The first present for my birthday was that we got to have a lie-in – the first one for ages. We started to think about moving around about midday. Simon brought me coffee in bed while Bindya ran me a bath in the whirlpool tub. Little things like this seem like total luxury when you are travelling. I also got a lovely card, a book (Kafka's The Castle) and some vouchers. We all went into town and me and Bindya went for a Thai massage. There was a lot more prodding and poking than I was expecting and it was downright painful at times but we both felt a bit more limber afterwards. We went for a couple of drinks and used the wifi in a place called Eurobar or something then went to meet Simon and Pen in 'Spicy Bollywood' restaurant. We were a bit early so had another couple of drinks while waiting. They had a buffet on so we all stuffed our faces and went back to the place we were in earlier for cheap cocktails. After that we went to the Writer's Club bar which was full of expat types. The old bloke who was the owner dug around in his drinks cabinets to see if he had any brandy. He found a dusty old bottle of something so poured a large measure for us to test. Bindya didn't think much of it but he still let us finish it off and didn't charge us for it. A few drinks later we went to some bar which had live music on then we headed to the opening of a new bar by some bloke that Simon knew. We had a few games of pool, a few more drinks and a bit of a dance. I might have been feeling a little tipsy by now. It wasn't too long before we headed home, amused by some of the nightlife we passed.
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| Birthday boy makin' some moves |
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| Dancing or merely confused? |
Next morning was a Saturday thankfully as we were all feeling a bit delicate I think. Simon took us to the tiger sanctuary where they do a lunchtime buffet. Not the best in the world but we got to eat while watching people having their photos taken with tigers. I was just waiting for one of them to go mental and rip someone's head off but it didn't happen.
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| Hobart's cousins |
That night we went to the 'Walking Street' which is where they close off the centre of town and put on a massive market. We bought a little print and had a quick drink in the Writers Club before heading back. We went to pick up Pen who was at a local 'temple party'.
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| 'Walking street' |
This was basically a little festival in a field where everyone was getting drunk, dancing on stage, watching Muay Thai fighting, eating food etc. Pen had had a few whiskies by this stage and was enjoying the dancing, as were loads of men, standing below the stage, watching scantily-clad women dance about. Simon was getting a lot of attention from a lady-boy who he knew. We watched the fighting and had a beer then we dragged Pen away and back home. The next day we just took it easy for most of the day. We'd had the bright idea of seeing if any of the online stock photo companies would be interested in some of our photos as a way to make a bit of extra cash so we spent a few hours going through our pictures looking for good ones. None of them were accepted though as our camera isn't good enough. We went out to the bus station to buy some tickets for the next day. We got passed from counter to counter about 5 times before we found somebody who either spoke English or had tickets for Phitsanalok, which was where we were going. It is near to Sukothai, which is an ancient town, the birthplace of the modern Siam empire.
Simon and Pen gave us a lift the next morning to the bus station and we said goodbye to Chiang Mai. Just to say a big THANK YOU to Simon and Pen for their hospitality, beers, food, lifts and expert knowledge on Thailand and Chiang Mai. We had a brilliant time thanks to this and really hope to make it back again at some point.
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| Thank you Simon and Pen! |
The bus ride was uneventful – just the usual Bindya sleepng like a baby and me suffering the sleep deprivation torture that such journeys provide for me. Yes I did forget to get the inflatable neck pillow that Bindya bought for me out of my big bag again. We arrived in Phitsanalok about 6 hours later, jumped straight into a very small Saungthaow (I have no idea how to spell this...) and were at our hotel 5 mins later. They took us up to the third floor where our room was – it was reasonable enough but we couldn't get the wifi to work. We went out to see the town and find some food. While we were walking around the road I smashed my forehead into a metal bar holding up an awning covering a food place outside a shop. It knocked the bar out and the awning collapsed on my head. People didn't know whether to look concerned or laugh. I put it back in and we wandered round a bit more, me being careful to bend double when walking on the pavement. We normally get a lot of stares from people around and about, I assume it is to do with me being very tall and Bindya having a large chest. Thw town was pretty dead. We found a Tesco's and bought a few bits of snacks and drinks then went back to the hotel. We went out later to try to find some restaurant that was in the guide book but we walked for ages and didn't find it so we went to some loud locals bar instead. We ordered some food, which was very cheap but turned out to be tiny as well. Also the chicken and hot basil that Bindya ordered turned out to be the hottest thing she has ever eaten. I have never, in my 3 and a half years of knowing Bindya, seen her sweat and choke because food was too spicy... Bindya had a dodgy knee the next day so we gave up on the trip to Sukothai and just had a relaxing day instead.
