Better late than never. When I got to Thailand, the Red Shirt protests were in full swing, and the protesters had situated themselves in the shopping area of Bangkok. Since these troubles had been going on before I left, I didn’t bring any kind of red shirt with me on my trip, not wanting to get myself mixed up in that mess. When I arrived in Thailand, it wasn’t a topic on my mind at all. I planned to avoid Bangkok like the plague, and as such I wasn’t concerned should that topic arise.

And, it did arise. The people of Phuket (who come from all over Thailand) had very strong views on the issue. For the most part, they didn’t support the Red Shirts. The general feeling I got from the Thai people I encountered who talked about the protests said that it was a bunch of Thai people from the north who didn’t actually live in Bangkok doing the protesting. They were causing far more problems than they solved, and should have stopped a long time ago. The Thai economy was descending at a rapid rate because of the protests, and in the country that is dependent on tourism, that is a big deal. The general opinion was that there were better ways to achieve a victory for the people than closing down part of Bangkok with general insolence. When the military did come in and brake up the protesting, there was a clear sense of relief that swept through the country. It hadn’t been the first time the military had come in to put down a protest, but it was one of the best documented cases. As such, the backlash to the Thai people and their economy would clearly last for at least a year, something that everyone on Phuket knew was coming.

My own personal views on the subject are hard to define. Thailand is not my country, I don’t know the people or the politics so coming to any conclusion about the situation would be inexcusable on my part. Had I lived in Thailand, been a Thai citizen and understood the situation with greater clarity, then maybe I would weigh in on the frustrations of the people in that country. As such, I am not in that position, so I find it best to keep my mouth shut as it is quite clear that I do not understand the situation. If only this were a general rule that people in our followed, keep your nose out of business that’s not yours!!

Finally it was the day to leave. I had a double espresso the night before to keep me awake so that I could sleep on the plane. Getting to the airport was simple, we just walked up the street a ways to the bus stop and got the same bus that we had taken to the hostel back to the airport, the good ole’ A21. Getting the airport we had 2 hours to burn, so we walked everywhere. Nick discovered that one cannot bring water onto the plane anymore (news to me), and we eventually boarded.

Luckily it was not a full flight, so we had a seat in the middle of our row separating us. This provided a space for all the pillows and what not. I merrily put on my eye shades and ear plugs, and set in to pass out. I managed to nearly get there too, I was just on the edge when I was woken up by the damn Cathay Pacific stews. They were serving lunch or something along those lines. I was not happy. I try my best to sleep on planes and usually don’t, so when I am nearly there and get woken, I am obviously upset. Anyway, I ate the shoddy airplane food.

The service from the flight attendants on this flight was piss poor, and they were very rude. I will never be flying Cathay Pacific again, the curs. I watched an abysmal film called “Clash of the Titans”, which to be honest was nothing better than a 2 hour waste of my life. After that I dallied around a bit, finally settling on a few episodes of Top Gear that I had already seen, as well as a biopic about Steve Mcqueen which I found to be quite interesting. By the time that finished, the plane was landing and I was back in the States.

Of course then there was immigration which took a solid 30 minutes because of undermanned booths. In addition, for some reason customs was slow as hell too, all of which added to my prior annoyance. Needless to say, I was not enjoying the flying experience. Luckily I escaped the airport and caught the airporter after about 20 minutes. Whisked away from Thailand, Hong Kong and SFO, I was on my way back to the bay.

Getting our cheap subway tickets we rode one stop past Hong Kong Disneyland, got out and made our way to where the gondola pickets up passengers for the ride to the Buddha. The cost of a normal, round trip ticket on the Ngong Ping 360 turned out to be 107 H.K.D., a little expensive and more than I was willing to pay to be honest. Not wanting to let my friend down though, I purchased the ticket and we lined up to get on the gondola. After being seated across from a Chinese couple who spoke no English, we were whisked away and up towards the Buddha.

The Ngong Ping 360 ride takes one from level ground, over a bay where there is a great view of the airport. After that, it is up, up, and away over large hills were the vistas are sublime. However, it was raining. I saw the airport, was entirely thrilled (not at all thrilled) as I sat on a seat that put my behind to sleep. Crossing over the bay was fine, the problem was that because it was raining it was quite wet. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but because the gondola has windows that weren’t sealed properly, it rained on us throughout the entire ride up to the Buddha. The rain was also a bit of a nuisance when we got to the top, as its source (clouds) obscured any kind of view. Sure, we were able to look down and see some nice vegetation and a few shallow waterfalls, but nothing picture worthy. I expected to have my face pressed to the glass, watching the world go by outside. I was sorely dissapointed in this regard, as all I saw were beads of water on the windows obscuring my already poor view.

We arrived at the gondola station, got off, engaged our umbrellas and made our way to the Big Buddha. Naturally there was loads of touristy shopping before we got there, but we skipped it all because who needs that kind of stuff? The walk to the Buddha was short, and despite the constant wet descending from above, I was content. The Po Lin monastery is located next to the Buddha, and unfortunately it was under construction so there wasn’t anything to see, monks included. A bit put off by this, we ascended the multitude of steps to the base of the Buddha. Not having worked out since we had let Phuket, this was the sole time I felt my muscles do much of anything the entire time I was in Hong Kong. There were many steps, most had puddles on them which made for a rather squishy experience.

At the top I took a gaggle of Buddha photos, as well as some vista shots. The clouds had parted just enough to get some beauties, lots of dramatic mountains with fluffy clouds crossing over the peaks. Stuff straight out of those wall hangings from China that one sees in museums. We didn’t stay at the top very long due to the weather conditions, and after a bit of time we headed back to eat some ramen before we descended the mount. All in all, it was a bland 30 minute ride up, followed by 30 minute ride down, then a 45 minute subway ride back to Kowloon. All of this mind you, with squishy shoes and wet feet. Joy?