Tuk tuks ahoy!

Sad to leave Singapore, as we have come to feel very at home, we had a fairly non-eventful flight out to Bangkok ( except for commotion at Changi airport caused by a lady being deported, but refusing to board the plane – her picnic was definitely a sandwich short....)
Singapore continued to impress us up until the very last moment – this time it was their “mobile post office service” that worked wonders. This little postman-pat style van drives around the airport terminals and is stationed at different locations throughout the day. Perfect for those last minute postcards!

We were unsure of what to expect on our arrival at Bangkok airport having hear d various horror stories about being mobbed and overrun with touts and taxi drivers! We were clinging onto Olly and Laura’s positive report on the airport and we have to say, they were spot on! We soon managed to locate the taxi rank, wherein we were assigned a driver and told what our fare would be. Us? Mugs? I think not! We felt satisfied that we weren’t being ripped off!

As well as putting our mind at rest, Olly and Laura had also given us a hotel recommendation – The Bhimann Inn – and it was just perfect. Tired from the days travel, we had only 2 things on our agenda for the remainder of the day. Firstly (and most importantly) – food! Easily fixed, we simply stepped across the road and dined at a little cafe opposite the hotel. Fantastic green curry, accompanied by refreshing Chang beers – and all for about £2 – Superb!

Secondly, we had to make arrangements for our impending journey into Vietnam, namely arranging visas. After a long chat with a travel agent, we decided to sleep on it and confirm our plans in the morning! We couldn’t resist wandering around to the infamous Khao San Road for a quick peek. It was pretty chaotic as we had imagined, although somewhat smaller/shorter in size! We would tackle this again later when we had a bit more energy.

10th January – Happy Birthday Mr Bennett!
Different to most other birthdays we would be spending the day walking around Chatuchak Market in Bangkok – with no less than 15,000 stalls! Not bad for a bit of shopping! Firstly we confirmed our plans for Vietnam, in a few days time we will be flying to Hanoi to begin our journey through Vietnam and onto Cambodia. Leaving the travel agent to arrange our visas it was time to embark on our first tuk tuk journey! Not as treacherous as one might imagine, it was quite good fun. The market is so huge, we’re not really sure how to tackle it. Although we are armed with a map..its pretty difficult to distinguish one narrow, cramped walkway from another. We were strong and didn’t buy too much, as the prospect of carrying it all through the rest of south east asia is unappealing (but its okay, we will be back in Bangkok for a couple of days before our penultimate flight out to HK). I have to say, i was a little traumatised by the “pet” part of the market. Rabbits in tutus and other various costumes is just wrong, in so many ways. There were entire stalls with “animal outfits”....strange. So very strange.

The day was finished off with a reunion with Claire and James! On arriving at Starbucks (who would have thought there would be a serene starbucks branch behind the chaotic khao san road??) Claire appeared holding a birthday cake, complete with candles and serenading andy with a rendition of “happy birthday” – James and I were on the backing vocals. We headed out for a lovely dinner and caught up on their south east asian adventures thus far! As always it is great to see familiar faces and hear updated news on their adventures! Next time we meet, we’ll be back in sunny England.

For our last day in Bangkok we decided to go and tackle the nearby temples and palace. En route we walked through the Santichaiprakan Park, which runs next to the Chao Phraya river. Used as a transport route for ferries and water taxis, we definitely wouldn’t want to go for a swim in this river. Then we visited the spectacular Grand Palace. Built in 1782, the architecture is particularly intricate, a true credit to the skills and craftsmanship of the Thai people. Within the palace complex is Wat Phra Kaew – The temple of the Emerald Buddha. The buildings and shrines are so unbelievably intricate and detailed, its easy to become complacent and start to not notice all the features! The emerald Buddha is particularly beautiful with its effervescent glow (its actually made of Jade, but within Thailand it is traditional to refer to green items as “emerald”)

Next we headed to Wat Pho or rather Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Wat Pho is the largest temple ground in Bangkok and technically the oldest , it was built around 200 years before Bangkok was the Thai capital. Now THIS is seriously impressive. At 46 metres long and 15 metres high – that is one big buddha. The feet portray the 108 auspicious characteristics of Buddha. The grounds of Wat Po contain more than 1000 Buddha images – amazing!

After the tiring day walking around in the stifling ,humid heat we went to the familiar retreat opposite our hotel for a well deserved delicious dinner! Our time in Bangkok has come to an end, and we’re surprised to say we really enjoyed it (we know allot of people said they could not wait to get away or...you get in, and get out straight away! – Not us!)

12th January – Good Morning Vietnam!
So, our passports have arrived back from the travel agents as promised, complete with Vietnam visas. All that is left to do, is get to Suvarnabumi Airport – easy! Or so we thought....

Everything was going so well...that is until our driver began to fall asleep. It is the one time i can safely say i wished the car hadn’t had a rear view mirror...Then I would never have noticed. After subtly motioning to Andy that the taxi driver is heading to the land of nod...Andy takes action:

Andy : “So! Is it far to the airport? Are we nearly there?”

Good – yes, lets make conversation with the driver!

Driver: “mumble..mumble....7km...” (points to road sign)

Great – he doesn’t speak English.

Andy: “So...thats good, we’re nearly there”

Driver: “Flight?”

Andy: “oh, 12 midday” (we have lots of time)

At this point the taxi driver puts his foot down! Damn – he thinks we were hinting that he should hurry up. I felt pretty uneasy watching the speedometer creep up..120km/hr......140 km/hr....150km/hr! Eek!

Approx 3 minutes after we hit the 150km mark, we are pulling into the airport grounds. Never before have i been so relieved to get out of a taxi!! I just hope he had a safe journey back to the city.....

Bye Bye Thailand..

Hello Hanoi....