Bangkok

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Day one in Bangkok. We woke reasonably early and decided we would spend the day exploring the city, making sure we visited the Grand Palace and Wat Po. Dom had already researched every place we were visiting so we already knew of all the sights of particular. After finishing our breakfast (Pancake for Dom, vague attempt at a continental breakfast for Rach) we decided to fully immerse ourselves in Thai culture and walk to the Grand Palace.

After getting lost twice and kindly being pestered by Tuk-Tuk drivers we managed to reach the Grand Palace by way of the River Chao and Bangkok University. The river itself was similar to the Thames but alot browner (think mud colour) with clumps of reeds the size of small cars floating downstream. Although reaching the palace took a little longer than we wanted, what better way is there to explore Bangkok than to get completely and utterly lost! Besides the University was on our to-do list anyway!

The Grand Palace was great, a real eye catcher. Soaring spires and alot of gold. We were not allowed to take many pictures inside the temples because it is a sign of disrespect to the Golden Buddhas. Rachael also encountered her first Asian Insect; what looked like a giant cockroach which out of no-where landed kindly on her hand! To enter some temples you must have your shoulders covered, we had researched this and had worn appropriate clothing. Unfortunately some places make you buy a scarf or other garment to enter if you are not prepared, other places turn you away completely!

After the Grand Palace we stopped for lunch, Rach had Cow Pad (spelling may be wrong and yes we did check that it was actually rice!) and Dom had Pad Thai (quality cheap and cheerful noodles!), staple traveller food!

Wat Po was fun and spectacular! There is a massive reclining buddha statue for which you must remove your shoes to view. Although there are lots of tourists queueing and pushing to enter the temple there is plently of room to walk around the Buddha and you are still able to get a good look. After a few photos we booked ourselves in for an hours Thai massage, a little painful but revitalising afterwards.

We managed to haggle a 50Baht tuk tuk to the train station (down from 200!) where we booked our train to Chiang Mai. We then walked back through the maze of narrow streets that is Chinatown. Its indescribable, streets packed with shop after shop, mostly selling rubbish and tat. It appeared to be organised into sections though with shoes, clothes, fruit (many of which we have no idea what they were) and beautiful flowers. The cramped streets were used for pedestrians, bicycles and mopeds, sometimes even the odd tuk tuk! You really had to keep your wits about you and your eyes open because the moped drivers were not stopping for anything!

After finishing the day on Khao San Road - the tourist area of Bankok which is noticably different to the rest of the city, we booked our trek for Chiang Mai and our excursion to Kanchanaburi. We finally found time to walk back down Khao San road, did a little shopping and sampled some noodles cooked fresh in front of us for and English equivalent of 30p each! After such a cheap dinner we were very pleased with ourselves and headed back to our hostel for another good nights sleep. I think the trick is to get to bed at a reasonable hour over here and try to get up early at least once in each place you visit. There is so much going on early in the morning and you miss out on all the action if you lie in until lunch!

We Cannot Wait for tomorrow!

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