Farewell Thailand

This is it. The end of my two week adventure to tropical Thailand. Today has just been about whiling away the hours until my flight back to London. It's Saturday and this means the big weekend market in Bangkok. And big is truly an understatement - it is easily the biggest market I have ever seen in my life. You can buy everything here, from religious knicknacks to fighting cockerels. All manner of junk. Used clothes, new clothes, plastic fruit, works of art, stuffed insects, herbs and spices, everything has it's own section and it's a nightmare to try and work out where you are and where you need to go. Amidst the crowd and the heat, I did the cowardly thing and opted to escape to the air-conditioned haven of the shopping malls instead.

I have to be honest and say that there isn't much about Bangkok that I really nice. It's loud and busy and noisy. The traffic is horrendous and if you want to explore the west side of the river - good luck to you. On the east there is some semblance of decent transportation but the traffic is just as bad. I'm actually glad to be leaving.

So it's goodbye to the warm weather and cheap food. But on a plus note it's also goodbye to mosquitoes, overly hot weather (3 showers a day), overcrowding and being constantly mistaken for being a native. Oh yes, and not forgetting the most important thing - real milk. The first thing I want to do when I get home is to put the kettle on and make a decent cup of tea. Thailand has awful milk. I have no idea what it is, but it smells like that awful carton UHT stuff and it makes a bloody disgusting cup of tea. Bring out those Tetley teabags...