Bangkok and then some......

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Evening everyone!

I've finally got around to doing my first blog entry but before we go any further I want to say sorry in advance for the amount of spelling and grammatical errors there will be throughout. I wish I could say it was the keyboard but we all know I'm just an awful speller-lol

So lets begin at the very beginning…….Sarah and me got to Heathrow and enjoyed the luxuries of the VIP lounge which meant free booze and snacks and most of all quietness and comfy chairs away from the madness of T3- thanks to Jamie for the heads up on that only cost seventeen pounds, so defo worth it and thanks to Nanny Rita whose money for the airport paid for it.

After our 11 hour flight, which was very painless, we arrived in the very warm Bangkok and headed straight for Nikki’s house where cold beers were on standby. Nikki very kindly put Sarah and me up for the length of our stay in Bangkok in his fantastic 5 story house. That evening we enjoyed a BBQ with Nikki and his 3 adorable children, Yasmina (10), Olivia (5) and Alex (3). We then headed out for some traditional Thai drinking in the Belgium bar, which we enjoyed while listen to a Thai band and the monsoon rains! We were joined by some of Nikki's friends who had us in stitches with some of their stories, my particular favorite was how one (no names being mentioned here) wears a different wig to every wedding he goes to-classic!!! We then headed for a final nightcap at a fantastic bar called Iron Fairies. This bar is an iron mongers during the day but in the evening it is a bar. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it. It was all old worldie, while feeling like you were in an iron mine of some sort and as the name suggests there were iron fairies everywhere which we also took great fun in putting into certain positions-childish but so much fun. We headed back about 0100 while leaving the others to it and slept until midday the next day. A great first night in BK
So our first full day in BK (while nearly seeing as we’d spent half of it in bed) and we headed to the Grand Palace. We got the Bangkok Sky Train (BST) which is basically an overland tube which runs above the houses and shops. Great idea! Then got a Tuk Tuk (3 wheeled motorbike with cart on back) to the Palace. All in all cost us just over two pound and that’s with us getting ripped off on the Tuk Tuk. The palace was beautiful and so much to see and learn. I won’t go into it as you can google it and at some point I’ll get to upload some pictures. All I can say is in the pictures I’m wearing a wrap around sarong I’d like to point out that is not mine but rather one I had to hire in order to b e allowed to walk around the palace.

Once we finished at the palace we headed out for the sole purpose of food, luckily for me Sarah is also ruled by her stomach-hee hee. We ended up in a little street market which had some food stalls so we plopped our weary selves done and munch away on a lovely Thai noodle soup and fresh fruit smoothie. All came to just over a quid, bargain. We were going to meet up with Nikki that night at 1830 at Sala Ding and so after the advice of a very nice tourist information lady we jumped on the local boat bus and headed for the nearest port which had a BST. From here Sarah and I feeling full on confident with travelling around Bangkok jumped on the BST to meet Nikki, only to be told 3 stops later to get off the train as we were at the end of the line-yes we’d gone the wrong way!!! Finally met Nikki and headed up to DC’s apartment which is on the 16th floor of a serviced apartment block. All I can say is it was amazing a real bachelor pad with taste. Fantastic views across Bangkok from both sides of the flat and so here we stayed for a couple of beers and watched the traffic build u p on the most congested street in the world (and that’s a official fact!) We then jumped on a couple of motor bike taxis, basically you on the back of a motor bike with no helmet (mum don’t be worried the traffic is so bad they can’t ever get past 10miles an hour, well most of the time). We headed to a bar near to where the BBC and a number of other media outlets our based, had some great cocktails and chat and then headed on to a bar which is on a rooftop and is designed very similar to a beach bar. In here we had our first experience of the Thai police, which meant the bar was closed along with a lot of the others because someone hadn’t paid of the Thai police, apparently this is a common occurrence. Anyway like with all corruption the bar on the 1st floor hadn’t been closed down so we headed down there for a few more until about 3, when Nikki, Sarah and me where screaming for our beds.

Poor Nikki had to get up for the kids where as Sarah and me slept in until midday again, I’d love to say it was jet lag but it was blatantly was a hangover.

Anyhow with our hangovers we headed to the Chatuchak Weekend Market were there are over 1500 stalls. It was an amazing place and I brought lots of goodies all for under 30 quid. It’s truly amazing, you could kit your house out for under a grand here in the most beautiful hand crafted, pure silk goods. That night we stayed in and slept!
Nikki treated us to a home cooked fry up on Sunday morning and then we chilled by Nikki’s pool before heading off for a Thai massage. I use the word massage loosely cause basically they hit, slap, pull and twist you every which way. But yes it works and you come away feeling like a new person and I only had to pay eight pound for the privilege.

