Where girls are girls and so are the boys!

Hello blog addicts,

No doubt the one or two smarter people (OK one)on our subscriber list has deduced from the title of this blog that we have arrived in steamy Bangkok.

As most of you are getting on in years and your tickers are weakening by the day (you can count on me to cheer you up), it wouldn't do to rush headlong into a report on just how steamy this city really is, so I'm afraid you'll have to be patient and wade through a lot of boring stuff about Nepal first.

We finished our last report with our arrival in Pokhara. The tourist area of 'Lakeside' where our hotel was situated had the atmosphere of Windermere or Ambleside and was a very relaxing place to spend, what turned out to be, the next 11 days. The lake itself (Phewa Tal) is the second largest in Nepal. Across the lake are deeply forested hills which are reflected in the calm waters and together with the brightly coloured boats or 'Doongas' as they are called, made for a very peaceful scene.

Most people use Pokhara as a base for a couple of days before setting out to trek the Annapurna Trail. This takes around 3 weeks and for scenery and cultural diversity is considered the best trek in the country. Before coming to Nepal it was always my intention to do this walk but with Jo's burgeoning weight problem, I felt she wouldn't have lasted the course so decided on a shorter 'one day' trek instead. We opted to climb to the 'World Peace Pagoda', a large Buddhist stupa on top of the aforementioned hills. The walk to the stupa took us around 4 hours although one guide we read claimed it only takes 2 hours to get there and back. Well, we did stop to take a lot of photographs on the way! It was a steady climb through the forest and apart from some locals collecting wood, we only saw one other tourist. She was an English lady in her sixties and had a Nepalese guide with her. She was visiting Nepal to do birdwatching, an activity for which this area was also famous. She lived in Reading but when we mentioned in passing that we had just moved from Sevenoaks she told us that she regularly visited a friend who lived not 50 yards from where we moved from. Not for the first time has this type of coincidence happened to us and they are completely inexplicable.

When we finally emerged from the forest, we were staggered (and were staggering) to see how high we had climbed as it was barely noticeable on the steady ascent. The enterprising locals had set up several refreshment places at the top so after another plate of yaks testicles washed down with some goats milk, we had a look around the pagoda. The views were simply stunning and we had a 360 degree view of not only Pokhara laid out below but also the surrounding valleys and the Annapurna mountains. It was hard to drag ourselves away but eventually we did knowing that our descent down the mountain via another path, although quicker, was a lot steeper. In fact the guide book warns you not to attempt it after wet weather as it becomes dangerously slippery. Having walked down Beachy Head in April we weren't going to let some Nepalese hillock get the better of us so, staring death in the face, we started our descent. A local who was working nearby (these people never seem to rest) had told us that it would take just under an hour to get to the inlet at the bottom where hopefully a boat would be waiting to take us back across the lake to Pokhara. Well, the path turned out to be steeper than we had envisaged and in places was a bit slippery despite the fact that we had not had any rain. This was because little sunlight gets through the trees to keep it completely dry. About half-way down we met a group of tourists who were climbing up to the pagoda and they looked absolutely exhausted. We were very glad we decided to do this walk in a clockwise direction rather than the other way round. They confirmed that there were some boatmen at the inlet so we continued on our way. We eventually made it to the bottom after 1-3/4 hours. Apart from going back the way you come, there was no way out of the inlet except by boat. As we were the only ones there, we expected to be held to ransom over the fare but a very fair price was agreed and we were back at our hotel within half an hour.

On another day, we were up at 5.00am to go to Sarangkot, a mountain village standing at a height of 4,500 feet a few miles outside of Pokhara. The reason for the early start is that the village provides a scenic viewpoint from which to see the sun rise over the Annapurna mountains. We were almost the first people to arrive but it wasn't long before all sorts of vehicles from motorbikes to huge tourist coaches were pulling up and we were joined by around 200 people from all corners of the world. It was bitterly cold but that didn't seem to matter as we stood there snapping away whilst the light changed every couple of minutes as the sun came up over the high peaks. Hope you like the accompanying pictures.

One afternoon was spent visiting Devi Falls, another local attraction just a couple of miles walk from Pokhara. To be honest, this waterfall was not that impressive but we were there at the wrong time of year to see it at its best.

Apart from these couple of excursions, most of our time in Pokhara was spent around the lake side itself just chilling out (for you oldies, that means relaxing).

Whilst Jo much preferred Pokhara to Kathmandu for its laid back ambience, I found it a little too quiet for my taste. Kathmandu was more to my liking for its amazing buildings and curious sights. This only goes to prove what I always knew...that I am a cultured individual whilst Jo prefers to sit on her arse all day.

