Treve & Katrina Travel The World

We're now back in Bangkok for the 4th time and nearing the end of our Thailand stay. We've just spent a week on the beaches of Koh Chang, but more of that later...

The Khao San Road and New Joe's Guest House have been our home from home during our time in chaotic Bangkok. New Joe's has been described by friends who have also stayed there as "friendly enough, if a little dingy and grubby around the edges" and we're not about to disagree! At 6 pounds a night, what can you expect?! We just kept returning out of convenience. In general, the staff are friendly and the food, most importantly, excellent.

The delightful Khao San Road

The infamous Khao San Road itself is both interesting and horrendous, depending on your point of view - from the hilltribe ladies who don their jingly hats every night to peddle wooden frogs and "silver" bangles, to the thumping tunes of the pirate CD stalls, to the many lady-boys (very confusing, Alan!) - there is rarely a moment's peace on this vibrant street. Think of it as a cross between Cambden Market and Benidorm, with it's gaudy neon glow. It is a great spectator sport to watch the varying night-life wander past from a kerb-side view, while indulging in a 20p Pad Thai noodle meal. Gap year kids get their hair braided and play bongos while aging hippies scoff - they've seen it all before! Deciding against the full-body Thai massage, Katrina opted for the wrinkle-busting facial experience, which felt like having an army of slugs thrown at your face and then being pummelled into a pulp like a piece of pastry - how refreshing and not to be repeated!

Bangkok's favourite drinks

Away from the Khao San chaos is the real Bangkok and rich Thai culture. The centre is a real assault on the senses. The fumes, congestion and noise are over-powering. Traffic flows from every direction, including above and below - the Skytrain, Bangkok's answer to the London Underground, twists and turns the city streets above your head, blotting out the daylight and quite an eye-sore.

Skytrain

The city planners seem to have thrown out the design rule-books in favour of ceaseless growth. Death-defying tuk-tuk rides weave precariously in and out of grid-locked traffic, horns beeping adding to the general wall of sound. Gas masks are often worn in an attempt to cut out the overwhelming smog and pollution.

Tuk-tuk speeds past Democracy Monument

There seems to be no let-up in this endless circus of a city. No wonder there are so many temples nestled around every corner, to provide sanctitude and a welcome escape from this hustle and bustle.

Monks chanting at the temple

An array of colours and glitzy golden stupors come in different forms and sizes, often bedecked in lustrous jewels.

Katrina pays her respects to Buddha

And nothing can compare in terms of lavishnous to the Grand Palace itself - a 10 minute tuk-tuk ride from New Joe's or a perilous dash across the busy highways and the town's central park.

Stupor at the Grand Palace

Out of respect to the Buddhist faith, we weren't allowed to expose shoulders or legs, and so the "stunt" long trousers and shirts were hired - the tourists looked like a bunch of convicts on day release in their matching drab garb.

Treve at Grand Palace

The Grand Palace, dripping in gold and jewels, sits on the side of the river, one of the cities main arteries. The lavishness and intracacy is overwhelming and sunglasses are needed to protect your eyes from the sun thrown back from the gold.

Glittering guard

Dripping in gold and jewels

On the pavements outside, street vendors sell miniature effigies of Buddha to avid collectors who scrutinise their craftmanship under magnifying glasses.

150-foot reclining Buddha at Wat Po

In an attempt to get around the constant jams, many locals use the river and it's floating buses. A 10 baht (15p) ride takes you into the choked centre alongside monks (who have their own allocated space) and other less-distinguished passengers.

Space for monks

The contrasting riverside included the wats (temples) which jostled for space in the skyline with the rapidly appearing skyscrapers, while riverside shacks seemed to tumble into the water before your very eyes.

Treve in his new outfit

The illusion of a seemingly modern, developed infrastructure is broken at 7pm when everything seems to shut down - as we found out one evening, after waiting for a storm to subside. A helpless situation became an adventure as we bartered for a long-tail boat ride with 8 other Westerners going back to the Khao San Road - much more fun than the tube, dodging the lightning and river debris in the darkness.

A day visit to the bridge over the River Kwai (made famous for most of us by the famous 1960's film starring Alec Guiness) was a poignant reminder of how different the tranquility of this area would have felt some 60 years earlier. We walked across the metal bridge of the infamous "Death Railway" and wondered what horrors had taken place down the line into the forests bordering Burma (now Myanmar). The line was built to carry supplies into Japanese-occupied SE Asia - the sea-based route from Japan having been blockaded by the Allies. Many Allied POWs and local "slaves" died from sheer hard work and malnutrition in their efforts to cut the railway by hand through solid rock and dense forest for their Japanese masters.

Bridge over the River Kwai

Katrina had always wanted to see the famous floating markets and, although now quite touristy and stuffed full of curios, the experience of gliding down the waterways poled by our guide certainly did not disappoint.

Two stalls at the floating market

An oasis in the middle of the chaos of central Bangkok, we visited Jim Thompson's house. A former US diplomat in the 1930's, he made Thailand his home and set about reviving the previously abandoned Thai silk industry. A true enthusiast, he spent his time collecting artifacts from SE Asia, bringing them together in this house - in fact 6 teak houses, some more than 200 years old, sourced from all over Thailand and joined as one. The buyers at Habitat would have a field-day here, as it's all so tastefully minimal. How very modern!

Jim Thompson's house

In complete contrast to Bangkok, last week we visited the island of Koh Chang (back east towards the Cambodian border) where we spent 5 days in a wooden hut alongside the palm tree fringed beach.

Kai Bae beach huts

Such a tough life when the main worry of the day was trying to dodge coconuts falling from the trees and then working out how to get into the damned things (Treve got there in the end, looking like a baboon as he held it between his feet and clawed at the husk with his bare paws!)

Lazing on a Monday afternoon!

We also hired a scooter and bravely wobbled our way around this hilly island for the day, exploring secluded fishing villages on stilts.

Get your motor runnin'

Bang Bao fishing village

So now onwards Down Under. It feels strange to think that we'll be on another continent and moving still further away from home - gulp!

Keep in touch!

Lots of love,
Katrina & Treve xxx