9th and 10th January Sad Past - Wild Present and maybe an exciting future for Cambodia The flight to Phnom Pengh from Siem Reap took about 40 minutes and we met our new guide Rith at the airport. It was a lot hotter in Phnom Pengh and we started our tour there at the Royal Palace - the Palace was very impressive and had been restored since the Pol Pot genocide years but still looked like it needed a coat of paint. It is definitely worth a visit if you come to this area. We then settled into our hotel and [View Full Entry]

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Jan 6 - 8 Getting to Siem Reap - The Angkor Temples - The poor but smiling children of Cambodia My first two photos may suprise you as you were probably expecting a view of Angkor Wat - since returning to Bangkok the images of the children begging and many still seemingly happy had as much an impact as the ancient wonders of Cambodia. I may add to this blog when I have more time when this trip is over, not much spare time at present to write all my thoughts regarding Cambodia. The lasting memories will be the Angkor Temples, [View Full Entry]

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2 Jan 2 Million Bats - Wildlife and Bird Watching at Khao Yai National Park I caught the Skytrain to BTS Mo Chit station and then another exciting motorcyle taxi ride with my backpack on and another large bag on my lap hanging on with one hand as the driver went full speed around the corner 3 km to the Mo Chit Bus station for 40 baht. The bus station is huge and all the signs are in Thai but everyone was helpful and I found a numbered window where I could buy a ticket for 144 baht to get me [View Full Entry]

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HAPPY NEW YEAR from BANGKOK Jan 1 New Years Eve is a big event in Thailand with most of the smaller shops closed and the Thais having a well deserved two public holidays. I am still recovering from Kanchanaburi so I have just been resting and looking around the Siam shopping malls and also the Pantip Plaza. On New Years Eve I caught the Skytrain to Siam BTS Station and had a look around Siam Paragon. This is an upmarket shop and also next to Siam Ocean World which I might check out later in my time here. The security for [View Full Entry]

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29 DEC Erawan Falls - Heaven on Earth If there is a heaven on earth I think it is at Erawan Falls. If you want to do something special in your life make an effort to visit Erawan Falls, preferably before you get too old or they may need to carry you down from the 7th tier as their is a lot of steps to climb but it is worth it. This was my second visit to Erawan Falls and I wanted to spend the whole day there, not just a couple of hours on a scheduled tour. I caught the [View Full Entry]

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Dec 28th SAI YOK NOI After Hellfire Pass the bus dropped me and another tourist I met at the bus stop, Hyun from South Korea at the Soi Yok Noi Waterfall about 20km down the road. I advise you to visit here closer to rainy season when there is more water because it was a fairly ordinary sight today. It is easy to find being close to the highway and not far from Hellfire Pass but does not compare to the magnificent Erawan Falls I would visit the next day. There are the usual picnic spots here on raised bamboo platforms [View Full Entry]

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Dec 28 Special day at Hellfire Pass The tours take you to Hellfire Pass for a 1.5 hour look at the museum and a walk through Konyu Cutting "Hellfire Pass". I did this on my last visit to Thailand and had decided I needed more time to explore the entire walking trail from the museum to Compressor Cutting and go even further to the Japanese Camp at Hintok next to the River Kwai. I caught the bus to Sangkhlaburi at 730 am from the Kanchanaburi bus station. Just hop on the bus and pay your fare of 50 baht to the [View Full Entry]

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ROAD TO KANCHANABURI 27 DEC Well I was going to catch the train from Bangkok Noi which leaves at 7.35 am but I slept in and decided to grab a taxi to the Southern Bus Station which I used last time I was in Thailand to travel to Kanchanaburi. We got to the old bus station and it had been demolished but there were many buses around so I got off after the taxi driver told an official looking guy that I wanted to get to Kanchanaburi. He told me a bus would be along soon and I hopped on a [View Full Entry]

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MERRY XMAS from BANGKOK Well it's Christmas Day, seems like any other day here but I am not going to sit around the hotel all day. Have heard the Klongs, off shoots of the Chao Phraha River where the locals live on the riverfront is worth a look. I caught the Skytrain to Saphan Taskin, 10 minutes from my hotel and bartered a two hour tour for 1100 baht. I had a long tail boat to myself and told the driver not to go too fast so that I could take some pics. You have to wait at a couple of [View Full Entry]

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LONG TRIP BY EXPRESS TRAIN TO BANGKOK All I can say is if you do this train journey be prepared for a 13 hour trip. It starts off fine and they give you morning, afternoon tea and lunch - no dinner. "Express" is an exageration as the last three hours into Bangkok are painfull, with many stops and waiting around for unexpalined reasons. The first 7 - 10 hours are fine with excellent scenery, the reason I took this mode of transport and it is fairly comfortable. I booked two seats so that I had plenty of room, something I highly [View Full Entry]

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