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Published: November 9th 2013
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Malcolm and I have been planning a trip to Thailand and Myanmar for two years, ever since our India trip. Sunday, November 3 our Qantas flight is at 6.50am, and after spending the night in an Auckland airport motel we are in line at the check-in. Immediately, there is a little hiccup and we have to purchase a full price, refundable ticket from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur. Why? We have a return ticket from Auckland, but the return portion is outside of the one month tourist visa limit and the airline is required to police onward tickets. It seems, a heavy fine can be imposed on the airline if passengers do not having an on-going ticket within 30 days of entry into the country. Our plan has always been to purchase our Myanmar air tickets after getting the visas in Bangkok. In the meantime, we are the proud owners of an extra airline ticket.
The flight is uneventful other than Malcolm biting into a chocolate bar and finding one of his teeth embedded in it. Thankfully, Bangkok is the land of cheap dentistry, so hopefully he can get this fixed while we are here.
The
sky train takes us into the city and we are quickly checked into our hotel, Windsor Suites, within a 10 minute walk of Asok BTS station, just off Sukhumvit road. The area around the hotel has numerous massage parlors, bars and eateries from all over the world .
Our first project is to find the Myanmar embassy and start the visa process, this slips a day because I loose my visa photos, taken the same morning. After three days we have the stamps in our passports and have found a dentist that will sort out Malcolm's mouth. I have a chip in a front tooth, so it's a perfect opportunity to get a filling and all without having to make an appointment. Approximately $33 U.S How good is that? Malcolm's dental work is a bit more extensive, is going to cost a lot more and requires us to spend extra days in Bangkok at the beginning and end of or trip. I wait patiently for Malcolm's new “Donny Osmand” smile!
Our first days in Thailand are spent dealing with dentists, embassies, and Quantas (it's important to get a refund on our Kuala Lumpur tickets).
In the evenings we find local restaurants and even attend Thai Boxing outside of MBK department stores at National Stadium. We overindulge on Singha beer on a couple of evenings, but this is always followed by an alcohol free day.
Friday, Nov 8, was the first day without commitment, so we started the day by picking up our bag of laundry. Then, breakfast in a local cafe, not a tourist one. A noodle soup with bits, but very enjoyable and with great resolve, decide it should be a beer free day. Now for the tourist stuff, the sky train to the river followed by a boat to pier 5. We amble through the alleys of Chinatown where the buildings need serious R&M and a lick of paint, above us are the hanging communications and power cables, it's a repairman's nightmare. Old Chinatown is devoid of restaurants, but had large shops selling all kinds of industrial wares, there was even a street devoted to saxophones, guitars and drums. Ed would have loved it! Enough of the aimless wandering it is time to head to the newer area and have a dim sum lunch (washed down by bottled water).
After lunch it's back to the alleys, however now we find stalls of food, sea cucumbers, ducks, tiny shrimps, trays of dim sum and teas. Continuing on, we slowly meander our way through the decaying streets towards the train station, and encounter an occasional wizened face belonging to a “lady of the night” who may once been a beautiful Thai girl. In the area around the station they are definitely on their last hoorah! Finally, we spy our destination, Hualamphong Station and descend into the depths to ride the Metro back to the hotel. We finish the day with a spiced pork salad from a street cafe washed down with a cola. Then, the news on Al Jezeera and bed. Our legs are tired from all the walking, but our bellies seem to be bigger from beer. From now on, we have resolved to make it a 1-2 beer day in the evening with dinner.
Saturday, we are back to the dentist to have the post put in Malcolm's tooth. It's 32C and oppressive heat, but we still brave the hordes and head to the weekend market. It's enormous and if you can get past all the T shirts,
denim, plastic flowers and other stuff, there is the occasional gem!
Sunday, Nov 10 we are off to Myanmar. Wait with bated breath for the next installment of Kevin and Malcolm's “Excellent Adventure”
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BILL
non-member comment
You're living my dream
Hi Kevin, It's fun to follow your adventures. I bet you are great company for a guys trip. Best Bill