More pictures from Bangkok

Lunch served Dear

Another one from Khaosan road. Lunch is served! Khaosan road and not only you have the opportunity of not only dining in a five star hotel but you have also five star restaurants that spring up like mushrooms in every pavement, angle of Bangkok.
My friends from Italy were curious to try food from the streets and when they did they never stopped eating at this same sidewalk restaurant for the few days they were here. Makes the town look like a whole big restaurant with smoke all over. Sometimes you just keep coughing and sneezing because of the smoke decorated with pepper. You know thai food is spicy.
I think I like the idea of these small restaurants as many many of Bangkok people make a living with this, and hence everyone has a small something. If such small businesses were allowed in Nairobi then there would be less crime in the city.

Starting our journey in Bangkok

Our journey starts in Khaosan road. Khaosan road is the Backpackers paradise a place where every budget travellers needs are catered for.
Here the only word that talks is "Cheap", from cheap tickets to travel around in Thailand, outside destinations, cheap tickets to and from the Airport, cheap fashion tailored suits, cheap upper and middle range hotel rooms.

I have found a very valuable website on this and remember to read scamwatch it will really help you out especially on the first days of your trip to Bangkok.
Read here

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Travel cheaply

Despite overcrowding and chaos Bangkok is one of Asias most exciting cities to visit.
Temples, floating market, weekend market and so many other attractions that will just leave you wanting to come back.
November to February is great time to visit as it is not burning hot. Currently the weather is good, rainy and cool especially the night.

It's easy to travel around, you can save a lot by organising your trips around the country from here, this could be done by contacting the local agencies and or friends who are living here to make such arrangements for you depending on what you want to see around and you pay for the trip on your arrival.

If you are travelling to Bangkok and need some cheap bargains than what you can get from your home country, then take my word.. book internal travelling locally.
If you need help, feel free to contact me and I can obtain for you advice even prices from a local agency and you can compare. A wise budget tourist/traveller will always compare alternatives and pick the best quality-price.
Let me hear from you.

Bangkok property boom

Bangkok High rise property boom.
It is evident that there is a high boom of condominiums in the central area of Bangkok. Mostly those located along the sky train or subway routes. Why is this? Because they of course save on travelling costs and time.
Showrooms everywhere trying to attract buyers. Prices are high and continue to grow especially for those properties that are located in central area.

From the slopes to the slopes! .... page 2

from the slopes to the slopes page:2

Since that night Twisty's homework become more and more enjoyable. As she progressed with her school her mother started getting worried what will happen with her secondary education as it required huge savings. And Twisty had brothers and sisters who were at school themselves. But, her mother always brushed aside the idea of Twisty not joining high school with a tear.

It had rained heavily that night, as Twisty walked to school she was shivering of cold, but what could she do? They could not afford to buy her a pair of shoes or a jacket to protect her from the cold. But Twisty always knew down in her heart that one day sun will shine on her family. She was cold when she got to school, among the first pupils to get to school. It was deserted no singing, no yelling and running around she was always used to. This, is when she realised that the judgement day had come. The students desks were arranged each far away from the other and slowly the supervisors started arriving in the school "It was the national exams day" this was going to tell the world (village) all the truth of what she had been doing in school for eight years. Twisty was confident when she got the first paper which was English composition. She had three titles to choose from and write a story. The three days passed by fast. Nobody in the class discussed the papers instead they just hoped that Christmas that was around the corner brought them some happiness and hope for joining new schools across the country.

In my village Christmas never mean't writing letters to father Christmas and ask for this and that, video game,or whatever. It was time to say a silent prayer and wish that the results were good and that your parents are able to pay for your education in high school for the following 4 years.
Twisty's best friend came around on Sunday afternoon, they had a cup of tea which is normal to every visitor in the slopes you are welcomed with a cup of hot tea. They sat under the Avocado tree that her father had planted for her, and she always sat there when she felt sad and lonely. She would look at tonnes of Avocado fruits hanging up above her head and wish she could turn them all into money and pay school fees for herself and the others in the family. This was a special afternoon because at Four in the afternoon the radio announced the results were out and usually it would take around two days to get them. A hen passed by and the radio went off, because it was a very old radio my father always said that his radio was old that even the hen's footsteps would put it off. Twisty's smaller brother enjoyed moments like this when he would open the radio, and put it back together.

Let me offer you a drink from the slopes and then we continue later with Twisty's story.
Boiled water, add tea and squeeze lemon juice and add sugar as you like. Since in the slopes we never had fridges to make ice, you can either choose to add some ice or drink it hot! If you are returning on a journey from Kenya remember to take home some real ground coffee from there and do not forget to carry with you KETEPA TEA- True taste of Kenya. Take my word you will keep asking someone from there to send some.

From the slopes to the slopes!...page 1

Twisty a girl from the slopes, never would imagine what life had in store for her. She was always sad when her Dad came home drunk and beat up her mother, threw the food out of the window and swore to kill them.

