Impressions and Images of Laos

Scattered throughout the quarters of Lao I've seen so many once stately, beautiful, french influenced homes, now with a unequal different ambiance - dirty, unkempt, yet with hints of rustic romanticism - then on 2nd looks the grime and mold certainly removes the rose coloured glasses. I like the familiar European feel though as I bike pass but they they do deserve some major TLC.

What Dam and French Villa

The Lao people are different than the smiling respectful Thai, their demeanor being indifferent and even snaring as you walk by and shopping is rather nightmarish. Then again I'm not used to shopping with someone small almost pressed up against me (unless a child which I'd rather leave at home while shopping). I dear not show any interest at any of the contents inside shops or stalls because. I became aware of how much I value being given room to shop back home. This 'attention' totally put me off shopping altogether - their loss. However one woman literally kicked me out of her shop with "You go, You go!" as I made the mistake of actually looking at 3 tops she had but didn't like them. To her  was committed - then I realised this was a major culture issue. 

No sooner had I jotted down the above thoughts my bike chain fell off and I got all greasy trying to reattach it. I prayed for help and I started hearing workshop equipment and headed for it. Sure enough I found a small work-site on a private property and before I could string any badly spoken Thai together (Lao can understand Thai - sometimes) the men figured out my hand signals to mean screw-driver (clever eh?) and they fixed my bike quick-smart and were all very good natured about it. Over all I had a couple of lovely experiences but mostly people were harder to talk with as they seems to look at me as if I had money to spend. So it got frustrating fast.

My favourite place in Laos: Hophtakeo Temple built in 1565

Images of Laos

My little hotel room at 500B a night - round $20NZ

Typical street view

Wild and dirty and different all at the turn of the head

The water front

Well there you have some of the best pics of my week in a communist country, a fact that was lost on me until I left. I have a new visa giving me 3 months in Thailand before I visit a new land.

Visa Runs, Laos & Patience

Typical scene in Laos

What was meant to be a quick and easy visa run turned out to be an adventure. Not as glorious as Indiana Jones and the Temple of doom - I'm yet to walk into any temple and find this 'doom', and unlike Indiana, I'm not bush-whacking through jungles, nonetheless, I found myself using my God-given power of patience.

It started Thursday night, when I was expected to be at the designated pickup point for a 7pm departure. I was booked and traveling with an 'Agent Tour' the 9 hours to Laos. The idea is, the agent is the middleman who makes it easy to get my returning Thai visa. Makes perfect sense and the tour is packaged to include hotel, food, visa (sorting out the messy fine print) and travel, returning within a few days with a new shinny holographic visa pasted into my passport. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

So being a typical westerner with a slightly organised and task orientated personality I arrive 20 min early. At this point my patience button is fine, as we all know that it really doesn't start working till 10min before an event is supposed to happen. But you can begin to feel it warm up.

No sign of the van. 

Start talking to self in mind. Mentally going over the instructions - yup, in right place. Calm self down with extra reassurance in checking my written instructions also and reminding self that they still have a 10 minute window. Button explosion aborted - phew!

7pm - Still no van. Patience drains from me! leaving me trying to reason with self again. "It's a busy night, there is always delays." I internally implore. Appeasing her a little more, we give it another 10 minutes. I'm all eagle-eyed now at every vehicle that enters the parking lot and even follow one promising looking van round as written on the back window was 'TOUR'. But he pulled into an auto shop - so much for that, I return to my perch.

The phone number I have on me for the driver didn't work. Obviously a miscommunication between it being recited and being written down with only a verbal check. Time to call the boss - my earthly one. Aware of my expectations I ask if I need to be concerned or give it more time (this could be a culture thing). He reassures me that time will reveal all and tells me they're praying for me (our friends have meet to eat dinner - that I'm missing waiting for this van!).

I realise I hadn't given prayer my greatest attention. So in doing so now a calm relaxed state came over me and I was in the space to just chill and enjoy the evening. It was OK to wait - for all of 5 minutes, then self started ranting between the ears "does this company not care about it's business?!" 

Praying again. Calmness again. New thoughts started entering my mind. "This time in 24 hours this will be in the past." "You'll look back and laugh about this, it'll be over soon". 

