Bye bye Bangkok

A few more pics from Bangkok...

    River taxis on the Chao Phraya river, any distance tb30 (30p)

               

   Wat Pho, reclining Budda

    Kho San Road, reclining Matt

    China town

   Tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk

Sat 17 Jan

Leaving Bangkok...

Got on water taxi to pier 4 for Hua Lampong Station, tried some fried fish balls (balls of fish that is. Not fish bollocks, although if fish had bollocks the Chinese would eat them) from a vendor at the station. Disgusting, spat them out. Jumped on a train to Ayutthaya, about 2hr trip, sat in reclining leather chairs, only 65 baht. (£1.30). Vendors go up and down, up and down, up and down all day selling their wares...coffee, orange juice, fish balls, sausages, boiled eggs with sauce, rotis, rice meals, you name it, they sell it.

   Vendor on the train selling coke and water..

    This monk pinched a Cadandian guys seat. No way he was budging. Hehe.

    Arrived in Ayutthaya

Staying in a Thai/Chinese homestay 'Ban are gong', two min walk from the station. What a lovely place, it's 100 year old teak house, complete with a restaurant terrace right on the water.

We're one min from the ferry that goes back and forth to the old city where the ruins and Wats (temples) are. Wat wat wat! 

Checked in, jumped on the ferry and had a wander around up to the park and Kings palace, had an amazing Thai iced coffe in the park, they strain the coffee through a muslin bag and add condensed milk, delicious over lots of ice.

The tuk tuks here are crazy, some have neon lights all over and they seem to be having a competition on who can play the loudest music. Mental. Had dinner at ours chilling on the balcony, met some Aussies who LOVED to talk. Ear plugs are a must here, not just for the talkative Aussies! the walls are a wood panel thick, you can hear everything. Slept ok'ish though.

   Terrace at Baan are gong, and view.....

Sun 18

Rented a moped for the day, 150tb, including helmets. I had a little go on a really quiet road, my first ever go on a moped!

Toured around to see the sights...

    ... Here's a sight!!

    

                    

    Wat Lokayasutha, another lazy Buddah

 

   .... and another

Iced Coffee stop...50p!  Phil you're charging too much! Hehe ;-)

Mon 19

Pad Thai for breakfast, lazy morning before getting the train to Lopburi, thought we'd try 3rd class with the locals, 20p for an hours trip, stood up for a while, but soon got a bench seat.

This town has a gang of resident Macques..they are everywhere, climbing the wires, in the road, overhead on buildings. Hundreds of them. Scary. Big teeth. They pinched one guys food. I took some pics on my camera but the SD card is playing up and I cant access them.

Really cheap dinner from street cart before train 50tb for us both, that's £1. Sorry if I keep going on about the prices, but I just can't get over how cheap it is!

Jumped on the 20.40 sleeper train to Chiang Mai, it was only ten mins late. We got 'train 1, special express', it stops at fewer stations. Lower bunks are a must, they are wider and more spacious.

   In our little dens for the night, cosy! 

Settled in for a twelve hour trip, I slept pretty well, Matt not so well. The train is very wobbly and noisy.

Only cost £16 though, cheaper than flying and you save the room cost for the night. Awoke at 6am to see a completely different landscape of forests and misty mountains in the distance.

Tues 20

Arrived 08.15, decided to walk a bit, ended up walking the forty mins to our guesthouse, Tri Gong. The bed is nice and soft, Matt is happy, so far they've all been rock hard!

On first impressions Chiang Mai seems a lot more chilled out than Bangkok. Bit cooler too as we're much further North. 

Matt's having a doze whilst I catch up with the blog, cheers for now, Milly.