13 Coins Antique Villa (Downtown) Bangkok

... stay practical. So, get too far off the beaten path and you'll have too much of a struggle to survive - much less enjoy yourself. Luckily, on this trip, we managed to find in Bundi the perfect balance between comfort and adventure.

I am also pleased to report that, in contrast to my earlier trips to India, I did not get sick one time on this trip. Not even a little bit. I'm sure it's not because India has gotten cleaner in the ...

Koh Tao was amazing and we were sad to leave so soon, but we got up and packed nonetheless and headed to our breakfast spot for French toast and free internet. We could have done more with the day, more exploring if we had gotten up early, but these days of sleeping in are hard to beat. Our transportation to the pier was another open bed truck and we loaded all our bags and then headed to the pier to catch our boat. We were headed to Bangkok, first by ...

... of the Dawn (Wat Arun) Bangkok

Suan Lum Night Bazaar Bangkok TICK

Chao Phraya River Bangkok TOO FAR AWAY :-(

Bangkok, Thailand jo_in_thailand

... club down the road. On entry, we were greeted by the sight of about twenty stunning girls in bikinis dancing to pulsating R&B on stage. Much better! We bought some beers and found some seats. Curiously, however, the girls all had numbers pinned to their bikini bottoms. Perhaps to order a private dance? I naively pondered, thinking of the situation in London. After half an hour of delightful gazing, however, I discovered what the numbers were for. A song finished and all of ...

... old town. The plan was then to make my way back to khao san and travel down into china town and end up in Silom, better known as the red light district.
I left the ferry and wandered for what seemed like miles. My tourist map was great but it appeared to have left out a lot of key roads and I didn't have a clue where I was, but I knew i didn't want to be there. It wasn't a tourist area. To make matters worse I was being hassled by a middle aged Thai bloke. I asked for ...

... as our next adventure would be Cambodia......!! Cambodia by bus.......or..how to rip you off friendly-style.!!
But okay...we said goodbye to Thailand...had a great time. Specially in Phuket/Patong with Dave..and it was nice to see Natasha in Bangkok. But Thailand is for sure one of our favorite countries so far.!! But Comes Monday...comes Cambodia.......you will read us later..
Bye Bye.. from the 2 ( getting fatter by the day ) Back-Packers. P&M

... and left to bake in the sunshine, but I went along with it at the time and had the typical tourist picture with them. The final stop on this trip was to the Kwai River Bridge (Death Railway Bridge), a beautiful setting with an emotional history.
On my final day in this mad city I visited the Grand Palace and lapped up the atmosphere for one last time!
Tomorrow im setting off for Northern Thailand on a 17 hour train journey......

... luxary after the Laos hell, and we had a fun game of 'what can we buy with the little currency we have left',And the answer...a mere coke, but that was good for us! We got on the flight feeling very very relieved that this one at least had been booked ahead, so there was no last minute rush to sort out scam-tickets. The flight itself was really just a breeze, and we touched down in Bangkok with a big sigh of relief at the beautiful (clean!) surroundings of Thailand.

One of my clients is a particularly extraordinary young lady who started an environmental organization from scratch. She built a nursery and grows several types of trees, many of them species that have disappeared from Bangkok over the last few decades as more designer and imported trees are used for landscaping. Half the trees are sold to support people ...

... a bus over here it's an adventure and this one was no different. What with a passing Orange-robed Monk hitching a ride on the back of a motor scooter and someone's pet monkey in the back of a pick up truck...face in the wind doing his best farm dog from Saskatchewan imitation!

That and the sewage of the bus toilet deciding to back up at exactly 1:30am in the morning which gave off the most disgusting smell. A freaky German guy quite vocally expressed his displeasure to the ...