Thailand
February 1995 UK£1 = 28 Baht approx (at time of travel)
Bangkok airport is big, busy and very smart. We passed through immigration easily, and for some reason we were given a 30-day visa (most people got a 15-day visa). We were still wrapped up in warm clothing from Nepal when we walked out of the airport., which was like walking into an oven. I couldn’t believe how hot and humid it was.
We took a taxi to Khao San Road (230 B – about UK£6). Khao San is the major backpacker area and it’s full of cheap hotels, places to eat and drink, travel agents and loads of backpackers. We decided to stay here for convenience, but I’m sure with a better planning and patience it would be easy to find a much better area to stay in.
It felt lonely when we got out of the taxi. We hadn’t planned where to stay and were expecting, as in India and Nepal, to just be approached by touts and to proceed into the usual hotel "search and barter" rigmarole. This didn’t happen. We just stood in the street. No-one approached us! We wandered around a few places; many were full, until we found the "Lek" guesthouse. 120 Baht per night, for a small room and shared bathroom. We dumped our stuff in the room and wandered out (after removing our warm clothing and donning shorts and t-shirts).
The streets were full of people and all the bars and restaurants were packed out. I’d never seem so many travellers in one place. We ate some delicious food and had a cold beer before turning in for the night. The place was like a little travellers haven in a big city. I saw people and recognised faces from previous parts of our trip.
Bangkok is a huge city and one of the most polluted in the world. Everywhere was so busy and noisy – the place never stops to rest.
The next day we took one of the express boats along the river. They act as buses in the city, which has many waterways, and are a good way to get around. Getting on and off is quite an adventure though – you have to big quick and agile.
We made our way to the central post office to post some things we’d bought back home (which was quick and simple) and retrieved lots of letters from Poste Restante. We then spent our first afternoon in an air-conditioned Kentucky Fried Chicken, eating, reading letters and writing.
In the early evening we ventured into Patpong road (the sleazy part of town). We sat with cold beers watching old ugly men with young beautiful Thai babes. Patopong is full of clubs and pubs and prostitutes, but if you go there as a couple, no one gives you any hassle or trouble. I heard that many of the prostitutes are actually lady-boys (i.e. – transsexuals), but I couldn’t tell the difference. It was quite sad to see drunk German businessmen slobbering all-over these young girls.
We took a Tuk-Tuk back to Khao San Rd. Tuk-Tuks are the Thai equivalent of the rickshaw – only 10 time faster. Riding around in the back of one is a real breathtaking experience – until you get stuck in traffic and the smog starts to choke you. They are just at the right height to take in all the diesel fumes belching out from trucks. Tuk-Tuk drivers appeared to be very rude and didn’t want to bargain at all.
The following day we visited the National museum and the Grand Palace – just a short walk from our hotel. The whole complex is magnificent – lots of ornate temples decorated with gold and semi-precious stones. It cost 125 B per person to enter.
We also visited What Pho to see the 46M long gold reclining Buddha (with "mother of peal inlaid feet")! Another marvellous sight.
Bangkok is full of street markets and we spent the end of the day wandering around them, eating exotic food and perusing the many goods on offer, whilst getting extremely hot and sweaty. Everything is so cheap. We bought two gold wedding rings – 23 karat – for about £35 each.
I tried to find a pub showing the England v Wales 5 nation game but gave up. Most of the "English" pubs were on the other side of town and I couldn’t be bothered, plus I’d end up spending lots of money on beer! The budget had gone well so-far and I was determined to keep it on track. Anyway – I found out the next day we trounced the Welsh in an easy game.
We decided we’d spend one more day in Bangkok, which we spent on and around the water. We hired a long boat with another couple for an hour or so and we zoomed around the many waterways. This only cost 75 B each and was really worthwhile. As soon as you enter the maze of canals it’s like stepping back a few years. Wooden houses on stilts, people paddling around in simple boats and floating markets and stalls everywhere. All this is the shadow of the modern, concrete mega-city of Bangkok.
We stopped to look at a few of the markets and visited a couple of interesting temples. The boat was fast and the driver liked to speed as soon as he got the odd open stretch of water – often getting us soaked wet. The locals were friendly and many of the children would catch our attention by showing off their high-diving skills.
We also visited Wat Arun – the temple of dawn – which is situated next to the river. It turned out to be my favourite temple in Bangkok as it had such a variety of designs and was extremely ornate.
