Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown./Lost in Bangkok part 1

On Friday, we realised that we were still stuck in the mindset of the two week holiday abroad, trying to cram activities into each day, rather than the more leisurely pace required when the holiday is actually your life, which you sometimes want to spend doing nothing at all. So we planned a couple of lowkey activities, which somehow evolved into an epic adventure of Odyssean proportions. Along the way we encountered several packs of stray dogs and a few million tonnes of carbon monoxide. I can now also say I have more knowledge of transport options within Bangkok than I ever could have wanted! But to begin...

We started Friday with a breakfast of banana pancakes with chocolate from a cafe on our street. It was great, although most of the other backpackers seemed to be having the healthier alternative of fresh fruit with yoghurt and museli. This meal was the closest we've come to 'Western' food since arriving in Thailand.

Next stop was Siam Square, by taxi. This is the centre of the city and where the big shopping centres are located. These are towering edifices of glass and steel - air-conditioned enclaves where neither the atmosphere nor the prices bear any resemblance to the city outside. The most interesting one was the Siam Paragon, which has an aquarium in the basement and a cinema on the top floor. It also has a gourmet food hall with lots of free samples, and a complete mixture of Thai specialities like squid's egg alongside more familiar food such as Walker's oatcakes.

After browsing Chanel and the Lamborghini showroom in our scuffed sandals, we went to see Avatar at the cinema in the shopping centre. The interior was plush and ornate, and it was fun to do something so normal. The film was preceded by the Thai national anthem, during which everyone is expected to stand with their arms by their sides. In the cinema, the anthem was accompanied by a montage of images of the King performing such actions as soothing children in hospitals, helping the homeless and inpsiring the military. The whole experience made me realise the extent to which Diana obsessives in the UK need to up the game. Has anyone alerted the Daily Mail to the kind of veneration royals are given in other countries? Britain is falling by the wayside...

The plan after Siam Square was to locate the right pier on the canal in the city centre to get a river taxi back to Banglamphu, the backpacker district. We walked for thirty minutes through the centre before admitting defeat. I had read about the congestion and traffic fumes in Bangkok, and it really is bad. Many locals wear face masks and if you anticipate being unable to read maps and then refusing to give up and get a taxi home, bring a bandanna to cover your mouth. With every step I could feel all the good done by each virtuous non-smoking year being destroyed. Eventually we got the skytrain to the river, and then a river boat up to the pier closest to Chinatown. Or so we thought.

We spent about an hour searching for Chinatown I think, through dark alleyways and streets in which we were the only foreigners. At one point a street sweeper told us we were 1km away, and shortly after that we gave up. After walking for about 15 mins we realised from a street sign we were walking away from the river, our route home. The area we were in seemed pretty poor - there were heaps of rubbish bags on the pavements, and few bars and restaurants. There were quite a few people around, mostly sitting on the pavements talking and cooking food. It felt safe, but I suppose it could have been Bangkok's answer to Govan for all we knew. Luckily Bangkok differs from Glasgow in that tranport actually seeks you out, and it is never hard to get a taxi or tuk-tuk.

Our tuk-tuk ride home was mildly terrifying - it reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, where you careen up hills and race down slopes in a rickety cart, except there were no safety belts and we were surrounded by cars, motorbikes and other tuk-tuks trying to get to their destinations just as urgently. Anyway, we got back to our guesthouse safely and went out for dinner, and didn't get lost again for nearly 24 hours.

To be continued

Good mornings, sweaty afternoons, amazing nights!

The jet lag is finally starting to wear off, and we're both acclimatising a bit more to the feeling of being in a strange country and knowing we won't see another familiar face for six months, which made our first full day away seem a bit overwhelming.

We spent the hottest part of the day yesterday hanging around in a few of the open air cafes in the Khao San Road area. The best part of this area is the street we're now staying on, which runs roughly parallel to Khao San and is lined with leafy palm trees with dangling multi-coloured paper lanterns. I tried tom yum kung and Dave had red snapper from one of the open-air bbqs. I tried a lychee fruit shake as well which was sweet and cold. Fresh pineapple, mango and watermelon is sold on the street by vendors with little carts.

