Bangkok blogging

And so we just about got to Bangkok, though slightly jetlagged from our jump four hours back. It was a complete contrast to the clean, organised, western countries we had just come from - but definitely in a good way!

The first thing that hit us was the humidity - pretty soon we were very sweaty! But we made our way to find our hotel room off Khao San road (backpacker central) and we were pleasantly suprised to find fully functioning air-con, hot water, satellite tv and even complimentary drinking water. The next day we rose from our slumber, munched our way through the complimentary breakfast and headed out to see some sights (mainly Buddhas, Kat was loving it - Ben not so much...).

Climbing aboard our trusty Tuk-Tuk we sped around for half a day to see temples, sitting buddhas, standing buddhas, big buddhas, little buddhas, red buddhas, gold buddhas, black buddhas.... well, you get the idea! We also, at the behest our our jolly chauffer, visited some tailors and travel agents - we felt we couldn't refuse given that we only paid him 80p for about 3 hours driving!

Later in the day we went to see the Emerald Buddha at the Grand Palace which despite the pouring rain was still a prettty impressive sight to see. Then, soggy clothes and shoes (but still sweaty) we went back to the hotel for some Thai green curry - Yum!

Day three in Bangkok we did another Tuk Tuk tour to see a few more sights and booked up the rest of out trip in Thailand - a quick flight to Krabi, then a few days in Ao Nang, five days at Ko Phi Phi and a couple of days in Phuket. Feels so nice to actually know where we'll be staying for the next couple of weeks - certainly makes a change (especially as one of the hotels is a four star resort!) plus, very naughtily we had a MDs for lunch....bland. Just before the sun set we climbed up to the Golden Mount to see - yes, you've guessed it - another Buddha! But it afforded us a great view of Bangkok and the marked differences between areas of the city - from small rundown houes up to giant skyscrapers.

Next day we booked onto a day trip to see the floating markets, Bridge over the River Kwai and tiger temple. Quite wierdly we met a couple of Brits from Winsford of all places - very bizarre (although we did meet someone in NZ with relatives in Yatton). On we went to the floating markets which was brilliant - as with the rest of Thailand it was organised chaos but seemed to somehow work and we got some great photos.

After the markets we stopped for lunch then headed to the Bridge over the River Kwai (though apparently the original was 300m downstream but nothing is left of it). There was a healthy disregard for health and safety as there were no railings and the wooden walk planks had seen better days. Great fun. Our tour also included a trip to the museum which was pretty much a rubbish tip of old war stuff mixed in with funny looking models and it had some rather blue looking statues of Churchill, Hitler etc. In a nearby market we also saw a baby leopard out on display by some people purporting to be from a conservation centre - an interesting take on the issue.

Next up was the Tiger Temple where monks look after injured Tigers and other wildlife. It is now a major tourist attraction as it offers people the opportunity to get a close encounter with some of the big cats (see the photos!). It was so strange to be able to get so close without feeling in any particular danger (though you only get a few seconds with each tiger and you had a guide hold onto your arm pretty tightly. Amazingly unique experience. A long drive back to Bangkok finished off the day and the next day we were off to the Andaman Coast.

Forty seven days down, thirty three to go.....