What we didn't realise about Bangkok was just how overcast it was, even after the daily hour of rain. When we parted the curtains on our overnight sleeper train carriage, it was a different story and we've actually seen the sun! Lots and lots.
The train journey itself was quite amusing as we met a couple sat opposite us, Andy and Mel. He was a Brighton boy and she was from the Philippines. They met on the internet. He was fifty and she was twenty three. Jo believes him to be a sex pest but I thought they were a lovely couple just looking for love where ever it may be, whatever the cost. And by cost I mean air fares, courtship and things, not necessarily a transaction that may or may not have taken place to seal the deal. If there was a deal.
Chiang Mai is a breath of fresh air compared to Bangkok. We've got a jungle trek lined up and toying with some cookery courses as we've seen more temples than we care to and probably could mention.
Doi Suthep stands out though as it is set upon the mountain to the west and affords a stunning panorama of Chaing Mai and is breath taking. Parts of the temple itself were under renovation but I finally met a monk and had a piece of white string tied to my wrist symbolising keeping the spirits close to a special guest. Me. Jo got one too. In fact, anyone with a few baht in their hand got one. I'm guessing there's a lot of spirits to go round.
Right, must dash. Got a trek to look forward to which will be a challenge of stamina and sweat glands. TTFN folks, will try and add pics next time.
D & J x
Tuesday 24 August 2010
Danny: The Champion of the Underworld
Our last night in Bangkok was a memorable one for nearly terrible reasons. As mentioned in the prior post, we went to the Vertigo skyscraper bar for it to be shut due to poor weather conditions. Then we set sail for the Patpong district. It was still catting it down so we had dinner in a bar with a generous canopy above us and waited till the rain abated.
With a fresh feeling in the air, we headed into the now touristified but still seedy underbelly of the red light district. There were plenty of bars either with live music on stage, bikini clad girls onstage or a combination of the two. In amongst all this we could also tell that Spurs were beating Stoke City one nil at half time. We'd debated whether we wanted to go to one of their famed shows and decided to go for it. We had been hailed be various guys pimping out their shows in the street and one guy seemed nice enough so we took him up on his offer of free entry and reasonable beer prices.
I've been to some dingy clubs and bars in my time but this was not nice. There was only us in there at the time not including the half dozen of so girls on the circular stage in the middle of the round room. A couple of guys came in shortly after and a mixed group of about seven or eight followed them in. Felt bit a happier to see other folk in there with clothes on. Little did I know that I'd be using them as leverage later.
We watched a couple of shows with a beer and then one of the girls and a older women came over with drinks saluted us, took a swig and then put them on the table next to us. I knew it was stitch up and we readied our money to leave. I got waved over to the bar to pay and instead of a receipt for 200 Baht, it measured in the thousands. She held up a card that listed all kinds of charges that up until now were absent. I told her in now uncertain terms that this was not what we told by the guy and she should take it up him. She then rattled something else off about her having to pay the girls blah blah blah but I was furious as it felt everyone in Bangkok was trying to rip me off. I said I was paying 200 Baht and no more. She refused. I then said I'd go and tell everyone else what was happening. I got up, turned towards the big group and she started shouting at me and her mate. I turned back to her and she said I pay 200 Baht and leave now. Which what we did. I'm hoping that the furore alerted the other groups to the scam but lord knows whether they came out financially unscathed.
Our trip has been amazing and this slight misadventure just adds to the much more upbeat and somewhat appropriate tales we can tell. Don't get me wrong, we were lucky to not get stung for a chunk of cash but it seems a firm voice and a foot in height can work in your favour. It goes without saying I checked for bouncers before putting my foot down but also had Jo as a trump card.
In terms of lessons learned, Jo doesn't like ping pong shows even though we didn't specifically see one of them being popped.
With a fresh feeling in the air, we headed into the now touristified but still seedy underbelly of the red light district. There were plenty of bars either with live music on stage, bikini clad girls onstage or a combination of the two. In amongst all this we could also tell that Spurs were beating Stoke City one nil at half time. We'd debated whether we wanted to go to one of their famed shows and decided to go for it. We had been hailed be various guys pimping out their shows in the street and one guy seemed nice enough so we took him up on his offer of free entry and reasonable beer prices.
I've been to some dingy clubs and bars in my time but this was not nice. There was only us in there at the time not including the half dozen of so girls on the circular stage in the middle of the round room. A couple of guys came in shortly after and a mixed group of about seven or eight followed them in. Felt bit a happier to see other folk in there with clothes on. Little did I know that I'd be using them as leverage later.
We watched a couple of shows with a beer and then one of the girls and a older women came over with drinks saluted us, took a swig and then put them on the table next to us. I knew it was stitch up and we readied our money to leave. I got waved over to the bar to pay and instead of a receipt for 200 Baht, it measured in the thousands. She held up a card that listed all kinds of charges that up until now were absent. I told her in now uncertain terms that this was not what we told by the guy and she should take it up him. She then rattled something else off about her having to pay the girls blah blah blah but I was furious as it felt everyone in Bangkok was trying to rip me off. I said I was paying 200 Baht and no more. She refused. I then said I'd go and tell everyone else what was happening. I got up, turned towards the big group and she started shouting at me and her mate. I turned back to her and she said I pay 200 Baht and leave now. Which what we did. I'm hoping that the furore alerted the other groups to the scam but lord knows whether they came out financially unscathed.
Our trip has been amazing and this slight misadventure just adds to the much more upbeat and somewhat appropriate tales we can tell. Don't get me wrong, we were lucky to not get stung for a chunk of cash but it seems a firm voice and a foot in height can work in your favour. It goes without saying I checked for bouncers before putting my foot down but also had Jo as a trump card.
In terms of lessons learned, Jo doesn't like ping pong shows even though we didn't specifically see one of them being popped.
Sunday 22 August 2010
What a week!
It's only been seven days since we left Blighty and we've already seen and done so much. Not got a lot of time to write loads and loads as we're waiting to catch an train overnight train to Chang Mai so i'll keep it brief. Well, as brief as I can.
The story so far:
The story so far:
- Spent three nights in Bangkok sampling the delights of Khao San Road, watching some brutal Muay Thai boxing and seeing lots of temples and palaces.
- A train took us to Kanchanburi for two nights were we saw the Bridge over the River Kwai, swam in Erawan Waterfalls while being nibbled on by some over friendly fish and enjoying our first bout of mozzy bites. Jo currently leads 14-6. Jo had a group of Thai ladies tell her to use tiger balm as it's the best thing for it and it'll help ward them off in future. Well, ok, the only words we could pick out from what they were saying were 'Tiger' and 'Balm', I've gleaned the rest.
- We've learned how to handle Tuk Tuk drivers the hard way, fallen in love with street food and got ejected from a Ping Pong Show in Patpong.
- Oh and a small lizard fell on Jo's head on our first night while we drank in the Hippie De Bar. She's fine, by the way.
- We went to the 59th floor balcony bar Vertigo only for it to shut minutes before we got there due to the rain so that's still on the list for future visits.
Here's a couple of Jo's diamond remarks for you to enjoy too:
- "Can you run faster than the rain?"
- "Are there bits of tiger in tiger balm?"
- "Oh that's a good idea, an umbrella extention."
- "We're on the wrong train." There's only one train that runs on the track and it runs hours apart.
Right, that's all for now folks. Will write more when we get time.
Miss you all, Dan and Jo x
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