I started feeling as if the whole situation was taken care of and I sort of felt like a kid again waiting for my parents to get us where we're going, trusting them, yet asking 'are we there yet?' a few times during the process.

This went on for an hour. But now I was relaxed and not pent up with anxiousness. I call the boss again, "Um, I'm still here - I think there is a problem" I state. This time he's rather perplexed to know what to do. But one of the dinner party told him what was happening as she'd previously been on the same tour. In short, I was given the wrong time to meet, in fact I was 24hrs late!

My Lao visa and Kip

Now perplexed, mildly dumb-founded and amused two boys from the mission compound popped down and helped me nut out what the next strategy would be. I was very grateful for their help as one had made the trip himself and the other was so laid back in personality it became a fun adventure that he wanted to come on to, had it not been for work the next day he would have, just for the fun of it. Our negotiations took a further hour and the new plans had me away for a further few days.

Ready to go, the boys thought they'd travel across town with me to the bus station, to see me off and because we were having so much fun laughing about the absurdity of the situation. I'm so pleased they did, as just when we were talking about the time of night we were at and the likelihood of the availability of a bus at 10pm - the unthinkable happened - our taxi broke down on the motorway overpass! Murphy's law came to mind as we paid the driver, got out and legged it while laughing along the median strip for half a kilometer until another taxi pulled over with a kind-hearted passenger and took us the rest of the way.

Finally seated and the boys fare-welled my bus left the terminal at 12:20am. I was the only farang on the bus and apart of being stared at and touched a couple of times through the night (lady behind me seemed fascinated with my pretty face - her words, in Thai) all went well. The rest of the trip went without hitch, though 12 hours long and a bus transfer somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the wee hours. And best yet, the silly opposing antics stopped once I got to the boarder.

So here I was, less than 24 hours later chuckling to myself and thanking God that my first real Thai adventure (the hard parts at least) were behind me. The rest of the trip with the hotel getting, food buying, visa application all went smoothly with a great few days biking round the sleepy rustic town of Vientiane.

Check out my images and impressions of Lao 

Hope for Bangkok

Part of my 'job' description while in Thailand is to visit each of the 28 church plants to get to know and interact with the people. I participate in church and any afternoon program they have and I share when I'm asked, which is every time I'm visiting with either my testimony, and/or my design ministry and how it can be effective to a church. On top of this I'm asked to write about my experiences, so starting to do so. 

What do you do when you have 20 people, one fine day and a van?
The team at Hope for Bangkok’s Nawamin Church Plant had a great Sabbath idea a little different from most. The focus is on their Family Ministries initiative, where they encourage families in the community to take time out together through a monthly ‘Nature Discovery’ outing. 

Totally enjoyed the little delicate flowers in the water pots, 

Now, I’m all over that idea like a rash. I’d just spent my 3^rd week in Thailand and all I’d seen till this point was the urban life of the inner city; so to be invited to come along with the promise of countryside and trees totally appealed to me.

So here we were; 10 adults with a gaggle of children, a push car, guitar, bags of subsistence, and water out for a lovely jaunt into the country. Destination? Kaset University, heading that-a-way about an hour and half. We were booked to have a tour to learn about all things creepy-crawly, and visit their agriculture farm. In short, the University is a credit to Thailand, beautifully landscaped and presented, we were not disappointed. Trees offering dappled shade, small lakes, and grassy plains for expelling the energy of our pint-sized sojourners awaited us.

We explored the Butterfly enclosure and its accompanying museum where the first ‘family’ task was given - to explore and document their favourite ‘families’ of any of the creepy-crawly displays presented. It was a delight to see little groups of parents and children working together. Next, the happy crew explored the vegetable farm and learnt about some of the innovative and healthy ways the university grow their produce. Being typical tourists as we were, no trip to the country is complete without the clickdidy-click of photo-hungry people, in particular children, who photographed everything they could to the utter exhaustion of camera batteries in a few instances.

At the butterfly enclosure

Now to this point, as we enjoyed the hot sun-shiny day, I was involved in an activity that was very ‘familiar’ to me. My upbringing in New Zealand was full of wonderful memories of family outings, such as this, and camping holidays. But, I learned that to my new Thai friends, this was a unique experience. Families don’t spend such time as this together. Nana, whom I’ll introduce in the next paragraph, in her 65 years, had never ever been on an outing such as this in her life! So I looked upon the picnicking party with new eyes and marveled at what I saw. 

