1 Week in Thailand- Part 1

So! We're one week in, and i have to say, we've loved every minute.

The blog below is going to take a while for you guys to read in one hit, so please feel free to read a day at a time or whatever suits!
The 40 degree weather is sure slowing us down, seeing as a week has passed and we haven't given you an update But unfortunately in the jungle, WiFi isnt the easiest thing in the world to get (neither's a toilet for that matter!) ---- DONT EAT THE HOTTEST CHILI'S IN THE WORLD!

Dont blame it on the sunshine, (don't blame it on the moonlight) ((sorry i had to)) Blame it on the 3 day jungle trek and the 12 hour over night train ride to the very North of Thailand but will start at the beginning shall we?

We arrived in Bangkok at 2 30 am in which we paid 450 baht (10$) to get a cab the Khao san Road- a world famous backpackers mecca. The cabby was lovely and taught us a few of the basics, we were originally going to learn some on the plane, but they had sega mega drive games in the back of the chair, so any time spent not sleeping, was being wasted on Altered Beast and Alec Kidd. Again, I'm sure we'll be forgiven!!

We'd heard many stories but to see the hustle and bustle happening at 3am was breathtaking. The feelings we had were very mixed as after having travelled for so long, and being knackered as we were, i don't think we were in the best mood for it.... Also, having no idea where our hotel was, apart from "Khao San Road", we found it all a bit panicky.
The massive bags on our back didn't seem to help ease our worries, as you could see that we were getting some attention from locals and tourists alike.
But we found the hotel and all was good for the night, but to be honest by that time, we would have slept with the chickens at Mum and Dads. Happily.


Day 2 in the Big Backpack House.

Having left the hotel, we decided to take a wander into the town, but before we got anywhere, a man appeared and asked us if we knew what we were doing and where we were going.
Having understood that indeed we were exactly what we looked like, a couple of plums with massive backpacks with no idea where the next stop would be. He turned us on to a tourist police information center.
The guy we spoke to had obviously dealt with a shed-load of people in our exact situation, and had it down to a tee. He actually scared us a bit with a few horror stories ( i think they tell them to most people, scared tourists are wary tourists, and wary tourists are probably very good for business) and said that if we wanted to stay in Bangkok again then we should look for somewhere slightly out of town, as apparently they're safer.

The other alternative he offered us, was to go to somewhere called the TAT, which was a tourist information and booking center. To us this was heaven sent.
We jumped in a Tuk Tuk, our first one, and headed towards the TAT.
For those of you who don't know exactly was a Tuk Tuk is, think motorbike, but two wheels at the back, and a sort of cattle cart, covered bench in the back. All in all, a blinding way to travel, cheap, fun and the wind cools you right down (by this time i was walking around constantly feeling like I'd just come off stage at the 12 bar!)

K- And I felt like I was walking beside a greasy monkey :)

At the TAT we met Sonya who we gave her an idea of what we wanted to do and she sort of put our plans or ideas into actions. She booked us train, bus, boat tickets, tours and hotels for the first 8 days of our travels.
We knew we wanted to go North to Chang Mai and do the jungle trek we kept hearing about, before going down to the relaxing part of our trip- the beaches of the South.

Ayutthaya
Our first stop on our way up North was Ayutthaya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayutthaya_Kingdom what used to be Siam and the Capital before it was taken over by the Burmese. ( Or so we think we remember)
We rode first class as the train we were supposed to take was booked full so they booked us a taxi the whole hour . 5 away it is.
Arriving at our hotel was great- this is what the real experience is about, real Thailand, culture and alot more slow moving- something Tom says I am renowned for and always seems to be speeding me up.

There are dogs everywhere, scary but there was one at our hotel he was more than half the size of Tom- he was smelly but he was LOVELY! We loved him and he suckered up to us(tom) for a belly rub every 5 minutes.
Other dogs are not so friendly ( and maybe that isnt the word) but there are loads of dogs that are not well ( with rabies)- makes you wish you got your shots haha but they have seemed to leave us alone.

We have met amazing people at our hotel and the first night after touring the city for the whole day in which we got caught up and didnt eat anything all day except a banana and a small portion of egg stuffed with chicken we had a few to many chang (beer- 6,9 %) it went straight to our head.

We first met Hans and Elise who are from Austria and Australia and 3 German guys Bjorn, Bernhard and Lars who helped us along our path of destruction drunkeness. The next morning we woke up with raging hangovers and decided it was a good idea to take a push bike ride around the city but to get the other side of the river you needed to bike over a MASSIVE motorway - Not a good idea when your hungover- or EVER.

We were in search of the floating market which we didnt find- just ended up getting lost. We biked back over the motorway and took a tuk tuk there and it was amazing- this was where we had our first real experience with Thai food- sitting on your bum at a really small table on an island with boats all around you just cooking food.
Other things we have seen are Wat Phra Si Sanphet which had served as the royal palace http://thailandforvisitors.com/central/ayuthaya/sri-ayutthaya/wat-si-sanphet.php  and Wihan Phramongkhon Bophit a large standing bronze buddha and more.
T - It was like something out of tomb raider!

On the next day we met some more really fantastic people, Beth, Sean (sorry if it's spelt differently!), Aaron and Tara. These guys again made us feel really welcome, and we shared a lovely meal with them. Beth and Sean if you're reading this, we are so grateful for the tips and advice. Thank goodness for friendly, prepared people! (and doxycycline...)

We left Ayutthaya, and departed on a 12 hour train ride up north to Chang Mai.


The Love Train Day

We got onto the train about 9:30 pm, and had no idea what to expect.
We had booked two seat/beds in the air conditioned section (i didnt want to slip off the train! The sweating hadnt subsided by this time...)

After seeing two people walk back with beers, the inevitable question which was where can we get one of those- so we wandered up the carriages (rickety carriages) walking between train carriages its nothing but two pieces of metal clanking together. Two carriages up we came to a drinking, smoking, musical, singing, dancing party carriage where everyone is standing on the tables and having a great time. Again to many chang we joined in- made the journey much shorter I tell ya.

We arrived Monday in Chang Mai after the 12 hour train journey to the Garden view hotel, we checked in got showered ( we have yet to come across an actual shower- most are big wet rooms with the shower beside the toilet) and straight into the pool, the most wonderful, romantic (scuse us) time. We had the pool to ourselves and without warning or a cloud in the sky just started chucking it down with rain, within about 5 minutes we realized our books, shoes and socks, towels, tobacco, filters and papers were lying out in the open. Tom makes a mad dash to get them under cover only to find out after our lovely swim he only moved them from one outside uncovered area to another outside uncovered area, so drenched with no towel we had to trudge back dripping wet through the hotel upto our room.
Monday night to our surprise we once again ran into Lars, Bjorn and Bernhard in the hotel and found out they were to be in the same trekking group as us. We had a meeting with our guides, where they told us what we would be needing for the next few days. Having met the group, we went out that night to a restaurant and then the Zoom bar, had a few too many chang, played free pool and woke up NOT ready or packed (surprise surprise) for our 3 day 2 night jungle trek. The only thing we knew we were going to do is go elephant trekking, proabbly alot of walking and we were staying with a hill tribe up at the top of the mountains.

We're going to end the first part here, as we know it's a lot to take in. And frankly having written all of this in one hit, we're dying for a fag and a bottle of water.
We'll finish the rest when we get to Bangkok (tomorrow!) And then we'll keep up to date as often as we can!

Love to one and all.