We’d decided not to have a stop off in Bangkok, firstly Helen had already been there and done the whole tourist thing, and secondly, we just wanted to get to the area we were going to stay for the two weeks, get the majority of the travelling done in one go.

We arrived at Bangkok Airport very sleepy (I find it impossible to sleep in those airplane seats) and with about 2 hours to spare until our flight to Krabi. Plenty of time we thought. That was until we arrived at Bangkok passport control and the slowest moving queue in the world.

What’s that saying? You pays your money and you takes your choice. Not that we paid any extra money to passport control, we’d probably get in trouble trying to do that, but you get the idea.

We chose a queue, the wrong queue of course, but that goes without saying. Every other queue starts moving faster the minute you enter YOUR queue. That is exactly what seemed to happen. The 2 hours ‘spare’ we had turned into a quick 10min sit down before boarding the flight to Krabi. We were knackered.

It was a quick 90 min flight to Krabi, during which time, they once again, tried to stuff us with more food and drink. We barely had time to put the seat belt on before they were shoving some sort of slimy mashed up chicken and mushroom wrap/cake/donut down our throats. Lovely.

At Krabi Airport we went for a ‘bus’ to the hotel rather than a taxi, taking in a bit of local culture and all that. Now, when I say ‘bus’, it actually means minivan – these minivans are infamous – tourists crow barred in with other miserable looking tourists all thinking the same thing – bloody minivans!

It was only a short trip to our first actual accommodation of the holiday, although this wasn’t simple. Our minivan took us into Krabi Town, we didn’t know it at the time, but actually driving past our hotel, before passing us over to another fella with an open top van (think the sort of vans that take animals to the abattoir) to drive us back the way we came to drop us outside our accommodation. But after 20 odd hours travelling, we made it: The Sasi House and a lovely welcome.

We attempted to get straight into the swing of things with coffee and snacks in a local restaurant, before finally deciding on a 4 hour power nap.

That evening, feeling slightly refreshed, we had a wander and explore, before consuming some lovely authentic Thai food in a food market in town.

Day 2 – Krabi. Sleep. Krabi Town. Night Market.

Fact of the Day: Thailand is made up of approximately 1430 islands.

Day 1 began at 5.30am so that we were organised and ready for a 6.30am taxi pickup. Initially we were going to get a bus to Peterborough, but it wasn’t until yesterday that we actually realised it was Good Friday and the buses didn’t start until 7.40am – our train was at 7.42am from Peterborough! So taxi it was then.

Arriving in Peterborough with plenty of time meant a McDonalds breakfast. Well we are on holiday.

Zero dramas on the train to London King’s Cross, or across London on the tube to Heathrow, arriving in plenty of time to check-in before the flight.

We didn’t check-in online, so endured a rather terrifying moment when we were told we were on standby. STANDBY!?! Cue 1000s of images of us waiting for a flight to Thailand as planes come and go with no room on any, only to get the train back to Peterborough in two weeks time, having spent the entire time in a Tom Hanks’ Terminal style nightmare.

However, the lovely people at Thai Airways, managed to get us two aisle seats together. Which considering it was an 11 hour flight was actually a result.

Arrived in Bangkok at about 1am UK time, 6am-ish local time, during which time they stuffed us with plenty of food and enough complimentary drinks to keep us going for the first week of the trip!

Day 1 done. Travelling.

Fact of the day: Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country that was never colonized by an European country. In fact, in the Thai language, the name of the country is Prathet Thai which means ‘land of the free’.

A holiday weblog? Why?

I’ve been on holiday for a few days and I’ve noticed loads of people keeping a log of their travels. Now I’m not on a world tour or anything, but nevertheless I like the idea for a number of reasons:

• Memories – I know we’ve always got our memories but it helps to reread them now and again!
• Pictures – some pictures need a bit of an explanation to make sense.
• Every day blurs into the next when on holiday – this gives some order to the happenings.
• And of course, tell the world what I’ve been doing.

So hold on tight, it will begin, rather belatedly, very soon….

It’s done.

Today’s 5-miler around Bourne included my 1000th mile of the year. It’s been quite a challenge, at times I wasn’t even sure I was going to achieve it, but having completed it, I feel good, and in fact, very proud of myself.

Considering I also transitioned into minimalist running with the Vibram Fivefingers during the summer I’m well pleased with the mileage.

Here’s some statistics from the year:

• 222 runs
• 179 hours
• 30,161 feet elevation gain
• 1000 miles

Monthly mileage:

• January 95 miles
• February 75 miles
• March 81 miles
• April 73 miles
• May 82 miles
• June 109 miles
• July 45 miles
• August 58 miles
• September 107 miles
• October 93 miles
• November 120 miles
• December 63 miles

Now to decide what to do in 2018…

It’s been another good week:

I’m getting ever closer to the magic 1000 miles. After this morning’s cheeky 3 mile run at the woods with the dog I have reached 919 miles.

Just 81 miles to go.

Which works out at 2.1 miles per day, or 16.1 miles per week. If I carry on as I am, I will indeed be able to have Christmas week off! That’s the plan.

As I was scrolling though my Strava profile to find the total mileage, I came across this wonderful little stat: my total elevation gain so far has been 28,415 feet.

Now, I live in South Lincolnshire. It’s not known for its hills, in fact the biggest hill I probably ever have to climb is the new disabled access ramp they have put outside the bank. So I’m not particularly surprised that it’s relatively low compared to hardcore trail runners. But what I did find interesting is that Mount Everest stands at 29,029 feet, I’ve only got to add another 600 odd feet of elevation to have conquered Everest! Challenge accepted.

Halfway through November and I’m finally feeling pretty confident that I can indeed run 1000 miles in 2017 – although having now said that I’ll probably fall over and break my leg tomorrow!

I’ve managed a few higher mileage weeks through October and November in a bid to make up some miles that I lost through the summer, when I was transitioning to a more barefoot running style. This week has been another good week:

A 9-miler on Monday, followed by a load of 4ish runs, on the road, at the woods and at the gym on the treadmill. Most of my runs, except on the treadmill, are run in the Vibram Fivefingers. I’ve even been wearing Injinji socks recently. It’s all about the toes!

So, 893 miles done, leaving 107 left to be run in the next 42 days: averaging 2.54 miles per day. If I can keep up the good weekly mileage I might even be able to give myself Christmas week off!

Cushty.