Sawadee! (Hello in Thai) :)

So the days seem to fly by, I thought I best catch up on the past few days!

Friday was spent with Rezza and Stew visitng Wat Arun, a big temple (yes another temple!) that you can climb up and see the views of Bangkok. I was relying on Rezza getting us to this temple as I must admit I did no research for this, but he had talked to a girl who explained how to get there. So we set off, grabbed some musli with fruit and yoghurt and then headed to the boat. We got chatting to a Thai man who was was funny and only half the size of Stew - he actually looked like he had been put in the washing mashine and shrunk!! After waiting 20 mins to jump on the right boat, we all clambered on and jumped off at the next stop only to then be told by Rezza what the name of the stop was called. And no, it wasn't the correct stop. So another 20 mins went by as we played eye spy with my little eye! Jumped back on the boat and got taken to the next stop which was infact the correct one. We realised that we could have in fact walked that joureny as it was right next to the Grand Palace that Stew and I walked to on the first day, so we were slightly concerend Rezza didn't know where we were going! Ended up walking through markets and markets to get to the next boat, which eventually took us to Wat Arun. This temple was amazing, you couldn't go in it, but you could climb to the top to look out over Bangkok. The sites were incredible. So we took a few photos and headed back down to grab some lunch! During the week days the traffic seems to get really bad in Bangkok between 1pm-4pmish so instead of jumping in a taxi which would have taken us ages, we experience our first local bus! This was like a bus you would see in a film, extremely old, worn down, extremely loud and really should have been sent to the dump! All the Thais just stare at you, some around here are very serious and just stare, no friendly smile or anything but most are really friendly, smiling and enjoying practising thier English with you. They also love it when we say words in Thai! The bus to Siem Square was 7 baht, thats 14p if I'm thinking correctly! How mental is that! It was an enjoyable bus journey, all the windows on every public transport are folded down so the air funnels through quite nicely, even if it is warm air, its still better than no air! However Stew decided to sit at the front of the bus where the engine was so he was getting a good old sweat on and regretting his move! Rezza and I just had to laugh at his sweaty forehead! :)

After exploring Siem Square, we grabbed some lunch in a skydining area - great food for just 99 baht and great view too. Stew and Rezza tucked into some sushi which they could not stop raving about as I tucked into some Thai dish which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially as it was not a spicy dish (always happy when I find a non-spicy dish!)

We took quick look in the MBK shopping centre which is meant to be really famous and full of good shops! I found it really dissapointing, as I thought it would be grand and modern but it was like any other shopping centre, low celings, just plain and simple. You would not even know you were in Thailand! So that was a quick visit there. Friday night was a real treat as a big group of us from the hostel all took tuk tuks (now try fitting 5 in a tuk tuk, challenging but it sure can be achieved!) to Sky Bar. This is a really famous bar in Thailand as it is seen in Hangover II and is 64 floors high! The view was incredible. You could see the entire city lit up - it was stunning! It did not cost a think to get in, but the drinks were more costly than normal with a cocktail costing me 500 baht which is about £10. So really not that bad when you think about buying a cocktail back home, I surely wasn't complaining! As we sat down outside on the open top bar balcony with comfy seats all round, we were discussing the film, only to realise that the area we were in didn't quite look the same as Hangover II. No sooner had we been discussing this, Stew and Ruby came over to say that we were in the wrong place, and that we should walk around the other side to see the true hangover II bar! And OMG (sorry had to say that!) we were in the movie! Live music as you enter outside on the open top bar number 2, then down some steps onto a second level which had a restaurant and a bar. It felt like I was in a dream, I couldn't believe where we were or what I was seeing. The best bar I had ever been to and probably ever will go to! The setting was incredible. Shame my photos dont show how impressive it actually looks but you will get a feel for it. I am yet to put photos up but plan to soon! We then headed back to the hostel and the group of which half were rather drunk by now on Martinis which were literally pure shots, decided to go to watch a Ping Pong show! And I am so glad I stayed back at the hostel, as they were decribing some of the things that happened in it the next day! It sounds like live porn to me. Woman having a ping pong bat stuck up here private parts and hitting a ping pong ball from side to side, pulling some string out of her womb, tying it to poles and dancing. Sorry I can't say any more, its making me feel sick even thinking about it! Ruby was traumatised and regrets going! Its so sad that people do this, just to have money to survive! Ruby said they were about 40 years old and just looked unhappy. Really sad :(

