Break up of the Fellowship

Monday 3^rd January 2011

MP3 track of the day: So long, farewell - Sound of Music

Weather: Hoooot

I woke up a lot earlier than I thought I would; this was mostly down to the Dutch guests who, deciding to get up early, turned on all the lights within the dorm … every time they enter or exit the dorm they turn the lights on no matter if it's 1am or 6am … annoyed, you bet! I'm glad that this is my last day in Bangkok, I was hoping to meet up with Mike and Stef today as I would be struggling for ideas if not. I am looking forward to leaving tomorrow.

As per usual, a lazy start to the day followed by breakfast and the internet kept me occupied for most of the morning. Stef had emailed me to suggest meeting up at around 7pm for tea (hopefully not Subway again) … sorted! However what was I going to do with the rest of my day? I ummed and arred as I sent a message to Mike to see what he was up to.

Eventually it was lunch time and with no reply from Mike I had a short walk around the area of my hostel. The strength of the sun has been fierce the past couple of days and today was no exception. I was therefore relieved when I turned the corner to find an apartment store with air conditioning. Three floors of clothes followed by a floor full of electronics was in store for me; not needing any clothes I headed straight to the top floor to have a look around the computers, TV's and other electrical goods. About a third of the way around the floor I went past a glass cupboard presenting camera memory cards; I've almost filled another card, mainly with photos from the last five days, and so I inquired into the price of the usual 4GB memory card that I opt for. 250 baht was my answer which, when converted into British Stirling, amounts to five pounds … complete bargain as these cards can cost anything between ten and sixteen pounds. I bought one and left, heading for my guesthouse to make sure the card actually worked.

Once in my dorm I got my camera from my cupboard and tried the memory card, it worked perfectly fine. I then pondered my next move; looking at my bed I noticed that my book only had fifty pages left. Decision made my novel, and a half drunken bottle of water, came downstairs with me to the common room where I read the final pages sitting comfortably on a black sofa.

Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, written by Haruki Murakami, is a strange story set in modern-day Tokyo. It's about a guy's life and another life that he leads only within his sub-conscious. Apparently, according to this novel, we all create a separate world for ourselves within our sub-conscious but, as its there, most of us are rarely aware that it even exists. Within this book something goes wrong and the main characters life pattern has been altered so that his sub-conscious world would soon take over his reality. Like I said it's a strange story however it is also very gripping and well written with lots of attention to the smallest of details. I would recommend this novel and I shall be looking for more of Haruki's work as I travel further.

I took my finished book to the 'book exchange' shelf within the guesthouse; I browsed the other titles however nothing took my fancy … besides I already had another novel and so I decided to drop this book off without replacing it. A bit more weight lost. X-men Origins had just started on the TV and so I listened to that as I scanned the internet once more.

Tomorrow, at 8:30am, I will board a train heading to Chang Mai; this left very little time in the morning to purchase breakfast and so my next chore for the day was to head to seven-eleven to purchase said breakfast. As you can imagine this mundane act was completed and I don't think any more explanation is needed.

By now I was running out of things to do. The good thing was that it was 5pm and only two more hours until I meet Stef, Mike and Barbara -Anne. I sat down in the common room, the film 'old dogs' was starting on 'Star Movies' … I have seen this film quite often whilst traveling within South East Asia. I therefore decided to make a move; originally I was going to take the boat up to our meeting point, which should have taken around twenty minutes. This was far too quick and so I decided to walk, it should take me just over an hour to get there meaning I would arrive just after 6pm leaving time to get a drink beforehand … lovely.

The sun was setting so it wasn't too hot to walk; I followed the path I took the first full day that I was in Bangkok. The walk took me past monuments that I had seen before and it was pleasant enough. I arrived on Khoa San Road around 6:20pm; heading to McDonalds, our meeting point, I ordered a drink and quietly past the time.

Mike arrived first and then shortly afterwards Barbara-Anne and Stef; we exchanged hugs before heading out for something to eat (not between Mike and I you understand). We found a lovely street food place five minutes from Khoa San Road which was a much better option than the Subway the previous night (and a lot more cheaper); we chatted about where we had been and what we had seen and done. We then went for drinks at a couple of pubs before wrapping up the night at around midnight. Having traveled overnight Stef and Barbara hadn't slept too well and Stef in particular was pretty tired. I too was totally shattered and so we all said our goodbyes. It was quite sad really; Mike and I had met in Melaka over a month ago and now he was off to India. I had met Stef and Barbara in George town two weeks ago and Stef was flying to the Philippines and Barbara Cambodia. We were all heading our separate ways with little possibility of meeting on the road again however, I do hope to meet up again, maybe after our epic journeys are completed (plus I'm taking Stef to Japan) … and of course theres always Facebook.

I took a taxi back to my guesthouse which, apart from me having to give directions when we became lost (oh and the ride was pretty cheap too) was pretty uneventful. So tomorrow I'm off … and I'm quite glad about it too. I can't believe that I've been in Bangkok a week and I am so ready to move on. Hopefully Chang Mai should be a good place to hang out for a couple of days … oh and hopefully it'll be cooler too.