In the evening we made our way down to the Thai Boxing stadium and got some tickets for the evenings fights. The seats were "mid range" and cost us 330 B each. The cheaper seats were 170 B each and you end up getting caged in with the locals. We saw seven bouts – all different weights – and all the fighters looked so young, most of them must have still been teenagers. There is lots of pre-fight ceremony with traditional music played while the fights take place – the beat getting faster as the fight heat up. Each fight had 5 rounds of 3 minutes and they were pretty brutal. Lots of hard kicking, punching, kneeing and elbowing… in fact it seemed that they could pretty much do anything! It was good entertainment & the chaos of betting between the locals in the "cage" was good value in itself.
Kanchanaburi
We took a minibus from Khao San Rd (booked in one of the tourist shops) to Kanchanaburi – two hours north of Bangkok. It’s a peaceful little town next to the river Kwai - the location of the famous "Bridge over the River Kwai"
We checked into the "Jolly Frog" guesthouse. 130 B per night for a double hut with bathroom. This place is really cool. Bamboo building set in nice gardens right next to the river. There’s a large common area where food and booze is served and they show videos in the evenings. A great place to spend a few days… or even a few weeks!
We visited the museum, which is right next to the bridge, and houses a strange selection of war stuff and Thai memorabilia. One room had paintings of "Miss Thailand" from various years on the walls. Weird! The best bit is the re-built World War 2 camp, down by the river. It shows how the prisoners, who were held here by the Japanese, were kept and there are even the remains of the original bridge. It was quite a saddening scene and some of the information, pictures and stories were heart–wrenching. The whole story about the Death Railway is horrifying. I’m glad we went to have a look and pay our respects. It cost 30 B per person to enter and we spent most of the day there. Later on we walked across the new bridge and ate in one of the many floating restaurants. The heat in Kanchanaburi was intense.
The next day we took a minibus to Erewan waterfalls, about 65 km from Kanchanaburi, where we did a jungle walk. The jungle was thick and the waterfalls clear and beautiful. We walked quite a way and it was hard going at times in the thick forest. We saw lots of spectacular butterflies, and many creatures including a three foot long lizard (which scared the shit out of me). The jungle was so noisy from all the beetles and other insects – quite literally deafening at times. Dibs got "attacked" by a foot long stick insect (more like a branch insect!) which she accidentally stood on. She was in hysterics for a few seconds! On the way back Dibs had a quick dip in one of the clean pools with some locals. I declined, as there appeared to be only women and children bathing. The pool was full of small fish which nibbled on the swimmers!
In the afternoon I walked into town to change some money and on the way a dog leapt at me from a café. The owners and patrons of this place just laughed at me when this dog started to growl and nip at my heels. In fact they took great amusement from it all. I ignored the scruffy little dog and the locals and proceeded into town where I found a place to change money (albeit at a crap exchange rate). I then wandered back, and again – the dog had a go at me. This time I wasn’t in the mood to be laughed at and I kicked the little bastard and hit it with a chair! The locals soon stopped laughing as this dog ran off yelping, and after chasing it down the street for a while I made a sharp exit!
I paid a visit to the Chinese cemetery on the way back and then we spent the evening kicking-back at the Jolly Frog watching some Kung Fu film on video.
Kanchanaburi was a great place to spend a few days.
We got a minibus back to Bangkok (80 B each) and checked back into the Lek guesthouse – same room – just for convenience as we only planned a few more days there.
We decided we needed to get a move on down to Malaysia in order to rendezvous with Dibs Mum, so we looked around for various modes of transport and for the best deal down to Penang. In the end we opted for the Air-con bus which we paid 650 B each for. This would involve a big bus to Surat Thani and then minibuses to Hat Yai, then another one onto Georgetown in Penang.
We spent a couple more days in Bangkok and then caught our 6:00 p.m. bus (which left at 7:00 p.m.) south. The bus was very disappointing. The seats themselves were comfortable but the A/C on this "A/C bus didn’t work"! This resulted in a long, hot, sweaty journey to Surat Thani in the south.
Luckily the bus arrived in time for our connecting mini bus to Hat Yai and we were on our way within five minutes. The minibus was much better – nice and cool with plenty of room.
At Hat Yai we had lunch and waited thirty minutes of so until our bus to Penang turned up. Again, this was a nice air-con minibus, which whisked us over the border and down to Butterworth in good time. We then took the ferry over to Georgetown on Penang Island.
