Dong-Wu Hotel. Charlie Tai, a friend of ours, had obtained the Chinese script address and without that we would have had problems as English is really in the minority here.

But what an amazing city! Apartment blocks as far as the eye can see in all directions and shops everywhere. We went for a stroll last night and on Sunday night there was a lot happening, from haircutting to shops open for any kind of purchase. We had Chinese soup at one of 50 cafes open in our street, again at bargain prices - maybe about $1.30. Rich chocolate cakes, New York Baked Cheesecakes - large slices and beautifully cooked - for the same price. Our hotel, with wifi, breakfast, top service, is only $US105 a night. And it's right in the middle of everything in this city we really are enjoying so much.

Today, we went to the tallest building in the world (this is always disputed by those in Dubai or Kuala Lumpur) - Taipei 101. It is designed to resemble a bamboo shoot, with 8 segments (that is a lucky number in Chinese) and giant coins stuck to the sides at level 24 to 27. The view is supposed to be spectacular as it's far taller than the New York World Trade Center, but today the top was covered in mist as rain pelted down almost non-stop. It's still an amazing building and is located close to the Old Taiwan, but rain stopped us from exploring much further. The incredible Taipei Museum is closed on Mondays so we really couldn't take a trick. Janet was tired and so we came back to the hotel and now, it being 7pm, we will take a pick of the sidewalk cafes for dinner.

It's too interesting a city to do quickly so we have resolved to fly back for a week in 2008 and travel to the interior by train, said to be a beautiful journey. The people have all been helpful and try to understand what we say and are exceptionally courteous. It's the first day of the trip and it's been a great introduction to the Taiwanese people. Incidentally, Kevin Rudd did some of his Mandarin studies here and even appeared on stage in Chinese Opera, according to his Mandarin teacher who was interviewed for the local paper. That's a first for an Australian Prime Minister-Elect.

Tomorrow, we leave early to catch the plane to Bangkok and I hope we've recovered some energy as tonight, our personal batteries are in the red zone.

South-east Asia

Tuesday - It's five days to the minute before we board the aircraft to fly to Taiwan. This last week has been packed with things to do before leaving on this 66-day journey, for example, tomorrow is the morning tea put on by Probus members who will be wishing Janet, their President, a safe journey. Probus is an organisation very close to Janet's heart and the morning tea is an especially welcomed event.

Janet has already packed but it seems she's omitted language, guide and general reading books, duplicate travel documents, maps, camera equipment, alarm clock, warm clothes (it's winter in some places we travel to) and all the things I want her to carry. Half her suitcase is empty, so far. Asia Airlines only allow 15 kg of checked in luggage so sharing will be necessary.

Lots of arrangements have been done by now. Nearly all our accommodation has been booked (16 separate occasions, 5 times to Bangkok for example) and nearly all the flights. There's a train journey to Hua Hin in Thailand we have yet to arrange and visas to Cambodia and Vietnam.

It pays to make many of the arrangements ourselves and this can be done on the internet. Nok Airlines, for example, has a flight from Hanoi to Bangkok for only 9 cents a journey (plus $US45 tax and charges). You can compare that to Thai Airlines which charges the earth for the same trip. And it's fun to search on the Net for boutique hotels or lodgings, then correspond with the owners themselves who write back in English, surely one of the most complicated languages in the world. My usual hotel in Bangkok wrote back to say "Mr Richard, So happy to miss you..."

The many, many highlights should make this a journey to remember. Bangkok is always exciting; we will be going into the foothills nearer to Burma to see the elephants; Penang Island is a first for both of us; the orphanage in Phnom Penh (for which a lot of money was raised); Angkor Wat at Siem Reap, where we will be for Christmas; Hanoi and Halong Bay, where we may stay overnight on a junk in the South China Sea; Saigon and surrounding areas where the Viet Cong fought from tiny tunnels; Chiang Rai in the north of Thailand; Hua Hin on the coast and site of the King's summer palace, etc.

Of course, on this visit we will be celebrating with millions of Thais the 80th birthday of their King, a much respected and loved monarch. He is frail and it is to be hoped that on 5 December, he's still around to give his blessings on his people. Thailand will be alive and so festive for December and it's always a pleasure to be with these wonderful people.

However, much of the time we will be in Vietnam which resembles Thailand 15-20 years ago and still retains an old-fashioned charm (and price structure).

So, we are going to basically have a look at where we would like to teach and where we found we could live for months at a time. I don't believe we will do anything more than look around, talk to local schools, suss out the various places and do some sight-seeing. I hope to take movies with my new HD camcorder and basically put together my own small travelogue so we can re-live the atmosphere and times and try to decide where we felt most comfortable and useful.

We'll talk about the highlights when we arrive in each place and maybe tell you something that may persuade you to visit. But for now, that's it, and back to the packing.