rel="nofollow" href="#fb3_img_img_f1c307fe-1f3c-53d6-b828-0214f100c2c3.jpg"/>Sawasdee ka from Bangkok
We arrived in Thailand on Sunday and it is all starting to feel a little bit more real, like we are actually going to drive home in a tuk tuk after all. It was quite sad saying goodbye to Mum and my brother Nick, because I knew I wouldn’t see them for over three months and I love my family so much. Dad took us to the airport and I wasn’t sad to say goodbye to him—not because I don’t love him to death, but because he will be joining us in Bangkok in a few days.
Ants and I both had insomnia on the plane and I had really bad restless legs, which in the confines of cattle class is no fun. I purloined a selection of pillows and blankets and made myself a bed by the emergency exit. I had just settled down comfortably when a stewardess politely told me that I had to return to my seat. Instead, Ants suggested a novel form of sedative and after a few shots of Night Nurse we slept like babies for the rest of the flight.
We’d arranged to meet Anuwat at the airport and after a few phone calls found him outside having a cigarette. He and his wife Dow then drove us to our hotel and I started to feel seriously excited that we were in Bangkok. The bright lights, sounds and smells of Thailand welcomed us and there were tuk tuks everywhere.
The following morning we met Stuart from Travelfish, one of our sponsors. He spent a few hours with us to do an interview and take photos for his website. Anuwat picked us all up from the hotel and we drove to his factory to meet Ting Tong for the first time. We were both feeling full of nervous anticipation. When we first saw Ting Tong it was a bit of an ‘Oh shit!’ moment, because she had no wiring, no seats and no roof and we had assumed that she would be totally finished when we arrived. However, she is bright pink and absolutely beautiful and we have both fallen madly in love with her.
My friend Hannah is out here at the moment and we met up with her, her boyfriend André and her friend Jess on the Khao San Road. For those of you who have not been to Thailand, the Khao San Road is the traveller’s ghetto in Bangkok, full of tourists, bars, restaurants, stalls and flashing neon lights. I think you either love it or hate it. It was quite fitting though, because I was with Hannah four years ago when I first came up with the idea of driving a tuk tuk back to England, and now here we are about to turn my crazy dream into reality.
We have got so much to sort out this week, and I still have no idea about tuk tuk mechanics. Anuwat is going to give me a couple of lessons in his factory later this week. God, I hope I pick it up quickly. It is really weird not being here as regular tourists, staying on the Khao San Road and going out partying every night. We’ve got too much on our plates to be doing any of that.
One of our big decisions at the moment is deciding where we want to start our adventure. Possibilities so far include the Khao San Road, the British embassy,Anuwat’s factory and Pattaya, a resort over 50 miles away. I think the Khao San Road would be a fun place to begin, but it’s really hectic and therefore may not be the best bet. We really ought to start from Bangkok, but then we would have to drive out of the city and neither of us has even driven TT yet. The traffic here is mental and the driving bordering on suicidal.
Poor Ants is feeling ill at the moment. She had a cold before we left home and now seems to have a nasty virus that is making her feverish. I hope that she feels better soon, because we are leaving in a few days…aaaagh!
So much to write and so little time. It’s 10 p.m. and Jo and I have just got in after another hectic day in Bangkok. I want to write a megablog but I also need to lie down and chill out…so I’ll just include the highlights of today.
Today we had a very amusing lunch with Jim Short, the political secretary at the British embassy. Poor Jim was subjected to Jo’s usual barrage of questions—How old are you? How long have you been here? Where is your wife from? Do you earn much? What size are your shoes? But he still managed to be a paragon of charm and British cynicism. Thanks, Jim, for your words of wisdom and amazing tolerance to the Spanish Inquisition.
Having had lunch with Jim, we eventually got in touch with Mrs Fall, the wife of British ambassador, David Fall. Mrs Fall and her husband have very kindly agreed to let the tukathon begin at the embassy on Sunday morning and Nuttanee, their press officer, is going to rustle up some press interest. We hope some of the Thai press people will have nothing better to do than wave off a pair of Ting Tong farangs (foreigners) in a pink tuk tuk.
Which leads me to my next point: we’ve discovered that Ting Tong in fact means ‘crazy’ or ‘nuts’ in Thai. Although we were careful to ascertain that it didn’t mean some vile Mandarin obscenity, we omitted to check its Thai meaning. Oh well, it seems quite fitting really. Although, when our tuk tuk driver last night laughed, and exclaimed ‘Ting tong!’ while gesturing at a blatantly mentally unhinged individual banging a stick against a tree, we did begin to wonder whether we might be creating the wrong impression.
As for Ting Tong herself—well, she’s pink, hot pink! And she really is the most rocking tuk tuk in the world. We got a bit of a shock upon arriving at Anuwat’s factory on Monday morning to find a bevy of Anuwat’s workers swarming round her and no roof, seats or wiring. But they’ve done wonders and tomorrow she’ll be ready for us to test drive. We learnt later that Anuwat thought we were leaving next Sunday, not this one, hence the uber-chilled approach to finishing her. Anuwat is a diamond though and has been giving me and Jo the five-star treatment, chauffeuring us around sticky Bangkok and kitting out Ting Tong to perfection, down to the latest MP3 player.
Tomorrow morning it’s breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel, then a visit to the Laos embassy to get our visas, and then mechanical training at the factory in the afternoon. We’ve managed to find a cameraman to come and help us out with the filming, so he’ll be with us for the next few days capturing the action.
We are having quite a week of it here in Bangkok. The time is flying by and every minute is filled with things to do.
Ants’ health took a turn for the worse today and Anuwat and I decided a visit to hospital was in order. They are not sure what is wrong yet so are keeping her in overnight to do tests. It’s not ideal, since we leave on Sunday. Fingers crossed she makes a very speedy recovery. I am fine and seem to be in good health on my very poor diet of fags, Coke and the odd grasshopper. Grasshoppers are actually quite tasty—a bit like a greasy Kettle Chip—although yesterday I got a leg stuck in the back of my throat, which induced a little retching episode. I am happy to say that I did not throw up.
Yesterday we spent the afternoon in the tuk tuk factory and I learnt all of the mechanical skills that we hope will keep Ting Tong in tiptop shape. I also had a little drive, reaching a top speed of about 10 mph in second gear. Shit! If I go on like that, it’s going to be a hell of a long journey back to Blighty. Perhaps the next challenge will be to do the trip in reverse—I am pretty nifty at reversing Ting Tong.
I went to the Laos embassy this morning on a double mission, first to obtain our visas and second to try and get special permission for us to cross into Laos at the Friendship Bridge. Currently the Laos government has banned
