Tuesday 30th March
Just after we got back to the hotel last night there was a terrific thunderstorm. If we had been 10 minutes later we would have got soaked!
As we reached the bus stop this morning, a taxi pulled up. The driver said he would take us to the airport for the same cost as the bus ( 300 baht - £6), so instead of a bus ride, we had a comfortable and much quicker car.
The airport is very modern, but all the acres of retailing seem to be run by the same organisation ( probably the government) although under different names.
The give-away is that the prices are all uniform, and mis-spellings are consistent across what appear to be different shops.
The flight was smooth and cloudless skies in the first part of the journey allowed us views of snow capped mountains towards the Himalayas, and desert landforms stretching from Afghanistan to the Caspian Sea.
Later it was cloudy, but we got a fine view of London at sunset. After taking the RailAir coach back to Reading, we took a taxi from the station and got home around 9:30pm.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Last day in Bangkok
Monday 29th March
Incredibly this is the penultimate day of trip. Last night we enquired where the airport express bus stopped, found a likely contender and I waited for half an hour to confirm we had discovered the correct location.
This bus stop is very conveniently situated just a hundred yards from the hotel entrance, but half buried by kerbside stalls and completely unmarked as to which busses stop at it.
Went shopping this morning to the World Centre, the 2nd largest mall in Asia.
Stopped to watch Thai dancers at the Erewan Shrine. As successive supplicants pay money, the gamelan orchestra plays and the blank faced dancers arise and sway in full traditional costume as prayers are said in front of the shrine to Brahma.
It has been a street corner of spirituality since 1956 when the shrine was inaugurated to appease evil spirits which had previously dogged the progress of building the Hyatt Hotel.
Back to the hotel to grab our favourite seats for tomorrows flight via internet check-in, then back shopping.
Returned late afternoon for a swim and a beer. Plan to revisit the restaurant at Siam Square for our final Thai supper.
Incredibly this is the penultimate day of trip. Last night we enquired where the airport express bus stopped, found a likely contender and I waited for half an hour to confirm we had discovered the correct location.
This bus stop is very conveniently situated just a hundred yards from the hotel entrance, but half buried by kerbside stalls and completely unmarked as to which busses stop at it.
Went shopping this morning to the World Centre, the 2nd largest mall in Asia.
Stopped to watch Thai dancers at the Erewan Shrine. As successive supplicants pay money, the gamelan orchestra plays and the blank faced dancers arise and sway in full traditional costume as prayers are said in front of the shrine to Brahma.
It has been a street corner of spirituality since 1956 when the shrine was inaugurated to appease evil spirits which had previously dogged the progress of building the Hyatt Hotel.
Back to the hotel to grab our favourite seats for tomorrows flight via internet check-in, then back shopping.
Returned late afternoon for a swim and a beer. Plan to revisit the restaurant at Siam Square for our final Thai supper.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Odd Sunday in Bangkok
Sunday 28th March
Odd sort of day. Started out walking from the sky train terminal to the National Museum, but a Thai gentleman said that whole neighbourhood was shut because of the demonstrations, but that the government had put in place a scheme for tourists whereby a tuk tuk would take them around other sites for 40 baht ( 80p).
We hailed a tuk tuk with a driver who spoke good English. He took us to the Big Buddha ( impressively high statue), then the lucky and reclining buddhas. Here we got into conversation with a gentleman who turned out to be military police, but had studied law at Aston University at the same time as we were living nearby in Solihull.He said that he was like a watermelon, because although his uniform was green on the outside, inside his sympathies were with the reds.
After that we had to endure two government export jewellery salesrooms. Interesting to see lapidary and mounting being carried on by hand, but accompanied by pressurised selling techniques. We had to go because otherwise the tuk tuk driver didn't get his government coupons for free petrol!
We drove around the city in the company of happy, flag waving red shirts on motorbikes, trucks and cars. Their leaders had just been invited to live televised talks with the government. There were also a fair number of military at street corners and government establishments keeping an eye on events. There was a sense that politically, things were happening.
Then to Golden Mount for a view over the city from its highest stupa, and back to the sky train terminus. After cooling down in one of the nearby shopping malls, we went back to Chatuchak market for a stroll round. Then returned to the hotel.
