Blogs from Chanthaburi, Central Thailand, Thailand, Asia

It was now New Years Day 2024. Susan, Lisa and I picked up a song theow from Chanthaburi bus station and the driver took us across town to a little hotel - the Ploy Buri. Only one young woman on reception when we arrived, but we later realised that the hotel was run by about 5 or 6 women of different ages( maybe generations of the same family) Anyway they were all charming and the first young woman we met was very very helpful. And one of the older ladies gave us a bunch of longans from her garden. We seemed to be the only people staying there and only once saw a family in the reception area who looked as if they were fellow guests. So armed with Google maps and a recommendation from the ... read more

The road back is a long one. I made my way to krabi Airport by scooter, then minivan, after I turned it in. Had a good flight to Bangkok and found my way to the city link rail. I had booked a hostel in the (new) city center. After walking the final kilometer, I found these luxurious beds (pic). I checked out the city at night and, I must say, I like it better than the previous time. The hustle and bustle is a little more.. Sedated. There's night markets. The smog is not nearly as bad. The pretty lights give the city a new and interesting perspective. I followed the largest road in the world for quite a bit and returned by skytrain. The street is full of small stands, but also ginormous shopping malls ... read more

Today we woke up knowing we had to find and catch a mini bus too Chanthaburi, this again caused a few minor hiccups in particular being dropped off at the wrong bus station for the bus we needed to catch. This forced us to wander down the road in search of the bus stop where our transport would be leaving from, not fun with a backpack over you and its 30 odd degrees. After some searching and a few games of charades with the locals we found our bus. Which, wasn’t really a bus more of a van. We had to wait for about 2 hours for departure so sat it a nearby air conditioned McDonald ‘s. Departure time came, this bus had a full load of Thai and maybe Cambodian nationals looking to reach the ... read more

Kanchanburi zapowiadało się jako najmniej atrakcyjna część naszego pobytu w Bangkoku. W szczególności dla żeńskiej części wyprawy. Bo cóż może być atrakcyjnego w 2,5 h podróży do miejsca poświęconego pamięci 10 000 alianckich jeńców wojennych, którzy podczas II Wojny Światowej zmarli z powodu wycieńczenia i chorób tropikalnych, w trakcie budowy linii kolejowej łączącej Birmę z Tajlandią. Teoretycznie nudy, ale na ocenę każdego z naszych dni spędzonych tutaj wpływ ma wiele czynników i te walory dodatkowe zdecydowały o tym, że dzień w Kanchanburi wspominać będziemy milej niż wyprawę do Ayuttayah. Zaczęło się od standardowego już, dla miejscowych wycieczek, opóźnienia. Powodem były według pana kierowcy : ''Korek i inne ogólne okoliczności''. Moim zdaniem jednak podstawą przyczyną był dość ''zachowawczy'' sposób prowadzenia pojazdu przez naszego motorn... read more

Nå går det unna med blogginga ho-ho I dag startet dagen tidlig, ble hentet av en minibuss kl. 08:15, vi skal på en heldagsutflukt. Første stopp var i på en fjell/bergside med vannfall. Vanfall i Thailand er ikke så store greier for oss Normenn.. Vi overgår jo disse bekkene en høy gang. Men det var naturskjønt og vi slappet av i et par timer før vi fikk servert lunsj. Etter lunsjen skulle vi til Hellfirer Pass for å gå på museum og gå gjennom Hellfire Pass. Turen tvers gjennom passer var stengt pga. skogbrann. Vi måtte dermed gå ned og opp samme vei. Hadde jeg vist hvordan mareritt denne turen var hadde jeg stått over. Vi gikk opp en bratt trapp og ned et lite stykke rundt en sving og deretter 100 meter rett ned i ... read more