Bangkok - Pictures added now!!

Mopeds and motorbikes:

3 massive flat parcels - basically looked like flat pack furniture, but so big they could have been taken for wings. 

A huge parcel - when  I say huge, I mean bigger than me. So big that the driver had to lean forward over the handlebars. 

A flower display - a big one two, that came well out over the sides of the bike. I was convinced it would be crushed in the traffic. 

3 gas tanks - like the ones we would have for a BBQ at home. 

2 live pigs!!!

On Tuesday we caught the overnight train from Surat Thani to Bangkok. We arrived at the train station, and felt that it did not bode well that the information board had a permanent space for “Delay” and “Time Today”. It didn’t. The train was over an hour and a half late. It also took an hour longer  than it was meant to, and we ended up in Bangkok 3 hours later than planned.

Fortunately the hostel we had booked was only across the road from the train station. The hostel  (AT Hua Lamphong) was lovely – a nice big room, friendly staff and clean. That afternoon we decided that we would go to see the Grand Palace. However the tuk tuk driver told us that it was closing soon, and that we would not have been allowed in that late (we probably would have), and told us about a boat tour instead.  He gave us a cheap rate to get there, and we asked how much the tour would cost. “Oh I don’t know – you have to ask there!”  He then asked us if we had booked our tickets out, and when we said no, he said that after the tour, he would bring us to an information centre to buy tickets. We got to the boat, and he clearly knew all the staff, and the price was much higher than we expected. However we did manage to talk them down, and the tour was quite good. (Even if the longtail driver was more interested in showing us lizards than all the temples!). We headed back to the tuk tuk, and he brought us to the info place, but we didn’t know when we wanted to leave so there was no way he was making a sale.  He then said that he would like to bring us to a souvenir shop. We said that he had no interest, but he turned on the sympathy, saying that he needs to get a coupon from his sponsor. So we went to what turned out to be a gem store, where we had fun asking for something so specific that they definitely didn’t have it. That evening we went to the cinema. We saw Red Riding Hood in a VIP cinema – the seats were really comfy and we were given blankets and everything. (which were needed cos the air con was quite cold!) We got a welcome drink and the popcorn was lovely. Red Riding Hood is worth seeing by the way.

We were up early on Thursday to go the floating markets – many of the stalls are on boats, which was quite interesting. Unfortunately there was a lot of good bargains to be had, making our packing this morning quite difficult!! We have quite honed up our bargaining skills. In the afternoon we reattempted the palace. This did not go well. We arrived and we were sent down to a gate, which was closed, and we were told that it was a buddist holiday and that there was a ceremony going on, and no tourists were allowed in. We would have to come back at four, but in the mean time we could get a tuk tuk to some other sites. This guy then proceeded to call over a tuk tuk saying to make sure it has a white plate because the yellow plates are all pirates. This guy then brought us to a quite uninteresting temple, and then tried to bring us to a Thai centre. We realised that we had been had, and refused to go. He wasn’t at all happy. But we left him, and got another Tuk Tuk back to the palace, and got in. If we had stayed with him for his “tour” we would not have gotten in as it was closed from half three. This is quite annoying as the first guy asked when we were leaving, and we had said the next day, so if we hadn’t realised what was going on we wouldn’t have gotten to see the palace.  So anyways, we got into the palace eventually, and got to see around it. It is very impressive, with intricate details on most of the buildings, and many buildings and temples to be seen. When we came out again John was spending time changing money, so I was an easy target for the street sellers!! One guy convinced me to buy a Thai silk picture. He was pulling out different pictures, and had one of two elephants playing football, which I showed some interest in, but I ended up buying a teacher student one. John was still busy, so he tried to convince me I should buy a second picture for my students. After asking me where I was from he pulled out the elephants again and said “Look, Robbie Keane and Roy Keane, play football!! I still managed to resist.  We went back the hostel, and I conked out for a few hours. (The overnight train caught up with us.) We decided to get up again at around 11, to sample some Thai night life. We got a taxi for the first time (thinking that tuk tuks are generally cheaper, but there were none available. Tuk tuks also give you a pre-arranged price, so there are no surprises). We were surprised at how little we paid for it, and even at that I have s suspicion that the driver added a few Baht. (The meter read 35, but he had said about 60 before we left, and then charged us the 60 in spite of the meter. However, we weren’t going to argue – 100 baht is less than €2.50). Bangkok night life was exactly what we expected – a night market with stalls selling everything, surrounded by a lot of seedy bars with dubious shows on offer.

Bangkok is quite colourful - particularly the taxis. Each company seems to have chosen a bright colour - there are many pink taxis, as well as blue, red, yellow, orange, purple, green, and my favourite yellow and green. Good MEATH colours (and not Kerry colours for anyone who may be inclined to think that way!). These are not the same as car colours at home - they are more like the colours you would get in a box of crayons. 

Tuk tuks in Phuket are different to the ones in Bangkok. In Phuket they are like small vans, and have four wheels and a steering wheel, and a bit more space. In Bangkok they have 3 wheels, and handlebars like a motorbike, but they are all one unit. In Cambodia they are motorbikes with trailers - either attached behind or to the side. 

Some advice for anyone who travels to Bangkok: Avoid the tuk tuks with the white plates. If they give you a price that seems too good to be true, then it probably is. If they say anything about being government sponsered, they are probably dodgy. (both our dodgy ones mentioned that, while the other two we got didn't, and they brought us straight where we wanted)

Today, Friday, most of our day was spent travelling. We got a mini bus from Bangkok to Poipet, on the Cambodian border, which was a four hour journey. We then had to queue to leave Thailand, walk through no-man’s land (Where there seemed to be nothing but massive casinos), fill in some quarantine forms. Ironically, we handed these to a guy from the Ministery of Health, who nearly burned Johns form with his cigarette. We then got a bus to a station, which was very much in the middle of nowhere, even though it was the “International Tourist Station”, a taxi to Siem Reap, and a tuk tuk to our guesthouse. From the little that we have seen we can see that Cambodia is much poorer than Thailand. They use American dollars as currency. They drive on the right hand side of the road, and in spite of this many of the cars are right hand drive, meaning that drivers can’t see too well when overtaking. In spite of the poor condition of everything the best building in each area seems to the school, which all look very good. The people here speak very good English – better than the Thais, in spite of the fact that there is less tourism here.  One guy told us that he had no money, and learned English from a monk. Speaking of languages – on the bus from the train station, there was a French guy trying to learn some Cambodian. There was three Cambodian lads talking to him, and impressively responding to him in both English and French. They were also comparing the Cambodian to Thai. Then one of them turned around to us and asked where were from. His response to us being from Ireland was “Conas atá tu? Ta me go maith!”  

Now, the internet is verrrrrrrrry slow here, so I don't know how I will fare with loading pictures. 

Oh and two things I meant to say about Koh Phangan. After spending a few days diving, when I got into the swimming pool first I kept trying to breathe underwater. For some reason it didn't work. 

Also, we kept hearing a honking sound, and we were trying to work out what it was. At first we thought it was some sort of duck, but we have since concluded that it could be a lizzard. 

Yep, sorry no pictures for ye this time. 


Woohoo!!!!

Doesn't bode well......

We also went to see a snake show. Some of it was quite good. 

This guy kissed the cobra-  it still had its full teeth and all. 

This child was so cute - he had a belt that he kept flicking round like a snake, and he was pretending to fight with. He was really good at copying the stances of the guys fighting with the snakes in the show. 

Some of the bright taxis. 

Night Market.