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Day one:
17th of January - the start of our adventure of a lifetime! All our family and Jodie came to the airport and had a 'farewell meal' at '3 Bells bar'. With the dreaded time upon us, Jodie was the first to make Alysha cry then all the waterworks went wild amongst the family! After making a snotty messes of ourselves, we got through the security gates - the image of our families waving goodbye will always be imprinted in our memory. Then we headed straight to the pub to have a shot (ok, maybe 3 or more....) to calm ourselves and celebrate that we are actually going to our first destination: BANGKOK!!
After what seemed like forever, we finally boarded the plane and was really relieved our seats were with extra leg room!! We got proper excited like little kids because it was 'posh' to us commoners! - free blankets, toothbrushes, 4 or more films with subtitles and FREE BOOZE!!!! *mega thumbs up* Gemma slept most of the flight as she was feeling quite ill, whilst we took advantage of what was on offer!! (we even took some wine with us off the plane!!!)
Arrived at Bangkok with bleary eyes and then we had a mini panic over the immigration passes, but that cleared up after realising we had to fill in a form before passport check! After waiting ages for the immigration check, we got a taxi which was NOT nice!! We wanted the ultra cool hot pink taxi but instead we were lumbered with a yellow/green one that stank of cheese. The driver has kindly put his shoes under Alysha's seat so the smell was forever wafting up her nose!!
We arrived at our hostel 'Nap Park Hostel' after an hour of scary taxi drive!! The thai drivers sure don't follow any rules, whatsoever!!! We were really pleased with the hostel which was very pretty and quite cool. We quickly dumped our bags, headed to Kho San road and had dinner of yummy noodles and curries. We then bumped into Coco's friend - Kathryn and Katie. Naturally, we had a 'few' shots and cocktail buckets, but we kept ordering more because it was SO cheap. We still couldn't believe how cheap it was, even though we had been informed by some of you! So after getting happily 'merry' we went back to our hostel to find a male staff was fornicating (being polite here....) with a girl on one bed in our room... (our room had 6 beds and 2 free ones....)and we had to leave the room to let them finish their 'business' but when we returned - they were still at it!!!! Unsurprisingly, Mischa was in a silly mood and tried to take pictures of them...Needless to say they were not impressed and both left the room quite rapidly, embarrassed (whether the red faces were due to embarrassment or the action they just engaged in, we'll never know....)
Day Two:
We woke up to Gemma being ill with swollen glands, so being the true friends that we are, we left her in the room and went to explore! :P
We were starting to get used to the smell and the dangerous roads (cars are bloody mad and don't ever seem to stay in their lanes!) We walked the back streets and saw our first ladyboy, Mischa was staring so much she almost walked into a pole!
After trying to find info on how to get to Cambodia (which was baffling and not very successful) we returned to Gemma who was ready for food so we went back out and randomly met a tuk-tuk driver who asked what we were doing and Gemma said that we were not staying long and wanted to go Cambodia, the man didnt look impressed and said he would take us to the tourist shop. So instead of getting food we had our first tuk-tuk ride. It was manic, the man kept going from lane to lane frantically and dangerously so we had nervous giggles which only made the man laugh and go faster whilst we are trying to hold on safely!!! We asked him to wait for us outside the shop but after a few hours he left and we didn't pay him, feeling guilty and telling the shop manager we hadn't paid he said "no matter, he paid for you from his heart!" which only made us feel more guilty because he was actually quite nice and helpful, and now missing a tip :-(
We got into the shop 'Unseen travels' telling the manager that we wanted to go Cambodia from Bangkok, "wrong move!" he said rather abruptly so we asked him for his advice. After a lot of picture showing, brochures, finger pointing and tapping on the map we eventually got a good deal and a route sorted out!! He was half deaf himself and gave us a large discount and free visa for Laos. The manager kept looking at Gemma and said he wanted to marry us all we had a 'friendly' flirt/banter so we could get a good rate,once it was all confirmed, Gemma and Coco paid up, but Alysha and Mischa didnt have enough cash so he paid for Alysha and Mischa's tuk-tuk ride to and from our hostel so we could pick up the money to pay for our route. He told Alysha his life story and he was seriously looking for a wife (touching Alysha's leg suggestively) she told him "I'm 24 same age as his daughter, so no!!" he laughed and said "maybe just a kiss!!" the ride back to the office couldnt come quick enough!!! After a few awkward hugs, he finally let us go - after getting one of his staff to drive us back to the road where our hostel was! He kept bossing his staff round us like getting a drink or if we needed anything "oh, my staff will get it!" haha!
Obviously after a successful afternoon, we felt like we needed treat after almost no food all day....so, we had MacDonalds!! -Alysha and Coco was not impressed AT ALL!!! (tasted exactly the same, but wee bigger fries!) naturally, this made Mischa's day! Then we met up with Mischa's friend - Gemma Smith and her girlfriend, Holly. Gemma is now living in Cambodia for 3 months so it was useful to meet up for catch up AND get some tips from her. We all went to an Irish bar (we can hear some of our Irish friends doing some cheer as they read this...) and this time, we weren't silly with drinking as we had an early start tomorrow, going back to the tourist shop to offload half of our bags (the shop manager had kindly offered to lock up half of our bags because we brought too much stuff with us and didn't want to carry our winter clothes for the next 2 months!!!) and to pick up our tickets/itinerary.
