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Published: February 7th 2011
AND WE ARE OFF! Ryan and myself left on the 1st and headed for Heathrow Terminal 4 for the start of our South East Asia tour. As we were waved off by his parents, obviously we were brimming with excitement. We weren't on the same flight, I was booked onto a Kingfisher plane whilst he went all upper class on me and flew with Etihad - and by god did I feel the difference. After an excruciating 9 hour flight to Mumbai (sleepless and foodless, the Lamb Goolash on offer was way below par) I had a two hour stop over there. Ryan stopped over in Abu Dhabi for 4 hours and slept well, was fed well and enjoyed his flight. Mumbai was quite an experience, obviously I didnt get out of the airport but luckily got to see all of the shanty towns when touching down. The heat was blistering, a lot like now as I write this.
After the 4 hour flight from Mumbai to Bangkok, we saw each other by the baggag collection point. We shared a taxi with a guy called Ben, from Tumbridge Wells who was on my flight. We got to see Bangkok by night on the drive in (our accomodation was in Kaoh San Road, backpacker central, about 30 minutes from the airport) and boy is it beautiful. Skyscrapers in abundence, bright lights and amazing smells. We got into our hotel (we wanted to take it easy the first couple of nights) and was pleasantly suprised by how nice it was. We had a quick shower and got out onto the town. I was feeling a little bit worse for ware to say the least as was Ryan, but he didnt succumb to it like I didi. I think all of the smells and lack of sleep were the main contributing factors to me chucking my guts up all over the place in the first 15 minutes of being out. I bottled it and went back to the hotel, Ryan being an absolute lad and totally understanding came back with me.
Day two was a different story. We woke up feeling a bit more fresh and bright eyes, so we got out onto the streets early, 7am. It is a totally different world. Bangkok is built up, but still hold plenty of charm and culture. We were inticed into taking a tuk tuk ride by a Thai called Nikki ( a Man Utd fan like everyone else out here) for a very reasonable 10Baht ( roughly 20p) all around the city. Our driver, Koh, was an absolute gent and was very helpful considering his limited English (safe to say it was better than our Thai though). We saw some fantastic temples, the famous Golden Buddah, a 20 metre high statue plated in gold leaf. We took a trip up Golden Mountain, where we could view the entire city in all its glory during the day. We drove around for at least 2 and a half hours all for 20p! We saw the main sights, I picked up an authentic Thai tailored suit for $150 (this fucking keyboard doesn't have a GBP sign!) and will collect before I return. After saying goodbye to Koh we headed for lunch and a lounge around the pool. We kept on seeing Thai foot massages on offer and after a long day trapsing about bangkok we thought it was just what we needed. If anyone is ever in B/K GET A FOOT MASSAGE! Dinner - drinks on Kaoh San then bed - ready for day three.
We decided to have a lazy day. We lapped up the sun and walked around a bit more, taking snaps and trying to pull these two girls from New Zealand and after flashing a few smiles we plucked up the courage and said hello. They were leaving that night at 9pm - that killed that off. Determined to still have a successful evening in Bangkok with ladies we went back onto Kaoh San and hit the silk bar for cocktails and tequilas. After being charged a fair bit ( I thougt that tequila was a double) we moved on. We stopped at another bar and met some lovely people. Two lads from Sunderland called Matt and Stu and some Swedish girls called Elin and Julia. Elin and Ryan hit it off 😉 Matt told us about Samsong, a Thai whisky mixed with red bull and lemonade - absolutely lethal stuff but it will be my drink of choice from now on I think! Its safe to say it does the job! After getting extremely drunk and having a top top night we went back to the hotel and crashed out at 4am.
Up at 7am. Yuk. had booked up a transfer from our hotel to pattaya two hours south of B/K. Its by the sea, and a renowned tourist destination. After a 3 hour journey we arrived and to be honest we were a little let down. The small stretch of sand was crammed with old men, all there for the same reason. We had two nights here and wasnt sure how it would go down. (Note to Tasha Allcott - never go to Pattaya) The eveing changed our opinion a little. The pier at night is nothing short of stunning, and the view from the bay was spectacular. There are large disused ships now occupied by restaurants, lit up with dazzling lights and we started to appreciate it a bit more. The hotel was BIG, and we felt like we werent travellers, more holiday makers. We got an early night and had a lay in, some well needed catch up on sleep.
The next day we had a few hours to ourselves, got some laundry done and other mundane tasks, like talking to family and friends on the internet (joking!). We were looking forward to the eveing. It arrived and we headed down Walking Street, the main Go Go area (go go girls if you get my drift). After finding a beautiful bar with a swimming pool out back, right next to the beach, we had a few cold ones and a game of Platanque (5-4 to Ryan, cheating bastard). We chilled out on the sand, it was now dead on the beach, all the other tourist now getting there fil in the go go bars. The moment struck and we jumped into the sea. It was nice and warm and it was the first moment for both of us that we felt like travellers. Walking back up Walking Street soaking wet in the eveing is not recommended, a lot of looks and some very, very dirty feet.
Pattaya had redeemed itself a bit, the bar and its setting helping out a lot. We woke this morning at 6am, to be ready for our piuck up from the hotel at 7am. We were heading onto Trat, for a stop over before we go to Koh Chang, an island close to the cambodian border. After the bus showed up (an hour late i might add) we had the 4 hour journey to Trat. The journey along the motorway was very enjoyable, beautiful hillside and some fantastic sight (where else would you see an elephant crossing the motorway with 4 Thai men?) Now we are in Trat, at Pop Guesthouse. We are in a lovely little shack for a very fair $1.50 each a night! Ill fill you in on all the details in the next blog, but right now im going to go have my thai noodles with rice, which has just been put on the table. Photos will be up ASAP, as soon as we find a computer that take his memory stick.
Big love people!
Allcott and Shedman
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Tombooo
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Wow...
I bet you are missing sturry...NOT....!!! looks like fun matey, very enjoyable read.