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Published: January 25th 2015
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Royal guard
In Bangkok. He is standing on a stool.... With only a short time in which to visit Bangkok, we started early and headed to the riverside to take a river boat to the main tourist sites of The Grand Palace and Wat Pho. The Grand Palace is amazing and we enjoyed a short tour with Captain Tavee, who was previously a member of the King's royal guard. The King and Queen are revered in Thailand and there are pictures of them everywhere - on every street, in every shop, every house. It's a cultural no-no to say anything bad about them, as well as it being a criminal offence.
Following a lazy day sightseeing, we headed to Hua Lampong, the central train station, where we boarded the 1st class overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai, taking 15 hours, costing 25 pounds each, and comprised of a box 6ft wide with 2 bunk beds and a sink. Mike was just able to fit on the bunk - length and widthways, but it was fun and we arrived in a warm Chiang Mai filled with massage parlours, coffee shops, night markets and ladyboys. The ladyboy cabaret was an experience - most looked like men in drag but for a few
you would have struggled to tell the difference. When one started to sing Proud Mary by Tina Turner, we were minded of the age-old stereotype which did, though maybe shouldn't have, made us chuckle as we joined in the chorus of "lolling, lolling, lolling on a liver"!
We saw a few more temples.....can't tell you which ones because they all look and sound the same. The monks in Thailand are Mahayana Buddhists (like the Dalai Lama) and generally wear orange/mustard yellow robes. In Myanmar, generally monks adhere to the Theravada version and wear maroon. From what we have understood from our guides, the Theravada Buddism is a purer form adhering strictly to Buddha's teachings, as opposed to Mahayana,which is more of an interpretation of Buddhist teachings - whereby they gently ignore the doctrine that doesn't suit them and happily follow ideas that do.
We had some great massages at a shop in which the therapists are all ex-offenders. It was set up by a Belgian chap who provides the ladies with jobs immediately after they leave prison and helps provide them with money, clothes, mobiles and support so they don't re-offend. £7 for 2 hours which was cheap
cheap.
Our highlight in Chiang Mai was a cookery course where we learnt how to cook 14 dishes from scratch - so you may be the lucky ones to sample our new found love of Thai cuisine. They asked if we liked it spicy - I added 1 chilli, Mike added 7. Apparently red chillies are used if you want sexy lips (as they burn your mouth and make your lips red, swollen and sexy) whereas green chillies are hotter in your tummy!
Then we left for Chiang Rai and saw the White temple which glistens from a distance and looks like it is covered in porcelain. However on closer inspection it is made up of mirrored glass and white washed walls. It's certainly impressive and imposing but oddly it doesn't have the standard images or teachings of Buddha depicted on the walls, but instead showed contemporary scenes representing Samsara (the realm of rebirth and delusion) such as depictions of Harry Potter, Michael Jackson, a minion, hello kitty and a depiction of the Twin Towers on fire...... a bit weird, but a modern interpretation of the religion which is appreciated by both tourists and locals alike.
So
our journey to Laos begins with an early
6am start on a minibus to the Thai immigration border at Chiang Khong, then another 4km bus journey to the Laos immigration point, followed by a tuk tuk to the port, and then finally a long 2 day slow boat to Luang Prabang. The boat was supposed to leave
at 11am but only left when it was full which was 90 minutes later. Health and safety in the UK sometimes goes too far, however H&S does NOT exist in Thailand (on public transport anyway). No life vests, no emergency exits or walkways as they were filled up with locals, babies or bags of rice and the engine being totally exposed as you walked through to the toilet. The boat appeared to like dropping locals off by landing on the rocks or crashing in to other long boat drivers. "It's all an adventure" dad would say..... But he did tell me to buy some armbands (sorry dad).
Anyway The Laotian adventure begins in Luang Prabang, to Veng Vang then Vietenane so will update you with more soon. Love to all.
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Ian Fitzgerald
non-member comment
Fantastic Trip
It all looks so wonderful and I can now see why you both wanted t do this! Have put the ex con massage parlour down as a definite place to visit ! Loving your photos and stories. Ian