Bangkok - Golden Palace, Huge Markets, Airport Entertainment

Our second (and last) full day in Bangkok was incredibly busy. We woke up after our eventful evening all slightly sluggish but ready to tackle the day. We had a plan to hit as many temples and palaces as possible in the morning before going to the weekend market at the north end of the city.

After checking out we headed out to tackle the Golden Palace and the Emerald Buddha. We were given conflicting information about the opening time of both places (this is apparently a tourist scam where cabbies will tell you a place is closed and then take you a million other places first) but decided to take our chances and go anyway. 

The day was incredibly hot and humid but we made it through - we wandered around the Golden Palace and enjoyed some coconut juice right from the coconut. 

After we'd had enough temples for the day we hailed a taxi and had them take us to the huge market at the north of the city. When I say huge, I mean huge. 1000 stalls huge - see above map for an idea. We decided to get food at the market and wander around and see what kind of fun things we could find. It was packed. Herds of people moving slowly, stopping, turning around, etc. I realized too late that I was just not in the mood to deal with huge crowds. We shopped for about 2 hours before calling it quits. Instead of hailing a cab we figured we would take the bus - I saw a bus that said it would go to our area of the city. It was a nice change - and only a few B!! 

Back in the old city we went to the hostel to drop off our stuff and then headed out for dinner. We decided to go to the same place we had gone to the first night. We hung out as long as we could before wandering around doing some last minute shopping before heading back to the hostel to grab our things. Our flight wasn't until early in the morning but we wouldn't be able to take the light rail early enough, so we'd opted to spend the night in the airport (also would make sleeping on the plane that much easier.). 

Back to the aiport we went, waving goodbye to Bangkok and Thailand. 

Bangkok - From Temples to Gastro-Delights

Our second day in Bangkok started with us wandering down to Khao San Road to find something to eat for breakfast. Almost positive it consisted of random food from street vendors - fried bananas or donuts or something similar.

We had lunch plans with a girl I had met on Twitter, but figured we should try to cover some of the (free) cultural things that were meant to be seen around the city. We took a tuk tuk to one of the ports on the riverside and went to visit Wat Arun and the Reclining Buddah. We wandered around the wat taking photos and enjoying the views before heading off to meet up with Dao.

Lunch was good - Dao picked some wonderful food for us to try (I had some Tom Yum rice - amazing!) and then treated us to some delicious smoothies after.

After lunch we got back in a taxi and asked to be dropped off at the train station so that we could venture towards China Town (I love when asian cities have China Towns.). We were told there was a good market area that we should explore. A few wrong turns and we managed to figure out where to go. Up and down the stalls we went, squeezing past people and giant bags full of dried cure-alls.

Exhausted, we headed back to the hostel. Because it was our last night in Bangkok, we opted to have one more big night of drinking. After a bit of a nap/rest we went back to find something for dinner. We picked a different restaurant for dinner and set to work consuming as many Beer Changs as needed to work up the courage to eat some sort of insects. 

The only real plan we had was to buy some tacky cheap souvenirs for the people back home and eat some crickets. While we were eating we were constantly approached by various "hilltribe" (debatable whether they were actually from the hilltribes) women selling small wooden frogs that made a "frog" sound when you run the little wooden stick down their back. Eventually we had had enough and decided that if we could get one for 30B (about $1) we would buy one. It took a few different frog ladies, but we did eventually convince one to part with a frog for what was likely cost for them. From that point on, each time one of the ladies came around to sell us a frog we pulled ours out and played it for her. 

The rest of the night became a blur - Ren and I happily ate a bag of crickets, which were surprisingly very delicious, we consumed many many large bottles of Beer Chang and eventually ended up back at the hostel. Not unlike the movie that was set in the same city, we were setting ourselves up for a hangover... 

Return to Bangkok

We arrived into Bangkok around 3pm and immediately went in search of a way into the city. Thankfully for us the airport was pretty easy to navigate and we managed to find the direct train to the city centre fairly quickly. We decided that, having no real place in line to stay, that we would head to the old city and find a place near Khoa San Road. Unsure what way to start walking, we hailed a cab to take us there.

We got out of the cab at one end of Khao San and started walking down the street. Because we were wearing our backpacks and had that weary, overwhelmed, “oh-my-god-why-is-it-so-hot” look on our faces we were easy targets for everyone offering guesthouses. Eventually we decided to find a place just off the main street, at the top of a little restaurant. The owner was adorable, incredibly gracious. We managed to get 2 rooms for 400B a night.