We left Pokhara on a Saturday and our return journey to Kathmandu gave us the opportunity to once more enjoy the beautiful scenery on route. We arrived back to find the centre of town had been taken over by a music festival and had to fight our way through the streets to our chosen guest house. We decided to find somewhere cheaper this time as we would only be there for 3 nights. Our first choice was full but the second place we saw had rooms for GBP 6 a night which were perfectly adequate.

One of our first tasks was to re-book our mountain flight to Everest for Monday morning. The next day or so was spent revisiting Durbar Square and getting a few final photographs of Kathmandu which seemed to be a lot busier than a couple of weeks previously. We also managed to get ourselves caught up in a protest march. We trudged along with the protesters for a good 20 minutes but nobody we asked could speak English so it wasn't until we felt we had walked far enough that we finally found out that our fellow protesters were high school teachers and as usual were after a pay rise.

On Monday morning we were up again before the larks, jumped in a cab and were at the domestic airport at 6.00am. Although the sun was peeking through, there was a lot of low cloud cover and we were very doubtful about our flight departure. We checked in and went through to the departure lounge which was packed and it wasn't long before the announcements started. Several of the flights to other towns in Nepal, particularly to the nearest airport for Everest, were being cancelled. The mountain flights scheduled to take off before ours were being delayed first by ten minutes then by half an hour. The prospects looked bleak. We got chatting to a middle aged English couple from Lancashire who spend 6 months of the year in Goa where they rent a property. They couldn't believe our experiences of India and particularly Goa and they thought the country was paradise on earth. I always thought there was something strange about Lancashire folk! Anyway, they were in Nepal to do the trek to the Everest base camp, another one I would have jumped at the chance of doing had Jo been a little less plump and fitter. Some time later the skies started clearing and we were finally called for our flight. As we got above the cloud cover, the mountains looked much clearer than on our previous two attempts and the pilot decided that Everest could be seen that day and we headed out towards it.

Those of you who paid attention in geography lessons rather than flicking ink pellets at the teacher whilst her back was turned will know that Nepal has 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the world. Besides Everest, there are one or two others close by that are well worth a glance as well. During the flight, each of the 16 people aboard were invited to the cockpit to see the mountains from the pilots perspective and it just happened to be my turn as we got one of the best views of Everest. Obviously, at that height and from a fair distance away, it didn't look a great deal higher than the surrounding peaks but what makes it distinctive is its shape. Having pointed Everest out, the pilot then told me the names of all the surrounding peaks, most of which, in Nepali, were unpronounceable. We were allowed to leave our seats throughout the flight to take what photos we wanted. We returned to Kathmandu airport and on landing realised we had been in the air for 1-1/2 hours. Along with all the other passengers we were presented with a certificate to say we had seen Everest. Costing around GBP 75 each, the flight seemed expensive at the time of booking but was an experience we would have gone to the top of the world for.

On leaving the airport we decided to go to the Myanmar (that's Burma for those who still think Britain has an empire) Embassy to try and get our visas for that country as we heard that trying to obtain them in Bangkok is a bit of a nightmare. When we arrived at the address we had got from the 'Lonely Planet', we found the Embassy had moved some considerable time ago. Fortunately, it had only moved a short taxi ride away although it was hidden up a small side street. The huge steel gates were locked shut and there seemed no sign of life but we knocked in the vain hope of drawing our attention to someone. A guard opened the gate a few inches and after explaining why we had come, invited us in to a side office. The place was deserted and we began to wonder just how many people visited Myanmar. Not a lot, it seemed. Eventually an official came over and gave us a couple of forms to fill out and asked us for 4 photographs. Fortunately, we each had 10 taken whilst in hell, sorry Goa, as we knew we would need them for various visa applications. He also took our passports but didn't ask for any money. We were told this was because we needed to be checked out first and it wasn't a foregone conclusion that we would pass their strict vetting procedures. This only confirms what I said in an earlier blog...that Jo has a suspicious face! We told him that we would be leaving Nepal the following afternoon and if they considered us model citizens then we required the visas by the following morning.

We obviously passed with flying colours (well, I did....Jo just scraped through) and after handing over USD 40, we were the proud owners of a Myanmar visa each. At least, it would save us 3 days of hassle in Bangkok. From the Embassy, we made our way straight to the airport for our flight. Although we had quite a wait, it was made more bearable by the fact that we had use of the business class lounge and therefore had plenty of free food and drink. You will no doubt remember that the only tickets we could get out of Nepal were business class if we wanted to leave before Christmas.

