From Bangkok to Chiang Mai

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Our first visit to Bangkok was truly a flying one, as we spent 6 hours overnight waiting at the airport for a flight down to Krabi so that we could visit the islands of southwest Thailand. On our second visit, we did actually stay for a few nights after arriving once again in the early morning. This time, however, we arrived by 'VIP' coach...

As we pulled up we were greeted by a sea of taxi and tuktuk drivers all yelling prices, despite them not knowing our destination. We reached for our trusty guide book, grabbed our bags and strode purposefully off down the infamous Khao San road (the traditional back-packer area). As it was only 5am, the usual chaos we have come to love/hate in Bangkok had subsided and we were relatively un-hassled for the 20 minute walk to our guesthouse. We returned to the Khao San road later that day to buy some cheap baggy elephant trousers for Hazel (a bit like pajamas, and very comfy for long distance travel!) and a cookie monster vest for Mark. The prices were so low that we managed to stock up on a few items for only a couple of pounds each.

Our guest house was in the Banglamphu area, so we were within walking distance of the Grand Palace and near plenty of buzzing little market streets. We dropped our bags off and, as we couldn't check-in until 11am, went on an orientation walk. We didn't make it too far - after a sleepless night on the coach and desperately in need of a shower, we found it difficult to deal with the stinking humidity of the city. Fortunately MacDonalds came to the rescue and allowed us to recharge in the aircon over an egg McMuffin and chili sauce!

Thai people in Bangkok are very friendly and not at all aggressive when trying to sell. A simple "no thank-you" usually suffices for them to leave you alone. Unfortunately, the city is pretty dirty and there is a lot of rubbish around. Mark was struggling for some picturesque photos, until we came across an old fort on the riverside next to a pretty pagoda. As we spent more time in the city, we discovered the most picturesque parts are inside the temples, the Royal Palace and over in the newer area (near the shops of Siam and along Sukhumvit Road).

Once we felt more human, we walked around the Sanam Luang (the rectangle of park in front of the palace compound) and up to the Grand Palace, avoiding the government protesters camp which we nearly walked into, mistaking it for a market! We completed the circuit back to our accommodation along the riverside and over a small canal where we could see loads of massive fish coming up to the surface to eat flies. We later saw these fish being BBQed and sold on street stalls...not sure we would eat anything from the Bangkok river though!

On our first night in Bangkok, we had monsoon rainfall but it had cleared by the morning, so we headed for the Royal Palace carrying a range of clothing - we wanted to ensure we had the correct attire but it was far too hot to wear it all day. As we approached the entrance, Mark had locals shaking their heads at him for wearing flip-flops and a vest, and suggesting that maybe he buy clothes from them at "best price". The joke was on them, as Mark slipped on a pair of loafers, pulled a long-sleeved white T-shirt over his vest and put jogging bottoms over his shorts. "Who's the mug now?" He would later realise that the joke was actually on him, as the humidity increased during the day and he managed to sweat the blue dye off his vest and onto his white T-shirt! (Not so clever now are we?!)

As foreigners, we had to queue for the Grand Palace separately and were probably charged twice as much for entry. However, even on our backpacker budget, it was worth it as the whole palace complex was beautiful. It was very crowded both inside and out, but we didn't have to queue for long and once inside there was plenty of space to wander around at your own pace. The main temple in the complex is Wat Phra Kaew, known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. We took a seat cross legged inside and looked around for the most famous Buddha image in Bangkok...we eventually spotted the small, pale green buddha statue (it is actually made of jade) on top of several podiums, inside a glass case. To be fair, no one said the emerald buddha was going to be big!

We walked around the grounds of the palace in the sweltering heat, taking hundreds of photos of the stunning tiling and gilding on all of the different statues and buildings. We eventually ran out of water and had to move on. It was such a relief to being able to take off our long clothes though, and to grab a cold drink! We also found a street vendor selling some deep fried spring rolls, so we bought a few of those to keep us going. We wandered along the riverside to see Wat Arun from across the water and then through a market to reach Wat Pho (which is famous for its enormous gold reclining buddha). This statue was much more impressive than the emerald buddha and was sooo large that we couldn't take a photo with all of it in. We actually enjoyed this temple more than the Palace complex because the crowds were much smaller (and because they were handing out much-needed free water when we arrived!).

By now we were getting really hungry, so we continued walking towards china town looking for food...this turned to be a much longer walk than it looked on a map and so we eventually settled for buying a local pork bun each from a street vendor. This was too hot to eat, so we carried on walking for a few more minutes, only to turn a corner and finally find what seemed like the only restaurant in China Town. Thank goodness for dim sum!

