Bangkok

Bangkok, HitYerMickey, Capital of Thailand. The city that mixes ladies and boys into one unique package, if you'll forgive the term. We landed in Bangkok intending to take care of all of our Christmas shopping. Doing so would require a grasp of the local slang:
"Ping Pong" does not mean table tennis.
"Massage" does not mean massage.
"Hello my friend" means that someone you have never met before wants to engage you in extortion of some variety, and is therefore not your friend at all.

We took care of the shops, the sights and the Khao San Road (just to confirm that I'll only ever be back if I need a new Irish driver's licence in a hurry). Who'd have known that the Irish Department of the Environment would have third-party agents up and down the Khao San (and with a 30-minute turnaround time). They even print the card-version of the Irish driver's licence which doesn't exist in Ireland. Truly a feat of international co-operation!

So, you know Murphy's Law. Well, I think Fiona may just have re-defined it. A year and a half on the road, eating at the kind of places where you don't want to wash your hands because they'd be getting dirtier instead of cleaner. On our second-last day in Asia, Fiona gets the Bangkok Belly. No need for all the details, let's just say its like Delhi Belly, only with the double evacuations.

After a pretty rough night and morning, all hell broke loose. No problem, says I, let's get the doctor. $150 (US Dollars) later we are told to go to hospital to be admitted. Where better to spend the last night of your Round the World adventure than in hospital with severe food poisoning.

If you are looking for a good hotel at a reasonable rate in Bangkok, look no further than Bumrungrad International Hospital. With beds starting at 50euro (per-person-sharing) you'll be given the best possible care and attention. Mezzanine level food court (McDonalds, Starbucks, etc), post-office, bank, hotel-wide wifi, all rooms en-suite, mini-bar, room-service menu and extremely attentive staff (vitals checked every 3 hours - IV fluids available on request).

We checked in at 10pm (our last night on the road). The doctors said they'd do their best to give the "fit-to-fly" in time for our flight to Dublin the following evening. 2 bags of IV fluid and 3 doses of IV antibiotcs later, Fiona was right as rain(ish). Who's this Murphy fella we've been hearing about? Photos are here