After dumping our stuff off, showering and relaxing for a bit we decided we should do a bit of exploring, find some dinner and maybe check out the night life. We walked down to Khao San Road and strolled along until we found a place to eat. A little spot offering free wifi and some traditional Thai dishes. After dinner we checked out the street and got it in our heads that we should find the infamous red light district of Thailand. We dug out our guidebooks, figured out what neighbourhood we should head to and found a tuk tuk to take us for 150B.

We got to the Patpong district we looked around not sure where to head. We discussed the idea of checking one of the infamous ping-pong shows and when we were approached by a man offering us cheap 100B beers we decided we might as well check it out.

Ren, just after our trip to "Super Pussy"

Up the stairs we went into a dimly lit bar with a middle stage and seating all around. We were seated and immediately were descended upon by minimally dressed Thai women. At first glance they looked young, but upon closer (and really we didn't want to get too close) inspection it was obvious they weren't. One even had a questionable amount of teeth.

Ren grabbed my hand, leaned over and whispered in my ear “tonight you're my girlfriend”, while the toothless made herself comfortable to his left. Eric, left alone (I can't be everyone's girlfriend, I guess), was a target for the other women. We ordered our drinks and heard them mention drinks for the Thai girls. Ren immediately piped up that we weren't going to pay for those drinks, that we were just buying our own. 

We sat, watching the "show", but really trying to keep an eye on Eric, our wallets, and the situation in general. Without going into detail, I can only say that the women on stage had the most, um... talented... lady parts I've ever seen. We decided to get out of the bar before things became more uncomfortable, and asked for the bill. When it arrived it was well over 2700B. We were shocked. We had said that we were not going to pay for the drinks for the girls, but apparently that was not the case. The boys talked the woman down to a slightly more reasonable number (although still about 4x the original agreed upon price of 100B each) and we hightailed it out of there. 

Safely back on the street we wandered through the rest of the red light district, and down the streets looking at various market goods. Ready to return to our comfortable backpacker area, we made our way back to the hostel. Tomorrow was another day - we had plans to meet an internet friend for lunch as well as do some more exploring of the city. 

Bangkok to Chiang Mai

Not sure if it was the excitement of the next leg of our journey or just that I wasn't tired but I woke up at around 6:30am. I did a bit of internet-ing and then started to get ready.

The boys both woke up fairly early as well ms with our extra time before the shuttle we decided to go for a walk to find food. We walked down the street and bought some drinks on the way. Instead of turning right at the end like the night before we opted for left. As we walked we passed a coffee place but it wasn't open yet.

We came across a street vendor selling what looked like donuts, so both Ren and Eric bought some. Not extremely sweet, they were still tasty. We walked a bit further down the street until it became obvious that there really wasn't much to find so we turned back. The coffee place we ha passed earlier was open so we all got coffee for about $1.

I stopped and bought a little bundle of sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves.  It tasted a bit like banana bread.

When we got back the shuttle was ready to go so we piled in and headed for the airport, which was only about 10 min away. Upon arrival we checked in and decided to find some food.

There was a food court of sorts that had the normal chains like McD's and burger king, as well as a few little
Cafe places. The boys each got
Egg mcMuffins and I opted for mango sticky rice and a coffee. We walked to our gate, boarded our flight and set off for Chiang mai.

The airport in Chiang mai was small but completely functional. We were off the plane and had gathered our luggage in about 25 min. Outside was a bunch of taxi drivers waiting so we grabbed a cab and asked him to take us to Yourhouse hostel, one of the ones I'd made note of prior to leaving Bangkok.

The taxi drive was only about 10 min, and the driver took us right to the place. We unloaded ourselves and went to the desk to check in. We opted for a 3 person room with a fan and private washroom. The total was 350baht, or about $10. Total. Absolutely crazy that it can be that cheap.

We dropped our belongings off and decided we should get out and explore. Ren wanted to find a place called the Lost Hut, run by the brother of a colleague at henrys. We decided to start there and see where the day took us.

As we crossed the road somehow caught the attention of a local who was very helpful in regards to how we should go about booking the next couple days of adventure. He said we should talk to the tourist info places, not the hostel or travel agencies because they have better prices.

