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Sawadeeka!
We have been in Thailand for about 10 action-packed days now, and unfortunately our time here is already at an end. We have lots to fill you in on. Look forward to tales of Alex's embarassing new years eve display and Fern's continuing battle with the mosquitos (you may recall at last count she was definately winning...).
The first clear indication that we had arrived in a new country came just after landing. Ok so obviously we new we were in a new country after the flight and all...but what really gave it away was a store cupboard in the airport. The door had been left slightly ajar, and Alex couldn't resist a peak. He dragged Fern over in his excitement, it was CLEAN! It had shelves, and things looked like they were in a place and had been left there with good reason in some kind of order! There was nothing that resembled wee on the floor. We new from that moment that luxury awaited us beyond the gates. Leaving India gives you an almost reverse culture shock after becoming so used to, and even expecting, dirt and grime. It all added to it's charm though. On our first full day in Bangkok we caught a magical train that floated through the air to a mythical place of giant TV screens, glass and shopping centres that put London to shame. We stood in speechless awe at these wonders of modernity, and for a moment we loved them. Gradually we became more self-aware, and realised our odd behaviour was attracting attention. This is the modern face of Bangkok and it smacks of tokyo and high-tech asia.
Our hotel was equally impressive. We had booked it through STA before we had left (having had a voucher to spend with them and knowing that Bangkok add new year might equal no accomodation). It was therefore, from our point of view, a luxury hotel. I'm not sure what a 5 star hotel is really like, but after our horrible room in Mumbai this place felt the part. It had a swimming pool, we had a flatscreen TV, and most importantly there was a tortoise who lived in the lobby fountain. This truely was paradise. We, however, convinced ourselves that we should actually leave the hotel at some point over the next few days. We explored the old part of the city taking in the awesome grand palace and attatched temple (pictured above). As you can see, the whole complex is covered in gold and coloured glass, and gleams in the Thailand sun. We wandered around for a few hours, amusing ourselves by taking comic pictures of ourselves next to ancient cultural monuments (that's just for you Birch) before the heat of the day forced us to retreat into the shade in search of a beer. We headed to the infamous Khao San Road, which is basically a street overrun with annoying Americans with terrible tatoos. After enduring a painful conversation with a guy who considered himself an authority on absolutely everything, we bumped into Rich and Laura - the couple from the house boat, and Goa. Although this time it was not so unexpected as they had flown to Bangkok the day before us. We arranged to meet for some New Years drinks the next day, and parted company after a long coversation about how impressed we all were about Bankok's cleanliness.
The next day we took full advantage of our hotel's facilities, indulging in a leisurely swim and a complimentary Thai massage. Like a really hot curry, this stimulated simultaneous pleasure and pain, and extended our backs so much that we had to re-adjust our backpacks when we got to putting them on again. Feeling rested and refreshed, we headed out for New Years Eve, returning to Khao San Road for a few "beer towers" with Rich and Laura. Merrily on our way, we taxied it back to Siam Square (the place of modern wonder) for the countdown. We didn't let the fact that we were the only people in the whole square drinking stop us from completing our "drink while you think" drinking game, as neighbouring Thai people looked on curiously. After all we are english and we have a worldwide reputation to uphold. There was a massive party atmosphere across the whole city, and it was a great place to welcome the new year, even if we did miss the fireworks...After embarrising ourselves by asking to swim in the pool at two o'clock in the morning, we returned to our room dry and still totally smashed, and passed out on the bed. Alex had to stumble to the toilet in the night and throw up after consuming what must have been the equivalent of 4 (large, as he keeps adding) beers during the course of the evening. Light weight.
We caught a night train to the northern city of Chiang Mai, and were agained astonished by its cleanliness and tourist friendly attitude. Thailand appears to spend a large amount of money on keeping tourists happy, and for this reason is incredibly easy to negotiate. We arrived early and found ourselves a really friendly hostel which was filled to the brim with fellow backpackers. We splashed out on a few extravagances in Chiang Mai, though not nearly as many as are available. There is so much to do. Our first extravagance involved tigers, real tigers, in a room with us and no cages. Who would pay for that right? Well in this case it is a tiny bit less crazy than it sounds, as feeling more than a little intimidated by the adult tigers we opted to only be thrown in with the 3 month olds. For 10 minutes we sat in a room and played/stroked/ran away from them. It was awesome. Even though they were really young they were still about the size of a dog and had teeth and claws that could do serious damage. Our nerves weren't helped by the fact the little guy was in "hunting" mode when we entered. Luckily we survived this encounter intact. That night we went to a few bars with a couple of aussies we met at our hostel and a thai girl who worked there. They seemed cool at first (cooler than James anyway) but eventually showed their true colours and ended the evening by making themselves throw up into their drinks and continuing to drink them. Australians are disgusting.
Our second endulgence in Chiang Mai was a cooking course. Over the course of a day we learnt how to cook (and more importantly then got to eat) 5 different classic thai dishes. We impressed even ourselves with how good it all tasted, and how easy it all really was to cook. Alex has now mastered the art of the Thai green curry, whilst Fern can whip up a mean Pad Thai. That's something that should be mentioned here, Thai food is great. It's better than what we got in India (which Alex never expected), more varied and can be bought on any street corner.
After Chiang Mai we caught an extremely uncomfortable night train (non-sleeper) back south and to the ancient city of Ayutthaya. Here we finally got to ride Elephants (which are well looked after - we checked) and explored the ancient ruins and the many temples. Some of the other wildlife of Ayutthaya was not quite so friendly. Stupidly, forgetting to apply mosquito repellant, Fern got bitten no less than 56 times on her feet during one evening. They itch like hell. She is not impressed. Photographic evidence will be provided shortly.
Now back in Bangkok we leave for cambodia tomorrow and the temples of Angkor. Hope you're all doing well at home, we hear it's snowing again. Missing you all, Alex and Fern.
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