Saturday morning Rezza and I got up and went to visit a local floating market that was about half and hour taxi drive. It was so cool, market full of all kinds of colourful foods, i didn't know what 80% of it was! But it did look delicious. Along the side were mini tables for the locals to eat, it was a really nice relaxing atmosphere where people came to enjoy their food and stock up for the week with fresh fruit and veg. The market seemed to go on forever! We jumped on a long boat which was 50 baht each. It took us on a tour around the area and stopped off at another market type place for half an hour so we looked around this, fed some cows that were at the end of the market, and jumped back in the boat. We were given some Thai fruit from a man sat in front of us. I didnt really know what it was, but it was nice so I wasn't complaining! As we headed back, it was crazy seeing how they were living - their wooden houses, or huts should I say, were on stilts out of the water. They didn't look very well built at all, some looked like they were sinking, some looked very wonky in the water, it didn't look safe at all. It wouldn't suprise me if the huts just collapsed in the water any time soon. The houses are literally rooms with junk in them - you would never believe people actually live there! I also noticed that all the Thais sit on the floor, they never seem to sit on chairs or seats! I guess they can't afford them and its just normal for them to sit on the floor. My butt would be killing me! We saw kids splashing in the water, a man was actually floating in the water with a massive net, not sure what he was doing, maybe trying to catch fish? Really not sure but the water was discusting and I'm sure I would be ill going in that! Guess thier bodies have built a tolerance to this! Also saw some men floating on a slab of wood whilst cementing some pipes that were just above the water. One man was stood on a ladder in the water, hammering some nails on the outside of his house. It was so odd to see that this is what people do here. It seemed as if the people in this area were simply working to live. We stumbled across a digger, also floating in the water somehow. It was blocking our way, so the men had to stop work and attempt to shove it over to one side so the boat could get through. We eventually got back to the market and jumped in a taxi as we were meant to be starting a bike tour at 1pm and it was midday at this point so we had an hour to get back to the hostel and then get to the bike tour which was another 20 mins tuk tuk ride! 7 of us booked the bike tour, but only 3 were sober enough to go! We jumped in a tuk tuk and headed to China town to meet the tour guides. Whislt riding in the tuk tuk I discovered neither Ruby nor Cal had the directions or name of the hotel to meet at. I could remember what the place looked like as PP pointed it out to us when were in China town a couple of nights before, but I only knew that it was down the main China town road. It was 1.20pm at this point, so were rather late, we jumped out the tuk tuk which was stuck in traffic and ended up running up and down several roads in China town asking people where this hotel may be. I vaguley remember it was called "Grand" something, so we were asking Thais where "Grand" was and they were pointing so we simply ran in that direction, We could not find this place anywhere. It was 1.40pm by this point and we hadn't eaten or drank anything all morning, so stopped to get some street food. It was kind of samosa things in sweet chilli dip - YUM! We decided to carry on strolling up the road to just see if the hotel was there and it was! We walked in an hour late hoping that we could sort something out! It was great, they were there greeting us - the group had already set off so one of the tour girls had stayed back waiting for us. Obviously she was expecting 7, nor 3 but we were glad they let us take part! We grabbed some bikes (no helmets!) and set off.....set off cycling head on into 4 lanes of traffic. I could not belive where she was taking us - how dangerous it was cycling on the side of the road against the cars, buses, scooters & taxis! Crazy! Then she took us down some back alleys - they didn't even look like roads. It was great to see how different the place was in comparison to the busy hustle and bustle in the main areas of Bangkok. We went down a road full of engines piled up, which the Thais were fixing. There was a lot of tyres scattered everywhere - I couldn't work out what everything was that made the place so untidy and dirty, but it was almost a place where all the junk and rubbish we have in england would just be dumped here. It felt like a landing site. We eventually made it to the river to meet the rest of the group, jumped on a boat and headed to the other side. This was a much more deprived area, people were much worse off here and you could tell. The houses were rooms (made of wood or just slabs), some of them had TVs, but most just had rubble, a blankets, crockery, bits of wood, clothes hung up to dry, It really reminded me of the film Slum Dog Millionaire - that really is the best way to describe it. I thought I was in a film, it doesn't feel real actually seeing this in real life. You know it happens and you see pictures, but its a completely different feeling when you are actually here experiencing it and seeing it at first site. As we cycled by, children were waving and smiling at us it was so sweet. We stopped for a feast - Thai veg dishes, chicken curry dish, soup dish, meat dish - it was great! We had a few falls with Ruby falling off her bike as were were cycling along a narrow concrete path surrounded by water - not a great place to fall but she managed to stay dry. Another guy decided to fall off - the chain fell off so we spent a while fixing this. Then all I hear is Cal shouting "s***" - I look behind and he has made a hole in his shorts! OPS! Half and hour later I hear Cal shouting again- turn around to see that his shorts had ripped all up his leg! The funniest moment of the day! He had to borrow Ruby's jumper and tie it round his waste so we wouldn't see his private parts! The 2 Thai girls were even laughing their heads off! hehe.

