Bangkok - Again!

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How busy was Bangkok second time around.  Its amazing the difference 6 weeks can make to a city.  We decided to take the airport bus to Khao San Road instead of taxi.  It was only 100 baht each so we saved around 160 baht on the taxi price.  The traffic however was horrendous and it took us over 1 hour to get into the city.  It quickly became apparent that something big was going on when we passed the palace.  There were loads of military personnel in all manner of uniforms in the grassed area near the palace.  We later found out that 12th August is Mothers Day and also the Queen's Birthday.  Its a huge celebration in Thailand!

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We decided this time around not to stay on Khao San Road but to try the quieter Soi called Rambutti which is just across the road.  The accomodation tends to be cheaper here and the road is much quieter.  After trying around 4-5 places and all being full - mild panic setting in - we found a place called My House Guest House which had rooms left at 500 baht each - around 7.50 pounds.  Quite basic accomodation but still had ensuite, fan, a/c BUT not one electrical socket in the room!  We had never seen this before.  We had to charge our phones and IPods in the corridor!  First thing we did after checking in was go downstairs to the bar and order 2 large Chang beers - bliss.

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Next day we decided to take a tuk-tuk downtown to the shopping plazas.  We had lots of little jobs to do before moving on from Bangkok.  Managed to get a tuk-tuk for 20 baht - bargain - to the MSK shopping centre.  After a visit to the 4th floor which apparently is the ONLY place in Bangkok to buy a camera - we are talking about over 100 tiny camera and mobile phone shops and stalls crammed into one floor and all selling the same thing, we decided to take a tuk tuk back to our hotel.  Nice plan but wasn't to be.  We got to within a stones throw of the democracy monument when the Police were closing all the roads.  As our hotel was the opposite side of the city our tuk tuk left us there and we were making our own way back.  We noticed that there was a huge march in preparation and if by magic it started around 2 mins after we got there.  It was a celebration of the Queen's birthday and everyone wore either yellow or blue t-shirts with the Thai's shield on the front - it was so patriotic!  We watched for a long time and walked with the procession.  At the end, scouts were handing out yellow candles and blue bandanas free.  We even got some, and walked back to our hotel with them around our necks - it was really great atmosphere unlike anything we have seen in the UK - familes having picnics by the side of the road etc.

The next day we decided to 'treat' ourselves to a Thai massage and found a lovely salon called 'Nancy's' - its an omen - both my Nana and Lee's Gran were both called Nancy so it had to be good.  We had a traditional thai massage for 180 baht each (less than 3 pounds each) which lasted an hour.  It had to be good for you as it was quite painful at times - like extreme yoga - we didn't know our bodies contorted to that shape at our age!  Really good and the cheapest thai massage we have found in Thailand so far.