She never told me her name and it is respectful
to call an elder grandmother or father, I called her Nana

I watched a couple of mothers feeding their brood, one of their teens included the two young teens accompanying us solo (as girls do), a mat was laid down for the kiddies and I heard all sorts of mouth-filled banter from who had the latest Angry Bird keepsake to other very important subject matter. I watched the community’s grandmother, Nana, being included by another family. This lady and I had bonded earlier in the day. She shares the same age as my parents and spoke English very well. Best of all she totally complemented me on my Thai and reassured me it wasn’t said in flattery, this gave me the confidence to try it out throughout the day and she was both my instructor and translator. In fact, technically she is not yet a Nana, her two sons have not provided her any little angels to call her own, so this wonderful woman became Grandmother to her neighbours little ones, and she is loved and included by all. 

On my right were our hosts and church planters, with their visiting parents from the Philippines, two sisters and a brother brother-in-law as well as three children between them.

the family that stood out

The family that stood out to me the most were a lovely warm Thai brood of Dad, Mum and three young ones, all in green. Up until this day, only the mother and her three children had chosen to come along to anything the church-plant has offered, but today the husband and father joined in. In a country where men are preoccupied with all things manly, like work, and seem to do their own thing, I saw this man being totally present with his family with genuine warmth and enjoyment. They laughed and had fun throughout the day. 

After we ate our lunch under the, before mentioned, dappled shade of the trees, scripture songs were sung by guitar in Thai. The children particularly enjoyed this and I was called upon to help sing one in English, which we did twice – gotta love kids action songs! Then I was up, in leading the group in a game applicable to the day’s outing. 

Giving the parents a little breather from the wee ones, I instructed (through Nana) for the collection of leaves, bark, seed pods, and any flowers (already off the plant) to be gathered and brought back to the pathway next to us. Once done, the parents joined in and everyone had to create a tree from what was scavenged, every family unit working creatively together. For me, this was the highlight of the day. Afterwards, I spoke to everyone of God being the Creator of all we’d seen today, and although we can be creative at what we put our hands to, only God can create something as amazing as each of us and all we can see. It was short and sweet and in easy English for Nana to relay it.

And the winning families are.... everyone

After a prayer we packed up and headed for home. A longer journey than coming out due to traffic, but a great day was had by all. 

A little fact realised at the end of the day. Of the 20 of us that enjoyed the outing, only 7 were Christians, the remaining 13 were Buddhists families.

Trains, Boats and Tuk Tuks

The gander from the top floor (15 stories) not at all disappointing

Wanting to get my bearings around Bangkok's colossal network of acreage, I decided to throw myself in the deep end - not literary! those waterways are dirty enough to embalm a cat! 

My 3rd morning found me keeping up with my co-worker down the busy street to catch an over crowded bus to an even more over crowded train to cut across the city to the language school he was finishing up at and I would be begin starting in a few days time. Our boss calls this 'Orientation'. 

Registration for Thai classes all done and dusted and Pieter in his final exam, by 8:30am I'm left to my own devices in a city far away, in a section of town I can't pronounce, in a heat I've not acclimatised too, with no idea which way is north and having a hard time figuring out the money. Perfect timing for sightseeing, might as well just get on with it.

First stop an overview - I snuck up to the topmost floor to take a peek.
L: Union Language School, where I will wax eloquent the Thai tongue
M: City scape with school treed compound and sky train in foreground and water canal in the distance
R: A close up of the water canal and city, they crisscross the city

Today I decided to play on as much of the transportation system Bangkok could offer me.

 Welcome to my new everyday life

This is bus # 71 I catch in the morning to the train station. In a city of 12 million people you'd think they'd put in double seats, but no, it's good to stand. The driver likes to travel about 80kms/hr, stop suddenly and impatient to leave and often is at least 30kms/hr before the passenger has fully alighted on/off the bus. Oh, and he likes to travel with the doors open! A bus driver often stops at random places and calls to a seller of flowers to add to his collection at the front of the bus, while at the lights he will pay homage to Buddha or the King, I'm not sure which or both. Then light up a smoke if he so inclined.

