Crazy bangkok!

---

Day 1. We arrive in bangkok airport on time for a change which is good for us as we are almost always heavily delayed. So we have arrived and Kayley having slept most of the second flight is feeling fresh as a daisy and ready to go, I however, have not slept a wink for nearly 24 hours, am a zombie in need of bed so we head to the taxis and jump into one for our hotel. That was when we knew bangkok was going to be full on, the taxi drivers throttle cable was stuck so we got to our hotel in good time (phaaaaaa) well you would doing 180km/hr down the highway.

Seeing as it was our first day we thought we would drop bags quick change and take a wander around the area we were staying, which was fairly pleasant, close enough too but also far enough away from Koh sahn rd (very touristy) and just generally take it easy at least that was the idea. First off we booked a day trip to see the floating markets and a Thai rose gardens (with culture and elephant shows, not just flowers.) So we pay a deposit and head back to the hotel to get some more money where we meet "bill" a nice enough tuk tuk driver who "persuaded" us to go on a tour for 20baht which is cheap, not realising we would be paying in time, as the tuk tuk drivers were getting free fuel from the government for taking tourists to suit shops and jewellery shops. So we saw the Lucky Buddha first and then off to the Big Buddha, for which the name big doesn't do it justice, and then off to the first suit shop, cue half an hour of me almost buying a suit and then deciding I'm a poor jobless traveller and didn't want to part with my money then off to a couple of very beautiful temples before going to another suit shop ( we knew the game by know so was in and out in 5 mins so the tuk tuk man gets his free fuel) and we arrive back near our hotel 4 hours later!

By this point we were hot, sweaty and in need of some Chang & food, we are now learning to ignore the offers for tuk tuk, taxi, berry cheep suit & ping pong show! I don't even like table tennis, we just have our eyes on food luckily there is plenty of options for food and the street food is the best option going so we sit down on basically lawn furniture and order 3 dishes 1 large Chang and it came to around £4 bonus now it's time for bed, 10pm curfew and a day trip in the morning which leaves at 7!

Day 2

So the second day arrives, the alarm goes off at 6 and we drag ourselves out of bed ready to go to the river market, (today we play the Japanese tourist) the journey is about 3 & half hours long and again Kayley sleeps through most of it but I just seem to fall off my chair. We arrive at our destination around 11 and after a quick wc break take a long tail boat down narrow canals to get to where the floating market is. The floating markets were an experience not be missed. All you could dream of including food and gifts all sold from either long tail boats or shacks built on the river, although 500 baht for some spices, which some guy managed to get for 100B. One of our fellow passengers obviously enjoyed the food, all she did was eat, by 11.30 am the market was empty and we got the feeling it was tourists as nice as it wAs, so we find our bus driver and head off to our next destination, the Thai rose gardens, but first a spot of lunch. After about an hour on the bus we turn down a dusty U turn road and stop off and a turn into a Patrick swayze style/pirates of the Caribbean roadhouse/tortuga And we actually walk the plank to our floating barge to where we have lunch and the view alone would make this lunch content, but 3 large dishes turned up with no clue with what they are we all tucked in, after the Japanese tourists took photos of everything including a coconut. Suitably stuffed we make our way to the Rose gardens, and although not a rose in sight it was quite an insight into traditional Thai practices, such as silk threading from silk worms, rice farming ( great exercise) , paper fish weaving ( for good luck) spice grinding and Muay Thai As well as an elephant show and and cultural show.well worth a visit. So know we head back to bangkok, get dropped off and decide on Pad Thai for dinner from a street stall and sit on the curb eating, proper thai style and wash it down with some more Chang!



Day 3;

So our idea for today was to see the grand palace and a few other temples we missed on the first day, so we jump in a tuk tuk and head to wat pho ( the sleeping Buddha) but according to the tuk tuk man it's closed till 1, for Buddha day?! And kindly takes too his mates boat trip which for a pricey sum of 1200b each We can go on a boat ride and see a floating village, no thanks m ate, so we walk to wot pho ourselves and meet a kindly Thai gentleman who also tells us it's closed (we are know thinking it is) have a little chit chat with him and he haggles with a tuk tuk for us and for 80b takes us on a tour, firstly to the Black Buddha which is being restored and only been open for 1 year, next to the Marble temple which is set in huge grounds and has statues of the different poses and meanings to them. Next stop unfortunately is a suit shop :-( for free fuel, we know the drill, flick through all the books and then leave, everyone's a winner. The driver takes us to wot po, it's only 12.30 but it's clearly open and has been for some time, we head in anyways and again no words or pictures can do it justice it has to seen with your own eyes, and the sleeping Buddha is beyond comprehension, the building he lays in is at least 80m long. After we finish walking around wot pho we talk a short stroll to the grand palace, which according to the tourist police is closed From 1, we are still gutted we didn't see the palace. So know the "nice" tourist policeman shows us a map of where we can go visit, but we've been there already we say, he looks puzzled for some reason, we tell him we want to go to the train station to get tickets, again he looks puzzled, you buy from TIT (tourist information travel) or from TAT (tourist advice travel) now we look puzzled. Final night in Bangkok which we are glad of by know so we pack up our bags and head out for more street food, the curfew has been lifted till 12 and still no sign of a soldier, but it's an early night for us as we have an 11hr bus ride to Siam reap (Cambodia)in the morning.



It's been a pleasure Bangkok

Jk

---