Bangkok and beyond

---

Chris's Section

We arrived in Bangkok and experienced a new kind of heat as soon as the airplane doors opened. Wowzers! We got chatting with a cool guy called Jake, all 6' 7” of him. We shared a taxi to Khoa San Road (400b including expressway toll - £8), which is the backpacker mecca. We found our hostel, Lamphu House, easily enough. The hostel was on Soi Rambutri, so a little bit more chilled out than the hostels on the Khao San, but just a short walk away. We got a double a/c room for 600b (£12) a night. There are plenty of cheaper options (Jake's single fan room cost him 100b - £2 a night) but we were after something with all the mod cons.

The Khao San is usually heaving with backpackers, but not at the moment. There are plenty of people around, but nothing like the numbers you would usually see. I know there is a lot of trouble in Bangkok at the moment, but apart from an increased police/military presence, everything seemed safe.

Did I mention it was hot. Oh my. I was sweating like a fat girl in the Primark sale! Even under a fan we were sweating. Must have been 35c, with humidity off the scale. After dropping off our bags we went down the Khao San for a couple of beers, which turned into a few, which turned into a few buckets. For those who don't know, a bucket is, well, a small bucket filled with booze. You can get cocktails, or go for the cheaper (and most popular) Thai whiskey, red bull and coke. They usually cost around 300b each (£6) but there's enough for 3. We did get a few 2-4-1's at 390b each, so a cheapish and drunken night was had. Bangkok, the Khao San in particular, is a relatively expensive place in Thailand terms.

Because of the trouble in Bangkok (the rest of Thailand seems fine by the way) we couldn't really leave the backpacker area. It simply wasn't safe. So we didn't really do anything of interest. I didn't take any photos because of this, plus it was too damn hot to carry a bag around. We're going back to BKK in July to meet Gill (w00t!) so hopefully we'll get a chance to see the sights all being well.

Things are quiet, we really need to start bargaining harder (or at all, hehe) with guesthouse owners.

Yesterday we got a taxi to the northern bus terminal (110b) to and got a bus to Ayuthaya (50b - £1), which is a small town north of BKK (about 1.5 hours). We've found an amazing guesthouse called Baan Lotus. It's great here. Hopefully I'll be able to load up some photos. We plan to stay for a couple of days and then move on again. Later for now peeps x.



Louise's Section

Not much more to add, Bangkok is nuts. Very hot and humid and I simply gave up trying to look like I wasn't dying in the heat.

Had to go shopping as advised even as a tourist the yellow tops I have were not a good idea, so once again I was off trying to squeeze myself into a pair of shorts in what I can only assume is a Thai size for obese ladies and they still didn't bloody fit. What a waste of time putting on a weird ankle length cloth skirt over my linen trousers to take then off and try the impossible shorts on underneath whilst standing at the stall with most time my arse in this poor ladys face and Chris trying to help peel of my trousers which were stuck to me. All this effort and then having to say I think I'll pass on those. So vesty tops next, yep you guessed it, can only fit in mens! So now wearing a lovely vest with a panda on. May have to resort to boardy shorts now as no other option.

So after one dire morning of mega hangover, finally surfaced to end up having a wonderful mexican meal for tea then back to the hostel ready for Ayuthaya.

Arrived off the bus and were completely lost and the heat was worse than BK. Then a lady pulled up in a car with her 2 kids asking if we need help and ending up driving us to the street we needed all for free and her kids saying english to us to practice. She then gave us her card and said call or email if we need anything and drove off! All the people are lovely here and I think really happy that westerners are still coming but everywhere is dead!!

Did a bike ride today around some Wats which were lovely but the heat made it unbearable to stop, so now chilling out back at the hostel. Off to Sukhothai tomorrow to help break up the journey to Chiang Mai so hopefully a blog on it's way there.

Oh yeah one more thing, our hostel owner nearly made me wee myself with excitement on arrival. It is custom to take your shoes off here entering someones home and she asked we put them up on a shelf as she has a baby (she hesitates to find the right word)...elephant! My smile was immense, then she said... oh sorry I mean dog!! Lovely dog but so not the same!!

Speak soon
x

---

Photos

Hostel lounging area
Very pretty, with monster fish.

Hostel lounging area
I tried this, not very gracefully though!

A Wat
Guess what Lou thinks it looks like?!

Comments

[Mark J]

Chiang Mai
Hello Mate, Sounds like you're having an amazing time. Bangkok sounds like a brave choice given everything on the news, glad to hear you're away from it all. Make sure you get on one of the jungle treks when you get to Chaing Mai, we did a great 2 day one camping out for one night. And the Thai cookery course is good there too if you fancy that, and the massages are super cheap so get plenty of those. All the best Mark

[Scott and Kristy]

good to hear you guys were safe in Bangkok. we were contemplating doing a long route around via KL in Malaysia and flying into Cambodia (so much extra money and time though). we're on Ko Lanta now, going to be here about a week before moving on. How long are you guys going to be in Chiang Mai for?? I'm assuming your going from Chiang Mai to Laos to Cambodia?? we're hoping to be in Cambodia by the beginning of June, will you be there around the same time? and Lou, I feel your pain with the shorts here. I've given up and switched to those pirate/ aladin pants. their fantasticly comfortable, a bit on the warm side in the humidity but am loving them. Kristy

[Chris n Lou]

bummer, we're heading to Cambodia in early July. We have a month to do Northern Thailand then about 3 weeks in Laos. Where you going after Cambodia? and thanks for the tip about the shorts x

[Chris n Lou]

cheers for the advice mate, how is the jungle trek? Is it hard work as Lou has some issues going up anything steeper than a staircase in the high humidity, wanted to check if she could manage.

[Paul]

Sawasdee Krap
Hey guys- still loving your blog. You brought back a lot of memories with this one. We stayed at 3 different places on Soi Rambuttri- 'My House' mainly in 200 Baht rooms and for a treat for a few days in the Rambuttri Village Inn with the rooftop pool. We loved staying on Rambuttri- quiet enough but lively enough, great food and close to the river so easy to see the main sights by river taxi. We loved Thailand- overall it was our favourite country- the people are awesome when you get past the ones just trying to rip you off! We loved the food- chicken coconut curry and mango with sticky rice were 2 of our favourites! I think though what we loved the most was the shopping- Chatuchak Market is an unbelievable place with 15000 stalls- everything from snakes to snazzy table runners! Oh we miss Thailand! Be careful guys and enjoy the rest of Thailand! Byee Paul and Nise xx

[Scott and Kristy]

Hey guys!!
sorry it took so long for me to get back, just noticed the comments now. After Cambodia we're planning on doing Vietnam for a month, then China for (we're hoping) three months, and then back into Bangkok for a few days before heading over to India for a whoping 6 months, and then onto Europe (Norway for starts). :/ guess we might not be crossing paths after all. bummer!! as for the jungle trek, we did the three day and it was pretty intense, the first day wasn't horrid but wasn't easy, the second day was the worst as we trekked uphill (pretty steep) for about 2 and a half hours, broken up by 10 min breaks every half hour or so. the third day was the easiest as it was mostly flat. They do have one day treks though that include the elehpant rides and rafting down the river, might be less intense. There were literally tons of travel agents around, all offering different tours, so if you have an extra day I reccommend just checking some of them out and finding one that suits both of you well!! I wouldn't do the three day again, I was so beat when we got back, dirty and sweaty and huge blisters on my heels, but it was a fun experience and we met some interesting people!! Where are you guys now??