Greetings from Thailand!!

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Greetings from Thailand!

So we took a 12hr train from Goa up to Mumbai...and arrived to find that either the accommodation was too expensive for our (minuscule) budget or it was booked out.
So we headed out to the airport having decided that we were more prepared to sleep out there for free than in some dank, over-priced, hovel.
Well that was our first mistake.
The airport, it would turn out, has absolutely nothing to offer anyone, not even a restaurant, let alone a comfortable lounging area. So, as we resigned ourselves to the prospect of sitting on the cold, tiled floor for 13hrs, Singapore Airlines stepped up and proved to us exactly why they've been voted 'Best Airline' so many times in recent and past years.
For absolutely no extra charge they put us on an earlier flight into Singapore, where- because of our 12hr layover- they provided us with a FREE 2hr city tour, including lunch in a nice restaurant and transfers from and to the airport. Then, in the airport, there was free internet, four gardens, a pool and a gym, a free cinema and loads of bars and restaurant etc. It was amazing and the city is really nice (very, very clean!).

So we eventually arrived into Bangkok 48hrs after checking out of our last hotel!

Thailand is way more developed and modern than i was expecting and a very stark contrast to anywhere we had visited in India. Landing in Bangkok was almost like flying into a European city (it kind of felt like flying home actually!) and it was quite a treat after being in Mumbai!

We stayed in what was probably the biggest (and cheapest!) dump in the tourist area of Bangkok and it was great! OK, so there were foreigners everywhere and you had to look quite hard to find anything remotely oriental but, there were also loads of bars (and buckets!!), stalls selling exactly the kind of crap i don't need but like to buy and, delicious food.
Dec decided to get a massive tattoo up his right arm and shoulder so he was out of action and in the chair for almost 2 days, so myself and Sarah did some sight-seeing and went to some beauty parlours (90min facial & 1hr massage for 10E!!). The city itself, when you leave the tourist areas, is really nice- really clean and there are temples on every corner.

We visited just a couple of the more impressive temples (the reclining Buddha is a golden statue of Buddha, obviously in a reclining position, that is 18m in height and 46m long!!! amazing) and they were stunning and, we visited just one shopping center, which was INSANE! 7 floors of everything i could ever want and a food court on each floor...fantastic!!

The nightlife was better than anything we had experienced in India (which isn't exactly surprising) and we spent our nights drinking in make-shift bars by the road-side. 'Buckets' were a welcomed phenomenon: literally a bucket of cheap spirits with cheaper mixers and tap water ice- delicious and only like 4E! It was in one of these that we bumped into two friends from home- coincidence or what?!

We had initially decided to slowly make our way up the country to the Northern provinces but we heard there was a major festival taking place in just a few days, so we decided to leave early and head straight for Chiang Mai.

Bangkok was great craic and seeing Catriona and Marty was brilliant (and random!).

Next stop: Chiang Mai and the jungle............

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Photos

Bangkok
The Khoa San Rd

Bangkok
The reclining buddha...

Bangkok
Night out with Nicsi & Tata

Bangkok
Catriona & Marty!!!!!

Comments

[Aoife]

hey Lisa S.!!!
o my goodness, ur so good with all these travel blogs...like a virtual holiday everytime get to the computer lab!! sonds amazing and aw, now that you're in Thailand brings back memories of my hols, yes buckets are wonderful :) u guys gonna get to full moon party on koh taoh (I think)...u can get like speed boat nyt links there if ur not stayin on the island...such fun! wel, gros bisous from Paris for the mo xxxxxxx

[Gem]

!!!!!XXXXX
Finally some photos, love it!!! Keep up the good work and travelling! I'm so excited, 3 1/2 days to go and i'll be spending a few days on a plane! It'll all be worth it! x