Odd sort of day. Started out walking from the sky train terminal to the National Museum, but a Thai gentleman said that whole neighbourhood was shut because of the demonstrations, but that the government had put in place a scheme for tourists whereby a tuk tuk would take them around other sites for 40 baht ( 80p).
We hailed a tuk tuk with a driver who spoke good English. He took us to the Big Buddha ( impressively high statue), then the lucky and reclining buddhas. Here we got into conversation with a gentleman who turned out to be military police, but had studied law at Aston University at the same time as we were living nearby in Solihull.He said that he was like a watermelon, because although his uniform was green on the outside, inside his sympathies were with the reds.
After that we had to endure two government export jewellery salesrooms. Interesting to see lapidary and mounting being carried on by hand, but accompanied by pressurised selling techniques. We had to go because otherwise the tuk tuk driver didn't get his government coupons for free petrol!
We drove around the city in the company of happy, flag waving red shirts on motorbikes, trucks and cars. Their leaders had just been invited to live televised talks with the government. There were also a fair number of military at street corners and government establishments keeping an eye on events. There was a sense that politically, things were happening.
Then to Golden Mount for a view over the city from its highest stupa, and back to the sky train terminus. After cooling down in one of the nearby shopping malls, we went back to Chatuchak market for a stroll round. Then returned to the hotel.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Saturday in Bangkok
Saturday 27th March
Our opinions of this hotel are improving. Firstly when they swapped our room without demur to escape the renditions of the singer from the restaurant across the road, and secondly at breakfast where the choice was immense due to the multitude of nationalities being catered for. We met a Tanzanian gentleman in the lift. On hearing we came from England he exclaimed "I remember England, I studied at St Thomas' to become a doctor, and now I'm a member of parliament!".
Bought day tickets for the sky train at 120 baht each ( £2.40) and travelled in the comfortable, fast driverless trains to Siam Square to examine the shops, then to Mo Chit to one of the biggest markets in the world. The Bangkok Jatujak weekend market covers 28 acres with over 10,000 stalls, a lot of which we visited! Great fun.
Watched the red shirts' orderly if noisy procession down the road, then tired and with a full day bag we returned to the hotel for the obligatory swim and beer. At the swimming pool, we discovered the hotel also supported an aviary, then found even more function rooms and a fitness centre with rooftop jogging track!
We used our day passes again to go to Siam Square in the evening, and found a good Thai restaurant called Ban Khun Mae which served us an excellent meal.
Our opinions of this hotel are improving. Firstly when they swapped our room without demur to escape the renditions of the singer from the restaurant across the road, and secondly at breakfast where the choice was immense due to the multitude of nationalities being catered for. We met a Tanzanian gentleman in the lift. On hearing we came from England he exclaimed "I remember England, I studied at St Thomas' to become a doctor, and now I'm a member of parliament!".
Bought day tickets for the sky train at 120 baht each ( £2.40) and travelled in the comfortable, fast driverless trains to Siam Square to examine the shops, then to Mo Chit to one of the biggest markets in the world. The Bangkok Jatujak weekend market covers 28 acres with over 10,000 stalls, a lot of which we visited! Great fun.
Watched the red shirts' orderly if noisy procession down the road, then tired and with a full day bag we returned to the hotel for the obligatory swim and beer. At the swimming pool, we discovered the hotel also supported an aviary, then found even more function rooms and a fitness centre with rooftop jogging track!
We used our day passes again to go to Siam Square in the evening, and found a good Thai restaurant called Ban Khun Mae which served us an excellent meal.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Siem Reap to Bangkok
Friday 26th March
Up early for minibus pick-up at 7:30. It was raining steadily, the first real rain we have seen in months, we have been so lucky with the weather this trip. The minibus deposited us in a shack used to store rental pushbikes, where we waited until more backpackers arrived.Eventually a 45 seater coach turned up and everyone scrambled for a seat because it was overbooked. The overspill were crammed into a minibus, leaving just one poor youngster who was sat on a plastic camp chair in the aisle.
We travelled through the rain across more of the seemingly interminable Cambodian plain. There were just a few scrappy towns and settlements in a fairly featureless brown landscape. The road was well made up, although progress was as ever slow as it was only two lane.
