Arrived 28/10/19
Bangkok
I arrived in Bangkok at 8.00 am local time via Gatwick and Copenhagen after travelling overnight and made my way to the hotel using the excellent local train system. I slept for 3 hours in the afternoon, got up, had dinner and then slept until 1.20 pm the next day. That was all very well, but it meant I couldn’t get to sleep until late the next night and then slept until the afternoon again. All of which meant I did not do a great a deal my first two days other than eat, sleep and rest. Still, that wasn’t a bad thing; I had unfortunately had a bad throat and dodgy tummy all the time I was home (that will teach me to visit exotic places like Somerset) and had also been busy seeing family, arranging visas and catching up with 5 months bank statements etc., so a bit of downtime was good.
When Corriene and I visited Bangkok 12 years ago we saw most of the major tourist attractions such as the royal palaces, so on this visit I wanted to see some of the lesser known but still interesting areas. My first real excursion took me to Chinatown, apparently the largest outside China. Its maze of tiny, crowded alleys is packed with shops selling all manner of goods at cheap-as-chips prices; whether you want a pair of shoes or a marine pump, costume jewellery or a kitchen mop, it’s all there in multiple stores. This was a contrast to the very different shopping experience at the impressive IconSiam shopping mall / department store I found in Thon Buri the next day: an upmarket state of the art shopping complex that is better for design and atmosphere than anything I have seen in Europe.
Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya, 50 miles north of Bangkok, was the capital of most of what is now Thailand from 1350 to 1767. By 1685 the population was 1 million (twice that of London), mostly living on houseboats on a 140 km waterway network, while on land there were 500 temples. After 35 kings and successfully repelling 23 Burmese invasions, the city finally succumbed to the Burmese, who proceeded to pillage, burn and destroy most of the buildings. Clearly I needed to inspect what remained.
I had thought that fares of 19 to 33 baht (50 to 80p) were pretty good on the fast and efficient local Bangkok trains. So how much was it travel to Ayutthaya on the state railway? 15 baht!! Admittedly that was 3rd class, which seemed to be the only option available, the seats, while fairly ergonomic, became a trifle hard before the journey was over, and the progress was slow, but all the same – 15 baht, less than 40p to travel 50 miles!
I arrived at my hotel in mid-afternoon by tuktuk from the station, the 15 minute journey costing me 10 times as much as the train, and was immediately given information about the old city and booked on a boat tour by the friendly and efficient receptionist. 25 minutes and a cup of tea later I was picked up by another tuktuk and taken to the boarding pier where I joined 16 others on a small boat with a powerful motor. The city is at the confluence of three rivers and with added man-made waterways the boat could make a circular trip around the margins of the city, stopping three times for us to disembark and view impressive temples.
Back at the hotel I had my best meal in Thailand; the bed was hard and the bathroom not great but the food and service were excellent. Notwithstanding the very firm bed, I slept well and ate a good breakfast before setting off on foot the next morning to see some more of the numerous ruins and restored buildings. Unfortunately rain set in and before long the attraction of a dry hotel room outweighed the idea of hunting down more old temples in the extensive and by now very wet grasslands of the ancient site, so I took advantage of a late check out to dry my clothes and rest before getting the train back to Bangkok ready for an early start on the bus to Cambodia the next day. I also resolved to buy an umbrella, having been travelling without one since the Philippines airport staff took my last one (the expensive one from Japan, not that I am bitter or anything).
At the station I was shocked that the return train fare had increased by 33%: I now had to pay an outrageous 20 baht, 50p! Not only that but the seats were narrower and had no padding whatsoever – scandalous!
Bangkok
Returned 16/12/19
Leaving Mandalay by taxi it took 25 minutes to clear the built-up area before reaching a fast and quiet dual carriageway. I say quiet, but it was not without hazards: cattle grazing at the side of the road, stray dogs running across the lanes and in one place a man strolling casually in the outside of the fast lane with his back to the traffic, oblivious of any danger. I used my last kyats before flying and arrived safely at Bangkok’s ‘other’ airport, Don Mueang, from where a bus took me close to my hotel, not far from the democracy monument.
I had chosen an old colonial-style building in a quiet alley; it was lovely, apart from the fact that my room was tiny and the air-con unit was just above the bed. I didn’t sleep well; with the air-con on it was noisy; with it off it was hot; either way I was bitten by mosquitoes. With Corriene arriving later that day I needed a better room and put it to the manageress that if she couldn’t provide one I would have to move elsewhere. She studied her bookings and wasn’t sure, but at 10.30 there was a knock on my door and she led me to a much larger and more comfortable room. Result!
