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Published: February 19th 2007
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Participating in a Singha commercial
We willingly participated in a Singha commercial... well, not really. Bangkok, baptised by foreigners, actually refers to a small village within the giant city. In Thai, the city is called Krung Thep, or City of Angels. This is where we arrived after some departure problems at Ko Samui...
As there are about 20 flights a day from Ko Samui to Bangkok, we did not bother prebooking any flight and simply took at taxi to the airport. However, this was a huge mistake. At the airport at 12.30pm, We had to buy tickets to the 10pm flight and put ourselves on standby! Quite annoyed by our blunder, we sat down at the only restaurant at the airport. The service was horrendous and it took us half an hour to place our order. Just after we did so, Mr. Lemmy and Lobbin (Thais have problems with the L and R sounds) were called up on the speakers --- we had been lucky and could leave on the 13.10pm flight! We finished our orange juices but still had to pay for the food that had not arrived. With extremely low blood sugar levels, I was not exactly in a very good mood at this stage (Helene, MD can confirm the effects of blood
Chao Phraya
Catching the ferry on the river that runs through Bangkok. sugar levels on one's mood, and
my mood in particular) but all in all, we were lucky not having to spend an entire day at the airport. Thus, remember to book your flight in advance!
Rambo III In Bangkok, we stayed in the Khao San area, which is extremely popular among backpackers. However, to enjoy a good value stay, avoid the Khao San street itself, and walk a few blocks away. We stayed in Rambutri, which is more or less pronounced 'Rambo Three'. Our place, the Rambutri Village Inn is great value at 700 Baht for a twin with air conditioning (ours was not working properly though) and it has a great swimming pool.
Khao San itself is quite an experience. There are myriads of stalls both on the pavement (legal) and in the street (illegal). Worrying about the police, you may experience shaking your money in front of a salesman who still ignores you and runs off with his stall! The reason is that if they are just 'moving' through the street, not standing still and selling stuff, the police cannot fine/arrest them.
For the culinary inclined, I recommend saving some space in your stomach for
a walk through Khao San and tasting all the different kinds of food on display, ranging from all sorts of fruit, barbeque skewers of chicken, pork, and beef and the compulsory chili, as well as deep fried insects, including larvae, grasshoppers, and scorpions! The larvae tasted like cheese doodles with chicken salt, while the grasshoppers tasted like bacon crisps. Yummy! The scorpions we did not get a chance to taste, as the seller suddenly decided to run off, ignoring the 100 Baht dangling in front of his face!
Khao San also offers plenty of restaurants and shops, as well as street 'minibars'. These are stalls that offer an impressive 4-page cocktail list but in fact, what you get is a very sweet, red or yellow punch-kind of drink no matter what you order. They also sell beers under the slogan:
Beer and cocktails soild (sic)
here. Very Strong! We don't ask for ID! Hilarious!
Moving away from busy Khao San area, we caught the ferry on Chao Phraya, the river that runs through Bangkok. This is a nice way to see some of the temples and sights that lie along the riverside. Being the Chinese New Year's Eve,
we went to Chinatown, which was bustling with life. Although it was great to absorb the Chinese atmosphere and sporadic fire crackers tested in preparation for the night, Chinatown is probably better enjoyed at night, with lots of lights and life, especially on this special day, than during daytime.
At night, we went to the Royal City Avenue, or just RCA. This is a long street with big and fancy nightclubs side by side. The one we visited, Route 66, boasted four different kinds of music inside depending on the same floor! It is clearly a local place, as we did not see any other
farang (Thai for foreigner). While we are used to buying a single drink at a time, the Thais usually buy a bottle of spirits as this is a superior deal moneywise. So we went for a bottle of whiskey with free refills of coke and Red Bull. Sitting outside in the pleasant breeze, we then could go inside for a dance while the waiters looked after our drinks. Fantastic service! RCA is definitely the place to go for Westerners who want to see the true local nightlife of Bangkok and avoid the prostitutes who
frequent the touristy places.
Where are we now? At the time of writing, we are in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. We have started our daily intake of malaria pills, Doxycyclin (yes, we remembered to start one day before arriving in a malaria area) and will be going on a trek tomorrow. The trek will include elephant riding, an orchid garden, whitewater rafting and a tribe visit to the Longnecks. We have also booked our trip all the way to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). In short, we will fly to Luang Prabang, make our way to Vientiane, the capital, fly to Phnom Penh, make our way to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), and fly from there to Ho Chi Minh on 28 February. We will keep you posted as we go.
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DADDY
non-member comment
NO SMOKING
Seems to me you're having a good time... Enjoy yourselves. Greetings from a non-smoker back home