After our lazy Sunday we got up early and headed for the temples. In our travelling wisdom we jumped on the BST to the pier and the boat up river to the temples. It’s such a great way to get around the city, like with the London boats you see so much more, even if you do get rather wet. The first temple we headed to was Wat Arun which you could climb right up to the top of. No concept of H&S here but you strangely felt like Buddha had your back. It was a very peaceful place and had amazing views from the top. Again look it up on line for more info.
We then headed back on the boat across the other side of the river to the Wat Po temple which has the famous reclining Buddha. Before we headed round we went down an alley street in the district known as China Town and had noodle soup from a little old lady cooking it up on her trolley. They were fab and cost 25bhah, the equivalent to 50p. The Wat Po temple was as you can imagine impressive and again so much more to see than just one structure. Again I’ll get around to posting pics at some point.

That night we decided that we would head off the next evening to Khao Lak which Nikki had recommend as being somewhere away from the normal back packers trail i.e. Ko Sumai, Phuket etc. We booked to stay in Baan Krating which are eco huts built into the mountainside looking out onto the beach. Look it up online Baan Krating, Kaho Lak. Before you think it’s out a traveler’s budget, it cost us 91quid for 4 night’s incl. breakfast-unbelievable cheap.
To get here was less luxurious. On Tuesday we headed off from Nikki’s at 1630 to make sure we missed the traffic in a taxi. We were then helped by a lovely tourist info lady to buy our train ticket and bus ticket. We boarded the train at 1930 and were in 2nd class sleeper carriages with aircon. I was on top bunk which was comfortable enough but I was kept awake by a group of old Thai men playing chess until gone 1am. Having said that it was great fun to watch them and laugh at each other losing. The train pulled into Surat Thani at 0715 we were then hearded onto a bus with a load of our backpackers and driven around for about 20mins. We were then told to get off the bus at a random pit stop with some other travelers. We then had to wait 40mins before a mini bus came and took us back to Surat thani bus station!!!!!!!!!! We had been conned big and proper. So at the bus station we waited for another 40mins before we went on a 5hour bus journey to Khao Lak.

Needless to say the journey was worth it. We have a a/c hut in the hillside with a balcony which looks out onto the sea. We walk down some steps to our own private part of the beach which is deserted. It’s so idealic here and tomorrow we are booked to go up into the national park and go elephant trekking followed by monkey watching and canoeing up the jungle river. To say I’m excited about this is an understatement. Nanny Rita, this is what I’m using my bday and xmas money from you on.

We’re going to head off from here on Saturday on a mammoth train journey to Singapore. we leave here at 1600 on the bus then have to get a train at 0050 to Butterworth which gets in at 1340, then we have to wait until like 2000 before getting a train to Kuala Lumber which gets in at around 0500 where we have to change again and get on a train at 0930 to go to Singapore arriving there around 1630 on Monday. We’re going to head out to the famous Raffles Hotel on Monday night for a Singapore Sling and then Tuesday we’re going to do some serious sightseeing before heading to the airport for around 6am on Wednesday Morning. Then onto Perth! So chances are I won’t be able to log on until Perth, I’ll hopefully get around to uploading some pictures then so it’s not just me gassing away-lol

We had a fab time in Bangkok it's such a fantastic city, the people are very friendly and helpgul and you don't feel hassled or unsafe. It was great to be able to go and experience a side of Bangkok that the locals go to, it adds a whole new dimension to the trip. Kaho Lak's been great so far and I'm sure the trekking tomorrow will only add to what so far as been just what I always wanted from my big trip abroad!

One more thing, you’ll be happy to hear no illnesses so far, except for me being bite central (but nothing changes there). I’ve also managed to get some serious scorch marks today even though I had factor 30 on and to make matters worse they are in the most odd shapes ever but at least it’s giving Sarah a good laugh.

So I guess that’s it for now, it’s just turned 11 so I need to get some shut eye in ready for the elephants. Hope everyone is well and happy. Miss you all lots, although not the weather (30 and above here). Kisses all around love Melody xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S. A huge congratulations to Libby & Matt who got married while I’ve been away.
Also Happy birthday to Kirsty, Katie, Danny and Deb. I’ve had a cocktail for you all :0) xxxx

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