Day Three:
We woke up reasonably early to unpack our bags, take half out and pack again, shower, and make sure we got everything with us and check out.
The shop manager sent a staff to pick us up and drive to his shop to go through the itinerary and drop off our stuff. As we entered the shop, the manager left the people he was dealing with and led us to his office (he seriously worshipped us!!!) and was pleased to see us! At this point, Gemma still wasn't feeling well, he even offered to get a staff to go to the chemist and get something but Coco and Gemma already had some antibiotics this morning before we got into the car to go to the shop. After about half hour going through all the deals, he got a staff to drive us to another shop to lock up our stuff, then he said his goodbyes. He genuinely looked sad when we all hugged him and as we drove off ( yes, his staff drove us to the train station to start our route....) he lit up a cigerette and looked at the ground with a sad face....bless him!! (maybe slight exaggeration here.....)
When we got to Bangkok train station, his staff bought the tickets for us, because it was all in Thai! We had an hour to kill so we had some lunch there, bought some munchies for the journey to Ayutthaya. Mischa, being the kind person she is, carried ill Gemma's bag onto the train but the steps were high and she almost fell backward but Alysha came to the rescue, kept pushing her onto the train!
The train journey was funny and a different experience. The train had no windows and a makeshift fan on the ceiling and it was still hot. Mischa was not impressed with the speed cause she wanted it to cool her down but Coco and Alysha were glad to take in the scenery and took some pictures. There was constantly people walking up and down, offering us food and drink (really useful to be able buy some ice cold drinks!) Some people got off the train whilst it was still moving, scary!
At one point the train stopped and people were getting off the train, so naturally Alysha and Mischa wanted to be sheep and tentatively got off. They were asking a lady (who on the same train from Bangkok) why we had stopped, we didn't quite understand the reason why but it was not moving for a good while, so we decided to have a fag. Coco decided to joined us but left swiftly! We got talking to the lady (a lot of gestures and broken English) telling us that we are "sexy ladies" with suggestive smiles! Then she asked if we needed the loo, we did but didn't want to miss the train even though she said it was going to be ages till it'll start moving. So we jumped back on and a minute later she comes running back on, laughing and saying "train going!!" Thankfully we do have a little bit of common sense!!! (staring at certain people who told us to be sensible on this trip....!!)
The train ride felt like it was taking a long time (it was delayed by 15 mins or so...) outside looked more rural, we saw pretty houses on silts, a lot of shacks too and already we are appreciating what we have at home, and how materialistic we have become and how health and safety has gone mad!! Our train had open windows and it was nice to look literally head out and feel that breeze! (England train windows only open a fraction! Too far!)
At 6pm we arrived at Ayutthaya and got another tuk-tuk ride, Mischa thought it would be ok to climb in with her backpack and the top half got stuck so she fell awkwardly, everyone laughed and Alysha did her cackle! Mischa crawled into the front of the tuk-tuk, with the backpack still on her!! Tuk-tuks are so small and with all bags and everyone on, Coco was the last to get on and she was dangerously at the open end whilst the driver drove us to the hotel!
It was a short ride to the 'Ayothaya hotel' it looked really posh and we got excited when a porter came to take our bags to our boutique room while we checked in! we couldn't believe the boutique hotel was part of our package deal!!
We went to our rooms, dumped bags to explore again, only to find that everything was closed early, no tourists around, no bars or restaurants. Mischa suggested eating pizza at a pizza place but Alysha shouted " stop being so f***ing british!" so pizza was OFF!! We ended up eating at our hotel, Mischa tried to be spontaneous and ordered something different, Alysha was impressed and went for the same thing (rice noodles with chicken in a sticky soup) Coco went for pad Thai and Gemma who still had swollen glands had chicken soup and chips. When we got our main, Mischa and Alysha's dinner looked disgusting and it tasted how it looked! We tried to blame the language barrier to get a new dish for free, but awkward, it didn't work!! So the mood was dampened with rubbish food, rubbish town and the feeling we may have been duped so Gemma went to bed early, with the rest following shortly after.
Day Four:
Coco woke us up at half 8am to have a swim at our hotel pool before breakfast, it was very refreshing to do a few laps! We had breakfast at the hotel and poor Gemma was still looking very ill and her ear started to bleed, thinking she had bursted her eardrums . We asked the reception where the hospital was, we were informed that the hospital was far away and Gemma would have to go to a clinic nearby. Mischa accompanied her, whilst Coco and Alysha finshed their breakfast.
When they returned Gemma had a bag full of antibiotics, it was only an ear infection, so we were relived that it wasn't anything major! (just drug her up and Gemma will be fiiiiiine!!) Instead of going to the temples/floating market as planned, we decided to let Gemma recoup so we sunbathed by the pool and we'll go tomorrow instead when Gemma is back to her cheery self!
