8/14/2019 Day 0/1 What Day is It? Sat in the Hotel

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Day 0/1

What day is it?

Sat in the hotel room overlooking a hazy balmy sunset in Bangkok with a Chang

beer.

Thinking back to earlier today (er yesterday) there was a moment when this trip

started and ‘Chorleywood life as we know it’ ended..when the 747 engines

changed from hum to a roar and the fuselage jolted into life along the runway. In

a moment the upheaval of the last few months moved from a daily reality to a

hazy recollection. ..a new chapter was underway.

  The flight was great, Qantas, highly recommended, watched a movie (the

Hangover) and fell asleep for 4 hours. Sarah knocked herself out for more like 7

hours with her patented “night nurse, ear plugs, eye shades” trick whilst I read

up a little (Lonely Planet) on Thailand and made some plans for the next fewweeks; fly to Chang Mai; then Siem Reap in Cambodia; next stop a Bangkok train

(16 hours) down to Surat Thani or Krabi (beaches and climbing). Made a note to

check things out at the train station Hualamphong tomorrow or the day after.

After a tropical touchdown and speedy disembarkment it was to the taxi rank...

Even though I’d read up on taxi scams I still forgot to get our taxi man to start

his meter, this resulted in him managing to overcharge us by about 200 bhat

(£4). Sarah only noticed this when she spotted a bright yellow flannel adorning

his dashboard.. underneath which was the meter, hidden in the sort of way you

hide a bottle of wine by wrapping it as a present (see today’s picture!) . Anyway

he was a nice bloke and he taught me a few Thai words, just a shame I have

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absolutely no idea what they mean.

Arrived at a fantastic hotel, the Legacy Suites, I booked us somewhere nice for a

few days whilst we acclimatise, its 4 or 5 star, and £40 a night, that’s a lot in

 Thailand but it’s still excellent vfm in UK terms. I can highly recommend it if you

are planning a stay here.

 To round off day one we went to a Japanese restaurant for an evening meal and

resolved to get up early to get the most out of Ko Ratanakosin and the famous

golden temple in the morning..

Day 2

 Jet Lag is a strange thing.

I could not keep my eyes open before bed, then 3 hours later (2am) I was more

wide awake than if I’d been bungee jumping whilst getting a red bull enema. I

hadn’t by the way, that would be a weird way to wake up, but as we discovered

today, pretty much anything goes in Bangkok.

 The day began with a super early breakfast and our first walk through Bangkokstreets. Straight off the bat it was a feast for the senses. Street vendors selling

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all manner of strange smelling foods, choking traffic fumes from ancient buses,

toddlers being driven around on their parent’s scooters and the Bangkok

professionals on their way to work. There was little evidence of the famous Thai

smile, commuting sucks pretty much anywhere it seems.

After a quick journey on the city’s impressive and clean metro system we got toHuamphalong Train station where we got details of the timetables and fares on

offer then decided to walk across to the golden temple, about 2 miles across

town....