In Bangkok again
Trip Start
Jun 29, 2008
1
19
40
Trip End
May 15, 2009
Bangkok,
Thailand
Thursday, August 7, 2008
I decided I would take the airport bus back into the city as at 150 baht it was a damn sight cheaper than the 500 baht taxi ride. I was very impressed the bus service seemed really organised. I paid for my ticket and then had to wait about 20 mins so I took a seat. I started talking to a girl next to me who was heading in the same direction. She had flown in from Manilla and it was her first time in Thailand. The bus turned up and it was a nice new aircon bus..very smart. I know what I'll be using to get back to the airport next time!! We decided on the bus to find a GH together so we walked arouhnd a bit a few places are full which is unusual. We found rooms in a GH I've stayed in before off the main road so quieter, well it was quieter last year but it seems to be busier now. Not as busy as Khao San though whcih is good. The rooms are nothing special 3 quid for a single, fan and own cold shower but fairly clean. It wasn't until we went up to our rooms that we exchanged name!! I'm so bad at that. She's called Regina and she's been away since Oct last year and is from Austria. We went out for dinner together and went for an Indian vewry good indeed. Proper one too made by indians not Thai.
We have met up again today to discuss our plans as she only has about a week before flying to Cairo via Mumbai. I've also been reconsidering going to Phuket to train with Jonny as I have spent so much money the last few weeks and it'll cost me about 200 GBP for the week including food etc and I could use that to see more of thailand. I think I'm going to have a couple more days here, maybe so a couple of day trips the floating market etc and then Regina and I might head to Chaing Mai, she'll stay a couple of nights and I might stay a week as I know I can train up there as Karen I met last year did. So watch this space re what I decide to do.
I'm hopefully going to met Karen who I met last year at the Embassy tonight as she is in Bangkok for a week from Hong Kong. It'll be good to see her and I can ask her questions about the TEFL course as she did it last year in Phuket and about the boxing.
Well didn't manage to meet up with Karen as it was too late, Regina and I had booked a tour to the floating market, bridge over the river Kwai and the big pagoda and had to get up at 6am.
Well we managed to get up but it was so early. One of the men on our trip was so sick before we left...too many buckets last night. He couldn't even remeber getting back to his GH...so it's not just us that feel that way after a few of them! It took us about 1hr 45 to get to the floating market. What a tourist trap it was so busy with tourist boats going up and down the canals. It was major gridlock!! It was ok though and we stayed there for just over an hour. It was good to see I suppose but I felt like such a tourist on holiday! After we made our way towards the bridge over the River Kwai. Our bus managed to change half of it's original passengers, I think some were off to the tiger temple (so wrong!! :o( ) We ended up with a korean girl who couldn't speak english, poor thing she looked so alone, a canadian guy who's on a stop over with work (lives in Dubai) and a couple of canadian girls who are travelling, and the ngy who threw up and his dad. Quite a nice bunch. We stopped for lunch which was pretty good considering it was included in the 8GBP price. We got to Kanchaburi to see the war museum which was pretty cheesy actually except for esome of the photos which showed the allied POWs and local workers (slaves) working on the bridge. After we went to see the war cemetary which was sad. There were so many graves, Brits, Australians, Dutch etc and a lot were only about 23 when they died. It was quite a sobering experience. We then headed to the largest pagoda in Thailand. It was nice with lots of golden buddahs and a reclining one too but I prefered the Grand Palace in Bangkok. It took us about an hour to get back from that and we were pretty knackered it had been a long day. Shane didn't help by telling us about his luxury hotel, 10,000 baht a night, we are paying 200 so you can see the difference. His company were paying though. So we headed back to our cold shower and fan room and then out for dinner.
Hopefully tomorrow we are going to go to the bus station and try a book an overnight bus to Chaing Mai rather than taking VIP bus.
Well we decided it was easier to book a VIp bus from our GH as by the time we paid a taxi to the bus station and back to book the ticket and then back again to get the bus it would be cheaper. Regina went in search of a church so she could attend mass and I took a wander round and checked my mails. Went off to get a massage (yes another one) and was just getting my feet washed when Karen rang to say she was free for a coffee, so I had to make my excuses and leave the massage place. I'll go back there when I'm back in Bangkok. It was really good to meet up with Karen, she told me loads about what she has been up to and some insider stuff about the TEFL course and Chiang Mai. She's in Thailand to watch a danish fighter fight for the Muay Thai world title, she is friends with his Thai trainer (a very famous fighter but god knows how you spell his name). She has left a pair of shorts and TShirst that she has designed with his help for me to pick up when I get back to BKK. I then had a lunch date with Shane, the canadian guy from the day before. it should have been Regina and I but she has a headache so was having a sleep. We had a couple of tigers and some lovely street Pad thai (god i love the food here) and then took a tuk-tuk tour for an hour (didn't see too much as we were stuck in traffic), we did see some of China town, I think, well it looked chinese. He wouldn't let me pay for anything, hard for me to accept as I like to pay my own way. It was then back to get our bags and a stroll to find our bus to Chiang Mai. We lost our tour guide and nearly got on the wrong bus but eventually found the right one. There were about four buses waiting at the side of the road.
What a journey that was, 12 hours of trying to sleep on an uncomfortable bus with loud Israelis behind and a bus that half way decided to have problems so we had to drive really slow. The bus shook so badly that it's any wonder we got any sleep at all. Just as you do drop off they then stop at 1am for a loo break and some food (there is a loo on the bus). Finally arrived in a wet Chiang Mai at 7am very tired. They take you to a GH and to be honest any other time I would be off with my pack to find my own place but we were both really tired and it was only 300 Baht between us. I'll probably stay one more night and use tomorrow to find somewhere else without having to carry my pack.
