City of Angels

Please note – I am now writing this for the 2^nd time, since I just accidentally deleted the first version. If I sound a little jaded, it’s because I am – not of the trip, but from writing the same thing twice. Ok so where were we.

DAY 15

You push your way through the crowd who are being herded by cop cars to leave the area, trying hard not to look like some idiot tourist. Welcome to the “City of Angels”

We sat at the PC in Ko Tao, waiting for our transfer after my last post. Judy got a wax and ran to pick up some snacks for our long journey to Bangkok, including some sumptuous pork slices.

At 2:20, we started to get a little worried. The transfer had not yet arrived, and on my little sheet of paper, 2:00 and 2:30 were scrawled in neat handwriting. So we were either 20 minutes late, or 10 minutes early. The shock on the PC attendants face when I showed her said it all. And so, we rushed into the back of another Toyota Hiace, pummeled through the muddy “road” and power walked to the pier, where the Lomprayah Catamaran awaited. We had 1 minute to spare. The funniest thing was how lucky we felt…how wrong we were.

As the doors locked behind us, it dawned upon Judy that she hadn’t taken her travel sickness tablet – and this was to be a 1.5 hour journey. But it was all good – we had caught the Lomprayah before with no trouble. Halfway through watching the movie Madagascar, NY City cops on a train were trying to catch Ben Stiller, and I was on a Catamaran trying to catch Judy’s vomit. That pungent pork had just left the building. However, a look at the boats bin quickly indicated that she was not the only one feeling a little queasy. Another hour later, we docked at Chumphon to rest and recover (yes, both of us), and then boarded the bus to Bangkok. And thank god there’s nothing to write about there.

Imagine this – you arrive in a foreign city after midnight, no idea where you are, and where you’re going. You see lights down the road, and seek comfort in the throngs that surround them. And then, you realize that these people are well dressed Thai students, all of them drunk, most a little rowdy. On your left, two girls exchange verbal blows, and one yields a bottle in the others face, broken up by 10 onlookers. On your right, tuk tuks urge you to the latest ping pong club, or opal den. You push your way through the crowd who are being herded by cop cars to leave the area, trying hard not to look like some idiot tourist. Welcome to the “City of Angels”

Bangkok was a little different to what we had both expected, but in hindsight, our first impression of was a little unfair – it was a Friday night, and we had arrived just when the bars had closed (around 1:30AM) in the backpacker heartlands of Khao San Road. We quickly found a hotel (Rambuttri House, home of the unhappiest lady boy on earth), and then ducked out for some midnight congee at one of the street vendors on the corner.

DAY 16

After a much needed sleep in, we changed rooms, dropped off the laundry, ate breakfast and headed out to see Bangkok’s most famous temples, which are all situated within walking distance of Khao San Road. Thank you backpacker logic.

The first thing that struck us about Bangkok was the scam artists (thank you Lonely Planet for the heads up). They sit on a corner near the major attractions, waiting for their prey, and then – “Mutters in Thai. Oh sorry, you no Thai. Oh you look Thai! Where you from? Australia? Oh very nice. Palace is just over there, but it closed for prayers. You go after 3pm. Where you go after Bangkok? Chiang Mai? Oh you must go here *Points on map to other side of city* to book tickets. Then you can go here *points to unmarked temple* very pretty, then you come back to see palace. And make sure you catch government tuk tuk, other one will rob you. Oh here comes one now!” *Tuk Tuk arrives on cue* – “you want to go book ticket?” FUNNY HOW DID YOU KNOW? While the Thai people are beautiful in general, some of the lower lives will do anything for a dollar. But anyway.

I must profess that I’m not much of a temple fan, and neither is Judy, and in a way I feel that it’s the history behind most of these places that makes them special. However none of the three we visited in Bangkok failed to awe me – the Grand Palace with it’s amazing gold and emerald plated architecture, the giant reclining Buddha (16m tall, 43m high), or Wat Arun – made of Chinese porcelain, across the Chao Phraya river. But a long days walking had taken it’s toll and we took the tuk tuk (silent laugh) back to Rambuttri road.

