Back in Bangkok
Trip Start
Oct 30, 2005
1
43
122
Trip End
Ongoing
Bangkok,
Thailand
Monday, February 6, 2006
We arrived in Bangkok on schedule and although there was a long wait at immigration we got through okay. The airport has undergone a bit of renovation since we were last here - they actually have air conditioning now. However as soon as we stepped out of the airport the heat and humidity just hit us, and luckily it wasn't a long wait for the airport bus into town.
Our hotel wasn't too hard to find, however even though we had confirmed our arrival time when we made our booking, they told us that they wouldn't have a room available until after 6:00 that night. It was really the last thing we wanted to hear when we hadn't slept for about 28 hours, but we decided to wait and proceeded to spend the rest of the day sitting in air conditioned cafes and ice cream shops to escape the heat.
We got into our room at 6pm, and were so over being tired that we weren't really that tired anymore, so we went out for dinner and didn't make it to bed until after midnight - we were enjoying this city too much. Ahhhh, Thailand. Feels like we are home in a strange sort of way!
After spending most of the next day sleeping, we managed to get out in the afternoon to visit a few local markets.
The following day we walked to the Golden Mount Temple, before jumping in a canal boat to head into the centre of the city (the area we stayed last time we were in Bangkok).
Chillies!
It was really strange comparing what is here now to what was here 7 years ago, gone are the little alley ways and cool little markets and up has gone shopping mall after shopping mall. Nice for the air conditioning but not much character. The transport has also changed. When we were here last tuk-tuks ruled the streets, but now they are outnumbered by air-conditioned taxi's along with a new Metro System and Skytrain. So we spent most of the rest of the day scooting around town on all of this new transport discovering this new city. In the evening we went to the Night Bazaar to do a bit of shopping.Over the last couple of days here the rest of our time has been spent visiting places we hadn't been to before (Little India, Chinatown, Flower Market, Patpong Road and the massive Chatachuck Weekend Market). We have also spent some time planning the next part of our trip.
We have now decided to head down to Koh Chang, an island off the east coast of Thailand, to chill out for a few days. This area is very close to the Cambodian border, so we will make our way over to Cambodia from there, which is where you will hear from us next. More adventures - here we come!
