No aircon, no fan, 32° in, 41° out - no, went down to 38° suddenly. The electrical system overloaded so Nom, Yui's brother, is trying to fix it now. Still 3½ hours left of power in the laptop battery.
Contemplating about traveling - have you ever really TRAVELLED??? Just taking a drive from a city to another or plane from a country to another it no travelling, that is just moving your ass a bit. My father loved driving during our holidays when I was a kid so we came as far as Rome in 1955, thou my memories of that are extremely vague, a glimpse here and there tat I have repeated in my memory. Then he bought a caravan and the latest years with the whole family and that one was 1966-67-68. Many memories. It usually went to southern Switzerland, Ticino, and a trip or two down to Italy. After retirement my father drove a few times alone or with my mother all the way to Sicily, actually I and my first wife came along down there end of the seventies, (I think, trying to forget that wife.....), and we returned ourselves with trains.
First time I travelled FAR was in 1975, when I left a student party at midnight, said "bye, going to India" and then I did that. 2 hours later I was on the ferry over to East Germany, very communist and icky at the time, you know the world the leftists of today in Sweden and the world love. Have you ever met a lady East German customs officer, and seen her shiny eyes when she found an address book in your luggage? Bonus! OK, I probably did not have much of East European addresses there.
Train during 3½ days, ending in the huge railway station of Istanbul, the only time I have been there, thou I have been in the airport a number of times, latest this Friday. Then to a backpack hotel I knew of, some kind of node for people travelling to and from the East, I have a vague memory of that, sleeping many in each room, a big noteboard where people going East or West put up messages for friends - no e-mail, no mobiles in those days remember. Can you imagine that primitive life?
We roamed around, a few guys whom I had met there, to find the bus to Tehran. Found, a modern tourist bus, and off we went to the real adventure. Train to Istanbul from Lund had taken 3½ days and bus from Istanbul to Tehran took as long, one driver driving 18 hours a day.
Remember the impression when we circled around the mountain Ararat, a very prominent top on a high plateau, the road went in a half circle around the mountain and it was visible for hours.
(Next evening)
Continuing the long trip another time, remind me I stopped at Arafat.
We have already used far too much money, already on minus, so nothing extra from now on, I get my pension in a few days and from Saturday we are in Cha-Am, we promised to pay for a dozen people to come along and stay overnight which got more and more expensive...., but have promised to pay it. Minibus + driver, 4200B, petrol to that, then 2000B for a bungalow for the crowd over a night. Hope it will be a memory for them for a long time. Yui has some money of her own but not any great amounts. When I am myself I always live on a budget and never go on minus, I just eat less........ Then in Cha-Am until maybe the last of July, before going back to the village for the last few days, then her brother takes us back to BKK same place, taxi to the airport to take us to the airport early on Aug. 7. Plane goes 10:50 I think so another early morning.
Before I paid 15000B for the aircon that Yui's mother had paid, and 5000B to her brother for fixing everything else, incl. electricity so we could stay here, he building the room whatever..... Thou all of that he will have use for later.
2 days ago we were off to a supermarket in Lopburi, a bit north. I needed a bag of salted peanuts, lack of salt, so why not bring half a dozen people along, some in the car and some at the back - pickup trucks can take lots of people here! We also shopped for a Thai girl ;)
[Actually the daughter of Yui's brother who hitched a free ride for a while.] Then we drove back in the dark. Halfway we stopped at a noddle eatery, for some reason the noodle soup they make is VERY tasty! And it does not cost many bath, guess we have to live on that down in Cha-Am.
I have already had much more exercise than I have had since last time in Thailand, 1½ years ago, and I have not exercised at all in Sweden during that time - having two diabetes ulcers on the feet, still not perfect but I felt I had to go here now to get some exercise, too boring to go out in Sweden. And during the long winter I am unable to walk, a slip and fall could be fatal for my Charcot foot, and without much of a balance I cannot walk on slippery roads.
When we come down to hotel California in Cha-Am - an American guy has it with his Thai wife - one thing impressing me was that he promptly has answered e-mails, which feels good. Most hotels here are absolutely lousy on that point and sometimes big hotels do not answer at all. Then once we are there I can move around as I want, not a big family around, and not Yui spending most of the time with them of course so I never know where she is.
Now two days, then we will start at 6AM - Yui can drag me out and I go on sleeping.
Then we will pass some famous temple mountain so a deviation. Ah well, no climbing for me but there are always places in the shade.
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