The airport is quite far out of central Bangkok so we needed to get a bus which took 30 minutes. We stayed in the Bangalampu area which is full of backpackers as lots of sights are located nearby and it home to the famous Khao San Road (that features in book/film 'The Beach'). We chose a really cheap hostel which was just 120 Baht each (under 2 quid each) a night. Although it was basic, it was in a good location, had everything we needed and the family running it were helpful and sweet. Jo and Jacqueline weren't arriving for another day or two so we just chilled out walking up and down Khao San Road which is full of market stalls selling everything under the sun and enjoyed a beer or two in the sun. We ate all our meals from the street sellers which were so cheap! You could have Phad Thai or noodles for 25 Baht (around 30 pence!) or kebab sticks full of meat for 10 Baht!
John went to meet Jo the next morning but Jacqueline wasn't getting in until the morning of the next day so I spent the day exploring Bangkok. I got a Tuk Tuk to take me to several sites for just 10 Baht provided I went to some of his sponsor’s shops and looked at merchandise. It was a good deal as I only spent about 20 minutes at the those places for which he receives fuel tokens and I managed to visit the Giant Buddha, The Golden Mount (part of Wat Saket) and Wat Benchamabophit (The Marble Temple). The Giant Buddha was ok, The Golden Mount gave a great view over the city and was well worth walking up the stairs for the pleasure. The Marble Temple was beautiful and I spent quite a bit of time just relaxing there. In the evening I headed over to the China Town region which has one main street 'Charoen Krung Rd' full with hotels and giant neon signs. Off this road there are lots of tiny narrow winding streets which were really busy and full of small market sellers with all kinds of foods... I'm pretty sure I saw monkey brains on one stand! After walking about for a while I went to get some food from one of the busiest street venders who had table and chairs set out so I could sit down to enjoy the food. I wasn't sure what it was so I just asked for what some people who were sat down were eating. The guy serving it said 'You don't mind spicy do you?' to which I replied 'no'. I could handle the spice, it was nice but I wanted to know what the suspect meat in the rice noodle soup was so I asked the couple next to me. They didn't know the English translation for it so he put it into his electronic dictionary/translator and passed it to me. It said 'giblets / entrails'! I just cracked up laughing as I had no idea it was going to be that and it was really tasty. They then shared some fried shrimp and sauces they had brought with me which were all really good. After the food I made my way back to the hotel to get my bag and head to the airport where I would stay the night to save money while I waited for Jacqueline to arrive. It was an eventful trip as I tried going by local bus, unfortunately the bus doesn't go all the way after 5pm so I needed to get off and get a taxi which was really frustrating as it was like ten times the price of the bus!
We stayed in a really nice hotel on Khao San Rd and Jacqueline caught up on sleep for a few hours. Afterwards we headed out to the same sights I had been before as I enjoyed them before. Frustratingly I managed to delete all my pictures from Bangkok. In the evening we went out for some food and drinks before catching up on sleep as were both tired from our travels to the airport.
The next day we booked our travel north to Chiang Mai for the following evening and then met with John and Jo for lunch. They were heading out that evening so they got off relatively quickly to get sorted whilst Jacqueline and I wondered around the shops before watching the new Batman film at the IMAX cinema where I got a popcorn and coca cola fix. On our final day we spent most of our time on Khao San Rd having some drinks people watching. We were on a comfortable bus similar to those in South America and were safe in the knowledge we had a transfer straight to a hotel when we arrived in Chiang Mai so we slept soundly on our way north.