This is the chap who collects your money, he roams the bus speaking Thai only and holds a metal cylinder full of coins and tickets to give out. He points to seats or the back of the bus and often can be seen calling to the people on the street while stopped (for the seconds necessary to allow more people on or off). Air conditioning on this bus was the open windows and maybe an overhead fan. A ride on this will set you back 6.5BTH or $0.25cNZ

Pretty snazzy view. This bus takes me the 2.3km to the train station. I've taken to walking it in the mornings, there is only so much over crowing one can handle. This bus wasn't very crowded.

This is a typical morning or afternoon train ride on the BTS: Bangkok Mass Transit System

This morning wasn't that bad, but usually at 7am expect to have between 4-6 bodies pressed against you. Personal space? Oh that's whats going on between your ears not the bubble about your body. This is the sky train (mono-rail) with proper air-con. My train takes about 15min to arrive to school. Riding this baby cost me a month pass for 840BTH (40 rides) $33.15NZ. It takes 2 rides off you at a time, so on a given day going to and from school it loves eating 4 rides equaling to 84BTH a day $3.31NZ

Pulling out my trusty tourist map and throwing caution to the wind I boarded the next available train. I now rode in another direction to further places unpronounceable. It was loads of fun, viewing the city from a giants perceptive in the skytrain. Taking mental notes of the parks, shopping centers and temples for later perusal we soon crossed a bridge and a whim took me to get off and see about a boat traveling upriver. 

It seemed every other foreigner visiting the city thought just like me and now I was being pressed into a line and being pressured to by a 100BTH/$4NZ all day pass. But I only wanted to go one way and I was disappointed it wasn't one of those fast zippy express boats I was looking for. I had my wits about me to ask what the cost of a one way trip and was told 30BTH/$1.20NZ so I took that. It was a great tour to get an overview and something I'll return to should family and friends visit.

The Chao Phraya River cruse with all it's sights which I'll go back to another day, great to see them in 'real life'

The one way boat ride was really long and enjoyable, even though the water was not inviting, it was fantastic to be on the water nonetheless.

Can you guess what my next ride was? rottuktuk - in phassaathay (Thai language) I've since learned. This is where I started really enjoying  the adventure. But in fact I was totally sucked into a tourist scam which I got the better end off. I'll try and make it brief... I wanted to make my way to the express boat on a canal and as I was reading my map - totally tourist - I, with a few other tourists, was 'helped' to understand the map. I was told that the express boat doesn't operate till 2pm, and as it was now 12noon I was offered a TukTuk ride for only 10BTH/NZ$0.40. That appealed to me, but I also caught something about visiting a tailors and gem shop along the way. It was totally missed on me that this was a set up. So I happily boarded my ride, as you can see.

Even had a bit of excitement when a car cut us off and this poor bloke went straight into the back of us - well me actually. Man the tuktuks are sturdy wee things. The offending car had his license number taken down as he sped off and this army guy came on over to assist, it was all over in a few minutes with just a few scraps on both bike and person. Wow my first accident in Thailand.

So I was dropped off at before mentioned tailors, then gem shop and went in and enjoyed 5 min at both to appease my driver - "Oh you didn't buy anything." he said, "no I wasn't interested in spending" says I, then happily continued enjoying the sights, not at all bothered we had to stop, I also was given a free cold water in the gem shop where dozens of other sucked-in tourists were sending big. We drove round for an hour and he was about to take me to some other place "I must see" when I said, "no, it's OK thanks, I'll get off now" as I thought I'd walk round a bit till the boats started working. I thought it strange his countenance changed as soon as I said this but he stopped where I wanted to go and before I could pay him he was off! Weird. I turned about and found that the express boats fast at work, then it dawned on me what had happened - totally given a 'line'. I was pretty thrilled I got the better end of the stick and enjoyed an hour touring round at no cost and had a refreshing cup of water to boot!

Now my next ride awaited me immediately so I boarded and enjoyed a thrill ride down the canal, or chong (ch pronounced as 'ka'). When you board, you board with HASTE, and I mean HASTE! Same with docking... phew this country make you work to get on board anything! This ride took me back to where I began in the journey, a 10/15min ride for 10BTH.

