The Night Of Brian

So last night, as planned, I met up with Brian, the guy I deserted in Heathrow airport. Despite his grievances about me leaving him alone in the airport, he was a good laugh. He was in Bangkok with his mate Paul, and we spent the whole night talking about travelling, being scared on your first night (even Brian, who is 54 and in Bangkok with a mate, was frightened), and talking to other travellers. We met Canadian Mark, who had travelled from Scotland to Bangkok entirely by land, including a detour to Nepal in which he got abducted for a couple of days (or so he claims!). We then met Romein, a Frenchman who couldn't understand a word of Brian's northern twang. I found myself playing the role of 'interpreter' for the two. Meanwhile, Romein was gleefully tucking in to some fried grasshopper and fried worm he recently bought from the street! Brian and Paul also enjoyed routing the conversation to their favourite topic; Thai prostitutes! Apparently, 'a young good looking guy like me' could get them for half the price they do! There is a famous saying, of course, that goes 'Try something new every day', so after todays course of events, I did ... I sampled the delights of Thai fried grasshopper and worm. It was crunchy and tasty.

I ended up getting to bed at nearly 4 in the morning. Today has therefore been a late starter. However, I intended to try and organise a tour, or at least some transport to somewhere further afield. After a browse through my guide book, I hailed a taxi and asked him to take me to the official Tourism Authority of Thailand. I specifically wanted to go there rather than one of the many unofficial ones that can potentially rip you off. However, the taxi driver had other ideas. After a quick phone call to a friend, I noticed that we seemed to be going the wrong way. As I became gradually more unnerved, he reassured me we were almost there. Eventually we arrived at his friends unofficial tourist shop, where his friend was happy to greet me at the entrance. Deflated by the experience, I walked in the opposite direction. I hailed a taxi and went straight back to my hostel - time was already pressing on.

It was only around an hour later that I did what I probably should have done all along - I used the Tours desk at the hostel I was staying at! Now whether I've been ripped off yet, I don't know, but tomorrow I now have a 7am start and a trip to the River Kwai. This includes elephant riding, bamboo boats, and the worryingly named Death Railway. If I survive, my next blog will tell you all about it. If I don't, at least I spent my final week on earth doing what all grown men aspire to do; bug eating.