At midday I left to catch the direct bus to Suvarnabhumi airport to meet Corriene. After waiting 30 minutes for a bus that should come every 30 minutes I gave up and instead caught a bus to the railway station and took the train, arriving in time for a coffee and sandwich before heading for the arrivals exit I had noted. After a few minutes and a glance at the information board I realised that there were multiple exits – and I was at the wrong one! I rushed to find the right one but need not have been concerned; it was another 45 minutes before Corriene came through and that was only after she called me to find out the name of the hotel. Immigration would not let her in without that and she had had to go to the back of the queue. Surely travellers must regularly arrive without arranging accommodation in advance? Perhaps not. Anyway, lesson learned.
The next morning Corriene slept while I updated the blog and then we ventured out into hot and noisy Bangkok. I had been used to slightly cooler temperatures for a few weeks and the city heat now seemed even greater than it had 7 weeks previously. We took a look at Wat Suthat and liked the peaceful feeling inside, then found our way to Chinatown’s bustling little alleys before deciding that a river trip would be restful. It wasn’t. We bought our tickets before boarding but there was still a conductress aboard who spent most of her time shouting; what with her and the fact there was standing room only it was not a relaxing cruise, but it did save our legs and get us back close to Khaosan Road, dinner and the hotel.
Phetchaburi
We had Christmas accommodation booked in Chiang Rai, but until that day we had not decided where to go in the meantime. We finally decided on Phetchaburi, a town just 2 or 3 hours journey to the south where there were a number of temples and we could relax for a few days before heading north. Or so we thought. Our rather hot van dropped us off at the Big C supermarket and as instructed by the hotel we sought a tuk-tuk. I have noticed elsewhere that tuk-tuk drivers seem curiously unable to understand addresses or read maps and this one was no exception. It was only after phoning the hotel that he was able to take us there. We were shown to our room; it was like a furnace, the sun shining directly on the thin wooden walls; we turned on the air-con but it was clearly going to be hours before it made much impression. Inquiring about a cooler room we were told that this was the only en-suite room and that all the other rooms were much smaller. We stuck with what we had and set off to explore.
It was soon apparent that this was not going to be a relaxing town, the streets busy with motorbikes but not a decent restaurant to be found for love or money or foot-slogging. One that looked vaguely promising had a sign saying it would open 30 minutes later; we returned after 60 minutes to find the sign had changed to saying it would open the next day. We decided to cut our losses and stay for 2 nights rather than 4, travelling to Chiang Mai for 2 nights instead.
The air-con eventually cooled the room and we slept OK. After a slow start in the morning we went to find if the promising restaurant was now open for lunch. It was, and Corriene had a tasty chicken and cashew nut dish while I had a Thai curry that I was assured would not be spicy. It was. As this was the second curry in 3 days that had caught me out I realised that Thai curries were not for me, regardless of what the waiter told me. After copious quantities of iced coffee I was able to talk again and we went to see the reclining Buddha at Wat Phra Phuttha Saiyat. At a mere 60 yards long this was just a small one compared to the example in Yangon, but quite impressive for all that. Sadly, it was impossible to get a good photo of the whole body because of a line of pillars, but the smaller Buddha figures lined in front of it made up for that by shimmering in thick layers of gold leaf applied by worshippers.
We then headed for the bus station to buy tickets for the journey to Don Mueang airport the next day, only to find that tickets were not sold in advance. I was concerned about taking pot luck with getting a seat when we had a flight to catch but was assured there would be no problem, so we moved on to catch the short funicular ride up Phra Nakhon Khiri. This hill was chosen as a site for a new palace by King Rama IV (aka. King Mongkut) in 1859. His accommodation, audience halls and temples are spread out over the peaks of the hill, affording views of the city and surrounding countryside while the paths and steps in between exercised our legs.
By the time we had seen everything and walked down it was dinner time – both for us and the resident monkeys it seems, for they too were all heading off the hill and wandering across the busy road on the lookout for goodies. A couple of them were very keen on Corriene; first one approached and touched her leg, then another grabbed hold and wouldn’t let go until I manfully chased it away. I am not sure whether it was her brightly coloured trousers that they mistook for fruit, or whether it was her pure animal magnetism, but they certainly took a shine to her, as did all the local dogs for some reason that she kept to herself.
