About this blog

Thulani (Too-lah-nee) is a small South African bear who has been bitten by the travel bug in a big way! This blog will follow the travels of Thulani Bear as he visits various countries around the globe during 2011.

Friday 17 June 2011

Thulani in Thailand

After a rather uncomfortable trip squashed in my little white envelope, I finally arrived in the ‘Land of smiles’ (Thailand).  The postal service and language barrier gave me a few grey hairs but I eventually found my way to Dan’s apartment just outside the center of the big, busting city of Bangkok.



On the plane from Hong Kong I did some reading to find out a little more about Thailand. I would like to share a few facts that I found interesting. Bangkok is home to approximately 12 million people! Eish! That’s just a few more than the South Coast.

Bangkok currently holds the Guinness record for having the longest name of a place. Apparently “Bangkok” is just the short version because the city’s ceremonial name is “Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit”. Say what?

Hot hot hot! Several years ago, Bangkok was named the hottest city in the world by the World Meteorological Organization. It may not be the hottest city in the world every single day but you can be sure it’s pretty consistent.

World’s Best City In the thirteenth annual World’s Best Awards Readers’ Survey of globally leading travel magazine Travel + Leisure, Bangkok was named as “World’s Best City 2008”.

Wow this place sounds super cool! Well we will soon see…

Till tomorrow…



                Tuesday 7-06-2011

Today was my first day out of the apartment. I went with Dan to school where he was running a scout week for all the children at his school. I was really excited to see the children and especially to teach them how to have a real South African Braai. The day flew by and before I knew it, it was up and time for home. I was pretty tired from all the day’s activities but I had a good day.

Till next time…



Wednesday 8-06-2011

After a good nights sleep I made my way back to school with Dan for another fun filled day. Today we went to an adventure center about 2 hours out of Bangkok called Pine Resort. Boy oh boy did we have fun swimming, playing in the mud, climbing up climbing walls and going down zip lines. I was really glad we got to swim because the weather here is crazzzy hot! It never seems to get cool. I think I might get need to get a fur cut…





After our days adventures we arrived safely back home. That evening Dan took me out for dinner to one of the many street restaurants. They line the streets of Bangkok and are always full of people. Some of the food looked pretty strange and not very appetizing, as well as SUPER SPICY! I wasn’t sure if I could eat this food and begged Dan to take me to Mac Donalds but he said that I was here to experience the real Thailand and I am glad he did! Because the food was awesome! My best was noodle soup but I also enjoyed the fried rice. I can’t wait for my next meal! I wonder what I'm going to try next…?

Till next time…

Thursday 9-06-2011

On Thursday I spent the day with Dan’s class. After school it was time to hit the gym for a workout. To get to the gym we had sit and navigate our way through the crazy Bangkok traffic, but we eventually got there. With muscles feeling a little tender, myself, Dan and Nancy hoped onto the sky train running above Sukhumvit road and made our way to the famous MBK shopping center. We did a bit shopping and then made our way to the street for some yummy street food. We sat outside a huge and very popular shopping center called central world. The lights of the city and skyscrapers of Bangkok were amazing.

Till next time…




Friday 10-06-2011

Today was the last day of school before a 2 month summer holiday. So there were lots of good byes and hugs going around. I even got a few which was nice! Haha! That evening it was time to hit the town. We visited a dew place and eventually ended up going bowling and sing karaoke! It was awesome! When I it was my turn to sing I tried to find Shoza Loza, but they didn’t have it so i ended up settling for something a little more chilled – When you say nothing at all – by Ronan Keating. It was a good night out!

Till next time…





Saturday 11-06-2011

On Saturday I spent most of the morning hibernating, preparing myself for the big game that was going to be played that evening… Sharks vs Lions! Before the game Dan introduced me to some of his mates, all of them where from SA! We watched the game in a Kiwi pub called Soi 8. It was very festive and there were many people from SA there! The game was too stressful me, causing a few more grey hairs to appear. Final score 30-30 draw!

Till next time…
Sunday 11-06-2011

Sunday was another busy day. Dan and Nancy wanted to take me shopping at J-J market. It is apparently the biggest market in Asia and I can honestly believe that! It was huge! We spent most of the day there and didn’t even get through the whole place! There were millions of tourists there walking around in the boiling hot sun buy gifts, eating ice-cream and downing bottles of water. Everything  was really cheap and you can find almost anything!  Just before leaving we made our way to the plant section of the market to buy some orchids for Dan’s apartment. Wow! There were orchids everywhere and they were sooo cheap!

Till next time…








Monday 12-06-2011

In Thailand there are many ways to get to where you want to go. You can take a taxi, boat, song tow, bus, train, motorbike or even a tuk-tuk. Today we took a motorbike taxi and the boat. Both were lots of fun and I can’t wait to do it again. Sadly today is my last day here in Bangkok, so after our exercise session at the running track we went to a night market for so food and relaxing. We ended the evening off at the movies. Another great day in Bangkok.





Well that’s all I have for folks. Next stop Argentina baby!!!

Till next time…