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Back to Bangkok... So it's Charlotte and I'm sad to say that this is my last EVER entry to the blog, so here goes...
Ok so after our long journey to Bangkok we arrived to meet Caroline and Sara and let ourselves in to our VIP room at D&D inn, yes VIP! By this point Anni had developed a pretty nasty ear infection so we got little larks some antibiotics and she headed to bed. Hanna decided on an early night aswell so Tasha and I went out with Caro and Sara for some cocktails and chang beer! This was followed by shopping! Tasha and I had become bartering queens at this point.
The following morning we set our alarms to ensure we got ourselves a free breakfast at the hotel, we needn't have bothered as it was gross but at least it filled a hole. So my aims of Bangkok were to see Buddhas and temples, lots of them, so Tasha agreed to join me on my quest and we hit the streets of Bangkok in the direction of the Grand Palace. We got chatting to a nice thai man on the street who informed us that as it was coming to the end of the songran (thai new year) celebrations, they had a special 'deal' on tuk tuk rides... 10 baht each to get taken to see 5 different buddhas/temples... Big Buddha, Lucky Buddha, Black Buddha, The Grand Palace and Wat Po (a reclining buddha). Amazing deal!
So we found a tuk tuk and off we set, first stop Big Buddha. You guessed it, he was BIG. Next stop Lucky Buddha. Here I kinda got told off by a thai man for standing on the area that's only meant for monks, bad move, but we also got warned by another tourist that the special 'deal' we got was not so special. Basically the deal is that the tuk tuk driver will take you around for 10 baht but to make it worth his while he takes you to some shops where he gets comission for bringing in customers. Off to the first shop, the suit tailors! Clearly neither Tasha or I were interested in buying a suit and when we tried to tell this to one of the tailors he actually looked like he was going to cry. After trying to convince us to buy blouses we politely but firmly declined and escaped out to re join our tuk tuk driver. On to the next stop, Black Buddha. Unfortunately there were monks praying there so unless we hung around we weren't going in. There were also monks in the grand palace and wat po so we couldn't go there until 2pm... do the monks not realise there are other people in the city?? So back to D%D we went, not without our tuk tuk driver making us go in to another shop of course!!
That afternoon we chilled by the pool for a bit and then got ourselves ready for a night of, shock horror, shopping, in one of Bangkoks largest shopping centres MBK. After a long taxi ride there we hit the food court to fill us up for what we expected to be an evening of hardcore shopping but actually we found it to be overpriced versions of everything we'd already seen so we squashed the 4 of us in a tuk tuk and returned to kohsan road.
The following day we had a day trip planned. We were picked up and taken to a cemetary where soldiers who had fought in WW2 were buried, here we met our tour guide who was a tiny, hard to understand but hillarious thai man. Our next stop was the bridge over the river kwai and the death railway. From here we went elephant trekking and bamboo rafting... best part of the day! Hanna and Tasha went on one elephant and Anni and I rode on an elephant called Cedor. We rode the elephants for about half an hour in total and halfway through our 'driver' asked if we wanted to ride on the elephants head, so he climbed down and I side forward into the driving seat where it dawned on me that I was in control of this MASSIVE elephant, amazing! After I'd been there for a while we swapped over and Anni took control like a pro. It was at this point that our elephant got a ticckly nose and with one swoop of his trunk we found ourselves covered from head to toe and gooey green elephant SNOT!! My mouth was open at the time!! GROSS!!!!! We then returned to camp and had a little ride down the river on a bamboo raft, so relaxing. After a quick lunch we went to a waterfall for a dip and then on to our final destination of Tiger Temple. We had heard that the tigers were sedated to stop them from harming any visitors but I found it really sad to see them. The tigers had no shade and were laying, lifeless in a canyon for all the visitors to have pictures with them. As amazing as it was to see them I wouldn't recommend it.
That evening we glammed up and headed out for a lovely meal for my last evening (sob sob) and after a few drinks I had a reasonably early night as I had a long, long day of travelling ahead of me. So the next morning at 5.30am after a tearful goodbye to the girls I made my way to the airport. After a 4 hour flight I arrived in mumbai where I was due to have a 14 hour stopover. Having been told at Bangkok that I could infact get an earlier flight from mumbai to london I was overjoyed that I would only have to wait 1 hour instead of 14. At security it was confirmed that yes I could get on the earlier flight and I went through to the departure gate to be told that 'sorry miss the flight is full'. Full.
So with 14 hours in an tiny airport, no money and nothing to do I could have actually cried but instead I decided to buy a $22 packet of peanut m&ms as they came with an electronic suduko (entertained me for all of about 10 mins) I then bought the only two UK magazines in the airport, Elle and Cosmo which came to the equivalent of £16! At 7pm I had myself a thai green chicken curry for dinner and was joined by a crazy french hippy woman. Whilst eating my CHICKEN curry she told me that she's a vegetarian because she believes animals become depressed once they are killed and that all meat eaters are depressed because they put sad meat in their bodies... one way to put me off my dinner! I then got myself a coffee and settled into a leather chair for the next 5 or so hours where I began to re read the book I'd finished earlier that day. Anyway 30 hours after I started my journey I was in the car with my dad ready to go home and crawl in to bed. Bliss!
I had an amazing time on my travels through thailand with the girls, and not to forget Gregsy! I know they all have so many incredible experiences laid ahead of them and I'm sad to have to say goodbye but I want them to have the best time ever, don't look back and take loads of pics!! So for me it's over and out. Bon voyage! x
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