Actually folks we ended up spending two nights in an almost penthouse suite in the Sukhumvit section of town, but more of that later...
We caught the train from Georgetown to Bangkok without incident around 2.30pm, and we made it to the border and crossed into the Kingdom easily enough. We both, however, took note of the sign outlining how men with long hair can be refused entry (nothing about unruly side burns though, luckily enough for Christopher). There was a gentlemen in a position of authority who we thought was going to say something (he was giving us strange looks) but he let us get back on the train without incident. The train rolled very slowly through the separatist region, much to Christopher's delight, considering the latest warning from the UK foreign office is not to travel through that region at all (gotta love those cautious Brits!). The train pulled up outside of Hat Yai, and proceeded no further for another 12 hours... so a 20 +/- train trip turned into a 30 +/- one... the gentleman and his daughter sitting next to us were helpful with translating what the train guards said, but it didn't get the train running. We played scrabble, and cards, and scrabble, and cards, and read and tried to make the meagre rations we had bought for our trip last another couple of meals. Nicola never thought she'd be so sick of eating crackers...
Travelling through Southern Thailand during the day was quite good though, as we got to see a part of the country we won't really be exporing and the sun set about 3 hours south of Bangkok is one that we will always remember, it was stunning. The downside was that the very well choreographed arrival time of 11.30 a.m, became a very stressful arrival time of 11pm. We needless have worried, as is so often the case and a relatively short taxi ride (all the shorter because the driver thought he was playing need for speed III on the roads of Bangkok), we arrived at the cheap hotel we had booked online. Fully expecting the room to have been given away, as we arrived so late, they actually upgraded us to a suite with King bed, mini bar, etc. etc. a shower later and we were tucked up in our rather large bed. We did have to take some photos of us in the provided bathrobes as well - hardly backpacker styles!
We were greeted the next morning at breakfast by an elderly man (ie older than Christopher) having breakfast with a younger Thai woman. We assume that they had found a mutual appreciation for the arts and were evidently much in love. Funny though how the scenario was repeated the second morning at breakfast but with a different couple...
We spent the next day hitting the sights (after negotiating the GPO in Bangkok). A ferry ride up Mae Num Chao Phraya and we were in the grounds of the grand palace. If you haven't been and get a chance to spend a few hours exploring it on a lovely sunny day, we would highly recommend it. Amazing! The pictures don't do it justice, Christopher was well behaved and Nicola suitably attired. For those who weren't had to borrow blue silk trousers from the main gate and staff were vigilent about women covering their shoulders.
Christopher was also accused of being a communist when we were buying our tickets to get it, due to his red star t-shirt (or maybe just his general demeanor)... it looked like it was touch and go for a while.
We walked about the city until our dogs were barking...we ended up walking through part of Chinatown which was pretty neat to see.
This morning we hit the shopping centre's, oh my, the Red Shirts had a point... again like Singapore the wealth disparity is really striking.
Well, tuk-tuk drivers, local buses and various nonsense later we are now in Ayutthaya about 90 mins north of Bangkok city centre (so practically a suburb). Nicola is resting up her heat rash and Christopher is trying to get rid of his cold (H1N1 probably). We predict some more temples in our not too distant future...