We were heading for a restaurant that Lonely Planet described as about as up-market as you get in Phetchaburi. Unusually for me, we found it easily enough, but I was clearly still on form because it had closed a year earlier. We settled for a little café up the road.
Our flight to Chiang Mai the next day was not until the evening, meaning an afternoon van ride back to Bangkok, so we had a stroll around in the morning, visiting more temples and monasteries. Before we left I had adjusted my opinion of Phetchaburi. It was not the quiet town I had for some reason envisaged, but it is blessed with many beautiful temples, so many that I got confused about what photos I had taken at what wat, and Phra Nakhon Khiri had definitely been worth the visit. Nevertheless, as we were driven out of town I think we both felt we had seen enough of it and were looking forward to the hopefully slightly cooler air of the north.
Chiang Mai
We struck lucky with our Chiang Mai hotel, bagging a 4-star stay for a very modest price that included a large room, transfer from the airport and to the bus station and a bag of biscuits and chocolate on arrival, not mention a very good breakfast and service that made us feel like royalty. We only had 2 nights but it was relaxing and gave us a chance to revisit the city we had first been to 10 or 12 years before.
We took a tuk-tuk in the morning to Nimmanhaemin road, where we found ourselves in what looked like an Italian piazza before having an excellent lunch at an up-market eatery.
A walk took us to Wat Phra Singh with its Myanmar style gold stupa and more beautiful Buddha images. Inside were 5 monks silently praying as we entered, and another 5 at the far end. Corriene was amazed that they could stay so still, never moving their eyes and their breathing hard to discern. I suggested that they might be in suspended animation, causing Corriene to inspect them more intently than ever. Eventually I took pity and revealed that they were, in fact, made of wax. Sometimes I think Corriene should wear her glasses more. Then again, it would be a lot less fun.
Further on we visited Wat Chedi Luang, another lovely temple, this one in front of an ancient Bagan or Angkor-like structure. In the grounds was a Naga Buddha statue, depicting the snake god Mucilanda protecting the meditating Buddha. Interesting that in the east, snakes, like dragons, are often seen in this role, whereas in the west they are almost always the bad guys.
We strolled through the Sunday street market that had just opened, past the stalls selling clothing and handicrafts. I say strolled, but Corriene was motoring through like she was on a mission, hardly pausing to notice the wares on offer. A little different to the last time we visited Chiang Mai, when we came back loaded with table runners, cushion covers and goodness knows what. Thank goodness for small suitcases!
Chiang rai
Wat Phra Kaew Our afternoon bus to Chiang Rai was a little less luxurious than anticipated owing to a breakdown, but on the plus side we were refunded 100 baht per ticket and the seats were still ok. We got a tuk-tuk from the bus station to the hotel, where we found that no English was spoken at reception. Our room was spacious, if slightly clinical, and it had a kitchenette area with fridge, sink and worktop but unfortunately no utensils or crockery at all; a little odd. It was peaceful, at leat until 7.55 am every morning when the national anthem played loudly next door, followed by 15 minutes of screechy voices to make sure we were wide awake.
The town is home to many temples (who would have guessed?) and we saw several of them including Wat Phra Sing, Wat Klang Wiang, Wat Phra That Doi Chom Thong and Wat Phra Kaew, the temple where the famous emerald Buddha now displayed in the Royal Palace in Bangkok was miraculously discovered in 1434 when the stupa split open to reveal it. Our favourite, however, was Wat Jed Yod, where there was a good, peaceful feeling.
Corriene had left her hat at the hotel in Chiang Mai or in their van, so we headed to the Night Bazaar to find another one. I had lots of good suggestions…
On our way to the Hilltribe Museum the next day we stopped at an agency to book a one day tour of the area and a two day trip down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang in Laos. We were also recommended to visit a giant Buddha on a hillside outside of town so, arrangements made, we hurried to finish our town temple and museum visits before getting a tuk-tuk to Wat Hyua Pla Kang. The statue is actually not Buddha but Guan Yin, a female Bodhisattva and the Goddess of Mercy; whoever it is it certainly impressed me. We took the lift to the 25th floor inside the statue, gazed at the interior decoration, which was clearly done by a man on LSD with a giant icing bag, and looked out through the Goddess’s eyes at the landscape below. It was harder work in the neighbouring pagoda, where we had to climb stairs all the way through the 9 levels, each one decorated with beautiful wood sculptures.
