Tuesday 30 September 2008

One week gone!

First thing to say is Charlotte has, today, unfortunately lost all of our photos from the first week. So I guess I'll have to be quite descriptive........

Stepping off the bus in Bangkok was pretty intense! We were hit with an overwhelming variety of new smells, which combined with heat, heavy rucksacks & jet-lag meant some real endurance was required for our first mission - finding accommodation.

Charlotte had already picked out somewhere from the travel guides which didn't take us too long to find. Pretty basic & cheap. No complaints.
After some sleep we were able to appreciate this insane city much more. You cant walk 2 feet without a friendly local trying his best to subtly extract money from you. The people seem to very helpful even without a sale.

Khao San Road is absolutely amazing. Its the first stop for most of the backpackers coming into & leaving Thailand. This creates a 24/7 party the most "up for it" international crowd I've ever come across. Its a very addictive place. We are spending far too much money though.

Sophie arrived on Friday Which meant another very messy night out on Khao San road. As she was only here for the weekend, she really wanted to see a beach. This is the point where we began to learn some very valuable travel lessons. We were still a bit drunk when we went to the tourist information to sort out a trip to the beach. We ended up in Pattaya that night. Had we done even the slightest bit of research we would have quickly found out that this city has a notorious & booming sex industry. Having now been there I can say it more than lives up to its reputation.......It is full of old men & prostitutes. Nothing else. Its a huge beach resort for old western perverts. Were couldn't find young people anywhere. The 3 mile beach front was lined with hookers & grandads!
We got drunk in the hotel that night & enjoyed a couple of hours of sunshine on the beach the following day before making a swift exit back to Bangkok so Sophie could have some fun partying on, you guessed, Khao San Road.
We have met a few really great people including a bunch of climbers from the states who we may see again in Vietnam. Charlotte & Sophie have befriended a very confusing Lady Boy. She/he had all the guys mesmerised!

We have been relaxing/recovering for the last couple of days & will move onto Katchanaburi tomorrow (National parks & beautiful scenery). The plan is to stay for a week or so although that will probably change.
We should have some excellent photos to put up on the next blog, provided Charlotte doesn't accidentally delete them all again. I will be less cool about it next time!

2 comments:

Kelpie said...

I would keep the camera if I were you Liam!

Jo said...

What an adventure! Love to you both xx