THE RACHELEN PROJECT
BANGKOK
No more flamingos
5th May 2016, 9pm
Despite the odds, Helen and I have successfully met at an airport, checked in and caught a plane. Aside from a couple of moments (meeting eachother while standing on two travelators going in opposite directions and accidentally telling the baggage lady that we had ten bags to check in), it went surprisingly smoothly and hassle free.
So strictly speaking we’re not in Bangkok, but we’re just over halfway and sitting in a Costa in Dubai airport. Unfortunately all of the good views were on the other side of the plane when we were landing but we did get a decent view of London when we took off, as well as some nice looking brown mountains near UAE.
Emirates’ food is is good as they rave, and we were treated to smoked salmon starters, chicken tikka main followed by sticky toffee pudding. Oddly enough the plane had WiFi, and despite it being a little erratic, we managed to send the odd photo to our parents and rave about being able to WhatsApp while 40,000 feet in the air. It’s also a fair treat to get to ride on one of the Airbuses, with its swirly staircase to first class at the rear.
We also had the first trial run of our international bank cards, and clearly something is going for us today because it worked first time. We’ve got a little over an hour until our connection; initially I was going to try and get some photos of Burj Khalifa but it’s very far away and it’s pretty smoggy so that’s probably not going to happen. I did get a vague silhouette picture but I might as well be taking a photo of a google image.
Probably another update tomorrow when we’ve actually arrived in Bangkok; for now, stay tuned cos there’s probably WiFi on the next flight.
The backpacking club
7th May 2016, 9pm
It’s coming to the end of our second day in Bangkok and it’s fair to say we’re both pretty exhausted by it. An American man approached me at the airport and asked if I was in a backpacking society and why had he seen so many people wearing backpacks? It was difficult to try and explain this to him. We arrived at about 8am yesterday, and after Helen convinced me that a train ride plus a 3 mile walk was too far in this heat (something like 35 degrees, I’m not sure), we took a taxi to our hotel. It was pretty good in the end to be able to get a view of the city as we headed from the airport into the centre. We were dreading having to wait for check in but luckily they let us into the room as soon as we arrived, so the first thing we did was take a two hour nap.
Our hotel happens to be situated along one of the busiest tourist streets in Bangkok, which is why it was so easy for the taxi driver to find. It’s loud 24 hours, overpriced and you can’t walk 5 metres without getting hassled. But it’s a good base and easy to find at all times.
Unfortunately jetlag meant that for our first night we woke up at 3am, watched a film and then slept until 1pm. After this initial hiccup we took a bus (Google is surprisingly accurate for buses) and met our friends Pip and Jim who have been travelling India, Nepal and Myanmar for the last couple of months. The buses look a little like undersupplied fire engines and have a conductor as well as a driver. Some of them are inexplicably free.
We spent the day wandering around an area called Siam, which is full of markets, shopping malls and a couple of art galleries. There’s a pretty hefty network of concrete bridges for pedestrians and trains, and it’s well connected to other parts of the city. It was busy but a little less touristy than the area Helen and I are staying in. I got a little confused about the exchange rate and accidentally took out the equivalent of £400 from an ATM rather than £40, so the next task was to find a bag with a zip.
Helen, Pip had our first Thai massage for £6 each, and it didn’t disappoint. Parts of it were really strange and Pip’s masseuse kept checking her phone and texting during it. But we all left feeling refreshed and glad to have had the experience.
We had dinner in a little vegetarian curry place, followed by a beer near Pip and Jim’s hotel and then caught the bus back. It actually started moving while we were still climbing on and I felt a little bit like John McClane.
Tomorrow Helen and I are planning on taking a morning dip in the pool upstairs, hopefully before any other backpackers wake up, then we’ll meet Pip and Jim and walk around to the Grand Palace and see where we go from there.
Komodo lizards and monitor dragons
11th May 2016, 8am
It's day 6 and we are still alive. We left Bangkok early this morning and are currently on a 5 1/2 hour train journey to Aranyaprathet, where we will catch a tuk tuk to the cambodian border and make our way to Siem Reap from there. Although this train is fairly packed and lacking air conditioning, it's got great views and open windows and amazingly only cost us about 96p each. Thanks to the man in seat 61 for the advice (www.seat61.com).
One of the hardest things to do is ensuring we drink enough water. Even downing upwards of 3 litres a day, you can still wake up with a banging headache and dry mouth. It's like a hangover with no alcohol.
On Sunday we met Pip and Jim at Lumphini park in the evening to have a wonder in some less intense temperatures. Helen had read somewhere that giant lizards roamed the park, so we stepped cautiously in the grass until we saw several large komodo dragons lazing around the pond. The things that I've read about komodo dragons say that they're venemous and sometimes vicious, and yet here were several metre long "giant lizards" free to wonder around the park (as well as some turtles) so I steered fairly clear. *Edit: misinformed again, they were actually 'monitor lizards'.
The park was followed by a trek around town looking for a cheap bar. Our first go to was Chinatown, and it was so vibrant and busy and full of familiar smells. I was tempted to try a lot of it but we'd only just eaten. We found a little Spanish place and had a couple of drinks there, then discovered that a nearby rotating hotel sky bar had fairly cheap drinks. It offered us our first view of the city from above, and it is funny looking. Tall buildings are scattered around like a badly shaved beard rather than clustered in districts, and it was hard to point out where the centres would be. We looked for our accommodations but unfortunately they were too low to be seen by rotating tower.
Monday Helen and I went for a walk around our street and made it to the grand palace. Stupidly we went at 1pm and although we were both smothered in factor 50, even the locals were resting in shade; the heat got to us and we ended up taking a tuk tuk home quite quickly.
We did make it back to the palace yesterday for a tour, but decided to go and see the less busy Wat Pho next door instead. We got chatting to a monk inside who told us 'pho' was a type of tree where a leader found enlightenment, and that's where the name comes from. He also taught us four different customary greetings, with the palms pressed together in front of you, to address your friends, siblings, parents and spiritual leaders. He then asked us to take a photo with him on his phone.
The temple was beautiful and a real treat to see. The lack of people and the late time of day meant it was more peaceful, and the ornamental buildings and golden Buddhas were amazing.
We ate twice in a vegetarian restaurant yesterday. Although service was slow, it was in a beautiful garden and you could watch them make the food from scratch. I have no idea how they stand the heat when cooking from a stove. I had a tuna salad for lunch (vegetarian, I know) and Thai green curry for tea.
We left Pip and Jim yesterday, just before visiting Wat Pho, who are now down in Phuket. We've had a lovely four days with them among the hustle and bustle of bangkok and now our solo adventure begins. It would have been nicer to spend longer in Bangkok to really get a grasp of the city but we're keen to make sure we get enough time in Cambodia. A little bit sad to be leaving, but also looking forward to being somewhere a bit more peaceful.