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Published: November 12th 2009
Tuk Tuk jam
Traffic jam Bangkok style11.11.09 DAY 13: We flew from Hong Kong early this morning to Bangkok. We arrived to a wall of humidity when we left the airport and a very hot 33 degrees. We caught a metered taxi easily and arrived at our hostel the Roof View Place in under an hour. We checked in and were very happy with our room and the hostel in general - bit more like a hotel really but only £6 per night. We ventured out in the evening to check out the local neighbourhood - we are staying about a 5 min walk north of the main backpacker district of Banglamphu. We were surprised by the number of westerners staying here - there are absolutely loads! It certainly made us feel more at home than we have done so far in our travels. We had a nice dinner and then came back to the hostel, via a 7/11 with a few drinks to sit on the roof terrace. I decided I would try ‘Thai Whiskey’ a brand called Sang Som Rum. I’m still not sure if it is Rum or whiskey but it was much smoother and easier to drink than I anticipated.
DAY 14:
Victoria woke up this morning with a hangover and I was still unwell with the stomach bug that I picked up in Beijing and have never really gotten rid of. We had planned to go to the Grand Palace today but instead thought it would be wise for me to see a doctor as we are due to fly to Cambodia this Saturday. We went to the Mission Hospital that was recommended by our hostel. We arrived to staff opening the door to the taxi for us and welcoming us as we walked through the door. We were both offered seats while I filled the registration form. I was taken straight through to see a doctor who was very good. The whole process took 20 minutes including getting the prescriptions and cost about £23 all up. We couldn’t believe how excellent the medical services are here - not a bad place to see a doctor at all! We went back to the hostel and chilled out for the rest of the day. We have postponed our trip to Cambodia until Tuesday to give me some time to recover - don’t worry I’m feeling much better already.
DAY 15: We
Floating Markets
The Floating markets just outside Bangkok had a well deserved day off and just rested - very boring!
DAY 16: We went to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho today - absolutely beautiful but unfortunately our camera broke. As a result there aren’t a lot of photos to go on our blog - don’t worry though faithful blog-followers we will fix it before we go to Cambodia! We saw the emerald Buddha in the temple outside the Grand Palace - it was seated on top of a shrine covered in gold leaf. There was a definite sense of peace inside the temple. The Buddha is dressed according to the three Thai seasons, summer, rain, winter; it is currently wearing its winter attire - even if it is 33 degrees at the moment. We also visited Wat Pho which is home to the largest reclining Buddha in the world. It is covered in gold leaf and has mother of pearl inlaid at its feet. We then tried to catch a river boat to Siam square without much success due to overcrowding - so we decided to go for a tuk-tuk instead. Just as we agreed a fair price rain drops started to fall and thunder clapped
Floating Markets lady
Lady on her way through the markets with goods onboard overhead. We jumped in and the rain started. At first it wasn’t too bad then it got very heavy and then the wind started to lash the rain right into us. It was more like a ride in a Wet n’ Wild theme park than a ride across Bangkok; by the time we got off in Siam Square twenty minutes later we were soaked to the bone and laughing hysterically. We had a quick lunch and then decided it wasn’t very practical to walk around Bangkok in soaking wet clothes so we headed back to the hostel.
DAY 17: We hung out around not doing very much. We got a great Thai massage at a place just down the road or in this case ‘Soi’ from us. The massages were great very relaxing then we just chilled out for the rest of the day. .
DAY 18: We visited the Floating markets about 100km outside of Bangkok. We travelled by bus and long tail boat to the markets - video attached. Some great scenes of locals travelling with their goods however it is very tourist orientated and a little overbearing in that respect. We then headed back to pack our bags for Cambodia.
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