 We found the lost hut but it was closed (assuming it opened later) so we opted to search out lunch instead. As we stood staring into our
Guidebook for recommendations another local asked if we needed help. We said we wanted a place to eat. He suggested a place around the corner, so we took his advice. Happy we did too, since we had a fantastic meal of pad thai, Chiang Mai noodles and green curry for about $3 each.

After lunch we wandered around some more and then decided to go for traditional Thai massages- an hour for about $5. They were an amazing experience. The little Thai woman spent 15 min on each leg, another 20 on my shoulders and arms and the last 10 walking up and down my body on her elbows and knees. It was unlike anything I have ever had before.

We decided we should make a plan for the next couple days and decided on elephant riding, trekking through the jungle to a hilltribe village and spending the night and then more trekking to a place where we would ride a bamboo raft down the Mekong river. We booked the whole adventure with one of the tourist info places and got what we thought was a great deal: 4000 baht for the whole thing (about $130).

All booked and prepared for the next day we headed back to the Lost Hut, which was now open, and had some drinks while talking to the girls that worked there and Blake the owner. Around midnight we called it the end and made our way back to the hostel (via McD's) and promptly passed out.

Next stop, elephants and hill tribes.

Bangkok!!

Because we had flights booked to Chiang Mai in the morning we had booked an airport hotel that came with free transfers to and from the airport. However, I couldn't remember whether I had given the hotel our flight info so it seemed logical that we should call the hotel to let them know we had arrived.

We found some telephones but after about 5 attempts to dial the number we gave up and went to the information desk to ask. They told us that the hotel had reps at door 4 so we walked down through the arrivals area to find the spot and hopefully get a ride to the airport.

Upon arrival into HK I had mentioned to Ren that someday I wanted someone to be waiting for me with my name on a sign. Imagine my surprise as we got to door 4 and there was a cute little Thai girl with ALANNA FOELL on a sign! I beamed and walked over to her and she asked my name. I pointed proudly at the sign (the smallest things can be so exciting for me, I swear!) and she ushered us over to the waiting area, telling us it would be about 10 min.

We chatted about what we wanted to do with our evening and the general consensus was to stay at the hotel, maybe find some food but overall just chill out and relax. The driver arrived and we piled into the van and took off.

The hotel wasn't terribly far from the airport, located on a side street off the main road into the city. On the drive we noticed a bunch of what appeared to be places to get a bite to eat and figured it would be walkable, or at least a cheap taxi ride if we did leave later.

Looking out the windows I was amazed at the difference in what I was seeing in comparison to HK. Lush green landscape and little huts along the road. Stray dogs everywhere and garbage and debris in amongst the trees on the side of the road. HK had been so clean, with modern buildings, even in Kowloon which was obviously not where the money was. Granted, we were by the airport on the outskirts of the city but still completely different. That being said, our hotel was a gorgeous structure with an outdoor sitting area. It was clean and well looked after. The room was huge (3 single beds! No sharing this time!) and a "proper" bathroom with a shower that didn't soak the toilet and sink in the process.

We unloaded our stuff and lay on the bed. Exhausted from the early morning, flight, copious amounts of food and free wine, and then the heat of Thailand (felt like a wall of humidity) an impromptu nap was the unspoken agreement between the three of us.

Too excited to stay still for too long, I hopped in the shower and put on a dress - it was just too hot for pants. I grabbed my camera and went outside to take a few photos of the hotel...only to find it had since started raining. A lot. Monsoon season was definitely upon us. Came back in and watched some tv with the guys while we waited for the rain to subside.

Eventually the rain did stop and we decided to walk in search of some food and drink. It had gotten dark much earlier than expected for this time of year- something we don't think of living so far from the equator. The air was heavy but there was still a breeze.

As we walked along we passed the locals sitting outside, talking and having fun. We waved, said hello and marveled at how different our evening walk was from the night before in HK.

Walking along we passed some restaurants with live music and food, and eventually stopped at a colourfully lit place with a decent amount of people to make us confident that the service would be friendly.
We were offered a seat, and very quickly the realization that we knew only the word for thank you came crashing down upon us. The woman offered us a menu, which we took and then stared at. Not a word of English or pictures.