We also discovered a really nice park in the Banglampu area yesterday evening. We stayed there to watch the sunset and the drop-in aerobics classes which take place there every night. This was really incredible - the synchronised movements and the romantic atmosphere made it seem more like a show than a sports class.

Last night we found a little bar called Tuk Tuks by chance, while we were wandering around looking for food. There was live music being performed by the resident artists who were pretty crusty (but cool) looking backpackers and who obviously knew all the customers. The atmosphere was amazing, and by the end of the night everyone in the bar (about 25 people including us) was dancing to 'No Woman No Cry', sung as 'No Bangkok no cly...'

Today we bought a quick breakfast from the Seven Eleven round the corner (banana cake) and then headed out to do the tourist thing. We visited Wat Pho (the reclining Buddha), the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. I will run out of superlatives if I attempt to describe these places so suffice it to say that they were pretty impressive! Check out the pictures to get a better idea. In some of the temples (wats) photography was forbidden so there are no pictures of the Emerald Buddha.

Unfortunately we ended up wandering around the grounds of the Palace during the hottest part of the day and we were both wilting afterwards, so we headed back on the river boat to our guesthouse. Tonight we went for dinner at an open-air restuarant near by and I had fried chicken and basil with rice which is exactly as it sounds but really fresh and spicy!

P.S More photos on facebook! Dad  - you will need to add me and David as friends to see all of them.

Good morning Bangkok

Today was our first morning in Thailand after arriving in Bangkok last night. This will have to be brief as I'm about to run out of change for the internet cafe, but so far all is good, though sweaty...

Arriving at Khao San Road last night was pretty overwhelming. We managed to navigate the crowds of backpackers and touts to get to our guesthouse down a side street. By this time we had a couple of Dutch guys who had also just flown into Thailand following us, as they seemingly had even less idea than us what they were doing. Unfortunately the guesthouse we had booked at was full, so they walked off looking lost, and hopefully found a decent room after not too long.

After checking in we ventured back out to buy some street food - chicken pad thai and spring rolls. Khao San Road is nothing like it appears in The Beach - or rather it is, but it is the red bull version of the street in the film. Everything is brighter, louder and more intense than I expected. Thailand has a distinctive smell as well, which I can't place yet.

Today we have been exploring the streets surrounding Khao San Road, which are leafy and teeming with motorbikes and tuktuks. This is still a complete backpacker ghetto so hopefully later on we'll see a bit more of the city. A more reflective post and pictures will follow when I'm feeling less jetlagged and more adjusted to the heat!

4 days to go

The months of meticulous dreaming and lackadaisical planning are over. The course of vaccinations, which cost an equivalent amount to the street price of 15 grams of heroin, is complete. I feel like the shots should have had some kind of discernible impact on my body for that price, perhaps a discreet tattoo somehow emerging on the upper thigh from within, proclaiming immunity to typhoid. I suppose I'll just have to hope that I'll have the good luck to encounter a few rabid dogs along the way, so I can ascertain I've got my money's worth.

The picture above might seem organised and full of exciting travel goodies to those of you who have never ventured further than Gretna Green, but anyone who has embarked on a lengthy trip to more exotic climes will note the absence of several bits of equipment yet to be sourced. Dave is responsible for purchasing just about everything sensible and also potentially embarrassing, such as the laxatives and anti-diarrhoea tablets every guidebook recommends to take. Who would have thought four years ago that our relationship would descend to such levels of familiarity and horror! I am responsible for purchasing lots of brightly coloured t-shirts for myself which I will then find for a tenth of the price on Khao San Road. Also for printing out lots of nice copies of a million documents I will probably never need but which look very business like indeed in my lovely new document wallet. This was a present from my good friend Jonny, which proves he is much, much more thoughtful than I could ever be. He is also one of the many people who have requested a postcard from every country I visit, which I am happy to oblige with although I fear that in combination with this blog and facebook you might be sick of hearing from me before long!

Six months seems both like it will last forever and not be long enough. At the moment I feel scared about going away, but also scared about coming back...