Next, Mark's rubbish navigating took us on an unexpected walk past the metal work factories on our way to the tourist pier. He maintains that it was to see some real Thai industry at work, but Hazel's pretty sure he had the map upside down! As the daily monsoon rain came in, we jumped on a boat back up the river towards our guest house in the old city. These commuter boats are a great way to experience authentic Thai efficiency, as there is no time to park and moor the boat at each pier. Instead the landing is more of a controlled crash (or maybe not so controlled), as the boat smacks into the pier and a boy with a rope tries to hold the stern against the edge while the passengers jump for shore. Just make sure you hold onto something!

We decided our second day should be spent in the newer area of Bangkok, so we took the local ferry back down the Chao Phraya river and connected to the SkyTrain, which is similar to London's DLR. We visited Jim Thompson's House (James Thompson was an American architect who fell in love with Thailand while serving in the army. He later settled in Bangkok and re-generated the hand silk weaving industry), which is located a complimentary golf-cart ride away from the National Stadium BTS station. Jim Thompson took a selection of traditional teak buildings from across Thailand and pieced them together as his home. The guided tour of the Thai buildings and garden was interesting, but our highlight was watching the extraction of silk threads from the silk worm's cocoon. This involved soaking the cocoons in boiling water, and then pulling the threads out by hand with a wooden stick. We were also treated to short traditional Thai dance and, to top it all, we spotted a couple of turtles in a pond in the grounds. When the rain closed in for the day, we took cover in the nearest shopping mall, which turned out to be an experience in itself... There were so many cheap products on offer that we had to restrain ourselves from buying up the place - before Hazel could pick up a 'Mulberry' clutch we headed up to the food court for a very reasonable lunch, which only costed about £1 😊

After lunch we walked back down through the shopping mall, passing the cinema. With the rain still pouring down outside, we decided that seeing a film (again for a bargainous price) was a good idea. Before the film started we were told to stand for the national anthem, while pictures of the king and the royal family were projected onto the screen. It was a bit different to what we're used to! On our second visit to the capital, we were also serenaded with the National Anthem in the train station while waiting for our connection to Chang Mai...It seems like the king of Thailand gets much more respect from the Thai people than the Queen does at home.

Our second stay in Bangkok took place after we had traveled through Vietnam and Cambodia, so we were relieved to be back in relative civilisation....which is how our love/hate-relationship with Bangkok began (love the food, the air con, the easy transport system...hate the dirt, and the rubbish, and the crummy weather)! We again arrived by bus, but this time we came from Siem Reap and so were dropped at the Mo Chit bus station, near Mo Chit BTS station. Our border crossing had been particularly painful on the Thai side, as we had to queue for three hours in the midday sun. This was made worse with the usual non-existent Asian queuing system, which made it more of a free-for-all, so we got our elbows at the ready and used our height advantage to great effect!

When we had arrived in Bangkok for the first time, we found crossing the roads challenging as there appeared to be no rules. We would wait patiently for the green-man at crossings, only to find that bus drivers tend to hoot at us and accelerate towards us!! As a solution, we tried to find local Thais to follow and to act as our "blockers" as we crossed. When we arrived back in the city for the second time, we found it much more tame as we were much better adapted after jumping in the deep end at Hanoi. You just have to take a deep breath, step off the pavement and confidently stride across!

We were keen to see a different side to Bangkok on this visit, so stayed just off the Sukhumvit Road, which was well connected by the BTS (Sky Train) and MRT (Metro). We are pleased to let you know that we are now Rabbit Card holders (the equivalent of the London Oyster) after taking advice from a Singaporean couple we met. This area of Bangkok is more for the ex-pats, as it contains a lot of offices and embassies. It also has plenty of shopping malls, where we again indulged in cheap lunches at the food courts. The more seedy side of Bangkok became apparent as we walked further down the Sukhumvit Road and ventured into Silom to breeze past Patpong, during the protection of day-time - you might not recognise the name of Patpong night market, but it is where a lot of the 'girly bars' and 'ping pong' shows can be found!

The weather was much better on our second visit to Bangkok, with no rain for the entire weekend. The clear skies (or as near to clear as it gets in Bangkok) meant it was ideal for an evening at a roof-top bar. We headed to the Marriott Hotel in Sukhumvit and before we knew it we were 45 floors up and indulging in glasses of NZ Riesing while looking out at the Bangkok skyline. What a contrast to our first visit!! (In the distance we could make out the Elephant Building, which is ranked number 5 by CNN on the list of the most iconic skyscrapers in the world. Well, that is according to the poster at the top of the Ho Chi Minh Skytower. It looked pretty ugly to us).