At Poipet, the crossing was relatively fast, after the Cambodian control we walked across the border to the Thai side. Our passports were stamped with visas without question. I had planned to take a tuk tuk to the bus station, but the coach operator said he had a minibus leaving immediately for Bangkok at 300 baht each (£6).We decided to accept the offer and were led to a modern gas fuelled minibus.
It was very cramped inside as there were 10 people plus backpacks, and we sat hunched in the back seats as we sped towards Bangkok along roads the Cambodians can only dream about.We had to refuel several times, so although there are many vehicles here using liquefied gas, their range seems very limited and refuelling is much slower than petrol or diesel.
It stopped raining as we approached the centre of Bangkok, where we encountered the Red Shirt demonstrators. They seemed very orderly, camped along the sides or middles of the roads with soup kitchens set up for feeding while listening to speeches blaring out of loudspeakers.
We were dropped somewhere that I couldn't find on my map. Christine found a tuk tuk, agreed a fare of 200 baht (£4) and we hared across the city until we reached Nana sky train station which I knew was on Sukhumvit Road very close to the hotel. The driver couldn't find the hotel though, but eventually asked someone who knew where it was.Christine had recognised the skyscraper that the hotel was in near the station from the website photos, and after turning round we found the Ambassador Hotel entrance up a side street. There are very few street name signs here, so navigation isn't easy.
The Ambassador Hotel was a bit of a let down after the beautiful Cambodian hotel we had just left. It is more like a 1980s office block, impersonal and rather dated, however we had picked it because it has a swimming pool and is very close to the sky train station.
We ventured out on the streets as we hadn't eaten since breakfast. The area is very liveley with street stalls selling fake clothing, watches, computer games and pornography. We ate on a terrace at the nearby Landmark Hotel overlooking the bustling street with the sky trains flashing overhead. The pavements were noticable for the disproportionate numbers of middle aged westerners attached to young Thai girls.It felt cool as the temperature had fallen just below 30 degrees C, but the food was hot and as good as we had remembered it.
Up early for minibus pick-up at 7:30. It was raining steadily, the first real rain we have seen in months, we have been so lucky with the weather this trip. The minibus deposited us in a shack used to store rental pushbikes, where we waited until more backpackers arrived.Eventually a 45 seater coach turned up and everyone scrambled for a seat because it was overbooked. The overspill were crammed into a minibus, leaving just one poor youngster who was sat on a plastic camp chair in the aisle.
We travelled through the rain across more of the seemingly interminable Cambodian plain. There were just a few scrappy towns and settlements in a fairly featureless brown landscape. The road was well made up, although progress was as ever slow as it was only two lane.
At Poipet, the crossing was relatively fast, after the Cambodian control we walked across the border to the Thai side. Our passports were stamped with visas without question. I had planned to take a tuk tuk to the bus station, but the coach operator said he had a minibus leaving immediately for Bangkok at 300 baht each (£6).We decided to accept the offer and were led to a modern gas fuelled minibus.
It was very cramped inside as there were 10 people plus backpacks, and we sat hunched in the back seats as we sped towards Bangkok along roads the Cambodians can only dream about.We had to refuel several times, so although there are many vehicles here using liquefied gas, their range seems very limited and refuelling is much slower than petrol or diesel.
It stopped raining as we approached the centre of Bangkok, where we encountered the Red Shirt demonstrators. They seemed very orderly, camped along the sides or middles of the roads with soup kitchens set up for feeding while listening to speeches blaring out of loudspeakers.
We were dropped somewhere that I couldn't find on my map. Christine found a tuk tuk, agreed a fare of 200 baht (£4) and we hared across the city until we reached Nana sky train station which I knew was on Sukhumvit Road very close to the hotel. The driver couldn't find the hotel though, but eventually asked someone who knew where it was.Christine had recognised the skyscraper that the hotel was in near the station from the website photos, and after turning round we found the Ambassador Hotel entrance up a side street. There are very few street name signs here, so navigation isn't easy.
The Ambassador Hotel was a bit of a let down after the beautiful Cambodian hotel we had just left. It is more like a 1980s office block, impersonal and rather dated, however we had picked it because it has a swimming pool and is very close to the sky train station.
