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Hello boys and girls!
So, I arrived safely despite still being in the shower at 6:00pm on monday when my flight left at 9:30pm and no, neither of the two planes that collided at Heathrow contained Caz or myself, we had a couple of delays but despite that when I finally arrived at my luggage belt in Bangkok after aprox 16hrs travelling Caz was there waiting for me! Fantastic!
Flights were superb and injecting myself in the stomach pre-flight was pretty pain-free, although I am now sporting a nice purple bruise, nursing is clearly not my forte. Due to delays I hardly saw Doha, even the airport, I never really spoke to anyone while traveling either, not even Alex who you'll hear about later. So all was well, despite being haunted by seeing a ginormous pallet of JVC TV's in Doha and a HUGE bill board advertising them in Bangkok near the airport, they're still advertising in some places then!
After leaving Bangkok airport we headed for the backpacker's den that is the Chao San Road with Alex in tow, (a german guy who stole one of the two free seats next to me on the second leg of my journey from Doha to Bangkok), as the three of us are poor sharing the cab fare was handy and we helped eachother find a room to stay that night. Caz and I ended up in the Bella Bella Guesthouse behind the Chao San Road near the place I stayed at three years ago. It was 420Baht a night (About 3 pound each) and had it's own shower and a ceiling fan, clean too, so very good.
Bangkok has not changed since I was here last, for the better anyway, with even more smells, begging and dirt than before! It is a must-experience place but I would be very uncomfortable staying more than a few nights.
That first night Caz, Alex (who was at another guesthouse nearby) and myself hit the Chao San Road to grab a bite to eat and have a goosey. It still hadn't sunk-in to Caz and I that we were away and actually in Thailand!
We went to bed with very heavy eyelids that night and despite the noise outside our third storey window managed to sleep soundly. I awoke at about 6:30am (12:30am UK time) probably because I slept on my flights and was very excited, not to mention the horns, bells, birds and general hustle and bustle I could hear outside our window, waiting until 11:30am for Caz to wake up was not so exciting though! When she did we went to the Chao San Road again and had a look around the markets, I needed some sort of bag as I only had a rucksack and Caz wanted some fisherman's pants after seeing how hot I look in mine! haha I also wanted to get my phone unblocked so I could use a Thai sim card but my phone is too new for them to do it so I bought a second hand one for 20 quid which has Thai lettering on the buttons, love it! I had a bit of a sick spell so we went to what became our regular eatery for some grub. Muesli with yoghurt, honey and fresh banana all for about 80p set us up for the day just great! I have also been brushing up on my Thai which helps us when buying things and bartering as well as avoiding being picked on by Thai touts etc. That evening Caz, Alex and I met up with my cousin Chris and headed into Pat Pong where they have a night market and infamous 'girly bars'. The guys outside hold up cards saying what tricks their girls do Ie. p**** cut banana, p**** pop balloon (with darts) and Electric p**** (Genuinely no idea about that one!) So we went into one of the bars where the guy promised there was no cover charge and that drinks were only 100Baht each, after ten minutes we had watched a few balloons get popped, a woman smoke without the use of her mouth (or hands), another woman stand infront of me, get her baps out and gesture how big mine were compared to hers and then ask if Alex and I were a couple.. All was going well until a worker came over and said we must pay 600 Baht each for watching the show so we swiftly left, much to their annoyance! We then went to a bar where I had a Vodka and Thai Red Bull (Whoop whoop) and then headed back to a bar on the Chao San Road and had cocktails. It was a very nice evening and my cousin Chris left the next morning so it was good to see him before he went!
We slept very well again that night waking up at gone 12pm which is when we were supposed to meet Alex, we quickly got dressed, had our usual breakfast and headed out sight seeing. We had a very nice Tuk Tuk driver who helped us get a long tail boat around the river to see some sights including kids playing in the dirty brown water and men washing their clothes in it! We got off and walked through a Thai market near The Grand Palace, which we only walked around as it was shutting soon, and headed towards Wat Pho, the great reclining Buddah (Pictured). The grounds alone are stunning and we walked around the temples and saw monks praying before seeing the actual Buddha. It was absolutely breath-taking 45 meters (150 feet) long and about 18 meters high, the feet were carved from mother of pearl. From there we headed back to the Chao San Road so Caz could buy a camera, which she did, and so we could book our onward travel from Bangkok. We met up with Alex and two of his English friends he had bumped into randomly for the third time on his different expeditions (Chile, Peru and now Bangkok!) They were lovely and have been travelling for three years around most of the world, including getting to Asia overland via Russia, what's even more amazing is that they have only spent 4000 pounds each per year, if I could budget like that I could be away for two years! (Don't worry you all know it will never happen!)
Anyway, best go now but will update you all soon!
Julie <3
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