Don't dream it's over

Greetings blog fans!

Firstly, my sincere apologies for my complete neglect of this fabulous blog. As you will see from the previous entry, it has been a record breaking 2.5 months since the last entry. Even by my lax standards, this is mince. I hope you will forgive me and read on for an action packed update on the final portion of my grand adventure.

So, I find myself back in sunny Ayrshire, Scotland (home of the brave). I've actually been back for about 3 weeks, but to be honest I have been getting my head together after a roller coaster few months. Let us start by looking at my last few NZ adventures:

Tongariro Crossing

The Tongariro Crossing is rated as the best one day walk in the world. It is about 19Km and should take about 7-8 hours. A lot of the scenery in this amazing (and still active) volcanic landscape was used in Lord of the Rings (most famously Mt Doom). It was one of the big things (not to be confused with the big things of Australia - it isn't a big prawn or anything) that I wanted to tackle before I left NZ, but things weren't looking promising. The area had been hit with some severe dumps of snow over the previous 2 weeks, and it is one of those trips where you don't really know what the conditions are going to be like until you get there. I chanced it and drove down to Taupo on the Friday night after work and hoped for the best. When I awoke at 5am to catch the bus down to the track, it look like it was going to be a fantastic day. Indeed, it looked great all the way down to the track. However, true to form, once we actually arrived at the track we were greeted by some high grade mist which provided a rather ghostly quality to the start of the walk. I was a bit concerned that I was going to be walking for 8 hours, knowing fine well that I was surrounded by some the best scenery in the world, and not being able to see 2 feet in front of me. However, after about an hour of tramping the mist slowly clearer to reveal the red crater, the emerald lakes and a generally stunning vista. This was a definite highlight of my time in NZ and if you ever get the chance to tackle this track you should go for it (unless you are anything less than fit, in which case forget it - not for the faint hearted!)

Great Barrier Island

There are a number of islands off the coast of Auckland, many of them inhabited and worth a visit. I'd been for a weekend on Waiheke Island the previous year. Waiheke is more like a suburb of Auckland and is easily reached by a 30 minute ferry crossing. Great Barrier, on the other hand, is another kettle of monkeys. It was a place that always came up when I was talking to Kiwis about their favourite places. However, they hadn't eluded to the logistics of getting there. You have 2 options. Option 1 - 4 hour ferry crossing. Option 2 - 45 minute flight on a 12 seater plane. Both options were rather expensive, but as I lack patience I went for the plane option. I actually managed to book a pretty decent fly drive deal. As it was still spring I even got an upgrade to a Toyota Rav 4. I needed it. The island is quite an experience. There is no mains electricity (all diesel generators) or running water/sewage. However, it is truly one of the most stunning places I have ever seen. Many refer to Arran as Scotland in miniature. Great Barrier is like the South Island of NZ in miniature. Big peaks, tons of rainforest, natural hot water springs....amazing. I won't rabble on too much, but if you are ever in NZ, get yourself over there. Indeed, I got to extend my stay. We got stranded on the island for an extra night after the plane failed to take off due to fog (in bloody Auckland). As much as I fancied a diversion to Hamilton, we decided to get some new accommodation and hope for take off in the morning. Luckily the weather had clearer my the morning and it was straight to work from the airport on Monday morning. If you ever get over there then I would recommend the following:

GBI rent-a-car - Hire a fantastic Mazda 121 'funtop' - completely unsuitable for the roads and akin to driving a soft-top milkfloat, but what a laugh. They hired us a car for $20 when our flight was cancelled
http://www.greatbarrierisland.co.nz/

Crossroads backpackers - We stayed at a place called stray possum initially and it was mince. We stayed here the night our flight was cancelled. They gave us a room and let us pay them via online banking 'when we got the chance' when we didn't have cash. Lovely place as well.
http://www.xroadslodge.com/

So, the time had come to bid farewell to NZ. It was hard, but I was ready for home (now I'm home I'm not so sure). I am rubbish at flying. I just can't sleep. So, I had opted for a cheeky stop over....next stop Bangkok!

