Well we finally managed to drag ourselves away from the beach after a couple of lazy weeks and arrived back in Bangkok on Monday (28th). The first time we arrived in Bangkok, a fortnight ago, we staggered round in a jet lagged daze for a day and half before leaving for the islands, so this time round we decided to explore the city properly and do a few days trips.
Our "VIP bus" dropped us back in Bangkok at 5.30am after a 17 hour journey from Ko Lanta. We headed straight for Khao San Road, which is basically backpacker central. One of the guidebooks described it as an "architectural monstrosity" and while there's certainly something in that, it ain't really that bad. To us, it looks more like Piccadilly Circus on acid. It's a street about a 1000 yards long lined on every side by neon clad shops, bars and guesthouses, all aimed at the discerning (and the not so discerning) backpacker.
We found our glamorous pad in Chart Hotel (exciting name huh?) and secured a double room with a tiny window and shared bathrooms on the landing for the princely sum of 350 baht (just over 5 quid) a night. It might not be 5 star but it's clean and we're on the 4th floor, so we don't get too much noise from the 24 hour bar/restaurant downstairs.....and the bar in the courtyard below our room tends to stop blasting Euro-disco at around midnight.....and the pigeon's cooing in their nest outside our window don't tend to wake us much before 6....are you jealous yet? Thought not.
To be honest though, it's fine and it was about time we started doing this backpacking lark properly. Though we've haven't gone as far as dreadlocks and tattoos. Yet. (just kidding mums!)
Anyway, enough rambling. What do we think of Bangkok then? Well it's really nice (Phil describes it as what India might look like one day when it's finished!). There are some very modern bits with skyscrapers and expensive shopping malls but they've retained a lot of the history with lots of old temples and palaces. We've been using a the river boat to get around a lot which is really nice and they have a modern Sky Train and Metro system too.
On Monday we headed down to the Vietnam Embassy to sort out our visas and then had a look round one of the more modern areas - Siam Square. We headed to Wat Phrae Kaeo and the Grand Palace on Tuesday which was beautiful. 'Wat' is Thai for temple and Wat Phrae Kaeo is in the Palace grounds and is the holiest site in the country because it houses the Emerald Buddha (Thailand is over 90% Buddhist), which is 60 cm tall and mounted on an elaborate throne.
We decided to do a day trip on Wednesday and signed up for a trip to a floating market, followed by a visit to the famous Bridge over the River Kwai. The market was at Ratchaburi - about 30 miles north west of Bangkok, and is like a little version of Venice, with a few more coconuts. It's a small town built around a network of canals and traders paddle their small wooden boats around the waterways carrying all kinds of fruit and veg and Thai handicrafts (plus the usual tourist souvenirs). Maybe 20 years ago, it was just other Thai traders who would be doing the buying but now it's a major tourist attraction with boatloads of visitors also being carried along the canals and encouraged to buy, though it's still a lot of fun.
After that, we drove closer to the Burmese border to the Thai town of Kanchanaburi, which is the site of the Bridge over the River Kwai. Over 100,000 people died during the building of the bridge and the railway, which the Japanese wanted so they could get supplies through Thailand and Burma with the ultimate aim of invading India. Many of those who died were British and other allied POWs, though the majority of deaths were Thai civilians. There's a small museum nearby which includes an actual train engine that ran on the line during the war. Nowadays only two trains per day use the line so you're allowed to walk across the bridge (which we did).
The day after (Thursday) we headed to Ayuttaya which was the Thai capital from the 14th century till the mid-18th century, when the Burmese invaded and destroyed much of it. Nowadays, the main sites are the many temple ruins dotted about the city.
We topped off another good day with a nice meal at our favourite street cafe and a few drinks to celebrate a) Sarah's Mum and Dad having just booked tickets to come out and visit us in Oz! and b) it being one whole month since Sarah has been 'Nosmo King' (get it?!)
It's Friday today and this afternoon we went to Bangkok zoo by mistake. We'd intended to go and sit in what we thought was a big public park, which turned out to be the grounds of the King's main residence and are closed to the public. Fortunately they're located right next to the zoo, so we went there instead. The zoo was really good with crocodiles, tigers, red pandas and orang utans, plus some pretty cool monkeys that looked like they were wearing grey waistcoats with red trousers and white tails.
After that we went to have a looked round Vimanmek Mansion which was King Rama V's residence from 1900 to 1951 but is now a museum. Apparently it's the world's largest building made only from golden teak wood. The Thais seem very proud of this fact. We're not sure why. Though it was pretty impressive and worth seeing just so we could imagine being elegant ladies and gentlemen and wafting in and out of the cool wooden rooms to the sound of the Steinway piano in the living room... it was a bit of a change from Khao San Road!
We're planning to go to the weekend market in Chatuchak in Bangkok tomorrow before getting another overnight "VIP bus" to Chiang Mai, which is Thailand's second city (hopefully it's better than Birmingham). We'll probably spend a week there before heading for Laos. So we'll be back with another report in a week or so's time.
In the meantime, take care. And careful in those winds....
Love from Phil and Sarah x
