The adventures continue in Thailand...

Found a spare hour so now it's blog time....

First Thai Green Curry for Suze...

Thanks to Ethiopian Airlines we arrived safely in Bangkok after a total of 20 hours of travelling. We found our way to the skytrain to head to our pre-booked hotel in a little place in the outskirts of Bangkok called On-Nut. Ironically next to the biggest Tesco you've ever seen! Just across the road we had an amazing lively local market which barely had a tourist in sight, apart from the odd old white man with their stunning Thai bride of course. The market had everything from DVD's to Rip off Superdry t-shirts, Mulberry bags (had to say no to Susie buying these as we have no more room in the rucksacks!) and it even had a bar, live music and really good food stalls that cost about 50p a dish. A huge contrast to the the really expensive fried food in Tanzania. We love Southeast                                                   Asia already (Susie for the 3rd time in Thailand!)

The Golden Temple and Palace...

We did the obvious things in Bangkok like the Golden palace where every tout under the sun was telling us that it was closed for a religious holiday 'Errrm No it's not, go away' was the response from Susie. The palace was huge and impressive with incredible detail everywhere with some funky looking dragon faced monkeys, dragons and a miniature Angkor Wat (We will be seeing the real one in Cambodia too). Wat Pho is the temple of the reclining Buddha and it really is huge. Also this is where it tells you on entry be careful of pickpocket gangs and to watch your cameras. Susie only leaves her camera for half an hour in one of the busiest parts of the temple, somehow we found it again. how lucky?

Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn) was the best of the temples in Bangkok where we climbed up unbelievably steep stairs. When you eventually get to the top the view is amazing, apparently its even better at sunset. Getting down was tricky enough, Susie clinging on to the rail for dear life! We also got to see the Chinatown market selling everything and anything from haberdashery to caged live animals. After a long walk and being completely Wat'd out we stumbled across the Golden Buddha. It                                                  is quite an interesting Buddha made of Solid gold and worth                                                        trillions. 

Patpong with the Speranza's...

After being a complete tourist we then joined the rest of the backpackers in Kho San Road. We bartered successfully on a few bits and bobs. Couldn't face trying the deep fried scorpions and cockroaches though. Needless to say we had a Pad Thai and a few more Cheeky Changs whilst meeting fellow travellers. We met an American couple who had recently moved to Hong Kong and where on holiday. After a few more drinks and a bucket of samsong we where persuaded (Honestly we have no idea who persuaded who?) to take the 'tick in the box' trip to Patpong need I say more? The tuk tuk ride home was a brilliant end to the day/night/morning!!!

Oh no, where's he gone?...

All in all Bangkok was great and we enjoyed the less touristy location of our hotel. We really enjoyed wandering around markets and taking the sky train and long boats which is brilliant because getting around so cheap and really fast, if you avoid the touristy ones that is. The Thai's love their gadgets too, pretty much everyone is checking their facebook everywhere you look. It'll be interesting to see what Japan will be like in comparison. We left Bangkok on an overnight bus to Chiang Mai 10 hours up north. (Dengue Fever Land!) Susie was absolutely shocked by the improvement of standards of buses, pretty much luxury liners which cost us £10 each. It was like being on a long haul flight with free food, drinks, blankets and pillows. 

We reached our hotel in Chiang Mai. This one had a pool and was right in the middle of the liveliest area. Everything was in walking distance. It was nice to chill out after a long journey and 4 nights in mental Bangkok. We hit the night market (which is becoming a bit of a habit!) Chiang Mai was much more chilled than we expected. The people where really friendly and you didn't get hassled too much. Somehow we ended up in a bar with Karaoke and quickly realised we suck at it. 'Let it be' has now been ruined forever in my head. After a relaxing few days and early nights and some good bargain hunting it was time to leave Thailand and head for the land of Laos.

The White Temple...

Before the Booze Cruise...

We got a really good deal on a tour package for 3 days and 2 nights including 2 days down the Mekong river on a slow boat. We sat waiting for our minibus to arrive thinking it'll be just us on the bus. Nope it was rammed full of 20 somethings, some of them being completely hung over from the night before and where planning on partying for the whole journey. Our first stop in the minibus was Chiang Rai to see the white temple. At first we thought 'not another temple' but having seen it from the roadside we knew we had to take a closer look, it is beautiful, its like something from a fairytale. After a brief stop we headed to the border in Chiang Kong where we would spend our first night. There where 2 minibuses full staying at our less than 1 star accommodation and so after the long journey we all got together and had a bit of an impromptu party. All I can say is that it ended up with one guy trying to put a Gecko in his beard. The trip is certainly a good way to meet new people of all different age groups and nationalities and pick up tips of more places to see and things to do.

Roll on Laos...