After dinner we headed back to the river to head back home - as we got on the long boat the heavens opened! It was incredible - the water wash splashing up and we got soaked within the first minute! The tour guides threw ponchos over to us so we eventually got them on (even though we were soaked through it still kept us warm!) We then cycled back, soaked through, in the dark with no lights! Hum, rather dangerous but how else could we get back. It was a fab tour - we loved every minute of it and it was a great way to see the back roads and how the other side lived. Saturday night was pretty chilled as we were tired from a busy day and the others were still hung over. So we went out for a few quiet drinks down Khao San Road as it was the Liverpool game and Stew and Jake are both fans, so there was a group of 12. There was a rather annoying OZ guy, who was rather too confident and just damn right frustrating, so I managed to escape from him and headed down the table a bit to spend the rest of the evening with another OZ and Steve, an American from Tennesse- we planned to visit the old town together the next day. Conversation was great, they were filling me in on their trip to Kanachuburi, as I was planning to head there for a few days after Aythuya before heading up North to Chiang Mai. They talked me out of going as they didn't really seem to bothered about going, apart from when they were able to get up close to some big ass Tigers! They kinda look like they have been drugged though, it just didn't seem right that these wild animals are kept locked up. So I wasn't too bothered about going to that. They have a tiger temple in Chiang Mai too so I may go then. Ruby and Stew left fairly early to get a good nights sleep, and a few others left so I thought it was time to head back about 1am (and they were all starting to get a little drunk!) Rather flirtatious Steve kindly walked me back, and I'm glad he did now as I would never have found my way back to our hostel!

As I was brushing my teeth in the bathrooms, a very fit girl came in to the bathroom wearing running clothes. She was actually running the Bangkok marathon that morning at 3ma - she had given herself the challenge of running 7 marathons in 7 different continents! This was her third marathon and she was happy to complete it in under 4 hours with different temperature and humidity. She was brave and headed out as I went to jump into bed J I know where I'd prefer to be!

Sunday was an 8am rise to pack my stuff, check out and Ruby, Stew, Cal, Jake and I headed to the Chatacuk weekend market. We walked to the bus stop as suggested by Steve the night before, watched some marathon runners pass by ...for about an hour and then gave up and jumped in a taxi! As there was 6 of us we jumped in 2 taxis and said we would meet them there, not realising that this place was massive and there was not main entrance! Ops. So we spent the next half hour trying to find them by meeting at a clock tower that was in the middle of the market. This market was selling everything! Furniture, clothes, pets, shoes, house hold items, lots of funky Thai possessions such as calved wooden objects, pictures, shoes...the list is endless!