The flight, needless to say was superb. Royal Thai certainly know how to cosset you and our only regret was that we were in the air less than 3 hours.

OK, I can sense the growing impatience. The only reason you are reading this blog is that you want to know how steamy Bangkok really is.....go on, admit it!

Well I can now reveal it's been 93 degrees farenheit for four of the last 5 days and we even hit 96 degrees farenheit on one day last week. It doesn't come much steamier than that. Well, actually it does. Apparently this is the cool season so God help you if you come here in April or May when it warms up a bit. Bet you're all glad you are snug around the fire with a steaming cup of hot chocolate in your hand.....yeah right! (Jo is currently sitting next to me on another computer watching a streaming webcam of Worthing seafront and it looks decidedly chilly so we know what you're going through).

For those of you who haven't seen 'The King and I', it will probably be a revelation that Bangkok is the capital of Thailand however don't wait to come here before seeing the film; it's officially banned.

We both loved Bangkok from the moment we landed at the new Suvarnabhumi (pronounced Su-wana-poon)airport which only opened a couple of months ago. It's a very futuristic building with every facility you could wish for (yep, that's available too) and makes Heathrow look like Biggin Hill whereas Kathmandu airport makes Biggin Hill look like Heathrow.

Unlike everywhere else we have been, there was no scramble from taxi or hotel touts. Instead, transfers were efficiently organised and our cheap air-conditioned cab got us into the city in under an hour.

Maybe we have spent too long on the Indian sub-continent but everything here appears ultra-modern. Being in Bangkok has the feeling of being on the set of 'Blade Runner'. There are express ways towering over the city and the futuristic Skytrain makes the Docklands Light Railway look positively Victorian. The subway system too is so up-to-date. The first time we used it I just stood there wondering where the slot was to insert my token to go through the barrier. There wasn't one. It turns out the token is a computer chip and you just pass it over an integrated scanner which automatically opens the barrier. The station official who came to my rescue bowed and smiled courteously but I'm sure he thought my middle names were 'Fred' and 'Flintstone'.

Jo and I are both lovers of Thai food and always take the opportunity to eat it whenever possible but the choice in the UK doesn't begin to compare with what's available here. You can live like a king just dining from the street stalls alone. Pad Thai (stir fried noodles plus meat or fish of your choice) costs just a few pence and will fill you up for the day. The prawns are enormous and I've eaten more pineapple this week than in the past 5 years at home. Many of the stalls sell other delicacies too such as skewers of fried grasshopper or cockroach in batter. Mmmmmmmm delicious! Much to Jo's disgust, I did brave a durian fruit. I can now exclusively reveal that it smells only half as bad as people make out but tastes 100 times worse. I'm sticking to grasshoppers and cockroaches from now on.

One evening we decided to pop over to the Sukhumvit area for dinner. This area is where European men in their late fifties, going grey and sex starved come to find a Thai, shall we say, 'companion'. OK, I admit it....men a bit like myself except for the 'late fifties' and 'going grey' bit of course. In fact, in the restaurant we dined in, we were the only couple where both parties were the same race....and the place was packed. On our after-dinner stroll, we noticed that every other place was just the same. Well, not quite. To be honest there were two British pubs full of Manchester United and Chelsea supporters watching a game. Thai hookers are one thing but nothing should come between a man and his football.

Sukhamvit was actually one area we considered staying in and it would have made a good choice as apart from the lively restaurant scene, there were good night markets too.

Another evening was spent in the famous Patpong area. As you walk along the street, shady characters whispered in your ear 'Hey...you wanna visit ping pong club'. Now, I'm all for a game of table tennis as the next man but you wouldn't believe what part of the anatomy these girls were using as a bat to send ping pong balls across the table. It almost put me off my sweet and sour spare ribs I can tell you.

The other day we went to have a look at the Khao San Road area which is considered 'Backpacker Central' of Asia. It's full of guest houses, cheap restaurants, travel agents, internet cafes and has a real lively buzz to it. We find it amazing that the majority of backpackers only spend 2 days at most in Bangkok and half of them don't even leave the Khao San Road. In our humble opinion there is so much to see and do in and around this city that a week is barely long enough. We have read and still read on the blogs every day about how smelly and polluted Bangkok is and about the constant hassles from Tuk-Tuk drivers. This has not been our experience at all. If you say no, they leave you alone immediately unlike in India where they drone on as they follow you for a mile down the road before running over your feet.

We have taken a few trips up and down the river which divides Bangkok. It costs just 100 Baht (GBP 1.40) and for that you can ride around all day jumping off when and where you want. It's very strange to see wooden stilt houses next to gleaming tower block hotels vying for space on the river side.