Toodle Pip

Jobs Day

Sunday 2^nd January 2011

MP3 track of the day: Hotel room service - Pitbull

Weather: hot and sunny

I had a nice lie-in until around 7am (having gone to bed around 8:45pm that's over ten hours asleep) when I couldn't sleep another minute. Getting up I spend most of the morning on the PC updating my blog, reading emails / messages and listening to a podcast a friend of mine recommended as it talked about Laos, my next destination. Reading through my messages I got one from Stef saying that she was currently heading up to Bangkok and would like to meet up; I replied and I've decided to stay in Bangkok a seventh night so that, hopefully, we can hook up tomorrow.

It took me until midday when I finally finished all my internet stuff; I extended my stay here at my guesthouse for a further night and headed out to the train station to purchase my rail ticket for Tuesday the 4^th January. Having been in the railway station before I knew exactly where to go and, once at the ticket office, a young lady popped up to help me to translate what I wanted. All was remarkably simple and, dare I say it, a pleasant purchasing experience where I didn't feel ripped off … maybe I should have gone by train more often.

Once I had purchased my 2^nd class, with air-conditioning, rail ticket (I've traveled on those hard wooden seats within third class when I traveled along the 'death railway'; fine for an hour or so but not twelve … so I upgraded for a little luxury) I booked my accommodation. I'm staying a little out of town at a place called 'Spicythai guesthouse'. The ratings are good and it's been recommended to me for it's 'backpacker scene'; it's supposed to be full of backpackers so it's a good place to meet, hopefully, people going my way. At £6 (300 baht) per night it's a little more expensive than I would have liked but I think it'll be worth it.

Earlier in the day I had text Mike to see what he was up to; a Thai massage was the reply and I asked him to text me when he was done so that we could meet up. This must have been the longest Thai massage on earth as hours had passed with no communication; I therefore decided to have lunch and then go out on my own. I went to the restaurant at my guesthouse only to find the kitchen closed (what is it with this restaurant, it's never open!) for today and tomorrows lunch. I decided that I would get lunch on the way to the district of Siam.

The district of Siam is quite close to where I'm staying and its the only district of Bangkok that I haven't seen. Siam is Bangkok's shopping heartland with loads of shopping centers; being pretty hot today I dived into the first shopping center I found purchasing a large drink. As I went up the escalators I noticed that the shopping center had the usual western designed retail units however it also had a lot of smaller stalls; the walkways within the center weren't spacious at all but instead quite cramped. I found the cinema and had a look to see what films where on … 'Gulliver's travels' was a film that I fancied seeing, but not today. I headed back to my hostel for a quiet evening, maybe even a film in the DvD room.

I got back to my guesthouse a lot earlier than planned and, with no answer from 'massaging Mike' I inquired about the key to the DvD room so that I could watch a film. The guy behind the counter had a look around but the key was already out, therefore somebody must have been in the room already. I decided to walk into the DvD room to watch whatever this mystery person was watching, however the room was empty and locked. It then dawned on me that someone had borrowed the key, gone out for the day, and not returned it stopping others from using this facility … completely selfish.

Finally a message from Mike staying that at 8pm he was meeting the beautiful two Finnish girls for there last night on holiday and would I like to join … yep! Being only 5pm I had plenty of time to have a quick look at my emails, get a shower and walk up to the 'twin towers hotel', which was where the two Finns where staying. I arrived ten minutes late due to problems actually finding the place however, once there, it became very apparent that this wasn't any backpackers lodge. The hotel was huge with glass doors and lovely red-patterned carpet on the floor … oh and a bloke in a jacket and tall hat; I felt suitably out of place and very under-dressed.

Mike was waiting in the overly-large foray reading a paper. I walked up to him surprised to see no beautiful blond girls; Mike explained that they had gone to the nearest shopping center for some last minute shopping and that we would meet them there. Shopping at 8pm, I replied; Mike just shrugged his shoulders. The shopping center was only a ten minute walk away and so, as we walked, Mike told me about his massage which was a little too hard and not very good. Once at the shopping center I took a photo of a 'pimped-up' limo tuk-tuk … pretty cool. We then waited around for twenty minutes or so for the girls to eventually appear, one small shopping bag each. We then proceeded to find somewhere to eat.

One hour and a half later, all starving, we still hadn't found anywhere to eat. Like I said before, eating a meal in Bangkok is really difficult as trying to find somewhere to eat is impossible. We even left the area that we where in, took the sky train, and looked around another part of the city for a restaurant (we did find a Japanese restaurant which looked great, however the girls weren't interested). And so it came to be that Mike and I took two beautiful Finnish girls, for their last meal here in Bangkok, to Subway … and I tell you what, it was the most expensive meal that I've purchased in Thailand so far.

