Bangkok

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It was so hot when we arrived in Bangkok on Monday, I don't think I was prepared for how hot it would be & I love the sun! We got the bus from the airport to Khao San Road & checked into a hotel which has a pool on the roof & air con in the room, (a necessity!)

After getting ready we went straight to a bar for some food & beer, it was at this point we both realised that Thai beer was twice the strength of Chinese beer, which we had been drinking for the past month & I think we both got a little bit tipsy!!

On Tuesday we had fresh pineapple for breakfast & got a Tuk Tuk to a place that would sort our Vietnamese visas for us for the following day, as we were planning on leaving Bangkok early Thursday morning. The Tuk Tuks are very noisy, pump out so much smoke & dodge the traffic as they are so small & only have three wheels but they are cheap & you can barter the price down, it only cost us 20 Baht, (about 30p) to go a couple of miles.

We then walked down to the river & got a long boat for just the two of us up the river & round the canals, it was great. While we were waiting for the boat we say a lizard looking thing floating on all the rubbish on the water, just as we turned to look at him he grabbed a frog from the water & threw it around until it eventually died & ate the whole thing in one go.

On the long boat we went past lots of thai houses & temples & passed through a floating market but didn't buy anything, (well just a beer!) We had street food for lunch & tried to find the museum of Forensic Medicine in the afternoon but couldn't find it so headed back to the hotel. We got washed & changed & decided to go shopping along Khao San Road, the clothes are so cheap it was just to difficult to resist so we both brought a couple of things, although Claire now has to sit on her bag to close it & says she is going to buy another bag!!

We had something to eat & a couple of cocktails & watched some street breakdancers they were really good.

On Wednesday I wasn't feeling too good, (think it was a mix of the heat & dodgy food), but we headed out & went to see Wat Pho, a giant reclining gold budda, he was well worth the visit. We then headed to the Grand Palace but it was closed until late afternoon because it was the King's Birthday.

As it is the King's Birthday it has been so chaotic here in Bangkok, there have been two public holidays & EVERYONE has been in yellow t-shirts, Claire & I thought it was the new colour for this season when we first arrived.

We went back to the hotel & I had a rest, we went out for some food when I was feeling better & a couple of cocktails before an early night.

We got up just before 7am on Thursday, to make sure we didn't miss our bus to Kao Samet at 8am, we were ready & waiting from 7.30am & by 9.30am the bus still hadn't arrived. When the tourist info lady arrived she phoned someone & found out it had broken down & said we could go tomorrow, (Friday). Claire & I were both extremely annoyed by this & got a bit mouthy so she agreed to put us up for the night in another hotel for free.

So today we went to the Grand Palace which was beautiful, lots of gold decorated buildings with lots of detailed decorations with stones & tiles. We then spent the afternoon round the pool before going for a late lunch & a cold beer, oh & I saw a Bangkok ladyboy in the bar we had our afternoon beer in.

Hopefully if the bus turns up we will be going to Kao Samet, an island off the south coast of Thailand tomorrow, it is part of the National Park & has extremely beautiful beaches, so we have been told. I think we will stay there a couple of days before heading to Kao Chang for a couple of days & on to Cambodia for Christmas.

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