Advertisement
Published: August 6th 2007
Edit Blog Post
So cute....
Holly wanted to take him home... We are now back in Bangkok after an epic adventure to Phuket, some massages and another overnight train. We also had an amazing day yesterday at Kanchanaburi. We paddled through some floating markets - which proved difficult as you can't walk away from a vendor if you don't like their price - you just have to wait for the ladies to keep paddling. We visited the Bridge over River Kwai and the Jeath War Museum and then went to the Tiger Temple. AWESOME!!!
Our bus ride to Phuket was hijacked (figuratively speaking) and 9 of us were loaded onto a mini van (instead of a big aircon bus) for about 4 hours. They stopped us for lunch so we had to buy food (probably their friend's place) and then stopped us at a travel agent just outside of Phuket Town (but too far to know how to get there). They wanted us to book accommodation and take us straight there but we refused and said we wanted to be taken to Phuket Town where we were meant to go. They took us to a shopping complex where we had to get a taxi into town. Another tourist had already been
Sunrise on Haad Rin
We were sad to leave... :( to Phuket so we let him barter a taxi for us to Patong with him and his mate which cost 400baht!! We should have done it ourselves but we were exhausted and happy to hand over responsibility. To give you an idea of how daft that guy was, the bus back from Patong to Phuket town 2 days later cost us 20baht each (then another 10baht each to the bus terminal).
Phuket was lovely, apart from the rain - which stopped on the day we left. We saw a cabaret show where about half to 2 thirds of the performers were "lady boys". The costumes were so extravagant and the back drops were incredible. There was even a waterfall in one scene. The only things that let down the show were the lack of energy in the dancing and the terrible lip-sinking - for example, "Ain't no mountain high enu... Ain't no liver wide enu..." It was a great night though. Patong is really a mini Patpong road though with the offers of shows and girls dancing on tables in bars. Pretty funny though.
Back in Bangkok we took a day trip to Kanchanabury, about 2 hours West
Wat Po - Reclining Buddha
The largest buddha in Thailand. Also the birthplace of thai massage, the traditional one (not the sleazy one) of Bangkok. The floating markets were beautiful. It was so peaceful to be paddled down the canals by 2 old Thai women, until the motorised long-tail boats roared past. We managed to buy a mask for a price we were happy with but not though bartering where you walk away if you're not happy - by bartering up to the price and then sitting there refusing to go any higher. We handed back the mask and the calculator but that was about as much as we could do. They just kept coming down and we kept sitting there until they said "ok" and we bought it. Easy but awkward.
The Jeath Museum was interesting but the Thai idea of a museum is quite different from our own. Everything actually looks old and there's litter around and not really any attempt to preserve things like the bikes and cars. The photos were great though and they had English notes about them. We walked over the Bridge at the River Kwai and felt like stars because a few of the locals wanted photos of us and then with us on the bridge. Not much of it is original anymore and there
Floating Markets - Bangkok
Makes walking away during bartering difficult was a pack of people there so we couldn't really get the feel of it.
The Tiger Temple was well worth the trip. Although it was a little touristy, we did get to pat the tigers and walk with one tiger on it's way back to his cage. It started raining for a bit and the tigers were no longer happy to just lie there but we were still able to pat some of them. We were escorted by the hand to each tiger and we'd sit behind him and pat away until they took our hand again and walked us out. Afterwards we stood around while they threw around food for all the other animals like wild pigs, goats, horses, cows and buffalo. There was even an 8 week old tiger cub that we got to cuddle - only because were were happy to stand around with all the other animals when other people got bored and left. It was well worth going late in the day so there was the feeding and the walking with the tigers which wouldn't have happened earlier in the day.
Surprise, surprise, it's raining again. So we are killing time in
May in Phuket - Patong Beach
It rains on average 22 out of 31 days during may... :( here before we go out for the last of our shopping in Thailand. We have changed our plans and are now no longer travelling through Cambodia. Instead we will fly direct to Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow. Seeing Angkor Wat will just have to wait until we have a week or so. It was going to take us about 2 and a half days travelling for half a day at the ruins. And that would be on coaches and/or pick up trucks - no guarantees. We were lucky enough for it to stop raining yesterday while we saw the Grand Palace and Wat Po with the sleeping Buddha so we now feel like we've seen all we needed to in Thailand and it's time to see some of Vietnam.
Thanks for all your messages and comments, they're great. Catch up soon.
Lew and Holly
Advertisement
Tot: 0.044s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0231s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb