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Wat Arun
Steep stairs! Well, we ended up staying another day in Bangkok- we realized that was the best idea so we could do a few more things there and then be able to take an overnight train up to northern Thailand.
Rest of our time in Bangkok:
After the Muay Thai Boxing experience we enjoyed sleeping in for our last night in our nice hotel. I already miss the air conditioning! We grabbed some street food (yes more satay for me...) and then headed over to see Wat Arun. It took forever to walk there as we just headed in the right direction because we could see the top of the Wat and kept hitting dead end streets. Finally after about an hour and a half of walking we got in a tuk tuk and arrived in 5 minutes! Never underestimate the use of a map! This Wat was gorgeous- like the others we had seen- with the added bonus of being able to climb up into and get great views of the river and city life. We headed to the 3 must not miss Wats while in Bangkok and I would agree with Lonley Planet those are ones to make sure
you get to.
Later that day we had to move our bags out of the lovely Hilton so we headed over to Koh San Road. We had not been there yet- so we decided for our last night in the city we would experience what that famous street had to offer. We stayed at Chart Guesthouse- cheap- you pay for what you get- as there were many bugs crawling along the corners of the room. Koh San is the very busy budget area with neon signs, pubs and a lot of street food. We ended up meeting up with Maggie and Mako's family again for another delicious meal. They treated us to dinner at an all fish restaurant. Everything on the menu- over 100 some odd items were made with fish. It was another experience where because of them we tried street food and other ethnic dishes we never would have. Later that evening- I went and got an hour long Thai Massage for 6USD. Thai Massages work on all of your pressure points and push deep into the muscle- a bit painful at times... But once it was over and stopped hurting I actually felt very relaxed! Adam
View from the Wat
Across the river- Grand Palace and I then wandered the streets and came upon an impromptu bar along a busy street with a very good guitarist. We made some new friends from Belgium, Scotland and Canada and swapped travel stories. Later this evening was the big futbol match of Spain v Germany at 1:45 am. We waited up and watched the first half hour or so before we decided to head back to our bug infested room- wasn't horrible- just keep your stuff in the center of the room so the bugs don't crawl into it.
The next day we headed to a tailor. Our helpful friend Erik who lives in Bangkok recommended us to his tailor called the Needle King. The men who owned the place were very helpful! We spent about 4 hours there picking out our fabrics for suits, pants and shirts. Adam ended up getting a lot more than I did- kind of ironic as he is still in school and I actually need these clothes for 'the working world'! Overall we had a great time there- quite the VIP experience and nice to know our new clothes will fit perfectly. We ate at the famous Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant
Koh San Road
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Well, I left the thai lettering up- b/c everytime I open a new window it switches to Thai!! later that evening- delicious papaya salad- and then headed to catch our 14 hr overnight train to Chiang Mai. Note- the train is SO much better than the bus- you get a bed in an a/c car for about the same price and even though it takes about 2 hours longer- the comfort far outweighs getting there a bit later.
Chiang Mai is a city surrounded by mountains. A lot slower than Bangkok which is a welcome change. They are famous for WONDERFUL coffee- there is a three story Starbucks that is trying to infiltrate the market but the local places are doing a wonderful job of keeping the conglomerate at bay. They are known for some great treks, cooking classes, massages and beautiful scenery. We went to the Night Bazzar last night- Adam had plain steamed rice trying to kick an upset stomach and I had some Pad Thai which rated high on the list. We are sightseeing around the city today and going to head to San Khampang which is a small village outside of the city known for all types of handicrafts- umbrellas, silk, teakwood, leather, etc. Cooking and trekking will be coming up later in
Before dinner
With Maggie, Mako and the family the week- quite looking forward to it!
Off to pick up our clean laundry- 7 kilograms of everything we own except for whats on our bodies- finally some clean clothes!
Christine
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Christine & Adam
Sorry!
Forgot to rotate the pictures....