Once I had let my 12” 'steak and cheese' digest a little we all went to a pool club which the girls had been to the previous evening. It was a very relaxing place where we had a few games plus had a quite drink where the girls tried to teach Mike and I Finnish … I don't remember much of it.

Finally it was around 1:30am and, due to the girls flight leaving at 9am, we decided to take a taxi back to their hotel where we said goodbye and I finally carried on with the taxi to my guesthouse. The driver wanted to count the trip as two separate journeys (as it's late at night, each journey the taxi makes has a 35 baht additional charge); I tried to argue that it was one trip with a drop-off, however he wasn't having any of it. Fortunately it didn't take long to arrive in the area of town that I was staying in. I asked the driver to drop me off so that I would walk the rest of the way. Looking in my wallet I was horrified to find that I had no change at all; the journey was 100 baht and all I had was 87 in change and a 1,000 baht note. As the driver had no change he accepted the 87 baht which made me feel a little better for being charged twice for a late night cab.

I arrived at my guesthouse totally shatter and went to sleep … it had been a good evening!

Toodle Pip!

Grand Palace … again

Friday 31^st December 2010

MP3 track of the day: Ms Jackson - outcase

Weather: Sunny with a little cloud … quite hot.

As I had gone to sleep a reasonable time I got up at 8:00am, wide awake. Not wanting to wake any of the other Danish people sleeping within my dorm (this place is owned by a Danish company and so it's full of Dains … a bit like Khoa Lak with the Germans, only this is on much more of a local scale) I got ready quietly and headed out for the day.

The day started much like yesterday; I first visited the local 'seven-eleven' for a banana cake, bottle of water and a packet of crisps. I then ate these at the ferry terminal and awaited the ferry that would take me to the palace. Instead of me asking a French couple the ropes, I had a Swedish couple ask me when do they pay for their ferry tickets? Where do they leave the ferry? Etc etc. I was happy to help and in the end they followed me to the gates of the palace where they went to get suitably covered (they had to borrow a sarong each) where as I, with long trousers on, could just walk to the ticket office and hand over 350 baht … ouch!

Being a Thai public holiday the place was packed; there where two queues to enter the palace, one for foreigners and one for Thai people. It turns out that if you are Thai you don't have to pay to enter the complex, and damn right too (which should a local people have to pay to see their countries palace). I slowly went through an arch to see three magnificent buildings to the left of me, these where the 'Phra Siratana Chedi', the 'Phra Mondop' and the 'Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn'. The first building mentioned was a solid circular golden structure -with a huge spike on top -, the second building was again a rounded structure however this was made up of pillars topped with a roof using every colour under the sun. The final building was an 'x' kind of shape, again made of pillars with a colourful roof, however some work was happening to this building and scaffolding was erected on it's north and south faces. None of the buildings could be entered.

Most people headed to these buildings straight away, however I turned to look back at the gate I had just entered through to find two giant monsters guarding it; I took a quick photo before moving on to the three buildings as mentioned above. Up the stairs I moved around to the southern side of the buildings to get out of the sun; once there I found a model of Angkor Wat before descending down into another courtyard which was less busy. Once in this courtyard I had a look at the buildings found there, none of them as impressive as the first three. I did however see some beautiful Buddhist art running along the walls of the perimeter of this part of the palace; the artwork seemed to be telling a story and so I headed back to the entrance I had come through and started to walk in the direction that I thought the story followed.

Well if it did tell a story then it beats me what the story was, all I know was that the art work was stunningly beautiful and lots of maintenance occurs to keep the paint work (especially the gold) in striking condition. It took me a while to make my way around the whole mural, photographing as I went. Once I had done the large circle I was back at the entrance and so I headed back into the courtyard to see 'the main attraction'.

The 'Temple of the Emerald Buddha' holds Thailand's most sacred artifact … funnily enough it's an emerald Buddha. I had to take my shoes off , put my camera away and join a lengthy queue to see said artifact which was okay, however I was more impressed with the surrounding the emerald Buddha found himself in … and the reclining Buddha from yesterday. I thought that I wasn't allowed to take photos of the Buddha because it was too holy, however some guy, outside the temple, was selling posters for twenty baht each … I didn't buy one.

I put my shoes back on and found the Swedish couple from the boat; they had only just arrived and so I told them what I had been doing and then we parted. I headed out of this area and through another archway to the more modern part of the palace grounds. On my map I had done numbers one – twelve and the map went up to thirty-four; I had already been here an hour or so and therefore I thought that if I didn't hurry up the Palace would take all day.

In actual fact most of the modern part of the palace were out of bounds with no entry signs plastered everywhere and guards with rifles positioned all over (they weren't as professional as our British guards; their eyes wandered around … second rate if you ask me). I looked, and photographed, the outside of the modern buildings which looked very 18^th Century European with there tall windows and rectangular doors. Numbers thirteen to twenty-nine passed in a flash.

