Arrived back in Sydney on Tuesday evening, for one more full day there. Quite uneventful, went back in the evening to the Opera house Bar, I know i had already done that but the place has a really good vibe about it. Spent the day preparing myself for the flight to Bangkok.
Meant to leave Sydney at 12.20pm, hen flew to Singapore. The flight was terrible - there was a fault on the speakers of the public anouncement system, so it just made the most terrible buzzing noise for the last 7 of the 8 hour flight. We were 90 minutes late leaving also, so it oly gave me 30 minutes to disembark and make my connecting 2 and a half hour flight to Bangkok.
The first thing that hit me about Thailand was the heat, it was 29 degrees celcius at 9pm !! Got a taxi to my hotel in Chinatown. Took about 50 minutes, and the last 20 was just sitting in traffic. I have never seen so many taxi's in my life, how people drive here and live to tell the tale is beyond me!!! Taxi cost about a fiver, cant be bad !!
Was shattered and pretty much went straight to bed. Hotel is very good, quite luxurious and for 25 quid a night !!
The next day I decided to have a look round china town. I also needed to get some US dollars, as I have to make a small payment towards my Intrepid tour to Cambodia and Vietnam in US dollars. This is where I started to realise the difficulties the language barrier can cause. Every where I have been so far, there has been a good understanding of English, and obviously being a typical Brit, I cannot understand that when I repeat myself slowly and louder that they cannot understand me !!! Eventually after a wild goose chase I found a bank where they both could understand me and actually had some US dollars! Also they are the main currency in use in Cambodia. Already I am now really grateful that I have booked on anorganised tour, as I think it would be quite daunting for a first visit and being on my own, trying to get the best out of the trip!
Late afternoon I decide to jump in a taxi ( There are buses but how you would get on the right one god only knows ) and go to Patpong night market. I had heard this recommended on a travel priogramme on the radio. One again it was difficult to make the driver understand. He was very friendly though and chatted throughout the journey - and he seemed satisfied by me nodding in reply. It was about a 6 km journey but took 30 minutes. When the traffic lights change to green it is like wacky races!!!! It is like the starting grid of a grand prix. Also I found out that pedestrian crossings are purely optional for drivers whether they stop or not!
I got dropped off on the right road, which is something I suppose. I happen to come across an Irish bar with quite a few English people sat outside chatting. I decide to go in for a quick drink. Got chatting to an English guy called Sam who lives there. He gave me the directions to the market. However 5 pints and 2 and half hours later I then was not quite so keen to wander round a market in 30 degree heat!!! I did however walk there and had a look round. You have to barter really hard for stuff, as they start a good 50% over and above what you can expect to buy something for. Was good and did not buy anything, as cannot face the thought of carrying anything else in my luggage!!!
On saturday I have to meet up with the other people and the intrepid tour leader at 18.00, as I have most of the day to my self I went on an organised day trip to a Thai floating market and an elephant and crocodile sanctuary. The market was about 90 minutes drive out of Bangkok. It was nice to get out of the city into some fresh air, and to actually see clear blue skies, as they are a rarity in the city due to traffic pollution. The last 15 minutes of the journey has to be completed by boat. Once you arrive at the market there is a part of it you can walk round, like an indoor market but the most popular thing is to then get on a little boat. It takes about 30 minutes to do one circuit. Not only are there stalls both sides on the waters edge there are also lots of people selling their goods from other boats. It gets very congested at times. If you want to look at something the pilot of the boat will just stop.
It was quite an amazing experience, it is one of those places where I was thinking to myself and I actually here??? The locals in this area seem to be really quite poor, and they are living in shacks. They were all very friendly though.....
