Thailand - Part 1
We arrived in Bangkok and got dropped off at Khao San Road, which is the main street for backpackers. I have never seen as many travellers in one place, most were sitting in a bar sipping Chang or Singha beer. The streets were lined with hundreds of stalls selling all sorts of fake designer t-shirts, jeans etc and of course there was plenty of customary Thai tat on offer.
It was quite a culture shock arriving in Thailand after spending time in Sri Lanka and India, as it was so much easier for backpackers and there were certainly a lot more westerners than we'd been used to. Bangkok was not our favourite place so far but as always, there were some highlights.
The bright lights of Khao San Road
We went to a Thai boxing match, which was excellent! We weren't sure what seats to get, so I was allowed to go in and have a look. I very quickly decided on ringside seats which were a little pricey but the best choice. The boxing was very entertaining, if not a little brutal, with the stretcher being brought on more than once. We were lucky enough to be there when there was a big championship fight on, as the atmosphere was absolutely amazing.
The Championship fight
Laura - along with her camera - manged to ensconce herself by the judges' bench at ringside, to get some close ups of the action. However, the best photo has to be when Laura had the honour of having her picture taken with the champion.
I'm sure she could take him!
The Grand Palace is the top visitor attraction in Bangkok and was definitely worth a visit. It appeared that every building was made of gold and it was almost too much to take in in one visit. The roofs shone in the sunshine and the bling of the gold was blinding! We spent a morning there and followed it with a bit of lunch a the food festival that had set up just outside.
Grand Palace
We treated ourselves to a face massage and also get our eyebrows waxed. I enjoyed the experience very much but unfortunately, Laura had a trainee and not only did she nearly pull her face off with the massage but manage to remove half of her face during the waxing process. As you can imagine Laura was not best pleased and was ready to complain and demand a refund but considering it only cost, about 80 pence it wasn't really worth it. I guess you do get what you pay for!
Scar face
We have had some great food on our trip and the "what do you fancy to eat?" question, forms an important part of everyday. In Bangkok, we found the street food to be very tasty and you can buy a wide variety of meat on sticks, which I liked very much. The only problem is, you never know exactly what meat it is and I have spotted a few three legged dogs limping around (only joking!). I have also tried a fried grasshopper which I can only describe as crunchy.
Mmmmmmmmm tasty! Laura sampling some fish head soup
We stayed in Bangkok for 5 days and as well as the sites, we shopped (and shopped a bit more!). We had some suits made, which despite the worries of paying for ill fitting rags, they actually turned out pretty good. We also sent a box of stuff to New Zealand, to help us get through the winter, on the final leg of our trip!
We finally left Bangkok and went a few hours west to Kanchanaburi, which is famous for its bridge over the river Kwai. We went on a day trip, which included a trip to the Erawen Waterfalls, which were beautiful and provided the opportunity for a refreshing swim in the top pool. The trip also included a visit to see some of the famous Thailand- Burma railway which the prisoners of war built during the WWII. We walked part of the Hellfire pass which cut through the rock face and where hundreds of POWs and local labourers lost their lives - it was really interesting and quite eerie at the same time. We had a ride on part of the railway named 'Death Valley', which provided some good views but there were a number of scarey moments, as below!
Laura made me hang out for the sake of the photo!
After Kanchanaburi it was off to Chaing Mai and I must say that it one of the best forms of transport we have taken so far. The seats were really comfortable and the "bed man" as we called him, came around and told us that he would be making up our beds at 10pm and sure enough, he came around and it was bedtime - I don't think it was his job to tuck us in though!
Tucked up and ready for bed!
Chiang Mai is Thailand's secnd city, although a lot smaller and less hectic than Bangkok. We decided to do a white water rafting trip whilst we were there, which we both really enjoyed. Unforunately, the water is very low at this time of year so we kept getting stuck between the rocks. I was at the front and had to keep moving to each side of the raft to try and get us unstuck by the end I was a master at it but exhausted. There were a few scarey bits despite the low water and we did nearly loose laura on the way down. Her paddle got stuck in a whirl pool and she fell overboard and had to be dragged back in the boat by the instructor - she looked very elegant being thrown headfirst with her legs in the air!
We couldn't get an action shot of us riding the rapids so this is us on dry land after we had survived our adventure!
Chiang Mai was a really pretty and relaxing place, so we just chilled out for a few days, had a wander around the city, the markets and of course the beautiful temples that were on offer. We managed to bump into Myra and Graham - who we met in Sri Lanka - and had dinner with them, which was really nice. We also stumbled upon a monk drumming competition, which was quite amusing. The only aim appeared to be bang your drum as loud as possible within the given time limit!
At the local markets, it was very popular with tourists and locals alike to get your feet massaged on the street, so we indulged in a couple of massages that were devine and cost 1 pound for 30 minutes - a bargain!
After Chaing Mai we got the bus to Chiang Khong and hopped over the river into Laos for the next leg of our journey.