Number thirty was through another archway into another small religious area with a huge temple and three or four Thai style buildings. Yet again you couldn't go into any of the buildings and so I just photographed the outside of them and headed to my final number, thirty-four, which happened to be a museum.

The museum was okay, there wasn't a lot to see and, with no English translation, I breezed through both floors without really taking anything in. Outside where lines of 16^th Century cannons which most where made in England … which made me very proud. I left the palace around midday; had it been worth 350 baht? Yes I think it had (it has been my favorite attraction in Bangkok), however only the first section was worth looking at ... especially the art work. I started to head to Vimanmek Palace, at the extreme north end of the city center. On the way I decided to visit Khao San Road.

Khao San Road, probably the most famous backpacker road in Bangkok (If not the world), with people selling every piece of tat under the sun. The road is lined with backpacker hostels, however you can't tell due to all the stalls outside selling everything from Manchester United clocks to waving cats. This is where Mike was staying and, luckily for me, I bumped into him … he was looking at a few new cheap t-shirts. He's in Bangkok awaiting his flight to India on the 5^th Jan and so, with little else to do, he decided to come with me to the Vimanmek Palace. The palace was quite a long way north and so we chatted a lot, mainly about missed opportunities with women we had met whilst traveling. He has told me that he was planning on meeting two Finish girls later on and that I should join him … yep!

We made it to the palace only to find that it was closed. I wasn't really that heart-broken; I had a free ticket, and the palace would be back open on the 3^rd January, so maybe I'll try again then. We walked back to Khao San Road following a rather a bizarre route taking in even more Bangkok which included another palace, the royal road and a beautiful temple. Once at the temple Mike had a text from the two Finish girls, they where in McDonald's enjoying a Big Mac (girls after my own heart). We checked the map to find that the McDonald's that they were in was only five minutes up the road; we cut our temple viewing short and headed out to meet them.

Mike wasn't wrong, these two blond Finish girls where pretty stunning and so we joined them and had a chat. After a while we left McDonald's and went for a drink near Khao San Road, sadly I had to head off soon after as my last ferry – which I still hadn't had a clear answer on – was either at 6pm or 7pm. I decided to play it safe and get to the ferry port at 5pm.

I got the 5:15pm ferry and made it back to my stop around 5:30pm. In reverse of this morning I got off the ferry, left the dock and headed to the 'seven-eleven' to purchase breakfast for tomorrow (as I'm leaving at 6:30am tomorrow tomorrow I doubt I'll have time to purchase breakfast from anywhere else). I arrived back at my guesthouse, at 6pm, to find that food wasn't being served here tonight due to a huge viking invasion. Even though I've only eaten 1x banana cake, 1x packet of crisps, 6x spring rolls, 3x ice creams and drank liters of liquid I don't feel that hungry. I might head to a restaurant I know, I might just go for a snack, all I know is that I need an early night tonight (some new year party hey!) as I'm off to the 'Bridge over the river Kwai' tomorrow at 6:30am … hopefully!

Toodle Pip!

What I really want to do

Thursday 30^th December 2010

MP3 track of the day: These boots were made for walking -Nancy Sinatra

Weather: nice and cool in the morning and in the evening, however it got very hot in the middle of the day with little cloud for protection.

I turned over and reached for where I had put my watch. Reading the clock face, eyes half open, I was shook into action when my watch read 9:15am … I wanted an early start today! I got out of bed, got ready (which included a quick dip in the freezing cold shower), and then looked at my watch again now fully awake … 8:15am, oh good.

I went downstairs to reception to inquire about the cost of breakfast; it was quite expensive and looking at it there wasn't much I wanted. Instead I opted to visit the local 'Seven-Elven' for a banana cake, bottle of water and a large packet of crips. I munched as I went on my way to the river front.

Most of Bangkok's main tourist sites lie on the river front (and if you think about it, so do most cities) and so does my guesthouse, just a lot further down the river. Luckily there's a river ferry that runs very frequently (though it does stop at 6pm) and only costs fourteen baht (20p) per trip, no matter how far you travel. I boarded the boat and we traveled up the 'Chao Phraya River' towards the Grand Palace; all was going well and the views from the boat were lovely. The boat was packed, there certainly weren't enough life jackets for all (so I strategically positioned myself near some … just encase) but due to being early in the morning it was a breezy and cool trip. I was however a little worried that, due to arriving at the dock just as the boat pulled in, I hadn't paid for my ticket. I spoke to a French couple and they said that you purchase your ticket on-board, and so it came to pass.

I saw the towering white walls of the palace before the boat docked; once off I followed the sea of tourists around 1/3 of the grand palace to the entrance gate. I was wearing my knee-length shorts which, I thought, would be fine to get me into the palace as I had been wearing these when I went into 'Wat Traimit' yesterday …

… no, they weren't fine. Apparently I had to wear full length trousers. I was however allowed into the courtyard of the grand palace and so I took a few sneaky photos and saw the changing of the guard. I also checked out the price of admission which was 350 baht (£7) which I thought was very expensive indeed. I found a place that I could borrow something to cover my legs however I wasn't sure about the admission price, I decided to move on and have a think about it.