First set of washing completed today! Although it didn't dry in time so stuffed the clothes in a bag so we could crack on with the trip to the Old Town. Headed to Attyhuya by bus (7 baht) then train. Got on the bus police man told us would go to station, as soon as we got on it, the bus attendant said we were on the wrong bus! Thought the police man would have told us correctly! 2 hour train ride to the Old Town. It went really quickly. The train was quiet and an old Thai lady tried communicating with us throughout the journey, she was so sweet! The train didn't have windows, simply wooden panels that pushed down. They were massive windows, anyone could have jumped out or a child could easily fall out. They weren't transparent, so with the panels up it would have been a pretty horrible experience being in a box, without knowing where you were at all or being able to see outside. I loved just sitting there watching the world go by. You could hear the crickets too, always reminds me of being on holiday. When we arrived, we grabbed some lunch in an outside restaurant (all the restaurants just look like outside cafe type places, really casual and relaxed its lovely). I had sweet and sour prawns and rice, it was delicious! And not spicy which was a bonus J We then jumped in a tuk tuk who took us to our room called "Bambua Guesthouse". Unfortunately he took us to Bambua Guesthouse 2, which in fact was in a completely different location to Bambua House One. OPS! We tried explaining, but he didn't seem to know that there was another guest house about. So we ended up going down some random roads until he found someone who could tell him where this Bambua house One may be. The tuk tuks were slightly different here in Aythuya, the tuk tuks in Bangkok were like motorbikes with a carrier on the back, whereas the tuk tuk in this town were more like vans with an open back and sides. They were slightly more sophisticated lets say, although we couldn't have a good old Thai-English conversation or banter with them as we were separated by a taxi-like window. It was cool riding in the dark, wind blowing in our faces, sightseeing the old ruins in the dark (they were all lit up it looked great). So we eventually arrived at our guesthouse, which was a little out of the city. The tuk tuk driver didn't even know where it was at first!

The room was decent with a bathroom too so couldn't complain. There was 2 of us staying in a double room - but the lady was so nice and bought us a matress thing for one of us to sleep on. We stayed there just chatting and listening to music all night and Steve was telling us some stories about his travelling adventures as he has already been travelling for the past 6 months.

Monday we rented some bikes and cycled around the city looking at the old ruins. It was cool to see, but it was a bit like the temples, once you had seen one bit you had kinda seen it all! We bumped into 2 of the guys we met in Bangkok so there ended up being 5 of us cycling around visitng the ruins which was good fun. Both guys were from the Netherlands! Their english is so good and they were a good chuckle. We went in one temple and saw a bat - so Dennis decided to throw his water bottle up to see how many were there - oh gosh, there were loads! They all came flying down it was crazy!

Grabbed some food from and just about managed to hand our bikes back 6 mins before the shop was closing for the day! We may have got a little lost! lol. We then booked a hostel for Chiang Mai for 3 nights - they were all booking out real quick so I just booked one and hoped for the best. Jumped on the train at 11.30pm - the seats were big and comfy and reclined a lot so it was great! The windows were down, and they have fan on the celing keeping the bugs aways as well as keeping us cool! 13 hour train ride...and I hadn't charged any of my things! Nothing had battery! So I slept for a bit, and then watched the world go by! The doors are left open so you could simply jump off the train if you wanted too, it again reminded me of Slum Dog Millionaire train! Very old, cockroaches and bugs everywhere! EWW! Never mind, we survied and it was an experience!

As soon as we got off the train we grabbed some proper food along with a guy we met at the station who was travellling for 2 weeks. We chilled there for a bit and then headed to our hostels. Steve booked a different hostel so said our byes, but would stay in touch. The hostel is clean, beds comfy enough, mostly chinese people in our doorm of 10 but did meet a girl from Scotland called Julie who is below my bed. So the 4 of us chilled in the doorm then headed out for more food and to look around the Nigh Bizzare! We were all pretty spaced out after such a long train journey - but saw some lady boys - wow they are stunnig and very confident dancing in the street! Some were rather convincing, others had big bone structures so it didn't look quite right! I had my first Pad Thai dinner - was yum! Then went to a live jazz bar as the streets were pretty quiet. One road was full of bars and Thai prostitutes ready for the evening to begin! I'm not so sure on the city yet, as we have just got here but it seems to touristy, hardly seen any Thai people, mostly forgeiners here at the moment! Had a drink in the jazz bar then headed back at 1am. The time seems to fly by here bt it also doesn't feel that late because the streets are still busy, lots of people are still out eating dinner at this time in the morning, the temperature doesn't change so the hours all just merge into one!

Barclays messed up and blocked my card so not too happy about that as I had to use my Halifax card but think i have sorted it now!

Here I am typing in the hostel Wednesday morning - acutally its 1pm right now! Again, where does the time go!! So plans are to chill today, plan the week with Ruby, book a few touristy things, visit the park....we shall see!

chao for now! xx