Another exhausting overnight journey but thankfully, another smooth border crossing. Met some nice Canadian lads on the bus and got chatting to them for a bit.
Day 1: We arrived in Bangkok early afternoon and it felt really weird to be back. I didn't enjoy it much last time but I think that was more to do with it being my first place and me being new to the whole thing. I felt more prepared this time with the travelling I now have under my belt and the other busy cities I've visited.
After getting off the bus and walking to a guesthouse I wanted to check out, I wondered if I'd come back to the same place. Walking down the street with my backpack on, I assumed I would be a prime target for more hassle. None of it. Everyone just let me walk through without saying a word. Perhaps they were all hungover or something.
I checked into a guesthouse, which was about a 5 minute walk from Khao San Road. The room was cheap but there was a very good reason - it resembled a prison cell (didn't even have a socket). Probably the most basic room I've stayed in but it was cheap and clean, which is all I really care about.
After checking in, I went out to familiarise myself with the area - strangely felt like coming home except it seemed so mild in comparison to the last time. Maybe I'm fully acclimatised to asia now. After walking around Khao San and getting some lunch, I got a Tuk-Tuk down to Chinatown to check that out as I didn't get the chance last time. Being so close to the Chinese new year, you can imagine how quiet and deserted it was (not!). Very manic down there but was good fun checking it out and mixing with the crowds. Could only stomach it for so long though.
That evening, I met up with Mitja and Jay, who had arrived later in the afternoon. They had guesthouses close to mine. The 3 of us went out for some local food and a few beers on Khao San Rd. It came alive more than in the daytime but nothing in comparison to Hanoi or Saigon in my opinion.
Day 2: I went to check out the Grand Palace finally. Mitja had been there before and Jay didn't fancy it so I took a walk over there alone. Walking around the perimeter, I was stopped by a couple of locals giving me conflicting information about the palace being closed for Chinese New Year and how I would have to come back tomorrow or later that day before I could get in. I called their bluff and unsurprisingly, they were lying and it was fully open to the public. Annoying that they feel the need to lie, the same as I was lied to the first time in Bangkok. Does your head in and I don't really see the point. Oh well.
Upon entering the palace, the dress rules stated that knees must be covered, meaning I had to rent these daft, hippy trousers so I could get in. Thankfully, there were loads of people wearing similar clobber inside, all looking just as stupid as me. Got some funny looks and laughs from some of the locals though - one group asking if they could take my photo (I politely declined). You will see what I mean when I put the photos up.
The Palace itself is pretty amazing and definately worth seeing. Despite being templed out, the ones that surround the palace are really impressive and all different in size and design. Spent a while walking around them before heading into the immaculate garden that houses the palace. Absolutely spotless in there and the garden is so well kept it's untrue. All seems quite out of place in amongst the dirty, stinking streets of Bangkok but it was definately welcome. Glad I made the effort to come back to Bangkok and check it out.
Went out with the lads again that evening for more beers on Khao San and I booked my bus to Koh Tao for the following evening. Also met an English lad called Ben, who was heading home the next day because his girlfriend is pregnant and not coping too well on her own, while he is travelling (not really surprising). He also had a fully burnt arm, sustained while getting tangled on a skipping rope of fire, whilst he had been in Koh Samui. Looked really nasty - I thought it was from falling off a motorbike as I've seen so many travellers with wounds from that. Anyway, something for me to bear in mind for when I head south, although I don't think I needed to see the burn to make my decision! We met another guy from Preston as well, who was off to Laos the following morning to do this thing called ''The Gibbon Experience''. Basically zip-lining through the forest for 3 days. Looks pretty ace.
Day 3: After a lazy morning, I took a long walk through town and across the Chao Phraya River to get to Wat Arun. Spent an hour or so there walking around and climbing to the top to get some great views over Bangkok. Another impressive, detailed building that is covered in tiles from top to bottom. Looks pretty nice. After visiting the temple, I got a Tuk-Tuk back into town because I wanted to delay my trip to Koh Tao by 24 hours and book ''The Flight of the Gibbon'' for the next day. I had wanted to do this upon my return to Bangkok but completely forgot about it, only to be reminded by the guy from Preston the night before (good job I met him!). After successfully postponing my bus (without charge), I ventured through Khao San comparing prices for the Gibbon trip. Eventually settled on an Isreali travel agency, the same one I had used for my journey to Chiang Mai at the start of the trip. As was the case then, they were by far the cheapest (and they knew it when I tried to haggle the price down even more - not happening). Good price though so I booked it for the following day.
That evening, I just chilled out at Mitja's guesthouse and watched a film that was on in the reception area. Nice to relax for the evening.
Jay is heading to the Phillippines next and we don't think our paths cross again so it's probably the last I'll see of him - although he does have a tendency to change his mind. A great lad and the 3 of us had some really cool days hanging out. I'm meeting up with Mitja again at the full moon party in Koh Phan-Ngan. Looking forward to that.
Day 4: The Flight of the Gibbon - As I mentioned, this was something I had seen earlier on the trip and was keen to do it upon my return to Bangkok. It's basically travelling through the forest on a series on zip-lines that vary in height and length - looks really cool.
The bus picked me up early doors and I was joined by 7 Isrealis and that was it (hardly surprising considering where I booked it I suppose). Furthermore, hardly any of them spoke English and the couple that did, it wasn't the best. This was going to be fun!
We arrived at the site (Pattaya) late morning and, after each signing a disclaimer, got kitted up and given our safety briefing. The two Thai guides we had were really cool and quite chilled out but also heavily emphasised the safety aspect of it all (re-assuring considering we would be 200m high at some points). The main instruction being, we weren't allowed to disconnect the clips ourselves at any point and had to wait for them to do it. Fine by me but some of the Isrealis needed reminding as the day progressed.
The activity itself was pretty awesome. There are 24 tree-top platforms, connected by 16 different zip-lines. The highest platform is 200m (pretty high) and the longest line was 300m, which meant thrills all round. There was also a couple of occasions when we had to abseil down to a lower platform, which was quite cool. I didn't quite manage to pluck up the courage to copy the guides and hang up-side-down on any of the lines though - facing forward was good enough for me! Managed to get some communication out of a couple of the Isrealis and we had a pretty good laugh - probably because we just couldn't understand each other properly. All in all, we were up in the trees for a good few hours and it was really enjoyable. Afterwards, we had some lunch and then headed back to Bangkok.
Coach to Koh Tao that evening. Enjoyed Bangkok a lot more the second time around and I'm glad I went back. Turns out its pretty mild in comparison to the big cities in Vietnam. It's still not my favourite place if I'm honest though but I can also see why other people love it. It is what it is I suppose. Getting pretty burnt out on cities for now and looking forward to some beach, scuba and party time in the south of Thailand. Bring it on.
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