We ventured out on the streets as we hadn't eaten since breakfast. The area is very liveley with street stalls selling fake clothing, watches, computer games and pornography. We ate on a terrace at the nearby Landmark Hotel overlooking the bustling street with the sky trains flashing overhead. The pavements were noticable for the disproportionate numbers of middle aged westerners attached to young Thai girls.It felt cool as the temperature had fallen just below 30 degrees C, but the food was hot and as good as we had remembered it.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Last day in Siem Reap
Thursday 25th March
Met Chamnan Chhor, our driver for the day, at 8am. He speaks very good English and explained a lot as we drove northwards to Banteay Srei.
This was a jewel of a site, beautifully presented if overrun by Japanese tour groups. We could see many features we had learned in the museum yesterday.
Then onwards to Kbal Spean. This is unusual as it consists of carved boulders and riverbed bedrock carvings some one and a half kilometres up into the forest at the edge of the plain.We measured the temperature as 40 degrees C on the walk to the site.
Tired by the time we got back to the car, Chamnan drove us back to the air conditioned Angkor Cafe back at Angkor Wat where we cooled down with iced drinks, salad and ice cream ( Thanks Em!).
Now we went to complete the Grand Circuit, stopping first at Ta Keo to climb the temple mountain, being led down by a charming 6 year old girl!
Completing the circuit, the twin temples of Thomannon and Chau Say Tevoda, small flat temples but perfectly formed.
Finally, a second and last visit to the unbelievable Bayon Temple with its huge carved heads.
Then back to the hotel for a final swim and beer. Chamnan was a superb companion and very knowlegable.
With some regret, we leave for Bankok tomorrow.
Met Chamnan Chhor, our driver for the day, at 8am. He speaks very good English and explained a lot as we drove northwards to Banteay Srei.
This was a jewel of a site, beautifully presented if overrun by Japanese tour groups. We could see many features we had learned in the museum yesterday.
Then onwards to Kbal Spean. This is unusual as it consists of carved boulders and riverbed bedrock carvings some one and a half kilometres up into the forest at the edge of the plain.We measured the temperature as 40 degrees C on the walk to the site.
Tired by the time we got back to the car, Chamnan drove us back to the air conditioned Angkor Cafe back at Angkor Wat where we cooled down with iced drinks, salad and ice cream ( Thanks Em!).
Now we went to complete the Grand Circuit, stopping first at Ta Keo to climb the temple mountain, being led down by a charming 6 year old girl!
Completing the circuit, the twin temples of Thomannon and Chau Say Tevoda, small flat temples but perfectly formed.
Finally, a second and last visit to the unbelievable Bayon Temple with its huge carved heads.
Then back to the hotel for a final swim and beer. Chamnan was a superb companion and very knowlegable.
With some regret, we leave for Bankok tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Lazy day
Wednesday 24th March
Lazy day. Got up late and lingered ove breakfast on the terrace by the swimming pool.
Then walked into town to the old market area along by the river. Bought $5 bus tickets to Poipet ( for the Thai border crossing) for Friday.
Also booked a car and driver for tomorrow for $35 to visit outlying temples and complete the grand circuit.
Walked to Angkor Museum. Expensive entry at $8 each and initially looks like money badly spent, but after the first couple of galleries the quality of the displays and information improved and we left after several hours very favourably impressed.
Walked back to hotel for traditional swim and beer, then to nearby open air restaurant called 'Vinoths'. The setting was very stylish, but the food mundane.
Lazy day. Got up late and lingered ove breakfast on the terrace by the swimming pool.
Then walked into town to the old market area along by the river. Bought $5 bus tickets to Poipet ( for the Thai border crossing) for Friday.
Also booked a car and driver for tomorrow for $35 to visit outlying temples and complete the grand circuit.
Walked to Angkor Museum. Expensive entry at $8 each and initially looks like money badly spent, but after the first couple of galleries the quality of the displays and information improved and we left after several hours very favourably impressed.
Walked back to hotel for traditional swim and beer, then to nearby open air restaurant called 'Vinoths'. The setting was very stylish, but the food mundane.
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