My travel escapades this year

I love to travel. Nothing as much fun as visiting a different country seeing the different cultures and seeing how different or the same we all are.

Today I was cleaning up my mailbox and came across a couple of emails I sent my friends from different locations, they have made me smile so I guess I will post them here.

THAILAND
Hi gal,

Today I finally have sometime to write about Thailand, let me begin at the airport leaving Nairobi.

I am standing in line waiting to check in when I see this dude looking behind as if waiting for a friend who is late, he keeps staring but I dont think he is looking at me. Anyway I check in and then go to duty free walk around, and then its time to wait at the boarding gate so I sit and then he comes sits across me. He introduces himself C someone, and asks where I am going, I tell him Bangkok he seems sad and asks if I will stay in Dubai for long. Anyway he tells me he is off to Dubai and Singapore for Business. He looks 28 - 32 and he is short and dark but ok looking. Anyway he gives me his card and I tell him I am bila card so he produces another for me to write my address, I write but omit my cell number then he asks for my cell so I andika for him. We chat then its time to board and he is sitting directly in front of me. I lenga him during most of the trip to Dubai but at some point the guy next to me wants to go to the loo so I have to get up from the Aisle seat and then our dude holds my hand and wont let go. I am thinking ok this guy is very strange.

In Dubai, we get on the bus to the international terminal and I have to get off first, he keeps trying to convince me that I should just go on with him get a 3 day visa to Dubai and hang out - we can have a holiday. Needless to say I am happy to leave him coz he is coming on too strong.
At Dubai airport I walk around and whom do I see, I. she was with me in college and now she is in Aus. I am soo glad to see her we just hang around window shop and then its time to board to Bangkok.

Bangkok is on holiday when I arrive, I couldnt get over how big the place is. The city just goes on and on. The hotel I stayed was nice. I am too tired day 1 to do anything so I just lala. Day 2 I wake early go for a fantastic breakfast, my first real taste of Thailand, even in the village where I am now the food is good. After it I call my Thai boss he tells me he is packing coz he is moving house and so I decide not to disturb him and explore on my own. I go and take a tuk tuk, who take me to this place where they are selling jewellery - 'Just look no buy'. Later I was to discover that its better to pay the high rates in taxi's than agree to the tuk tuk deals I do 4 such trips by the end of the day. Anyway their warehouses are nice there are all this rings and jewels, rubies, sapphires and green garnets, its really cool but I am not about to buy any jewellery, I have already lost all the pieces from Ethiopia so I have decided its just a waste of money for me to buy that stuff. I finally get to a mall their malls are great; you can shop shop shop but I cant dont have much money to spend but I browse all day, get a few books on Thai cooking and paperbacks and then head back to my hotel, another taxi another jewel store. I get back at 4 pm and just relax.

Usiku I decide to go to a pub, there is an Irish pub near my hotel, I go there its a sports bar there is premier league showing DSTV - Im surprised DSTV in Asia? Arsenal playing - no need to stay here get enough of it in Nairobi. Outside the pub is the biggest party I have ever seen. Its Songkran everyone is outside with big water pistols and buckets of water and paint, to say I get wet is an understatement but its too much fun watching the crazy Thais wash each other. I walk around and end up on a street where I can hear music R &B so I stop buy some CD's I hope to get some more when Im coming back its all pirated and I feel bad buying it but the labeling fantastic - cant tell it apart from the originals. Then I walk into a pub with a band playing live popular music, they have some black guys playing too, I am the only miro really dancing in my seat and the rest just watching. Then this chick decides she likes me and sits next to me. I still dont know if she was gay or not but she clings by my side all night, I dont gas her at all but we dance, at about midnight and 4 more Gins along the way some very fine Black men come to the club, but they dont show any interest in me - too bad. I figure anyway I am too drunk and go to my hotel.

On my way to the hotel I meet 2 African men who insist I must sit with them. They are from Mali, I sit with them a little and then tell them I am tired and need to go to my hotel. They decide to walk me there and one of them just holds my hand saying YOU ARE SOO LOOVELY. Its too hilarious and when we get to my hotel he tells his friend to wacha us like he will come to my room. - Hello are they nuts. So when I tell him he cant come in we decide to walk in the streets of Bangkok, Songkran is still going on and its fun to watch. This dude has lines like you cant believe about how lovely I am and how he comes to buy rubies in Kenya and how he will come to visit me in Kenya and YOU ARE SOO LOVELY GAL. He is kinda cute and I am totally drunk on the air, the festivities and about 7 Gin and tonics so we go sit by a building and talk, at 5. 00 am, Bangkok still active we walk to my hotel and he is in shock when I tell him hell no he still cant enter my hotel but it was nice talking to him and I havent done that in a long time.

