Bustling Bangkok

Bangkok road, the pictures of the King are everywhere, as it's his anniversary.
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Cathal's cousin Killian and his lovely girlfriend Sabrina live in Bangkok and they kindly offered for us to stay with them. So we arrived sweaty and crumpled from our bus journey at their gorgeous apartment. Wow, what luxury. We felt like we were dirtying it, so we headed for the shower in the lovely bedroom they'd so generously vacated for us. What bliss, it was spotless, gleaming. We'd not had such a nice shower since we left.

We went out with Killian and Sabrina for dinner to a nice place locally and then had far too many beers catching up on all the news as it had been a long time since the two cousins had seen each other.

Guardian statue, Wat Pho, Bangkok
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The next day poor Cathal had reprcussions from the aforementioned beers (lightweight). So Sabrina and I went shopping. We came back to collect a sheepish Cathal and met Steffi, a friend of Sabrina's for lunch and some shopping. Bangkok is a shopper's paradise. But not for us as we're on a budget and have to carry everything. But if we come through here again I won't be held responsible for the battering that my credit card will get. There's a gorgeous shopping centre called Siam Paragon that has all the shiny designer brands and all the shops you see in London so the temptation was very great. We bumped into Sasha and John, an English couple we'd met in Pakse, Vientiane and also Luang Prabang. We arranged to get together for a drink.

Wat Pho, Bangkok
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That evening we went round the serviced apartments where Killian works and he gave us the grand tour. I tell you if you are looking for a really nice apartment with all the works in Bangkok you should go to the Marriott. They are absolutely gorgeous. And there's a swimming pool with  a lovely view over the city.

We then went for more shopping to the Night Bazaar where Sabrina and I both fell in love with some shoes. We were very disciplined and didn't buy any but I plan to go back and remedy that situation.

Mother of pearl inlay on Buddha's feet, Wat Pho, Bangkok
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The next day Cathal and I took a boat along the river to Wat Phuo to look at the reclining Buddha. It's huge, about 46 metres in length and very beautiful. The temples are lovely too.  We then walked over to Kho San Road. It's the backpacker ghetto of Bangkok and a very lively spot. Full of vendors and bars.

The next day we took it fairly easy and met up with Sasha and John in Kho San Road. We were very late due to Friday night traffic which was horrendous, and the fact that we jumped out of a few taxis because the drivers wouldn't put the meter on. We took the bus for 7 Baht each rather than the 150 the cabbies wanted. Cheek! We stayed up way past our bedtime chatting with John and Sasha and it was lovely catching up with them again.

The reclining Buddha, Wat Pho
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We chilled out over the next few days. On Sunday we went to a produce market and to Chatuchak market. We got up early and were back by midday. Chatuchak market is huge and great for household items, shoes, clothes and it also sells pets. Very cute ones.

Monday we hit the kitchen with a vengence and had fun cooking for Killian and Sabrina. The rest of the week we chilled out, watched DVDs and priced some shiny new cameras I had me eye on.

Sabrina had recommended visiting Jim Thompson's house. He was an American who settled in Thailand and set up a business dealing in Thai Silks. He was very interested in architecture and art and he lived in a complex of 6 traditional Thai wooden houses. He disappeared in the Cameroon Highlands, Malaysia. The house was really beautiful, full of interesting artefacts. There were some beautiful wood blocks for printing, gorgeous ceramics and old Buddha statues. It was a very nice afternoon. We decided to have dinner in the lovely modern restaurant there and it was one of the best decisions we made. The food was gorgeous. It was the best pasta we'd had since leaving London and the cheesecake was sublime.

From the boat, Bangkok
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We both got sore throats towards the weekend, Cathal obviously nearly dying (he's such a boy!). He's objecting as I type and says he "did have a fever". Still we recovered and left Bangkok by train to go to Chumphon and from there - Koh Tao where we hope to learn to dive.