We got the bus the next day for Bangkok which was nice and straightforward. This time we decided to stay in the 'backpacker area' of Bangkok, Khao San Road.
Ok Neil you have written loads now it's my turn.....We arrived at our hotel which we booked online called Sawasdee Welcome Inn (means Hello in Thai) and were given an option of two rooms, Neil went to check while I did the paperwork, it was a cheap place only charging us £9 per night including brekky. After we settled in, then headed out to have a look at the place. It was busy and full of tourists, the opposite to our first trip to Bangkok. We were hungry and so carried on the tradition of Indian dining around the world and found a great Indian doing really lovely food and some beers. After getting stuffed we headed back as Bangkok was so humid for air con and shower and bed. The next morning we had brekky and headed off to the train station to arrange our tickets to Ko Samui, the helpful information desk showed us to the booth and the types of tickets we could get. Although it was a little more expensive then the travel agents in Khao San we had read loads of stories about tourists who had been robbed and thing stolen from bags on the the overnight tourist buses. We booked an overnight train in 2nd class with fan only (as last time the air con was too cold) with connecting tickets to the dock and then to Ko Samui.
We then went to visit a the Wat Traimit with the 3 meter tall and 5 and a half ton solid Gold Buddha. As usual I had a sarong and cardigan for such occasions and so covered up as a mark of respect before entering. While in the temple we took photos and paid our respects to the buddha which was nice it didn't look like solid gold to us (especially on the back which look tarnished).
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| THE SOLID GOLD BUDDHA |
As we left a group of other tourists, European (Neil thinks maybe Germans), went in and the lady with them was told not to go in and judging from the hot pants and vest top, the man pointing at the sign about dressing appropriately and pointing at her clothes, why this was the case. She seemed annoyed and the rest of her group were, however so some reason they went in and made everyone aorund them embarrassed. This made me really angry and before we arrived in Thailand we read about customs and rituals and how not to offend the people of the country, however while travelling all we see is rude tourists who seem to not care what they do. I told Neil that when we were in India I would not be standing back if tourists were inappropriatly dressed in a temple (OK rant over...).
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| Bindya's friend |
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| Khao San Road |
We got a cab back to Khao San Road and walked up the busy street full of tourists, market stalls, people selling Pad Thai and Spring Roll, Fish Massages and fake ID's (not sure why??) before we headed back to the hotel for a rest. In the evening we headed out for drinks and dinner. That night back at the hotel I realised that I had forgotten my bag at the resturant, I freaked out as it had my passport, credit cards,, money etc. Neil ran out to see if it was there and luckily it was. The next day we had little to do as we were waiting for our train, so we spent the day catching up on blog, photos, planning and booking rooms for the rest of our trip.
We got a taxi to the train station where we spent time waiting like ever other tourist with a backpack until we could get on our train. Me and Neil walked past the air con and sleeper carriages to 2nd class where we were with fewer tourists and more locals (just the way we like it, as we want to experience more cultural and the people rather then other tourists....not going to rant again I promise). I got to recline in our chairs and there were people selling food and drinks all the time. The ride was OK however about an hour into the ride a group of 6 monks got on and sat in front of us, as Neil has explained I am very aware of monks as I don't want to bump into them or to offend them in any way, I watched how people passed the monks but bowing their heads, or trying to move past as quickly as possible. The rest of the night me and Neil got some sleep but not much. Neil woke me at 7am and said that he thought we may have missed our stop. Now if this was 6 months ago we would have freaked out but now 6 months in we though ok we will just wait and see where we are and decide what to do later. We realised that the train was running late and we got off at Surathani where we were ushered to the buses, very forcefully, it seemed we were surrounded by all tourists, we had a bus journey for about 1 hour ( I fell asleep) before being ushered on the dock to the boat which was packed with again more tourists. Some nice and lovely people, others look like from those shows Brits abroad and Ladette to Lady (Brit and Aussie Style). The boat trip was long and we just about got a seat. Once we arrived at Ko Samui we had to get off (all 70+) while the Thais threw our bags on to the pier. I could see mine but a groups of girls wouldn't get past as ther wanted their bags, they pushed me to one side as they got theirs. I grabbed mine but the sheer force of my strength made the railings of the boat unhinge and fall into the sea. I quickly ran off and all I could hear was the girls saying to the Thai's it wasn't them who did it.
Neil's 37th Bday and Chaing Mai
Bangkok 2 – Temple and Khao San Road
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