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Published: October 31st 2009
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I first approached the Walking Street in Chiang Mai just before 4pm and the street vendors were setting up their stalls ready for the evenings trade. The hustle and bustle surrounding the area lead me to believe it was going to be a night not to be missed so I returned a few hours later and was not disappointed!
The street, (or streets) that the sellers take over every Sunday afternoon are a shopoholics dream! If I had been returning straight to England, I would certainly have brought a lot more but my backpack limited me to a new dress and a slice of chocolate brownie!
Our next day was to be our last in Chiang Mai so I decided to treat myself to a pedicure while waiting for the night train. For under 2 pounds I had a very professional treatment at the massage parlor next to the guest house we were staying in and I now have pretty red toenails!
As we had not booked our next train so far in advance, it arrived at the ungodly hour of 5am in Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is a few hours away from Bangkok but could not be more different!
It was the royal capital from 1350 to 1767 and was once an impressive city with many temples. Unfortunately the majority of these were destroyed by the army but the ruins make an interesting trip for the day.
Our tuk tuk driver took us from the station to our guest house - PU INN where we expected to wait a couple of hours until they opened their doors. Luckily for us though the driver wanted his commission from the guest house and promptly woke up the poor woman running the place! She kindly let us in to the entrance lobby (where we found a frog hopping about, much to Dave's excitement) and said we could wait on the sofas until 7am.
As the train journey had been pretty sleepless due to me worrying about missing the stop I promptly fell asleep and woke up again at 7 to find people cleaning around me! After checking in to our spacious room with a very comfortable looking bed, we decided to book a boat tour for the evening and also our minibus to Kanchanaburi for the next day.
The wats in Ayutthaya are quite spread about, so rather than
join a tour to take us round them all, Dave decided to hire a scooter for the day. For 200 baht we were now the proud owners of our own transport! Thankfully I just had to sit on the back and Dave was more than happy to pootle around, stopping whenever I saw a photo opportunity!
At 4pm we were taken down to the river by the owner of the guest house to join our boat cruise. Luckily for Dave this meant he finally got to go in a long tail boat (he had been admiring their engines since we first saw one in Bangkok!) and we spent a leisurely 2 hours on the river, visiting 3 different wats. Our tour ended in the night market where we decied to brave the thai street food. It was well cooked but what I thought was to be a sausage, consisted more of rice than pork!
The next day we boarded our lovely air conditioned bus to Kanchanaburi and were dropped off outside a guest house called the Jolly Frog. Although I had originally planned to stay at another guest house, we decided to check the prices and being pleased
by the rate, checked in. The bedrooms all face out onto a garden area with hammocks tied between palm trees and a wide selection of deck chairs! It is also right on the river bank so we have a lovely view compared to the normal city hotels which face out onto a wall or an air con unit!
I spent the afternoon swinging in a hammock, reading my book and in the evening we visited a local bar called '1 more' for a couple of drinks!
29th October - Day trip Today we had signed up for an organised tour to visit the highlights of Kanchanaburi. This started with an elephant ride which was quite relaxing until the elephant keeper told me to leave my bench seat and sit on the elephants neck, just behind his ears! This does not provide the smoothest ride and with nothing to hold onto I was quite glad when it was Dave time to have this experience!
After a half hour trek round the jungle and down to the river on our ellie, we boarded our bamboo rafts for the second part of the trip.
Bamboo rafts sit quite
low in the water and stupidly I managed to let my bag fall off my lap and into a big puddle! Thankfully I had put my camera and purse into my waterproof bag (Thanks Dad!) so it was just my towel and sunglasses which became a bit soggy. The raft provided us with some gorgeous scenery along the river but most of the photos are on Dave's camera as I was too scared to remove mine from its waterproof location!
After the rafting, we boarded the minibus again and this took us to Erawan National Park which is home to a 7 stage waterfall. We were given 3 hours to climb at our own pace but after reaching level 5, we decided to give in and go for a swim in the falls instead of climbing any further! (again Dave has all the pictures of this!) The path was quite slippery in places and definatly in need of a handrail! The other dangers we were told to worry about were fierce monkeys and the bollywood film crew at level 2! Not forgetting the big fish that like to suck your feet in the water!
After climbing back down
to the carpark Dave and I rewarded ourselves with a much needed ice cream and we continued our trip onto the Death Railway. After a short ride on the train which is still in use for members of the public and tourists we arrived at our final point for the day, the bridge. I did not know much about the story behind the building of this bridge so tomorrow I am going to visit the museum to find out more.
I wont be able to update this blog for a while now as our next few days are spent either travelling or in a treehouse in the jungle where I doubt they have internet cafes!
Lots of love,
Katie xxx
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Alex
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Hey Katie, I have had a lovely time catching up with your blog! Matt and I have been in Lanzarote with his family this past week, which was a great treat! Nothing adventurous or exciting, just lying in the sun, swimming in the pool and drinking sangria! You are really packing in as much as you can aren't you!? Must be nice to have Dave with you now, I hope you are looking after her Dave! :-) We are going to a Wedding Fair at Foxhills tomorrow, which I am really looking forward to! Our florist is going to be there and has said she will have some flowers made up to our spec so that will be good to see. I think Matt will be keeping an eye on my purse, as I can see myself getting carried away..... A goup of us all went to Tulleys last night for the Halloween Shockfest! We missed you being there, I kept thinking of the last time we were at Tulleys and you two got completely lost in the maize maze. Look forward to your next update! Lots of Love, Ally xxx