When I bought plane tickets for this year's holiday, it seemed so distant. The choice was not easy, because there's a whole world to visit, and life's not that long anda job leave even shorter... It was necessary to combine a desire tovisit exotic places, interesting in terms of history, nature andculture. The choice fell on Thailand. On this occasion, we'll visitalso Malaysia and Cambodia.
There was an additional factor. Lastyear, having chosen India, although it was not mandatory, I got vaccinated against several diseases, including: hepatitis type A and B, polio, typhoid, tetanus and diphtheria. Because the polio vaccineis valid only for three years, I decided that until then I will travel to the countires where it may be useful. Southeast Asian countries fall into this group.
I heard many good things about Thailand, that it's an extremely interesting country, people are sympathetic, there are hundreds of monuments, nature is breathtaking, beaches are marvelous.
Tickets purchased (Austrian Airlines), and a sudden thought: it might be a good opportunity to explore something else. A glance at the map: Malaysia and Cambodia. These two countries I will visit, or rather we'll visit, because I never travel alone, in a truly Japanese style, that is in several days. That'll be fast but enough to see two-three places in each. We bought internal flights in the local low cost airlines Air Asia.
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| Screen from Google Earth |
The plan has been ready for a few weeks, from time to time, we give it an extra edge, we check new places, prices, timetables, hostels etc. And suddenly dramatic news struck us: flood! God, no! Not during our holiday! Last days, orrather evenings, we pass them watching TV and Internet reports about the flood in Thailand. Water flooded Ayutthaya. O my, and we wanted so much to see it! Water flooded several districts of Bangkok. Will we fly there at all? Our friends try to joke that we should take backpacks instead of suitcases, as it would be difficult to roll them on water... They advice us to take inflatable pontoons... We try to make jokes too, but it's not so funny. We hope that no doom is hanging over our heads. Three times lucky...
It seems disasters are walking around us. A few years ago we were sailing by ferry from Bodrum in Turkey to the Greek island of Kos. A week later the same ferry sank... Last year a building over a small shopping center in New Delhi (India) collapsed, and we were shopping there two weeks earlier... But, let's not be pessimistic! In the worst case we'll experience another exciting adventure. But what kind of adventure would it be? Flood? What does it mean, I had the opportunity to see when a shaft on the Vistula river right opposite my block broke. The water came up only half a meter high and stormed into the basements and garages, so there was no tragedy, but we've been trapped for two days... And now we'll be in a foreign country.
Well, we countdown and read news after news. Though the Thai authorities expect two more culminating waves in Bangkok, they assure that the city shouldn't suffer more. The traffic on subsequent roads is being restored, the international airport is operating normally. It seems our holiday is not at risk.