Bangkok
Day 2 in Bangkok started with a huge sleep-until 11.15 am which meant we'd slept for 14 hours!
We got out on the street and I still didn't like it all that much. It was hotter, more humid and the place is so busy. The only sign we saw of the coup was a couple of soldiers in a troop carrier stopped near a temple having something to eat. It all seemed to be pretty tame.
We lunched in the food hall as it was air conditioned, the food was good and it was close to the hotel. Some of the food on the streets literally made my stomach heave in the heat and humidity. Huge piles of un refrigerated chicken and seafood and the strongest smell the fish sauce being used to cook them.
After booking a couple of tours for the following days, we went back to the hotel pool then got ready for our complementary dinner and Thai dancing. The Thai dinner was good, but we left the dancing as soon as we could and headed up to bed. It was so stupid to sleep 14 hours the night before as we couldn't get to sleep at all. I suppose that was a bit of jet lag.
Day 3 we woke very early and set of on a bus tour to the Bridge over the River Kwai, the war cemetary, war museum and Burma Railway. It was interesting and wonderful to get out of Bangkok and see there is a beautiful Thailand. The mountains and forests were wonderful. We travelled down the river by a couple of different boats, lunched by the river (great Thai meal), travelled 35ks on the railway (3rd class on wooden seats with the locals) and generally just had a great day. On the way home we finally passed a couple of tanks guarding the entrance to the city (with their guns and machine guns aimed at us as we passed). A few ks on, we passed more tanks with locals videoing them and the soldiers, having photos taken with them and presenting them with flowers and hanging garlands of flowers over the guns. That night we were exhausted so decided to eat in the hotel (something I hate to do, but almost had to). I expected to sleep really well, but again it was pretty light and little.
Day 4 was hotter if it's possible. We did a bit of shopping, then had some lunch at the food hall before going on our second tour. This was a boat ride up Bangkok's main river and canal. It was really interesting to see the number of people who live along the river and see them going about their daily lives. We passed some amazing temples and buildings along the way too. The second boat we travelled on was a traditional rice barge and they served us unlimited drinks and tropical fruits.
We met a nice family of 4 (mum, dad, son and daughter-in-law)from Adelaide on the tour (also staying in our hotel) and went for dinner to a great Indian restaurant with them that night. As we left the hotel to walk the 5 minutes to the restaurant it was spitting lightly-by the time we got there the skies had opened up and we were drenched. Still, it was a great night with some really nice people and the food was as good as they promised.
Day 5 we woke at 4.45 am, got picked up at 5.30 and went to the airport for our 7.50am flight back to Perth. I hated the flight and was so happy to be off the plane, through customs and find Leah waiting for us at the gate. What a wonderful suprise for 2 people who thought they needed to get a taxi home.
Leah, Blair and Todd are in their new home, so it was exciting to get there and see everything and have Todd (still on crutches from his knee reconstruction) cook us a lovely, homely meal of chops, veg and gravy.
*This blog has become very long and large and publishes veeeeeeeeery slowly nowdays. I'm going to start a brand new one and will post the link to it righ here when I have it set up.
We got out on the street and I still didn't like it all that much. It was hotter, more humid and the place is so busy. The only sign we saw of the coup was a couple of soldiers in a troop carrier stopped near a temple having something to eat. It all seemed to be pretty tame.
We lunched in the food hall as it was air conditioned, the food was good and it was close to the hotel. Some of the food on the streets literally made my stomach heave in the heat and humidity. Huge piles of un refrigerated chicken and seafood and the strongest smell the fish sauce being used to cook them.
After booking a couple of tours for the following days, we went back to the hotel pool then got ready for our complementary dinner and Thai dancing. The Thai dinner was good, but we left the dancing as soon as we could and headed up to bed. It was so stupid to sleep 14 hours the night before as we couldn't get to sleep at all. I suppose that was a bit of jet lag.
Day 3 we woke very early and set of on a bus tour to the Bridge over the River Kwai, the war cemetary, war museum and Burma Railway. It was interesting and wonderful to get out of Bangkok and see there is a beautiful Thailand. The mountains and forests were wonderful. We travelled down the river by a couple of different boats, lunched by the river (great Thai meal), travelled 35ks on the railway (3rd class on wooden seats with the locals) and generally just had a great day. On the way home we finally passed a couple of tanks guarding the entrance to the city (with their guns and machine guns aimed at us as we passed). A few ks on, we passed more tanks with locals videoing them and the soldiers, having photos taken with them and presenting them with flowers and hanging garlands of flowers over the guns. That night we were exhausted so decided to eat in the hotel (something I hate to do, but almost had to). I expected to sleep really well, but again it was pretty light and little.
Day 4 was hotter if it's possible. We did a bit of shopping, then had some lunch at the food hall before going on our second tour. This was a boat ride up Bangkok's main river and canal. It was really interesting to see the number of people who live along the river and see them going about their daily lives. We passed some amazing temples and buildings along the way too. The second boat we travelled on was a traditional rice barge and they served us unlimited drinks and tropical fruits.
We met a nice family of 4 (mum, dad, son and daughter-in-law)from Adelaide on the tour (also staying in our hotel) and went for dinner to a great Indian restaurant with them that night. As we left the hotel to walk the 5 minutes to the restaurant it was spitting lightly-by the time we got there the skies had opened up and we were drenched. Still, it was a great night with some really nice people and the food was as good as they promised.
Day 5 we woke at 4.45 am, got picked up at 5.30 and went to the airport for our 7.50am flight back to Perth. I hated the flight and was so happy to be off the plane, through customs and find Leah waiting for us at the gate. What a wonderful suprise for 2 people who thought they needed to get a taxi home.
Leah, Blair and Todd are in their new home, so it was exciting to get there and see everything and have Todd (still on crutches from his knee reconstruction) cook us a lovely, homely meal of chops, veg and gravy.
*This blog has become very long and large and publishes veeeeeeeeery slowly nowdays. I'm going to start a brand new one and will post the link to it righ here when I have it set up.
posted by janandruss at
11:44 a.m.
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