A little eating place beside the canal, you can see the dock on the opposite side

Inside the boat - hang on, as he motors. The blue tarp is hoisted up as passengers tend to get water sprayed, not an ideal desire, pretty grimy water.

The 'conductors' on held on and walked round the side of the boat gathering money, at least they were waring helmets

Tis myself thoroughly enjoying the ride

Docked and about to take off at high speed

 

Sky train knot - great way to travel

My ride home

The express boat crisscrosses all over the city and it's amazing to get off that and then onto this (skytrain) in the matter of a few minutes.

Once at my homeward-bound stop I caught a motorcycle taxi. I couldn't take photos as I was busy trying not to get my knees swiped against a bus while hanging on... they weave... what an adventure!

So that covers most of what I see on any given day while living in Bangkok, lots of fun and variety.

My first day of sight seeing was satisfactory and I have a better mental image of direction and where I was meant to be. The adventure continues as I go through my 'Orientation' and will only stop when I leave this country, so I'm told.

So far enjoying the ride(s)  ;o)

Apartment at the end of Soi 32

My street sign - Pridi Banomyong is my 'suburb'

At the end of a narrow lane, that kinda looks like an ally-way, sits my apartment block. It's rather new and clean compared to some of the options round about. Mind you, I've been both well kept and disarray sitting side-by-side. The advertising flier for my building states: Good location, quiet environment (true, can't hear the main road), 150m to main road, comfortable room, big bathroom, energy efficient, (air con), bed, cupboard, dressing table, high speed internet and 24hr security officer, along with CCTV entrance-key card system - nobody's getting into this baby!

my apartment circled in red

I've been given a room on the second floor, and I must say I'm pretty pleased I don't need to climb to the 4th like my work colleague, there are plenty of stairs to climb in Bangkok let alone having to do so just to get to ones room.

My little haven is owed my a church member and gifted to me for the duration of my stay rent free. In turn I pay for the monthly utilities of net, water and electricity. I've since learned that the rent on such a place starts at 3900B/NZ $155 a month. I've no idea if this is indicative of other rents here about, I assume, but you know where that led me in my last post.

my room in all it's glory, a great size for me, but I've seen whole families living in this space!

my bed is slightly better than sleeping on the floor, with practically no 'give' in it.

I arrived to my apartment with it set up for living in. The furniture comes with the room, but the rest were gifted to me, giving me such a blessing. The theme seems to be pink, so pink sheet, cases, blanket, towels and rubbish bin. The other farang's (foreigners) I'm working with are Americans and seem to be tickled with my kiwi naming of things. Its all in good nature and I enjoy it also. I've found that the only soft thing about my bed, is me in it! But I sleep, and that's the most important thing.

I was also given other items useful for living like a fan, ironing board and iron, plates, cutlery, some food and water, toilet paper, broom, washing basket, a folding table and a small computer desk and chair (not pictured) given to me a week after I arrived. Having all my needs meet, I don't want for much else - in my heart I'd love a recliner, but it doesn't seem to be something people have here... lol... ok needs meet, with a wishful hope on the side. O I'm such a westerner. Though, I am content and very grateful with what I have.

You'll notice there is no kitchen here, neither is there a communal one in the building, you see everything is on the street. It's the communities dinning room and food is cheap. I don't even have a fridge. But this doesn't concern me. I'll write about the food in another post, as it's a story all on it's own.

my wardrobe and bathroom

It was a good feeling to unpack after a few months living out of my travel bag, as you can see it doesn't take up much space. My bathroom is great, everything all in one. The toilet amuses me. There is a little hose attachment to the right of the bowl. Upon 'finishing' you're to use it to wash/squirt (whatever) yourself then dab dry with paper, then put said paper into the rubbish bin next the the loo. Hmmm, takes some getting used to, but everything is in working order with no mishaps. Just so you know :)

The water is cold, which is great, as it's hot all the time. But sometimes first thing in the morning you kinda wish for a little heat as it takes your breath away - weird. Mind you if you return for a midday shower you'll most likely find it hot, when you actually wish it to be cold. The sun warms up everything... sigh. Such is life. Once I realised I had hot water, I did my dishes, it's weird doing them in cold water.

