Bangkok

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So, it's been just under 2 weeks since we left the UK, and it feels weird trying to blog stuff from the start of the trip. Mainly cos I don't want to bore you all with the ins and outs of our every waking moment. Not that it was boring though, cos obvioulsy every second has been packed full of excitement & wonder!

Getting to Bangkok was a proper mission. The 14 hour flight dragged even more than you'd expect a 14 hour flight to drag. The choice of films was average, and I'd seen most of them thanks to mine and Gem's frantic film fest over the last few months. Getting to Bangkok from Singapore wasn't too bad, and didn't take too long either. Weird thing on getting out of the airport, the taxi drivers have to queue up waiting for you. You take a ticket from a woman at a little wooden table and then pick your man! Our guy seemed friendly enough, although I'm not entirely convinced he knew what we were on about.

After much yelling and pointing and to and froing, we got him to stop outside our hostel. It was in a bit of a seedy looking area and the hostel looked a bit tatty but we got checked in and the place was basic but clean and the guy running it was friendly and helpful. Told us about the scams we should look out for and the best way to get around the city. The common room was dark and just had a load of young lads sat around, not speaking watching the telly.

Went for a walk down the main road nearest to us that night. Virtually all the way we walked the pavements were lined with little stalls selling a whole range of tat. Where there wasn't a stall, there was a row of working girls! Believe me, there was something for everyone! We didn't really do much, just wandered around, getting out bearings. We did see an elephant walking down the road though. On the way back to our room we ran into this London guy who started talking to us about Bangkok and what to see and do etc. Ended up buying us a drink at his favourite bar (which happened to be a rather seedy looking hostess bar - where you buy overpriced drinks off them and get something extra in return...or something. Not too sure how it all works). He was pleasant enough and we picked up some knowledge from him, although seeing a ping pong ball show wasn't exactly high on our list of things to do!

On Tuesday we were up early (didn't have a choice really due to the temperature of the room) and headed to a nearby park for a bit of greenery. Bangkok is supposed to have the smallest percentage of greenery of any of the worlds capitals so thought we should see it. The park looked close on the map so we walked. It was here that we realised that Thais don't really care about accuracy when it comes to map making. Finally got there and had a lesiurely stroll round. Expected to see lots of people here, but it was empty except for a load of cats, a few dogs and 2 giant lizards, one of which was having a tough time of things trying to snack on a tortoise!

Got a taxi down to the temple end of Bangkok. Got caught in rush hour traffic. Took ages. The worst bit was, the guy only knew a handful of English phrases which he used all the way in a variety of combinations. (Traffic Jam, Big Company, Happy New Year, American & Shopping). Got dropped off at the Giant Swing (see the photos on Facebook for the photo and the brief history of it). Went off in search of a vegan place Gary had his eye on and I enjoyed watching him struggle with the chopsticks they gave us. Must have been the 1st time I ever finished a meal before him! Ended the night at a little bar watching a couple of pissed up Germans with a ladyboy. Which was nice.

Woke up on New Years Eve really late. Think all the missing sleep had finally caught up with us. Checked out a shopping centre. 7 floors of shopping. Scale was impressive, but it's only shopping. Had some food and headed up the river to meet Leila and Steve. Wandered. Ate. Drank. Headed back to our hostels to get ready for the celebrations. Got there at about 8. We didnt meet up again til about 10:30. The place we headed to was packed full and we couldn't get any beer cos you had to reserve a seat in advance!! So we got some cans from the 7 Eleven and ended up on top of a shopping centre with a few thousand people with 3 minutes to spare before the new year. Headed to Khao San road where we knew we would be able to get drinks. Got ushered into a drum n bass club that had a cheesy rock covers band in the next room! Danced and drank in there for a few hours and then headed to some other bar where we ordered a few big hooka pipes. It was here that the night started to get a bit hazy for me and I think I spent a short spell at the end spinning out in the toilets! Happy days!

Errr...think I need to shorten my entries...this is turning into a mission to write up! Woke up on new years day feeling surprisingly fresh, and it was a massive shock to hear about the fire! Still not sure on all the details, I'm sure you guys know more than I do. Thankfully, we were nowhere near it. As it was mid afternoon when I got up, the day went pretty quick. Met up with Leila and Steve and ended up in a streetside bar listening to some Thai guy dressed as a cowboy knock out some tunes on his guitar. What followed was a night long discussion of how this guy would play the central role in a Tarantino movie...I won't bore you with details, but when it's released, it's going to be amazing!! Ended the night with Gary getting a bit of a touch up off the waiter. Bonus!

Bummed around Bangkok until our night train the next day. 1st class, so I was expecting something a bit, well, classy. What we actually got was old, noisy and bug infested. What a great night sleep that was! We awoke coming through the hills of Northern Thailand into Chiang Mai...and that, as they say, is another story (one filled with drunkenness and falling down mountains!)

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