Bangkok!!!!!!!

Bangkok! Yeeharrr!

01 Disco Bus!

The whole trip from Battembang to Bangkok went very smoothly. The road between Battembang and the Cambodian border was one of the worst we have experienced since Mongolia. The bus couldn't drive much more than 40km/h for a long, long time. Still, we arrived at the border in good time, ready for some queueing.

Once we arrived on Thai tarmac we found our bus and were headed for Bangkok. The bus we were on was Disco bus. If you check out the photo you'll see what I mean. I've never seen an interior like it.

We got to Bangkok just before 10pm, found our guesthouse with very little hassle and headed out into the streets for some Pad Thai and then for some drinkies to celebrate our arrival in consumer heaven. Strangely, it felt good to be back in a big city again. Knowing that some lovely beach life was just around the corner for us heightened the whole experience, I'm sure.

02 Colouful (in more ways than one) Khao San Road

We spent the next couple of days enjoying the good food, the air-conditioning and the large shopping areas. We found a great Sushi restaurant and enjoyed selecting the little, laden plates from the little conveyer belt. At first we went for what we were familiar with and were pleased wth the results. The next time around we decided to try something unfamiliar. I grabbed a little plate piled with what looked like little coated fish pieces. They tasted wonderful, if a little crunchy in places. There were some odd, squishy bits which I took to be part of the coating. Anyway, we decided we ought to find out what it was. We had in fact been eating deep fried half salmon heads. You can probably guess what the squishy bits were. Despite the nice flavour, its funny how quickly you can go off food when you know what it is......we left the rest on the plate, untouched.

03 Our train to Chumphon

The Tuk-yuk drivers in Bangkok drive insanely fast and dodge in and out of the traffic, squeezing through the smallest gaps. They are an aquired taste......we opted for taxis mostly.

We booked an overnight train to the coastal town of Chomphon and from there a bus and a catamaran to the wonderful island of Koh Tao......beach magic.