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We arrived in Thailand late afternoon on Tuesday 7th August. We didn't have a clue where to find the cheap taxi's so in the end we forked out 3 times the price on a posh airport 'Limousine' taxi - rather irritating.
We headed for Khoa San Road, as recommended by a friend (Moosey-Laura Elloways mate). The street was buzzing with market stalls and pubs. It seemed crazy but I loved it (Flora).
Day 1: After a few odd jobs in the morning and then lunch, we headed for The Grand Palace. It was built by a King as the Royal residence and where all the important meetings would take place. It was swathed in bits of mirror, glitter and gold. Every part of the building sparkled.
That evening we went out for some food and some bevies. I tried Thai Green Curry (bit of culture!) and due to the spicy food, a bad mix of alcohol and dehydration, ended up throwing it up down the toilet later. Not a good start, but something that, thankfully, has not been repeated!
Day 2: In the morning we headed for Wat Pho, the famous temple of the golden reclining Buddha. 45m long and 15m high! We decided on hiring a guide for this one to explain the ins and outs of Buddism (95% of Thai's are Buddist). It was very enlightening! We learnt all about the different postures of Buddha, and how karma and Nirvana works.
Later that day we headed for a boat 'cruise'. Disappointingly this consisted of being plonked on a river taxi by our 'guide', waved goodbye to, and motored up and down the river for a bit. We were a bit miffed, but on the plus side we got to see some of real Bangkok life - living on the river bank. It was rough and dirty.
In the eveningwe hit the huge shopping centre - MBK. A big attraction for those with money to spend. I bought a pretty sarong, Matt bought some jeans. We got a taxi there for 80 Baht (?1.40- an hours ride!). However on the way home we took a Tuk-tuk!( tuk-tuk has a tin or iron body resting on three small wheels (one in front, two on the rear), a small cabin for the driver in the front and seating for three in the rear (care of google)!!! After agreeing on an 80 Baht trip home (a shrewd deal by the look on the driver's face), we set off. The. It was the scariest ride of our lives. He started with a wheel spin! As well as speeding round corners, there are the traffic fumes to inhale, which the open air tuk-tuk gets no protection from. Bangkok traffic is a nightmare anyway, with everyone jostling to get across crossings and overtake each other, and being in this tuk-tuk put us right in the middle of it. Our driver was obviously having fun though and he got us home safely, thankfully.
Day 3: Today we decided to do some real adventuring and go in search of Khao Yai National Park, on our own. We arrived at the front gate to pay 400 Baht entrance fee (?6), as foreigners (Thai's only had to pay 40 Baht (60p). humpf)! Expecting to stroll through the forest, we were stopped in our tracks when the woman on the explained that the first viewpoint was 7km away. Luckily we'd met two Italian girls on our journey, who were in the same position, and we took advantage of an offer to share the back of a truck that was to soar through the rainforest, with us clinging on for dear life.
We saw deer, a Great Hornbill (like a tucan), two waterfalls (one from the film 'The Beach'), a scorpion, and the icing on the cake?? a family of wild Asian Elephants!! We were ecstatic! They crossed the road in front of us. I was beaming for ages.
One more piece of excitement left in our day: I say excitement, I mean it got our heat rate up?.. as we settled down on the bus back to Bangkok, I opened some food I'd just bought of a street vendor and found mini ants crawling over it! After our initial jump of surprise they were quickly discarded.
The next day we headed to Chiang Mai?..
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