Next stop was 'Wat Pho', the temple that housed the worlds largest reclining Buddha. At fifty baht for admission it was well priced; I paid my money to a lovely lady in the ticket office and went in (no problems with the shorts here!). The grounds of 'Wat Pho' where quite extensive and there were many statues, monuments and pillars to feast ones eyes on before evening seeing Buddha himself. The temple was extremely beautiful and around every corner was a photo opportunity. I eventually arrived at the building that housed this forty-five meter long monster; I took my shoes off and followed the crowds paying close attention to the location of my wallet (there were signs all around the temple telling tourists to be aware of 'non-Thai' pick-pockets … shouldn't I be aware of the Thai pick-pockets as well?). The Buddha was pretty cool, and huge! It took me a while to get all the way around him due to the crowds taking forever to do the circuit. Once out I put my shoes back on and headed out, past the lovely lady within the ticket office.

My next port of call was 'Wat Arun', a Khmer style temple that is, apparently, Bangkok's most famous building. As it was located across the river I took the boat there for a closer look; I didn't pay the fifty baht entrance fee however, and instead I just stood at the perimeter gazing up (the fifty baht let you climb the stairs up the temple sides and not actually inside it as you can't … seeing that it was really hot I didn't fancy paying to get even sweatier). I didn't stay long and I was soon back on the boat heading for the main part of Bangkok.

Due to not going into the Grand Palace I had done everything I had planned to do today … and it was only 12pm. I therefore decided to look at things that I had planned to do tomorrow so that I could free up tomorrow to go to the grand palace. First up was the National Museum.

It was a long, hot, hard walk to the museum; my guide book stated that it should cost me fifty baht to enter however, once there, a sign said 200! I ummed and arred asking myself 'was this something I really wanted to do?' the answer, of course, was no. Before leaving the museum grounds I went into the cafe to have a Pepsi; once there I got chatting to a lady from Belgium who's English was superb. What's more it seems as though she knows a thing or two about Belgian chocolate and so she gave me the names of two chocolate companies that I had to try when I go back to Brussels … it all sounded good.

After our chat she went into the museum and I went to see the final thing circled within my guidebook in this area, the Royal Barge Museum. Located on the other side of the river, the Royal Barge museum held, funnily enough, the Royal Barges. My guidebook stated that it would only cost thirty baht to enter (plus 100 baht for a camera license … looks like I won't be taking any photos then!) and so I went in search of this museum. For once the museum was very well signed, which was good as at one point I had to turn off a main road and walk down this lane. The best way I can describe where I found myself would be a possible site location for the slum in 'Slumdog Millionaire'; there was houses built out of rubbish on either side of this narrow path, there where dogs lying around and I dread to think what was in the water that flowed past these houses … all-in-all I didn't like where I found myself and so I quickened my pace.

I finally made it to the museum to find out that it was 100 baht to enter and 200 baht for a compulsory camera license. Again I asked myself if I really wanted to have a look, the answer was no; as I left to go back the way I had come (sharpish) I did get a quick glimpse inside and it looked okay. I got back to the main road in record time and with a sigh of relief. I decided to get the water ferry all the way back to my guesthouse as I still couldn't find anywhere for lunch (plus I had been to everywhere that I wanted to go today). As I made my way to the ferry dock I stopped, double-taked, and saw a British red London bus … just sitting on a drive way ... I took a photo.

The boat ride was lovely and again I went past sites along the water front heading back to my guesthouse. I wasn't sure which peer I had got on so, to play it safe, I got off a stop or two early and walked the rest of the way to my accommodation. Once at my guesthouse I immediately sat down for food; I was really hungry, and the menu looked delicious, and not too expensive. I decided that I would push the boat out; firstly I ordered my main meal of 'sweet and sour' chicken with rice (normally I don't go for 'sweet and sour' however this looked, and was, delicious) and a glass of orange juice. I decided that I would eat this and, if I was still hungry, I would order an appetizer of spring rolls (slightly the wrong way around but still) for a dessert thing.

I ate my mains and I was still hungry, the problem was that there were no staff around. I gave up waiting to order my spring rolls and just paid for my meal, my next stop was the train station and so I would pick something up on-route. I dropped my bag off in my room and went towards the train station.

There was a lady singing in the air-conditioned railway station; onstage she had ten, or twelve, young Thai ladies in very short skirts … I watched for a while before finding the 'train information' office. Now last night I had googled 'River kwai day tours' and found that one particular website (www.themaninseat61.com) advertised a tour that the Thai train company ran … it actually took you across the bridge. It ran on weekends only and it should cost around 200 baht … though this is only transport and there are no guides.

