Not feeling tip -top in Bangkok (Day 92 - 95 by Chris)

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Thursday 17th December 2015

At 1pm we left the homestay saying our goodbyes to Ken, her daughter and the kittens and were driven by Tuk Tuk to Siem Reap airport for our flight with Air Asia to Bangkok. We had intended to travel to Laos where we would spend Christmas, however we left it too late to book flights and as such, couldn't get to Laos. We could however get to Bangkok quite easily, and planning to travel to Thailand eventually anyway, we saw no harm in heading there earlier than planned.

We were on the plane and after only 40 minutes we had landed in Bangkok. It was already 5pm and after a long wait at immigration, then getting some food at the airport and then queuing for 40 minutes for a taxi, after a 1 hour taxi journey costing only £5, we arrived at our hotel for about 8:30pm. We had opted to stay at The 7 Luck Guesthouse ans the hotel isn't located in any of the main tourist areas, which we thought would be a good thing as we could get some peace and quiet, but in hindsight it was a pain as we struggled to find restaurants etc. On arriving, we just settled into the room and then headed outside to the 7 Eleven across the road to get some snacks. We then called it a night.

Friday 18th December 2015

We left the hotel at about 10:30am and hopped into a Tuk Tuk to the Khao San Road (KSR). I have been to Thailand previously and when in Bangkok I'd stayed on the KSR which is a street approx 150m long and during the day time full of market stalls selling anything you can think of from fake driving licences to t-shirts to silver jewelry. I was quite excited to return to KSR and I was interested in how much it has changed in the 9 years since I was last here. Other than a bit of a face lift, its exactly the same. We stopped off for breakfast in an Irish pub and then ventured onto the street itself to take a look at what was on offer. We spent the next hour meandering through the stalls and side streets almost spending everything we had on stuff we didn't really need. We then decided we'd visit one of the many temples that Bangkok has in the afternoon. First we stopped off in Boots to get some toiletries (can you believe there is a Boots here?!) and we then walked to Wat Pho which is where you can find the famous golden reclining Buddha. We paid 100 THB for entry, which is approx £2 each. We then joined the crowds of Bangkok's number 1 tourist sight and spent the next hour or so walking through the many rooms and gardens taking in all of the tall mosaic temple spears and an array of golden Buddhas. The most popular of course was the reclining Buddha who must be 50 metres long and there wasn't an inch of the statue that didn't have someone standing next to it taking pictures. There were a good 50 huge tour groups all walking in line, all requiring a picture of themselves in the picture, therefore not allowing normal people like us to actually get a good look. What can you expect though from the main attraction. After we left Wat Pho we walked back to our hotel which took about 45 mins.

In the evening we decided to head back out to KSR for some food. We stopped at the 7 Eleven to use the ATM and then took a Tuk Tuk to KSR. It was here that we realised we didn't have our cash card on us. We realised that as we took the cash from the ATM we didn't take the card so jumped back onto a Tuk Tuk and went all the way back to our hotel and straight to the ATM. The card wasn't there and no-one had handed it in to the staff in the shop. Luckily we have an app for this card (its a currency card which you load up and use it like a normal cash card but you don't incur any charges) so was able to block it instantly. We also checked and saw that no-one had spent on it. It's just frustrating that we now need to use our normal cash card and no doubt pay ridiculous charges. Still, could be worse though, at least we manged to block it before some cheeky git used it. We got back into a Tuk Tuk and headed to KSR again and then found a restaurant for dinner. Gemma had Pad Thai and I had a curry which we washed down with some Singa beers. We were both annoyed with ourselves with regards to the card so didn't stay out late and headed back to the hotel at about 10pm.

