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| From Thailand Photos |
Wednesday 28 February 2007
The Khao San Road
No more than ten minutes from where we were staying was the Khao San road - Backpacker central in Bangkok. Great, lively place to see. Absolute madness. We walked down it about nine at night and just soaked it all in - pretty cool. Don't buy any thing on the street though - you've guaranteed high prices and low quality service and maybe even low quality product for everything (trips, clothes, souvenirs). Well worth heading up around the place.
Back to Bangkok - 21-2-2007
After our adventures in and around Kanchanaburi, we headed back to Bangkok for a couple of nights. We still had a lot we wanted to do in Bangkok. Highlights included the Grand Palace and Khao San road.
Coconuts
Coconut trees are everywhere in this country. They can't get rid of them fast enough. One of my drinks of choice in this country has been fresh coconut juice, fresh from the coconut. Really tasty and sweet - not like the token coconut you get at Halloween at home. Chop open the top and stick a straw in - great!
Erawan Waterfall
On our last day around Nam Tok and Kanchanaburi we went to see the Erawan Waterfall in Erawan National Park. Very, Very nice. A spectacular, seven tiered waterfall with pools you can swim in at each step.
The area seems to be also used by the Buddhist monks. About 20 trainees were climbing it the same time as us.
The final, seventh tier is pretty spectacular. The monks are allowed climb a little bit further, but it was as far as we were allowed to go. A 2km trek to the top.
On the way back down then I took a quick dip in the fourth tier. Very refreshing. By far the best bit of trekking we'd done so far in the country.
By the way, "Erawan" means "Elephant." It's named so because one of the tiers is shaped like an elephant ... I didn't really see the resemblance to be honest.
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| From Thailand Photos |
The area seems to be also used by the Buddhist monks. About 20 trainees were climbing it the same time as us.
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| From Thailand Photos |
The final, seventh tier is pretty spectacular. The monks are allowed climb a little bit further, but it was as far as we were allowed to go. A 2km trek to the top.
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| From Thailand Photos |
On the way back down then I took a quick dip in the fourth tier. Very refreshing. By far the best bit of trekking we'd done so far in the country.
By the way, "Erawan" means "Elephant." It's named so because one of the tiers is shaped like an elephant ... I didn't really see the resemblance to be honest.
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| From Thailand Photos |
The Tiger Temple
Near Nam Tok is the "Tiger Temple". In 1999 a lame tiger cub was brought to the Buddhist monetary here where they took him under their care. Since then they've taken many more tigers in and it's turned into a bit of a tourist attraction. I guess the bit of controversy is over the fact that the tigers are chained up on display for the tourists. They all seemed very calm when I went to visit - we were able to pat them and tickle them. Pretty cool really. I later found out that a tourist was mauled by one of the tigers a couple of years ago. Glad I found this out afterwards.
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| From Thailand Photos |
Elephants
We went to an elephant sanctuary near Kanchanaburi and went for a short elephant. I was a laugh, but nearly as much fun as people have been describing up in Chang Mai. Elephants appear to be the equivalent of horses around here. You see trucks carrying elephants, elephants in the fields, elephants crossing the road (at least in certain places). A bit odd, but cool.
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| From Thailand Photos |
Monday 26 February 2007
Bamboo Rafting
A bit of a laugh - a bit of a non-event - but mainly relaxation. We floated for 20 minutes down the river Kwai, soaking in the sounds of the jungle. Chilled me out and set me up for the afternoon. We ended up doing this twice somehow.
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| From Thailand Photos |
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| From Thailand Photos |
Jungle Trekking Around Nam Tok - 20-2-2007
Initially we were to go to Erawan water fall today but they didn't have enough numbers so we did our "jungle trekking". Very misleading name I must say. Didn't involve much trekking or jungles - That said, it was still a lot of fun. Hellfire pass was the first stop. Then some bamboo rafting followed by an elephant ride, all topped off with a trip to see some tigers.
Bridge Over the River Kwai and Surroundings
During WW2 the Japanese, using hundreds of thousands of POWs built a railway line, over very unlikely terrain between Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar). I think a 100,000 or more died during its construction. We paid a passing visit to the war cemetery in Kanchanaburi that commemorates these deaths. Very subdued. Unsettling to see how young the ages on the graves are.
Not too far away from here is the famous bridge over the river Kwai, immortalised in that film I didn't see, ... I can't quite remember the name of it ;-). The bridge isn't really that impressive, neither is the museum.
What was impressive, however, was the the train journey we took next. The Thai government since the war ripped up most of the railway line that was built, except for a stretch from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok - "The Death Railway". The views were spectacular and really showed the impossible construction task faced by the soldiers.
We would later visit "Hellfire Pass", the most notorious stretch of the railway line where there was a death for every railway sleeper.
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| From Thailand Photos |
Not too far away from here is the famous bridge over the river Kwai, immortalised in that film I didn't see, ... I can't quite remember the name of it ;-). The bridge isn't really that impressive, neither is the museum.
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| From Thailand Photos |
What was impressive, however, was the the train journey we took next. The Thai government since the war ripped up most of the railway line that was built, except for a stretch from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok - "The Death Railway". The views were spectacular and really showed the impossible construction task faced by the soldiers.