I went up to the information office only to have the wind knocked out of my sails; I was told that the trip wasn't happening this weekend due to the holidays and that the next trip was the 8^th January 2011 … I couldn't wait in Bangkok another ten days for this trip … I was a little gutted. The only good news was that the train to Chang Mai (my next stop) leaves from this station and the times look pretty good (there is a 8:30am train that arrived in Chang Mai at 8:30pm). It was pretty cheap to boot. I didn't book anything as I need to get a trip to the River Kwai sorted first … I left the train station with my head held a little low.

The Bridge over the river Kwai, apart from Elephant trekking this was one of the only things that I wanted to see in South East Asia, let alone Thailand. I ummed and arred my options; I could just go for the tour offered at my guesthouse … but at 1,800 baht (plus you have to visit a tiger temple and a market) it didn't sound that good and time would be short. I could get the bus to Kanchanaburi (where the bridge is) myself and stay there a couple of days; however there is no public transport, that I know of, to the Bangkok south bus station and so it could be another 300 baht taxi ride just to look at buying a ticket. Add onto that accommodation, which looks expensive, (at least 700 baht per night) and this option was even less inviting than the first. After a little while I decided to head to another guesthouse I had researched, encase the one that I am staying in was full, to see if they did tours. It was quite a walk away but I thought that as I walked I might find a travel operator … and I did!

'Prasertsri Tours' the office was called; I opened the two big glass doors in front of me to be greeted by a very happy looking lady (well of course she was looking happy, I was a potential customer). I don't know why but at that point in time I came over all 'Yorkshire' ... I told her “...Look I don't want any of your fancy floating markets, tiger temples melarky … I just want a day trip to the bridge over the river kwai...”. 'No problem' she said and she pulled out a folder, turned the pages to 'Bridge over the River Kwai day tour', and I had a read.

It all seemed good; early pick up of 6:30am – 7:00am and a late finish of 7:30pm. In the middle of the day a train ride over the bridge, access to the cemeteries, the museum and lunch … all sounded good, apart from the price ... 1,500 baht! Again I ummed and arred and asked myself if I 'really wanted to go' … the answer was yes. However as I questioned myself the lady gave me a 'special price of 1,200 baht' to which I replied '...1,000 and you have a deal!...'. There we were, across this small table an experienced British traveler versus a young lady who had spent her entire life ripping off foreigners. We settled at 1,100 baht.

I walked away from the office satisfied; sure it had cost a little bit more than the trip offered by the train company, however this one had an English speaking guide and lunch. There was however a worry (what's new); the trip I had booked was on the 1^st January (so no partying for me) and it wasn't from my guesthouse … so I hoped the mini-van driver could find me. Also what's to stop them not turning up, do I have a leg to stand on … they could just lie and say that I wasn't ready on time. It was a risk worth taking I thought and no tour I've booked so far hasn't happened … touch wood.

I headed back to my guesthouse for a meal and an early night. Tomorrow back to the Grand Palace (as I think I will have a look around, even though it's expensive) and then off to Vimanmek Palace, another palace far away from the grand one however entry price is included on my grand palace ticket. After that I'll head back to my guesthouse to prepare for the trip to the river kwai the following day and also to have a chilled out afternoon. My tour happens on the 1^st January and so on the 2^nd, if everything went to plan, I shall look at booking a train ticket to Chang Mai for the 3^rd January. I am looking forward to leaving Bangkok, it's too busy for me even though there is a lot to do; its also quite poor ... it makes Kuala Lumpur look positively brand new (which was quite a shock when I first arrived as, with Thailand's booming tourist scene, I was expecting Thailand to be richer than Malaysia)..

Must remember to wear trousers tomorrow.

Toodle Pip!

South East Asia = annoying

Wednesday 29^th December 2010

MP3 track of the day: twenty-four hours - athlete

Weather: Blue skies, fluffy white clouds and its a lot cooler that down south, though be under no illusions, it's still hot.

Yesterday had been a long day and so I woke late and proceeded to get ready in a leisurely fashion. I went to the shower to find that the water was cold, I tried another shower but it seemed they all told the same story … perfect. I didn't managed to look around my guesthouse yesterday and so this morning I had a quick look and I was pleasantly surprised to find a book exchange, pool table, DvD collection and a common room plus restaurant … nice.

I then logged onto the internet to find a message from Stef in my email inbox … %&?”#!!! Still my decision had been made and I was stuck with it now. It was around 1pm when I was ready to head out, I decided not to eat before heading out as the restaurant here looks expensive and I'm sure I will find loads of food outlets on my walk around the surrounding area.

I walked in the general direction of 'Wat Traimit' and got there before I had found anything for lunch. This temple was pretty impressive and it holds the largest solid-gold Buddha in the world. Cast in the thirteenth century it's three meters tall and weighs five-and-a-half tons … wow. I paid the forty baht asking price to go and have a look and take some photos. It was okay; I didn't stay long and I was soon out of the temple heading into town still searching for lunch.