Saturday 19th December 2015

We quite fancied going to a shopping mall today, and with Bangkok having at least 5 big malls to choose from we were spoiled for choice. We decided that we would head to 'Central World' and after speaking to the lady on reception about the easiest way to get there, we jumped on the canal boat just outside our hotel and after paying 7 THB each (13p) and only a short 5 minute journey we got off at a pier and walked into what resembled central Tokyo! We couldn't believe how much this area reminded us both of Japan. Although I've been to Bangkok 4 times before, it was my first time in this area and I was shocked at how 'western' this place was. It was just what we needed as sometimes its nice to give the temples and beaches a rest and do something that reminds us of home. We stopped at a coffee shop and had a chat about future travel plans, plus how we are going to get a replacement currency card, we then walked down the road and into 'Central World'. This was a pretty standard shopping mall with lots of restaurants, shops with brands we recognised and an ice rink. It was nice to spend a couple of hours just wandering around, mostly people watching and then we headed outside to try a different mall. Whist walking to MBK, the next mall on our list, we were approached by 4 school girls in uniform who asked if the could ask us some questions. If you've read our other blogs you will know that this is not the first time we've been approached like this, so we were happy to oblige. What we didn't realise though was that they were going to film the interview and no doubt it would be shown in front of their class. The questions were things such as is this your first time in Bangkok? What do you think of Thailand? How would you describe Thailand in 3 words etc etc. After the interview had ended and we said our goodbyes and walked on down the road, we heard the girls all cheer and laugh, clearly very happy that they managed to find someone to interview. Only too happy to have helped.

We arrived at MBK shopping mall, which is more like a market than a shopping centre. Pretty similar to KSR they sell all sorts of stuff from clothes to furniture etc. Whilst walking around I started to feel a bit ill and suddenly got very tired. I decided i wanted to go back to the hotel to rest, so after taking the canal boat again we were back in the hotel. I had a bit of a rest, but didn't feel any better for it. We then decided to find a restaurant close by for dinner. We headed to the 7 Eleven again to ask whether anyone had handed in the card - they hadn't - and then we tried to withdraw some cash using my normal bank card. No machine was accepting the card because the overly cautious Natwest had blocked my card due to 'unusual activity'. I confirmed to them that it was me using the card but we still couldn't access any cash. We had 500 THB on us (£9) so headed to the restaurant hoping that the food there wasn't too expensive. On arriving and checking the menu we realised we'd have to go somewhere else as it was not cheap! We headed back to the 7 Eleven next to the hotel and bought a small loaf of bread and some ham slices. We then sat in the room eating our plain sandwiches and then went to sleep.

Sunday 20th December 2015

We woke up at 9:30am and I felt dreadful. All of my body was aching and I had no energy to get out of the bed - even my scalp was tingling (dandruff perhaps?). I took some drugs and tried to get a few more hours sleep. It got to midday and I decided it was better for me to stay in bed and try to regain my strength. Gemma then headed off to visit the Grand Palace and to try and get some cash as we were really struggling without money.

GEMMA'S AFTERNOON AT THE GRAND PALACE

I took a tuk tuk from KSR having tried to get some cash and arrived 1.5 hrs before it closed. No matter where I walked in the Grand Palace I was surrounded by Chinese tour groups. I have never seen so many Chinese people and I have been to China!!! It was very easy to get lost in the grounds so in the end I thought it would make sense to follow the crowds. The Grand Palace itself was very striking with rich colours and lots of gold and comes highly recommended should you be in Bangkok, although it was expensive to get in. After an hour of wandering around in the heat I hopped into a tuk tuk and headed for the hotel to check on Chris.

In the evening we had to pop out for some food and to also print off our boarding passes for the flight in the morning. As a one stop shop for everything we headed back to KSR. We walked down the street and Gemma bought a bikini and some jewelry and we also managed to find an internet cafe to print off the boarding cards. It was very difficult locating an internet cafe, something that when I was here previously you found every 10 steps. This just goes to show the advancement in WiFi I suppose. I wasn't feeling well at all and thought I was going to collapse (not an exaggeration) so I told Gemma that I couldn't stay out for food and had to get back to bed. We hopped into a tuk tuk and returned to the hotel where Gemma prepared some ham sandwiches again and I was asleep for 9pm. This brings our time in Bangkok to an end and it was a shame that I was ill and unable to get around as much as I wanted but I'm lucky to have been here a few times before and will no doubt return again in the future. Tomorrow we leave for some beach time.

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