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Published: April 20th 2006
Hello all! First things first I apologise for the lack of pictures, we were a bit lazy about getting a camera sorted. We have now got one but it’s on charge so unfortunately have not yet been able to take any pictures (I know - lame!)
Well we arrived in Bangkok on schedule on Sunday. The flight was pretty bad, but bearable as I managed to get some sleep on the way over which broke it up a bit. James had a right nightmare in that he caught the sick bug that is doing the rounds at the moment and was being sick for pretty much the entire 11 hour flight!! Harsh man, but it was nothing a good bit of Thai soup and a bucket of Sang Som couldn’t cure so he’s fine now!
On arriving in Bangkok we were just thrust from a nice air conditioned airport into a 35 degree frenzy of taxis, Tuk Tuks and buses, all spitting diesel fumes and weaving in and out of lanes whilst traffic police are barking orders at taxi drivers, who are being barked at by taxi bosses - all in all it was complete and utter chaos. After getting our ticket for the taxi we felt nicely reassured when the guy who took it from us looked at the ticked, looked up at us and laughed!! Think we may have paid over the odds for that one, but hey, you live and learn!
Arrived on Khao San Road (The backpackers ghetto of Bangkok) around 4 or 5pm and found ourselves a nice guesthouse with en-suite and air con for about 3 pound 50 a night. We were too tired to argue so just said yes and went to have a nice cold shower. It turned out that we think this was a reasonable deal after all so we were happy.
Went out for a bite to eat and I decided to opt for a Thai Green Curry (when in Rome and all that shite) which made me sweat buckets! I ended up mopping my brow with the napkin, much to the amusement of the waiter (who incidentally took quite a liking to James!) who spent most of his time prancing up and down flaunting his long fingernails and eye shadow (I got the impression he was a ladyboy pre-op).
Next morning, due to the lack of a timepiece we were up and out by about 8am! Couldn’t believe it, first day of a holiday and I wake up just as early as I would have done in England. Grabbed some breakfast and then selected ‘Dave’ to pop our Tuk Tuk cherry. The Tuk Tuk drivers here work on a commission basis with the local tailors in that they pick up some ‘Farangs’ (Thai word for tourist or foreigner) and take them on a tour of the city, however between each stop they drop you off at a tailors ‘just to have a look’ and in doing so earn themselves a free litre of fuel. This was all very funny at first however became quite tedious after the fifth shop!
Saw the standing Buddha and a number of temples which were spectacular (pictures to follow as soon as I have them). We then went to see the grand palace (which was actually shut) and got fleeced for 100 baht by some little toe rag pouring pigeon feed into my hand. After this we got pissed off and headed straight back to Khao San road for food, beer and relaxation. Ended up meeting a Dutch guy with whom we drank copious amounts of Sang Som (Thai Rum) and found out that after we thought we’d had a bad day, he’d been fleeced out of about 5000 baht in the past day! This made us feel a whole lot better! Spent the rest of the night drinking and learning some Muay Thai in the street from the locals - great first night on the booze, plenty more where that came from I’m sure!!
Whilst riding the streets of Bangkok in our Tuk Tuk we stopped off at a T.A.T. office and booked ourselves onto a PADI openwater diving course on an island called Ko Tao. We arrived this morning after a total of 23 hours traveling by Tuk Tuk, sleeper train, bus and boat, oh not to mention the back of a pick up! This is the Thailand I came to see, beautiful scenery, beaches and sunshine.
Bangkok was a great place to be for a few days, but that is all you need, a few days, after that it becomes genuinely exhausting! I am very glad we stayed and made the mistakes we did so early on in the trip as it has taught us a lot of valuable lessons about life here, the only problem there may be is that we have become too suspicious of everyone that wants us to spend our money!
Anyway, I’ve got some serious sunbathing and relaxing to do after that journey from Bangkok so ill have to love you and leave you,
So until next time ladies and gents, I bid you farewell
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Elly
non-member comment
I was worried that one of you was going to get the bug! Didn't expect it to be James though - you jammy bastard - how on earth did you manage to dodge that one?! Glad you got there ok. Extremely jealous as I'm back at work! speak soon, eL*xxxx