I walked along 'Charoen Krung (new road)', I think, which could earn it's self the title of 'slowest road in the world'. The cars were at a stand still and due to stalls being erected to cover 75% of the footpath I wasn't moving much quicker either … which started to be infuriating as people got in my way to look at the stalls. I think an 'asthmatic ant … with heavy shopping' over took me as three Thai women were looking at a flower stall and blocked my way. 'Mr Speedy' had overtaken me, the three women in front and six cars stuck in a traffic jam … want to get around in Bangkok, become an ant!

The stalls were all 'snack stalls' and not really lunch; I did go into a 'Seven-eleven' for a quick snack as I was really hungry. I got to a cross roads and on the opposite side was a 'KFC'. No I thought, I'm in Thailand, there must be a big food outlet somewhere near here. I sat down for a moment, took out my map, and decided to head towards the 'Grand Palace' as I'm sure there must be lots of food places near there.

I walked and I walked and I walked but still nothing … I couldn't believe it. I got to the walls of the grand palace – which looked amazing – and still my stomach was groaning. It was now 2pm and all I had eaten today where six Oreo's and a chocolate bar. I decided to head back the way I had come and go to said KFC as that was all I could find … 3:15pm I eventually ate lunch.

It was now nearing 4pm and I decided to head back to the guesthouse; it was still quite a walk away and so I decided to opt for a street parallel to 'slow street' so I could get back before the new year. Due to going down a road that I hadn't been down before I did, almost, get lost. However I soon found the temple I had looked around earlier today and soon I was back on the right track.

Before turning right into my guesthouse I decided to walk along the main street for a little while longer, hoping to find a 'Seven-Elven' to get a drink and maybe a little something to eat. Now I had past hundreds of these convenience stores as I walked the city but could I find one now, could I hell. I could however get a new suit and a bracelet pretty easily but just a bottle of water … no. What is it with this city?

I eventually found somewhere and returned to my guesthouse to have a chill, drink my drink and eat my 'cooked coconut shells' (which are really nice). I then went to speak to reception here to inquire about a day-trip to 'the bridge over the river kwai' and a bus ticket to Chang Mai … my next stop. Neither was what I wanted to hear; first of all the only day-trip to the river kwai evolved a visit to a tiger temple and a floating market (why can't people just offer simple tour to one place?) meaning that I would only get somewhere between one and two hours at the bridge and it's museum. The guesthouse also sells a two-day trip which sounds really good, however at 3,000 baht I can do it cheaper myself (though looking at accommodation it's pretty expensive there). Secondly all bus tickets can only be purchased at the relevant bus stations, therefore if I wanted the guesthouse to book me a ticket to Chang Mai I would have to pay an additional 300 baht to get some guy to travel up to the bus station, see if they have a ticket available, and purchase it for me. If there was no ticket I still have to pay the 300 baht.

What a stupid system I thought, I then asked if I could go to the bus station myself in which I can and it only costs 40 baht to get there … much better. So it looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of time trying to find a tour to the river kwai and going back and forth to the bus station (note not the same bus station as I arrived at … that one was the 'southern arrivals' station where as the one I need to go to is the 'northern arrivals' bus station, both of which are out of town). This is what I hate about South East Asia, everything is difficult and time consuming. I was planning on not spending too long here in Bangkok because it's too busy for me, however it looks like I might be here for a while just to get things sorted.

I spent the rest of the evening chilling, on the internet looking at river Kwai tours and planning tomorrow. I think, for once, I may try to get up early and take the boat into the city (there is a river just behind my guesthouse and a ferry patrols it, charges 15 baht and can take me straight to the Grand Palace) to see the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Keao, Wat Pho and maybe Wat Arun. This would then only leave me three other places (national museum, Royal Barge museum and the Vimanmek Palace) that I want to visit, hopefully for the day after.

Toodle Pip!

Coaches and taxis

Tuesday 28^th December 2010

MP3 track of the day: Bartender and the thief – Stereophonics

Weather: Overcast and cool

Having gone to sleep early the previous night I got up a decent enough time for me to leisurely get ready, which included bags of time to check my emails … still nothing from Stef. I had packed most of my stuff last night though I did give my room a 'once over' to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. I met another lady en-charge of the hostel today and I said thank you for a good stay plus I left my email address encase my Christmas present arrived.

The lady next door, who I purchased the coach ticket from, said that she would give me a lift ten minutes up the road to the bus stop, however she wasn't around when I called. She had given me her room number so that I could wake her up however I felt a little mean and besides, looking at the sky, it was pretty overcast and cool to walk I thought … I went for it.

