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Published: October 1st 2007
First of all, let us start by saying that neither of us have kept a diary before so are not pro's at this by any stretch. This diary is simply to let our friends and family know we're safe and what we're up to. All diary entries are from both of us so if we ramble on, sorry!
After a very long twelve hour flight we finally arrived in Bangkok. We decided our best and safest option to get us straight to our hostel was by an offical airport taxi...mistake number one! The taxi driver, although very well dressed and polite, was a complete maniac behind the wheel! Later however, we would come to realise that this was normal here and all the drivers here drive inches from one another with no regard to pedestrians.
On our first night we decided to explore the nightlife, though the heat and humidity stopped us going very far and we ended up going for a few drinks in a nearby bar. Luckily for Paul, the Newcastle vs Man City match was on so my bum was glued to the seat for the full ninety minutes (hooray!).
Due to us being jetlagged
(or slow) we didn't realise our opposition's new owner. So we were cheering Newcastle on only to see the whole bar staff cheering for Man City. This became a bit of a contest until they won and I realised Manchester City is owned by local hero and former Thai president Takin Shinawatra (I think that's how its spelt). We were not the most popular customers that night!
Our days have been mainly spent experiencing Bangkok's over-crowded streets with their own unique smell. Most of the streets are narrow with every type of street trade imaginable, from people cooking food on stalls to people selling T shirts and pirate dvd's. Mix in with that conmen, stray dogs and ladyboys. Bangkok is a totally unique place that is as big a culture shock as we have ever known.
Today, we took a trip on a long tail boat up river Chao Phraya to visit the temple's and Buddha's, etc. Afterwards, we jumped in a Tuk-Tuk to explore further. To our suprise, the Tuk-Tuk journey was an experience in itself, not the safest means of transport over here but funny all the same! Bangkok has many beautiful places and buildings, much
of it is poor and resembles a shanty town. There is such contrast between the expensive marble-lined shopping malls and the tight winding backstreets.
Tomorrow is our last day in Bangkok before we head down to Pattaya. For tomorrow we've planned to visit the bridge over the river kwai and hopefully a tiger sanctuary so an update should be here shortly depending on internet access.
A few of our observations before we leave:
Stray dogs in Bangkok are all fat.
Ladyboys are everywhere and not easy to spot...
Thai people eat tree frogs (apparently deep fried until their bones go soft so you can eat them whole, nice!)
Until next time! Paul & Vicki xxx
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Ian & Gwen
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Bangkok
Great Blogg, we are very jealous and It had us looking straight at the calender for our holidays. Take care with the Russians in Pattaya, they are taking it over.