One of the patrons at the restaurant gestured to Eric to follow him over to the food area to pick out something to eat. He came back and said he had chosen something that looked like beef salad.
Spent the next hour or so enjoying some cold beer and strange yet delicious food. The dishes that arrived appeared to be beef and chicken, stir fried and presented on some cucumbers. On the side was a chili based paste that was spicy but not unbearably so.

The woman who was in charge took a liking to Ren, fawning all over him and writing "pa love ren" on the palm of his hand. She even gave him her phone number, and indicated that he should call her.
After drinking 2 or 3 bottles of beer we started our walk back to the hotel. It had started to rain lightly but that was starting to seem normal. It is the beginning of the rainy season after all.

Set our alarms for 7am and went to sleep.

Hong Kong en route to Bangkok

I've never been to Asia. Well, I *have* but only to Singapore and only for 3 days.

So, ever the "most bang for my buck" kinda gal, it was decided that we would incorporate a stop in Hong Kong on our way to Bangkok. We have 26 hours to land, find a place to stay, roam the city, and make it to the Peak.

We're going to do the Peak Tram at sunset. It looks awesome. Check it out: Hong Kong Peak Experience

I found this article from Time with the Top 10 Things To Do In Hong Kong in 24 Hours

1: Victoria Peak (already on the list!)
2: Lin Heung Tea House
3: Charter a Junk (makes me think of an ad we ran here at work.See below)
4: The Intercontinental's Infinity Pools
5: Temple St. Night Market (loooove markets, so I'm putting this on the list also)
6: Heli-Tour of Hong Kong
7: Cha Chan Tang
8: Star Ferry
9: Chungking Mansions
10: Roof of the IFC Mall

Thailand Planning

In about 5 weeks I'm taking off on my next adventure. As I mentioned before I'm off to Thailand with two of my good friends. We've only got about 10 days to see as much of the country as possible. We are all photographers, so we want to be able to hit all the photogenic sites (and a beach or two for me, hopefully...)

Here's the itinerary (for the most part) if you're interested. We're trying to not plan too much of the trip and just let it happen, but with only 10 days we're forced to set a few parameters:


Depart from Toronto at 10am. Convince myself to sleep on the plane so that I can function when we arrive in Hong Kong. Spend 24 hours in Hong Kong just because we can. Hopefully do a whirlwind tour of the city and see what we can in a short period of time. I'd love to hit a night market if possible.

Hong Kong at Night  (Google Image)

We fly out of Hong Kong in the afternoon and arrive into Bangkok in the late afternoon. We've got an airport hotel booked, so we'll drop off our stuff and probably take a bus into the city (or maybe just sleep, it's hard to say).







Next morning we have a relatively early morning flight to Chiang Mai. We have about 3 days in Chiang Mai to check out the temples, elephants, markets and hilltribes.

I've been given a heads up that we know a family that operates a bar/restaurant that we should check out, The Lost Hut, so we will definitely do that. I've also heard that if you're going to do a cooking class in Thailand, the northern part is the place to do it.

Long Neck Tribe (Google Image)

 


After that we head to Phuket to take in some beach action. The guys aren't as stoked about the beach as I am but I refuse to go to Thailand and not see at least SOME sun. They're more than welcome to go do their own thing while I frolic in the water. I have full intentions of attempting to surf ... and probably doing some snorkelling. Will probably look here for more ideas on what to do in Phuket

Koh Phi Phi (Google Image)

From here we're going to hit up Krabi province and it's islands (Ko Phi Phi for example), the backdrop for the movie The Beach.

After some beach time, which I'm sure will also include lots of party time, we're heading back up to Bangkok for the last few days before returning home. I've already made some Twitter friends that we are going to meet up with to get a photo tour. Since it's our last stop before heading back, I'm really looking forward to some night markets and maybe the Ampawa Floating Market, if we have time.

There are so many things I'm looking forward to doing on this trip - eating being a huge part of it. I love Thai food. Well, lets be frank, I love food. I'll try just about anything once... and if this includes some of the stranger things like roasted tarantulas or crickets, I'll give it a go. Rice and rice noodles, I live for those things. I think I'm going to be the only person who comes back from Thailand having put on weight.

 

 

 

image courtesy of wikipedia

Overall, I can't wait. It will be a fantastic trip and I'm sure I'll have a million awesome photos to share when I get back so that I'm not forced to steal images off the internet to fill my blog with :)