Bangkok

This is truly the most bizarre and stunningly insane place I have ever been (and I've been to Tirau). You want to buy something, anything, at a stupidly low price, with free beer and someone firing ping pong balls at you whilst you drink a jelly smoothie....you've come to the right place. I will summarise the highlights forthwith.

The suit

It has always been a dream of mine to get a tailor made suit. However, anyone that knows me will also know that I'm exceptionally cheap. Luckily I was in Bangkok, just the place pick up a finely crafted suit at a bargain price. However, a little warning, there are a lot of cheap and generally rubbish tailors in Bangkok. Be choosy and do your research. I went here:

http://www.dress-for-success.com/

The place is at the higher end of tailors in Bangkok (you could get cheaper, but not better). After a couple of fitting sessions and copious amounts of free beer I got my suit and 4 shirts for the equivalent of about £250. It was the King's Birthday while I was in the city, a public holiday which stretched over much of my stay. These guys managed to get my suits/shirt made and delivered direct to my hotel despite being closed! Highly recommended.

There is plenty to see in Bangkok. Don't bother walking anywhere though. It is a big city, incredibly polluted and there are certain areas I wouldn't be to keen to walk through on my own. Fortunately the skyrail got me pretty much everywhere I wanted to go (only 120 baht for unlimited travel per day - about £2).

Bangkok is an excellent place for a spot of shopping. Now this can mean many things. You can buy anything - rabbit in a dress, viagra, fake rolex, fried insects..and some normal stuff at really good prices. There are different sides to the Bangkok shopping experience. For instance, there are a ton of markets selling all sorts of nonsense. Some are better/less dodgy than others. If you are in town over a weekend you have to check out the Chatuchak weekend market. It is an incredible spectacle. Even if you didn't want to buy anything, just come for a wonder round. Buy a squirrel on a string for a few baht and leave it at the airport if you fancy.

The other side of Bangkok shopping is the malls. There are tons of malls, some high end and some...well, less so. If you want high end go to the Siam Paragon (www.siamparagon.co.th). Basement level - full aquarium with penguins. Seventh floor - Bentley showroom. It also has one of the best food courts. If you want a slightly different experience go to the MBK mall (www.mbk-center.co.th/en/) which is more like an indoor version of the market described above (less rabbits in dresses though). So, you could for example pick up a fake iphone or other such quality merchandise here. If you are into technology then go straight to Pantip Plaza (http://thailand-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/malls_of_bangkok_pantip_plaza) Bloody hell, the Barras has nothing on this place. Mountains of pirate software, movies, mp3s, music and every piece of technology you could ever wish for...and as usual dirt cheap.

Muchos good food is to be had as well. Don't really need to say too much here as you would be extremely unlucky to get a bad meal in Bangkok. However, my special tip would be this place. Very different to anywhere else you will eat (or indeed stay if you fancy) and definitely the best food I had during my trip - http://www.theatlantahotelbangkok.com/

There are of course many cool touristy things to see in Bangkok. I would recommend the Grand Palace (although at 350 baht it isn't cheap) and What Po (see the photos of the 150 ft gold buhda on my Flikr). All very impressive, but they really highlight the bi-polar nature of Bangkok. Incredible wealth and consumerism sits next door to incredible poverty. You sink and swim in this city, and probably quite a lot of people sink, and the sea bed ain't pretty. I was mightily disappointed that I didn't get to see the one tourist attraction that had been top of my list since I spotted it in the guide book - The Museum of Forensic Medicine. Ooh, that sounds interesting I hear you cry. I'd love to see a 75cm elephantitis infected human scrotum. It was shut because of the bloody king's birthday, but check out the website (http://www.thaioasis.com/bkkv/siriraj01.php)

Any then it was all over. It was time to go home. There are of course other stories (if you see me ask me about the 'stealing a lamp from a monk' story, and if you must, the 'my experience of a Thai massage' story). Just a closing note - don't fly SAS Scandinavian Airways - they are mince!

So I'm home. Look me up. Give me a cuddle. Give me a job. I missed you and if you missed me you should take me for a pint (I might buy you one in return). Thanks to all of you who have stuck with the blog. It isn't much, but is a small record of a great time in my life. Now for the next chapter...

Love and kisses

Tambo x