Back from Bangers

It’s hard to believe that I’m writing this in Suvarnabuhmi Airport waiting for my flight home after ten weeks on the move during which I’ve been in the UK, Malaysia (for a couple of hours), Singapore, Australia and Thailand. Strangely enough, all countries where you drive on the left (more or less, in some cases).

Looking back on the trip and my first experience worth talking about of Asia, it has been a great success. The last three weeks in Thailand has really given me a liking for this wonderful country and I certainly look forward to returning here. As I mentioned earlier, the people are incredibly friendly and welcoming. I think that the strong influence of Buddhism here probably contributes to their placid nature and friendly smiles - for example, although the driving is a little haphazard at times, in three weeks I have seen only one minor traffic accident and have heard no raised voices and seen no signs of aggression. A few lessons there for other countries I think ! Even in central Bangkok, a congested and polluted city, there is a spirit of live and let live amongst all drivers which sees tuk-tuk drivers pausing to let limousines exit into the traffic. The traffic is never ending as this is a city which never sleeps - you can hire a tuk-tuk or jump on the back of a motorbike taxi at any hour of the day or night and while the streets and huge shopping malls are thronged during the day, there are also night markets for the insomniac shoppers.

Anyway, it’s now time to tidy up the photos, do the washing and prepare for what comes next…

After arriving home from Thailand (an 18 hour trip), I have exactly two weeks before leaving for Indonesia for my placement with VSO. During that time, I have to attend a five day SKWID (Skills for Working in Development) course at VSO’s residential centre in Birmingham, visit the dentist, get my anti-malarials, garage my car, apply for my visa, sort out my tax return for 2008 and generally tidy things up in preparation for a long absence so it’s going to be a busy fortnight !

My flight to Indonesia departs from Dublin on 8th February and takes me to Bali via London and Doha. In London, I hope to meet up with a Scottish volunteer who is going to work on the same placement as me on the island of Flores. When we arrive in Indonesia, our first eight weeks will be mostly taken up with a language and cultural training programme in Denpasar on the island of Bali before travelling to our individual placements on various islands. During this training period, most of the time will be spent living with a local family which should certainly force me to get on with learning Bahasa Indonesia ! I guess that Bali is probably also likely to give me the opportunity to buy any bits and pieces that I have forgotten to bring (including appropriate work clothes) as I believe that Maumere on Flores is rather limited in shopping opportunities so I‘m not too worried about forgetting things !