Things have finally calmed down and so here I am again.
Been busy moving office, then a few trips here and there.
We went down to Phuket for a couple of days, but didn't take many photos as the weather was absolute shite. Lots of rain. Which forced us to spend a lot of time in bars.
Tom took me out to a rather romantic dinner for belated birthday.
After coming back to Bangkok, we were still busy with stuff. Things were getting tense with work and stuff, so we went on a roadtrip for a week.
Our first stop was Ayuddhaya province. We walked around to see old temples (ruins) for a bit.
There was a fair at a temple nearby. I felt like a kid again.
There was a nice bar there, which the name escapes me at the moment, will have to check with Tom. All the staff were really nice and friendly. They had a guy called "Mr Lek Clapton" playing guitar at night. He was pretty good, really. He was good fun also.
The next day, we stopped in Lopburi province, aiming to see the sunflowers. Accommodation in Lopburi is really poor. Not many choices. Let alone "good" choices.
We drove around trying to find the sunflowers fields, but couldn't find the bloody thing. When we stopped at a petrol station to ask for directions, the gas boy was more interested in laughing at the Missing Trainer.
Thing is, Tom stuck his trainers on top of the car (under the rails) and drove off. Just noticed at the petrol station that one of them had fallen off. So, not much fun after discovering that, we decided to drink instead.
RIP, my friend. You (both of you) served Tom well.
After a rather long session of drinking, we were walking back to the hotel, then Tom decided he was hungry and wanted to walk further to 7-eleven to get something to eat.
Just before reaching 7-eleven, there was one angry dog barking at us. The bloody thing didn't stop just that, he walked to us, barking all the time. We were scared shitless, but kept walking. The bloody thing still followed us. And we got into the 7-eleven. There was no way we were going to walk past that bloody thing again. So, we had to take a detour - walking through a market (which was already closed and it was dark).
Of course, there were a few more angry dogs in there. But at least, those bloody things didn't follow us.
Oh, for what it's worth, Lopburi only has ONE bar in town. But the guy who runs it is very nice.
And there are millions of monkeys there. They are everywhere, seriously.
Anyway, so next day, we drove to Nakon Ratchasima (Korat).
After a hectic and long night in Lopburi, we took it easy. That, and because we got there a little late. So, we walked around town a little bit, and went for dinner in a pub, Bule Saloon. Not long until The Saxophone Band started playing. We really enjoyed their music.
Our next stop (and destination) was Surin province. We went out drinking with my mate, Yorky, and the locals. Played some snooker. Continued drinking. It was a long night. And my stomach started acting up.
So, the next day we decided to stay there another night as the hangover was bad and my stomach was bad also. We didn't do anything much. Really took it easy. I just took him to the Silk Village. Tom was very impressed.
That evening, we drove out to RID canal and went to Good View for dinner. The food was absolute shite. Very disappointed.
Next day, time to start heading back home. Tom was driving (as he was 99% of the trip) when reaching a check point. The policeman asked for Tom's driver license, which is NOT an international one. But luckily, the policeman noticed Tom was English so he told us that England had lost to Croatia the night before. We had a quick chat and he waved us goodbye saying "I'm sorry England lost".
Thank you, England, for losing!
It was a long drive, and it was getting late again. We decided to make another stop before coming back to Bangkok. We drove up to Khao Yai from Saraburi side.
Didn't go so far up as we were tired. So, checked into a resort so Tom could jump into the pool to relax. We had dinner at Dairy Home. Tom said his steak was really nice. My stomach was still acting up so I decided to go for salmon. Not bad too. Very happy with this meal. That definitely made up for the shite one at Good View.
There was nothing to do up there, so we relaxed in the resort. It was nice, actually.
The next day, we started our journey again, but the car started to have serious problem when we were driving around in Bangkok, so we decided to go to the outskirt of Bangkok - not too far from my Dad's house.
The next night was Loy Krathong festival, so we still stayed there as it was near the river.
There were not many foreigners in the area. And Tom was the only foreigner at the pier when we went to float our Krathongs.
It was good fun for both of us. Tom was very excited about it all. I hadn't joined this festival for years also. So, it was a great night.
That was the last night on this roadtrip. We drove back into town the next day.
There were lots of things happened during the entire 8 days on this roadtrip. But I wouldn't change it for the world.
Well, okay, maybe could of changed a couple of nights.
But all in all, it was good fun. And I will never forget it.
Thanks, Tom, for everything.