Anyway I go lala and wake up the next day at 1 pm. I decide to stay in watch some TV movies at 4 I go tafuta chakula on the streets thats where I eat in Bangkok, most Thai guys dont cook they just eat by from vendors on the street and the food is really good.

At 6 pm I call my boss he says we will meet at the airport at 7 am the next morning so I start arranging to check out of my hotel and just stay in. I wake up at 5.30 am and prepare to leave the hotel at 6:00....

Ok this email too long - tomorrow I will tell you about the rest of my week.
Have a lovely day

KHARTOUM

Hey gal

Hey, Hope your day going sawa. Mine I am not too sure having had 3 hours of sleep and then doing full days work. Khartoum is an interesting city. First we couldnt land because of a serious sandstorm so we went to Ethiopia (Addis) and cooled our heels at Addis Airport (Bole) in the plane filled with loud Ghanaians (who kept saying how come the wings not moving) and Sudanese who had some sort of incense thing going on.

The only salvation to the trip was a very interesting Nigerian man who was sitting next to me. First he is a guru on the NGO world and what I need to do to get ahead. But what was funny was he was terrified of something happening to the plane (His wife is due to give birth any day her EDD is 12 June and according to his culture when an unborn son is about to come to the world there is a spiritual battle between the dead and living with the son trying to take over his fathers spirit - so in his culture the men should not travel go to war or do anything that can harm them coz the sons will take the spirits) So when we got diverted to Addis he was very frightened infact I literally had to hold this mans hand all the way from Addis to Khartoum to reasure him nothing was going to happen. I really marketed KQ pilots on their perfect landing and I am glad we had a perfect landing albeit 6 hours late. That baby had better be named after me in honour of the work I did. My prize for being soo good. I got an autographed book on the Caste system of the Osu a book our eminent lawyer from Nigeria authoured.

When I arrived at the airport 5 hours late I was soo glad I am such a perfectionist when it comes to travel. All my collegues were wondering why I was insisting Khartoum book my hotel and send me directions and yet there was supposed to be a driver to pick me up. It helped that I knew the hotel. Anyway, I fell for the oldest old cab driver trick, someone approached me and asked if I needed a taxi. As soon as I said yes I was taken to the oldest Junk taxi in the airport ( C - its older than the KMA we used to take outside Upper Hill Springs). The Northern Sudanese are generally friendly people if only I could hear what they are saying. This morning was up by 6:00 am. After work, I had what was the highlight of the day. I got a tour of the Nile. Went to see the Blue Nile, then the White Nile (pole- no colour difference) and then where the two meet. Its a shame you cant take photos in this city. I would have had some beauties. Now I am back in the hotel - this place is really expensive and the class is very mboff. I am paying 75 dollars a night for a small crampy room with a broken loo. TV is a 14 inch tv all channels in Arabic and although I dont know much about River Road hotels - This is how I would imagine them to be. So for 75dollars its an absolute rip off. Get back to work more tomorrow.
Cheers

Now this post is too long. More tomorrow.

The reason

Hi I am glad you stopped by, let me introduce myself, I am in the process of writing the great novel - "yeah right". I am writing not because I am a great storyteller, infact its probably just the opposite - that is why I was soo happy to discover blogging. That way I can do my online writing each day fulfill that part of my ego that has something to say and send it out there into cyberspace.

This blog is about my life and what I am thinking at the exact moment of the blog - yes I see you yawning already and about to flip the page but I would urge you not to. Read on; my life is no more interesting than yours but thats no reason for you not to read about my day. Infact post something and I will visit your blog too and we can keep each other company and possibly get entertained reading about each other lifes.

About me: I work for a large international company, its a good job especially because once in a while I get to travel to different countries, mainly within Africa although I do get to see other continents as well. This blog will many a time dwell on my tales on the road. Then I am single and ofcourse there will be plenty of drama in this blog around my single life... I have a fabulous set of friends who have plenty of drama in their lives and since its very unlikely they will ever come across this blog i might let you in on their lives - anoymously ofcourse. I cant think of any other reasons at the moment - pretty shallow - yeah I guess so but this is my blog you want deep intellectual stuff please go somewhere else.