Stage 3 - 31st January 2014

It's New Year's Eve - Chinese New Year, so Happy New Year! We walked again today, just around the area near the hotel, which is in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok, but this time we walked in a different direction. One of the first things we encountered was a barricade of tires which stopped the traffic on the dual carriageway and on the other carriageway there was rows of small tents, all alerting us to the presence of a demonstration. Further on we came across a huge stage which had been set up in the middle of a crossroad and, on stage was a pop group singing an Eagles number. Three of the four roads at the intersection where 'occupied' by the protesters with tents in every street and, like good entrepreneurs, a mall village of stalls selling street food and a whole array of T-shirts, etc. for the budding protester - thought about buying something but wondered how it might go down with the local army! Talking of the army, they were nowhere to be seen and, as a friend of mine said: more like a party than a protest.

We looked into a number of shops - this is the best area for bespoke clothes; in one shop you can buy 2 suits, 2 pairs of trousers, 2 shirts and 2 ties, all made to measure, for a total of $299! I probably have more than enough suits, etc. so didn't buy anything.

It was getting hot so, after about 3 hours of exploring, we stopped off at a roadside bar and had a beer (orange juice for Dianne) and watched the world go by, amused by the number of elderly European men with their very young lady friends. The number of 60+ men out here who appear to be alone is startling.

After we finished our drinks we set off for our hotel, dropped our things off and went for a massage at a local parlour. I'm not in to massages, too worried about old injuries but I've never had a 'real' massage, only the version with oils, aromatherapy I think its called, but I was game! We were given adjoining beds and told to change into some form of pyjamas and, when we were ready, a young lady came in, washed my feet and then set to on my body! I think she was a masochist! She dug fingers, thumbs, elbows and feet deep into parts of my body and, when she thought it was hurting she laughed! The pain was not ameliorated by the fact I had a 19 year old Thai girl crawling over my body. After it was over - an hour and a half - I wondered if it had any effect and I can quite honestly say: no! But it was an experience.

We dined at the hotel tonight.

Stage 3 - 30th January 2014

Decided to have a relaxing day today. First went for a walk around the area, popping down side streets to see what was there - as usual lots of street food being cooked, served and eaten by local people but also lots of massage parlours, some very respectable looking, others suggesting something more seedy! It was hot and humid so we set off for the local park, which is only a few minutes walk from the hotel, where we intended to sit for a while and do some reading but, on the way, we met a big political demonstration (I had mentioned to Dianne as we walked the streets near the hotel that all seemed strangely quiet with very few cars on the roads; now we knew why).  I know the advice from the FCO is to avoid anything like this but it was rather compelling. Thousands of people carrying flags and blowing whistles were moving slowly down one side of the dual carriageway, essentially, stopping all traffic. They also had with them several 'speaker vans,' (big trucks with rows of speakers) from which loud speeches were being made, with cheers and whistling coming in response, I couldn't understand what was being said but there was some formats that are universal I thing, e.g. Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, Out, Out, Out being one that comes to mind! The speaker vans were used as the focal point - I saw 4 of them, about 200 meters apart - and they occasionally stopped, for some time, to maximise the disruption to traffic. The whole affair seemed to be good natured with not much evidence of police or soldiers - there were soldiers present but they sat and watched the procession!

We took a few photos and then went to the park - we could see the procession passing and I estimate it took over 2 hours for it to pass where we sat.

Dinner at a street-side restaurant with some really nice wine!

Stage 3 - 29th January 2014

Too the Sky Train to the Choa Phraya river once again to visit places we didn't have time for yesterday. We used the same hop on, hop off tourist boat - there are cheaper alternatives but this is the most practical - and hopped off at pier 5 where we hired a longtail boat for an hour. The long tail boat - see photo - is like a taxi, called 'longtail' because it's a car engine with a prop shaft that sticks in the water and, on the end, instead of a diff there's a propeller! Noisy but fast. It was a bit difficult boarding (disembarking) at the pier but we managed. The 'driver' took us up river and entered a canal on the opposite bank of the river - there are lots of canals in BKK which are used as part of the travel infrastructure and are a great way of getting about - faster and cooler than by road. The canal we visited has a floating market but it's busiest at the weekend when we will not be here but we still wanted to see the environment. Lots of houses, etc. on the banks, many on stilts, many rather ramshackle but some very modern buildings too. It was interesting to see how the local people lived on the canal...and we saw some wildlife, lots of fish and some rather large reptiles - monitor lizards apparently.

After an hour we arrived back at pier 5 and did a tour of Chinatown. This was huge, colourful and extremely busy with lots more street food - it's everywhere!

Back to the hotel after buying a new hair drier, the other one is the wrong voltage, and new tongs, for a meal and a much-improved glass of wine!

Stage 3 - 28th January 2014

We took the Sky Train to the station where we could board the river boat along the Chao Prayar river - a hop on hop off boat. We hopped off at various places but most importantly we hopped off at the Grand Palace where we saw the Emerald Buddha, and took loads of photos. We also took a Tuk Tuk to see the tallest, golden Buddha in the world and then we visited the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho as well as the Wat Arum, or Dawn temple. We then caught the express boat back to the railway station, walked to the hotel for a welcome beer! I have to say I took nearly 200 photos and don't think anything does the place justice/

Stage 3 - 27th January 2014

Day 2 in Bangkok (or BKK as the seasoned traveller calls it!) and a visit to Jim Thompson's house. He's an American who came to live in Thailand soon after WW2 and is credited with reviving the Thai tradition of hand weaving silk. His house is now a museum with an impressive collection of artifacts from the Far East. We travelled there on the Sky Train, just like a tube train only on an overhead railway. On the way we we encountered some of the political demonstrations with a small encampment of tents, etc. at the National Stadium but not much seemed to be happening.  At the station, where we disembarked there were scores of stalls selling all sorts, including lots of street food so we took some photos - one of a lady eating a Big Mac!, it was extremely colourful and very noisy! It was only a short walk to the museum.  After the visit - guided tour - we also took a look at one of the local canals which was nearby; apparently they are an important part of the transport infrastructure, but we shall see more of them tomorrow. Dinner tonight was in another street restaurant, this time we had chicken with ginger and a lovely fish dish that cooked at our table.

Stage 3 - 26th January 2014

Stage 3 means we are now in Bangkok. After the birthday gifts we set out from KL at 8:30 KL time this morning in a hotel car and had an uneventful trip - less than 2 hours flight. We organised a limo from the airport on the advice of a frequent traveller and arrived at our hotel at about about 1:00 pm local time - an hour different to KL. The hotel is not 5 star but it's fine. The room has all we need and we are right in the centre of the city. After unpacking we set out to explore the local area, discovering where the nearest station for the Skytrain is then spent some time wandering around a local park where the local people were enjoying the last day of their weekend. We had an early dinner - baked duck in plum sauce and spicy, stir-fried prawns with some beer and wine. Now planning tomorrow before having an early night.

Stage 2 - 25th January 2014

Had a final day of relaxing at the hotel pool and then set off to do more exploring of the local shops because Dianne had spotted a pair of shoes she wanted....