Thailand Tour 2008 Day 1

By Hoo Don

Hello and welcome from the Land of Smiles. Arrived on time, well fed and refreshed. Thank you Bangkok for your smoking rooms. Went straight through immigration and customs no problem and was met by my girlfriend the Wonderful Wi. Stepping outside the terminal we dropped straight inside the giant wok that is Thailand. Red hot and full of spice.We headed straight for the taxi rank and were greeted by a just landed American gentleman.

Chat, chat, spiel and he then says to me "London, heathrow, did you fly from that goddamn terminal 5." Couldn't resist it, tapped my suitcase and answered "still got this so I don't think so". The taxi pulled up and it was your stereotyped blacker than black sunglasses taxi man. You just had to hope behind the glasses sat whiter than white clear brown eyes and not the man who had lost his only girlfriend to his elder brother and they were now married with two children. In Thailand 99.9% of men faced with a steering wheel turn into a gung ho go kart racer, slap on some taxi stickers, a meter and a sign on top and you quickly accelerate into the final minute of grand Prix qualifying.

In this situation you hope he's not colour blind, the severely frayed seat belts are part of the design and the air bag is not at that minute being expertly withdrawn from a corpse in some Bangkok morgue. I spun life's coin and lost. Excuse the pun but we arrived in Hua Hin quicker than expected. The fare was settled, I gave a monetary tip and added one from life, "If you ever take up hot air ballooning fill the basket full with sand". He didn't understand and I didn't care. He screamed away from the starting grid with me praying to my new found god that I would never be crossing the lights he was approaching on the day his elder brother had won the national lottery.We entered the hotel lobby very nervously and I was surprised to see the the floor wasn't coated in eggshells but an old style Thai brown floor tile.

The Araya hotel appears to be a cozy I guess family run hotel situated 70 metres from the beach. Absolutely perfect.We showered and then entered the cocktail of bars and restaurants that form the pulse we are now within. The highlight of our day was a shared 4 course meal, eaten overlooking the beach. Tom yum kung (spicy prawn soup), beef and vegetables surfacing on top of a rich sweet sauce, deep fried battered prawns and then my favourite, rice fried with coconut, sultanas and prawns, served in a pineapple boat. Washed down with a beer and water melon juice the bill huffed and puffed but couldn't quite reach 15 euros. Amazing Thailand. We spent the evening at a night market, Wi shopping, me drinking, the way I like it. Don't know what time it is where you are but its 12-02 here, gotta go, first day, very tired. Good luck and god bless the mess you may be in.

Feel free to visit my website Beyond The Mango Juice at http://www.thaisabai.org

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Tags: Trevel in Thailand, Thai Food, thai food menu, history thai food