Bangkok

Got to railway station in Bangkok around midday, was very crowded and hard to work out best way to get to hotel as the station does not connect with the city rail network. I decided to get a Tuc Tuc and bartered for 200B for the trip to hotel, I later discovered was a bit much. We stopped half way there and my driver wanted me to get out at a shop to try on suits and get measured up as he would get free petrol if I looked interested in the shop, I thought it was a bit weird but nothing lost so agreed to do it for him. Eventually I got to the hotel and checked in, I got to the room before Danny and Jasper so I stripped off had a HOT shower and put on my bathrobe. I felt really strange in this environment even after only a few weeks of travelling in budget dorms and hostels. Not long after I arrived Jasper Rang the door bell, we gave each other a massive hug was so nice to see him. We had a quick cup of tea and set off to find Indian Embassy for Jasper's visa and check out a bit of Bangkok. We then went back to hotel to meet Danny was also so good to see him! The three of us caught up shared photos, saw some very cute photos and videos of Elton. Then we headed off to meet Danny's work mate for dinner, we had a massive feast at his favourite Thai seafood restaurant, delicious food and so cheap! After dinner Jasper, Danny and I got a taxi to Khao san Rd where they hold nightly markets, there were so many tourists the streets were packed with them! We had a quick walk through past many different bars selling "the strongest buckets of alcoholic cocktails", clothes stalls, people cooking Pad Thai on the street for 40B, Tattoo parlors, you name it! We were all tired so got taxi back to hotel and decided to go for a swim, pool was closed as it had turned into a high class bar for the night, Danny and I decided to get changed into some nice clothes and check it out. We ordered 2 beers and were shocked when the bill came for 500B so we enjoyed the view of the city and slowly sipped our beers. In the morning we set off to the weekend markets, which were about 30mins on the sky train from where we were staying. These markets run every weekend and are massive! You can buy pretty much anything you could ever want or need at them. I was supposed to meet Mandy there but it seemed impossible considering the size and number of people, however we managed to find her and caught up for a coffee and listened to her stories about Bhutan, sounds beautiful! Jasper and I then spent about 4 hours walking around the markets and hardly made a dent so had some delicious live prawns cooked on the spot and some green papaya salad then decided to come back for another bash tomorrow so we got a train back to Asok station to meet Danny. We chilled out back at the hotel for a few hours then met Jasper's mate Ramin who was taking us for dinner and on a tour of Bangkok night life. Jasper and I set off early the next day hoping to finish off the markets, we spent about 7 hours walking but still didn't manage to see everything. The worst part was the animal sections with dogs, cats, mice, rabbits, squirrels, snakes ...... you name it! But none had water or fans and were obviously stressed out because of the heat, I'm sure that at least a few would die that night. We then met Danny and ate some delicious soup, was kind of like a red curry fish soup but just the broth and noodles, then you add your own bean sprouts, cabbage and other goodies from big bowls in the middle of the table. Then took him for a tour of our highlights of the markets and got a lovely 1hr foot and neck massage. On my last day in Bangkok Jasper and I caught a local boat up the Chao Phraya River the ride was pretty full on, very loud and very bumpy! We got off and checked out 2 temples, Wat Pho which contained on of the biggest reclining Buddha in the world and another temple called Wat Arun (the temple of dawn) both temples were amazing with the most intricate detailed carving and mosaics made from glazed china. We then got a Tuc Tuc back to Kaosan Rd so I could catch a night bus south to Koh Tao.



Fresh grilled prawns and green papaya salad, Fast boat up Chao Phraya River, The reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, Temples at Wat Arun, Mosaics at Wat Arun, Khao San Rd markets, Night view of Bangkok from out hotel.