I arrived at the bus stop, not too hot, but ninety minutes early. I went into the little shop next to the stop and exchanged my receipt for my coach ticket; I then waited outside, sat down on a bench, and read more of my book. The annoying thing about South East Asia is that, so far, you are never quite sure what you are going to get when it comes to purchasing something, especially transport. I had thought that I had booked a ten hour VIP coach ride to Bangkok starting at 10:30am … but no. The only part of that story that is true was that the coach did leave at 10:30am however it was an 'express coach' (which didn't sound to bad until I read '2^nd class coach travel', in brackets, under the title) however the worst bit was still to come, the arrival time stated 10:30pm which I though was a little odd for a ten hour service. This is really becoming annoying; I had told my accommodation in Bangkok that I would arrive at 7:30pm because I thought that I was taking the 7:30am bus at the time, now it looks like I'll be closer to 11pm. I hope they don't lock up early … or think that I'm not coming? Maybe I should have taken the overnight bus.

With no way of contacting my accommodation you would have thought I wouldn't have worried as there isn't anything that I could have done about the predicament I found myself in … but I would be lying if I said that I took it easy. Before I could worry more the coach pulled up and I was glad to say that it was just a regular coach like back at home (though maybe a tad older). Once on board I sat down at one of the only empty two seats available, I made myself as comfortable as possible.

About forty-five minutes later my additional seat was taken up by a Swiss guy who had eaten a little too much cheese and chocolate … I was a little squashed but okay. The trip went well and I continually looked outside; for this part of the trip we hugged the coastline on this one lane road. The one lane road continued as we hugged the Myanmar boarder, we had to stop occasionally to let Thai army troops onto our coach and I had to show my passport.

At our lunch stop I didn't buy anything but I did talk to the Swiss guy, and his girlfriend, a little … they seemed nice enough. Better still they were only going another hour down the road and so I would get my two seats back. I continued to peer out of the window; this one lane road wound itself up and down hills which where covered in trees, greenery and sometimes the odd building would appear into view. As we descended down one hill the coast came into view and from where I thought we were on my map I think I could see Myanmar … and this was close enough.

It had taken ages to get down to flat land where there was a duel carriageway. I had given up all hope of arriving in Bangkok early, hell I was even worried that we would arrive late. The geography of the land might have changed from mountainous to flat, however the scenery of woods and buildings remained. Most of the buildings resembled sheds rather than houses however, very occasionally a beautiful temple would appear ...again making me wonder if the money used to produce these grand buildings couldn't have been better spent.

All of a sudden darkness approached and we stopped for tea; I was shown into this 'VIP' seating area where a meal was waiting for me. I sat at this round table with others from my coach and ate the spiciest food to date. As I watched people got up and, without paying, got back on the coach. I found this odd, maybe the meal was included in my ticket price … but then why wasn't everyone from my coach in here eating? I left but very slowly so someone could stop me for payment, but no one did.

As it was totally dark outside I switched my PC on and wrote this blog entry, there was no point in me watching the TV as all films and programmes so far had been in Thai (and they were all rubbish. I didn't think it was possible but these films made Aston Kutcher look like a good actor in 'Dude where's my car?'). Just as I started to type it seems the diver fancied going off road as the ride quality has just decreased massively, I looked down to see if there was any tarmac on the road but I couldn't see. To make matters worse the driver then put on the first English speaking film of the trip … though it was 'Indiana Jones: the rubbish new one with the alien skull' and switched off all the lights … thanks I thought.

It was now 9:30pm and I was starting to worry; the scenery hadn't changed at all and, with only an hour to go, I would have expected urban areas to start to build up. I couldn't see any road signs as they were now all overhead. I decided to peer out of the window and look for signs of improved infrastructure. Firstly the ride had improved and so tarmac was on the road, there were now traffic lights and overhead signs so that was an improvement from before. Finally building after building came into view and they got bigger and bigger. Once over a bridge I started to see skyscrapers and I relaxed a little looking at my watch … 10:25pm.

It wasn't over though, we where approaching from the south (where my accommodation was) to a bus station 5km out of town to the north. This is another annoyance about South East Asia, all transport hubs are not within the city center. In New Zealand I could get off the coach and walk to my hostel but not here. We finally arrived at the bus station at around 10:45pm; I had no idea where to go, all information stands were closed and so I had little option but to get a 'metered taxi'.

I knew this was going to hurt my wallet by the large smile the taxi driver gave. As we started driving he said 'forty-five baht', which didn't sound too bad at all considering the clock was already registering thirty-five, I said yes that's fine …

… what he actually meant was that he wanted forty-five baht to pay the highway toll and I had to stump up the cash, which was a little annoying. As we flew along the highway the meter just went up and up; every twenty seconds or so another ten baht was added and it was soon up to 150 baht … I went a little white.

Mercifully we turned off the highway and it didn't take long for us to reach my guesthouse, which was open … relief. The driver wanted to do a 'three-point turn' in the drive way so he could etch out another baht or two. The total cost … 243 baht! Of course I didn't have any change and so in the end it cost 260 baht plus forty-five baht for the highway … 300 baht (£6)! I was a little annoyed however I decided to play the glad game; I had arrived fine and well, I could get into my accommodation and it was clean and pleasant plus my dorm was full of people … I do need to get better with my money as I've almost spent £200.00 in the space of a week!

Not good!

Toodle Pip!