Jess & Jude's Adventures in Thailand 2004

Saturday 19 June
Shopping..Shopping...Shopping

I awoke at 7am, Jess is still snoozing. We went down to breakfast at 8.30am and afterwards took a taxi to Sampeng Lane in Chinatown. It's just as crazy as ever. The lane is only 2 metres wide and crowded with people, push carts and motorbikes. We spent three hours here walking the length of the lane and buying lots of goodies. Prices are much better than the markets of KSR.

We finally reached the end and were happy to hop into an air con taxi to take us to KSR for some lunch. We had a big plate of banana fritters and icecream then found an internet place to update the journal. It teamed down with rain while we were on the net, good timing.

We grabbed another taxi and headed to MBK for another look around in air conditioning. We were very tired from all our walking and eventually headed back to the hotel at 6.30pm

After a shower and rest we decided to take a walk down to Panthip Plaza and look for somewhere to eat dinner. We couldn't find anything we liked and we weren't very hungry anyway. We stopped in at the hotels Chandelier Bar and I used my voucher for a free Irish Coffee. We sat and listened to the band for awhile before heading up to bed.

Sunday 20 June
Chatuchak Markets

Slept well last night, down to breakfast at 8.30am and off to the markets by taxi at 9.30am. The market is enormous, over 8,000 stalls selling everything imaginable. The animal section was selling cute little bunnies and adorable puppies of every breed. There were a few air conditioned stalls so Jess and I tended to pop into these quite often. It can get very hot and stifling in the narrow lanes between the stalls.

By 12.30pm we decided to head back to the hotel. It took one hour in the taxi to get back. In hindsight I should have taken the skytrain. After a bit of a rest we went down to the Pratunum Markets to explore the interior shops. We bought another large carry bag (200bt)to bring all our goodies back to OZ. Jess got a nice pair of shoes and a backpack for school.

Back at the hotel we felt like a swim, so we grabbed our togs and headed to the 4th floor pool. It was very refreshing. Jess and I shared a Lime Sherbet Milkshake which was very delicious.

We went back up to the room at 5pm for a shower and change for our evening out at Patpong Markets. We got a tuk-tuk to Phaya Thai Skytrain Station then a skytrain to Sala Daeng. The skytrain tickets were 20bt each one way. It was 6.30pm and the markets were just setting up, so we grabbed some dinner first.

The markets are more expensive here and bargaining is a lot harder. We bought a couple of things but felt we could get better prices elsewhere. Jess and I walked up Soi Patpong, trying not to notice the scantily dressed girls dancing on the bar tops in the girlie bars.

We didn't stay too long, back on the skytrain and tuk-tuk home. Watched a little TV and we were both sound asleep by 10pm.

Monday 21 June
Wat Pho

Our last full day in Bangkok. We were slow to start this morning, didn't get down to breakfast until 9.30am. By 10.15am we were walking down to the klong (canal) to catch a ferry to Banglamphu. The klong ferries are large narrow boats that fly up and down the narrow waterways. It cost us 7bt each to get to Banglamphu. They have plastic sides so the spray from other boats doesn't swap you.

We got a tuk-tuk from the boat stop to Wat Pho (40bt). It cost us 20bt each to get into the Wat. Wat Pho houses an enormous golden reclining buddha, very spectacular. The feet of the Buddha are covered with inlaid mother of pearl pictures. The grounds have lovely ceramic tiled chedis. It is well worth a visit.

We stayed an hour then walked up the street to Tha Tein ferry stop and caught a ferry to Tha Ratchawong in Chinatown. We wanted to take another walk down Sampeng Lane. This is the place for the cheapest goods in Bangkok. It was very hot and steamy again today and just as crowded. We walked the full length and were glad to find an air con taxi at the end.

We decided to go to KSR to catch up on emails and this journal. We stayed at the internet place for 2 hours before heading back to the hotel.