We took the tuk-tuk back to the hotel and left our clothes in a washing machine at a local laundrette (10 baht) while we ate our Christmas dinners at the excellent little restaurant next door to the hotel. Corriene had pad thai and I had fried rice with chicken and pineapple; not exactly traditional but very tasty all the same. We then collected the washing and went back to the hotel and wifi to video call Violet and Mum, both of whom were getting ready for Christmas dinner back in England.
Our last day in Chiang Rai we took the tour. We were ready for a pick up at 7.30 but waited until 8.30, taking advantage of the delay to have a cup of coffee in the restaurant. It was to be a long day. First stop was the White Temple, possibly the most fantastic building I have ever seen, and I mean fantastic in its original fantasy sense. Whereas at Wat Hyua Plakang the icing was only internal, here the entire building was fashioned with extraordinary white shapes like something from a fairy story. It looked like there was nowhere to add any more, but apparently the artist is still working on it. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of the inside, which was also quite remarkable. The entry door is placed at the mouth of a huge demon painted on the wall, which also features superhero comic book characters and, we couldn’t find but were told were there, George Bush and Osama Bin Laden. At the other end of the room is the Buddha, here in white because the artist believes white represents purity; gold is used instead for the toilet building outside.
There was also an art exhibition here with surprisingly good works; I saw several pieces I would have been happy to hang at home. We did buy one, in the form of a printed T-shirt of some rather saucy and very happy looking couples.
We were working through colours and the next visit was to the Blue Temple, another recent re-development of an older building and, while not quite as wacky as the white one, still remarkable in its own way.
We now arrived at black, the Black House to be precise, actually a collection of black houses and black sculptures and furniture largely consisting of animal skulls and horns developed over 37 years by another artist. Apparently as a poor art student in Bangkok he lived in a windowless room where he grew to love the dark so much he spent the rest of his life recreating it. To my mind he definitely had a screw loose and his creations, while of passing interest, are not beautiful, inspiring or thought provoking. Others may disagree, but to appreciate his work it probably helps to have your own screw loose.
Next stop was a hill tribe village. As we had discovered at the museum the day before there are 10 different tribes in Thailand, some of whom have been here a long time and some of whom have arrived in the last 20 years fleeing trouble in Myanmar. The refugees are not granted Thai citizenship and are not allowed to travel outside the province in which they are settled without first obtaining permission. Our guide was married to a refugee woman; perhaps when they have a child she would be able to become a citizen but it would probably be a lengthy and costly process. This particular village was built a few years ago when the government granted the land as an alternative to the refugees’ original site near the Myanmar border that was subject to risk of flooding. Since then other hill tribe people have moved in to take advantage of visiting tourists; there were a dozen or so stalls selling local handicrafts and the chance to see long-necked Karen people – but only for a payment of 300 baht (£7.50), which seemed very steep just for a look.
After an excellent buffet lunch at a roadside restaurant we moved on to the Choui Fong tea plantation, where we sampled the teas, learnt that green and black teas are different only in the processing and admired the views across the neatly tended fields.
Next was the so-called fish cave and monkey temple. The cave was unimpressive with no sign of the fish, who must have retreated into inaccessible watery depths. There were plenty of monkeys and here we were armed with bamboo sticks to keep them at bay; I am pleased to report that Corriene escaped unscathed, perhaps because she was not wearing the brightly coloured trousers. The temple itself was nothing much and indeed the whole place resembled a third rate children’s theme park, complete with 4 plastic monks rotating on a small roundabout and awful models of karaoke singers. Very strange. And not worth visiting.
Things improved again after that as we visited Maesai on the Myanmar border and then the golden triangle where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet providing views from a small hill above the Mekong River.
Here we also visited the opium museum, picking up excellent tips on the best ways to recline while smoking and the most effective pipes to use. This area was well known for opium smuggling, but today amphetamines are a bigger problem.
Our final stop of the day, or I should say night because by now it was dark, was at Chiang Sean, the ancient capital of the Lanna kingdom before it was moved to Chiang Rai and then Chiang Mai, both times by the same king. We could see very little other than a glimpse of a pile of bricks here and there except for one lit up temple that is still in use.
It was a lengthy drive back to the city and as we were the last to be dropped off it was 8.15 by the time we reached our hotel. The little restaurant was closing up but took pity on us and stayed open to serve us a welcome meal.
Rob's Roads 