Oh - the light switches are the opposite from home. Down is off, up is on.

This is the cool view form my balcony window - I love the Mosque

From my balcony I get this awesome view of other homes down the Soi and the Mosque that fronts onto the main road. At night the two towers light up with green lights. The absolute highlight living here is the call to prayer at 5:15 every morning. I'm not often home in the afternoon to hear it, but it's so soothing. I've called my family at that time so they can hear it also.

The balcony is where everyone dries their clothes, it's great to have them done over night. I've done one wash in my first week, the building has 3 washing machines at our disposal for small (20B/NZ$.80), med (30B/NZ$1.18), and large (40B/NZ$1.58) washes.

For now this is my home away from home and I thank God each day for the privilege of having this space to make and call my own. I'm enjoying my interaction with both the day time and night time guards. They only speak Thai and we chat away not knowing what the other is saying. The night guard and his wife are funny, she practices her English on me and I draw pictures to try and talk to her... until I can practice Thai on her, and he tries to teach me Thai... making friends is fun.

First Impressions

It surprised me how I found myself at leisure while traveling, even though I covered some fear few mileage before actually arriving in Thailand. I didn't have anywhere to be so I allowed others to go before me and took my time, it worked wonders for my attitude and overall enjoyment of the trip. Here's a few highlights of the 2 weeks leaving NZ.

Piha & Maraetai Beaches in Auckland with my folks and a bit of Lama loving

Hunua Falls Reserve Auckland - truly a place to visit

My farewell at 3am - still smiling. Taking with me my flat-traveler 'Flat Nikki' and 'Grad Bear'

Austraila - Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise visiting my brother, Canberra, the nations capital with 'Flat Nikki' and some soggy days in Young with friends and wild kangaroos! A highlight for sure. 

Bangkok, Thailand

The inflight entertainment showing where we are and how long till we get there

Customs at Bangkok is nothing like NZ or OZ, I wasn't checked or searched, there was no x-ray machine or random drug scan - but there was a LONG line and a tired customs officer by the time I faced him, and he was frustrated with me - why? I'd forgot to fill in the 2nd form I was given on the plane. Could I do it where I stood? No, as I'd left it on the plane didn't I! NOTE to anyone - if you're given a form to fill out and you're not sure if you need to do it all - DO IT ALL, ALL THE TIME, FILL THE WHOLE LOT OUT, don't know why I thought I didn't need that part, but there you go, and here I was standing at midnight facing a grumpy customs officer who was telling me "No - you go!" he wanted me to return to the back of the line and find another form - I think. His English was limited to "No - you go!". I had a talk with God - 'tell me what to do, I'm too tired to care' - So I smiled and said "I'm sorry, I don't understand". In exasperation he gave me a form for me to fill in there and then (3 lines of info). Handing it back with a smile and thank you he stamped my passport and I was in the country.

Welcome to Thailand! land of smiles... and grumpy customs officers at midnight

Though, he got one over me, I had a 3 month visa and he only gave me 31 days.... Let that be a lesson to me...sigh...It's all in the hands of God and the the visa fellow at work now.

You know how it feels to get into a cold bath or any kind of cold water? It seems to suck the very life out of you as you take the plunge, or gingerly edge your way deeper and deeper allowing the pain to be drawn out as you're too sissy to take that plunge - but it's like needles nonetheless? Well it works the same backwards - coming from a nicely air-conditioned airport at midnight into 30 degree heat gives you that same feeling.... you suck it in as if the very breath has left you - it's SO HOT. Welcome to Bangkok... did I say that already?

They drive on the right side of the road, according to NZ and OZ driving - which is on the left. I was grateful for a little familiarity. I must admit I was somewhat disappointed i didn't see the 12000000 residents of Bangkok parading the streets at that hour of the night, it was positively quiet, with a handful of cars at best on the motorway heading to wherever we were going. We? yes, my new boss/pastor Doug collected me, bless him. We'd met via Skype over the past few months so it was good to have a 45min catch up as he drove me to my own apartment in... I don't even know my district, but he got me there nonetheless.