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| From Thailand Photos |
We would later visit "Hellfire Pass", the most notorious stretch of the railway line where there was a death for every railway sleeper.
Damnoen Saduak
Damnoen Saduak is the largest remaining floating market in Thailand. It's all a pretty mad affair. Great to see. The best view was from the canals surrounding the market. We took a speedboat around the canals of the town too. Saw a monkey on the river bank. I waved at him. He waved back at me. :-)
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| From Thailand Photos |
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| From Thailand Photos |
On to Kanchanaburi and Nam Tok - 19-2-2007
We wasted little time leaving Bangkok for the countryside. Bangkok is grand but it's easy get sick of it. The way we figure in any case is that we'll be using Bangkok as a jumping off point for other locations so we'll be back here again.
A driver picked us up at 7a.m. in a minibus ultimately headed for Nam Tok. We made several stops along the way including Damnoen Saduak floating market, war cemetary at Kanchanaburi, bridge over the river Kwai and finally stopping at our river hut accommodation just out side Nam Tok.
The river huts were amazing. Getting up at 5a.m. to the sound of the jungle and the river and watch the sunrise - fairly impressive.
For the record, I think it's important the note that I had a King Cobra around my neck today and I touched a python at the cobra show. :-)
A driver picked us up at 7a.m. in a minibus ultimately headed for Nam Tok. We made several stops along the way including Damnoen Saduak floating market, war cemetary at Kanchanaburi, bridge over the river Kwai and finally stopping at our river hut accommodation just out side Nam Tok.
The river huts were amazing. Getting up at 5a.m. to the sound of the jungle and the river and watch the sunrise - fairly impressive.
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| From Thailand Photos |
For the record, I think it's important the note that I had a King Cobra around my neck today and I touched a python at the cobra show. :-)
Tuk-Tuks
One of the handiest forms of transport in the cities seems to be the Tuk-Tuk. A Tuk-Tuk is essentially a converted motorbike that can take passengers in a carriage at the back. They get their name from the noise their two stroke engine makes. Be careful though - prices may vary. Put on your best bargaining hat when approaching a Tuk-Tuk driver. Know where you want to go and have a starting price in your head. Be prepared to walk away if you're not getting the price you want and be prepared to say "no" if he offers to add unwanted stops to your journey.
They're definitely the fastest way to get around the Bangkok traffic, which by the way, is absolutely nuts! Cars, bicycles, motorbikes criss-crossing everywhere - some how it all just works.
They're definitely the fastest way to get around the Bangkok traffic, which by the way, is absolutely nuts! Cars, bicycles, motorbikes criss-crossing everywhere - some how it all just works.
Arriving in Bangkok - 17-2-2007
The in flight entertainment broke on the flight over, so after 10 hours staring at the back of a leather seat we arrived in Bangkok. Phew it was hot! Hot and tired we checked into our pint size hotel room and slept for over 14 hours.
The next day we weren't quite sure what to do. Had an "American breakfast" and looked at the guide book for a while. We were staying in a small backpackers lodge not far from the Khao San road. We eventually decided to ditch the guide book and just go wandering.
After a few minutes we bumped into a teacher called Tangam, eager to practice his English. What a stroke of luck - after a few minutes talking to him he had listed out the best sights to see, recommended a good TAT office, flagged down a Tuk-Tuk and negotiated a decent prices for us! We had a personal driver for the whole morning for 40B (< 1EUR). The only scam that the Tuk-Tuk tried to pulled was to take us to a tailor that he was getting commission from ... but this is to be expected. I was well impressed.
Saw a number of the famous sights - Golden Mount, Standing Buddha, Lucky Buddha. Pretty cool. The Golden Mount in particular has an amazing view of Bangkok. Lots and lots of bells all the way up. Kind of errie to hear them all clanging in the wind.
The next day we weren't quite sure what to do. Had an "American breakfast" and looked at the guide book for a while. We were staying in a small backpackers lodge not far from the Khao San road. We eventually decided to ditch the guide book and just go wandering.
After a few minutes we bumped into a teacher called Tangam, eager to practice his English. What a stroke of luck - after a few minutes talking to him he had listed out the best sights to see, recommended a good TAT office, flagged down a Tuk-Tuk and negotiated a decent prices for us! We had a personal driver for the whole morning for 40B (< 1EUR). The only scam that the Tuk-Tuk tried to pulled was to take us to a tailor that he was getting commission from ... but this is to be expected. I was well impressed.
Saw a number of the famous sights - Golden Mount, Standing Buddha, Lucky Buddha. Pretty cool. The Golden Mount in particular has an amazing view of Bangkok. Lots and lots of bells all the way up. Kind of errie to hear them all clanging in the wind.
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| From Thailand Photos |
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| From Thailand Photos |
Saturday 24 February 2007
Hello All
Hello Everyone.
So I finally made it and after a pretty hectic week I finally get to sit down in an internet cafe. I've never been much good at writing stories so excuse me if the rest of what follows ends up feeling like a bunch of disconnected little rants. ...
So I finally made it and after a pretty hectic week I finally get to sit down in an internet cafe. I've never been much good at writing stories so excuse me if the rest of what follows ends up feeling like a bunch of disconnected little rants. ...
Friday 23 February 2007
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