Observation two – Bangkok traffic. Heavy, crazy, insane. Now I understand the forewarnings. Forget about your lanes, and make sure you check your blind spots every 5 seconds. But when you think about it, Tuk tuks remove the need for theme parks – so it’s all good value.

Being Saturday night, there was only one thing to do – party, and what better occasion to meet up with long lost fellow travelers Carlene, Nate, Alexis and Mr. Andrew Ting. After a quick catch-up at the Baiyoke Sky, we headed out for some cheap Chinese, followed by a quick drink in the outdoor bar at MBK shopping centre, and then headed to Royal City Avenue, a place that CN&A had found earlier. I had to admit, I had my doubts. RCA seemed so far from what we had thought to be the main party area. But the clubs there were fantastic – literally a King Street Wharf in the middle of Bangkok – great sound, great interiors, great lighting, great atmosphere. Also, just like KSW – it was full of rich kids – check out the VIP areas, and the lines of luxury cars out front. But the best part of it all was – we were dance gods – well at least I think we were. Thai kids love to drink – full bottles of Johnny at each table – and yet barely any dance – just stand and nod there head. And so we treated them to a show. Of particular interest was Route 66, where we watched a cover band (featuring a song now stuck in both my and Judy’s heads) followed by a bit of R&B. (NB: Thailand’s music scene, for an Asian country, kicks arse. They have everything from Indie and Metal, to R&B, reggae, house, lounge, trance, breaks – basically you can find anything, anywhere you want.) Afterwards, we sat outside 7-11 for our final drinks (not intended to be final), and chatted the night away outside the lines of parked Mercs and Beamers.

DAY 17

Small hangovers lead to quiet days, and today was no exception. While we intended to go to Chinatown in the morning, Judy felt a little under the weather, and slept at the hotel, while I booked a few trips for the next few days. That night we met up with Ting to go to the Suan Lum Bazaar, which was a bit of an anticlimax for his last night in Bangkok – the stores were repetitive and predictable and there was generally not that much to do. Except perhaps play with Tasers, throwing knives, knuckle dusters and the like that were on display at random locations throughout the markets. And so we caught the first taxi that didn’t try to rip us off, and returned home

DAY 18

We left the hotel early for our Kanchanaburi tour after only 6 hours sleep, both tired, and a little annoyed that the bus was an hour late. In our tour group – 3 fat winging Mancunians and a high pitched Indian Londoner. Until now we have loved everyone we’ve met, from all corners of the globe. But these 4 were just irritating – they hadn’t looked at the schedule, and were hence annoyed every time we did something they didn’t want to do – I.e. visit war museums. Given that Kanchanaburi is the most famous area in Thailand for WWII history, we were in for a full day of whining.

First stop – allied war cemetery, followed by the Jeath War Museum – not much to report here – the cemetery being as most war memorials tend to be – well manicured and somber, and the war museum being unkempt and unorganized.

The bridge on the River Kwai on the other hand was a little more interesting. Despite being remade after it was bombed at the conclusion of WWII, it’s interesting to come face to face with such a poignant part of the worlds history. Gazing down from the rickety planks (NB – very easy to fall down) you can only imagine how hard it must have been for those poor POW’s to build that railway.

A bit more whining and bamboo raft later we ate lunch at another floating restaurant – this time with NO meat, and then headed to the Tiger Temple – a sanctuary run by monks. The tigers are incredible, and it’s awesome to be able to get so close to them, pat them, and appreciate their power - Although they’re pretty sedate, and you need to be run through by a guide, which takes a little bit out of the experience. Unfortunately as a matter of general course they are locked up in cages, and when out for viewing, are bound by short chains to the earth – some would question the humanity of keeping them like this. Also on the reserve – deer, pigs, oxen, bulls, peacocks, chickens, donkeys and of course the dogs – an odd assortment of animals running free, and a great opportunity for Judy’s photography prowess to come to the fore. After around 2.4 million photos, we were off to the death railway, where we walked into a cave famous for a tourist murder (man murdered by monk), and caught a slow train back to our minibus. I cannot believe that rickety curved track, still in its original WWII condition in parts, can sustain a train – when I walked on it earlier, I was scared it wouldn’t support me. The journey was a worthwhile opportunity to see the river Kwai, and a good way to end the day on a high note.

