Bangkok
Trip Start
Apr 21, 2008
1
9
26
Trip End
Sep 01, 2008
Bangkok,
Thailand
Friday, May 23, 2008
we arrived with no problems with visas etc as we had first thought and we also had a strange man wearing a suit jacket and top hat with us ( Jim).....once out of the airport and after a fairly long taxi ride w arived at khoa san road... (becki has just ordered a coffee, so ill take over).
So we got to Khoa San, which is supposedly the backpacker mecca of Bangkok, and got heckled by loads of supposed people offering taxi rides for cheap. Only once we had agreed on a fair of 220thb, we didnt end up in a taxi but a moped with a box in the back that we had to sit in (a tuk tuk i think the locals call them). It was cool though and a good experience. When we got to our hostel we found out that we had been massively over-charged by about 300%. We could have called the tourist police but we didnt as it was fun and our first time here. ohh beckis back now...
soo are hostel turned out to be a full blown apartment with kitchen, massive bathroom and shower, huge TV, swimming pool, gym and games room... its so clean and the staff have been so friendly we dont want to leave and we think that we would definately like to come back as our time in bangkok has been limited!!
We met up with Jim again for drinks on khoa san road where we ate some lovely street spring rolls and some not so lovely meat stuff ( didnt really taste like any meat ive ever eaten before), we then watched a rock band and in small bar where we played pool and i lost :(
After a few drinks we walked further and was continously harrased by people offering obscene shows.
--
We kindly refused and headed to another bar. We left Jim there and headed back to our hostel. The next morning we had a rest and went in the pool at the hostel which was really clean and the water was something called ozone instead of chlorine. It has no taste and doesnt make your eyes sore. Great.
* Patpong Night Market - we spent ages getting to this night market and when we finally arrived we didnt think it was as great as all the books make out. It was just full of " designer" labels which we arent really interested in
* Khoa san road- great for backpackers, lots of little cheap stalls where we bought some vests as it is so warm and cheap street food, lots of bars and people to meet
* River Boat/Water Taxis - these are great fun and really cheap you can get most places for 10thb, if you go on the local boat not the express boats, the river is really dirty though .... you wouldnt want to fall in when you are getting on and off
* Wat Pho ( the reclining buddha) - this was my favourite temple, the buddha is huge and only just fits in the temple that houses it, it is all gold and is about 46 metres long
* Grand Palace/Temple of Emerald Buddha - you have to pay to get into this area which after we had been we didnt think it was worth it, as alot of areas were shut off for a funeral. When we finally got in after lots of tuk tuk drivers telling us it was shut ( when it wasnt) the temple of the emerald buddha is the best thing to see there. The temple is so decrotive , it is all gold with mosiac pieces in silver, blue, red and green...it looks amazing. Inside you have to take your shoes off and not point your feet towards the buddha. You arent allowed in the grand palace itself which was a shame but they did have a weapons hall which was quite interesting.
*Golden Mount - here we saw a giant cenetipede and walked up 319 small stairs to the summit where the mount houses lots of other buddhas, again you can eat a vegetarian meal some where up inside the top if you want. from here you can see great views over the city
* Temple of Dawn - this was a short walk from where we are staying and to get to the top you have to climb some steep stairs but you can again se great views of the city. The temple is really pretty with lots of sculptures covering it.
Since we have been here the weather has been really hot through the day and then we have experience major thunderstorms with thunder and lightning and heavy rains, we hope that our journey this evening on the train to Koh Samui will be fairly peaceful as there has already been a thunderstorm today...fingers crossed!!!
