First Week In Thailand.

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First blog entry.

I'm doing this whilst my iPod charges. We arrived 5days ago to Bangkok, with the plan of not leaving the hotel until the tour started on the 26th, sorry parents I failed, we went out. The first night we met Anty's friend Max and headed out to the Khao Sang Road for dinner. Although its famous for being touristy its not really all that big, nevertheless it's full of stalls selling everything from bracelets to a foot massage performed by fish that eat your dead skin cells.

Being jet-lagged we woke up at 1pm and went for further explorations including going to the famous Cabbages and Condoms restaurant. The journey was around 20mins and obviously we had no idea where we were going, turns out we drove straight through the Silom district, which was only realised when we heard loudspeakers, cheering and big sign saying "Bangkok Insurance". Ooops! Luckily it was very peaceful whilst we were there and nothing happened. The restaurant itself was lovely and despite the awkward place its situated seemed to attract a large variety of guests. We counted no fewer than 10 old white men with very, very young Thai girls. Leaving the restaurant we took another taxi which this time drove us past the camps. On passing the Government camp he pulled out a red shirt and started waving it around singing "Ole, Ole, Ole" at the soldiers, tapping us each in turn so we'd join in. Not the best idea but he seemed happy enough.

The next day we met our tour guide and group. A grand total of 8 of us (inc. the guide - Pauline), two couples (David and Elaine, Rakesh and Reena) all British, a german lady named Jessica and of course Anty and myself. We had a group meeting, planned our itinerary and headed out for dinner.

The following day was spent visiting the temples and riding a long boat on the river taking in the surroundings of beautiful temples and riverside houses. I can't say the dead dog floating along side the boat really added to scenery but it was a memorable part of my day. Pauline bought 3 loaves of bread and told us to feed the enormous fish that due to the Buddhist religion weren't allowed to be caught. They tore up the bread and it disappeared instantly. There is a video that I'll upload one day onto Facebook.
The temples were incredible and even more impressive when you consider that they are all built on donations given by the locals. It is customary to have shoulders and knees covered and to take of your shoes before entering the temple. When sitting before Buddha you must have the soles of your feet facing away so as not to cause offense. One lady sat feet forward in front of Buddha and was immediately expelled from the building.

The next few days involved a lot of traveling including the overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai. We were in 2nd class and it was incredibly comfortable, with the men buying beer and the women sticking to Vodka, we started a journey of hard bargaining, poor sleep and lots of fun.

Arriving Chiang Mai (btw its like 40degrees there) we headed to our hotel. It was nice, not much to say except that we went Elephant riding. As fun as it was they weren't exactly what I'd call a "smooth" ride but that didn't stop us. It was eventful, with going down banks and nearly falling out of our seats and having to masterfully limbo under low branches. The guides sat fearlessly on their heads. Raks and Reena were on a 10year old (baby?!?) elephant that at one point decided to protested about the lack of bananas. This scared us all and the elephant gained an almighty whack on the head. After the ride we were going to go Bamboo rafting, however trickling along in a shallow and dung infested river did not sound to appealing so we went back in search of souvenirs, food and air conditioning.


On leaving Chiang Mai we headed to Chiang Kong for a night before boarding our river boat to Laos. Here we were to stay in a "basic" guesthouse. The words emulsion paint and tiled flooring come to mind but it was comfortable enough despite this. We didn't do much here except make use of the pool and go for dinner, had a cocktail or two before going to sleep.

It took us a grand total of 5minutes to get from Chaing Kong to Laos but more on that later. I'm beginning to miss my bed and the weather but never mind.

Current Thai Bride Count: 17

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