The dry weather also made it ideal for spending a day at Chatuchak Weekend Market, where we once again restocked some of our badly worn clothes. The market is absolutely enormous - you could definitely lose yourself inside for the day - and sells everything from T shirts to pineapples, jewellery and even puppies! There was little bartering to be done, as everything was priced and the stall owners were having none of it. No "special price" or "Happy Hour" here sadly, although the clothes and souvenirs were the cheapest we've seen in Bangkok so far.

We had been hoping to book a sleeper train from Bangkok to Chang Mai but unfortunately all of the first and second class beds were booked up for at least the next two days. We opted for a day-time second-class a/c seated train instead, and waited with baited breath as the memories of Vietnamese trains came flooding back. It was such a relief when we discovered the station had departure boards, proper platforms and helpful staff to show us to our seats. After failing to make it to Chang Mai in 2010 because of the volcanic ash cloud (!), we were finally on our way...

Chiang Mai is approximately 400 miles north of Bangkok, and is the largest city in Northern Thailand. It is also the most culturally significant city in the area, as it was the capital of the Kingdom of Lanna for around 500 years. Chiang Mai actually means 'New City', as it took over as the capital from Chiang Rai in 1296. There are apparently over 300 buddhist temples in the city to visit, but there are about five or 10 that are considered 'must-sees' while you are there.

We plotted a route around the walled city which allowed us to fit visiting the main temples into one day. It was good to see the many monks around the old town, as well as in the various temples. One morning, we woke up at 5:30am to see the monks receiving alms at the Three Kings monument in the centre of town. This is where local buddhists make offering of food for the monks, who live off these donated meals. It was fascinating to watch as the monks and the alms-givers joined together in prayer, before the monks took their alms bowls and carried on along their way. As the monument also has a square in front of it, there was a dawn Thai Chi session for local OAPs in full swing - it was all a bit too energetic for us, so once the alms ritual was over, we headed back to bed!

We were staying within the old walled city and so were very close to many of the key temples and also to the restaurants and coffee shops. We found Chiang Mai to be a relaxing city in which to spend time in cafes watching the world go by, or sheltering from the intermittent rain. There is also a thriving massage industry here, as in many areas of Thailand....so Hazel supported the local community by getting a pedicure!

The local cuisine, and Thai cookery schools, are very popular and so it seemed a shame not to book ourselves onto a course. One afternoon, whilst sitting on a wall in the old town, we had a chat with a friendly local man who was amazed to learn that we had booked the cooking course for both of us, and that Mark wasn't just sending Hazel along to learn the Tom Yum Soup recipe. The locals are keen to practice their English and are very friendly, but their attitude to women is slightly different to that back home. (It would also have been a shame to deprive the world of Mark's fantastic Thai green curry he made!)

Our cooking course started with a trip to the market where we were shown about 10 types of rice and then how to dismantle a coconut. Step one was to drain the juice and then quarter the shell. Then the shell is put through a grater to extract the coconut flesh. This is then squeezed to produce coconut cream, which was bought by Sammy, our mentor for the day. After the market visit we were taken out to Sammy's farm and shown through the ingredients. He also gave substitutes in case we couldn't source the herbs or vegetables at home, such as ginger for galangal.

We started off by making our own curry paste, in giant stone pestle and mortars. Mark opted for the green curry, whilst Hazel bravely chose the hotter, red jungle curry. It turns out that making curry paste is hard work, as you have to pound the ingredients together for a good five minutes!

Next up, it was over to the stoves and before we knew it we had knocked up a feast of Thai-green curry, Jungle curry, Pad-Thai and Chicken & Cashew stir-fry. We also made a soup each - Tom-Yum for Mark and the coconut-y Tom Ka kai for Hazel - too. After eating all that food, we relaxed for an hour in some hammocks looking out over the rice paddies...we needed a rest before we could face the though of more cooking, and eating! The afternoon was spent preparing various appetisers and desserts: chicken in pandanus leaves, green papaya salad and coconut rice with mango. We weren't too impressed with the Thai desserts, but the salad was definitely a winner (and Sammy made the sensible suggestion that we could use cucumber or carrot and cabbage as an alternative, if we can't find unripened papaya when we get home).

On our final day in Chiang Mai, we ventured a little way out of the old town to the Elephant Parade House. This is the first flagship experience centre of its kind and, having seen all the model elephants around London before, we were interested to go and see the different designs. The money raised at the centre (and from auctioning the large models that go on tour worldwide) is used for projects dedicated to the well-being and conservation of Asian Elephants. Painting our own elephants while supporting this cause was an added bonus! Now the only concern is how we get our elephant artwork safely home....

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