Bangkok and Chiang Mai

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We found a great spot to stay called Sawasdee House near the Khao San Rd (supposedly the backpackers' centre of the universe). We spent four days here exploring the city. The King's Birthday was on Tuesday and the whole city seemed to be wearing yellow tshirts in his honour and getting ready to celebrate.

We were also scammed at least once. One was the obvious scam the guidebooks even warned us about! Felix and I were told by an official looking person that the King's Palace was closed because of the King's birthday but the man kindly flagged down a tuk-tuk to take us to some other good sights. We were actually taken on a sightseeing/tailorshop tour of the city in a tuk-tuk all the while trying to get the driver to bring us where we wanted to go.. The driver gets commissions for bringing tourists to the tailor shops even if the tourists don't buy anything, so we played along. After visiting a couple of temples and two tailors, the driver refused to bring us where we wanted to go so we didn't pay him anything. A frustrating two hours! Afterwards we went to a Thai Boxing night at the stadium.

The next day we came back on the King's birthday and were able to see the palace. It was absolutely mobbed as the king was due to make an appearance later in the day. The popularity of the King here is amazing. His picture is on every bill and on both sides of the 20 baht and 1000 baht notes. He's a hero to everyone, having toured the country extensively during his reign. He's best known for his timely interventions during political crisis, most recently when he ended the stand-off over a disputed general election in April. Basically, everyone loves the King! We saw an unhealthy number of temples and also the largest reclining buddha in the world at Wat Pho. We took a boat tour of the city and ended up in some pretty rough suburbs where we saw a different side to Bangkok.

We said goodbye to Felix on Wednesday as he headed off to the islands to do a diving course. No doubt we'll catch up with Felix in Montreal some time.

Gordon and I took a flight to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand to enjoy the slower pace of life there. We took a one-day Thai Massage course so now we're fully qualified and thinking about a career change! Also visited the Night Bazaar, Kalare Food Court and another temple with more traditional Thai architecture. It was a relaxing stopoff before Malaysia.

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