That night we headed to Chinatown, which is much bigger than Sydney’s, for some Chinese grub. Not many people speak Canto here, but the experience was still worth it – the food was decent, and the streets interesting, if not a little dodgy. Chinatown it seems, is a little bit poorer than the other parts of the CBD – with the most beggars we’ve encountered since being here. Given this, we retired after dinner.

DAY 19

Another early morning, this time to catch the 8:20 to Ayatthuya, where we’re currently stationed, from Hualamphong Station. We ate a pastry breakfast, stood and faced the king’s portrait for the national anthem with the rest of the civilians and soldiers, and then boarded our relatively comfortable second class carriage.

Off the train, across the river by boat, and straight to Naresuan Road to find accommodation – it was easy to tell this was more of a bustling town then a city – just like Krabi, but with no beaches and no English. We found a place to stay (Tony’s Place) and wait for it… rented a motorbike to go and do our temple tour (they’re more spaced out than Bangkok.)

Ok mums I’m sorry, but we made no promises before we left – but take comfort in the knowledge that we wore helmets (except today when they weren’t available. Biking is awesome. Well it was more of a Bike/scooter hybrid, since there aren’t that many true cruisers available, but it was insane fun. The traffic is still crazy here, but the difference in Thailand is that the traffic is accustomed to bikes, and makes several allowances for them. Organised chaos and the difference in Ayutthaya is that it’s paved and not too congested, unlike any of the other locations we’ve been to. We saw our first temple, Wat Ratchaburana in the morning, followed by Wat Pho with it’s Buddha head tree, and Wat Phra Si Sanphet with it’s three aligned chedi’s in the evening, after resting for a while, and getting lost a million times. Let’s just say that Siam’s ancient Capital has many impressive temple ruins over 600 years old, which are all integrated within the city’s boundaries, next to ordinary shops, houses and eateries. It’s a really impressive site, one that’s hard to describe, but one I thought I’d have to wait until Angkor Wat to see. We ate 5 dishes at the night markets that night (Small dishes says Judy, bullshit I say) viewed the night time light show (not much doing there) got questioned by a cop (for parking on the grass), filled up (from a petrol canister, since there are no BP’s around these parts and then biked home. Yes we liked the bike, so let’s say it some more. Bike bike bike.

DAY 20

A good sleep in, lunch time imminent – we packed, and then walked around aimlessly for ages trying to find that damn restaurant chain – MK’s, which we’d heard so much about (on TV) It’s a sit down Yum Cha franchise, kind of like a Chinese Sizzler. After two hours of frustrating back and forth, we found out it was 10kms away, and caught a pedicab. Judy was the lunch good? “I gave it 3 out of 5”. Which doesn’t explain why we ate about 11 dishes, but hey – we were hungry. We walked around the shopping centre, which is brimming with arcades, cool little karaokes, mobile phone vendors and sharks in a pond? We couldn’t figure that one out either, but they were big, and they were shark like.

We went for another massage this afternoon (ah the luxury) and now sit here in PC, burning photos, and updating this blog. Judy needs to pee, and so do I. So we’ll just let you know that we’re about to catch the Midnight train to Chiang Mai – a sleeper which reputedly has cockroaches, and maybe a party if we’re lucky. For now all is well, and we will be in contact shortly!

P.s. Point of interest. What was the much revered king’s name, at the time of Wat Phra Si Sanphet’s construction? Why it was King Borommarachanophuttangkun of course. Sri Lankans eat your heart out.