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Published: September 21st 2012
After a three hour flight from Bali, we touched down in Bangkok mid afternoon. Even though we weren't heading to the islands in the South straight away, I'd been reading 'The Beach' on the plane ride to get me into the Thailand spirit. We'd pre-booked our first two nights accommodation at 'Suk 11' in the area of Sukhumvit on a recommendation and it didn't dissapoint. We headed across to the business/red-light district of Sukhumvit in a pink taxi and checked-in to the dimly lit but arty hostel. After splashing out in Bali a little more than we intended, the budget was tight. We headed out for dinner and chose the frugal option of a roadside eaterie (what we liked to call 'street-meat'😉. These are great, as the dishes are cooked right there in front of you and dinner came to less than 1 pound! We went for a bit of a walkaround that night but decided to get an early night as we were all pretty tired.
Suk 11 did a free breakfast- tea, coffee, toast, fruit and some strange looking thai specialities that we tried but didn't really like. We planned on getting the sleeper train to Chiang Mai the next day but as it was the rainy season we were informed that some of the train line was flooded and subject to long delays. We ended up booking a 'VIP bus' and our first two nights accommodation with a friendly tour agent in Hua Lamphong train station- we would travel overnight on the following evening. That day we took a tuk-tuk to the infamous Khao Sahn Road. We paid 100 baht to get there from the train station which was a 15 min ride (2 pounds approx). We thought we were getting a bargin but where later told by a local that this was a rip off! Khao Sahn Road had a lively backpacker vibe to it, full of guesthouses and market stalls. We bought a few things but nothing too big- we were planning on coming back to Bangkok a few times during the trip and didn't want to fill up our backpacks with souvenirs just yet! So far the Thai people seemed friendly enough, maybe not quite as forthcoming as the indonesians in Bali and Lombok, it was interesting to make comparisons. We were looking at the map trying to locate a Wat and must have looked a bit lost when a Thai local came up to us to help. She was the one who told us we had overpaid earlier for the tuk- tuk and ended up outlining a route for us around some temples and agreed a price with a driver of 10 baht each for the afternoon before bundling us in. 'Never pay until the end of the ride..and make him wait for you!' she said as we speed off. We visited the standing Buddha statue (a giant golden buddha around 50m tall), and a couple of smaller Wats with Buddhas in various postures. We couldn't go into one as the monks had begun a ceremony so we just took pictures from the outside. As part of the 'discount' tour in the tuk tuk, it was obligatory we had to visit the Thai silk factory. This was a place where the drivers would go to get their free government fuel vouchers and why they could afford to drive us around at a non-inflated price. It was a place where they can custom design clothes for you. Even though we had no intention of buying anything (we were saving our money for tailored suits in Vietnam) we went in and had a chat to the man in the store. He turned out to be really friendly and he even asked if my dad wanted a son-in-law! I said he was getting one next year anyway (as my sister is getting married) so I thought that was enough for now. He liked us as he said English people aren't usually as friendly when they are in the store. We left without buying anything but got an idea of the prices incase we changed our minds. After the last temple of the day and the tuk tuk man had been paid his 30 baht, we decided to get the boat home along the river. We were the only touristy looking people on the boat, but luckily a boy sat next to us helped us out and told us when we needed to get off the boat. We ate dinner on the roadside again that night and the food was lovely.
The next day we hung around the train station in an internet cafe whilst we waited for our transfer to Chiang Mai. At 6pm we were in a coffee shop in the station when the King's anthem started blasting from everywhere. Luckily we'd read in the lonely planet about what to do when this happened so we all stood up respectfully without talking, and tried not to look each other in the eye or we might have started laughing! The coach journey to Chiang Mai that night was ok as coach journeys go. Even though the seats reclined quite far it was still hard to sleep and the bus stopped at midnight for a food break which was a bit annoying as no one wants to eat then. It was bucketing down when we got to Chiang Mai early in the morning so we just checked in and went back to bed.
We ended up staying around 10 days in Chiang Mai. On our first night there we ended up having a bit of an impromtu cooking course. We walked into 'Thai Thai Kitchen', a restaurant near our guesthouse on Soi 6 just as a lady was pulling up on a scooter. She said for the same price of the dish she would also show us how to cook the dishes and we could take photos/notes. This was going to save us about 500 baht each so we were sold! We learnt how to cook spring rolls, papaya salad, massaman curry, green curry and paneag curry. All the dishes tasted amazing and we had real fun learning how to cook them and taking it in turns to take the pictures/cook. She had an adoreable niece who kept bringing her toys over and wanted to play with us. "PC" (the lady who owned the restaurant) said she had a spare room that we could stay in for our remaining nights for 1/3 of the price we were paying. The next day we went to see the room and it was nice so we said yes. We stayed there for two nights and on the second night she came and knocked on the door and told us we had to leave the next day as she'd found someone else who was willing to pay more than us! It was an odd situation to be in, we didn't really understand why she didn't just ask us to pay a bit more (we wouldn't have minded) but just goes to show that sometimes people do have a hidden agenda and it pays to be cautious. Luckily there are lots of guesthouses in Chiang Mai and we found another cheap one that we stayed in for the rest of our time there. We did a few different activities in and around Chiang Mai. We went to the 'Tiger Kingdom' where you can pay to play with the tigers and have your photo taken with them. You decide what size of tiger you want to see- we chose smallest and biggest. We were a bit wary about the way the tigers might be treated and whether they had been drugged to make them so sedate for all the human contact they experienced. The Thai keepers seemed like they really knew how to handle the tigers and were great with them. They said the tigers were so comfortable with human contact as they had grown up in captivity and having seen it for myself I would say I believe this. It was a memorable experience! We also visited the hill top tribes of North Thailand including the Long-necked Karen tribe who wear heavy metal rings around their necks to stretch them out. I don't know how they live with it- it looked so uncomfortable! Another day we did the 'Eagle Track' experience- zip-lining, abseiling and crossing bridges up to 40m high through the jungle and over the rice paddy fields. Being scared of heights I found this terrifying at times but I felt totally safe with all the equipment and in the hands of the friendly guides. I would definitely recommend it! We also went to Doi Suthep temple which offers a lovely view over Chiang Mai and the white temple in Chiang Rai which was stunning from the outside (the murals on the inside are a bit strange- all about thee artist's interpretation of heaven and hell) The White Temple isn't actually Buddhist but was designed as 'everyone's temple' so we didn't need to cover up to go in there. It was also my birthday on the 19th and the girls treated me to a lovely posh meal and cocktails..apparently Chiang Mai has a buzzing nightlife, but we certainly didn't find it!
Now we are back in Bangkok for the night before going off the Northern province of Surin tomorrow. We've booked a two week conservation project, living with the Mahout tribes in their villages, helping teach them English and looking after their elephants. We're all really excited and a bit worried about getting attached to the elephants and not wanting to leave!
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Nice! Really looking forward to your reports from the conservation project. And you haven't really been to Bangkok unless you've been ripped of by a tuktuk driver - and your 100 Baht wasn't that bad :-) Enjoy the elephants :-)