Advertisement
Published: November 16th 2009
Edit Blog Post
22 OCT 2009
We travelled to Bangkok in style, on what we both still unanimously agree is the best airline we have ever flown with - Singapore Airlines. We had a one hour wait at Singapore airport (nowhere near long enough in the world's best airport but we return to Singapore at start of Dec so had to be content with a short shop this time)! The flight landed in Bangkok at 5pm.
WOW!! How much had Bangkok changed since I was here last (nearly 10years ago)??? A brand new terminal building. A direct bus transfer to all the major locations not just set up but well signed immediately outside the airport doors (last time had to get public bus, sky train and then a huge walk!!) and everyone spoke great English!!
We hopped straight on the direct bus for the back packing area Khao San Rd. We had booked to stay a 10min walk from this area in a hostel called Samsen Sam. The hostel was gorgeous - a hundred-year-old wooden Thai house painted cream and white. It dated back to the reign of King Rama the sixth and has been in the same family for generations,
they are very proud of it and have strived to preserve its delicate beauty and original unique style. Surrounded by beautiful gardens and colourful flowers, Samsen Sam was both tranquil and homely.
That night, although it was only 9.30pm, we were exhausted, tired out but decided before hitting the sack we would make an effort and walk the length of Khao San Rd to see what new delights it holds now - ten years on. It was rockin!!! Bars and outdoor markets ran the length selling everything from cds to t-shirts, fake ids to flip flops, hair stuff to underwear - you name it, you could get it (well a near perfect copy of it) on the Khao San Rd!! From out of nowhere make-shift bars appeared selling buckets ... yes you read correctly - buckets of alcohol!!! The type of buckets you would be building a sand castle with on Blackpool beach!! There were huge groups congregating around these street bars with various styles of music blasting out of massive speakers! EVERYBODY was drinking buckets and either dancing or sitting on tiny plastic chairs like you have at primary school. Tiredness abating slightly we decided we would share
Girl who beat Paul at thumb war!
Young girls selling roses came round and challenged all the blokes to thumb war (if the bloke won, he got a rose; if they won, they got £2 - a lot of money for here!!) ... the girls looked really small but boy were they well proficient at winning thumb wars!! a bucket before heading back. We ordered a Vodka, Rum and tropical fruit cocktail bucket!! It was GORGEOUS and went down very easily!! Well, dad always said I took after my mum and had a drop like the Mersey tunnel when it came to drinking!!!! We met loads of other travellers from all over the world and were so busy talking and having a really great night we totally didn't realise what time it was ... 3am!! I mentioned to one of the people we were with I couldn't believe it was that time , we were so tired before we came out I would have never thought we could have stayed awake that late. Then I discovered the reason why!! They add red bull to the buckets which is a very strong caffeine drink but the one they add here is half the size but quadruple the caffeine content and strengthen than the cans you get back home or in Europe!!
23 OCT 2009
We were collected by a free taxi and whisked to the opposite side of Bangkok. We asked to jump out a block before our destination as the girl in the hostel reception had
recommended we visit the Suan Lum night bazaar. I'm so glad she informed us of it ... it was the best market I have ever been to! It had a huge variety of all different goods including clothes and handicraft stalls. The quality and the price was also much better than those stalls on the Khao San Rd. Even Paul really enjoyed it (and not just because he found a bar selling his favourite Warsteiner beer)!!
The reason why we had a free taxi to our original destination, the Lumphini stadium, just a block along from the night bizarre was because we had booked tickets to attend a Muay Thai Boxing night. The night consisted of two boxing fights each three rounds of five minutes; followed by ten bouts of Muay Thai lasting five rounds with three minutes in each round. The main event of the night being the seventh fight where (can't remember the name of it but some belt or other was up for grabs)!
The normal boxing in the first two rounds was fairly uninspiring and uneventful ... to be honest, I was bored out of my mind!! The Muay Thai however, was a whole
different ball game! All of a sudden, this strange music started playing and the fighters all dressed in traditional attire entered the ring and went through an elaborate and intricate pre-fight ceremonial routine before all the garb was striped off and the bell rang to signal the start of the first round. Muay Thai is VERY different from boxing - there are no gloves and an anything goes (or pretty much anything) mentality. First up were the young fighters - only around 11 or 12 years old. Then came the lighter weights, everything building up to the main event. The fights were vicious; knees, punches, flying kicks, roundhouse kicks, elbows, kicks and punches the like of which I have never seen before and allowed anywhere on the body. The crowd were insane - jumping up and down shouting and chanting in unison. During each fight a select few supporters and the fighter's families were allowed into a corner box, closer to the ring. The two opposing corners had a generic grunt (one corners an octave higher than the other) which they all yelled simultaneously when their fighter struck a knee or punch. The grunting became louder and louder and more
animated as the fight progressed, till it seemed the opposing families wanted to fight each other more than they wanted to watch the fight - but it made for a very entertaining and exhilarating night. The fourth fight had a knock out - a round house kick followed by a damn good right hook finished the lad off. By this stage I was absolutely loving the evening - what a great night!! (Oh and a little note to Caroline - my kickboxing instructor - who I confess I haven't seen for too long now, just wanted to say I miss you lots and miss having not been put through my paces for a while. Hope you and the boys are keeping well??)
After returning from the boxing we headed back for Khao San Rd ... well it was a Saturday night ... and partied till the wee hours - LOVIN those buckets!!!
24 OCT 2009
It being a Sunday meant that we had timed our visit to Bangkok in order to be able to hop on a local bus and go explore the goods on sale at the weekend market. Five kms north of Banglamphu where we
were staying. The market covered a huge area and products including silks, textiles, pottery, animals, lacquerware, clothes, jewelery, musical instruments, handicrafts and tons of other goods could be purchased or just looked at here. The market was a maze of tiny, narrow corridors rammed full with different goods. Hastily erected make-shift shelters protected the food stalls from the intermittent but driving monsoon rain. It was without question the largest market we had been to. Unfortunately, one due to the fact the market at Suan Lum being so good but also due to the fact there are so many markets in Bangkok we were just all marketed out. We only spent an hour or so there before heading back to the hostel.
The best food we have eaten so far on the trip has actually been the street food in Bangkok. Now I know people are a little dubious about street food - you see someone pushing an old, decrepit cart with a large glass cabinet containing food exposed to the elements and no cleaning products visible to the naked eye. However, the temperature those little stoves can cook food to completely obliterates the majority of bad bacteria and we
worked out if there is a stall with a load of people queuing, the food can't be that dangerous! The Pad Thai noodles we were living off only cost 20p for a portion so big we shared one for dinner each lunch or dinner and they were absolutely gorgeously delicious!!
25 OCT 2009
We checked out of the hostel at midday and headed back to the airport for our Air Asia flight (Asia's equivalent of Ryan Air ... only really good!) to Phuket. The flight was only a little more expensive than the train and whereas the train took 15hrs the flight only took 1hr 10mins so time benefit way laid the extra cost!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 11; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0398s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Dan
non-member comment
Thai
It looks like you two are having an amazing time, love reading about this, especially in the office while its chucking it down outside, very, very jealous. I hope your going to where 'The Beach' was filmed, other friends have been and said it was fantastic. Loved the Warsteiner sign, you cannot beat a good German pils, you even get it in Sheffield! Take care.