These last 2 weeks have mostly been about taking a holiday and slightly about work. In the few days before leaving for Dhaka I did manage to finalise a few important things for the strategic plan, like the vision, mission and core values, but really I was more focussed on packing my bags and going to Thailand! This is also an ideal time of year to get away as nothing really happens at Eid after ramadan. It's the equivalent of the week between Christmas and New Year i.e. it's all about going home to be with the family, eating, drinking (well, not really for muslims but some are more strict than others) and generally relaxing. Seeing as us volunteers don't have our families here, and there are only so many invitations to eat rice and meat that one can physically handle before internal organs start exploding, it's best to go away somewhere.

So off to Thailand we went, Sarah and I. We were both really excited about getting away, though Sarah was so keen to go we would have arrived at the airport 3 hours early if I hadn't dragged out my final packing a bit. The flights with Thai Airways were fine, the food pretty good, and we even marvelled at the simple pleasure of drinking a cold beer in a cafe at Bangkok airport which of course is impossible in Bangladesh. By way of comparison, when I bought a coffee and a coke at Dhaka airport the staff there didn't want to give me change but rather sell me something else to make up the difference. I of course told them that I didn't want the minty fresh tabs they were suggesting and that my 40 taka change would be fine. When they said they had no change (and I say they as there were 3 of these idiots) I told them to find change. And when they said there wasn't a bank in the building I pointed them to the shop next door which did have money. Miraculously they did find change, and without even going to another shop to find it. Thieving bastards.

Anyway, we got to Thailand, and more specifically Phuket, and even more specifically Kata beach on the South-East coast. It's a beautiful place. Really. Sandy white beaches, lush vegetation, orchids, charming people, great food, clear blue sea, pretty good weather for the end of their rainy season, lovely hotels. Obviously we were well into the great food, cold beer and cocktails, but it was really good how they'd kept the major development away from the beach, or just let it nestle on hillsides and/or behind the trees lining the beach so they weren't at all obvious. Our hotel, The Orchidacea, was just a few minutes walk from the beach, but we spent more time at the hotel pool than the beach really. We did go to the beach every day though for at least one meal or drinks at our favourite beach-side restaurant. There weren't that many places actually overlooking the beach, but this place did great Thai food and was run by a big gay local who looked a lot like the main mafia boss in Goodfellas. They also had Connect 4 so we played that a lot over cocktails, as you do when you're on holiday in Thailand. We also bought a Scrabble set in Phuket town and played it in the lounge bar of the town's swankiest hotel. Well, who doesn't?

The highlights of the week were really the 2 nights we spent dining at The Boat House, a very fine restaurant overlooking the beach with Phuket's premiere wine cellar. The first evening's excuse was our 1 year anniversary, and the second was Sarah's birthday. Good reasons heh? It was just picture-postcard stuff, with the amazing view over the Andaman sea, the spotless white beach, wonderful food, a wine list so heavy it could kill a man with a single blow, and really good service. Granted it wasn't cheap, but hey we're worth it and it was an excuse for us to dress up for once. Well, I say we but in actual fact only Sarah had anything posh to wear. And when you're used to seeing someone wearing shapeless shalwar kameez's all the time, the sight of a well fitted red silk dress can have quite an effect I can tell you. The second night that we went out even the staff at reception asked us where we were going looking so nice!

All good things come to an end sooner or later of course, so with a considerable amount of relectance we rose at 5.15 am on Friday morning to start the surprisingly quick journey home. When I flew back to Dhaka after my summer holiday in Europe I started feeling uneasy about returning to Bangladesh as soon as I reached the departure gate at Heathrow. There's something about the way these people behave at international airports that just gets to me. We reckon every airline must dread Bangladeshi customers as they never queue, always push in, bring way way too much hand luggage which can't all be stored in the cabin, start changing seats as soon as they're on board, and generally trash the toilets during the flight. Seriously, at a conservative estimate they must delay take-offs by 20 minutes on average, though why the ground staff don't stop them taking so much carry-on luggage is a mystery to me. It was all a bit of a rude awakening after a week in our little paradise, so when we got to Sarah's flat we just hid and caught up on the sleep we'd lost that morning.