Earlier in the week we visited 'The Ancient City' which is situated 20 miles outside of Bangkok. This is the largest open-air museum in the world and the grounds have been shaped to replicate Thailands geographical outline. Within the grounds are about 120 replica monuments placed according to their location in the real Thailand. We were expecting to see quite small scale models but these monsters were almost as big as the real monuments themselves. It really was an incredible place and you could literally spend days in there taking everything in. The walk around the complex is almost 10 miles so you are provided with a free bicycle in the admission price. Not having ridden for over 40 years but mainly due to Jo's breathelessness because of her weight problem, when we got to monument number 9 I decided she shouldn't suffer any more and upgraded to a motorized golf cart which I let her drive whilst I did the map reading. Well, would you let a woman navigate around a site the size of Thailand? The grounds were extremely well kept and there were refreshment places all over the site. What really hit us though was how quiet the place was. Perhaps it was the general size of the place or because it was mid-week but we felt like we had it to ourselves. Definitely one of our favourite places of our trip so far.

The two main attractions in Bangkok itself are the Grand Palace which houses Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and Wat Pho which houses the largest reclining Buddah in the world as well as the largest collection of Buddah images in Thailand.

Superlatives to describe the buildings at both these places are hard to find. They are fantastically decorated both inside and out and gleam like they were built yesterday. The reclining Buddah at Wat Pho is 150 feet long and 45 feet high and can barely fit in the shelter built for it.

Our photos don't come close to doing justice to these magnificent places but will give you some idea of what there is to see there.

After we left the temple we went to the MBK shopping centre food hall which is famous not only throughout Thailand but Asia as well. You are given a credit card as you enter and you simply go from counter to counter choosing which food and drink you wish to sample. It is then freshly cooked for you in a matter of minutes and you sit yourself down at one of the hundreds of tables provided whilst being entertained by 'easy-listening' ballads from a live singer. Almost every cuisine in the world is catered for and the quality of the food is superb. After you have gorged yourself silly, you hand in the credit card which is swiped and settle the bill which, compared to cafes in places like Lakeside Thurrock or Bluewater, is peanuts.

Outside, on our way to the Skytrain station, we found police clearing one of the main roads of traffic and stopping pedestrians from walking by. We were told that the King was going to be driving through in a few minutes with his entourage so I got my camera out ready to take a photo. I was told this was not allowed and I had to put my camera away. I looked around at the hordes of other people around me, mainly Thai's, and none of them had a camera in hand. You probably already know that the King is revered like God here but I've yet to find out why I couldn't take a photo, especially as his image is everywhere you look. Anyway, the cars went by so fast, I don't believe there is a shutter speed fast enough to have captured the action.

Yesterday, we should have run into him again when we went to his summer palace at Bang Pa-In but he wasn't at home. Did nobody tell him we were coming? Having been snubbed by the Indian President when we visited his palace in Delhi, we are starting to get an inferiority complex. We visited Bang Pa-In on our way to Ayuthaya, the old capital of Thailand. Whilst it is very easy to feel 'Templed-out' in Asia, there are many temples that simply can't be missed for one reason or another and Ayuthaya has several which are 'must-sees'. A number of those we saw were built by the Khmer's and others had magnificent Buddah images in them that were special for one reason or another. We even saw a hugh sleeping Buddah.

Today, we are taking things easy ready for our short 3 hour journey tomorrow to the fun capital of Thailand, namely the beach resort of Pattaya. We will be there for four nights before flying on to the sun-kissed, palm-fringed island of Koh Samui. Lifes a bitch!!!

If anyone is remotely interested, we have slightly (make that drastically) re-arranged our itinerary and will be heading down the East side of Malaysia to spend Christmas and New Year in Singapore. After the holidays we will then head up the West side of Malaysia, back into Thailand to visit several other places on the West Coast. We will then cross the border into Myanmar then back into Thailand before doing Laos, Scambodia and Vietscam. From there, we hope to cross into China.

The reason for the revised plans is that we would both prefer to see China in preference to Australia and New Zealand in case the money runs out. After all, you can see Australia and New Zealand any time. It's not like they're on the other side of the world!

Right, that's enough from this blog. Too much of a good thing is bad for you.
Meanwhile, try not to get too excited about the prospect of our blog on Pattaya. Just because its famous for sex, sea and sand doesn't mean we are going to enjoy ourselves.

And finally......we have 51 subscribers to our blog. We only hear from 4 or 5 punters on a regular basis. We would love to hear from more of you about what's happening with yourselves back in the UK.

Love from us both

Mike and Jo
X X

p.s. More photos on Pages 3 and 4

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