Tuesday 7th July 2009

Early start this morning to catch our flight to Bangkok, a tuk tuk picked us up at 05.45am. When we were leaving Luang Prabang, as today was Budda day we got to see all the monks recieving food from the locals which was good to see. Luang Prabang airport is very small so check in was very quick once we managed to get our pac safe's on, they are very difficult to work out!!! The plane took of off on time and we arrived in Bangkok at 09.40am, our bags came very quicky so no lost luggage this time. We had a coffee and then we caught the airport bus to Khao San road, which is where we had decided to stay, as it is a popular place for the backpacker crowd. Amazingly the first guesthouse we looked at on Soi Rambutri which is just off Khao San road was very nice so we decided to stay there, we were expecting to have to walk around for ages trying find some where suitable after the horror stories we'd heard. After checking in we had some lunch and then headed to Siam Square so Suzie could get a new camera, I have never seen such a big shopping centre it was huge. While Suzie was looking for a camera I decided to risk having my highlights done and get a much needed hair cut, amazingly I still have hair left and I was very impressed he did a really good job. Suzie came back to meet me and we then went to buy the camera she had decided she wanted, a Sony Cybershot. We decided to eat at the shopping centre in the big food hall we both had Pad Thai which was good and suzie tried some dumplings but we weren't so keen on those. After we had eaten we got the bus back to Khao San road and went back to the guesthouse. When we got back we were wondering why everyone was drinking tea but we soon found out when our beer came in tea cups, because it was budda day they weren't suppose to be serving alcohol so they were hiding it in tea cups instead it was a bit stange drinking beer out of mugs but there you go anything goes in Bangkok.

Wednesday 8th July 2009

We had a lay in this morning and once we'd got sorted and had some brunch we headed out. First stop of the day was to have a walk done Khao San road as we hadn't done that yesterday. It is such a crowded road I think we made a good choice to stay just off it. While we were on Khao San road a tuk tuk driver persuaded us to let him take us to a couple of sites for 5 Baht each so about 20p all together, we did think it was too good to be true. First we went to the giant budda which was quite impressive and then to the lucky budda. It was more busy than usual due to it being the second day of the Buddha festival, lots of the locals praying, lighting incense sticks and bringing gifts for the buddha.
From here the tuk tuk driver then took us to a silk shop luckily we'd read about this in the lonely planet and basically the tuk tuk drivers are on commision so we had a quick look and then walked out again. He then took us a travel agents for the same reason so again we went in and then walked out again. I think the tuk tuk driver was slighly annoyed that we hadn't booked anything as we were suppose to be going to see another temple but he just took us straight back to Khao San road where we'd started from, and amazingly it did only cost 10 Baht I thought he would have bumped the price up as we didn't buy anything. From here we walked in the direction of the national museum and stopped at a temple and walked around the market on the way so once we got to the museum it was closing in 15 minutes and they'd stopped selling tickets. So we headed done to the river to have a look at that and then after we went for a manicure, pedicure and a eyebrow wax in my case and Suz just had a pedicure. From here we went back to the market where we had been earlier because a man had told us all the locals come done at 7.30pm due to it being budda day so it would be good to come down but it didn't seem very different to us from in the day. We were glad we did go though because within the market they had several big marquees and we weren't really sure if we were allowed to go in but a tourist police man had stopped to talk to us and he said we could go in. Once we were inside a lady offered to show us around and it was very interesting it was basically the story of the Buddha inside the marquee at different stages, as we didn't really know very much about the Buddhism faith and what they believe in so it was really good for someone to explain it to us. After we had been there we walked back to the street where we were staying and got some street food less than a pound for a full meal and a drink. We then went back to our hotel for a few drinks, it was a bit different tonight as we were told we couldn't have a beer till after midnight due to it still being Buddha day but then she said we could have gin and tonic if we wanted, does she not realise gin is still alcohol? So anyway we both had a cocktail in a mug for our first drink and then when it was time for our second it was past midnight so we went onto beer and then we found out how strong the local beer is, 6.4%, as they were now serving it in bottles, we did wonder last night why we felt a bit tipsy after just one.

Thursday 9th July 2009

Today was a very late start due to the Chang beer last night and getting too involved chatting to people much more fun than going to bed!! But unfortunately it ruined our plans for the day. After we had got ready and got some lunch we went to Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of t he emerald Buddha) and the grand palace which was amazing but I think we might have enjoyed it more without severe hangovers.

The grounds of Wat Phra Kaew and the grand palace were consecrated in 1782, the first year of Bangkok rule and today it is a pilgrimage destination for devout Buddhists and nationalists. The 94.5 hectare grounds encompass more than 100 buildings that represent 200 yeas of royal history and architectural experimentation. We had a walk around the grounds first the architecture is amazing it's all so bright and colorful is really is an amazing sight we've both got some fantastic pictures.

The emerald Buddha is housed in a fantastically decorated Bot and it is guarded by yaksha (mythical giants). It sits atop an elevated altar, barely visible amid the gilded decorations. The emerald Buddha is always cloaked in royal robes one for each season (Hot, cool and rainy). In a solemn ceremony the king himself changes the garments at the beginning of each season.

From the emerald Buddha we went to the grand palace which again is an impressive building but the king doesn't live here he has a residence in the northern part of the city and it is only used for certain ceremonial ceremonies such as coronation day. They are very respectful of the royal family in Thailand and you can get arrested for bad mouthing them so we were very careful of what we said.

Unfortunately the palace shuts at 4pm so we felt a bit rushed but we got a good 2 hours there but to be honest I felt so poorly it was a relieve when we could go. I wanted to go back to the hotel so Suz walked me back and her plan was to go on a boat to see Bangkok from the river but it started to rain so we just watched a few films before getting some food before going to bed.

Friday 10th July 2009

Today was an early start as we had booked a tour to go to the floating market and the tiger temple and we got picked up at 7am. The floating market is about an hour and half away from Bangkok once we got there we got on small rowing boats to see the market it was so busy and there were so many boats trying to get past each other we were quite surprise we didn't capsize!! It was great fun to watch I didn't buy anything but Suz got a chopstick set that she'd been wanting for a while. She was a bit upset because we thought we'd done well bargaining the price down but when we got back to shore another mans starting price for the same set was cheaper than what she'd paid. After we had been to the market we were taken to a snake farm where you could watch a show if you wanted for extra money we weren't really interested in watching men fight with snakes so we just had a drink and waited for the others. We then had some lunch before going to the bridge over the river kwai and the war museum.

The final stop of the day was to the tiger temple the tigers are cared for by the monks in the monastery the temple adopted the first tiger cub in 1999 they now look after 10 tigers. It is really just a big tourist attraction as you can get so close to the tigers to have your picture taken we never even saw the temple itself while we were there. So we first went and had our pictures taken with about 5 different tigers which was a bit scary and then they were walking the tigers back to were they are kept so we could walk the tiger for a bit so I was getting ready for my turn and the bloody tiger raised it's tail and weed on me I was assured it was good luck it better be because it smelt awful and it was slightly embarrassing. We had heard rumors that the tigers are drugged before we went but we didn't think they were they seemed fairly active and content. It was a really hot day and you have to cover up to go in as it's a religious place so I'd taken my red T-shirt but then when we got there we were told that you were not allowed to wear red, pink or orange as it excites the tigers so I had to put my jumper on it was boiling!! After we had been here we drove back to Bangkok and we were dropped back at the hotel.

It was about 7pm when we got back so we ate at the hotel bar and used the internet before packing ready to go to Pattaya tomorrow to see Skelly, Jim, Phil and Ed.