We got to the pool and shortly after settling down, 4 local young boys came to swim too. They appeared shy, but soon they were splashing about, and asking us to swim with them (they were frigging cute!!!!) Coco and Alysha got a ball from our room and we played with them, splashing and pushing each other in the pool until a glass got broken by the poolside and Mischa cut her foot in the pool. The little boys were so cute and kept saying sorry even though it wasn't their fault! They got their dad (who worked at the hotel) whilst Alysha put her first aid training to use, she put Mischa's leg in the air to stop the blood flow while applying pressure!!! Their dad returned with tissue and his daughter with a medical kit, he had a blue liquid that looked like it could be alcohol and Mischa was already being melodramatic thinking that it would sting badly! The man trying not to laugh and gave her a sympathetic smile and applied it -would u believe it, it didnae hurt!!! Just a plaster to put on and Mischa was ready to go back in the pool! One of the boys must have liked Alysha's technique because when he fell and hurt himself he came to her so she had to elevate his leg too!! Coco was our personal lifeguard as one of the older boys pushed a little boy into the pool, and he was panicking and crying! She heroically dived in and "saved his life"!!
Then we decided to retire downstairs for lunch and then when we returned to the pool, we were sad to discover the boys had gone. Instead the boys were replaced by a group of immature men who were swimming in their boxers, splashing about far too much and pushing each other into the pool to get our attention. They were seriously staring at us, we tried to ignore them but Gemma saw one of them take off another mans boxer shorts so obviously we laughed which only encouraged them to show off even more then they targeted us! They took Mischa's bikini top and wore it (yes, we sunbathed topless, bar Gemma) pretending to be gay when they returned it, Mischa then selfishly threw Alysha's bikini top to them! She was not impressed so she pounced on Mischa to try and get her top off and threw that in the pool too. So now they had both our tops and put them on their side of the wall. Not wanting to encourage this, we pretended to be 'cool' and carried on sunbathing until they give it back. They did but not before trying to throw Mischa into the pool and attempting to undo her bottom bikini (how bloody rude!!) once we were fully clothed, Alysha tried to get own back by pushing one of the men into the pool but instead he bumped his head and grazed his knees, *cue violins* the man was saying how he was hurt, Alysha tried to apologise but again the language barrier came up. So it was a tad awkward with them all sitting nearby, staring at us.
Thinking it was time to be polite we asked them where they were from *gestures home, where?* one of the men smiled and wrote his hotel room number! Alysha was not impressed again, and frowned shouting "no, I mean where u from, Thailand, Japan, China?!!" it turned out they were Japanese and then it was awkward silence again. After a while, they were still trying to get us in the pool. We ended up sitting two by two on the sun bed for safety, unable to relax and sunbathe! Coco said it felt like we were prey and them predators!! It was true, we felt like zoo animals by the way they kept surrounding us and staring at us, looking at our piercings and tattoos! We couldn't leave the pool side because we were scared they would follow us to our room! (we no likey them!)Eventually they left, and we had peace again! (yes, off came the top bikini!)
After frolicking at the pool, we went to our rooms and got changed for dinner. At Coco's request, we had to look pretty, because up until now we have been looking pale and ill compared to everyone else, but the tan is finally creeping in now!!! Yay!!
We went to a pizza place for dinner (we decided to have something nice before going to Chaing Mai where food will be proper Thai and unusual.) Then we purchased some alcohol and returned to our room and spent the night drinking and playing card games and jungle speed with music playing! Top night!
- comments
Emma Briden Sounds your having amazing time! Feel like I there when reading this, send more blogs. Love you coco and girlies x x x x x
Sarah have fun in chang mai, make sure you ask if you can sit on the elephant's head and steer with your feet by kicking its ears - well cool. be safe love youse, xx
tracy sounds like you are having a great time, have loads of fun girls, miss u loads Alysha xxxxx keep us informed and keep safe girls wheres the pic???
Lucy Truelove Bro's and Hoe's... Love this blog shizzle, keep it up it makes me smile :D miss you xx
Lipsa Oh loving this blog's.... Haha wish I cld see that Mischa tried get into the tuk tuks but miserable fail lol n get on the train!! n one question... where's pics? :P Gemma... hope u feel better soon mwah xxxx
Semhar Beyene Hey girls! Sounds like Thailand, the memories of awkwardness, over-eagerness and poor Gemma, the odd sickness. You guys obviously are thrown right in the middle of it, this blog's a great read so far. Will be one of my morning coffee reads at work now, enjoy the charming Chiang Mai (minus Muay Thai boxing)! S xxx p
Gillian I had read your holiday story. Hope Gemma will quick recovery her ill. Have more great holiday in mountain. I love you allxxxxx
Alpha Omega Following you guys all over the world. Mischa being Mischa, it's bound to make us all smile! Who's writing this blog? xx
Dannie Loving the blog ladies, it sounds amazing!! xx