Bangkok Blahs

I have spent a bit of time ambling around Bangkok and am somewhat underwhelmed. Perhaps it is my enthusiasm about starting my intensive self-help program, and even more so about getting to Nepal, but I really have no desire to spend any more time here. In previous visits I could have stayed in Bangkok for ages exploring the different parts of the city, but I was already bored of it after a couple of hours today. (I’m also still a bit tired/jetlagged, which may be part of the problem.) I have just booked a bus and boat to the island of Koh Phangan for tomorrow evening. It’s an overnight bus and there are certainly easier and more comfortable ways to travel, but I need to watch my pennies this time around. (12-hour bus and 3-hour boat cost a grand total of about $18.) I should arrive on Koh Phangan by about 10:00on Monday morning and will then find my way to the yoga centre.

I’ll spend a bit of time tomorrow reorganising my luggage. I can leave all my cold-weather clothes and miscellaneous other stuff here, so I can just take one small bag to Koh Phangan. It’s quite hot here, and very humid, but so far there hasn’t been any rain. It seems to alternate between partly sunny skies and threatening black clouds. If it keeps up like this I might get to spend some time at the beach down on the island. It sure beats the full-on monsoon I dealt with at this time of year in 2006. If the monsoon isn’t too bad, and ends early, I may take some time to explore a couple of other islands after the yoga session ends and before I fly to Kathmandu. I’ll play that by ear – no telling what my state of mind will be by then.