So our adventure begins (Bangkok)

15th November

 

Over the last few weeks, the realization that our trip was coming closer and closer was prevalent. The last weekends we have spent with our family and friends , doing various meals out and drinking of course. What else would us two enjoy more.

I just thought i would add a couple of photos from the last couple of weeks , so some of the family can see what we have been doing with out them :) 

 

Myself and Nay from time to time , will be adding content on here for you all to see , most of it will be mundane i am sure .

Bangkok

We landed safe and sound (with Chris’s leg in tact!!!!) to the hussle and bussle of Bangkok.  After a bus ride and a very sweaty long walk with our ‘light’ backpacks, we arrived our nice air conditioned hotel, oh the pleasure air con gave us!!! With the night temps hitting a low of 30degreesC, air con is a must!

Our first meal in Bangkok was down some shady side ally , Very Rick Stein , some old dear came out to greet us and sat us down on some little plastic chairs , she came with her little menu complete with pics :) amazing 60BHT per dish !! (£1.20) dont worry mum i watched her cook it and she washed her hands !!

 

 

See you all soon , i am sure we will bore you senseless with these blogs , but its great for us as we are wide awake at 3.30am !!!

 

19th November 2009

So its been a couple of days since we last wrote.  In that time, we’ve witnessed Chris order fish broth by accident (and anyone that knows chris knows how much he HATES anything seafood!!!), Naomi get sunburnt (already!!!) and tuk tuk drivers from hell!

On our first full day in Bangkok, we decided to just wander the streets and get our bearings.  However our wandering the streets took us into some very interesting districts (some i think we should never have been in) and we walked for so long, Chris’s leg started to swell.  So we took the river boat, at a hefty price of 13Baht (about 25p) back to our hotel.  After a snooze, we decided to try the delights of Khao San Road, the infamous travellers road in Bangkok.  It was a mash of bars, restaurants, electronic stalls and clothes! Not very thai, but then what would you expect.  We enjoyed the delights of a bar or two (one that played a lot of Oasis so Chris was very happy) and dinner from the street stalls (Naomi getting her Pad Thai once again!).

(Chris in one of the big industrial squares)

(a tuk tuk)

(views from the river boat)

(Khao San Road)

(Naomi’s Pad Thai)

(Chris using chop sticks!!!)

The next day we choose to do some sightseeing of three of the most famous tourist attractions in Bangkok: the Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha and Wat Pho (the Temple with the biggest Lying down Buddha in the world).  We had chosen a great day for seeing the sights, the weather was a bit cooler and it was a bit cloudy.  We went to the temple of the Emerald Buddha and its surrounding brilliance.  Every corner you turned there was more beauty and more magnificance.  Chris and I discovered some areas which the average tourist dont venture into (too off the beaten track lol) and had a great time marvelling at the paintings that run the whole way round the temple’s grounds.  The Emerald Buddha itself was housed in an amazing temple, where the Buddha was the main focal point, flanked by two great statues dedicated to King Rama I and Rama II.  However you werent allowed to take pictures in the temple to preserve the artifacts (this was the case with a number of the most important buildings in the Grand Palace complex).  Moving on from the Emerald Buddha we made our way into the Grand Palace, which is where a lot of government buildings are and a lot of royal buildings still used today for big occasions like the coronations.  Chris was fascinated by the armory dept, Naomi was fascinated by just about everything as per usual!

(inside the grounds of the Emerald Buddha temple, Naomi very covered up as they were very strict on dress code!)

(the painted walls to the grounds)

(close up of the walls)

(The Temple of the Emerald Buddha)

(the intricate facade to the temple)

(Naomi reading the guide ‘again’)

(the grounds of the Grand Palace)

(the coronation hall)

(the lying down Buddha)

(Naomi warding off the evil spirits!!!)

(Chris surveying the wildlife!)

After 3 hours of sightseeing, it was time to head back onto the streets for some food.  This is where our lack of thai really showed and we both managed to order fish broth!!!!!! BIG MISTAKE! All I’m gona say is if chris carries on this way, he’s gona be 8 stone wet through by the time we get to Australia!!!!

Once again we headed back to our hotel for our late afternoon nap (still not quite over the jetlag yet!).  Dinner (as chosen by our tuk tuk driver) was in a very nice restaurant, way over our price range range at £4 a main course, however food was good and we got chatting to some Aussies who gave us some great tips for when we head down under.

I think thats it for now, sorry if we’ve bored you lol!!!!

Got lots on over the next coupla days (including Naomi’s birthday woop woop!) so Im sure there will be lots to tell in our next update!

Chris and Nay

xxx

ps you can click on the pictures to make them bigger :)

 

20th-21st November

So on the Thursday, we spent the whole day in the shopping district of Bangkok, Siam Square.  There was a particular shopping centre that Chris loved, called MBK.  It was 7 stories high and had over 2000 shops and stalls in it, as a comparison, the full length of the trafford centre was one floor!!!  Each floor was dedicated to a different shopping categories, ie clothes, electronics etc etc.  Unbelievable!!! But we behaved ourselves and didnt spend too much ;) so that was pretty much it for thursday!

The outside of the MBK shopping centre (with Chris)

Friday was a very very very important day, as Naomi turned 21 again!!! We decided to head back to the shopping district, but this time we went to the aquarium which was amazing.  We dont want to bore you with all the usual indifferent aquarium stuff, but the thing that highlighted the trip was the dead skin eating fish!!! You sit with your feet in a hot tub full of fish for 10 minutes and when you come out your feet are baby soft.  We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for our big night out, back to Khao San Road.

We had a lovely meal and then headed to our favourite bar where Naomi decided it would more economic to buy a bucket of Sex On The Beach rather than a glass……. Start as you mean to go on.  As usual, the pair of us enjoyed the music and made friends with our surrounding drinkers.  Well, by the end of the night, whether they liked or not, they were all our friends, and happy days. The highlight of the night, was Chris and his friends asking the music act to sing Happy Birthday to Naomi.  Unfortunately, Naomi was at present sat of the lavatory.  She came out to everyone singing happy birthday not realising it was her until she saw Chris’s face looking mortified.  Anyways, 3am rolled round and we finally made it back to the hotel.

The illusive ‘bucket’

So Saturday rolls round, our last day in Bangkok, and one horrific hangover later, we pack our stuff and just decide to wander the streets.  We definitely both agreed that 5 days was too much for Bangkok, even though we loved it.

We headed to the train station for our 7.30pm sleeper train to Chiang Mai.  For £16, we would be travelling 700km! Unbelievable when you think about it.  The train was comfy (very much like the Lourdes ambulance car!).

Our chairs on the train

  Which then converted to beds!

Naomi slept for most of the journey (as per usual) and Chris struggled to sleep (as per usual) so he watched movies! But we arrived in Chiang Mai safe and sound and 3 hours late on Sunday morning.

That’s it for Bangkok.  Great fun, but roll on the next stage of the adventure.

Love Nay and Chris

xxxx