I'd had a friend concerned that I'd be going into a dangerous area - I laughed and said Bangkok, not Beirut! The country is majority Buddhist and there are some Muslim issues in the south, I'll be fine as I'm well away, I said with confidence. As we came near to our destination (100meters or so) Doug slowed the car and causally said "O, see that phone box just there. on the right?", "yeah" says I. "That's where the bomb went off two weeks ago, but don't be alarmed" "Whoa, what?!". 

A chap had been heading over to the Israeli embassy to cause strife, when he accidentally tripped the bomb he had, blowing up the phone booth (windows at least) and it took his legs also, poor bloke. Everything backfired. I'm being told this as we pull into my Soi (Soy = lane/street) right next to a huge Mosque. So eating my words... never assume.. you only make an ass (out of) -u- (and) me. But on a side note... I LOVE waking each morning to the call to prayer from my lovely neighbours. And it was an isolated event.

Welcome to Bangkok - think we covered that one.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go (sung to John Denver)

With only 48 hours left; I settle in for my last night in the guest bedroom of my friend, who has pampered me with girly treats and good conversation during my time spent at hers. Tomorrow I'm being treated to lunch as I end my working contract and then collected after work for my actual final evening in NZ with my folks. 

My final list before leaving

On the side, to my left, I had a longish list of all the things I needed to achieve before the day was out - I just love a list that's been crossed and checked off, I feel like I've accomplished so much! The pictured list is my final one before the big day, I've had a great many since this journey has begun and every one of them was crossed off as completed, done, finito!. What a feat! Thanks to God for the motivation!

So this evening as I repacked, just because, I took some pics of some of the majors of today's list-checking excursion into Manukau City. I was pretty chuffed with the speed and ease of the fulfillment of said list.

It's pretty clear by now, I'm sure, that being a visual person by profession means I'm going to be showing a lot of pictures along the way - keeps ones focus and makes for a more interesting blog.

 So here it is - I think I'm officially going to leave now because I have:

It's boiled down to this - one passport, two airplane tickets, and NZ, AUS & THB currencies.
I've never had such an array of colourful play money at the same time before

My Thai Visa - only waited a few days for it - pretty isn't it?

I had a long list on the go when I applied for this baby. When I wanted to clarify with the NZ Thai Embassy they kept having internet problems, but we got there in the end. I was applying for a Non-Immigrant Visa. I wanted a 1yr multiply re-entry visa, yet it's up to the discretion of the custom's officer upon arrival what he stamps in my passport. I expect to do a boarder run every three months unless otherwise stated upon arrival.

For this lovely colourful, shinny visa, I needed to produce:

• Application form completed and signed
• Passport and passport sized photo
• Copy or confirmed travel itinerary - The Flightcenter charges $50 for this, as it's a lengthily process. But it's deducted from the cost of your deposit/tickets.
• Letter of reference from the organization in Thailand - Indicating my position, qualification, responsibilities and intended period of stay in Thailand
• My criminal record - easy to get in NZ from the Ministry of Justice, just print out the form, sign it and either post to them or scan it into the computer and email them. If you know you'll be applying for a visa, get on to them quickly as it takes a week or more to get it processed and sent to you. Up to 20 days if they're posting overseas. It's a free service also. I received a one page official document stating I had no record on file. I also photocopied it a few times to add to my files in stashed away places in each of my bags - justincase. 
• my personal CV
• Printout of the Job call 
• and $100 plus a self addressed courier bag

The embassy said there was a 14 day turn around and I was told from two different people it would take longer. I sent it on a Tuesday from Christchurch and it was in my fathers hands Friday morning in Auckland that same week. I had the strong impression I was meant to get there.

LIQUIDS, AEROSOLS & GELS - Passenger Information include, but not limited to: EVERYTHING! far out, what a lengthy list. But you'll find out when you get your own with your air ticket

my cabin bag liquid allowance choices

Maybe not so important for a 3 hr flight across the ditch to Australia, but I've got a back to back flight immediately after I arrive, up to the Gold Coast, so felt as if I should 'freshen up' along the way. Also my flight is a 6am, therefore arriving at the airport at 4am... I'm going to feel a little like death warmed up. Nothing like minty fresh breath, a clean face and perfume to keep one feeling on top of things.