London to BAngkok
Trip Start
Nov 01, 2007
1
2
26
Trip End
Nov 20, 2007
Bangkok,
Thailand
Saturday, November 3, 2007
A long and exhausting flight from London Heathrow to the new international airport at Bangkok. The people in the two seats next to me were very chatty and friendly, which was great but I so badly wanted to sleep and it never happened. Anyway, after 11 hours on the plane we landed and clearing customs was easy and quick. I found my transfer driver and met up with two great Aussie girls, Joanne and Melanie.
When I got to the hotel they typically made more money out of me by telling me that my room wouldn't be ready until 2pm; it was 8am and I was dying on my feet so I paid the extra 300 Baht and let Joanne use my shower and store her gear until she could check in at 2pm.
We had a lot of fun in Bangkok. We took a tuk tuk - you have to when you're in Bangkok - and got screwed over. We agreed a cost of 30 Baht to take us to see a Buddha but the driver drove us everywhere but and then said he wanted to take us to a shop. What usually happens when they do this is that you get locked into the shop until you buy something and then they still charge you loads to get back to your hotel. We weren't into this so we paid our 30 Baht and got out. Unfortunately we were a bit lost but after a bit of wandering around, a lovely Thai lady who spoke English creatively helped us to find our way back to our hotel.
In the afternoon we visited the Amulet Market, a place full of beautiful or gaudy amulets and some amazing characters. After that we wandered around a street market, again full of fascinating people. The smells were amazing! The herbs and spices blended in the air and were so wonderful.
By 2:30pm I was shattered, I'd been up for nearly 34 hours, so I decided to call it a day and go to bed for a quick snooze.
In the early evening I met up with my trip leader, Katharina aka Kat, and the other people on my tour - more of them later. We did all the paperwork (insurance, mainly) then went out for dinner. I had the most delicious soup on the planet - lots of noodles in a broth spiced to perfection! I could live on this soup every day. The evening went well so we went to the Petrol Station Bar. Yes, a bar that was in a former Shell Gas Station. I'm sure the waitresses were ladyboys but the service was good, the beer was cheap, and I had loads of fun.
By 11:30pm I was ready for bed, especially since I had a 4am start the next morning!
