My bum hurts! Well it did do after a full day of cycling (in Cambodia) followed by a long bus ride from Cambodia to Thailand. After the tedious boarder crossing we weren't sure what to expect from the capital city,Bangkok. We had heard mixed reviews: some brilliant and some horrific! So Caitlin and I were looking forward to making up our own opinions. It was getting dark by the time we had reached the city center and were getting off the bus. We were hit by the noise from the crowds, the strange smells from the street food stalls and the neon lights from Khao San Road... and we absolutely LOVED it!
The next day we made our way across the city trying out the different modes of transport: the river boat taxi and the BTS Sky Train, to reach the monstrous "BMK" shopping mall. I was on the hunt for a new digital camera. After a successful shopping trip we headed back to the centre to go to Wat Pho, the temple that houses the enormous Reclining Buddha. After wards we went to check out the Grand Palace. On entry we were given a long list of clothing that we were not aloud to wear, confused and unsure of what we were aloud to wear we decided to do a U-turn and quietly back out!
During the time we were in Bangkok, Thailand was in full swing of a national holiday to celebrate the Queen's birthday. But fear struck when loud booms were heard and the floor beneath us shook. Bangkok was being bombed, we were terrified and needed to find shelter. However it turned out to be the Royal Family firing cannons -all part of the party. PANIC OVER!
CHAING MAI
The old city of Chaing Mai is a neat square bounded by a moatand remains of a medi-eval style wall built 700 years ago to defend against Burmese invaders. Inside the old wall is a district of narrow streets that lead to a quiet world of family run coffee houses, leafy gardens and friendly smiles. After getting off the over night bus ride from Bangkok we soon found a room to stay in at Mr. Whiskey's guest house.
Later that afternoon Caitlin and I were out about the town when I heard another TukTuk driver trying to to get our attention. It was strange on this occasion because they knew my name... we turned round and saw Bex, a close friend from college, and her travel buddy Rosie. It was odd "bumping into" old friends 1000's of miles from home! We joined them for coffee to swap stories and arranged to meet later for dinner and explore the Chain Mai Night Bazaar (street market).
Later that afternoon Caitlin and I were out about the town when I heard another TukTuk driver trying to to get our attention. It was strange on this occasion because they knew my name... we turned round and saw Bex, a close friend from college, and her travel buddy Rosie. It was odd "bumping into" old friends 1000's of miles from home! We joined them for coffee to swap stories and arranged to meet later for dinner and explore the Chain Mai Night Bazaar (street market).After a good nights sleep i was feeling like a culture vulture and so signed myself up to do a cookery course with Baan Thai Cooking School. That morning I met my group and we headed to the local market with our wicker baskets to collect our ingredients for the day. Throughout the day I learnt to cook 5 different traditional Thai dishes:
Pad Thai
Thai Fish Cakes
Tom Yum Soup
Green Thai Curry
Green Thai Curry
Deep Fried Battered Banana
Of course we got to eat everything that we cooked and it was also great trying the other different dishes that had been cooked in my class. I had the best time and met a fantastic group of people!
PAI
Pai is slightly further north than Chaing Mai and the dusty little town is found within a picturesque valley. The stress reducing setting appealed to Caitlin and I so we decided to give Pai a try! The afternoon the we arrived we went out to explore the town, taking pictures of the funny road signs and farm animals, and enjoyed the bohemian way of life adopted by the locals.
During our time in Pai we went to visit a couple of the temples in the surrounding mountains, went to an elephant camp, saw Pai Canyon, swam at Mo Paeng Waterfall and spent the evening trying out local delights, my favorite was Panang Curry followed by pancakes!
Our last day in Pai we decided to move accommodation and found budget huts over looking the river and mountain scenery. We wanted to spend the day relaxing and sunbathing on our balcony but once again had to change our plans due to the continuous rain! Getting restless inside our hut we stuck 2 fingers at the weather and went on a Wet'n'Wild adventure...
The morning we left - of course the rain had stopped by now!
We are now back in Bangkok for one more night in the city before heading south to the islands... :)
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