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Thailand
This is an edited version of our travel log. This ninth page is about Christmas in Thailand.
December 17th 2005, Bangkok
We flew back to Bangkok and had a bit of a nightmare argument with taxi drivers that ended up with us walking about 3 miles to the hotel with all our stuff. The next night we met my mum and Ryan at the airport which was very exciting. We talked lots, much more than we talk to each other usually! We spent one day at the grand palace, riding there and back on river
boats which were a good way to avoid the taxi and tuk-tuk hassle. The grand palace was interesting, but a bit over the top and sparkly for me-see photos. We spent some time drinking beer outside the hotel and went to Silom road for food.
December 19, 2005, Ko Samet
I'm here all on my own to sort out accommodation before everyone else arrives. I've got nothing to say, but then again not much to do.
I'll post more when the others get here tomorrow.
December 19th 2005, Bangkok
Si set out to arrange accommodation and we visited the Golden Buddha, and the reclining Buddha. Golden one was OK, but who’s to say that oneis real gold and the other’s aren’t? They all looked exactly the same to me. The reclining one was different though it was huge!
December 21, 2005, Ko Samet
Well it was a good job I came early as the accommodation is a nightmare here. Nowhere takes advanced bookings meaning every morning there are people wandering between the resorts looking for somewhere that has rooms and hoping they get there a few seconds after someone checks out. The first night here (by myself) I paid a fortune for a room with no hot water, but luckily yesterday I got up really early and trotted between 5 different resorts every half an hour annoying them by asking the same question! Got two bungalows in the same place though, which aren't too bad for the price.
As if to prove the evil of flip-flops which I have long been saying, but no one listens to me; after trotting around yesterday in a pair I have sand abrasions where the straps go over my feet and I have split the skin between my big toe and the next one on one foot. 
I am going to put some pictures on the website either later on today, or tomorrow.
December 24th 2005, Koh Samet
Si managed to find us some really nice bungalows near the beach. We spent a nice week here, doing not very much at all.
Mostly we read books, played in the sea, and went shopping a couple of times. We ate good seafood sitting on the beach every night.
The beach we stayed on and the next one along were good for swimming and the water was quite warm and really clean. We rented kayaks a couple of times which was still really good fun – so something to think about as a hobby when we get home.
December 25, 2005, Ko Samet
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Hello all. We have had a fairly surreal Christmas day on the beach in Thailand, with virtually nothing you would recognise as traditional Christmas things. Apart from a box of after 8 mints Gemma's mum had, that me, Gemma and Ryan made some considerable headway into.
Hope everyone else had a nice Christmas day. 
Oh and my parents and Ruth got here without much incident 
Christmas day was very weird. I was a bit ill so that didn’t really help. Si’s parents turned up far earlier than expected and everyone went to the beach and swimming. In the evening we had yet more seafood, and went for some beer. Christmas eve seemed more exciting, a bit like New Year at home. There were fire jugglers/throwers in the evening and a midnight they set fire to a massive “happy Christmas” sign and set off loads of paper balloons with candles in.
December 30, 2005, Bangkok
Still in Thailand, in Bangkok for the 3rd time. Finally it doesn't seem too scary, mainly because we have come up with a strategy to mess with the minds of the people who try to rip us off.
Tomorrow we are going to a quiet little town for our last few days here. Looking forward to not having to have a big new year celebration as well- its good to have a party at home, but maybe will even go to bed early for a change.
My mum has gone home now, Si's parents go tomorrow morning. It was really good to see everyone (and get presents), it is going to be weird back on our own again. We are going to India on 5 Jan, planning to do a tour of the north for a few weeks, and maybe some volunteering, if we're feeling nice.
Tonight we might go to another puppet show. Si appears to have developed an unnatural obsession with the frightening little things 
January 1, 2006, Nr. Bridge over the River Kwai
I am not obsessed with puppets, in fact I have no strong feeling about them, one way or another.
We saw my parents off at the hotel yesterday and then got a bus a little to the west of Bangkok to a town called Kanchantaburi, site of the "bridge over the river Kwai" and the death railway.
We spent NYE watching Arsenal-Villa and then the first half of ManU-Bolton, before deciding that hitting midnight watching the post-match analysis of a manU game was a bit wrong (game due to finish about 11.50pm). Went to a bar and then sat in the garden of our hostel with some beer watching fireworks over the river near a bunch of Thai kids who were really impressed and excited by the fireworks and probably by being up late.
Reality: "spent new year's eve by a river with a bunch of kids drinking beer in a deckchair";
Spin (what we'll tell people if they ask): "spent new year's eve having a few beers by the river Kwai and watching fireworks go off over the famous bridge."
Truth is somewhere in between.
Town seems quite nice, we are going to spend a few days here and then go back to Bangkok to get our visas for India.
Missing everybody back home, please post your Christmas and New Year tales on the message board to help. (Where you spent them, who with, anything exciting that happened)
Gemma just thought a random man in the street said "monkey's are cool" at her, in fact he was offering to take us to the local "monkey school", which I believe is a kind of circus thing.
More nonsense soon.
January 6, 2006, Bangkok & Dehli
Just arrived in India this morning.
Our last week in Thailand was really nice. The town we spent New Year in, was laid back and we spent 4 days doing not very much. Gemma was a lot more adventurous than me, she had a Thai massage inflicted on her and she also did a cooking course on how to make green/red curry, mussamam curry, tom yum gai, pad Thai and the instructor was a lady boy.
We rented some bikes and rode to the bridge and walked over the river kwai. Although I didn't realise until we were half way there that I had a kid's bike.
When we got back to Bangkok we stayed just off Siam square (by Jim Thompson's house) and we went to the silom night market again to indulge Gemma's obsession with puppets. I managed to persuade her not to go in, but they spilled out into the street and the restaurant we were in, attempting to entice people into the theatre. One puppet tried to kiss gemma (apparently; I think it is wishful thinking - she needs help). She is now saying she is scared of puppets, which is quite right and proper.
Spent last night sleeping in Hong Kong airport, which wasn't great.
Delhi is pretty cold (14-16oC) however at the moment that seems quite nice, so we are probably going to stay up in the north.