Every time her Dad went drinking they would have dinner early so when her Dad came back they had full stomachs. It was easy to know when he was back as he sang loudly on his way back home. All neighbours could tell that it was Twisty's father coming back home very drank. Twisty family did not have even enough money to buy her school books leave alone a good pair of shoes. And anyway during this period only teachers children could afford to wear a pair of shoes. Every child in Twisty's wanted to be friends with the only girl who happened to be the daughter of the class teacher.

Twisty came to school with very torn green tunic and a pink blouse. A common way of describing these torn dresses in school was "a dress with windows all over". Teachers in the school were very sad to see Twisty like this as she was obidient, hard working and bright kid. So teachers in the school would sometime raise money and have Twisty get a new tunic.

After school Twisty rushed home from school to help her mother with house work but remembering to do her homework before sunset as in the night she could only have light from the fire they used for cooking. But, slowly her mother realised how difficult it was for Twisty to finish all her work before dark, so she went over to her neighbours and asked for an empty cocoa tin which with help of a nail she made a small hole in the middle and with a small piece of an old blanket plus kerosene this turned to be the greatest technology for the family, now Twisty could do her homework during the evening after dinner.

Come back tomorrow to follow Twisty's story

Market Day

For the first time I went to the farmers Market today. I did not take a picture at the market.

A big market with a lot of food kiosks. Was really amazed that I had not discovered the market before during my last stay here. But there is always time for everything.

Everything looked soooo fresh I just wanted to buy and buy. Bought lots of vegetables and also fish.
The storm came and in few minutes that I was there rained cats and dogs, I got all my clothes wet but never mind, this is not a problem. During my growing up on the slopes of Mt Kenya, we never had umbrellas and life never stopped.

During the rainny season sometimes it was the peak of harvesting coffee and we had to go on, we worked under the rains to save the coffee only the shameful part is that the pay was too bad even after working under the rains could not be enough to pay school fees. In the slopes we have open air markets (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) were Market days. We sold the vegetables and other products from the gardens mostly cereals.

So today I did not rush under the rains it was like bringing my memories from the slopes back.
Thats all for today, check the recipes blog for what I will prepare with all these vegetables and fruit that I bought!
See you there, I hope you join me tomorrow on my journey to the slopes.

Harry Potter!

As promised we managed to go to the theatre on Friday. A bit of it was in 3 dimension and this is how we looked like. My son loved the 3 dimension part.

The girl from the slopes

To see where my village lies click here This is the best google maps could give us, have patience and soon maybe we will get better pictures from here. Its elevation is 5199m. My home is on around 1800m. So every time we go to some new place and try to check the height, nothing gets to my village height.

So, you might ask how did a girl from here get to Bangkok or Italy in the first place. I will tell you about that in the near future.

But today after 1 month in Bangkok, I visited my Kenyan embassy here. I felt like being back home. It was nice to see other Kenyans. Thanks to the Kenyan embassy staff you made me feel at home.
Its time to close and we catch up tomorrow when I will start a long post on how I left the slopes and why.

Remember the girl from the slopes has other blogs that you might like especially if you are looking for a recipe I have got wonderful recipes for you to try, anyway the girl from the slopes can now cook why not you. Over here you find my recipes

And if you are looking for a small gift for friends and family then the girl from the slopes has come up with this

Ehi! Going to watch Harry Potter tonight! Who knows if all those people I know in the village knows what is Harry Potter?

Greetings from the slopes girl, leave a comment if you like reading my posts

Like a girl from the Slopes of Mt. Kenya

I have been in Bangkok for a month now. My Kenyan Embassy is somewhere near here, so have been promising that I will go say HI!
Looks like Im going, well let me talk to you when Im back.

Thailand: Medical Tourism

Yesterday we had family Visit to the Dentist. Very professional and of course you pay less than what you would pay elsewhere lets say Italy.

Thailand has high class hospitals and many people come here for treatment. The service is excellent and of course will save your waiting time that sometimes people have to face in the west.


Coming back to yesterday, we had a general check up. And the doctor said come back in 1 years time....

When I grew up in the slopes of Mt. Kenya, I remember we did not have tooth brushes and paste. So one will ask how did you do then? Here is the answer there are trees that we took a piece of the younger part of the branch and chew them, then use as brush. You should have seen all the children on our way to school brushing. Now things have changed and everyone want a brush and tooth paste. My first tooth brush and tooth paste was when I went to high school as it was compulsory.

We also had a secret whitener for our teeth? You want to know what it was? Aha, don't laugh at me or say disgusting because this is the other side of life.. we used charcoal from our Mommas wooden stoves. I wish I had a photo for those times to share with you, unfortunately we only heard of photos.

The picture in the post is an idea for your next gift, to Mom and friends.
Click here to see what it is, it is not from Meru the slopes of Mt. Kenya it is something I got here!