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Published: February 13th 2008
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Chiang Mai Jungle
Me with a really big gun (Matt)
Bangkok - The airport bus dropped us off at Khao San Road and our senses were hit by the warm humidity and the vibrant bustle of the short Bangkok street made famous in the book/film 'The Beach'. On Khao San Road wooden outdoor bars and food stalls line the road and compete for space with chemists,restaurants,pubs, tattoo parlours, t-shirt sellers, hostels and anything else you can imagine. It felt like arriving at a carnival for backpackers.
We negotiated the notoriously tricky business of finding accommodation (some of the cheapest but most rundown in the world) and had an enjoyable night sitting in bars, eating amazing falafel from a street vendor and sitting on small stools at the side of the road sharing a bucket of local whisky and coke (the bucket is like the one children take to the beach with a couple of straws thrown in - the things we do in the name of research!).
Over the next few days we visited some of the sights in Bangkok: the Grand Palace, the Sky Train, the public park, Bayioke Sky Hotel - the tallest hotel in the city and a local floating market. We
were pleasantly surprised by how well run, clean and efficient Bangkok is, despite the stories we heard before and have heard since.
Monkey Business - As an aside, in Bangkok we learnt that monks don't pay to use local buses and they have special allocated 'monk seats' like the elderly and disabled at home, also women are not allowed to sit by them. That was a bit of bus trivia for you.
On the subject of buses, after three great days in Bangkok we decided to get a 12 hour overnight bus to Chiang Mai. Our hope of an authentic experience was somewhat dashed by the gaudy bus painted with 'Lightning McQueen' from Disney's 'Cars' and an interior of frilly pink curtains and matching pillows. Considering the decor and slightly dodgy reclining seats we actually slept quite well.
Chiang Mai - A couple of days earlier one of my fillings had fallen out, so on our first day in Chiang Mai I was relieved to see a relatively clean and modern looking dental practice. The whole experience was a bit bizarre because I only went in to find out what was possible and 30 seconds later I
Exercise Equipment in Bangkok Park
This was built like the things in a children's playground but was for adults. was reclining on the chair with three people prodding around inside my mouth. No-one had any shoes on as it's custom to leave them outside. After an astonishingly thorough examination, during which I was praying for hygienic instruments, I was given a whole list of what needed doing. I opted to two small fillings - 20 minutes later after a bit of drilling and filling everything was done - no waiting time - no anesthetic and a good job done. The total cost was 16 pounds!
We decided to book on a 3 day ('Non Touristic') jungle trek which visited two hill tribes in the local area. Our group of was made up of: five Australians, a couple from Israel and a couple from Taiwan, plus one guide and one porter. The first day was quite hard uphill through the jungle and we were all quite pleased to arrive at the village. Despite Catherine's disappointment that they didn't sell chocolate, we did get to try eating snake (which inevitably tasted like chewy chicken!) and they did sell beer (phew! not that remote then!).
On the first night I went hunting with two of the local villagers and three
of the others from our party. Hunting was never on the itinerary but the Aussie lads slowly harassed, charmed and eventually bribed the villagers until they relented to take us that night. Judging by the strange looks and laughter we got, I'm thinking our home-made spears were probably not necessary! We only saw a couple of birds and a frog but we did get to shoot the ancient rifles at a tree and we shot down two grapefruit with catapults. The village would go hungry and vegetarian if it was down to us to provide the food.
After one day recovery from the trek, Catherine decided to do a one-day Thai cookery course and I went rock climbing. Catherine's day started off with a trip to the local market to buy ingredients, followed by an enjoyable day watching demonstrations, cooking, lots of eating and best of all not washing up. My day started with a growing panic at my inexperience while clinging to a sheer rock face by my fingertips. Four climbs later and my arms were shaking uncontrollably and I was aching all over. My only hope is that Catherine's thai cooking is better than my rock climbing.
The Grand Palace
This was actually one of the less over the top monuments. The last two weeks have been pretty hectic, so we're going to head to an old hippie village called Pai with the intention of taking it easy for a few days.
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