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Published: April 2nd 2009
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Crossing the border back to Thailand was a strange old feeling, flocked by monks in orange robes we found ourselves walking across a pathway with Cambodian and Thai flags. Just seeing a Thai flag gave us thoughts of air conditioned shopping malls, clean rooms and familiar food.
The last time we were in Thailand we were 'new' travellers hitting the road for the very first time. More organised and much wiser now (kinda) we had made a list of stuff we needed to stock up on and things to do.
We chose an unusual way back to Bangkok. From the border the quickest is an air conditioned bus (Thai buses are excellent) but we opted for the slow train so we could catch a sunset on the way. We had to wait 3 hours for it to arrive and in the meantime we were befriended by a Thai lady who not only helped us brush up on our Thai skills but offered Lee a stake in her brothers business. She could get us a work visa and forget all about travelling.. stay in Thailand and invest some money in the Thai stock market.. we gave it a miss.
The scheduled 5 hour train turned into 7 (the sunset was pretty amazing though) and we soon realised that we had lost our negotiating skills. The price of EVERYTHING is SE Asia can be bargained for... Laundry, haircuts, T shirts, hotel rooms, transport... and the Thais are the best at it. Prices always start more than double, you make an offer, they counter offer and so on. After departing the train and asking a tuk tuk driver how much the fare was to Khoa San Road (the backpacker area) his answer was double what we expected!! Without trying to bargain we wandered around for a while until jumping on the local bus for 7 bhat each (14p).
Back where we first started and we felt like exiled figures coming home! We headed for the guesthouse we stayed at last time (at home). When we met the lady at the desk we were like 'hello, how are you? did you miss us?' she didn't recognise us. The room wasn't the same and the moldy ceiling, pesky cock roaches, and musty aroma gave us good reason to move on the next morning. The same night we headed out for a
stroll around the backpackers area and grabbed some street food at 'our local' (the same stall we frequented last time we were in Bangkok). The cook, still the same guy (could be a girl) also didn't recognise us and we were overcharged, but the food was still good.
The following day we moved guesthouses again (the 3rd one in 3 nights) and found an absolute gem. This place was heaven, the best we have stayed at so far. It's a Thai boutique house that's over 100 years old. It's been modernised and painted in different shades and had super friendly staff (Samsensam guest house). The night porter was a great laugh. Each night upon returning to our room we were stopped and ordered to sit at the dining table. Armed with 3 English books and his home made sweet tea, he would make a brew for us and keep us as entertained with his funny stories.
Michelle decided to get a haircut and chose a little salon just down the road from our guesthouse. It looked Ok from the outside, a few local women having a trim. She ended having her haircut by a man, that was
a woman (if you know what we mean!!) and he/she did a fantastic job... at giving Lee a laugh!!!!! After blow drying and curling bits under here and there, the final product was a Joan Collins look a like... Brilliant!!
Back at the hotel that evening we soon found out that some (quite a few - they had 8 rooms) Thai students had checked in and were staying for 2 nights during our stay. We thought the worse, and dreaded late night frolics keeping us awake (being the early birds that we are!) but actually they turned out to be extremely friendly. After a hectic day we went downstairs to chill in the garden, watch a movie on the communal telly and read a book. Soon enough we were surrounded by 5 young girls asking 'what is your name' and ultimately wanted to brush up on their English skills, Each one taking it in turns to fire a question, and after showing us their entire photo collection (including many shots of their class teacher Mr Yi) and running out of English phrases we headed for bed.
You cannot stay in Bangkok without doing some shopping at one of
the 'malls'. There is 3 or 4 excellent places in the main centre and you can be forgiven to think you are in New York or .. errr... any other large shopping place.. thingy?? We spent a whole day walking from designer shop to shop, browsing of course. Last time in Bangkok we watched a movie at the cinema and thought it would be nice to do the same. This time we opted for the space aged Siam Discovery centre. We watched a movie called 'watchmen' (no doubt something Lee's brother will be familiar with, being a movie buff he is) which was cool. A day of luxury then turned into pure exclusivity. We headed for the Bayon tree hotel, one of the most expensive hotels in Bangkok, to grab a drink. Of course there is a reason for this madness....the jaw dropping views. The hotel sits above most of Bangkok and at 59 floors up it certainly is one of the tallest. We had read on the net than you can go for a drink at the roof terrace bar.
After virtually racing out of the lift in excitement we were stopped by a sturdy lady (security) telling
us we were unable to get in. We were aware they had a dress code policy and Michelle had slipped on a dress, Lee a shirt and pants but we had no shoes! (we were in flip flops) She must of taken pity on us and after hitting us with the bad news she then nipped around the back of the counter and produced his and her 'loan shoes' which looked weird on, but did the job! (see pics)
The Views over Bangkok were absolutely sensational and truly mind blowing. It had been threatening to rain all day and in the distance you could see lightning around the clouds (luckily it didn't rain) We ordered a beer and a fruit juice which virtually blew half of our daily budget, but wow it was worth it and we got some great snaps.
We stayed in Bangkok for 9 nights altogether, feeling refreshed and our batteries recharged we booked our overnight train tickets south to Suart Thani (to the beaches!)
Take care and see you soon!
Lee and Michelle
Take care and see you soon!
Lee and Michelle
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Andy Edwards
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This was a great blog for someone going travelling for the first time- gives you agreat perspective. Thanks